Kaufusi Family

extra cash

2011-01-18T10:54:00.002-07:00

I have been trying to think of ways I can earn extra cash without having to leave my kids more than I am doing now (working my two jobs).

We have found a place we would LOVE to move to. It is down the street from the kids' school. They can walk! Yeah!! They have been dreaming of walking to school ever since Taliana started Kindergarten in 2007. They will be close to their friends, but best of all it will cut out our 30 minute commute (round trip) 2 times a day (somethings 3 times a day - during soccer season) and 5 times a week. I may be the most excited about this part. However, since we will be moving to the "east" side, that means rent is much more expensive. It will be double of what we are paying now. I don't know if we will be able to afford it, but I'd really like it to work out. So... the point of my post today... I need to earn some EXTRA CASH!!

I've been brainstorming and I've always dreamed of selling homemade crafts. (ie. bows, headbands, hair clips, skirts, quilts, etc.). I know it will take a while to get things up and running, but this is what I want to do. I am just worried that no one will buy my stuff - since there is SO much out there (like on etsy.com). But I'm willing to give it a try. Wish me luck!

Valentine's Day Decor

2011-01-18T10:09:00.006-07:00

Have you been feeling a little empty since the holdiays have passed? Well, I have! So... I have been looking for some new V-day decor. I have been surfing the net looking for inspiration. There is SO much out there. I have come up with a few ideas. Hopefully I will get at least ONE done. Here is what I have found....

I like to make a wreath for my wall.

click here for the tutorial

I'd like to add a splash of color to my boring couches. I think this would do the trick!

click here for the tutorial

I don't know if I will do this exactly as pictured. Maybe I will just stitch something.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this skirt. I know Malia will want one, and maybe Taliana.

I also have a few ideas in mind for framed artwork and table runners. I'll keep you posted!

Where are they now?

2011-01-03T12:41:00.003-07:00

Jason is still coaching at Weber State. They didn't finish as high in their conference as they had hoped, but they had a great year. It was a young team and they all fought to the end. Jason LOVES to be back in the coaching scene and we love supporting him!

I am still working at Pottery Barn Kids and Gap and the Hospital during the off-season. It it hard at times, but I do enjoy adult interaction! When i am not working I am busy with the kids and their school work, or transporting them between school and soccer and flag football practice/games. I am serving as the Second Counselor in our Ward's Primary Presidency. It is a lot of work, but we have seen so many blessing come from it and I am truly grateful to serve the children in our ward. Our Primary President is moving (BOO!), so it looks like we will be getting released. I have LOVED working with these girls and will miss them so much.

Taliana is excelling in school, as ususal. She played soccer this past fall and also participated in Tanner Dance. She has danced with Tanner Dance for the past 2.5 years, and has decided it is time for her to move on. She would rather focus on soccer and hopefully Polynesian dancing or HipHop dancing. She is definitely our dancing queen.

Ammon is loving school as well. However, his favorite part is recess. There isn't a day where he comes home covered in MUD! I always ask him why he is so dirty and he says because he plays soccer or football at recess. Boys will be BOYS! He participated in soccer (with Taliana) and flag football this past fall. He is such a great athlete! I wish I could say it was a gift from me, but we all know where he gets it from! hahahah! Ammon is such a great brother and is always helping his sisters. He is so patient with Malia - She bosses him around and he doesn't even complain.

Malia is wishing she were in school! She keeps me busy. She loves to play pretend! She will cook in her kitchen, play with her dolls, do our hair, play dress ups. She is 100% girl, and I LOVE it! I'm not going lie.. she is the boss at our house. She went and stayed in St. George for 10 days last October and my sister gave me some advice, "she has to be the boss!" I didn't want to give in, but it truly makes my life easier but just letting her run things. Don't get me wrong, I don't allow her to throw tantrums to get her way, but she knows how to ask nicely. It works!

Meesha has found a new friend. He lives across the street and his name is Max. She goes over to his house about 2-3 times a day. Most of the time we have to go and get her or she won't come home. I don't know why we are not good enough for her to stay with us all the time, but the neighbors are so nice to her that it's okay. She is still a cuddler and I love it.

So... that's it! Consider yourself offically updated!

New Year – New Goals

2011-01-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have decided that one of my new goals for 2011 is to blog more. I used to feel like it was a waste of my time to blog because no one ever reads my blog. But as I looked back through all my old posts, I realized this will be a great journal for my kids when they are older. I am not into scrapbooking – it’s just too over whelming. I would love to publish my blog into a book for our family. I have always been stressed about what to write about and what pictures to post, but this year… it’s all about ME and MY FAMILY! So, I will be writing about our lives and adventures. I am writing this for me! So, if any of you would like to follow along, you are more than welcome! But I am not going to stress about my topics, my pictures, or how perfect or how entertaining my blog will be. Thank you! Wish me luck!

All good things must come to an end.

2011-01-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Jason went back to work this morning and I took the kids to school. Don't get me wrong, I will miss them all terribly, but I am ready to get back on my daily schedule.

Malia was really bummed that she didn't get to go to school today. I told her a while ago that she could go to school after Christmas, and this morning she woke up, got dressed, and got her backpack on and said, "okay, I'm ready for school." So... it looks like I need to find a preschool for Malia. I know she is ready for preschool, but I don't think I am ready for her to go just yet. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old!

December Celebrations

2011-01-03T11:24:00.004-07:00

December went by too quickly this year. I put up our Christmas decor the second week in November (the earliest I have ever put it up). But since I knew I was going to be busy working, that was the only time I had to give it 100%. It is always magical to have all the decorations up, but since I work retail (pbk), I had been looking at Christmas decor since the middle of October. So... it was such a relief to have it all put away by 1pm Christmas afternoon. It was a great Christmas! My friend gave our family an xbox 360 Kinect. Wow! That thing is TIGHT! Malia can even do it on her own. The kids get money from my mom and dad every year, so they decided to put their money together and buy a new game for the Kinect and one for the Wii. We have had so much fun this past Christmas break playing and hanging out as a family!

This is the before picture. I wish I would have taken an after picture (about 10 minutes later). hahaha

My parents used to make us line up when we walked into the family room for Christmas morning - so I make my kids do the same thing. They were so excited! (well.. Malia was almost excited) Malia got another itty bitty twin from American Girl. I LOVE that she LOVES dolls. It's so fun!

It's hard to tell through all the plastic - But Taliana got a new jewelry stand. She loves jewelry, but it gets everywhere. So hopefully this will help her get organized.

Ammon got Fuzzoodles from Malia. He loves to build things!

He also got a helmet for his skateboard and scooter. He LOVES to go to the nearby skatepart and ride his skateboard. I've always been nervous about his crashing - so I guess he can crash as much as he wants now that he has this sweet new helmet. :)

I got a new lense for my camera. A 5omm portrait lense. So, of course, everyone had to model for the new lense. These kids are too funny.

yes, this is all malia cared about - sucking her thumb.

The Football Life

2010-11-16T15:46:00.005-07:00

So, this is my first year as a "football-wife". I'd love to say it was a breeze, but honestly it wasn't as bad as I had dreaded it to be. It was fun going up to the games and the kids had a blast. I didn't travel with the team to any away games, maybe next year!

Peter's #1 fan! Malia loved "Waldo" and refused to let anyone near him.

its not football without kettle corn. mmmm!

But let's be honest... all good things must come to an end so I can regain my sanity and get ready for the next season. I am excited to have a husband/father home. I can't do this single-parent thing for too long. :)

Malia turned 3!

2010-11-16T13:08:00.005-07:00

I can't believe Malia is already 3! Where has the time gone? I threw her a party and it was a ton of fun. A LOT of work, but totally worth it. Jason was out of town for a football game. I did make a note that I will NEVER do a party without him again. We work really well together. I plan it all and he entertains. I am NOT an entertainer, but luckily 3 year olds only need balloons to keep them busy. Here are some pictures from the day....

We took her to Nicklecade for her special day.

Malia was SO excited that Brittny came to the party.

I had the kids decorate their own cupcakes and take the plates home as their party favor. It turned out great!

Where do I start?

2010-11-16T12:22:00.004-07:00

I know! It has been like FoReVeR since I have blogged. Life has been super crazy. Here is a quick update....

Jason is still coaching the defensive line up at Weber State University. He is LOVING it (and I am learning to love it). They haven't had as good as season as we have hoped, but the Defense had done a GREAT job. Jason is still working at United Airlines, so he is extra busy. When he has a little time off from Weber, he is at the airport catching up on his hours. But I'm NOT complaining... I love the flight benefits!

I am still working at Potterybarn Kids and Gap. I have taken time off from the hospital during the football season. I was called to be the second counselor in our ward's primary this past May. I was really worried about all the added time it would take, but I have been really blessed these past few months and have noticed that my work schedule and church schedule have worked out great with one another.

Taliana just finished fall soccer and is totally bummed that it is over! She was a great forward! She is working hard in school and is top in her class. We are SO proud of her. Taliana is still dancing for Tanner Dance, but I think this is end in December as she would rather focus on soccer. What can I say? I tried! She also started playing piano again after taking some time off.

Ammon finished fall soccer and flag football. Ammon was a great goalie for the soccer team and an all-around awesome player for the flag football team. He was great at running back, quarterback, and a few other positions (that i am still learning the name of). Ammon just started piano this past month and is really enjoying it. However, he doesn't like the fact that he has to get up earlier in the morning now to practice.

Malia is enjoying her alone time with me! She wishes she were in school, so hopefully we can find her somewhere to go in January. Until then... I really do enjoy spending my days with her and listening to her talk. Which most of her sentences begin with... "Oh my gosh...". hahahaha

Meesha has found a new friend (Max). She visits him every morning for a few hours - then I have to go and get her because she refuses to come home.

okay.... now for the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for.... updated pictures.....

We took the kids to Hawaii during the summer. A much needed family trip!
Malia finally had her chance to meet the princesses at Disneyland.

And Taliana and Ammon rode all the "fun" rides with Jason while I waited in lines to see all the princesses. Totally worth it.!

Blogging Habbits

2010-04-05T15:19:00.008-06:00

Are there certain routines in your life you just can't live without? Well... I have a few, but I am only going to admit one today. I used to be an internet junkie. I would spend countless hours surfing the net, and honestly... wasting time. However, I have been much better about spending countless hours online, I have cut my daily time down to 30-minutes (on a good day - maybe an hour on other days). hahaha. Anyways... here are just a few sites I cannot live without. I check them the first chance I get everyday (which is around noon).

make it do - this is Jason's sister inlaw's sister (still with me?) website. I LOVE to see what she comes up with every day. I secretly want to be JUST like her. But, let's face it - I'm not and I can deal with it.

our best bites - this is a fabulous website for cooking/baking ideas. I have found SO many new recipes that I have LOVED making and also my family has LOVED eating (what can I say... it's a win-win). The girls only post on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I do visit them on their "days off" just to browse their site looking for new ideas.

the sisters cafe - a friend referred me to this site and I am SO grateful! I use this site as well for recipes. Their amazing buttermilk rolls are HEAVEN! (some of you have already received an email from me with this recipe - your welcome!).

etsy - have you ever seen this site? What a great place to buy great homemade items. (or in my case - what a great place to get ideas on what I can craft/make myself). I'd secretly LOVE to sell on this site. But creativity plays a HUGE roll in that - and I'm just not that confident. But it doesn't hurt to dream, does it?

heather bailey - this gal is amazingly creative - I LOVE it! (I'd secretly like to be her too). She shows a picture of her studio - and that is only what I can DREAM of what I'd like my "studio" to look like. She is everything I wish I could be.

the polka dot chair - I visit this site often to get my creative juices flowing. I found this idea for Taliana's skirt pattern for her birthday skirt. Great ideas! And I also like to go onto some of her links on the side. (only if time permits, of course).

Well... there you have it.

What are some of your favorite sites?

Taliana's baptism

2010-03-31T11:24:00.007-06:00

Taliana was baptized by Jason and confirmed by her Grandpa Taylor (Papa T). It was such a special day. I'm happy to say that I'm so happy it is finally over and done with. I prepped for it for 3 months. I made a quilt for her (pictures will be posted later - when I actually take some). It was the hardest quilt I have ever done, but loved every minute of it. I wish I had taken more photos of her special day, but we all know how hectic things get when we have get togethers, so... here are a few of the photos that document her special day.

Taliana's turns 8!

2010-03-31T10:09:00.008-06:00

Where has the time gone? My sweet Taliana turned 8 years old on March 5th. (yes, I am finally getting around to posting it).

I surprised Taliana and took her to California for the day. I woke her up bright and early at 4:30am and told her to get dressed. I had her outfit laid out - a skirt a made special just for her. And a matching skirt for her American Girl Doll. I told her we were going someplace special just her and I. Jason dropped us off at the airport and we boarded the plane to Los Angeles.

Once we arrived we got our rental car and headed towards The Grove. I told her we were looking for someplace to eat breakfast. However, I forgot that it takes about an hour to travel 10 miles in LA traffic. Once I found our destination spot (American Girl Place), I drove in front of the store and asked her if she would like to go in that store after breakfast. She was drawing in her notebook and just said, "okay". Then she looked up and read "American Girl Place" and started screaming! Just the reaction I was looking for. hahahah! She begged, "can we go in there, please, please, please?" The store didn't open for another hour. Thankfully it is next to Farmer's Market (yummy), so we found our parking spot and headed over to Farmer's Market for breakfast.

Then it was off the American Girl Place. We were the first ones in the store. I have to admit, I think I was a little more excited than Taliana. I wanted to buy everything I saw! I thought to myself... "why didn't I bring more money??" hahah. But then I remembered we were there for TALIANA'S special day. We walked around the store and looked at everything before Taliana started making decisions of what she wanted.

They had a little cafe in the store (this was the waiting area), but we both thought it was a bit pricey and Taliana would rather use her money to buy clothes and accesories for her doll. Is that decor so cute? I would LOVE to decorate Taliana's room like that. I know.. kind of over powering, but I still love it!

After about 3 hours in the store, we finally made our purchases and walked out. (honestly... it was hard for me to leave without buying more stuff). The store was located in an outdoor mall (similar to Gateway) so we walked around for a little bit. It was nice to just spend time with Taliana. We had great conversations and picked out stuff we would LOVE to buy when we were both rich and had ALL the money in the world. hahaha.

We couldn't leave Cali without a quick trip to the beach. We headed over to Santa Monica Pier. It was my first time, and definitely not my last. Taliana rode the rollercoaster and we both rode the Ferris Wheel. It was so beautiful to look out at the ocean high on the Ferris Wheel. We also had a great view of Malibu. Hmmm... it would be nice to have a beach house over there. hahaha.

Then we headed over to CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) for late lunch/early dinner. Yes, I know we have a CPK here, but Taliana wanted pizza and that was the easiest thing to look for. It worked out perfectly because it was at another outdoor mall. PERFECT! So, after eating we went shopping again. (window shopping, that is).

It was a perfect day! I loved spending alone time with Taliana. I think I will make this a tradition on all my kids' 8th birthday. I loved it!

Go Wildcats!

2010-01-29T11:12:00.006-07:00

We will now be sportin the color PURPLE! (which is one of my fav colors - so fine with me).

Jason accepted the Defensive Line Coach for Weber State University. We will be coaching under Coach McBride - which is such an honor. We love Coach Mack!

He officially starts February 1st - but has been getting things together up there since the beginning of February.

We are planning to stay where we are for another year. We want to keep the kids in their school - which we love too much to say goodbye. And then see what happens after football season 2010. Who knows.... this coaching stuff never leaves you knowing from year to year. But... we will take what we can get.

We are SO SO SO proud of Jason. He only had to do his "internship" for 6 months. There are guys who have been doing theirs for 2, 3, and even 4 years. We feel SO blessed!

The kids were a little worried about what was going on. Taliana's first response, "does that mean that we have to hate Utah now?" Then the questions started, "What am I going to do with all this RED stuff? I mean, I can't go to the football game wearing Utah stuff. Now we are going to have to go shopping all over again for PURPLE.... well, I guess that will be alright." Then Ammon started in, "PURPLE?!?! That is such a girl color. Why can't they be red? Well, I'm not giving any of my Utah stuff away." It's funny how their minds think. Gotta love 'em.

Soooo... all you Wildcat fans, please call us for tickets so we have people to hang out with at the games :)

Sundace 2010

2010-01-27T11:43:00.005-07:00

Well... it wasn't as exciting as last year. Jason was busy with recruiting so he only worked Sunday. However, we did go up Friday night just to "hang out". I accidently left my camera in the car, but that was okay because there really wasn't anyone worthwhile.

But, I did see this nice piece of EYE CANDY! *sigh*

That's right.... ROBIN THICKE! It was heaven!

ps... for those of you that actually pay attention to this blog.... yes, that is the SAME jacket and scarf from last year. What can I say... it kept me warm. hahahah

Happy Holidays

2010-01-04T14:50:00.003-07:00

We didn't get a chance to send out Christmas card this year (or last - now that it's 2010). So.... I sent out an email card. For those of you who actually read this blog (I'm not sure if there are any at all) - here is the email-card we sent.

Jason just finished his first season with the University of Utah football team as an Administrative Assistant. He has loved it so far and is sad that football season has come to an end. But wait.... we still have recruiting.... spring ball.... recruiting.... summer camp... this is a never ending sport. (not what I initially thought).

I have been keeping busy with the kids, my few jobs (PotteryBarn Kids, Gap, University Hospital Emergency Department), and trying to keep a positive attitude and be supportive about football (keyword is "trying")! It has been a challenge, but I know this sacrifice will all work out in the end.

Taliana is 7 and in 2nd grade. She LOVES school, learning, socializing, ... the whole lot. Taliana is keeping busy with piano, dance, soccer and drawing.

Ammon is 6 and in 1st grade. He loves recess and lunch! Ammon is involved with soccer and flag football and keeping us all entertained with his great sense of humor. (as you can see in some of the photos above).

Malia is 2 and WISHES she was in school, but she is home with me (and Grandma Kaufusi). She is growing up too fast. She is learning to talk more and more, and honestly... there is NO WAY to get her to stop! hahaha. Malia is 100% girl. She keeps busy by playing with her dollhouse, dolls, coloring, and doing someone's hair (whether they like it or not).

Meesha (our dog) is 4 and just lays around the house. She is definitely living the life! :)

As you can see, we are all doing well. We wish to send our love to you and wish you a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ofa atu!
-The Kaufusi Family

Hello again!

2009-09-07T22:16:00.005-06:00

Well.... my life has somewhat clamed down since my last post. We sold our townhouse (which is a TRUE blessing in this market). We tried selling it on our own for 2 and 1/2 months and then decided to list it with a realtor. Just 2 days after putting it on the market... we got an OFFER! We are now living in Jason's parent's basement (with a beautiful remodel job by my husband and my brother). THANK YOU!

Jason is now living the football life. He is eating, drinking, breathing and sleeping football. Honestly... we don't even see him anymore. He is working 7 days a week! I know I need to keep telling myself that this is just TEMPORARY (and I know it is), but this has truly been a test of my faith. I struggle everyday, but I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I hope I make it there. hahahah.

As for the kiddos... Taliana has just entered 2nd grade and is LOVING it. And Ammon is now in 1st grade. Malia wishes she is in school and asks throughout the day if we can go to school and get Taliana and Ammon. She misses them so much.

I am keeping myself busy by working my several "jobs" and being a single mother. I am SO thankful that Jason's mom is upstairs to help me with the kids. It has been so nice!

I am so excited to get back to the blogging world. Check back for updates!

Living Without!

2009-04-08T13:58:00.003-06:00

So... we have decided to cut back on our expenses. We are sad to say good-bye to cable & the internet. When I told the kids we were going to be shutting off the cable they were pretty sad, but when I said we would be turning off the internet as well.... they were hysterical! My kids love to go on the internet and play games. But... they can find other things to love now. I am pretty sad to say good-bye to cable because I love love love TLC, Discovery Health, and HGTV. But... I too became a little hysterical when Jason said we would be turning off the internet. "WHAT?!? What am I supposed to do all day?" Jason's kind response... "um, you can play with the kids." ha ha ha ha.

But now that I think about it... it is for the best. I do spend quite a bit of time on the computer, so now I won't be tempted to sit and surf the net all day long. I will be able to finish up my MANY "unfinished" projects. I know it is going to be an adjustment, but it will be for the best.

Okay.... I won't be completely without internet. I will be able to get on with my iphone and also when Jason is home I can hook up the internet from his phone. (thank goodness!)

Wish us luck!

ps... I will be doing weekly posts for updates, so just check back from time to time.

playing catch-up

2009-04-01T12:38:00.008-06:00

okay... life has been pretty crazy for the past little while, so I have neglected updating my blog. So.... here you go. It will be a short version because I should really be doing other things right now, but of course, I am procrastinating. That's what I do BEST!

Taliana turned 7! What?!?!? Where has the time gone? I can't believe she is sever years old already. But... believe me, by the way she acts she should be turning 12. hahahah. She is such a great student and LOVES school. She is still dancing at Tanner Dance. (FYI... they have their show on Saturday May 9th @ 10am at Kingsbury Hall - if anyone is interested). Taliana is also playing soccer and taking piano lessons. She has been very busy lately, but she is really enjoying it all.

Ammon is playing soccer and has become quite the athlete! We all know where those athletic genes came from. (not me!) He is doing great in school as well and can't wait to go to first grade.

Malia... well... she is still our little princess. (aka... drama queen). She definitely rules the roost around here. She experienced her first sleepover at Todd and Alesi's last weekend. I was worried that she would miss us, but nope.... Alesi said she was an angel. Okay... I'll admit it... I was affraid I would miss her too much. However, I did almost go and pick her up on Saturday morning. It was just too weird having her gone. Taliana and Ammon on the other hand... we couldn't wait to send them over to Todd & Alesi's. hahahah. It was a great weekend, and we were able to get a LOT of stuff done.

Well.... we have decided to make a few changes in our life. We are going to sell our house so Jason can go back to school in the fall. He has wanted to ge back to school for over a year now, and we have finally found that NOW is the time to do it. Honestly.... I am sort of jealous that he is going back to school. I wish that were me. There is just something about going to school and learning new things that thrill me. I know.... I'm weird. Anways... for all you readers out there (all 3 of you) ... we are moving. That's the only exciting thing that is going on in our life.

okay... there you have it folks. Consider yourself updated!

**ps... the top picture of Malia was taken by my friend/neighbor Renee Bath. She gave me a mini photography lesson. Thanks Renee!

Advice from Ammon!

2009-02-09T14:30:00.003-07:00

While we were in California this past weekend we had time to burn while Jason was in meetings. We stopped at a Target so we could walk around and "look" at things. I stopped in the shoe isle to see what they had for clearance (which is always my first stop at Target) and I picked up some REALLy cute shoes and said, "Oh, these are WAY cute!" And Ammon just rolls his eyes and says... "Mom, you need to stop wasting your money." There were too other women on the same isle and they started laughing. And one woman said to the other, "Oh no that boy did NOT just say that to his mother. HAHAHA!!"

Yes... thank you Ammon for your insight, but I think I am doing okay with not "wasting" my money.

Happy Birthday Meesha!

2009-02-04T11:22:00.004-07:00

I can't believe it has been four years already. I remember the night she was born. I was just leaving the Jazz game with my mom and her friends when I got the call from Jennifer saying that her dog (Sammie) had her puppies. I was SO excited! The first thing I said was... "I get the runt!" I went down the following week and held her for the first time. It was love at first sight. I knew we were meant to be together. Then... after waiting for 8 long weeks I finally took her home with me. Of course Jason knew nothing about me bringing home a puppy until I called him about 10 minutes before I came home with her. Jason was never excited about getting a dog, but I knew Meesha would grow on him.

The first day we got her we went out of buy her a bed. She had fallen asleep on our bed, so Jason (being that wonderful father that he is) puts pillows all around her so she won't fall off the bed while we were gone. It was SO cute! Then at the store he had to feel every single dog bed to see which one was going to be the softest for her. And then when it was time for Meesha to get her vaccines, Jason (of course) had to take her into the vet. I hate it when the kids get shots and so Jason is the one who takes them, so it was only fitting that he do the same for Meesha. I remember one time Jason had to work and so I was left to take Meesha in for a check-up and they told me that they had to draw blood for a blood test of some kind. I called Jason and he came over immediately to hold Meesha in the room while she has getting poked. He says he doesn't really like her, but I catch him from time to time cuddling with her. I know he loves her!

The kids LOVE Meesha too! Meesha loves Taliana and Ammon and tolerates Malia. Meesha had always been my baby until Malia arrived. Meesha has been very jealous of Malia, but Meesha is getting better.

Happy Birthday Meesha! We love you!

I've become my mother!

2009-01-29T13:59:00.012-07:00

The other day while I was doing Taliana's hair we had an interesting conversation...

Taliana: "Mom, why do you always talk to yourself?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Taliana: "You know... when you are moving your lips and nothing comes out but you are moving your head and eyes."

Me: "Oh, all moms do that."

Taliana: "Does your mom do that?"

Me: "Yep!"

Taliana: "Oh" -- then she says under her breath... "I hope I don't do that when I'm a mom." Funny thing is... she JUST DID IT! hahahaha!

I remember observing my mom when I was younger. She used to talk to herself while she did the dishes (probably because she was upset that she was left doing them by herself - SORRY MOM!) and she used to talk to herself while she was driving. Which is what I have adapted to doing. I used to be SO embarrassed that she would do that (but NOW people are talking to themselves all over the place (aka. bluetooths)).

Anyways... I just thought it was funny and a GREAT observation on Taliana's part! Don't worry... ALL moms do that!

ps... Mom, I still love you. I now understand why you NEEDED that time to talk to yourself!

Rude awakenings!

2009-01-27T13:00:00.004-07:00

This morning was a COLD morning in our humble abode. We all woke up complaining that we were freezing, so Jason went down stairs to check the thermostat. Low and behold... our gas went out some time during the night. Yep... we didn't even have HOT water to warm up our bodies. Jason tried to restart the pilot light several times but no luck. Then we decided to check the outside meter to see if everything was okay. This is what we found....

Our poor little meter was burried under an inch of ice. I don't blame it... I would have shut off too if I were covered in ice. So... we got out all our pans and filled them wih water and started heating them on the stove. We boiled the water and pored it over the frozen meter to try and help the gas come to back life again. (I'm not sure if we are actually allowed to do that, but it worked so I'm not complaining).

I don't know how people can actually survive living in COLD weather. I don't know if I can take much more of this COLD. I need to head to the beach and unthaw.

Sundance Film Festival 2009

2009-01-19T12:14:00.006-07:00

Jason worked security at Sundance Film Festival again this year. He worked at the Phoenix Gallery on main street that hosted private parties for the celebs. So... I went up Saturady night to hang out and see if I could spot a few stars. Jason was able to see a lot more, but it was all good. You know... where there are stars there are GREAT sponsers giving out FREE stuff. We came home with a TON of great goodies. (ie., shoes, lotion, make-up, headphones, etc.) Here are a few pics of the stars that were seen.... (we are missing Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Rock, Hubastank & Pierce Brosnan)

Kristie Brinkley

Deidre Hall (aka Marlana on Days of Our Lives) -- don't you just love how Jason is standing there casually as his friend (turned poparazzi) snaps the picture?? hahahah

Westley Snipes (& some other guy, I can't think of his name.)

I can't remember what this guy's name is. I will update when I find out.

So... for those who know me... you know that I LOVE the TV series Criminal Minds. So, I will SO excited when I was able to meet Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reed). I also met A.J. Cook's (JJ -Jennifer Jereau) husband. He is from here in Salt Lake. Did you know she is LDS?? She went of a mission and was married to her husband in the Salt Lake temple. She was unable to come because she just had a baby (Makai). Her husband was AWESOME! Jason got his number so we could call him the next time we are in CA. He even said he would take us to visit the set. AHHHHH! He shouldn't have said that... I am DEFINITELY going to call now!

Morris Chestnut & his lady. Why do I always look like a ghost in pictures?? (and my face looks puffy)

So... there you have it folks!

Happy Birthday Keikikalani!

2009-01-12T16:31:00.004-07:00

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my sweet niece, Keiki. Happy Birthday! I can't believe you are 12 years old. She is always a big help when she is around and I always look forward to the summertime when Keiki and her sister (La) come and stay with us for a week (or maybe two this year).

Taliana writes, "We love you Keiki. Thank you for being such an awesome cousin. I can't wait until you come and visit us again."

Ammon writes, "Happy Birthday Keiki. Thanks for showing us the 'gummybear' song on youtube."

Here are a few pictures I have collected over the years. (however, there are a few GREAT ones I am unable to find without tearing my closet apart.) Also... I know there are a few gaps in the ages of the pictures, but oh wells.

Keiki and I were the best of friends when she was younger. Those were great times!

(ps... remember when those necklaces were cool?? wow... have times changed. hahahah)

Taliana is dancing

2009-01-12T10:35:00.004-07:00

Taliana was accepted into Tanner Dance. We are SO excited for her. She has been beggin to dance for a while now but it just hasn't been in our budget. Thankfully Tanner Dance offers scholarships so we applied and we were SO happy to hear it all worked out.

Taliana was so worried about what to wear she made me call the school to see what she was supposed to wear. After getting all the info (and after calling Jennifer so see exactly what a leotard was) we headed off to Target to get the dance clothes. Taliana was so excited that she barely slept the night before. (it was like Christmas morning all over again.)

She did great for her first day and can't wait until next Saturday.

**The only thing that bumms me out is that her class is every Saturday @11:30am. So... that cuts into our weekend travels. Oh well... she only has to do this until May and then she moves up a class and attends during the week. Yeah!

update

2009-01-05T11:36:00.002-07:00

okay... I've finally updated my blog. It has been a hectic few weeks with the holidays and last minute sewing. I'll post some pictures soon of the quilts I made for the kids for Christmas. They all turned out great!

Sorry for all the slide shows, but I had a lot of great pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas

2009-01-05T11:14:00.004-07:00

Well... we did it! We survived Christmas! We had a very low key day. We woke up and opened presents then had our Christmas breakfast (omlets and potato casserole - my dad's tradition). Then Jason went to work and the kids & I hung out and watched a movie. When Jason got home we hung out some more. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner (my grandma's tradition) and took some over to Jason's mom's house and then came back and ate and hung out some more. It was a PERFECT day!

The kids all dressed in their Christmas pajamas

Christmas morning - all ready to come down the stairs

It looked like a tornado has ripped through our house with all the wrapping paper everywhere. I tried to be more organized like my mom always was. (she always had a garbage bag ready and a bag for the bows and a place for the boxes to be saved for the next year). But... it didn't happen. I was able to get a garbage bag, but it wasn't really used until everything was opened.

Malia got a new baby from Ammon for Christmas. She screamed until it was finally free from the box. She loves her new baby and gives it loves constantly. Thanks Ammon!

Santa brought Taliana & Ammon ipod shuffles. They were SO excited to finally have their OWN music to listen to. Unfortunately.... Ammon's ipod was washed in the washer with his jeans a few days later. However... he didn't seem to mind. Maybe Santa should have thought of something different for him. hmmmm.

The kids always love spending time with Grandma Kaufusi. They begged all day long to go to her house so they could tell her all about Christmas. But they were able to talk to her throughout the day on the phone, so that was good.

New Years Day

2009-01-05T10:32:00.002-07:00

Temple lights

2009-01-05T10:21:00.008-07:00

We were able to see the lights at Temple Square this year. (Although... we caught them on their last day). We missed the last few years, so we were excited to be able to do it this year. We went with Todd, Alesi and kiddos. Fun was had by all and can't wait for next year!

Here are a few of the highlight pictures....

New Years Eve

2009-01-05T10:15:00.004-07:00

They are FINALLY out!

2008-12-29T13:12:00.004-07:00

Taliana FINALLY lost her front teeth! We have been waiting for one of them to fall out for quite a while. (the permant tooth was already coming in behind it) So... with a little bribing and a LOT of pulling... it came out, ROOT & ALL! We felt so bad. Taliana kept saying it was hurting her, but we just figured she was being dramatic. But, after it ALL came out we felt really bad. Don't worry... the tooth fairy pays REALLY well for teeth like that. Then... the day after Christmas she was outside trying to put her gloves on and she bit her glove and the second front tooth popped out and into the snow. This is the only time I was happy her tooth had been capped. It was easier to find a silver tooth in the snow. Or else we would have had to wait until spring to find it (when all the snow melts). Big thanks to Jason for going out in the cold to find it.

Hawaii Trip

2008-12-08T13:33:00.004-07:00

Malia and I just got back from Laie, Hawaii. I went with my sister in-law Alesi to surprise her sister (Kristina) who is going to school at BYU-Hawaii. We had a GREAT time! It was a quick trip, but it was nice to get away.

Things I miss about the island....

The long scenic drive from "town" to Laie. The one hour drive didn't seem that bad when you are spoiled with the beautiful landscape of O'ahu.
The beach. Hukilau Beach was just across the street. It was SO great to be able to go to the beach in December.
PCC (aka... Polynesican Cultural Center). We hung out at the Fijian village with Kristina and her friends. Malia loved the attention from the girls and I loved watching Alesi visit with friends she new while going to school there.
Relaxing and hanging out with Kristina and the girls. Malia was in heaven with all the attention she got from all the girls. It was SO nice to be able to relax while Malia was being entertained.
Listening to Alesi speak Fijian. (by the way Alesi... I don't care what that Tahitian boy said... it doesn't sound like you are throwing up when you speak Fijian. hahahah)
The Aloha stadium swap meet. We woke up at 6am to be at the swap meet by 7am. I think we were the first ones there. We had TONS of fun walking around and trying to narrow down our purchases.
Fabric Mart. For those of you who know me... I LOVE FABRIC! We found this store that sells nothing BUT hawaiian print fabric for such a GREAT price. I wanted to spend ALL my money there, but unfortunately it was only our second day on the island and I had to budget. So... I acted with self-control and only got two different fabrics. Next time though... watch out!
L&L's. For those of you who've eaten at L&Ls either in Salt Lake City or in Hawaii. You know what I'm talking about. YUMMY! My favorite L&Ls is on Waikiki Beach, but I found my second favorite... Pearl City. And the great thing about the Pearl City one is... it is in the same parking lot at Wal-Mart. How great is that??
The Caf (aka... BYUH cafeteria). They had YUMMY food and it almost tasted like it was a home-cooked meal.
The humidity. I know... I'm one of "those" people that LOVE humidity.

Thank you Alesi for allowing Malia and I to tag along with you. We had SO much fun and can't wait until next year!

Hawaii 2008

2008-12-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Playing tag

2008-11-27T10:38:00.005-07:00

Okay... so I saw this tag post on a friend's blog (thanks Emily) and wanted to do it. So... here it is...

Here’s a list of 100 things. All the things I’ve done are highlighted in red. Copy this list on your own blog and come clean on everything you’ve done. Do it. You know you want to.

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band (6th grade band class counts, right?)
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (who hasn't?)
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping (shhh, don't tell)
Run a Marathon (does a 1/2 marathon count?)
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run (wahoo for YW softball)
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (does Hurricane, UT count?)
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone (Thank you Jennifer)
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee
Visited Italy

Isn't it crazy that I have lived in Salt Lake City now for 9 years and I have NEVER swam in the Great Salt Lake?? hmmmm.

So I’ve done 56 out of 100 things. I guess that means I'm sort of adventurous, right? However... I did most of those things while in high school and during college. Thank you mom and dad for giving me those GREAT opportunites of traveling.

Happy Birthday Malia!

2008-11-15T14:05:00.002-07:00

I can't believe my baby is already a year old. It has gone by TOO fast. She has grown up so much these past few months. I haven't gone to the Dr. yet, so I don't know her "stats". However, I did put her on the scale at the Vet a few weeks ago and she was 27.6 pounds. So... she is still REALLY healthy.

Here are a few of her favorite things...

* Dance - she loves to dance whenever she hears music

* Shoes - she brings them to me so I can put them on her.

* Meesha - When we get home the first thing she does to run to Meesha's kennel to let her out.

* Bite - I know this is a negative thing, but... I am finding it hard for her to understand that the person receiving the bite is NOT as happy as she is actually giving the bite.

* Blankies - She has 4 favorite blankies (the soft kinds) that she cannot live without. She has them all in her crib and has to have ALL of them in her arms to fall asleep. The other day I could hear her screaming from upstairs, so I ran up and she was trying to pull out her blankets through the slats in the crib and they were stuck. So, as soon as she had them all in her arms she was happy as could be.

* Dora couch - Grandma Kaufusi gave her a Dora couch for her birthday. The kinds that folds out to a bed. She loves to sit and lay on it. She changes it from bed to couch constantly. It keeps her entertained for a good hour. Before she actually lays still enough to fall asleep.

* Follow - She loves to follow Taliana and Ammon around. It is SO funny... if Ammon is playing with his light-saber, then Malia has to have a light-saber to play with too. And if Taliana is playing with her babies, Malia has to have a baby in her arms as well.

* Pretties - Malia loves to have "pretties" (aka bows) in her hair. She also loves to rip them out and have you put them back in.

* Piggie-back rides - Malia loves when I give her piggie-back rides down the stairs. She knows how to come down the stairs on her own, but sometimes she will yell "mom, mom, mom, mom" from the top of the stairs so I can come get her to give her a ride down.

We feel very blessed to have Malia a part of our family. It was worth the LONG wait. Now I am left with one thought... do I keep her as the youngest or do I give her another play-mate? Hmmmm...... decisions, decisions!

Here is Malia in her favorite spot. Malia loves to get her morning bottle and sit on the stairs and drink it. She thinks she is such a big girl because she can sit and kick her feel while she drinks her bottle. And of course.... her blankie in the other hand.

The night of her birthday I was in the kitchen helping Taliana with Malia's birthday cake. We noticed things were quiet and we couldn't hear Malia. We went into the Family room and here was Malia. She had found a sucker and opened it and nestled into Ammon chair and was watching TV and eating her sucker. It was too cute that I couldn't get mad at her (after all... it was her birthday). So... I just grabbed the camera and snapped a picture.

Taliana made this birthday cake for Malia. Jason had to work late that night, so we decided to do a little party of our own. Which consisted of Malia'a favorite dinner... Top Ramen. Malia loved her cake. Thanks Taliana, you are such a great big sister!

Here is Malia getting ready to blow out her candle. Sorry... I was also video taping, so I only got a picture of her just before we set down the cake.

Disney on Ice

2008-11-15T12:26:00.004-07:00

Yes... we have kept the tradition going. We took the kids to Disney on Ice last night. We have gone the past 4 times. However, we did have to miss last year because I had just had Malia a few days before. The kids love to go. Malia was SO good. She sat SO still on Jason's lap and watched the whole thing. She was so sad when the intermission came and the lights came on. I have to say... this was the BEST show I've seen so far. They had ALL the princesses there. They spot-lighted each one. Mulan was mine and Taliana's favorite. I love the music in Mulan. It was a fun filled night for ALL!

Here we are waiting for the show to start.

We let the kids pick out one souveniour from the show. This was their pick this time.

We always get a photo taken when we go. We have built up a pretty good collection....

Malia's Birthday Party

2008-11-09T15:23:00.004-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Malia's party. It was PERFECT. Everything went as planned. The only thing I would have done differently was have someone (beside myself) take the pictures. I was too busy visiting with everyone and helping Malia that I didn't get as many good shots as I would have liked. But all in all.... it was a GREAT party.

Here are the flowers my mom and I made out of tissue paper. I loved how they turned out. Definitely something fun and easy for a cute decoartion.

Taliana is hanging out with her cousins.

I have to give a BIG shout out to my sister in-law Alesi. She ran a half-marathon, then jumped in the car (with her family) and drove 4+ hours to be here for Malia's first birthday. Thank you SO much for coming up. It meant so much for ALL of us that you came. I'm sad it was only a short visit, but hopefully we can get together again soon.

Here is Malia with her cake. He didn't have any candles... so... we had to resort to the next best thing... a LOLIPOP. It was perfect!

It was a tight squeeze to put to bounce houses in the gym... but it all worked out.

What's up with all the sickness?

2008-11-06T22:27:00.002-07:00

Okay... I don't mean to complain... but... what is going on in the state of Utah that almost everyone I know is sick?? Don't the germs know that I am TRYING to host a fabulous birthday party for my cute Malia?? I think half of my guests have called or emailed to tell me that they are sick and will not be coming to the festivities. I thought I picked a good weekend... but as my luck goes... "I'm just not lucky".

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-05T11:52:00.012-07:00

I know it is after Halloween, but I was debating whether or not to post these pictures. I feel like I have been bombarding you (speaking to the few readers I have) with pictures lately. But then... I thought the kids looked pretty cute and wanted you to see them as well.

Taliana was "Gabriella" from High School Musical.

Ammon was "Anikan Skywalker" from Star Wars the Clone Wars.

Malia was a little monkey. Each of my kids have worn this costume for their first Halloween so I was SO excited when Jason found this costume the night before. I thought had given it back to my sister Jennifer (the rightful owner - my mom made this costume for her daughter Tana on her first Halloween).

I also forgot to post a picture of Malia's pumpkin. She loved it so much she didn't want to let go.

Malia's birthday invitation

2008-11-03T17:16:00.002-07:00

I have to write a post about this. My sweet sister Jennifer spent all day working on this SUPER CUTE invitation for Malia's party. I love it! And it fits her perfectly. Although Jennifer will NOT be able to come up to the party, Malia is SO grateful to have an amazing auntie like her. Thank you so much!

Our little getaway!

2008-10-29T22:15:00.005-06:00

I have to give a big THANKS to my parents for sharing their time-share with us these past few days. We have enjoyed spending time with them, especially our kids. I hate that we live SO far away from them. My kids love to spend time with their Papa T & Grandma Randee. Here are a few things we did while in Park City....

The kids did crafts (painted ceramic pieces, made cards & tie-dyed shirts)

We had Dr. Mario tournaments. Needless to say... I'm the champ.

We did PLENTY of swimming. Malia wasn't too sure about the water so she only lasted about 10 minutes.

Malia pretty much spent most of her time on Papa's lap - her favorite spot!

I've been tagged! (again)

2008-10-24T23:15:00.005-06:00

I was tagged by MARY to list 6 random things about myself.

The rules:

Link to the person who tagged you
List the rules
Tag six fellow bloggers.
Leave them a comment so they know they've been tagged.

My biggest fear as a child was there was going to be a house fire in the middle of the night and my family was going to forget to wake me up.
I hate to talk on the phone. Which may be surprising to some because I seem to be on it ALL the time.
I scrub my kitchen sink about 5 times a day. (That's the OCD in me.) If you ever come to my house - you'll know that my sink is the cleanest part of the house.
Even though its been 9 years since I've moved away from home - I still sometimes cry at night because I am home-sick.
When I was younger (maybe 10 years old) I slept walked over to my neighbors house. I opened their door and walked around their house. They had just moved in a few days before.
When I buy new clothes they have to sit in the bag a few days, then I hang them up in my closet and then after about a week I actually wear them. I don't know why I do this, but I do.

Now I tag... Alesi, Sarah, Eliza, Kristin, Katie, Amanda. Have fun!

I've been tagged!

2008-10-22T17:38:00.005-06:00

Okay... my sister in-law picture-tagged me. I am to go into "my pictures" choose my 7th file folder then my 5th picture listed. So... here it is....

Have you ever wondered what the baby's hair looks like when you put her straight to bed after taking out her pig-tails?? Well... here you go! (it is always fun to see what Malia's hair looks like when she wakes up. She is a crazy sleeper!

Now... I tag... Eliza, Emily & Jennifer. (8th file - 6th picture) Have fun!

The spirit of Halloween is here!

2008-10-22T17:09:00.008-06:00

We took the kids to pick out their pumpkins. They had fun choosing their own. Then we came home and carved them. It was fun! Here are some of the quotes of the evening....

Ammon: "Eeww, this is really gross!"

Ammon: "You should never have to put your hand inside a pumpkin."

Taliana: "Why don't these pumpkins come already cleaned."

Ammon: "I can't handle this Mom"

Ammon was definitely more grossed out that Taliana. Taliana ended up cleaning out Ammon because he couldn't handle it.

Malia just laughed every time we pulled out more guts of the pumpkin. She was pretty entertained by it all.

All in all... it was a fun evening. Here are a few pics to prove it!

Malia - our little pumpkin!

Ammon and his pumpkin - sorry... I didn't clean off my dishes before the photoshoot. By the way... my pumpkin is the polka-dot one behind Ammon's.

Taliana designed her own pumpkin - if you can't tell... those are HEART eyes. (of course)

Grandma's funeral

2008-10-22T16:42:00.004-06:00

My grandma passed away last week so we went down to St. George for her funeral. Although it was sad to say good-bye to her, we were all so happy for her reunion with my grandpa and our two Uncles (Jonny & Orvile).

Funerals = BIG family gatherings. I love when our whole family gathers together. It was fun reuniting with eachother and having our children play together. It's exactly what my grandma would have wanted.

The Taylor girls - I don't know why we chose to look directly into the sun. hahaha

My grandma's casket - isn't it beautiful?

Shelly & Robert

Jennifer & Troy - can you believe she had a baby 2 months ago?? You can't even tell.

Todd & Alesi & kiddos

Camille & my dad - sorry it's a little blurry.

My brother Travis - placing his flower on my grandma's casket.

We miss you grandma!

Sorry Sean & Sarah... I don't know why I didn't snap a picture of you guys.

Colors

2008-10-09T17:11:00.004-06:00

I used to tease my cousin all the time when we were younger because her family would drive up from Las Vegas to "look at the colors". I just thought it was ODD that they named the drive as "looking at the colors". But now that I am older (and hopefully wiser) I now appreciate all the beautiful colors that we are blessed with at this time of year. I LOVE to drive around and "look at the colors". Jennifer was in town last week taking pictures for her step-daughter's wedding announcements, so we decided to tag along and have her take pictures of the kids in Provo Canyon. It was a hectic day. None of the kids matched - so there was NO group shot. Taliana refused to let me blow-dry her hair with a round brush. I was only able to straighten it with the flat iron. So... that is why her hair is SO flat! It wasn't a good day for Malia either. She refused to smile for Jennifer and would barely look at her while she was taking her pictures. But... there were a few good ones that Jennifer snapped and I do have to say that I really like the candid ones the best. And Ammon... he was happy just as long as he was wearing his JEANS! (this kid can't live without them. He wore them ALL summer long!)

Anyways... here are a few of the pictures....

By the end of the "photoshoot" Malia had had it! She refused to be a part of ANY picture! But Jennifer and I both decided that this was the best picture of ALL!

LEGOLAND

2008-09-28T12:47:00.006-06:00

We surpised the kids and took them to LEGOLAND. We had so much fun. For those of you who have never been... everything is made out of LEGOS. Way cool! It was just a quick trip (less than 24 hours), but next time we will for sure stay longer and go to the beach. The kids had fun and it was a MUCH needed vacation!

Here are a few highlight pictures....

Malia is 10 months!

2008-09-16T12:40:00.008-06:00

Malia has been very busy this past month. Here are few new things she has done...

* 4 new teeth. - All the top teeth came in in a 2 day span. She was brave though... hardly cried.

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* Crawling is for babies! - Malia has started walking. She is getting better every day and may be running in no time!

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* Loves to say "Shhh!" - She started this down in St. George when we were trying to keep her quiet during the dinner prayer and loves to do it every chance she gets.

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* Loves to unload anything and everything. - She acts like she is on a time limit. She tries to unload the diaper bag in record time everytime. She has just found out how to open the drawers and cupboards, so she likes to unload the baggies and pots and pans.

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* Loves to look at herself on the digital camera. - Here she is mad because I took the camera to take a picture of her. She likes to carry the camera around and look at herself and then gets mad when it turns off.

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Utah State Fair 2008!

2008-09-16T12:15:00.004-06:00

We took the kids to the State fair on Saturday. It was my second time going, and I loved it.

My favorite things are....

Cotton candy

Funnel cakes

Carmel apples

Kettle corn

Enormously sized animals

The quilt show

People watching!

Here are a few pictures....

This is NO photoshop job! This is REAL! It was HUGE! While we were taking the picture a little girl (maybe 4 or 5) says, "Wow! They're going to get a lot of meat off that one!"

Ammon can get a little crazy when it's time to take pictures. I had to do a little editting of the gang signs. hahahah!

Visiting Grandma

2008-09-16T12:01:00.008-06:00

While we were in St. George we were able to stop by my Grandma's and visit her. It is always so hard to go see her because I feel like every time I go, she seems to be a lot worse from the last time. She was in good spirits though. Although... she was really worried about us making too much noise for the other residents. Which is understandable.... 15 people can be pretty noisey.

When we were ready to leave, we had the kids sing a few songs for her and we were all pretty emotional by the end. My grandma always loves a "program" and I used to think it was silly, but now I realize how much music means to her and I hope my kids love it as much as I do.

We love you Grandma!

Elections

2008-09-13T12:02:00.003-06:00

Have you registered to vote?? I just registered online. It was SO simple! Just fill in the blanks, print out the form and mail it in. This is an important election, so we all need to do our part. Please, make sure you have registered to vote. Just click HERE to go to the website.

Ammon's first day of school

2008-09-04T11:42:00.002-06:00

Ammon finally got to go to school. He has been waiting for this day since he turned 5. He thought that when he turned 5 he would automatically go into Kindergarten. So... the day after his 5th birthday he said goodbye to me in the car and said, "Okay, I'm going to go to Kindergarten now." He was pretty bummed that he had to stay in preschool a little longer.

Ammon is in all-day Kindergarten. I was a little nervous at first having him gone all day, but after yesterday... life is GREAT! He loves it. He said that he gets to "hang out" with 4th graders and eat lunch with them. He said he told them all about his xbox and he said that some of them wanted to come over and play with him. (Too bad we live so far from the school.)

Taliana's First Day of School

2008-08-26T20:42:00.007-06:00

Today was Taliana's first day of school. She has been counting down since July. She was SO excited for today, she even had all her clothes and shoes laying out ready for school. I planned to wake up early and make her a yummy breakfast for her first day, however.... I woke up late. Our power went our yesterday, so I had to reset my clock and I accidently reset it to PM, not AM (or something like that). Anyways... our morning was crazy. I went into Taliana's room and said, "Taliana, wake up! We over slept, we need to hurry." Then I went back to my room to get dressed. Less than a minute later Taliana came in completely dressed, shoes and backpack on, and she says, "okay, I'm ready... Let's go!" I had to remind her that I had to do her hair, summer was over! (I hardly did her hair during the summer. I felt there really was no need, she was just going to mess it up in 5 minutes or less). Since she got her new hair cut (thanks Shelly) I hadn't blown it out with a round brush. I felt like we should have done a dress rehersal for the first day of school. I was frantically trying to blow dry her hair with a round brush like my sister did, and for those of you who know me - I'm not that talented working with such tools for hair. Anyways... it all came together in the end. Taliana insisted on packing a lunch for the first day of school and of course... that had yet to be made. We created a somewhat healthy lunch (thank goodness the teachers don't look to carefully at the nutrition value of what makes up a "sack lunch". But... she got hers and we were out the door. (However, we were able to make a little time for a "first day of school" photoshoot! I think she wants to be America's Next Top Model.)

Taliana wanted to make sure I took a picture of her new backpack and lunch bag.

Check out her hot pink shoes! I love them!

We arrived to school right as the first bell rang. I told Taliana, "There are too many people here, I don't know if I will be able to find a parking spot to walk you into class." And Taliana replies, "It's okay mom. Can you just drop me off in the front and I will walk in by myself?" WHAT?!?! My little girl is growing up too fast. Since when does a first grader not want her mom to walk her to class??

Ammon was pretty bummed that he couldn't go to school today. He didn't think it was fair that Taliana got to go and he had to stay home.

Taliana said her first day went well. She knew a few people in her class from last year, but she said she made 3 new friends and wants to make 4 more tomorrow. She is such a social butterfly (she gets that from her dad). I am so proud of what a good girl Taliana has grown up to be so far. She is such a great example to Ammon and Malia. Thank you Taliana for being YOU!

Malia is 9 months!

2008-08-22T16:40:00.004-06:00

Wow... where was the time gone?? I can't believe Malia is 9 months old. I took her to the doctor and he said she was a VERY healthy little girl. She weighs 22 lbs 10 ounces and is 29.75 inches tall. So... 90th percentile in weight and 97th percentile in height. I am used to having tall babies, but Malia is my chubbiest. And I LOVE IT!!

Malia is still such a great baby. She is still sleeping through the night and loves her naps (some even last 4 - 5 hours long). She got her first tooth (bottom middle) about a month ago, and is getting 3 more (the other bottom middle and her vampire ones). She has taken a few steps here and there, but knows she can get around a lot faster if she crawls, so she just crawls. Malia loves to climb up the stairs. If I see her start to climb I will call her name and she just climbs faster. Then when she reaches the top she turns around and smiles her BIG smile and claps her hands. I know... her smile just melts my heart - it's too hard to get mad at her.

Taliana and Ammon are still a HUGE help with Malia. I don't know what I am going to do when they are in school all day. I know Malia is going to miss them.

Horray for Home Depot!

2008-08-22T16:20:00.004-06:00

Last night we were at Home Deopt getting our last set of blinds. (Yea, it only took us 2 1/2 years to finally buy them). Anyways.... as we were waiting for the Home Depot guy to cut the blinds down to the correct size Malia started to whine. So I unbuckled her from the cart and tried to pull her up and then realized that your foot was stuck inbetween the metal bars. I tried to pull it out but it was REALLY stuck. I don't know how she even got it in there in the first place. (If you've ever seen Malia's foot and ankle - you would know why - it's more like a "cankle"). Anyways... immediately the guy came over to the basket and tried to help us, but no luck. He said, "Let me go get a crow-bar and we can bend it and get her foot out." I was a little nervous, but I said, "okay". He was gone for about 2.3 seconds and came running back with a crow-bar. He bent the bar and it broke, but we were able to free her foot. Right after that another worker came running up the isle wondering what was going on. She said she could hear a baby crying, and wanted to make sure everything was okay. We showed her Malia's ankle and said everything was okay now. She asked us if we wanted to fill out an incident report and we declined. Then we apologized for the broken cart! I was just SO impressed with the quick response from the Home Depot workers. Way to go Home Depot!

Tate Lynn Miller

2008-08-16T09:10:00.005-06:00

I had the opportunity of going down to St. George and help my sister (Jennifer) when she had her baby. Tate Lynn Miller was born on August 8, 2008 (08/08/08). I'm never going to forget her birthday. She was 6-pounds 10-ounces 19-inches long. She is SO tiny compared to my babies. Tate is such a good baby she hardly ever cried. She is everything you'd ever hope for for a new born.

Taliana holding Tate - just two hours old.

Malia & Tate. No, Malia did not pinch Tate. We interrupted her feeding time.

Taliana and Tate - 5 days old

Ammon and Tate - he was SO careful about holding her.

We had to keep Malia away from Tate - she thought she was a little play doll.

Thank you Shelly and Alesi for all your help with my kids. It was SO nice to be able to go to Jennifer's and help and not have to worry about my kids. Sarah, thank you for the moral support. Sorry that you were sick and I hope you are feeling better.

Bow Party

2008-08-02T08:24:00.003-06:00

I am hosting an online bow party. I found this website while making my daily rounds on craigslist.com. I have found this website to be the least expensive so far. They have many different style to choose from. SUPER CUTE!! The party will be open until August 8th. They are offering you 10% off if you order during my party time. Just enter the online code: TPARTY10. Happy shopping! Click on this link to go to the party.

Thank you.

Babysitters

2008-08-01T10:11:00.004-06:00

So... I was just browsing craigslist.com and I came across this ad that said "Salt Lake City Babysitters available", so I decided to check it out. It referred me to a website http://www.momandbaby.info/. You can put in your zipcode and find available babysitters. So... I put in my zipcode (for those of you who know where I live - it is the ghetto zipcode), so I was just curious what would come up. The first girl really caught my eye, so I clicked on her BIO. I have to admit... I'm a little nervous to EVER call her. Take a look! (click here)

Okay... look at the picture... does it look like the picture was taken in a bar?? (I swear those are beer taps in the background). And then at the bottom of her little "bio" is says....
What makes you a fantastic, trusted, fun babysitter?
I love kids as they are mine. and when it comes to punishment in anyway i never lay a finger on the children i put them in a time out chair. HELLO! Who was talking about punishment?? That is something you bring up when you are actually interviewing for the position. Sorry Raymie... you won't be getting a call from me!

Fortunately Jason's family is so close - they are the ONLY babysitters for my kids. If they aren't available... we DON'T go out!

What are your babysitting options??

OOPS!

2008-07-28T10:29:00.004-06:00

The other day Ammon got in trouble so I sent him upstairs to his room for a time-out. Later I went upstairs to put a load of laundry in and I found Ammon alseep at the top of the stairs. Oops! I completely forgot that I had sent him to time-out.

Has this ever happened to you??

We are up and running again!

2008-07-28T10:22:00.003-06:00

So... my sweet neighbor has been working on my computer for the past week. However, he wasn't able to do anything about my hard drive. I completely over-rode my hard drive. But he was able to save me much mula. I have learned from this experience though... I know to trust my instincts when I feel like I should back-up my files, especially my picutres. He told me of a website I could go to where they house my files, up to 2 gigs. It is FREE. So... I share my new information with you. The website is called mozy.

**funny thing... I was just browsing through a few files and guess what?? I found a huge file of pictures. WOO HOO!!

Spending time with cousins

2008-07-08T14:21:00.004-06:00

Taliana had to opportunity to stay with my brother (Todd) and his family in St. George for a week. She was spoiled by her Auntie Alesi and loved every minute of it. I know she had a blast playing with her cousins. We noticed that she turned at least 3 shades darker since she was down there. (she was blessed with GREAT skin - she tans in about 5 minutes. We all know she didn't get that great skin from me!) Taliana has been home for 2 days and is already asking when she can go back down and stay with Uncle Todd and Auntie Alesi. We'll see!

Here is Taliana showing her tricks.

Lomani and Taliana

Talmage, Lavenia, Taliana and Lomani

Taliana and Lavenia

Taliana, Lavenia and Talmage

the big CRASH!

2008-07-08T13:34:00.002-06:00

Well... it finally happened. I swore it would never happen to me.... but it did! My computer crashed last week. I had a feeling all week long that I should really back up my files on my computer just in case anything happened. But of course I kept putting it off and putting it off. I had 3 years of pictures I had saved on my computer. Some have been saved on discs, but there were hundreds that I never put on discs. I knew this day would come. Doesn't everyone have a computer crashing experience?? I'm not upset that my computer crashed (I mean, it's just a computer), I'm just so mad at myself that I didn't back up my files, like I should have. Oh wells! I guess I will know for future experiences.

**Side note..... I have been getting a strong feeling of preparing our family food storage. Maybe I should act on the feeling and DO IT!! (Maybe this computer experience was preparing me for future disasters. hmmmmm. ) So far we have top ramen and canned tomatoes. We can live off that right??

Can I PLEASE catch a break??

2008-06-23T12:41:00.002-06:00

So... Ammon has finally healed from shingles. He does have a few issues with the scabs coming off while showering and he is deathly affraid of bleeding to DEATH when they do come off, but other than that... he is back to normal.

But... on Saturday morning we noticed a few red dots on Malia. 2 on her chest and then a few on her face. I was just thinking it was a small heat rash. But yesterday.... the few dots had gotten bigger and brought their friends along for the FUN. That's right folks... MALIA HAS THE CHICKEN POX! I don't mean to complain, but.... I will anyways! I have to spend another week in my house. I just want to go out and enjoy this warm weather. Preferably near a pool. My sister, Jennifer, is on her way up from St. George to spend a week with us, and I was hoping to get a few family pictures while she was hear. Hopefully we can do a few photo-shop tricks and fix Malia's dotty friends. I'll keep you posted.

Soccer

2008-06-16T15:32:00.004-06:00

Taliana and Ammon are playing soccer. They have been begging to play for about a year now, and I finally did it. They play every Saturday until July 19th. I didn't realize this until we went to orientation and the kids were already so excited, I couldn't back out. I was just worried that it would cut into our summer traveling down to St. George, but this is what's important to Taliana and Ammon. So... we will just go down after soccer is over. (or... St. George people could come up and visit us up here. *wink wink*)

Poor Ammon

2008-06-11T11:50:00.004-06:00

I noticed a small set of blisters on Ammon's left leg on Saturday morning. By Saturday night the rash of blisters had spread to 2 LARGE patches. By Monday morning the rash had spread completely around his leg and was starting to crawl down. We took him to the doctor and he said that Ammon has SHINGLES. Can you believe it?? I thought you had to be over the age of 65 to get shingles. But no... there is a 1 in 1,000 chance that a child will get it.... and looky here.... Ammon is that ONE child. I feel so bad for him. I know they hurt him but he is being such a trooper about it. He is sad that he can't play with any friends or go swimming, but I assured him that the blisters would go away and he wouldn't even remember they were there. (Hopefully they will!)

So... please keep Ammon in mind when you are saying your prayers. There really isn't any medication we can give him besides Children's Motrin. Thank you for all your help!

Malia is 6 months old

2008-06-09T18:16:00.003-06:00

Okay... so she is almost 7 months now, but I just wanted to post some updated pictures of her.

I tried to have her hold a "6 months" paper, but she just wanted to eat it.

At her six month check-up...

**weight... 19 lbs. 13 oz. (96th percentile)

**height... 27.5 in (99th percentile) - big surpirse!

Yep... so my little baby is the size of a 14 month old. I knew it was bound to happen, but I just miss that new born stage. Malia is now crawling and is starting to pull herself up to stand. She has just started walking with the help of our hands. I'm sure we will be walking in no time. Just like Taliana did at this age. (However... Taliana was 6 months old when she started walking). Malia doesn't like to be confined in any way. She no longer enjoys the little exersaucer - unless she is standing on the outside.

We love her!Malia has been such a blessing and a joy to our family. I don't even remember what life was like without her. I guess it doesn't really matter.

'Tis the season for graduation

2008-06-09T18:07:00.004-06:00

It has been a hectic 2 weeks for us. With the end of school activities for Taliana and Ammon's classes, and traveling across the country for graduations, I'm happy to report... WE SURVIVED!

******************On My 3oth we traveled to Piqua, Ohio for Jason's nephew, David's graduation. It was fun to spend time with their family out in Ohio. We don't get to see them that often and look forward to every chance we get. (however, next time we will stay more than 24 hours.)

*********************On June 4th was Ammon's pre-school graduation and Taliana's last day of school (one day early). Later that day we hurried to the airport to catch a plane to San Francisco for Jason's neice, Victoria's graduation. (yes, this was a hurried trip as well - less than 24 hours... again.)

*****************There were several graduations in the salt lake valley as well, but after traveling so much... you can guess we were pretty burned out. But we had a blast!

For the love of reading...

2008-06-09T14:18:00.007-06:00

Okay... maybe you have noticed I haven't posted in a while. (Or maybe you haven't.... I really don't know if anyone really reads this blog). Anyways.... my sister in-law finally convinced me to read the "twilight" series.

I know, I know... I am probably the last one around to finally jump on the bandwagon and read the books. But... WOW! It has been such good reading that I haven't been able to put it down. Yes, even my husband is getting a little jealous of Edward Cullen. Oh wells! However... Jason has been very patient with me for the past 3 weeks. The house and laundry has been lacking my attention since I started reading. Thank you Jason for all your help around the house.

For those of you who have not yet expericened the Twilight series... you are missing out.

happy happy birthday

2008-05-15T11:20:00.014-06:00

As you can see May is a busy month for birthdays in our family. I have missed a few, so I just wanted to post a little something about them.

May 1st - Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Alyssa is my "best-cousin". We are just 5 months apart. It was so much fun growing up and I am so happy we have remained close. (now if we could just figure out a good day to get together. It's hard to arrange a time because we both are "one car" families and we have to coordinate with our hubands.)

We love you Alyssa!

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May 8th - Happy Birthday Peter!

(aka Pete)

This is Pete at his graduation last year. He is now playing football at Ball State.

We are so proud of you!

Taliana woke us up at 6am on his birthday so she could call and sing him "happy birthday". That is her "prince", and of course she is the "princess".

We love you Pete!

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May 12th - Happy Birthday Tana!

(aka Montana)This picture was taken last year at Tana's dance competition.

This was Tana's birthday last year. She has grown so much over the past year.

We love you Tana!

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May 15th - Happy Birthday Lavenia!

(aka La)

Here is La posing with her sister, Keiki.

This is La's first time driving a bumper boat. She did a great job soaking her sister. Thanks for coming and staying with us last summer. Can't wait for this summer. This time you need to bring Tana with you so we can have a REAL party.

We love you La!

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Mother's Day Adventures

2008-05-13T09:18:00.005-06:00

Okay.... get ready for a LONG post.

Jason really out did himself this year for Mother's Day. He was gone all day Saturday out running "errands". Jason got home around 5pm, and that is when it all started...

Taliana hands me a paper that reads....

Happy Mother's Day!

Your day of adventure and excitement has just begun! You are on a tight schedule and no one must know your where abouts! You will be doing the following.......

#1... Pack your bag, you're going far far far away! Notice "you're" meaning, only YOU! So hurry there is not much time. You may pack swimming clothes if you like. However, I know you just got your hair done. Nevertheless, no questions asked. Go pack your bags. All prior obligations will be taken care of by me! Act as if you're going somewhere special and you may need to shave your legs or even paint your toe nails etc etc etc. Remember no questions asked. Pack wisely! Time of disappearance undisclosed.

So... I tried to pack what I thought would be okay, but there was not much information and Jason would not give me any clues, so I just shaved my legs and packed my swimming suit and a change of clothes.

#2... You will go to Moki's as scheduled, however you will leave at 7:45pm no later no earlier. We will provide transportation.

Jason's mom took all the girls to Moki's for dinner for Mother's Day. I was only able to spend a little time with them before Jason picked me up promptly at 7:45pm. In the car, Jason handed me an envelope with a singing card and multiple envelopes with numbers on them. I was instructed to follow the numbers and I could not open the next until the task was finished.

#3... Welcome to your day of rest and relaxation! You will drop your bags off in your room, rm 1201, you must use your card to access the 12th floor. And immediately head for the gateway mall. Drop your bags in the hallway of the room. NO PEAKING!!

Jason dropped me off at the Marriott city-center. The NICEST Marriott in the city. I knew I was going to be staying in a nice room when I found out I had to use the key to access the floor in the elevator. When I got on the 12th floor, the presidential suite was just of the elevators on the right. My room was just down the hall from there. It was a King Suite. It was at the corner of the hotel, so it over looked the salt lake valley and the east mountains. It was a beautiful room. Once in the hallway of the room, I opened the next envelope.

#4... Your movie starts at 8:30pm, with a 10 minute leeway, so hurry and don't be late. You may catch trax or walk. But don't be late. Open #5 after the movie.

So... off I went to catch trax to the gateway. There was a ticket stub in the envelope. The movie title read, What Happens. When I got to the movie theater, I saw that the movie was "What Happens in Vegas". I have been dying to see that movie so I was really excited. I was hoping Jason would be there waiting for me so we could watch it together. But... he wasn't. So instead I had to crawl over 6 couples so I could get to my seat (we have assigned seating at the movies now). It was a little embarrassing having to crawl over those people just so I could sit alone in between several other couples. The movie was SO hilarious! It is a MUST see. I will just leave it at that. I hate to hear other people's interpretation of movies, so I will let you decide how you liked it. After the movie was over, I headed outside and opened the next envelope.

#5... You must find your way back, be careful don't stay out too late. Catch trax or walk, you will be okay. Upon arrival to the room, there will be 6 items in the room to find. The flower is last to read! I repeat, flower is last. So don't cheat!

I was too excited to stay out and walk around the gateway, so I hurried back to the hotel to find my hidden treasures. In the room he had hidden a few gifts with notes attached to them. Here were the notes.... The best mother while shopping must stop and get a luxury manicure/pedicure. Appointment is at 1 o'clock sharp. (A gift certificate to H2O salon). Sorry Mom, we knew you wanted to sleep in, however these tickets are only good until 9am! Thanks for everything. (A coupon for free breakfast buffet - It was so yummy!) A good mother deserves to shop for herself, so have at it. Thanks for all you do! (gift cards for Old Navy and Gap). The "best" mom must have some cash while she shops! You're the best! (cash for shopping). A great wife cannot be walking around without a pair of shoes! We love you! (gift card to Famous Footwear). Happy Mothers cannot be complete without flowers! Only for such a great person! (flowers).

#7... Your schedule is tight tomorrow. But here are the important times to remember! 9:00am - must eat before then. 1:00pm - H2O salon. 4:00pm - pick up time or when you call!

On the last envelope I was instructed to open on Sunday morning.

#8... Have fun shopping, and we hope you relax and take this time for yourself! Enjoy and have a blast! Go be yourself, treat yourself, and don't worry about a thing! We love you!

It was SO nice to be able to relax in the hotel room by myself, but I did get a little lonely. So... at 7:30am I called Jason to have him come and bring the kids and go swimming with me. Plus, I am still nursing Malia so I HAD to feed her. I felt like I was going to explode with milk everywhere. I went downstairs and had breakfast by myself and read a book that I had brought along with me. It was nice to just relax and eat breakfast and read. I didn't have to worry about getting plates of food for the kids. I only had to worry about MYSELF! Jason came with the kids and we went swimming for a few hours then I had to get ready for my day of shopping and pedicure/manicure. I started out at H2O salon. I have never had a professional pedicure before, so it was awesome. I sat in a chair that gave me a back massage while I got my feet worked on. After that I headed down to Old Navy to get a few things. After a few hours, I was all shopped out and ready to get back to reality. I will admit it was really hard for me to only shop for MYSELF! I had to make myself only look in the women's section. I wouldn't allow myself to go look in the kids section or the mens, because I knew I would end up spending my money buying something for my kids. I always feel guilty when I buy myself stuff when I know that my kids could use clothes too. They are in need of summer clothes. Sorry kids...maybe next time.

It was an amazing time. I loved all the surprises. Thank you Jason for all your hard work. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for being such an awesome husband and amazing father.

Sorry ladies... this man is taken!

Okay... now I need help in planning Father's Day. Any suggestions???

Quote of the day

2008-05-07T08:54:00.013-06:00

I found this quote while doing my usual morning routine of "surfing da net". Thought I would share it with you.
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"When my husband comes home, if the kids are still alive, I figure I've done my job." -Rosanne Barr

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Have any of you had days like this?? Sometimes I will leave the kids (Taliana and Ammon) with Jason and go to St. George for a few days just so he can re-appreciate all that I do. hahahah

I work tonight at Potterybarn Kids and I am just counting down the hours till I get to go to work. (Is the mean??) I love it because I get four hours of "girl time". Even though I am making beds and setting the floor with the new product, I still love having time with grown-ups. That makes me appreciate my time home with the kids.

happy happy birthday

2008-05-06T11:00:00.004-06:00

Today is my sister (Jennifer)'s birthday. She is 2 and a half years older than me. We used to fight when we were younger. Which I'm sure is like most syblings. But now that we've grown up (and matured) we have become great friends. I can honestly say that she is my best friend. She is the one I can call at any time to talk or get advice. I know she will always be there for me. I love her so much. Happy Birthday Jennifer!

vampire

2008-05-05T18:47:00.001-06:00

Ammon got these teeth from a birthday party on Saturday. He already has plans for his Halloween costume.

weekend rituals

2008-05-05T16:00:00.003-06:00

If you've ever come to visit us for the weekend, you know that I LOVE to make breakfast. However, it is only a weekend thing though. Unless we are out of milk for cold cereal on school mornings, then I will make pancakes.

Sunday morning Taliana and Ammon wanted Pancakes for breakfast. They usually beg for crepes, so I jumped at the opportunity to make pancakes. It's just quicker. However, we didn't have anymore instant pancake mix, so I googled homemade pancakes. There were a few great recipes to choose from, but of course I found the best one submitted by Martha Stewart called Best Buttermilk Pancakes. Just a little tip I got from my friend Amy... if you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can just add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to every 1 cup milk needed. We love to find different toppings for our pancakes and crepes, but this is Jason's favorite.... strawberries and whipped cream. Very yummy!

happy happy birthday

2008-05-05T15:36:00.009-06:00

Yesterday was Eveline's birthday (Jason's mother). We planned a SURPRISE birthday dinner for her at Jason's brother's house. But when you have over 30 people coming, trying to keep it a surprise is a REAL struggle. It was all good though.

I just wanted to tell Eveline how much I love and appreciate all that she does for our family. Both her and her husband has sacrificed so much for their children. (Just a little background information....) They moved over from the Islands of Tonga in the early 1970s. Her husband (Petelo) first came, then she came with the children (8 total - 5 were theirs and 3 were her syblings.) Her mother (Jason's grandmother) died of a heart attack when she was 49 years old, leaving behind young children, the youngest being jut 4 months old. Eveline is the eldest of 12 children, so she raised the youngest 4 syblings along with her 8 children. They didn't have much for their children, but they were raised with LOVE (and I guess that's all you really need.) Eveline didn't speak much English, but she learned most of it from watching Sesame Street with the kids and helping them with their homework.

Eveline would drop everything to help ANYONE. I have to say... I've dropped a few things on her at times (like deciding to make an Easter dress at 10pm the night before Easter.) She is an amazing seamstress. She can create anything. When she made Taliana's Easter dress a few years ago, that was the first time she has actually used a pattern. I wish I had those talents.

Eveline has 34 grandchildren and has a great relationship with each one. She makes each grandchild feel so loved.

Ofa Atu!

**The picture is of Eveline and Doug (Jason's mother and brother)**

happy happy birthday

2008-05-05T14:03:00.007-06:00

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my sweet sister in-law (more like sister though) SARAH. I love you so much and I so much appreciate all that you do for our family. I am so proud of you and the mother you've become.

For those of you who don't know... Sarah and Sean adopted my other brother (Jeff)'s baby, Ashton. They had less than 12 hours notice that they would be taking temporary custody of this little baby. Sarah jumped into the role of mother overnight. It seemed all natural for her. (Which I'm sure came from the wonderful upbringing of her parents.) Motherhood is something I struggle with everyday. I admire you Sarah!
My favorite thing about Sarah is her LOVE for Coke. I don't know what she would do if there was ever a shortage. She may have to fill up those drums with coke as part of her food storage. Like the ones you would fill up with water. I will admit though.... I love it when her and Sean comes to visit because that gives me the excuse that I can have coke products in my fridge. (if you know my husband at all you would know how much he despises "that" stuff).

**thank you sarah for letting me use your picture from your blog.**

Just call her Cinderella!

2008-04-30T13:50:00.005-06:00

I don't know what is up with Taliana, but she is OBSESSED with cleaning lately. It all started when my mom came up Monday night to visit and watch Taliana's dance performance at her school. We had to HURRY and clean Ammon's room and the bathroom. (If you know me... I am a procrastinator when it comes to cleaning. I just feel that I clean much better when I have a 30 minute deadline.) Both Taliana and Ammon BEGGED to help me clean the bathroom. I wasn't about to PASS that up! So... they took turns spraying the fabuloso. (THE best cleaning tool! Every household needs a bottle.) I don't know if they were actually loving the fact that they were cleaning or getting a chance to spray. Either way... I loved the help.

Taliana started cleaning the windows yesterday. Of all the things she could have done, she wanted to clean the windows. But... of course I let her. Later she asked me... "Mom, can we play house?? You be the mom and I'll be your MAID." Yep... we had fun playing. I was able to sit on the couch and feed Malia while Taliana walked around with her list of things to clean. Thanks Taliana!

*** Thank you mom (aka Grandma Randee) for coming up to watch Taliana's dance performance. It really meant a lot to have you here.***

Quilt Giveaway!

2008-04-25T20:16:00.004-06:00

If you love quilts, quilting, or just love cute things then you for sure want to be a part of this online quilt giveaway. Just mention I sent you.

**Thanks Eliza!**

Family

2008-04-23T09:18:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to post a few more pictures of my St. George trip.

This is me and my sisters. Look how cute Jennifer's belly is!

Alesi is concentrating hard at the word scramble game.
Malia and Alva. They are just 2 weeks apart. They are both growing so fast they've already passed the 12 month clothes.

Generations

2008-04-23T09:06:00.006-06:00

This is 4 generations of my family. I thought it was pretty cool for Malia's scrapbook.

Drake Bell

2008-04-23T08:27:00.006-06:00

Instead of driving 4 hours to St. George I flew down. However, I flew on United so I had to fly to LA and then to St. George (4 and a half hours total). Why, you ask?? Because it was FREE!

Anyways... while I was on the flight from LA to St. George I was talking to the guy next to me. I noticed he was with 5 other guys so I was curious why he was going to St. George (of all places). He said that he was doing a "show" (aka... a concert). I asked him, "Whats the name of your band?" He said, "Drake Bell. He's the singer." And I just said, "Oh, okay." I asked, "Do you guys travel a lot for your shows??" He replies, "We've mainly toured on the east coast and midwest. We haven't really done a lot of shows on the west coast." I just said, "Oh, that's cool." Then I over heard his friends talking and one said that he went to music school with Norah Jones and then his really good friend is Charolette (a back-up singer for American Idol). I was thinking... "these guys must be really well known to know these type of people." So the rest of the flight I was trying to think of a way I could tell them about my brother, Sean. Since they were going to be playing in St. George, I was thinking it was going to be a little show or something. Anyways... when we got off the plane, we just said our goodbyes and good luck. When Jennifer came to pick me up I asked her if she has ever heard of Drake Bell and her eyes just got big. I pointed to the guys and she said, "Remember Drake and Josh on TV??" I said, "Yea, that is Taliana's favorite show." Jennifer said, "That is Drake!" I could NO believe that I didn't know who he was. So... I went over the the guy I talked to on the plane (he plays base and does back-up singing) and said, "I am so sorry. I didn't even realize who you were. Can I get a picture of you guys with my niece??" And they did. They were awesome! Then he asked, "do you want me to put your name down?" I was thinking he would just do a shout-out, so I said, "yea. It's Montana Miller." Then he asks, "how many tickets should I put down." Once again I acted stupid. I didn't realize he was giving us tickets. I'm sure he thought I was the biggest ditz. Anyways... Jennifer, Tana, Sarah and Ashton went to the concert. They said it was pretty good. (I would have loved to go, but I didn't have the excuse of taking a child to the concert.) Maybe next time.

Drake Bell is the one that is standing behind Tana (with the glasses on). The guy I sat by is the one with the black jacket on, holding the guitar.

Baby Shower

2008-04-22T13:25:00.006-06:00

Last weekend my sisters (including sister in-laws) and I gave a baby shower for my nephew's wife, Camille. We had it in Shelly's newly remodeled back yard. It was a great day (excluding the nasty gusts of wind). I just wanted to post a few pictures. My sister, Jennifer, and I planned all the food. We had SO much fun planning and we weren't totally realistic about the time and effort it would take. But as I was telling Camille, "we are over achievers."

Instead of serving the regular boring fruit tray, Jennifer thought it would look prettier if we created a bouquet of fruit. If you've ever seen an "edible arrangement" before, this is where we got the idea. We (Jennifer, Alesi and I) cut the fruit shapes. We used a cookie cutter to cut the pineapple into daisy shapes and I free handed cut the honeydew into tulips. (You kind of have to use your imagination when you look at the honeydew) It was fun. But the true talent came from Jennifer who actually arranged the bouquet. I have no skill or creativity when it comes to that so I just assembled what she told me and she arranged it in the basket. There is styrofoam in the bottom of the basket and the fruit is stuck on skewers. Then the skewers are stuck into the styrofoam. The coverage on the bottom is shredded green and purple cabbage. I loved how it turned out and HAD to take a picture.Jennifer, Sarah and I went in together on our presents for Camille. I love to go in on presents because you can give more than just something little. So... we gave her a diaper cake and some burp cloths made from cloth diapers. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the burp cloths. But I did get a picture of the diaper cake. If you've never made one, you are missing out. It is the BEST present to give. Every new mother needs diapers. But it's boring to just give the bag, so have fun with it. You can put anything around it to embellish it. Sarah just got a few little things from Camille's Target registry and we put them around. Super cute!
Shelly and Robert just added an outdoor kitchen in their back yard. My brother, Travis, built it. I wish I would have taken more detailed pictures of it, because this picture does NOT give it justice. Also, my brother, Sean, built these metal doors for the cupboards. (sorry no picture) I will take some the next time I am down and then post them. So... check back.

Catching up...

2008-04-14T02:18:00.004-06:00

This has been a hectic week with school field trips, Art Night and Birthday parties. Not to mention... major computer problems. We upgraded our modem to a wireless modem because we had a $400 credit on our phone bill (I'll explain later) so I figured... why not. Well, that was a HUGE mistake. It has been nothing but a headache ever since we got it. When I downloaded the new software, it crashed my internet. But... after 4 days, 10 hours and talking to a total of 7 people (on the phone and chatting online) the problem is finally solved. Did you know you can restore you computer?? Yea... I didn't know that and THAT was the trick I needed to know. Anyways... here we are.... Hope you enjoy these new posts.

Craziness

2008-04-14T02:07:00.008-06:00

Okay... I now know where my kids get it from. While I was slaving away in the kitchen today making a NICE birthday dinner for Ammon. Here is what Jason and the kids were doing.....

Birthday dinner

2008-04-14T01:49:00.006-06:00

We let our kids pick where they want to eat lunch and dinner on the day of their birthday. Because Ammon's birthday was Sunday this year, we went out on Saturday night and then I made dinner at our house and invited Jason's mom over to eat with us.

I asked Ammon where he wanted to go to dinner. He said "McDonalds!" I told him we should pick something nice and he replies, "Taco Bell?" I was hoping for Applebees, Chilis, or Olive Garden... anything but McDonalds. So... you guessed it.... we ended up at McDonalds for Ammon's birthday dinner.

The Paperbag Princess

2008-04-14T01:15:00.004-06:00

Taliana's Kindergarten class performed at their school Art Night Fundraiser. I love her school. They have so many art programs (Singing, Music, Dance) that not every school has to opportunity of having. In Taliana's dance class, the kids made up a story and dance. It was called The Paperbag Princess. It was about a princess and the stuck-up prince. It was fun to watch her dance. She loves to dance and sing. They also sang that night and of course.... Taliana was the loudest one singing.

Ammon is 5!

2008-04-14T01:06:00.003-06:00

It's the day we've all been waiting for.... Ammon finally turned 5 years old! Ammon's actual birthday as Sunday, but you know how it is with a sunday birthday... it is celebrated all weekend long. He has been in heaven. On Saturday we had his birthday party. (This year was Ammon's year to have a friend birthday party.) We went to Classic Fun Center. They had an area that had like 7 bounce houses and a jungle jim in it. A perfect place to entertain 10 5-year-olds. We had pizza, drinks, cake and ice cream. We were assigned a party hostess that took care of us during the party. PERFECT! If any of you are wondering where to go for your next party.... Classic Fun Center is the place. Here are a few pictures from the party.... Ammon blowing out his candles on his "Darth Vader" birthday cake. Okay... I think Ammon's had WAY too much sugar! Ammon and his friends from his class. (can my son have a normal face in a picture for once??)

Kindergarten Field Trip

2008-04-14T00:58:00.007-06:00

Taliana had her first Kindergarten field trip this week. They went to Wheeler Farm. Jason and I went along as "mommy" and "daddy" helpers. This was Taliana first time riding on a school bus. She was SO excited. The weather wasn't the best for going to the farm, but the school had already arranged the date and was unable to change it, so we went anyways. The kids didn't mind the cold. They were too busy running around looking at all the animals. Wheeler Farm was getting ready to plant their crop for the summer, so they had all the cow manuer in the field ready to plow. The kids got a real kick out of knowing that they put cow "poop" on the dirt to make their plants grow. GROSS!

Feeding Time

2008-04-14T00:42:00.005-06:00

Malia is very much enjoying solid foods. Her favorite foods are peas, bananas, and applesauce (after gagging on it the first few bites). And lets not forget the RICE CEREAL! The smell makes me sick, but she seems to be in heaven while eating it. She still has to wash each bite down with her thumb. She will take a bite of the food then suck on her thumb for a bit then let go and wait for another bite. It's nice because then I can cook and do the dishes while she is snacking on her thumb in between bites. (Check out the "pig tails". Her hair is getting so long on the top I am going to have to do the comb-over like I did with Taliana.)

I can't believe how fast Malia has grown up these past few months. She is now 5 months old. She is learning to sit up, and has almost mastered it. She only likes to sit up during bath time now. Which is nice, but she LOVES to splash! Which means the bathroom gets a nice wipe down when she is done. I guess that is her efforts in helping me clean the bathroom. Thanks Malia!

My blog madeover...

2008-04-01T22:25:00.002-06:00

My sister in-law's sister (Emily) redesigned my blog. Doesn't it look way cute?? I totally love it. Thank you so much Emily.

Busted!

2008-04-01T14:11:00.002-06:00

Okay... I totally got busted last night. Jason had to work at the airport last night (9pm-1am). When he left, I read the kids their night time book and put them to bed (around 8:45pm - it was a late night... my kids are still adjusting from Spring Break). Anyways... I came downstairs to check my email and then I was going to head to bed. I decided to post a few blog entries while I was at it. Then I looked at a few other blogs. Then I found a TON of other blogs to look at. I can't believe how many people have blogs. There were a ton of people from St. George so I just browsed through theirs. I was so consumed with the blogs that I didn't even realize what time it was, until I heard the front door open. Jason came home from work. Ahh! He asked how long I had been on the internet and I said, "just since 9pm." I know... I know... 4 hours! This thing is just so adicting. I'm really going to have to control myself. :)

Family Home Evening

2008-03-31T22:08:00.011-06:00

I asked Taliana what she wanted to do for Family Home Evening tonight and she said she wanted to play with my hair and put earings in my ears. I was too tired and my hair was in a bun, so I told her to find something else to do. Jason said, "you can play with my hair." So.... she did.... Ammon even had fun doing it as well.

Can you notice the earings, too??

The DI shopper

2008-03-31T21:57:00.003-06:00

Okay... so since my dad has retired he loves to go shopping. His favorite place to shop is the D.I. (Deseret Industries). He comes home weekly with a car load of "good deals". My brother, Sean, teases him because my dad will go and buy bikes for all the grandchildren to ride when they are at his house. However, what my dad doesn't know is that Sean will take a load of his "good deals" back to the DI. Sean says my dad has bought this one particular bike 3 (three) times. HAHAHA! We still love you dad!

When we were down in Gunlock last weekend my dad had just purchased a wheelchair from you know where.... the DI of course! My kids thought that was the coolest thing ever and played most of the day with it. My dad saw them and said, I was at the DI yesterday and I saw another wheelchair there and it was only $15. By the time I thought about what a "good deal" that was I turned around and it was gone. He said he looked all over the place and couldn't find it. He was bummed. He said, "it would have been fun for the grandkids to have wheelchair races with." However... if you've ever been to my parents house... they live on five acres and they don't have any paving in their drive way. It is just gravel. So I was thinking.... the only place the grandkids could "race" the wheelchairs would be on the main road. Can you imagine what a sight that would be?? I'm sure the people of Gunlock would be thinking.... "great, there goes those crazy Taylor grandkids again." Hmmm.

Monday mornings

2008-03-31T21:54:00.002-06:00

I went to wake up Taliana this morning for school. I knew it was going to be hard to get up this morning because she has spent the past week staying up late and sleeping in. So I wasn't surprised when she started to cry. After a minute or two she sat up and said, "Mom, you wrecked-ed my dream." I couldn't help but laugh and that just made her even more mad.

Reality Check!

2008-03-31T21:38:00.003-06:00

Okay... spring break is over and Taliana and Ammon are back in town. Malia and I flew down to St. George Wednesday night and then Jason drove down Thursday afternoon. It was nice to get away from the cold weather of Salt Lake, but the weather wasn't as warm down in St. George as I had hoped it to be. At least it was warmer that Salt Lake City. (My parents live in Gunlock, so my kids get mad when I say we are going to St. George when we are actually going to Gunlock. BIG difference!) It was fun to spend time with my family. Taliana and Ammon always love to go down to St. George. Ammon started crying when we were getting ready to leave. He said he wants to live in Gunlock forever. But he wanted me to go to Salt Lake and pack up his room and move it down to Gunlock so he could live in it there. It was funny.

We drove back last night and went through the WORST snow storm I've been in this winter. We hit snow around Beaver and then fog the rest of the way home. We had to stop in Filmore so I could feed Malia. So in all.... it took us 5 and a 1/2 hours. Jason was so frustrated by the time we got home he didn't even say a word. He likes to speed home and try to make record time every time we drive down and back. He usually won't even stop for bathroom breaks, but with a new baby he gives me 15 minutes to feed and change the diaper and then we are on our way.

So... I was hoping for warmer weather... and I woke up to 5 inches of snow all over the place. Jason was tired from driving so he slept in with Malia and I took the kids to school. Usually I won't drive in the snow, but I felt bad for Jason. So I was brave and drove the kids to school... going 25 miles and hour on the freeway of course. Taliana commented on the way to school, "Mom, you are going way too slow. Dad never lets this many cars pass him." Yea, Jason doesn't like it when anyone passes him. hahaha

Freedom Continued....

2008-03-26T12:11:00.003-06:00

So... Taliana and Ammon have been gone for 48 hours now. In that time I have managed to sit on the couch, clean their rooms, make their beds, sit on the couch, do laundry, take a long awaited nap, browse the world wide web. Did I mention I sat on the couch?? Jason and I even went on a "date". Of course we took Malia with us. I think the last time we went out together without the kids was well over 7 months ago. So... it was much needed. I worked at Pottery Barn Kids Monday night, Tuesday night and this morning. We got our new summer bedding. Some of it is cute and some is "what were they thinking when they designed this?". You'll have to look for yourself and tell me what you think. I mainly saw the boys bedding because we did boys rooms the two nights we were there. The Safari bedding is the one I do not like. Anyways... back to my blogging.... I love coming home after working floorset at PBK because it puts me in the mood to clean and organize my house. I have an art closet for my kids that I keep stocked with art supplies so they can play anytime they want. However, it is the messiest closet and hard to maintain. I bought some "organizing" boxes to hopefully help with that problem. We will see. I'll keep you posted.

FREEDOM!

2008-03-24T12:22:00.003-06:00

Taliana and Ammon are on their way down to St. George for 4 (four) days. WOO HOO! Since Sean and Sarah were up here, they ended up taking them back down with them. My loving sister in-law, Alesi, is going to watch them for the 4 days until we go down. I am hoping that during these next 4 days I will have a chance to regain my sanity. I didn't think it was that hard having a third child because Malia is such an angel. It's the two older kids that have been giving me a hard time. Well.... Taliana has been such a great helper with Malia, so I know I will miss her help. But Ammon... he really needs time away from me so he can appreciate me again. hahaha. Plus, he needs to spend time with his cousin Talmage. Ammon needs boy time. He just hangs out with us girls all day. I am excited for them. They have been on a count down for the past 2 weeks since I had arranged this. Thank you Alesi. Remember though... I get your kids for a week during the summer. All FOUR of them.

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T11:56:00.009-06:00

I hope you all had a good Easter. I was SO lucky to have my brother (Sean) and his wife (Sarah) and their kids (Ashton and Alva) here with us for Easter. Sean was up for the weekend to do a show, so Sarah came up to watch it. It was nice to have family come up and visit. It doesn't happen that often, so I get really excited when it does. The kids woke up around 8am (which is "sleeping in" at our house). The kids went through their Easter baskets and then I made my dad's special squaw corn and tried a new recipe for Monkey Bread. It was really yummy! We all went to sacrament meeting together and then later on in the day we went to Jason's mom's house for dinner. We had a really fun day. Thank you Sean and Sarah for staying with us an extra day and sharing Easter with us. We love you!

Here are some fun photos from Easter....

Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman(s)

2008-03-21T15:06:00.004-06:00

My nephew, Ashton, slept over last night. He brought his Spiderman Nerf set for him and Ammon to play with. They were in heaven.

Discovery Gateway

2008-03-21T14:28:00.017-06:00

Jason's missionary companion and his family were in town for their spring break, so we took all our kids to Discovery Gateway. If you haven't had to chance to go yet... it is well worth your time and money. (It is pretty pricey.)

The top two photos were taken at the Planetarium. It was FREE! I love free activities.

Here is Ammon and his friend Ben playing in the water area. This was their favorite place to play. It kept them occupied for more than an hour. We had to talk them into going upstairs for MORE adventures. We eventually made our way back to the water though.

Okay... I know this was for the kids... but I had so much fun building a Jet Fighter (from star wars) that I was really sad when the kids destroyed it to make their own.

They have a grocery store where the kids can play. Taliana loved working at the check-out stand and ringing people up.

Malia loved watching all the kids play.