Girls will be Girls

For Thanksgiving we went out to Mike's grandparents in Tooele. We attempted to get some pictures of Makenzie and her two cousins, Lucy and Meg, but as you will see these girls did NOT want their picture taken. There is not one single good picture where they are all smiling or even looking at the camera. It's pretty funny. There wasn't anything we could do either to change their minds about having the pictures taken. Ah.... girls will be girls.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2
Attempt #3
Attempt #4
Attempt #5
Attempt #6

Tagged

So I've been tagged -actually it was quite a while ago that Jeff "tagged" Mike and I. I guess this means I have to write 6 facts or habits of mine and then tag 6 other people. So here goes:
1) I love to organize!! I hate clutter. Every once in a while I get in an organizing mood and will organize all of our closets or drawers or shelves. When I was in New York City this summer, I loved organizing all of Maline and Alan's closets and kids shelves. I don't know why but I just love the feeling when everything is where its supposed to be.

2) I eat way too fast. I blame it completely on being raised in a big family with 4 brothers who ate as fast as they could. If I didn't join them, I wouldn't have gotten anything to eat growing up. It doesn't bother me that much, except when other people notice or when I make a really nice dinner that takes me an hour or two to make and then only 10 minutes for Mike and I to finish eating. I will admit- I do love food though, especially chocolate and brownies. In fact I work out just so that I can eat what I want .

3) I don't like slow drivers. I don't mind if they are going the speed limit but when they are going like 10 mph less than the speed limit for no apparent reason, I mean... c'mon people. I do like to drive a bit on the fast side although I have slowed down immensely since I've had kids. I used to always be speeding. I also hate when people are going extra slow in the fast lane and won't move to the other lanes even though there is no one in them. I know, this might be a little harsh. But it's just how I feel. Fast lane is for fast cars.

4) My least favorite chore is grocery shopping. It seems to always be a 2 hour ordeal. First you have to go to the store and go up and down every single aisle (I always have my kids with me too which means it takes twice as slow). Then you have to checkout and buy everything. Then you have to tote everything to your car and then carry it into your house and then finally put everything away. By the time I'm done, I'm usually so exhausted that I don't want to go again for another week or two.

5) My favorite book is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I'm sure most of you have read it and if you haven't, shame on you. I am in love with Edward, the vampire. We read it for book club about a year or so ago and there were those of us who absolutely loved it and some that really didn't. Apparently, their Edward isn't as good looking as my Edward. I am anxiously awaiting for the 4th book in the series to come out. Unfortunately, it won't be coming out until August of 2008. My second favorite book is These is my Words, by Nancy E. Turner.

6) My favorite movies are Field of Dreams, Pride and Prejudice (the new one), and the Notebook.

I am tagging Jodi and Jaclyn from work, my sister-in-law Angie, my brother Jon, and my friend Alyssa.

"Because I have a brain"

The other day Tyler asked if he could sit in the front seat of the car instead of in his booster seat. I told him no and that he had to wait until he was older. He wanted to know how old (he's always asking for the details) and I told him- "I'm not sure.. maybe 8 or 10 years old." His reply, "And when I'm 12 I get to the priesthood" . I was pretty shocked- because it was pretty off the topic and because I know I've never talked to him about it so I said, "Wow! How did you know that?"

"Because I have a brain, Mom".

Pretty good reasoning if you ask me. What a silly boy!

White Christmas

As much as I love this warm weather that we've been having here, I just can't get into the Christmas mood yet. I think that mostly it's because of the lack of any snow. We haven't even received one flake yet at our house. Mike is already wanting to get out all of our Christmas decorations and he's listening to Christmas songs. I'm trying really hard to get into the Christmas spirit. But I just wish it would snow instead of being 66 degrees outside. And I know it's supposed to get colder but I hate it when it's cold and doesn't snow. Then it's just torture for me because I'm freezing and it's completely ugly outside. So please please-

just snow already.

Picture cRaZy!!

So I just got my pictures developed from this summer in New York City and you won't believe how many photos there were. 421!!!!!! How is it possible to take that many pictures in 12 weeks? And I did delete a lot too. Okay- I did some math and that is 35.333 pictures a week which is only a little more than 5 pictures a day. So I guess it's not all that bad. But I can't even think about how long it's going to take to scrapbook them all. YIKES!!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

So I've been working on scrapbooking my pictures from this summer in NYC and I can't help but get a little homesick for the city life. Mike is laughing at me right now too because the last two weeks there I was always complaining about how I couldn't wait to get back to Utah. And that was true. By the end of the summer I was sick of our teeny tiny apartment and the a/c unit that only worked half the time and traveling around on the subway everyday. But I don't think I ever complained about all of the things to do there. I miss our favorite spots- the Burger Joint, the Shake Shack, Riverside Walkway, Hippo Park, Central Park West, Grimaldi's (the list could go on and on). I miss the energy there. Of course I realize that I have either forgotten or minimalized all of the things I didn't like about the city since I've been back here but I still miss it. We had such an exciting summer there. It truly was an ADVENTURE. I'm thinking about planning a trip back after Mike graduates to visit Alan and Maline and relive the memories.

Staying or Going?

The other day I asked Mike to tell me what percentage he thinks we have at staying in Utah after he's done with school. Unfortunately, he said probably only 30%. I'm trying not to even think about it although I have an inkling that we will be leaving come graduation this spring. So I'm in denial now. I love it here and am so comfortable with our routine. And I love our townhome. It's the first place we've had that doesn't feel like an apartment. I feel like I could easily be happy here for another 5 years. I had to take some pictures so I can always remember it.

Ask and you shall receive

The other month I showed Mike a picture of a bench that I really liked in the pottery barn catalog. Of course we couldn't afford it so Mike suggested that he build it. The next thing I know, he's on his way to Lowe's to buy lumber and a new saw. It only took him a couple of days and now I have a spitting image of the one in the catalog. It sits under our bay window in our kitchen. Gosh, is my husband talented or what. Unfortunately, he only builds something about once every 2 years- but still..... when it turns out like this I can't help but be proud.