Happy Mother's Day to Me...

Heavenly Father has given me these 3 wonderful and handsome boys to raise and be a mother to.  I am so incredibly grateful to be a mother.  Motherhood brings so much happiness to me. Even though it is hard and challenging some days, I would never ever trade it. 

Here is one thing I love most about each of them right now...

Colton is such an incredible brother.  He looks out for Cannon and Crew and would do anything for them.  He is a great example to them and tries really hard to make good choices.  Tonight Greg asked him if he wanted to go to the Jazz game in Utah on Sunday.  He looked puzzled at Greg and said, "We can't." and Greg asked why and Colton said, "because it is on Sunday." 

Cannon is my little partner everyday.  Most days I know he is bored and most days I just drag him on errands, but he is my partner and I love that he is home with me everyday.

Crew is such a happy happy baby.  His smile melts my heart.  He is so fun to have around and I am thankful that Heavenly Father knew this baby would bring such a special spirit into our home at this time.

Thank you Heavenly Father for entrusting me with these amazing sons.  I am so thankful to be a mother!!!

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day to the greatest Mom in the whole entire world.  She is so amazing and I hope that I can be like her when I grow up!  My Mom truly has a heart of gold and would do anything for anybody.  She puts everybody before herself no matter what the situation is.  I hope you know Mom how much a look up to you and admire you.  Heavenly Father blessed me with the greatest Mom in the whole entire world!!!!  I could list a million things that I love about her, but here are a few...

-I have never heard her say anything bad about another person in my entire life.  That truly is a Christlike quality!

-She has such a strong testimony and always chooses the right!

-She is very giving.  She would give the shirt of her back to someone even if it was her last.

-She is an amazing listener.  I can tell her anything and she is definitely my sounding board.  Thanks for always being there for me.

-She is a wonderful mother, wife, and grandmother.  My kids love her so so much!

-She is an amazing cook.

I love you Mom and hope you have a Happy Mother's Day.  I wish I could be there with you to celebrate!

My Grandma was like a second Mom to me.  She was so involved in my life and supported me in all of my extra curricular activities.  I love her so much and enjoy every second I get to spend with her.  She is so funny and can truly light up a room.  She has a strong testimony and always chooses the right.  She takes her calling in the temple so serious and she has made many lifelong friends there through her calling.  She is a wonderful Grandma and Great Grandma.  Thank you for being a part of my life and always being there for me.   I love you!

This is my mother-in-law and she is also an amazing mother and grandmother.  She raised a wonderful son and I am so lucky to have him as my husband.  She is so kind and giving and has accepted me into their family with a loving heart.  I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day.  

These 3 women do so much for my family and I hope they know how much I truly love them. Thank you for all you do for me and my family.  

Happy Anniversary To Us...

May 8, 1999 @ Salt Lake Temple
Engagement Picture
Bridal Picture

October 2007
Feb. 2007

March 2008

Today is our 9th Anniversary! I wished we still looked as young as we did in our wedding picture, but I wouldn't trade our last 9 years for anything. Thanks Greg for 9 wonderful years and 3 amazing sons. You are a wonderful husband and an amazing Dad. It has gone by so fast. I still remember the day we met. It seems like yesterday. We met in a Technical Sales class at WSU and became friends right from the start. We went on our first date to an USU football game and had a great time. After that date, we were inseparable. I hope our future is filled with health, happiness, and spending lots of quality time together building memories with each other and our boys.

Here is just a few things I love about Greg

G-reg is a Hard Worker. He is so conscientious. He is a natural born salesman and gives 100% to his job everyday!

R-egulary Sarcastic (Greg is sarcastic all the time, but he sure knows how to make me laugh.)

E-njoys Watching and Playing Sports. (ESPN is always on at our house. He loves any sport and loves to watch and play them all)

G-reat Husband, Father, and Person.

School Family BBQ...

Colton's elementary school puts on a family BBQ at the end of every school year.  The BBQ was on Friday and we had such a great time!  

Quick Trip = Jazz Game

We took a very quick trip to Utah this past weekend.  Greg ended up splurging on 4 Jazz tickets to game 6 against the Rockets.  Greg was planning to go to the game with Colton, Cannon, and me, but I bailed at the last minute.  The game didn't start till 8:30 and I knew Cannon would probably be tired and whiny during the game and a new outfit was calling my name.   So, Greg sold my ticket to my brother-in-law and scalped the other ticket before the game.  Greg and Colton had an amazing time.  I am glad that Colton idolizes his dad and enjoys every second he gets to spend with him.  I am glad that they were able to go to the game and cheer on the Jazz. While they were at the game, my parents treated Cannon and me to dinner and ice cream and then we watched 27 dresses.  Saturday we woke up had breakfast, played some cards and headed home.  We did make a short detour to Maddox for lunch.  YumO!

TGIF

This week has been really crazy since I got home from LA.  I don't think I have had a spare second to breath or even just veg and watch T.V. until last night.  I laid on the couch all night and just watched T.V. and relaxed.  Hopefully we can have a great weekend.  I will try to take some sort of picture to post.  Thanks for checking in on us.  

Family Pictures, Part 2...

I am so incredibly happy with how our family pictures turned out.  Jessica Kettle @ http://lookthroughmylens.blogspot.com did them.  I love every single one and will cherish them forever.  Link to this site, and take a look.  Double click on the album called family pictures.  

Family Pictures...

We had family pictures taken a couple weeks ago and I have been dying to see a sneak peek from the photo shoot.  We had an amazing photographer from Utah.  Go here to see a few of our shoots.  I love each one already.  I can't wait to see the rest!

Conference Weekend...

We spent the weekend in Utah for Conference. We have had a wonderful and busy weekend. Friday we stopped at our favorite restaurant (Maddox) for dinner on the way to North Ogden. We had a fun dinner with our little family and then enjoyed the rest of the evening with Greg's family. Saturday we started off the day watching Conference and the Solemn Assembly. What a neat experience, as we all raised our hands in support to President Monson. I will cherish this picture of Cannon.

After the morning session, my sisters, mom, and I shopped till we dropped. Our first stop was 25th street to some cute boutiques. It was so fun. We found a darling baby boutique and couldn't help ourselves from dressing up Crew for just one cute picture.
Then we hung out at Greg's parent's house the rest of the evening. We are thankful for the words that were spoken during Conference this weekend. What a fun weekend.

Spring Break Road Trip...

Spring Break Road Trip...We decided to get the heck out of dodge and road trip it during the kids spring break from school.  The car was packed to the max and we headed to Utah for Easter weekend.  On Monday we loaded the car back up and headed for Boise.  We shopped, ate, and swam.  The weather was pretty crappy, but we still managed to have a great time.  We started Tuesday morning off with the boys wanting to swim first thing.  We headed to the mall and had an early lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  We took the kids swimming at the YMCA indoor aquatic center.  They have an amazing facility.  It had indoor diving boards, squirt fountains and a kiddie pool, indoor slide, etc.  Colton took the swim test with one of the lifeguards so he could go off the diving boards.  He had to swim both ways of an Olympic size lap pool to pass and he did a great job.  He then proceeded to jump off the high dive.  He said, "it went soooo fast."  It scared him a little bit, so we had to coax him into going one more time.  The boys loved the water slide and had a fabulous time swimming there.  We just showed up at our friends (The Johnson's house) and the boys had such a fun time playing with Adam and Luke and we had a great time catching up with Ben and Jen.  

We went to an amazing restaurant called the Rib Shack.  I am still craving the smashed potatoes and the burnt end sandwich.  YUMO!  I had to hit the Boise mall one more time before we left, so I spent Wednesday morning spending all of Greg's money, shopping till I was dropping while Greg entertained the kids in the hotel pool.  We loaded up and drove to Sun Valley.  This was the highlight of the trip.  The outdoor pool is amazing.  The water is so warm with steam raising off the water, and it is so fun to be outside in the cold weather with the amazing view of the ski resort overhead.  We swam until we were tired and ordered take out (Rocky Mountain Pizza) and ate and watched American Idol in bed.  We loved relaxing and hanging out together as a family.  Thursday morning started in the pool and ended with a late breakfast/lunch at The Kneadery.  
We then started the long treck home to unpacking and laundry.  We had a great time and hopefully this will become our new tradition.  We loved every second of it.  The best traveler award goes to Crew.  He was such a good baby the entire time.  He was in his car seat alot and he was such a trooper.  He went with the flow and was so easy to take everywhere.    

Greg's Highlight...Colton jumping off the high dive

Emily's Highlight...Everything (Food, Shopping, Family Time)

Colton's Highlight...The Kneadery, YMCA Pool, Sun Valley Pool

Cannon's Highlight...The Rib Shack, YMCA Water Slide, Sun Valley Pool

Crew's Highlight...The swimming pool in Sun Valley

Easter Weekend...

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend in Utah. It started off at The Ogden Pizzeria, our favorite pizza place and then we went to The Junction in Ogden where the boys played Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf. We went with Greg's sister Liz and her darling girls. Then Saturday, we started off the day at an amazing Easter egg hunt at Great Grandma Healy's (she is turning 96 this month) assisted living home. They put so many eggs and fun prizes up and down every hallway. My kids got so many eggs and they loved every second of the egg hunt. Then they served a wonderful brunch and we got to visit with cousins and Grandma and we had a great time. My kids also got to visit with the Easter Bunny and got their picture taken with him. I forgot my camera, so I will post pictures when I get them. Then we had a fun family party at my Mom's and an egg hunt for the little kids. We laughed a lot and played cards. Sunday we enjoyed going to church with Greg's family and ate a huge Sunday dinner with both our families. We love going to Utah and love the memories we make with each one of our family members. Thanks everyone for a Happy Easter Weekend.

Tonight our ward Relief Society went to the cannery. I brought home about 48 cans of food. I am so excited to organize my storage room this weekend and update my food storage list. I still have a long ways to go. If any of you have any great food storage tips, post a comment!

Goodbye T.V.

If you know me or read my blog, you know how much I loooove T.V. I love to crawl into bed at night and watch T.V. and unwind from the day. Well yesterday, Greg and I decided that we were sick of spending $80 a month just to watch T.V. So today Greg unhooked our cable box and DVR and drove it to Cable one and cancelled. Minutes later I was saying good-bye to T.V. They changed it that fast. We now have 4 channels. CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox. I am so sad, but I think to myself what we could spend that 1,000 a year we are paying to have T.V. on. A great vacation comes to mind. So bear with me, you might hear me complain a lot the next few weeks. I am definitely in mourning.

Disney Cruise...

I absolutely loved the Disney Cruise we went on. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I hope we get to go again someday. Everything is so kid friendly and the atmosphere and entertainment is top notch. We have gone on some amazing vacations, but I think this was my all time favorite vacation ever. I dream at night about going again. I can't wait.

Forever Friends...

When we first moved to Idaho, we had the most random experience that was the beginning of a great friendship that our family will cherish forever. My husband Greg went on splits with the missionaries one night and ended up at this couple's house. (http://web.mac.com/allisonlee/Site/Welcome.html) We were in different wards, but the same stake. Bradey was the ward mission leader in his ward and they just happened to drop in on their splits. Bradey and Ali had just moved to Idaho from Utah and Greg just clicked with them right away. A couple nights later we got together and we have been friends with them ever since. They are such a neat couple and family. We have learned many great lessons through them.
Anyways this tribute is sent to them because we had such a great time with them tonight. Ali is so talented and beautiful. Her girls are to die for cute too. O.K. Bradey I guess your pretty cool too. They sure do know how to throw a party. We had amazing food and company. Thanks for all the fun times and I hope to have many more!!!!

I Want Sunshine...

I want some sunshine or a good vacation.

Jazz Game...

This weekend we wanted to go the Jazz game soo bad. We were online most of Saturday trying to find tickets to a sold out game. I wanted good tickets so we could really enjoy the game. At the last minute, my aunt called and told us we could buy her tickets on the 4th row. Greg and I jumped at the opportunity to be so close to the action. Of course Colton wasn't going to let us go without him. I am glad we took him. He smiled the entire time. He was definitely in his element. He loves Carlos Boozer. We got to the arena and Colton had to buy a Carlos Boozer jersey before we even went to our seats. While the Jazz were warming up, he went over and called out to Boozer and pointed to his jersey. Carlos smiled and waved. Wow what a wonderful memory we made this night. Thank you so much Mindy for selling us your tickets.

Colton holding up 5 fingers for Boozer's jersey number!

Colton standing on the court

My cousin held this poster up at the previous Jazz game and got on TV and jumbo screen a ton, but I didn't have much luck, but it was still fun to hold up during the game (After all Kyle Korver is hot!)

Enjoying the game!

Colton was so excited to go into the tunnel after the game!

This is how close we were to the players! What a blast.

Quick Getaway...

A QUICK TRIP TO UTAH!!!
I was so sick of being in snowy Idaho, that I talked Greg into a quick weekend to Utah. A trip to the mall or Target just wasn't going to cut it this weekend. I needed a change of scenery. It was 50 degrees down here on Saturday. No coats, it was BEAUTIFUL. They do have so much snow though. It was like arriving in the Twilight zone. We couldn't even see the houses from the streets because the snow banks were so big from the snowplows. Friday night we went to a new restaurant in North Ogden called Boccia D'Italia. It was really yummy. My kids loved the food.

Colton said this was the best pizza he had ever eaten!

Cannon loved the Spaghetti!

Colton & Grandma

Laurel and Emily

Crew was an angel, sleeping away!

Snow Day

Today I was actually thankful to have a snow day for school. I woke up with a pounding migraine and it didn't go away until about 2:00 in the afternoon. Colton was so helpful. He got food for Cannon and him and he kept Crew happy unless he needed to eat. Thank goodness for this snow day, but now you can go away!!!

New Prophet...

What an amazing experience to hear the loving words spoken at President Hinkley's funeral and then to be able to see a new Prophet called (President Thomas S. Monson) along with a new 1st Presidency. I love to see the amazing work of our Savior's continue. What a spiritual last few days.