Here We Go!!!

We are off this evening for our vacation. We are excited! Although there has been much opposition leading up to this day, so I am hoping all will go well! We are excited to spend time with my sisters, Renae and Rhonda, my Nephew Carter and my Dad. Hopefully we don't get smoked out! :( We are heading first to......

Colby is excited to meet Dora and Spiderman, and I am a sucker for Hollywood and Pop Culture.

Our next stop is.......

We will then head South to visit.......

and.......

See you in a week! Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Colby's 4 Year Pic

He is one of the most handsome 4 year olds I know. But I am not biased.....OK, I totally am!!!

Picture of the Boys

The (Not So) Joys of Commission

I just got back from taking the boys to get their pictures taken. Carrie told me about this new place in Provo and they were having a special for a ton of pictures for only $10. I was all over that! We go and the kids were good, but it took longer than expected. They took ALOT of pictures! I sit down with the photographer to view the pictures. I tell her up front that I was only interested in doing the $10 deal, but she proceeded to show me all the vignettes, colorings and arrangements anyway. We went through all the pictures and I still tell her that I only want to do the $10 deal. She tries to show me another package that is a little less expensive and I respond with my same shpeel. She tries another avenue to sell me a ginormous package with a ginormous price tag. Again, I told her I only wanted the one pose for the $10. I think she finally saw that she wasn't going to upsell me, because her mood turned very sour. She all of a sudden was very short and got really impatient. Not OK! The pictures were really cute, and I did like the place and service up until she pulled a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde on me just because I didn't want to drop $200. Can you say Commission?? I didn't appreciate it very much. I really would like to go back, but her behavior is making not want to at the same time. I will post the picture later when I get it scanned. Why are people sometimes like that? Thanks for letting me vent!

New Hobby

Well, it's official my new hobby is.......Blogging! I love it! It is so fun to read all of your entries and see what is going on in everyones lives. But most of all to be strengthened by all of you. I love to see your wisdom, advice, struggles and excitement about life. I just want to say how much I appreciate all of you that read my blog and leave wonderful comments of encouragement. You all rock! There are some that I would not be able to easily keep in touch with, but with the blogging world, I know what is going on with you. It is a fun hobby and am glad for the friendships made and strengthened through it. SO, THANK YOU!!! Have a fabulous Wednesday everyone!!!! :-))

Pumpkins!

We got to go the pumpkin patch today for Colby's Pre-school field trip. We went on a hayride then Colby picked out his very own pumpkin. We had so much fun! Colby painted the pumpkin when we got home. Here is his masterpiece....Front

Back

Winter Already?

Yesterday we woke up to snow outside. Colby saw the snow and said, "It's Christmas!" Not quite yet, Colby. Here is a picture of our neighborhood yesterday morning! I took it a little late, so some of the snow had already melted. It was beautiful! Now today you would never have known it snowed. It is blue sky and sunshine and the snow is gone (except in the mountains).

Thank You!!

Colby was spoiled yesterday. He got some great gifts, but most of all got lots of love from family and friends. The phone was ringing off the hook for him! And Curt, Carrie and fam, Jon, and Gary, Jana and fam came over for cake and ice cream. And his Nana was here too. It was so special. As a parent you appreciate, so much, the love people show your children. Thank you to everyone who made Colby feel so special yesterday. He LOVED the love and attention! Here are some pictures from his day.....Colby requested a "Bugs Life" cake in case you can't tell what it is. It came out a little interesting, but he loved it!

Colby with Mom and Dad

Colby and his Nana

Nate set a computer up for him and we bought him a desk, so he can have his own computer to play on right next to Mom and Dad's. He LOVED it!!!

My Baby is 4!!

Today is Colby's birthday! Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! 4 years sure have gone fast! I can't imagine our lives without him. He is the most special boy. I am just amazed that I could produce such a sweet, intelligent, fun, well-rounded boy. There is no doubt he is Nate's boy! He is so loving to everyone. He always makes sure everyone is included and feels welcome. He has a passion for learning his numbers, letters, and just about everything! He really does amaze me how smart and observant he is. He is always good for a cuddle. I love that! He is a precious gift and has blessed our little family beyond explanation! Happy Birthday Punkin! I love you all the way to the moon and back!

Colby gets to have a "Me" day at Preschool and here is the poster he is sharing with the class about him. He was really excited about it!

The day Colby was born

Baby Signs

I taught Colby sign language when he was a baby to better the communication between him and us and it worked great. I decided to teach Carson as well. I just teach them the basics like "more", "please", "thank you", etc. It usually takes a good few months or more for them to start doing it back. Well, Carson, I didn't think was really interested at all....until today. He did some signing to me. He did more, please and thank you. I am so excited!!!! This is such a wonderful tool for them to be able to communicate in a way that we completely understand. I am a big believer in teaching sign language to babies! I am just so happy that he is responding to it. It really is a communication break through to be able to use signs before they can even talk. I love it!!!

Rainy Days and Saturdays.....

Nate and Colby are up at the cabin with the boys, and my Mom is spending a girls weekend with her sisters. I am so glad they are able to go have fun this weekend. It is nice to have a nice, quiet house. (That is when Carson is napping!) I have accomplished a lot already and they all just left yesterday afternoon. Today is a rainy, grey day and it is making me feel a little drizzly. Just one of those days! But I do secretly like them because these kind of days remind me of Washington!

Inspiring Weekend

What a great weekend we had! We got to go down and spend time with Nate's family, cheer some of them on at the St. George Marathon and watch Conference together.

Being apart of the marathon (as a spectator) was so amazing! I remember Carrie coming home from it a year ago after watching her Brother-in-law run it, and saying she wanted to do it. I thought she was crazy!!! She was so inspired by the exhiliration there and the commrodery. I can now say I completely understand what she is talking about. It was so, so cool!!! I am so glad I went. It is just so hard to describe the feeling there, unless you have witnessed one. I loved it!!! Often seeing the runners go by and hearing the cheers for them I teared up. It was so cool to see the support everyone was giving the runners, even ones they didn't know. It was just awesome and I am glad that Carrie, Caytee, Jon and Chad let us share that wonderful experience with them. THANK YOU! It is such a HUGE accomplishment! I thought only hard core runners ran marathons, but I learned that is so not the case! I was inspired by the runners!

General Conference was incredible! I learned so much!!! Again....inspired! It was a wonderful weekend to say the least! Then we were able to go pick up my mom from the airport yesterday and how great it is to have her with us!!! Family is such a necessary thing in life. I am so, so grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful family members!

Good Luck!

We are heading down South today for the weekend to spend time with Nate's family and to cheer on Carrie, Caytee, Jon and Chad as they come across the finish line of the St. George Marathon. I wanted to say good luck to them! We love you guys and are so proud of this huge accomplishment!

Martha or Merilee?

My mother-in-law gave me this book a couple of years ago and I wanted to blog about it. I really learned a lot from it. It talks about raising responsible, independent children and ways to do that. The author tells this story:
She was having a church meeting at her home with two ladies she referred to as "Martha Stewart I and Martha Stewart II". While they were meeting in the kitchen, her 3 yr. old walks in, goes to the pantry and pulls out peanut butter, jelly and bread. He carefully laid out the bread on the floor and proceeded to make himself a sandwich. She saw him out of the corner of her and didn't do a thing. She noticed the other two women developing facial expressions and twitches. Finally one of them said, "Merilee! Your son is making a sandwich on the bare floor!" she responded, "I know isn't that fantastic! He just learned how to make sandwiches this week." She then turned to her son with a big smile and said, "Tanner, I am so proud of you. What a yummy sandwich you've made!" He was beaming with pride as he walked out with his sandwich.
That struck me because I would have been the Martha Stewart character and had my son do it on the table. So, it helped me learn to let my kids be individuals and do things on their own, their own way. (within reason, of course) Sometimes too much nurturing sends the message that our kids are incapable of accomplishing things on their own and therefore they can develop low self-esteem.
Are you the Merilee or the Martha Stewart in this story? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!