7.30.2010

[.I made up my own quote...and I like it.]

As much as I really don't like your -lack- of support and determination to bring me down, it only gives me all the {motivation} in the world.
Now, watch me succeed.

7.28.2010

[.funky monkey.]

Last night was Military night for the Ogden Raptors, and it was free
(sorta - we upgraded our tickets and Lance bought himself some dinner)
so we went.
Honestly, I'm not even sure who won, I think the Raptors did?!
Basically we all just talked the entire time and tried to keep ty and brooke entertained.  I think Lance was probably the only one who paid some attention to the game.
sorry - ty wasn't quite ready
isaac and katie aka "jet pack"
 
Kevin and "brother jake" were there as well and we all had lots of fun.
...here was our source of entertainment...
really, I don't expect anyone to watch the entire thing!


7.26.2010

[.living a dream.]

Well, my family trip didn't go as planned.  So I was a little bummed.  But Lance and I still made the best of our weekend.
Friday night we went with Jake & Jenna and Terry & Janeal to Coldstone Creamery and then to Bountiful's fireworks.  We hiked our butts all the way up 1800 south
(to pretty much the top of the mountain)
to one of Jenna's friends house for a good spot to watch.
At least I burned off my "like it" size yumminess of cake batter ice cream, carmel and cookie dough chunks!
HEAVEN
We got there right as the fireworks started going off and walked into the backyard through the fence right next to where the fireworks were being lit.
It really was actually pretty cool.  And very loud! AND VERY BRIGHT!  I honestly thought it was the finale 3 different times.

.i was only a little scared, i promise.
 terry.janeal.jenna.jake

I felt very productive on Saturday.  Slept in til 10, got a good work out in, spent 2 hours deep cleaning the kitchen, front room, bathroom and office and hung more pictures.  But I left the worst for last, yup. . .laundry and putting all the clothes away.
This is seriously embarrassing.
(yes we do have sheets on our bed, I am just a rowdy sleeper and they are bunched up towards the top, ask Lance)
and you'll never know if I finished or not.
The only thing that could have made it better was an hour outside soaking up some Vitamin D - but I'll wait til I have my own house to do that:)
Then I got ready and waited for Lancer pants to come home.
We decided to have a relaxing rest of the weekend and went to a movie.  We went and saw Inception, and it was the greatest.  Normally I'll fall asleep during any 2 hour movie, (usually after about 45 minutes) this was 2 1/2 hours, and I didn't even blink!
I l.o.v.e.d it!
I'm really into dreams and love to interpret them.  I find them fascinating, so that may explain why I loved this show so much.

Once the movie was over, we headed up to my parents house to light a few fireworks with Ty and Brooke then went back home for the night.

This is me holding myself accountable:  -5 pounds = 10 more to lose:)
7.19.2010

[.a long day.]

I woke up early Saturday morning to go watch my little brother and sister for the day while my mom was at work and my step-dad went golfing.
Lance went into work on Saturday so I was there to fend for myself.
I was also going to try and take some pictures of ty and brooke later that day to update the pictures for our grandparents.
Well, if any of you know Brooklyn, I'm sure you know it was a chore to try and get her to wear anything new (and cute) and to do her hair anything other than a ponytail on the top of her head.
Well I convinced her into just wearing it down with a clip and that'd have to do.
Although I had so many ideas running through my head, with braids and curls, whatever.  I am convinced she'll never let me treat her like a real sister and do her hair 5 different times a day.
Anyway..After I made them breakfast and did some cleaning, I took some time to play the piano for a good hour.  I always miss playing.  So whenever I can find the chance to play while I'm at my parents house, I will.
Lance got off work and came up to help me take their pictures.
There was no stinking way I was going to try and handle both of these kidlets by myself, in a huge park, with strangers everywhere, while trying to get a decent picture.
Lance was very helpful keeping ty close by, so I am glad he was willing to come help!
As we were finishing up a lady (from all the stories she told me I'm assuming she was probably in her late 40's) came up to me while I was trying to snap some photos of the two of them together.  She came to Lance and I and said,
"How wonderful!  Children actually outside and not sitting in from of the television or computer or games all day long."
As she was telling me this, Tyden walked right up to her and kept asking "what's your name?" while patting her stomach.  She kept talking to me and wouldn't answer his question.  So he'd hit harder trying to get her to answer his question.  Lance went up to grab him away from patting her and told her sorry and that he was autistic so he doesn't understand what he's doing sometimes.
Still ignoring his question she began a series of stories that began with her autistic nephew.  This was the beginning of a 20 minute long conversation with a stranger where I learned that her brother died when he was 17, 4 of her 7 children are living (which, she started crying when telling me this and I had no idea to comfort her), her sister survived a fatal accident and has been in a wheelchair for 3/4 her life and that her first marriage lasted for 23 years.  Toward the end of this conversation listening to her stories she mentioned how God provides paths for each and every person and that times are definitely hard but our God and family and friends are always there to support us.
She ended with this,
"but you would already know all of this being a mother to a little girl and an autistic child".
GOODNESS!  HOW OLD DO I LOOK?!
Immediately I responded, "Ooohh!!!!  They are not my children!  They are my brother and sister!"
She said back, "Well, you're doing a very good job, exactly how many years difference between the three of you?"


"She is 5, he is 6, and I am 21 and that is my husband"


"Well, for your age you are very mature, I would have expected you to be their parents"


So.. Do I take this as a compliment or an insult, I'm not quite sure yet.


Besides that, we finished up with pictures cause it was as hot as a flippin sauna outside and let them play on the playground for a minute before heading back home.
..Here are a few of the pics I took..
 it was kinda difficult at this park because there were so many shadows but. . .i tried
I can't decide which ones are my favorite yet
 ____________________________

Once we got back Lance asked if I wanted to ride the bike up to Randy and Jenny's for the night.  I wasn't planning anything else so it sounded like a good idea to me.

We hopped on the bike in the million degree weather and off we went to Richmond.


They had just got a new pup that day so we were excited to see her.
Her name is Molly.
She is a black weimer reiner lab mix.
She is adorable
and I might steal her.
She fit perfectly in our saddlebag and I was almost sure of it I was going to take her home.
But I couldn't do that,
it'd hurt Brad and Claire's feelings,
so I'll just dream of having my own one day.
Tim and Kamie showed up shortly after us,
we had yummy burritos for dinner and then later sat by the fire pit to eat s'mores.
Lance and I woke up early to leave in order to miss the awful heat stroke I probably would have got if it was any later.
Thanks for letting us crash for the night and play with your 3 children:)

[.does this count as service.]

My friend Julie moved into a new apartment over the weekend!
Lance and I decided to go help her.
We went to their storage unit to put all the things into the trucks that were there.  It was pretty much like playing Tetris trying to fit 4 chairs and a rocking chair around everything else.
We had three truck loads of stuff and only had to make one round!
It still took a couple of hours but we were able to get it all done by dark.
Needless to say I got my workout in for the day carrying boxes and going up the flight of stairs.
Love y♥u Jewels!
7.15.2010

[.officially an.]

Tuesday night was Jake's Eagle Court of Honor.

 Kevin, Jake, Lance and I went early to set up chairs and get refreshments ready.
Lots of people showed up and we enjoyed each others company.
I am so proud of Jake for what he's accomplished and the many ways he succeeds in his life.  I look up to him 
[literally]
 so much.
Congrats bro!
Knowing that he has finished this goal he has set only makes me realize how close his next goal actually is to becoming reality.  And that is going on his mission.  He is now able to turn in his papers.  I know the time will fly until we all get to open his call as to where he'll be serving.  I seriously don't even like thinking that he'll be gone for 2 years and both Lance & I will not be able just to call him up and say, "we're bored, let's go do something".  But I know that it's the best thing he can be doing and he'll do such a great job!  We'll I'll save what I have to say for later
{so I don't start crying}
but for now I want him to know I'm proud of him and love him very much!

[.yogotogo.]

Monday night was Mandy, Lorin and Jonah's last night here before heading home.
We decided to go to yogotogo (yogo-toh-go, not yogo to go) for some yummy frozen yogurt!
I combined the Hawaiian pineapple and the Pomegranate Raspberry Tart then added granola and raspberries to it!  Lance got the Sweet Coconut with candy toppings!
 
.just waiting.
.jonah.
.saying goodbye.
a high five?! How about a hug!
.giving squeezes..
.watch out everyone.
[ps - my not so power ranger/home star runner-ish helmet is on it's way!]
We miss you guys already!

7.11.2010

[.I can ride my bike with no handle bars.]

 
Finally!  We've finally given in to buy one!
We were looking for bikes around February and March to look for deals on road bikes.  But decided to wait until next year, well doesn't look like that happened.
We went Friday night to look at this one, and told the guy we wanted it.
Saturday morning we met him at his house to follow him to the bank.
So basically, we rode this thing all day yesterday showing our family and friends.

We were going to head to the raptors baseball game for the night.  But from riding all day in the hot heat a nice air conditioned theater just sounded so much better than sitting in the hot sun!  So we went with my parents, ty & brooke, and jake & jenna and her mom to see Toy Story 3, then rode back home.  On the way home we saw Farmington Day's fireworks.  So it was pretty cool to watch them basically the whole bike ride home.
Can't wait for the ride with Lance's siblings and parents tonight!

[.its so fluffy.]

Since Mandy and Lorin have been in town, as siblings, we all went to the drive in Motor-Vu in riverdale.  We went to see Despicable me and Grown ups on Friday night.

We bought Little Caesar's pizza with bread sticks and ate once we got parked.  Speaking of parking, we drove around to find a place to park.  Mandy and Lorin parked their truck and then we parked ours next to them.  Jake and Lorin out helping Lance park the long bed into a small parking spot.  About a good 3 solid minutes.  Right after we get done parking a lady comes up to us and says, "this spot is reserved for the people watching Toy Story 3 on that screen."
Well okay!  Thanks lady!  You could have told us that before you watched us park this thing!  So we pulled forward and did the whole thing again on the other side.
What.a.joke


Anyway, while the boys set up the air mattresses and blankets the girls went to get drinks for the show and hurry to the bathroom before the show starts.


Jenna and I walked over to the other side of the stalls.  The bathroom was so crowded, everyone was shrubbing shoulders just to get to a stall.  A lady and her child here cleaning their feet in the sink!  I am not even kidding.  They wouldn't budge to move for anything!  Um, hello!! People are trying to pee here lady and you're busy washing your feet!


Anyway, we watched our shows and enjoyed our night.

.typical.
.lorin.isaac.mandy.
This is for Jenna.
7.09.2010

[.GNO, well ... sorta.]

Last night my friend Julie

(or as I call her, Jue or Jules/Jewels)
came over to our place to hang out.  Her husband has been doing BMT for the last few months and we've been meaning to get together and it finally worked out.  So, I was originally going to head to her house but some plans changed and we went down to South Towne mall to fix my ring AGAIN (Lance's idea), and then went to Zupas afterwards:)
I told you I'm addicted!
It was originally just going to be the two of us, but you know, Lance was just dying to try a salad and begged to come along;)
[not really]
We really didn't have much plans so we went to walmart and bought a few things then went back to our house to update each other with the stories of our lives.
Well, it was around midnight and we were all a little tired so Jue headed home for the night.
We're planning a fun camping trip somewhere in a few weeks.
Ya know, real camping!?
Tents, fires, sleeping bags and s'mores!

[.proof.]

Lance is pretty proud of almost reaching the "200 club", seeing that before we got married and even when we were dating he was a twig, he should be proud.

Lance has gained around 40 pounds since we've gotten married.  But some people find this hard to believe.
So, I decided to give some proof.
Here is Lance before we got married when we went to California with my family and here is him as of last weekend with my adorable niece Claire.
From really baby face to only somewhat baby face.
[hence the goatee]

♥ 

thanks jenny for letting me steal the pic 
ps. I must say, this is not from my mad cooking skills, but only from my lack thereof :(
7.07.2010

[.a new addiction.]

Last night I went with Jacinda and Sarah to go see Eclipse.  I didn't read the books and I'm not a die hard fan, but I have seen each one of the saga so far.  Not necessarily opening night, but usually about a week or so after it's been out.
 So we met up and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
[and even more so, jacob]
Afterwards we headed over to Zupas, it's a total chick place!  Well guys can go too, but whatever.  I had the Hawaiian Barbeque Chicken sandwich and the Summer Chicken salad.  It was so so yummy.  Lance may have to hold me back or I'll probably be going there everyday for lunch now!

[.fireworks.]


On our way home from Bear Lake we stopped at my parents for a minute to get some clothes cleaned.  As soon as I walked in the door I got a mouth full from my little sister Brooke.  Imagine these words going a million miles an hour with no breath in between.


"Hi Ken, we did fireworks last night, did you do fireworks
?  And I went to the parade today, and got my face painted, but dad painted it.  It's a butterfly, and it's pink and yellow and Tyden got his face painted, and dad painted max and ruby on his face, but it's just max and he's yellow and then tonight we are going to go to fireworks at the park, are you going to come to fireworks with us?  Mandy and Lorin and their friends and Isaac and his friends and Dad, Jake and Jenna and their friends are all going, do you want to come?  You can sit by me, do you want to sit by me?"

As you could imagine my first thoughts were of course!! Not!  But I went and asked Lance if he would want to do that, he said sure.  So we went and got ready, watched Bachelorette with Jake and Jenna, then went to Layton Park to watch the fireworks.
While we were sitting around waiting for them to start we played hacky sack and went to buy glow sticks.


Once it started Brooke sat between Lance and I.  Tyden sat behind me with Kevin.  As the fireworks were going off I heard Tyden and looked back at him; my heart seriously melted.  He was so cute watching the fireworks.  Every time he could see the stream before the firework exploded his arms got tense and he put his fists up to his face with a huge grin on his face.  As soon as they exploded his smile only got bigger and he shouted "hooray" as he was clapping.
Oh my gosh, i.love.that.kid


When the show was over Kevin took the kids home and we stayed to talk with Jake & Jenna, Isaac, Mandy & Lorin.  After about 10 minutes we realized that a groups of people nerds behind us were putting on a show.  A Harry Potter show.  One girl in the group was reading a scene from the book, and she was seriously so intense I almost believed it.  One kid had a cape.  Yes, a freaking cape.  They also had pretend swords and what not.  I almost started charging people to come watch this.  Before they were finished we got up to leave but only ended up walking a couple feet away.  When they were done performing one of Mandy & Lorin's friends started clapping.  I really don't even think they noticed we were all making fun laughing at them.  Good thing.


Well, Jake was our ride back home but he wanted to stay longer so we hitched a ride from Mandy and Lorin back to my parents house to pick up the car and finally head home for the weekend.
7.06.2010

[.what feels good today may hurt tomorrow.]


For the 4th of July weekend Lance and I went up with his family to our S.I.L Kamie's [family's] cabin in Bear Lake.
Could you tell it was a holiday weekend??
This was just one of the many long trains of boats and trailers on their way to Bear Lake.


We arrived and put our stuff into Tim and Kamie's trailer then went to Coopers with Matt & Tori and Diet & Myrna for dinner.
I think the waitress may have just been starting this job because she seemed a bit flustered.  But luckily for her she was dealing with the Fischer's and hopefully wasn't too embarrassed.
After dinner we went back and relaxed on the deck by the fire.
Sara and Derek have just had their baby Eli and so immediately I wanted to hold him!  I held him for about 10 or 15 minutes and Lance asked to hold him.
[right after he gave up Eli, Lance turned to me and said, "if you get to hold him tomorrow, will you give him to me?"]
I thought it was so dang cute.

 The next day, the boys
 [and Tori]
got up to go compete in the Bear Lake West golf tournament.
Everyone Mostly everyone (sorry Diet) in their group
won something.  Lance used the money he won to get himself a golf shirt.
While that was going on, "Super Aunt" Kamie had planned fun treasure hunts for the kids or as they called themselves the "buccaneers".
Claire, Amanie, Harlie and Brad beginning their quest.
Trying to stay away from the sharks and alligators!
(or at least off the ant hills)
Amanie, Brad, Claire and Harlie dressed up after finding some of their treasure.

On Sunday morning I went outside to put some things away in the trailer.  Lance and Claire were over on the side deck looking at monsters and deer in the mountains.
[if you look closely Claire is looking through the binoculars backwards - no wonder the bush looked like a monster, it was so far away]


Lance and I went for a drive to the lake later that day and then stood in line for 20 minutes to get raspberry shakes.
(i really wish i would have gotten cookie dough or something)
Later that night the men in the group started playing with the kid toys.  They usually find some sort of way to entertain themselves.
Well I can't even think about what these things are called..
It has two "launchers" and a ball - you put the ball in the launcher and throw it to the other person to try and make it in their launcher.
Yeah, no idea what's it's called, nor could I find a picture to describe it.  Well anyway, the boys got in trouble for throwing the ball to each other so, being the rebels they are they decided to take Claire's baby doll and start using that as the new ball.  They actually became quite talented and it was very entertaining to watch.


On Monday the boys set up another tee time.  I decided to go with them this time and ride along in the cart since I'm no good;)

 ...looking for tim's ball...

lance.tim.gerry
.such a pretty course.


Once we were finished we headed back to the cabin to grab a quick bite of lunch before heading back home.


Thank you Tim and Kamie for letting us barge in your trailer, and thank you Karen and Gerry for letting us sabotage your cabin!  I really hope we're invited back again!