Bad, Bad Blogger

I've been a bad, bad blogger. Haven't posted since May. Now I'm going to have to binge. Be ware of frequent posting (hopefully)! June has just gone so fast.

O.K. Most recently... Had a fun weekend. We participated in the "Liberty Walk" here in Idaho Falls Saturday morning to celebrate our freedom and our values. It was such a beautiful day and it felt good to get out and do something patriotic as a family. (Here's a link with more info if interested http://www.thetitleofliberty.org/events.html .)
I was so proud of Annalese. She carried one of the large American flags the whole two miles and posted it herself at Liberty Field.
McKyla and Gracie rode in the stroller most of the way and waved their little "Title of Liberty" flags to all the people. Cute, cute, cute.
The field looked so cool with all those flags waving. Some of them had yellow ribbons and memorials to individuals who have served our country. We are so blessed to live in this land!

This is Gracie warming up to go see "Kung Fu Panda" after the walk. She has really been looking forward to seing "Panda." It was pretty funny and had a good moral--which my girls actually "got". Overall, a pretty nice weekend. Didn't get nearly enough work done, but good to play every once in a while, right?

V.I.P. Night

We got to live-it-up in style last Friday night! Eldon and Trevor put together an awesome promotion for work, and we got to come along. We rode in a Hummer limo, enjoyed an amazing dinner and went to a private screening of the new Indiana Jones movie. It was such a great night!

Notice no pics of Gracie. We decided the movie would be too scary for her. She was so excited she got Riley (babysitter) all to herself and got to watch E.T. with pizza, pop, and popcorn just for her. Gracie is so cool--she knows what she likes.

Iowa Trip--So Fun!

Thanks, Mom and Dad! The trip to Iowa was so fun. Felt like we did a lot and got see a lot of family/friends. Missed the spouses and kids, but fun to be together like the old days! Enjoy the slide show. (P.S. The music is not correlated to the slide show--it's random from my playlist below.)

Gracie Goes to the Dentist

Here are few pics of Gracie's trip to the dentist for her fillings. She was so sweet and cooperative. Dr. Hoover is so good with the kids; they love going to see him.

This looks a little scary. They didn't have to give her lidocaine, but they did give her some N2O to help her relax. They should have given it to me; I think I was more nervous than she was!

I Am Married to The BIGGEST LOSER!

Congratulations, Eldon! Eldon won the biggest loser contest at work for the second time! He has been dieting and exercising twice a day most days. I don't know how he does it, but were proud of him!

McKyla's Mommy-Daughter Date

McKyla and I had our Mommy-daughter date last Friday (May 2nd). We should space them out a little more, but she was so excited for her turn and it was technically the next month. So, I promised her we would go, and she was all excited. Then I started to feel nauseous at work Thursday night. By the time of our date Friday, I was starting to think I had the lovely stomach flu our neighbors have been suffering with (we share everything, like good neighbors do). I couldn't cancel, McKyla was so excited. So we stopped for a little Pepto-bismol on the way to dinner. She had a cheeseburger and fries; I had some Pepto, Sprite, and peppermint gum. I did a whole lot of hand washing. Didn't get sick once on the date though and thankfully, no one else in the fam has gotten it.

McKyla chose to go to Leo's Place (it's like a Chucky Cheese). We got to play games together and win tickets. Yes, I look terrible, but we had fun.
Here's that fabulous dinner.

So proud of McKyla; so ashamed of myself. McKyla was playing a game and this little girl we didn't know came up and started playing, too. I was thinking, "Hey, I'm not paying for you to play." (I think I was a little grumpy 'cuz I didn't feel good.) When it was done the tickets came out and I thought "Hope that girl doesn't think she's taking McKyla's tickets." (Man, I was feeling bratty). But McKyla was so sweet and said, "Mom, we should give her some of the tickets because she helped me win them." It gets worse...I gave McKyla one ticket to give the girl, and the sweet little girl wouldn't take it. She insisted McKyla keep it! That is why the scriptures tell us we need to be like little children!
Looks like she is going to punch me or flip the "bird", but really she is saying, "The power of the butterfly!" That was our battle cry for the night. McKyla picked a butterfly tattoo (again with the tattoos!), and a whoopee cushion with her tickets. Then we went to the mall so she could make a wish in the wishing well, pick out a mother-daughter necklace for her and I, get her sisters some "prizes" and get our picture drawn.
Fortunately, McKyla isn't quite the shopper Annalese is, and wanted to go home ASAP after we accomplished her goals at the mall. Eldon had rented some movies, and McKyla didn't want to miss out. So happy to get home and get in our jammies!!! Love you, McKyla. Thanks for a fun date. You are so thoughtful.

5 More Favorite Little Things

1. Watching movies with my girls and some yummy treats. I love M&M's that are still crunchy on the outside but all warm and gooey on the inside. Yum! This time we put them in warm popcorn (love the sweet and salty), but I also love to make brownies, then melt marshmellows on top and add M&M's (while warm to get them meltly), then drizzle with warm chocolate frosting. Mmmmmm. If you don't try it, you're missing out!
   
2. Yummy food in general. I eat when I am stressed and when I am bored. If you know me, you know that if I am not stressed, I am probably bored. So there you go.
   
3. The man that brings me the yummy food. Eldon brought me and the girls Cold Stone and Johnnie Carino's chocolate cake one night without us asking even though he was on a diet and didn't eat a bite. Oh yeah, you know he loves us.
   
4. My girls' stories. What imaginations! These pics are of one of my favorite mommy moments. We were waiting in the car while Eldon was in the grocery store. Gracie was telling me the funniest stories and giving me the best kisses and hugs. It was pure gold.
   
   

5. Okay, this (extremely gross) pic doesn't really represent one of my "favorite things", but it is one of the little things that is coming to mean more to me. More below...

My girls spilled cereal and other messies all over the floor one morning. I was sweeping it up and feeling a little frustrated knowing I would just have to do it again after lunch, then dinner, and maybe in between. However, I've got to say I have learned something over the last week.

It started with one the NICU nurses I was working with talking about not being the "martyr" and enjoying your housework. (Yeah, sure, I kind of thought.) But I kept pondering that. Then I read Mosiah 2:17, "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." And I thought, "There you go. I'm not a slave, I'm a queen. And just like King Benjamin, I'm just being righteous by serving my people." :) I was being kind of sarcastic. But kept pondering. Slowly, I've had a change of heart as I have been working harder to keep our house clean and organized. At first I was doing it in preparation to show the house, but then I started doing it because it feels good. I've learned that this is one major way our family shows each other that we matter. We care enough for each other to keep our home clean, comfortable and somewhere we want to be. This may be my new addiction. I haven't eaten nearly as much chocolate. Ask me if I keep it up after we move though :). I hope so...