Guess what he wants for Christmas!

Sorry, it has been a while....I have been a little busy. Things probably won't slow down now until after Christmas, that I do know. I know one other thing. I know what Gabe wants for Christmas.....

HIS TWO FRONT TEETH!

I've been tagged, Part dos!

I have never done this tag before, it is a SWEETHEART Tag. For those of you who know my husband (or sweetheart) you know I am pretty lucky. For those of you who don't know him you might learn a little about him. Here goes...

What is your husbands name? Troy

How long have you been married? It'll be 14 years in March (never thought we would get there)

How long did you date? About 1 and 1/2 years. We were off a couple times but always right back on. I couldn't live without him and still can't. (Okay that was really cheesy, sorry)

How old is he? 38 (ooh, he's gettin up there)

Who is taller? He is (6'2")

Who can sing best? He can. We sing Happy B-day at his families house and they all harmonize. My family, not so much!

Who is smarter? I say he is, he will say I am.

Who does the laundry? I do, everytime he puts clothes in the washer he has to ask me how to do it.

Who pays the bills? I do, we would be in bad trouble if he did. When we were dating it took both, his mom and myself, about 4 hours to balance his checkbook. Not good!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. I'm not trading, I won't I won't!

Who mows the lawn? I do, he wants the credit for doing it but I usually do it. He mowed more this year than he has our whole marriage put together. However, I still did it more than he did.

Who cooks dinner? Usually I do but he cooked tonight (Mmmm, Bajio!)

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Him (atleast that is what he says). I think we are about the same.

Who kissed who first? He so kissed me first.

Who wears the pants? We both do. (He says I can only wear pants if he tells me I can, so I guess he wears the pants. Ha Ha!)

Now I tag...Kathie P, Nikki, Clisty, Keli, Kristi and Jill. Have fun girls, it was fun asking Troy what he thought the answers should be. He always had some smart alec comment of course.

I've been Tagged!

Okay, Okay, sorry Larissa. I have been meaning to do this all week. However, it has been a crazy three weeks. My kids have been off-track and we have had one activity after another.

I can't think of 8 things for each of these so I hope you aren't mad that I am going to only do 4.

4 Favorite TV Shows:

1. Amazing Race
2. Biggest Loser
3. Grays Anatomy
4. My Name is Earl

4 Favorite Restaurants

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Pei Wei
3. Spaghetti Factory
4. Z-Tejas

4 Things that happened yesterday

1. I made clam chowder (about the first time I cooked this week).
2. Took the kids to swim lessons
3. It snowed and I watched the kids sled in the back yard all day long
4. I showered two times (don't ask!)

4 Things I look forward to

1. For my kids to go back on-track (don't get me wrong, I love being with them but I am tired)
2. Spring
3. Our cruise in March
4. Being with family for the Holidays

4 Things I love about fall

1. The colorful leaves
2. Looking forward to the Holidays
3. Soup (notice, yesterday, first snowfall, clamchowder)
4. Not having to mow the lawn anymore

4 Things on my wish list

1. To be skinny
2. To have my house paid off (that will never happen)
3. To have my basement finished
4. To go on a European vacation. I don't care where just somewhere far away.

I am supposed to tag all you readers but I have to do a tag tomorrow, thanks to Barb, so look out. I will probably tag you then!!!

*Sorry it took me so long Larissa.

Hey, out there in Blogdom!

*This was a Halloween picture from a couple years ago. Just thought it was cute.

I want to know what your favorite Halloween movies are. I haven't watched Halloween movies forever. Around this house we don't like things too scary. Last year we took the kids to see Monster House and the whole time Eli and Gabe wanted to leave. Eli was covering his ears and saying..."OUT!" Remember, this is a cartoon and they were both crying the whole time. It was a great time!

So, first I want a good Halloween movie for my kids to watch but remember.... not too scary. And, second I want to know your favorite scary movies. I always loved the Nightmare on Elmstreet movies. I haven't seen them for years, they are probably pretty funny now.

Have a spooky Halloween everybody!

Happy Birthday Big Daddy!

For all of you who don't know...it is Troy's birthday today. His sisters did a good job on each of their blogs wishing him a happy birthday. He even shed a few tears, thanks Jill. I just want to let him know how much I love and appreciate him.

Things about Troy:

• He is the best husband and father I could ask for.


• He is actually a great boss ( I have learned that just recently).


• He has a lot of patience with me. Because I can be a pain in the neck.


• He is happy with cold cereal for dinner if I don't have time to cook.


• He is the best big brother to his sisters (check out their blogs).


• He is a hard worker. He has never been afraid of a little hard work.


• Everybody loves him. Everywhere we go all the girls fall in love with him. Turns out he is always the Hot married man in the ward.


• He imitates me really well. Call my cell phone and when you leave me a message that is Troy saying my name.
• He was the best son his mom could ask for. He misses her Sunday Pie. She made it for him every birthday.

I could go on for days. I am so lucky and I just want him to know that. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG DADDY!

Just FYI

FYI, the flat tire that Heidi and I fixed was on my car. I felt I needed to clarify because a few people thought it was my bike. My bike went a little flat too, we pumped it up and it was fine. But my car tire had a hole in it.

And just so you know, it has now been over a week and it is still holding air. We are still pretty proud of ourselves and my dad is proud too.

One more thing. We had a BMX race last night and guess who walked away with a First Place
Trophy! You guessed it....Gabe. His first one ever. He had the loudest cheering section too.

More from Moab

As most of you know, we usually race a 24 hour race in Moab every year. This year the guys didn't want to put themselves through such misery so rather than race they just rode and rode and rode some more. The only problem we had with the weather was that it was just a tad windy. I'm not talking a light breeze. There were gusts that would blow their bikes across the parking lot. While they were riding it would blow them off the trail. You can say it was a little windy, or a lot windy!!!



*Here the guys are leaning forward into the wind so they don't get blown over.


While they were riding we took all the kids to a big sandy hill to climb, play and to, most importantly, make them tired. The kids loved it and for the little while we were there it wasn't too windy.




*Here are Heidi and Jasons girls, Adi and Eliza and Madison (falling on her face) and Gabe running down the sand hill.

I'M LOSING AIR!

So we went down to Moab for our annual 24 hours of Moab trip last weekend. We were expecting bad weather so the guys decided to put on their skirts and not race. We went down anyway and rode our cans off (the guys did at least). Heidi and I only got one ride in but that was better than nothing.

We went out to a trail named Klondike Bluffs. It is about 15 or 20 minutes outside of Moab. We started riding and it was so windy we thought we were going to just blow over. Once we got out a ways the wind subsided and it was beautiful. It turned out to be a great ride. My tire went flat and we had to pump it up but we can handle that.

After the ride we started heading back to town, all of a sudden my tire pressure warning light came on. So I checked to see what my tire pressure was and it was going down fast. I said to Heidi, "IM LOSING AIR." There is a gas station a few miles outside of Moab so we hurried there to put some air in my tire. The air came out as fast as I could put it in. So, Heidi ran in and grabbed a can of fix-a-flat. We put that in and it started bubbling out. We thought maybe we needed to drive around so it would plug the hole. So we started driving around in circles in this dirt parking lot. We probably looked like idiots. It didn't work, the air kept coming out. We hurried and put more air in the tire and tried to make it into Moab so someone could help us there.

We got into town and all the shops were closed. It was after 6 pm on a Friday night. Of course nobody is open. So we went to a parts store and we asked the guy what to do and he had a plug kit. Well, working at my parents shop for most of my life was good for something. I have seen my brothers plug tires a million times. So I bought the kit and decided to fix it myself.

We drove down the street to a gas station so I could use the air. I put the plug in it just like my brothers do. I was worried it wouldn't work but guess what? The air stopped leaking. And now it is 4 days later and still holding. How many of you out there can say you plugged a tire? This is coming from someone who, while on a bike ride only takes her cell phone if she gets a flat tire. Troy would always come and save me or fix my flat. Heidi and I did it this time. We are pretty proud of ourselves.

Birthdays, birthdays & more birthdays!

We have a lot of birthdays this week. We have Nunn, two nieces (McKinley and Maggie), one nephew (Johnny), two sisters (Meg, Tracy), and one Grandma. Happy Birthday to you all!

On October 7th, my dear sweet Grandmother turns (drum roll please).......99!

She has always meant a lot to me. I have always enjoyed spending time with her. When I was born, my parents already had two girls and they didn't know what to name a third daughter. So, my grandma found my name in the newspaper. So, yes, I am named after someone we don't even know. That doesn't matter, it is still a cute name right? Anyway, on with the birthday celebrations.



On Sunday, we celebrated Nunn's birthday by sending her balloons with messages on them. This is going to be a tradition. Every year you will find us sending balloons. Hopefully, at least one will make it to Heaven.












And we celebrated Grandma's by making her blowout 99 candles. Just kidding, I think there were only eight but she did it.

First Birthday

It is hard to celebrate this year. Today is Nunn's birthday, the first we have celebrated since she passed away. This year there will be a lot of firsts, hopefully we can get through them. We love her and miss her more than words can say. So here's to her....

*Hey Nunny, look for your balloons with messages from the kids!

I've been tagged!

What does this mean? I don't know but thanks to Keli (with one L), I guess I have to tell you 7 random things about myself. There are not many random things that people don't know about me but let me see if I can come up with some.

1. I love to pick my kids noses. Only if I can see big boogers. I don't give up until their noses are clean. This drives Troy crazy. Who likes to see big boogers in their kids nose?
2. I am stubborn. I hate to give in. I am always right, always. Just ask Troy.
3. I love to pick at my dry feet. I could sit and pick the dead skin off for hours. It is kind of gross.
4. I love rollercoasters. I can't do the rides that go around and around and around unless you want me to puke. But, I loooove rollercoasters of any kind.
5. My bestfriend is Troy. I may not be his best friend but he is mine. We actually work together quite well. I don't mind working with him and seeing him everyday.
6. I enjoy doing yardwork, only if it is not too hot outside. Honestly, I don't mind weeding and mowing the lawn. My friend Clisty told me the other day that she has mowed her lawn once in the time that I have mowed mine 4 times. Sometimes I get a little obsessed.
7. I love jeans and T-shirts. I am a casual dresser and don't like to get dressed up all that often. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind getting dressed up but I would prefer jeans and T-shirts.

Sorry, these are kind of boring random things but when you are put on the spot it is kind of hard to think. Next time I will just have Keli write them for me. She is much more creative than I.

So there you go Keli, I think you can log onto my blog and post for me. I would love to see what random things you come up for me.

Miscellaneous Happenings

This week we have had a lot of random things to keep us busy. From BMX practices and races to birthdays and fieldtrips. So here are a few pictures of the happenings around here.



Here is Madison trying on her birthday outfit from Poppa. Thanks Meg!


Madison in her birthday outfit from us. She went shopping and picked it out!


Here is Gabe racing his second moto. He placed first in this moto and notice how far back the other racers were. He did so good.


Gabe took second in the main. He was battling with a kid for second. He won by just a hair!


Here is Eli at Wheeler Farm. He had so much fun feeding the ducks and geese.


Last but not least, here I told Eli to look at me. He said he was. What do you think?

He was nervous about the big pig behind him.

Blog Slacker...

Okay, yes I am a blog slacker. I have reasons though. So I am writing this for someone who should remain nameless (Keli with one l) because I have been chastised for not blogging ALL THE TIME.

First of all, I am not creative. Like some of my very close family who live not so close. I can't make something boring in my life turn into something that people want to read about. Honestly, my life is boring. I don't have a creative bone in my body.

Second, I don't have time. And when I finally do have time I am tired and want to go to bed. Here was my schedule just for today.

• 6:30 get up and shower
• 7:00 get Madison in the shower
• 7:30 get Madison breakfast and get the boys in the bath
• 7:45 get the boys breakfast
• Leave for school at 8:30 after getting backpacks and teethbrushed etc.
• 9:20 Leave to take Eli to Preschool
• 9:40 Get to work and get a whole days work done in 2 hours
• 11:40 leave to pick Eli up
• 12:05 head to post office because I need to mail about 50 bills and buy stamps for work
• Then head to a job to get a signature for a draw (blah, blah, blah)
• Get home at 2:30 start laundry and planning achievement days which is held at my house at 4:30. (note: it hadn't even been planned yet)
• Finish cleaning the house and laundry before kids get home from school at 4:15
• 4:30 achievement days
• 5:30 girls leave and I start dinner

I will stop with the boring minute-to-minute details of my crazy day. But did you notice something? I didn't notice until 5:30 when I started dinner that I never even stopped to eat lunch.

So to my dear blogging buddies, I will try to be better but I can't guarantee anything.

Is he abused?

The answer is no!!!! I do not abuse my kids. Sometimes they push my buttons but I would not do this.

He was stung by a wasp or yellow jacket. He was fine yesterday and this is how he woke up this morning. I ran him over to instacare and after about 5 minutes and a $25 copay the Dr. says he is just fine. A few days of prednasone and benadryl and he will be just fine.







This was on the way to the Dr. and he was trying so hard to open his eye. Notice how big the other one is.

Happy Birthday Madison-i-roni

Happy Birthday Madison! Here are a few pictures of the best daughter you could ask for. We are so lucky to have her as part of our family.

Happy 10th Madison!

*As a sidenote this is one of Madison's favorite songs!

The life of a Mom

On Thursday, Madison, my first baby will turn ten. I can't believe I have been a mother for ten years. I look back and life has changed so much. We still do a lot of the things we used to do but we also do so many more things. There are so many challenges and blessings when it comes to being a mom. I am constantly worrying about my kids. Is this a normal thing?

Honestly, I worry if my kids have friends, or if they don't like their school lunch, or if they get in trouble at school (no, not Gabe and Madison but maybe Eli). I shouldn't worry about them but isn't that what a mom is supposed to do?

Even with all the worry and challenges, I love being a mother and wouldn't change a thing. I love my kids so much and here's to Madison for making me a mother and for being such a good girl.





Happy Birthday Madison, we love you!

I will do a birthday post Madison on her birthday. Stay tuned for pictures.

Third Place!

Gabe started racing BMX in the middle of July. He would go out and race just like he would ride. He didn't realize for a long time that if you came in first, second or third you would get a trophy. Once he learned that he really kicked it into gear and came in third. Well, last night again he took third place. He was so excited and Troy was a proud Dad!

Now on his dresser sits a second trophy. If this continues Troy will have to build him a trophy room! :)

Back to school!

Today was a great day. My last child finally started school. It was so nice to be able to go to work without one or all of the kids in tow. Since I have been a slacker I decided I had better get the first day of school pictures up. So here goes:

• Madison started on August 18th. She was so excited to get back to school and she loves her teacher.

• Gabe started on the 19th of August. Gabe was a little nervous for all day school but he did so good. He also got a great teacher. We got lucky in that department this year.

• This is one of Gabes best friends, Kingi, from Kindergarten. As soon as he saw Gabe he came and gave him a great big hug.

• Last but not least, Eli started today, Sept. 3rd, at pre-school. He goes to the same pre-school he went last year. Eli was so excited to be "back-on-track". He thinks pre-school has tracks but it really doesn't. Shhhh, don't tell him!

Fun times! I am definitely relieved that summer is over and we can move on.

Jellystone

We went on our annual trip to Yellowstone this past weekend! We were affraid we might not make it this year because we were preoccupied with other events (Duh!). We had such a great time and got to see a lot of fun things. The kids loved sleeping in poppas motorhome. They fought over who got to sleep on the floor (only our kids would do that).


Here are a few pictures of the trip:

We went to Bear World. The kids loved it!






Sleeping bear...look at that tongue!


Baby bears.


This pig was named Annabelle. Everytime the kids would even get near her she would grunt. She was their favorite part of the whole trip!

Madison on her sign. We do this every year.

Old Faithful. Duh!

Eli was being his typical, uncooperative self.

Notice the name. He really thought there was a dragon in the hot pot that was going to eat him. He wouldn't go near it.

Eli was poppa's buddy.

And the token picture of the buffalo. Eli had a hard time saying it so he kept calling them "Buttafo". We liked saying that much better.

Here's to Yellowstone, next year!

Vocabulary Words

This summer we learned a lot of new words. From the time we got out of school on June 6th until we go back to school tomorrow we learned a whole bunch of new words. Some of the words we would rather not know. Others, I am so grateful I learned. Many of them, we knew but had never really learned until this summer. Here's the list:

• pancreatic cancer
• hospital
• stint
• biliary tubes
• family
• prayer
• love
• eternal families
• Fathers Day
• oncologist
• pain doctor
• the color purple
• Heavenly Fathers plan
• funeral
• viewing
• S*!t
• Wake
• No, OK, Any time.

Some of these vocabulary words won't make sense to some of you. But for the wonderful family I spent my summer with, they will understand. We will never forget these words. I am sure I missed a lot of words that could belong on the list but I will never forget this summer spent with such a wonderful family.

Feel free to remind me of some of the words I forgot!

Where's Eli?

Last week we had a little excitement around here. On Wednesday, after all of the funeral events, we decided we hadn't had enough of each other. The whole family came over to our house for dinner. We made Japanese food and Tempura. Yum! Did you know you can deep fry anything, including chocolate kisses?

After dinner, we cleaned up and everybody started heading home. First Keli, left. Then Jill. We sat and talked to Meg and Josh for another 15 minutes or so. During that time I said, "Where's Eli?" I just figured he was in the house getting into his PJ's. Why would I think that, I always have to force him to get in them?

Well, Meg and Josh left so we went into the house. No Eli. No Eli down stairs. No Eli in the backyard. Pretty soon we realize there is no Eli anywhere. Gabe told me that Carter told Eli to get in their truck. I thought there was no way because Jill would have seen Eli and brought him right back. Now it has been about 20 minutes since Jill left. Surely she would have seen Eli by now.

So I called Jill. I asked her if she had seen Eli. Her answer: "No, why?"

Me: "Are you serious?"

Jill: "Yes but let me go check!"

Turns out Eli was there. The kids snuck him into the truck and didn't say a thing. Jill even stopped and got gas on the way home.

I don't know how they did it but they got Eli to be quiet that whole time. I want to know their secret because I can't ever shut the kid up.

We are glad to have Eli back but if anybody ever wants to kidnap him again, just tell us first!

It's never easy to say Goodbye

When you say goodbye to someone, you usually expect to see them again. Maybe, tomorrow or in a month or year. But you usually see them again. We had to say goodbye to an amazing woman. Troys mom, my second mom, my kids Nunny, Paula, passed away after a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer. She was such an inspiration to so many people. We had to say goodbye and know that we would not see her again.

I just want to say Thank You to so many people who have helped us out during this difficult time. We have had so many tender mercies rendered on our behalf by so many people. So....Thank You!

Thank goodness we know that our Goodbye's are not forever. We will see her again but until that time we hope to always have her presence with us and to never forget her example.



We love you Nunny, can't wait to see you again!

If you would like to read more about this amazing woman please visit our Cancer Sucks blog at http://www.paulanoorda.blogspot.com/.

Mamma Mia! Or not

Before this crazy summer started I had the opportunity to go to Mamma Mia in Las Vegas. It was a girls night out on the town. We had such a great time. Seven of us crammed into one car teaching Nunn new words and June's ears are probably still burning. Anyway, we went to Mamma Mia and it was so fun.

Since then I have been so excited to see the movie. Yesterday, Keli asked me to go with her and her mother-in-law to see it. We took the girls and went to the movie. It was definitely not as good as the play. It was pretty cheesy! When Pierce Brosnan would open his mouth to sing the whole audience would start laughing. What's sad is that it wasn't during a funny part of the movie.

Who out there has seen the movie? And what did you think? Did you laugh at Pierce too?

Thank's to Keli for inviting me to go. However, I would suggest a short 6 hour drive to Las Vegas to see the play instead.

Things we love about Nunn

In the last four weeks there has been a lot to happen in our family. What has taken over our lives is that our Nunny is sick. Cancer is a vicious mean disease that can ruin people. In our family it has definitely brought us closer. We want to spend every minute together.


I decided I wanted to find out what my kids love about their Nunny. I don't want to dwell on the cancer but on the things she has taught us and given to us that we will never forget. Here are a few of the things my kids mentioned with a few of my own:

• Uno Games...Gabe loves to play uno with Nunn. Whenever I would go to pick the kids up they would be playing uno with Nunny.
• Sequence...She wouldn't always let Eli get the dragon. She played by the rules.
• Reading books...Especially Spooky Old Tree. I loved to watch her read this to the kids. She even made them get the shiverings! She is the best at reading books because she knows how to cut out the boring parts and the story still sounds good. The kids never even notice.
• Cookie drawer...bottom right hand drawer in the kitchen. Everybody knows where this is.
• Treat shelf...there is always something chocolate on the treat shelf in the fridge. She always has it stocked with yummy treats.
• Backyard...The kids love her backyard. The huge sandbox (with water), the swingset and swimming pool. She always has something fun for the kids.
• Going to McD's...She would take them to get cinnamelts and cookies for a late breakfast.
• Love...My kids always knew that she loved them. She always told them and they will always know that.Nunny's food...The kids mentioned her open face cheese sandwiches, enchiladas, augratin potatoes and her homemade chicken noodle soup. I don't make any of these quite like Nunn.
• She always knows what to say in any situation. Whether it be good or bad she always has the best advice.
• Fun Girl trips...Just in the last year we went to Seattle and Chicago. We always have so much fun. The picture up above is from Seattle.
• My favorite saying from her is: "This too shall pass."

Thanks Nunny for being such a great influence on our lives. We love you soooo much!