Are You Kidding Me #7

A few nights ago Seth and I decided to get slurpee's. On our way to 7-11, we were talking about flavors and what we would be getting when Bella started asking questions that made us realize she didn't know what a slurpee was. Are you kidding me? What kind of a mother am I? My own daughter has never had a slurpee? I couldn't believe it. She kept calling it a "sloppy". Poor thing, she has only her mother to blame.

Ode to Yard Work

Yard work, yard work how I hate you so
with your tall tall weeds that continue to grow
I've been told that you once
Were fit for a queen
Looking at you now
It must be a dream
I've tried to make you look your best
but what do you give me
Just long days with no rest
I'm tired of pretending
that we can be friends
when the truth is I hate you
and wish you were dead

Happy Fathers Day '08

I just wanted to take a minute to pay tribute to some great men. It's hard for me to put into words how great my dad is. I feel so blessed to have been raised by him and to have learned so much from him. He's a great father and even better grandfather to my girls.

When talking about my cute husband I really should say thank you to his dad who must have been a great dad. I've heard some great stories about him and know that he really taught Seth a lot. Seth is a wonderful husband and amazing dad. When we were dating my brother Scott told my parents that Seth was "put on this earth to be a dad". That's pretty high praise, especially since they were living the single life at the time. But he really is such a great dad. He loves his girls and anyone who knows him can see it. So happy fathers day, I love you both!

The top picture is one of my favorite of Seth & Bella. (Yes, Bella looks exactly like Claire)

Seth finds time to hold Claire even when he's doing yard work

10 years come and gone...

The other night I was at a baby shower for my good friend Marissa, and as I looked around the table I realized that it was only 10 years ago that I spent most of my time with these people. Actually someone pointed out that it was 10 years ago this week that we were in Italy. It seems like it wasn't that long ago, yet so many things have happened for all of us.
Anyway, being with everyone made me want to look at old pictures. I just had to post a few of them. (some of them are from junior high) Looking back I can see how care free everything was. I really was lucky to have such good friends and to still keep in touch with most of them now. I hope my girls are lucky enough to have such great friends.



Has it really been 9 years since Andrew left? I miss Brady.


For the record I know I look retarded with the fanny pack, but it worked in Italy. How is it that Linsey C looked so good on that trip?

We look so young! Where's Anne?

This must have been from spirit day or something

Are You Kidding Me #6

For the past few nights I have begun to get back to somewhat of a normal schedule. I still get up at 6:30am to go to the gym, but I don't need a nap during the day to function anymore and I can stay up until 10:00pm. This is progress for me. Anyway, now that I'm such a night owl, I can watch TV with Seth. Here's the problem: I want to find something we both like. I really don't watch that much TV, so I don't know where to start. Some of you might be saying "are you kidding me? You're blogging about what to watch?". The answer is yes. I need some suggestions. I love winding down at the end of the day and being together, but I can only take so many episodes of "Flip this house" and re-runs of "Scrubs". (Seth's 2 favorite shows). We love Jon & Kate Plus 8, but we save that to watch with Bella, because she loves it. I'm looking for something that we can get hooked on. I've been told it's too late for "Lost", because we didn't start from the beginning, and "The Office" doesn't start again until the fall. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along.
P.S. I refuse to watch "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" so don't even suggest it (you know who I'm talking to)

Memorial Day

I found this quote on the whitehouse.gov page. I thought it said everything perfectly. Even if you don't like the president you can agree with whoever wrote this part of the speech.

"On Memorial Day, we honor the heroes who have laid down their lives in the cause of freedom, resolve that they will forever be remembered by a grateful Nation, and pray that our country may always prove worthy of the sacrifices they have made. " -George W Bush

I feel very thankful today.

The Big 3-0!!!

Me & Marianne

Everyone enjoying some good food and laughs

Chris , Emmie, & Sharla

Laura & Beth

Seth turned 30 today and we started the morning off with our traditional breakfast and presents in bed. Bella wanted in on the picture, of course. But we started the birthday festivities Saturday night with a surprise party. Most people know I've been working on this for the past few months. I basically used every hook up I have. We rented a banquet room at the Cotton Tree Inn and Kim at Parsons made the cake and the catering was done by a place in Salt Lake. I had originally wanted to throw him a roast but decided that was a little mean so I told people to come with any funny or embarrassing stories they had of Seth. It was so much fun. Our favorite by far was the picture Rick & Marianne brought. They brought a framed picture with our heads photo shopped onto some people at a BYU game with the mascot. We got a good laugh at that. Seth says it's going in his office. Kellie and Josh also told some great stories that we didn't know about Seth. It was great seeing all of our friends that we don't always get to see and having our ward friends there.

Tonight we had cake and ice cream with both our families. It was a packed house. Everyone from my family came and almost everyone from Seth's family.

It was such a great weekend. Thanks everyone who helped make it possible. (Marianne, Amber, Jodie & Jenny for helping with the water bottles and table setting. You guys are great friends)!

Are you kidding me #5

I saw this picture and had to do a double take because the name by it said Clay Aiken. What? Are you kidding me? That can't be him. But yes it is. What happened? I try not to be judgemental, but seriously he looks like a totally different person. I read somewhere that he gained a lot of weight with some medicine, but that doesn't explain why he looks like a girl. Ok that was rude, but come on! Maybe I'm being too hard on the guy. But if I had seen that picture without the name by it I don't think I would have known it was him.

Happy Mother's Day

The girls before church

This mother's day started off great with breakfast in bed. Then Bella brought me the present she picked from all a dollar, all by herself; a pink spatula and pink salad tongs. Seth got me a digital picture frame, which I just love!

The next best part of mothers day came when the primary kids sang a few songs in church. Bella took front and center and waved at my during most of the songs. When she wasn't waving she was leaning over the stand and scaring me because she looked like she was going to fall over. Oh and she also tried to lead the music during the program. Everyone around us had a pretty good laugh.

Thank You family for making it such a wonderful day. I feel so blessed. I love you all!!!

Can't blog..too busy enjoying the weather

Are You kidding Me #4

I just wanted to say happy anniversary to someone who has been very loyal over the past year. I've bragged about my kids, expressed my opinions and spent hours with them . Ok so I guess it's not so much of a person but rather a thing. My blog and I have now been together for a year. Are you kidding me? One year already? I feel like I just started. I've taken lots of crap from certain people about my blog, but I've stuck with it and now I have a years worth of journaling. I figure even if people don't care to look at it, one day my kids will be able to read about the fun things we did and also get to know their mom a little better through my rants.
Here's to more years of blogging!!

Claire's Blessing

We finally blessed Claire on Sunday. She's almost 4 months, so it's about time. It was such a fun excuse to be with all of our family and friends. Thanks everyone who came. It was lots of fun.

Me & Kel with our cute girls who are only 3 months apart.

Grandma Brown

Bella & Jaci found the dress up clothes. Jaci looks so much like her grandma Cindo, I love it!

Claire is so lucky to have a great grandma and grandma so close

Emmie loves to hold Claire

Worth Reading

I just finished the book Escape and I can't say enough about it. If you are at all interested in what's going on with FLDS stuff in Texas than I would highly recommended reading it. That said, you should know some of it is hard to take in. There were times I had to stop completely because it was too much. But at the same time it's a real page turner. I won't say too much because I don't want to give it away(although if you watch the news at all, you are watching the end all come together) but after reading it I felt so blessed for the freedoms which we enjoy. I always love reading about women who are empowering and Carolyn Jessop is nothing short of amazing in my eyes. Her story is remarkable.

Everyone I know who has read it has finished it in less than a week. So please give it a try and let me know. I'm dying to hear what people think.

Are you kidding me #3

I'm so sick of Mariah Carey. There are so many things that bother me about her. For starters, wearing cut off shorts and a bikini top when you're 38 is not only unattractive, but embarrassing. Speaking of embarrassing, she went on Oprah to show off her 3000 sq ft closet. Are you kidding me? That's the size of some peoples houses. She should be embarrassed. While on Oprah she was also promoting the fact that she's a size 2 and she's hasn't been since she was a junior in high school. That's a great example to our young girls. I think what bothers me the most is that she actually has talent. She can really sing and writes her own music. But all of that is over showed by how sleazy she dresses and acts. I think I must be turning into a feminist in my old age. But I am so tired of women degrading themselves like this.

Football Already?

Today was the annual red/white game at the "U". Seth has bee looking forward to this for the past few weeks. He loves this game, it was the first Utah game he ever went to with his dad. He was in heaven! Bella sat on his lap for most the game watching and paying attention to what was going on. Clearly she doesn't get that from me. She asked lots of questions and yelled go Utes. Her favorite was when Seth caught two footballs for her. Claire slept through most of the game, except when Bella came around to talk to her. It was a great day to watch football.

Now Bella will probably want a season ticket so can go to all of the games. I have a felling Seth won't mind.

Love this weather!

I have this huge list of things that need to be done today; cleaning, yard work, grocery shopping, pick up the dry cleaning. But what am I doing right now? Sitting in my yard enjoying the sun and watching Bella play. Everything else will have to wait.

Are you kidding me #2

I just heard on the news that the men involved in this polygamy thing in Texas are getting a lawyer and filling their own lawsuit against the state. Are you kidding me? There are so many things wrong with that. First of all I can't believe there's a lawyer who would want to represent them. Wait, yes I can. (no offense Kari or Russ, you're great).
Child protective services, already had to take more than 400 kids from the compound because they're worried about their safety. 400!!! That's incredible. Where do all these women have their babies? Can they go to a hospital or do they have to do it on the compound?
It just makes me sick that these creepy old men think they can justify "marrying" a 14 year old and getting her pregnant at 16. They should all go to jail like Warren Jeffs if you ask me.

I'm Hooked!!

It's official, I'm hooked on this CD. Many of you already know about Mercy River, but if you don't here's a little back ground on this them.
My friend Soni is in this group and they recently signed with Deseret Book to make the CD. If you live outside of Utah you can hear them preform at "Time out For Women", or check out her husbands blog, Treion, from mine and he has more details.
The CD is great. Bella loves to dance around the house when I have it on, and when I have it on in the car she tries to sing along. If you were at our wedding, she was the one who sang. Anyway, I'm so proud of Sones. If you're looking for some good music this is the one to get. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Scott's 30th

Here are some pictures from Scott's birthday. I was so happy to hear that a lot of you at the party said you read my blog. Although none of you ever post a comment....anyway we had lots of fun, which was evident by the fact that we didn't leave until 9:00pm, Bella enjoyed being up way past her bed time. It was great seeing everyone. Jamie and Fred you guys planned a great party.

Are you kidding me #1

I've been watching CNN lately in the mornings, and there is this reporter who, I don't know her name, has a segment she calls "Are you kidding me?", in which she talks about things that she just can't believe. One example was some movie that is all about the life of Anna Nicole. It always gets me thinking, so I've decided to start my own. Basically so I can vent about whatever's bugging me. My goal is to keep it going once a week, kind of like Kari's "Tuesday tell all".
Yesterday I was watching the news and they were saying there is going to be a new "reality show" about the life of high end prostitutes in Nevada. Are you kidding me???? I can't believe we live in a society where people would want to watch this. Who cares? The reporter was saying these women make anywhere from $10,000-$15,000 a night. Again, who cares? All this makes me think is how am I supposed to raise girls to be smart confident women when our society says it's all about sex and money? And for all my friends with boys, you have it hard to. How do you teach boys to respect women when there are women making movies like "girls gone wild".
I still don't know who I'm voting for this election, but I do have to give Hillary some credit for being the first woman to run for president.
Things like this will never go away and I guess it's just a challenge for me to teach my girls how lucky they are to vote and be educated and to respect their bodies. Man, being a parent is hard!