When the Dog Bites! When the Bee Stings...

Blessings come to each of us every day. Of course I know that my greatest blessings are my children, husband, family, and the gospel. But that's not what this posting is about. This posting is about material THINGS, literally. Not people, experiences or things that REALLY matter in life. I have decided to share some of my favorite things as the gift-giving season approaches. Some of them are practical as gifts and some aren't. Of course, it's not as elaborate as Oprah's Favorite Things, ha ha... but here are some of mine!

The Toilet

Kohler Toilet/Bidet Combo

This isn't just a pleasant potty experience. It's a downright treat when ya gotta do your business. Complete with a heated seat, remote control, sprayers that clean from back to front, front to back with pulsating or oscillating warm water that is quite lovely. There is also warm air that dries you off and then an automatic deodorizer and a light. Cal and I love this thing! It's perfect for him especially for those of you who know the way he learned to 'go' and 'wipe' on his mission in India! Haha!

Fortune Delight

http://www.sunrider.com/

This herbal tea comes in Lemon, Peach and Raspberry flavors and is yummy hot or cold. It is full of immune boosters, anti-oxidants and natural appetite suppressants that also fight against the absorption of sugars. I love the taste and like it first thing in the morning.

(sorry no picture of the tea)

Pride and Prejudice

A&E Films

Although nothing beats the actual book by Jane Austen, I love the older A&E version of the film. There is something so authentic about the setting and the cast. I love the movie enough to watch it at least once a year (it's 5 hours long). I don't think the new version, with Keira Knightly is nearly as good as the A&E one!

Skin Medica

http://www.skinmedica.com/

My skin was breaking out and it seemed like I couldn't get a handle on it for awhile. Until my cousin gave me some Skin Medica products. It is amazing how much softer and smoother my skin is after 6 weeks of using this! The Retinol Complex is amazing, and I love the Foaming Acne Wash too. I will be using it for a very long time!

Citizens of Humanity Jeans

MR, Nordstrom or stores that sell designer jeans usually have them. I also got a pair for $20 bucks on Ebay!

Most of you know, I have a slight obsession with jeans. I love how these jeans fit! They are low rise, but come up a little bit in the back to help hide "stuff" when you have to bend over. I love the softness and how they stretch to the shape of your body. I have a 'skinny' pair to wear with tall boots and a boot cut pair. Love them! Good jeans are hard to find!! Thanks Miss for turning me onto Citizens!

M.A.C. Mineral Make Up

I switched to mineral makeup years ago, and used Bare Minerals for a few years. I ran out of it and decided to try something new, and really like the M.A.C. Mineral Powder Foundation. It goes on very lightly and seems to last all day. I also was surprised that it costs no more, maybe even less than Bare Minerals.

Swiffer SweeperVac

Goodbye broom and dustpan! My sis-in-law had one of these and I couldn't get over how great it is! It's small, swivels into small spaces, and the double action of the swiffer pad and vac really clean nicely! I love it because it has a canister that empties easily and since I have a lot of wood flooring, it's so helpful. I highly recommend it! It's about $25.00...

The Perfume

Jivago 24K

This stuff smells heavenly...I've had some friends and family ask me about my perfume and I must say, the reason I bought this is because my aunt wore it and I always thought she smelled so nice. I've been wearing it for about 5 or 6 years now and love it. It's hard to find but if you do a google search, you should be able to get it online. If you want to smell it before you buy it, smell me! Ha Ha!!

Jewelry Armoire

I love this because it keeps everything hanging and well organized. I hated having to dig through everything and half the time my necklaces were so tangled I didn't take the time to wear them. I love how it is an almost-full length mirror when closed. And it has a lock so that kids can't open it! Thanks mom!! Where did you get this anyway???

Dusting Slippers

by Jillie Willie

The soles of these slippers are dusters for your floor, and they velcro off so that you can throw them in the laundry to wash! And as an added bonus, they're super cute :) Thanks Suni!!

Nike Plus

http://www.nike.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/

All I can say is...if you are a runner at all, and don't have one of these...it's a MUST HAVE!!!-Transforms your iPod nano into a personal workout coach--nano can provide real-time, spoken feedback that alerts you to workout milestones-Lets your iPod nano track your running time, distance, pace, and calories burned-Sync your iPod nano to transfer your workout data to iTunes and nikeplus.com for your performance history and more

Halloween Madness

Here are some pictures from Halloween for those of you who aren't on Facebook and haven't seen them. We had a fun time! The party at Dain & Marie's was so fun!!

Breaking in the House

This past weekend, my brothers, Matt and Ben brought their families up from Utah to visit. Ben recently moved to Highland, and Matt lives in Kaysville. We had a really nice time other than Ben, Wendy, and their 6 year old Jared, getting the stomach flu! Will woke up this morning not feeling well, and it seems to have caught him too. Yuck! Hopefully the rest of us don't get it..


My parents have been building a house up here in the valley for about 14 months, and lo and behold! They finally moved in last week and their house turned out beautiful! They got so sick of the building process that by the time it was finished, they hated the place ( I know the feeling!!!), but hopefully as time goes on, they'll love it. Their home is located on 35 gorgeous acres, in the narrows, between Afton and Thayne. Mom and dad did all of the picking and choosing themselves and as you'll see, they have great taste. The house will be a fun family retreat for many years to come! The other day, we watched a family of elk wander the property, and there are always moose, deer, and elk to be seen. Mom and dad even saw a mountain lion not far from their property. Scary!! But some of you have requested pictures, and since Steve and Marissa are in Texas and weren't able to make it up, I decided to post this. I only have a few, and didn't get any of tha bathrooms, guest bedrooms, etc. But I think Ben took more and he will probably post them. The pictures obviously don't do it justice though, so you'll all have to come for a visit to see it!

Master Bedroom
The Basement
The basement
more basement
more basement
Front entrance that faces the mountain. The back is really pretty, but I don't have a picture of it.
Family room
Cal & Anna
Family room

Kitchen

I've Been Tagged

Brooke, my friend from college, was tagged and now she's passed on the privilege to yours truly. I loved reading her response though, because it's been so long since I've 'hung out' with her or been in touch with her. And reading about her quirks made me miss her! So Brooke, this is for you ;o) Here are 6 quirks about myself:

1. I am a fanatic about being on time! I don't like the thought of people waiting around for me, so I always try to be 2-3 minutes early to everything.

2. I have to wear earrings everyday. It doesn't look right to me if I don't have at least small studs in my ears. I feel naked without them.

3. I get way too emotionally involved in movies! When Cal and I are watching a movie, I get physically ill if something horrible is happening, or overjoyed if something good happens. I cry, I laugh and then I keep thinking about it long after it's over. Drives my husband crazy sometimes.

4. I have an obsession with accessories. Period.

5. I love to sing opera at the top of my lungs when I'm home.

6. I can't start a 'project' without completely finishing it. If I don't think I can finish something right away, without interruption, I don't start it.

And the list could go on and on, lol!..

Now, it's your turn. I tag Marissa, Jamie, Dionne, Heidi, Marie and Amy

Blast from the Past!! Yikes...

Anna in 1982

Will in 1968






This is Cal in 1980..not too far of a stretch from his 1993 yearbook photo, sad to say



This is me, in 1978, the year I was born...don't ya think I can pull off the AFRO?

Will's First Day of School

Will started 1st grade this year, and he is so excited. He loves his teacher, and he loves that he gets to play with his friends from last year at recess. He went on a field trip to Bear World last week with the first grade in Rigby, ID, and they had a blast. He does his homework right after school, and loves to read! Here are a few pictures from his first day, just as he's getting ready to go. I can't believe how fast he's growing! Before I know it, he'll be driving himself to school. I just hope he stays as sweet and kind hearted as he is now. I'm sure he will, just like his dad :)

Bye Bye!! His backpack is humungous!

Muffin Top Anyone?

Ok, so we've all seen it for the past 6-8 years, and I think the fashion world has finally had ENOUGH of the infamous muffin top! At least they have figured out that women will buy low-rise jeans no matter what the size! In reality, the worst muffin top is the BARE muffin top as seen in the photo to the left. I mean, seriously! At least wear a long cami underneath, lol! I'm not sure what is going through the minds of the women (and teens more and more) who enter the dressing room, see the overhang of fat, and then say to themselves, "perfect fit, I'm buying!"

I especially like the pink polka-dot 'belt'..I mean, it brings your eye right there to the culprit, and more importantly, it keeps her jeans on nice and snug. I don't believe that muffin top can ONLY be avoided by losing weight. It's all about the clothing choices and sizing. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing people who need to lose weight. Most people, myself included, have wanted to lose weight at one point or another. This is not about weight loss! It's about covering up!

The GOOD news, is that the new trend for fall is high-waisted pants! Although, high-waisted pants are controversial, I think they will at least offer another option to chubby American women.

But the sad thing is, even thin people walk around with muffin top too, it's just more noticeable and mind boggling when it's an overweight person. It's like a size 12 girl doesn't want to admit she's a 12, because 2 years ago she was an 8, so as long as she can squeeze into those 8's, she's buying! But maybe there's hope after all, and although at first I thought the high-waisted look was a bit ummm, ugly...it's starting to grow on me now, and it may be something I try out this fall! I remember when skinny jeans started, I was thinking, yuck! But now I think they're really cute, and come in handy when you want to wear tall boots!

Let's just hope that the 'muffin toppers' agree so that we can finally put an end to this fashion nightmare! To all you low rise wearing people without muffin top...continue as before but try the high waisted look too! Might be a nice change of scenery!
I'm curious as to what you all think of the high-waisted look, and if you're sick of the muffin top too!

In a Nutshell...

Since I haven't been updating my blog for the past for the past 6-8 months, I thought I would update everyone on what my family has been up to, and although I tend to get impatient with uploading pictures, I will attempt it. So many of my pictures get posted on Facebook, but I know some of you aren't on FB...especially my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. So I don't want to leave you out!

We FINALLY moved into our new house (took forever to build) back in early March, and although we love having a lot more space, I am still trying to get it fully furnished and decorated. The upstairs is close to being complete, but the basement is still a Lov Sac, air hockey table, basketball hoop, and a 60" plasma with surround sound (the sad thing is that I have no couch yet to watch it, lol!). But now I am starting to focus on getting it set up how we want it. It's just a trip to Utah or Idaho every time we need to shop so it happens only every so often. Our yard is being landscaped right now, and as soon as it is done, I will post some pictures! But we do LOVE our ward and Cal and I are currently the 17 year old Sunday School teachers and we have about 10 kids in there and they're all awesome kids. We love them! I also serve on the Enrichment board and as the ward chorister (of course!). But our neighbors and our new friends have made it fun to move (again!). Cal's business is doing better than ever since we downsized, and he loves living here in the mountains where he can hop on his snowmobile or dirt bike and go out the back door. He is hunting bear and deer this weekend, but I don't think he'll talk me into mounting anything on my walls if he kills something! He can hang it in the cabin, right girls!

My parents just finished building as well, and their home is beautiful, on 35 acres only about 15 minutes from us! It's nice to have them so close, and we can't wait for them to get their horses! Dad just got his tractor, and you would think it was a Porsche or something the way Cal's eyes lit up! I know where he'll be spending his 'free' time, if such a thing exists!

The kids, Will 6 and Anna 2, are loving the nice weather and Will loves the 1st grade. He is a tall kid, and still towers over his classmates, but when people think he's just a very immature 8 year old, they always have a look of relief when we say, "oh he's just 6". He is playing soccer and loves it, and he's got the best sense of humor. He loves his friends and we're proud of him because his teacher says he's nice to everyone and when a new girl moved in, he made sure she had someone to play with at recess. Anna is definitely feisty and the 'terrible twos' are a REAL thing I have learned with her. I can't remember Will being such a stinker, but maybe I had forgotten? She makes me laugh all the time, and it's so hard to discipline her, because she knows how to turn on the sweetness right when she needs to get out of a 'time out'. It has been fun having a girl though, and honestly, I like shopping for her more than myself. Some have been asking when we're going to have our next? You'll just have to wait and see!!

Well, that's how we're doing now, and the summer has been full of traveling to see family and family coming to see us. I try to get to Jackson with friends or on dates with Cal as often as possible, just to get out! Cal has been working really hard this summer, and even did all the tile in my parents' house somehow! I've been down in Highland to see Ben & Wendy a lot since they moved up, and I wish I lived closer. Living here has it's benefits, but also it's drawbacks. We're thinking of moving to Cache Valley next, probably in about 2 or 3 years. We figured it's a good compromise, since it's 'in the middle' and not quite so hard in the winters. I honestly love the valley, but hate it as well. I could go on and on...

So, in a nutshell, I would say that my life has been about my kids and my family, and trying to do the best job I can to teach them how to be happy. At the end of the day, our children are the most important thing, and if we can instill our values and beliefs in them at a young age, their lives will be easier. I am grateful for my parents and the road they led me down throughout my life, and for my husband's family as well. And Cal and I are so blessed to be parents and will one day look back on these times when our kids are young and impressionable, and hopefully feel like we gave them the foundation they needed to live the way their Heavenly Father would have them live. The rest is just gravy...

And the Award Goes To...

I must admit that I have given myself the award for 'Worst Blogger of the Year!' Woo hoo, thank you...I couldn't have done it without all of you reminding me and being great bloggers yourselves; however, I have decided to change my ways, because I think it's important to keep a record of memories and events, and what better way to 'journal' your family's activites and share your thoughts on issues than to blog? I hope I am able to become 'Most improved blogger' by this time next year! Thanks to all of you for your examples of what a true blogger should be (JAMIE!!!!) Love ya! xoxo

Good times, good times!

Well, even I can admit that playing in the snow can be fun! Last weekend, we took a trip up to the cabin (Cal and his brothers built it themselves) up Grey's River with aunt Laura, her husband Dave, and my parents (no kids). It was a really fun trip, and my favorite part was when we were snowmobiling in a foot of fresh powder! We rode up this trail to an area called Blind Bull, and it was by far the funnest sledding I've ever experienced. There was just enough fresh snow to make it exciting, but not too deep, to where you were always getting stuck (Miss, you know what I mean ;o)...then we went tubing down a HUGE hill and it was hilarious!! My favorite moment was when Laura flipped off her tube and started rolling down the hill. You really got going FAST down the hill and there was a small jump. We got some air on that jump..heehee. We were like a bunch of kids!!

Here are a few pictures from that trip: