This is a picture of the sky the other night that C took. It was just before a thunder/lighting storm. We've been having a lot of those quick storms lately, I love them as long as I'm close to my home and if I get scared I can go inside. It looked so cool, the dark clouds and then they just cut off and there was clear sky it was weird. We sat out side together with out the kids, since they were in bed, looking up at the sky just talking. I love moments like that, that we have together. Any way we sat out on our porch and watched the sky get dark with clouds and it got really calm in the sky and quiet, it was so weird and kinda creepy, you know the calm before the storm creepy. But the storm came and went pretty quickly nothing to get worried about it was just so weird how the sky looked and the creepy clamness. I just thought I'd share this cool photo.

So it's 1 AM and I am still awake! Today was a beautiful Sunday, no heat, no humidity, just nice sun shine and a slight breeze, aahhh! I felt as though I were out west some where and not in this awful hot part of the country in which I really do live in(okay it's not awful I just don't like the hot humid summers). I didn't sleep that well last night but I did go to church today. I'm still in some pain, ya know the whole dislocated jaw thing:( but it wasn't too bad getting out of the house. Since I didn't sleep that well I decided that I would take a nice quick Sunday nap while the kids took theirs. Well little did I know that I would sleep for over 3 hours! Yikes I was tired I guess. So now that it is one in the morning and I can't sleep I figured I'd catch up on some blogging.

Over a year ago we moved in to the three bedroom town house we are in now. My only complaint about this apartment was the nasty old gross kitchen cupboards and sink. They smelled bad under the sink and were all sunken in. I knew there was mold under there, but the matenance guy said "it's just the paint that smells that way." yeah and you used the paint to cover up the mold growing I'm sure, and the paint made it all sag like that too I bet! It was gross but they told us they were getting all new cupboards with in the next year, so I didn't worry about it too much, I just avoided under my sink and didn't use some of the space since it smelled bad and I didn't want to open them very often.
About a month ago or so, while I was at my sister's wedding actually, I got my new cupboards installed and it has been nice to have them. Now they aren't the most expensive cupboards there is out there, okay so they are quite the opposite but that was too be expected out good 'ol MV where I live! But they look NICE and that is all that matters right now to me :)
Even though they aren't the most expesive cupboards out there here are a few reasons why I LOVE them.
1. sniff, sniff.....you smell that.....nope no mold, no stinky smell just new cupboard smell
2. when I clean the kitchen it just looks so much cleaner now.
3.I know that any junk, goo, crap,stickyness, ewyness, in or on these cupboards is from me and my family and not some one else. That's a good feeling especially if you find things like boogers, hey at least I know it's one of my kids or C's :)
4.Yay I can use all my cupboard space since they don't smell I don't mind storing things in them!
5.My sink! I love my sink now, I know it's not the nicest sink but it's so clean and I plan to keep it that way. You know how some people let their sinks get all moldy back behind and around the faucet and they don't ever clean it until they move out but it's still never all the way gone and then I move in to their old place (I'm not saying the Potters were gross people because I'm sure it was gross when they moved in, for those of you who know them :) and the sinks are far from getting clean ever no matter what you do there is always that hard water deposite and mold around them? Well I know that is how my old sink was and now I can stop it from doing that and keep it oh so clean for who ever moves in after we are done with this place. I love a clean sink!

Any way I mostly told my mom I'd show her how nice my kitchen now looks with the new cupboards, it makes all the difference in the world!

Ahh my clean sink!

I forgot to take a before picture so I was trying to find a picture with my old ones in it but I think I avoided getting pictures with them in it since they were kinda ugly so you'll just have to believe me that they are so much better now!

Our time with Daddy

This month has been crazy! I'm feeling bad that this traumatic thing has happened to me on C's month off of school but to be honest it couldn't have happened at a better time. I don't know what I would have done with out my wonderful husband during all of this (see post below if you don't know what I am talking about). He has been so amazing, he has done more dishes than me in the last week or so, woken up with the kids if they are up in the night every time! He has pretty much taken over the "mom duties" for the last few days since I have felt my worst. I Love him so much and appreciate all he has done for me and for our family, Thank You Hunny!

I thought I'd put up some recent pictures of the kids and other happenings around our parts, besides me and my pain and complaints :) I'm actually slowly feeling better, lets hope it stays that way!

E got her hair cut, FINALLY! I have been asking her since the weather has gotten warmer (since the beginning of May) if I could get her hair cut and this was her response "No Mommy I want really really long hair like Kim." (her Auntie Kim) I would then try and convince her it would look so cute if we cut it and it would grow back out and that she would be less hot on her neck and so on, but to no avail. She just wanted to "look like a princess, like Pocahontas." she would say, silly girl! It had not been cut in a year, it was getting out of control and some thing needed to be done. So one day the kids were in the bath and I saw J's hair around his ears getting out of control so I started trimming it a little around his ears. She asked what I was doing so I said "I'm just trimming his hair a little." "oh, can you trim my hair?" E asked. I immediately said yes but it wouldn't be right then and there, it was getting late and she needed to go to bed. So just a couple of days ago she brought it up again and I thought I should just do it now before she changes her mid. So I did and she looks so cute. I forgot to take a before picture but I think she looks so much older now, and less ragamuffin-ish.... if that is a word?! I cut off at least two inches from the back (where it was the longest) although she had some strange stuff going on in the front and I didn't need to take off as much from there, but it looks so cute now and guess what? She LOVES it! She said "I just look so cute now momma!" and it is true she does.

Since C has been home we have tried to do some fun things as a family, we're kind of bad at planning things though. It's just so easy to sit and be lazy and enjoy each other's company at home. But in the last few weeks we have gotten out and enjoyed the beatiful weather together and it has been fun! We went to a PBS kids day in the park and it was fun, crowded but fun. The kids played in a bouncy toy which they loved and ate cotton candy, what more could they want?! We went to a nice park near by where they have a nice paved trail to bike on and the kids love riding in the bike trailer, we had a picnic dinner which E said she was "So et-cited" about. It was fun to get out and get some exercise and watch the kids have fun at the play ground. We took Daddy to the pool, the kids and I go often when it's hot out so it's nothing new to us, but C rarely goes so we all went with some friends and it was fun to have him there to watch the kids play. E went under water for the first time in a long time. She's kind of scared of the water but when she finally held her breath and put her face in she realized it was actually kind of fun and wouldn't stop after that, I was so proud. Now I need to put her in Swimming Lessons. Any way I hope we get to get out and do more things as a family before Daddy has to go back to school. Like I said I have been slowly feeling better and if that continues I think we'll have plenty of time to get out and do other fun things. Here are just a few pictures of the cute kiddos.

They couldn't get the Cotton Candy in their mouths fast enough, the only bad thing is the sticky mess we are left with when it is all gone.

I had to put this picture up because here J is sporting his "muscle T" or that is what I call it because it makes him look so tough! He is so dang cute!

This wasn't at the pool, I forgot to bring the camera to the pool but this was a hot day at a friends house with a slip and slide. My kids had never been on one so it was quite fun to watch them walk on to it then slip onto their butts and fall, I'm so mean but it's just too funny! They never really caught on to the concept of the slip and slide but they did stay very hydrated since they mostly stood there and drank the water squirting out.

My TMJ Disorder

Here at the Dental School there is an Oral Health Research Center where many oral health studies are conducted. It is a popular thing for dental students and their wives to participate in these studies because most of them pay pretty well, lots of $$$. Some of them include: not brushing your teeth for a set amount of days, some require you to wear a mouth guard for a few hours at a time, some require you to use a certain toothpaste or mouth rinse and so on, you get the idea. You come to the study, do what they have you do, they pay you $$ it's that simple. A while back I decided to call the Research Center to participate in a study (which didn't pay that well) but I hear once you do one study they call you back for more and you're bound to do one that pays you lots, so I gave it a shot. Well I'm not allowed to talk about the study in detail although I can say a few things about it. It was to be spread out over a year and I only had to come in every three months, not too bad. All the appointments have gone pretty well and usually last an hour or less. At the beginning of this month I went to my regular three month check up and all went well until the end. I have to open my mouth wide for a treatment on my back lower molars and the person doing the study has a device that has to suction down on my tooth and the only way they can get it to do that is by applying pressure on my tooth and jaw. Well as she was doing this my jaw started to shake and feel weak and then it popped open and locked. I screamed and the she stopped and I forcefully popped my jaw back into place. Sounds painful right?! It actually wasn't too bad it mostly scared me. They felt bad about forcing my jaw open and kept asking me questions... "does it hurt?" "how bad" etc. To be honest it just ached a little but nothing terrible. The Dr. came in and asked a few questions and then they finished the study and sent me on my way with my cash. The next week or so I had massive pain in my jaw which mainly felt like my muscles that were tight, most likely because got strained when it locked open. I didn't think much of it until it wouldn't go away. I had limited motion in my jaw on my left side, pain in my face, head and neck and I couldn't bite normally on my back teeth. I then knew some thing was seriously wrong! Unfortunately we do not have insurance, we are generally healthy people and we are in the process of getting on some through the state. So that worried me a little. I called the research center and told the Study Director the whole story and to my relief they are going to pay for the medical costs to help me fix this TMJ Disorder. At first, and still some times now, I want to be mad at the research center because they caused it but not purposely so I really can't be mad at them and they have been so nice and cooperative with the whole thing so I can't be too upset with them, but it still sucks!

Yesterday I went to the TMJ Specialist (I think he is an Oral-Maxillofacial Surgeon or that is his title any way) and I knew what ever was wrong with my jaw was bad but I didn't know how or what was wrong with me. Come to find out I have a slipped disk in my left TMJ or also known as Internal Joint Derangement. What happened is after my joint was damaged by locking open the disk slowly slid in front of the joint, which, if you wanted to know, is very painful! The disk serves as a cushion and a shock absorber for your joint so that the two bones do not rub together, well mine is pushed in front of the Mandible, obviously out of place. So I have no cushion between the two bones, ouch!

Here is a nice visual for you of how it is supposed to look. Now picture my "pink disc" pushing the mandible forward and resting in front.

The treatment is not surgery, well yet any way and hopefully NOT! They will first try a three step splint to hold my jaw a certain way so that the disk will slip back in on it's own. That will take weeks to months who knows?! If that fails or if there is too much damage to the disk and joint then they look at surgery with the splint treatment but that is not very common to have to do surgery so lets pray that the other therapy works and there wasn't too much damage!

Any way the only reason I post this is because that is really the only exciting thing going on in my life right now, sad I know :) You never realize how much your jaw being out of place effects the rest of your body. It amazes me how the body works that way. I have back pain because of it, my throat hurts because of it, my ear hurts because of it, headaches, I can't use my tongue very well, and well I could go on and on. I'm not complaining just pointing out that such a simple problem can cause so much grief to one persons body. Okay I'm kind of complaining because it SUCKS! I can't wait to get this fixed and be all back to normal. The positive thing to this is it's a quick way to lose weight/inches because I can't eat very much at all, it just hurts too bad. I have noticed my cloths fitting looser, kind of nice. If you want to lose some weight just have some one punch you in the jaw and get a displaced disc, or you can try not eating that might be easier and less painful :) I'm totally kidding. I've been meaning to get in shape for bathing suit season and try to lose my mom pooch, problem solved. I guess it's a blessing in disguise, right.

So the Dr. put me on a muscle relaxer called Skelaxin and C said he and his classmates learned about this drug in one of their classes and they would joke about how "you will be Skelaxin (sounds like relax'in) on this drug" and I totally am Skelaxin on this drug it is niiiice! I feel like my muscles are all jello-y it's weird but it helps!
Okay I'm done, thanks for letting me vent it feels good.

For my Family

So I meant to blog yesterday for my one and only Brother! He is so special in our family, he's the only boy out of SIX girls so he holds a special place in all our hearts. Yesterday was my little brother's Birthday and since I couldn't call him on his birthday, because he's on his mission, I wanted to put up this post for him so he knows I didn't forget, well I forgot to post it yesterday on his birthday but I knew it was his birthday :)
Any way I remember the day he was born I was 7 years old and my grandma came over to watch all us girls while Mom and Dad went to the hospital. I remember when they called Grandma after he was born and My mom and Dad (mostly my Dad) were so excited to tell us we finally had a brother! We were so excited too. I don't remember if we even went to the hospital but I do remember when he came home and he was the cutest baby boy ever! I have always loved babies and always wanted to be the one to help mommy with the baby and I remember feeling so special when I got to hold little Davey and help Mommy feed him, change him and bathe him.
Growing up with David he was such an easy going little boy. At times I look back and almost feel like a second Mom to him. My Mom worked part time and some times full time while growing up and so when I'd come home from school I was always put on baby duty either by my two older sisters or my Dad if he needed help because I loved doing it. I remember lugging him around with me playing Mommy and I loved it. I remember sticking up for him when his little sister would beat up on him, it's not that he wasn't tough enough to hurt her back he was just too nice! They grew out of the "hating each other" stage and are now close but back when they were little we thought they'd never get along.
A little bit about my brother....He is so nice to every one! He is like the least judgmental guy I know. He has always had lots of friends because people love to be around him. He's a funny guy, he loves to joke around and laugh with us (his sisters). He is so laid back which can be a good thing if he is laid back when he needs to be :) He is very musically talented and we are all proud of him. He has self taught himself to play the piano the guitar and to sing. I loved going home for the Holidays and my brother would sing or play the piano or the guitar, it was always nice to have that around the house. He's a hard worker. He starting working with my dad when he was really young like 12 or something, and he learned young how to work hard for his money. I know by his emails that he is now out working hard for the Lord on his mission and I am so proud of him!
I just wanted to wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I can't believe you are 20! We are all so proud of you. Keep up the good work! We Love you David!

So today is my Mom and Dad's Anniversary and I just wanted to say a quick Happy Anniversary to you! I think it's fun that my little brother was born right before my Mom and Dad's Anniversary I remember my Mom saying to my Dad " Well Happy Anniversary hunny you have a Son" I always thought that was kind of sweet, what a nice anniversary present my mom gave my Dad that year :) Any way I think it's great that my parents have been married 31 years and although at times it might not have been easy and they both sacrificed a lot for one another, they are still in love and that is how I want to be at my 31st anniversary with my hubby. Thank you Mom and Dad for loving us kids enough to love each other so much, if that makes sense?!

Our trip to Chicago....

So I guess I should put up a post on our trip to Chicago, well Gurnee actually. First of all let me just say my sister is awesome, she made a huge sacrifice letting our family of FOUR stay in her 1, that's right ONE bedroom apartment. It's actually a nice sized one bedroom but there were six of us in it, got kinda cramped but we survived and the kids did too :) Kim and Tyler then went over the top and offered us their room so that the kids had a place to sleep behind a closed door and didn't have to sleep in the living room, her and Tyler would take the blow up mattress in the living room, awwwee so nice of them! J took the walk in closet in the master bedroom which worked out nicely and he actually kind of liked it in there and E took the floor in the master bedroom with us.

The trip up was long, longer than it should normally take, but we left later than planned and hit Chicago at rush hour. So it was stop and go, and creep and go and lots of construction for a long time until Gurnee. It seemed like we paid a million tolls and the roads still sucked! The kids did great in the car, better than I thought but movies helped. Once we hit Chicago and were stuck in traffic and they got hungry that is when it got harder but they survived and we stopped at a Mc-Y-D's that was in the weirdest place I have ever seen a McDonalds, in the middle of a high way, smack dab in the center it was weird and cool and we were greatful it was there! The trip back home we took a different route and it was so much shorter less construction and out of the Chicago area so we got home faster which was nice.

The first day we lazed around played too much X box and had fun sucking it up doing that :) okay I sucked it up! But E loved it and liked watching us play. We hit the pool the next day and had fun in the sun. We didn't actually go to Chicago since Gurnee is like 40 minutes north of Chicago and we did NOT want to go through that construction again, it was not fun! So another time we'll go down town Chicago. We did a local fair near Gurnee and got rained on lots but it was still fun. Then we went to the beach, lake Michigan which looks like the Ocean it's so big! But it's COLD! That was fun to visit the lake and it ended up being a nice day for it. The kids had a ton of fun collecting rocks and sand for Grandma Celia and Grandpa George. E built a sand castle with Auntie Kim and J just loved being in the nice weather near water and surrounded by a ton of "ocks" or rocks, he LOVES rocks!

So our last fun thing on Tyler's Day off we did the Six Flags thing and I'm bumbed I forgot to take a picture of all of us out in front, oh well. We had a ton of fun, it was nice to be able to be so close to the park so we could walk, the only down side our feet hurt so bad by the end of the day that the walk home seemed to take forever! We went in the morning and did the trade off thing, they did the Adult rides and we took the kids to the kiddy land and they had SO much fun. J laughed almost the whole time on their first ride, it was so cute! He screamed and cried when I had to take him off but then he got over it when he realized there were more to go on. Then we met up with Kim and Tyler and switched they took them on one more ride and the home for lunch and nap while C and I did a couple of big kid rides. Two is all we got through, poor C got sick after the second. He gets motion sick on rides and swings etc. so I wasn't terribly surprised he got sick, but only after two, oh well. He said they were both fun, but at the end of the second one I looked over and I knew by looking at him he was done. The one ride we did that scared the *@$% out of me was called Maximum Valocity or some thing like that. It was CRAZY I tell you! It is a big U shaped ride with one side that cork screws a little but that is not the scary part the scary part is that it shoots you up the cork screw side going 55+ miles an hour only to yank you back up the other side at the same speed then again up the other side and back and then jerk you to a stop at the top, all while your feet are hanging! I have never screamed that loud on any ride I've ever been, I don't think I've ever screamed that loud ever in my life! I tried to stop but I couldn't, it just kept coming out and C laughed at me, of course. My throat hurt so bad after, but it was a rush and it was fun after I got off :) C loved it and when he got off he said he felt a little uneasy but was okay for another ride, little did he know.....We went on the Batman one where your feet hang next and it was fun but a little to twisty turny for C and that is why he got sick. We headed home to eat some lunch and nap then back to the park. We finished off the day at the water park which was fun I wished we had a whole day at the water park, the kids loved it. C then left with the kids and me, Kim and Tyler stayed to do a couple more rides. It was a fun day I'm glad we got the chance to go to a big theme park. I think that is C's last time doing big rides, he's getting OLD :) If it weren't for his motion sickness I'm sure he'd be back on that crazy Velocity ride if he could. Any way I got some pictures from our trip, well these are just of Six flags but I'll put up more later. Thanks Kim and Tyler for letting us invade your newly married lives for a few days E still talks about her Aunt Kim and Uncle Tyler and how she wants to see them again, she loves you!

Look how cute they are laughing on the lady bug coaster. This was the first one they went on, J was not happy to get off.

E said this one was her favorite because she could control how high it went and she liked it all the way up!

At the water park. E did this slide a ton of times she love it and was so proud of herself for doing it all by herself.

The kids were a little cold by the end of the day but they had a blast!

Okay I told Kim I was going to put this picture up, it cracks me up! This is Kim after the superman ride when she peed her pants, ha ha! I'm kidding. She peed her pants before the ride, she got so scare watching all the people on the ride screaming out of fear.

Okay I'm totally kidding, we did the superman ride after the water park (which it was actually the coolest one I think because you are strapped in laying face down it is a cool way to go on a roller coaster) so her bathing suit was still "leaking" and we joked with her the whole time that it looks like she is peeing her pants out of fright and the people around us thought it was pretty funny so we had to take a picture! Love you Kim :) I told you I'd put this one on here, Sorry!
Thanks again for the fun weekend!

J's Bike

Before we left of our mini-vacation up to Chicago area I went to good 'ol Walmart for some last minute things and found that they had a three wheeled bike on sale, it was the one I had been looking at getting J for a long time but I just didn't want to shell out that much $$ for a plastic three wheeler. Since it was on sale I decided to get it for him. We spend a lot of time out in front of our house playing with friends and the poor little boy didn't have a bike to ride on. E got her big girl bike for her b-day and I'd catch J trying to get on and ride it and E would get mad and then they would fight. So I thought if he had his own bike there would be less fighting. When I brought it home I said "J look what mommy bought for you! This is for you buddy!" then I showed him the picture on the big box. His reaction was SO cute I wish I would have got my camera out before and took a picture or a video it was so priceless, he gasped big and then said "Wow!" then I said "that's your bike!" and then for the rest of the evening he would say "bike, my bike, bike, my bike, ride bike, my bike, ride bike...." it was so cute! The whole time while C put it together he kept trying to get on it saying "ride bike" he was so excited. He can't quite reach the pedals of his bike but it is one of those with the parent handle and a foot rest for him so he can be pushed until he's old enough to pedal. We took it out for a spin and he loved it! He was so excited. I thought this would stop the fighting but no, now E wants to ride his bike and he gets mad at her (sigh)! Any way I told you mom I'd put up some pictures of J on his bike, I don't have video of it yet so, patience!

Look at that face, he was so excited to finally sit on it.

I think I took this picture after I had tried several times to take him off his bike and bring him inside, he would not let go of it!

Finally, Wedding Pics!

I know I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry. Here are my excuses.... first of all we were up in Chicago visiting the newly weds and then right after we got home our new computer came in the mail so my excited hubby started putting it all together and setting it up, down loading things etc. so our computer was out of service for a while but it is up and running for the most part. Yay for a fast computer! My other excuse is that the weather has been SO nice here that I have spent a lot of time outside with the kiddos instead of inside on the computer, so there you have it my excuses for not posting anything for a while. I have several things to post about so I will get on that right now....
I guess I will start with posting the few pics I have now of Kim and Tyler's Wedding. Only my best favorite sister sent me her pictures from the wedding, the other sisters have yet to do so... As I mentioned before I didn't bring our camera since C needed one while I was gone and I knew that all my sisters would have theirs and I would have plenty of pictures to choose from. Any way here are a few of the pictures I got from my sister.

Just married!

With Mom and Dad outside the Temple. It was a beautiful day by the way!

The Bride with her Brides Maids. They all looked so cute!

It was crazy outside the temple before pictures, family every where, but it was fun!

Ange with our favorite brides maid :)
I had to post pictures from our reception at my folks house, we worked so hard on making it look awesome and that is just what it was AWESOME! Kim's theme was tropical if you couldn't tell. So it's hard to see in this picture but we had tiki torches lit in the back round by the garden and we had three tents (two small one big one) with lights around it and tables underneath (it looked awesome at night when it got dark out) the center pieces turned out so cute with the gold fish in them, the flowers were beautiful and the arch turned out so good! It seemed like we were running around all weekend making things and setting things up etc. etc. but it all came together and it looked so amazing.
I think my favorite thing that we worked so hard on were the fruit boqutes, they turned out so cute! Her foods were, fruit obviously, crackers and dip, and little smokies (which were a big hit). Here we have Allie working on the food presentation. I'm so proud of those fruit boqutes it was hard to get them to look so cute but with six of us we got them to look perfect! (The picture doesn't do them justice)

Allie and Whit starting one of our fire pits. We had two fire pits placed just to the side of the Arch in front of the guest tables for warming purposes, and thank heavens we did! It got a little chilly out and they were a big hit, it added nicely to the outdoor feel of the reception too.

Kim and Tyler in front of the Arch. Whitney took on the decorating of the arch with some help, and it turned out really good because she is a prefectionist ;)
Cutting the cake, which the cake looked amazing!

Kim and the famous Syler, she is so cute!
Almost all our cousins were able to come to the reception and it was so fun to have them there AND with out their help and Aunt Jill we wouldn't have been able to pull off such an amazing reception they were a BIG help!

The reception was a success although I felt so bad for Tyler, he got food poisoning on the way up to the reception (never eat at Taco Bell!) and so he missed half his reception, he looked awful we all felt so bad for him, but what can you do?! We all felt exauhsted the next day but it was fun nonetheless!

Bloggers Block

I feel like since I took a break from blogging for more than seven days I don't know what to put up on here any more, I'm having bloggers block I guess. But things have happened around here and I just need to get on and post them before I regret it.
Some thing really important happened last week....It was our 5 year Anniversary! I can't believe it's been five years since we were married, it's crazy how fast time flies! I think the fact that we have two kids has helped make the time go fast but I have been so happy these last 5 years and I know it can only get better the next 5 and better the next 5 after that and so on. A while back I was up at the school doing a dental study there and I was in the waiting room and a girl around my age (20 something) was talking about her family, her little boy and her hubby. She asked if I was married and for how long and she was amazed that I had "lasted" 4 years going on 5. She then began to tell me she had been married for a couple of years but had been with her now hubby for more than that (I can't remember but some thing like 7 years) any way she then said some thing I will never forget it made me sad for her she said some thing to the effect of "I'm getting bored with this marriage thing, I'm ready to move on to find some one different. We just don't hardly see each other any more and I'm getting bored of my hubby." How sad I felt for that girl! I thought she was joking at first but I'm pretty sure she wasn't. It is so sad how people these days go into marriages knowing it is not going to last and that it'll end in divorce. I thought for a minute she was going to ask me if I felt the same way as she did after 4 years + years of marriage and I was thinking of what I was going to say to her if she did, and this is what I was going to say to her if she did ask me.... "No way, I went in to this marriage knowing it was forever. I can't wait to learn and grow from the man I love and my best friend!" I do love C so much and we have so much fun together. I know that our marriage isn't perfect and some times we both get frustrated but that is what it's all about, working together as a team! I have learned so much from my hubby he is so smart, he truly is my best friend and I wouldn't trade that for any thing or any one. We have had a wonderful 5 years of marriage and two beautiful kids to show for it and I can't wait to see what our future holds.

Some more fun news.... We are leaving today to go up to Chicago to visit my newly married sister and her hubby. They are just actually north of Chicago but close enough to be a suburb of it, any way they are out there just for a summer job and then will be back in Idaho, so we wanted to make sure and visit them before they move back so far away. E is so excited to see her new "uncle" she already loves him, it's so cute. My sister lives right across the street from Six Flags, literally right across the street, so we are going to do the whole theme park thing and I can't wait! I haven't gone on any roller coaster or any rides since High School and I love them. The best part about this is that the kids will have lots of fun because there are a ton of kid friendly rides AND we have two other adults we get to trade with watching the kids so WE can have fun on the not-so-kid-friendly rides! I'm so excited! We have some other tentative plans like visit the beach and find some thing touristy to do but really I'm mostly excited about going to Six Flags! Well I gotta wrap up this post, lots to do today. I'll be busy for the next few days so I will most likely not post again for a while, oh well. We'll take lost of pictures and have some fun stories of our trip when we get back, until then.....

And I quote....

From a young boys' Testimony, who is about 12 or 13, in our ward yesterday:
"I'm grateful we all have the opportunity to be here (at church I assume is what he meant) because if we weren't here... " he paused and began to stumble "umm because if we weren't here we might be out robbing a casino or some thing."
I have never cried in church because I was laughing so hard, until yesterday. He was so cute and so sincere, it was just too funny not to laugh at! What a sweet kid, aren't kids great!
Who knows maybe I would be out robbing a casino if I weren't active in the church, who knows?!!

I'm Back!

I have been meaning to get on and put up a post since I have returned from my trip Tuesday morning, but I have been distracted with other things like my new cabinets and re-organizing them and putting things away in them. I have also loved having my hubby home ALL DAY every day, that has been fun! And believe it or not I did miss my kids and they did miss me so we've all just been hangin out together enjoying being a family together.
I know you are all wondering how the wedding went, well can it have been awesome, crazy, fun, tiering, exhausting, exciting, and did I say crazy, all at once? Because that is what it was! I felt like I was in fast forward the whole week until Sunday when it was all over then it was like slow motion, which was nice I guess.

So here is my crazy week....I got there Tuesday night, late which mean it was extra late for me since there is a three hour time difference so I went straight to bed. Then Wednesday we started setting up my parents back yard for the reception that would be there on Saturday. Just the tents and lights and things that could get wet while we were in Rexburg, in case it rained. We then planed out the rest of the weekend hoping it would all come together in the end. Then that night we went through the temple with Kim for her endowments and that was amazing! It was fun to think back to my first time going through and all the things that went through my head at that time, it was a lot of info for one day but I remember feeling the spirit so strong. Then Thursday we worked out car arrangements and headed off to Rexburg in the morning. My sister Ange and I went with my Aunt and cousin and her two kids (which are both just younger than my two) and my other cousin. It was a car full and we were ready for an adventure! The drive from my folks house to The Burg is about 7 hours if you make just the stops needed for gas. Well we were doing really good and were making good time and the kids were being so good. At the last stop just out side of Butte Montana we got gas took a quick break and I decided to volunteered to drive the rest of the way, looking back I wish I didn't and I'll tell you why.... I got on to I-15 heading towards IF (Idaho Falls) and set the cruise control at 75. I stayed that way for quite a while until I came upon a Semi Truck. I decided to take it off cruise and speed up to pass.... you know where this is going right?! So I pass the Semi and there is a truck in front of it with an ATV in the back I didn't but glance at it as I was going fast! Only in Idaho and Montana are there Sherif's trucks with ATV's in the back. Well if I would have known it was a Sherif's truck I would have slowed down but no I didn't and I kept on going, and since we were so close to the Rexburg exit I couldn't help but keep up the good pace at 90 miles per hour! I see the truck follow me and it kept following me for about 6 miles, I think to myself "That would suck if that was a cop" and after that thought I see him come right on my tale and flip on his lights, ARRRGGG! I was ticked not because I was speeding and got caught but because I look back and both my cousins' kids are out of their car seats! I start yelling at them "put them back in, quick I'm getting pulled over!" Now, I am not one to judge others, if she is comfortable with taking her kids out of their seats in a moving car thats fine, that is her choice. I would most likely not do that with mine, but I was so mad because I was the one driving and I was the one getting pulled over and I would be the one to blame. I pull over slowly and my cousin put one kid back in only to take him out right before the cop gets to my window. He was a nice cop and I was lucky! He asked if I knew how fast I was going and I said "yes, I know I was speeding" he then noticed BOTH kids out of their seats and began to nicely but firmly remind me how dangerous that is. I sat there and listened and took all the blame, and to be honest I totally agreed with him but what can I say to my aunt and cousin "umm I am going to stop this car immediately if you take those kids out of their seats" I mean really they are grown adults and can make their own decisions, it wasn't my choice to get them out! But he made a good point that it was my choice to speed. I was honest with the cop and I did feel bad and took all the blame, hoping that he would sympathize with me a bit. He went back to the car and was there for what seemed like forever and came back and said "I contemplated for a long time about what to do about the two infants out of their seats, but I only wrote you up for the speeding." Ahhhh a big weight off my shoulders and then the tears came, only out of relief. He then lectured me for another few minutes and told us to get the kids back in their seats. I asked him how much the ticket was going to be for speeding, he told me and then I really cried! My Aunt and Cousin felt bad and said they would pay for the tickets if he charged for the kids out of their seats but you know, that didn't make me feel any better because it would be on my record any way! All was good though, I just got charged for the speeding which was my fault and I knew I was doing it. I then did refuse to pull away until the kids were properly strapped in, which I think kind of made my Aunt mad since one of them was sleeping and she put up a bit of a fight but I was not about to pull away from the cop who could obviously tell if we strapped her back in or not only to get pulled over again to be charged for the whole car seat thing. I don't think so! We finally got them back in and back on the road.
So that was the excitement on the trip out to Rexburg. Come to find out later that night that Kim and Tyler got pulled over for speeding when driving up too but the cop asked where they were going and they told them they were on their way to get married so he had sympathy on them and they only got a warning, blah! I was kind of mad but they were getting married so I guess they deserve a break.

The wedding was on Friday and it was great! The temple was AMAZING! I'm so glad I got to see it. I didn't have time to go through and see all of it but I'm still glad I got to see what I did. The reception there was fun and I was tired! The bride the groom and every thing looked amazing, Kim was beautiful! I got to see some old friends I haven't seen in a while, I'm glad I stayed long enough to visit with them. Then we, meaning my three sisters and myself had to pack up our car that night, leave the reception early only to drive the 7 hours back to my folks, so we could get there take a short rest and begin the madness all over again. You might think that my cop stories are over for this trip but oh no, you would be wrong. Just one more encounter with an Officer Smart on the way home! Oh good times good times! My sister was the one driving thank heavens! We passed a cop who had pulled over a car and I SWEAR I told my sister to slow down, but she claims I didn't. I just had a feeling it was a trap and that there was a cop near by waiting to pull us over but she didn't listen, or didn't hear me and lo and behold here comes Officer Smart with his lights on. She pulls over and he comes to the passenger side, since it was dark out and we were on a high way. He then says to my sister who was driving "I clocked you at 82..." he paused and if I weren't so tired I would have busted up laughing at my sisters response, she said in a slow and very shaky voice "ooookkkayy" you had to be there because her tone was so funny, she was so nervous. I had been woken up just as we passed the first cop that was with the other car so I was still out of it but it was funny. He then asked for her license and registration and proof on insurance and my two sisters in the front seat had no idea where it was since it was my parents car. They began to pull out EVERYTHING out of the glove box, receipts, maxi pads, gloves at least three pair of them, napkins, who knows what else was in there. The cop gets to the point where he is almost laughing at us "I tell ya what" he says "I'll let you off with a warning..." my sisters still digging through the glove box "Don't worry about it, seriously, it's okay" says officer Smart while he's laughing at us. They finally find it and hand it to him, well this car is in my name but is my parents car now so he takes it and says "who's K (saying my name)?" my first thought "he knows about my ticket on the way here, oh no!" Then I realize it's still in my name and he says "let's get your things in order here, clean out these receipts and things okay?!" how embarrassing, we had been traveling in this car for 7 hrs on the way out and now 7 more on the way back of course it's gonna be cramped and messy. Any way he lectured my sister telling her to slow down and that there were deer out, which I'm glad he did, since I had seen a few deer and we don't want to hit one going fast! We slowed down the rest of the trip and no more encounters with any more cops! He did ask us where we came from and we told him Idaho where our sister got married and he seriously asked "how were the dresses?" my sisters reply "umm ba ba black..." still nervous, I wanted to laugh and say "would you like us to try them on for you officer?" ha ha ha, we had a good laugh about all of this the rest of the way home. We made some good memories with this wedding that didn't necessarily always have to do with the Bride or the groom or the wedding really, but still fun memories nontheless!

Well this was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I didn't bring my camera, knowing I wouldn't have a whole lot of time to take pictures and C would be with out a camera, not that! But my sisters all had theirs so as soon as I get some pictures from them I'll post them up here. Her dress was amazing and she looked so beautiful, I can't wait to show you! She had a great idea for her sisters and the brides maids dresses, she told us to all wear little black dresses (modest ones of course) and the sisters would wear red sashes along the waist or empire waist lines and the brides maids would wear yellow. They ended up looking great and we got a lot of compliments on Kim's dress idea. The reception in my parents back yard turned out AWESOME! Her reception theme was tropical (hence the colors red and yellow) and every thing came together so well and it looked great!
Any way I'm glad to be back in the blogging world and have read all your posts on your blogs but there is no way I can comment on all of them, sorry! After seven days of not checking any blogs they kind of add up! Just know that I read all and enjoyed them all :)

Here are a few pics C took of the kids while I was gone.She fell asleep on the stairs!

So serious wearing his sisters pink furry princess shoes...

it's hard walking in heals!