Tiny Thompsons

New Year/New Projects

2012-01-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are, 2012 and we're off and rolling. Lots of changes coming up this year (FYI: that's not a baby announcement, unless you know something that we don't). There's a nervous excitement in the air at our house at what the year will bring. Andi is working hard with her doTerra business and loves sharing the essential oils with people. She is busy as you could expect trying to keep up with our almost 2 year olds (next week!) and get everything done that she needs to during the day.

www.mydoterra.com/andithompson

Curtis and his friends just launched a new political social networking website vlobby.com and they excited to see what it grows into. It has been two years since they started formulating the site and they are ready to move it forward.

vlobby.com

He is also excited to finally finish his Fraud Examiner certification.

Cooper and Kennedy are as happy as can be (most of the time) and have flirted with the idea of starting their "terrible two's" a little early. You can't help but smile and laugh sometimes even when they are stinkers.

Here are few pictures of these two crazy kids. Enjoy!

December for the Thompsons

2012-01-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Look at my cute little towns people:)

December was a joy for us. It started out with the live nativity thatour friend’s parents started years ago. It’s more like a play to music. No one has speaking parts, but you go on and off stage depending on therole you play. We were towns people. We went on and paid our taxes and sat infront of the inn. Cooper and Kennedywere fascinated with the lights and the donkeys. They kept saying “Yook! Yites!” (look!lights!) and “it’s a donkey.” Maybe they’lladd those speaking parts to the nativity next yearJ

We had to put the presents under the treeaway until the big day because the kids were having a hard time leaving themalone. Kennedy tried to use one as astool and fell off. While I wasconsoling her I heard a ripping sound and then Cooper exclaimed “it’s a toy!!!” He was so happy. It broke my heart that we had to put it away.

Christmas was awesome. Kennedy was more fascinated with unwrappingpresents than anything else. Before shecould even see what it was she was running back to the tree saying “again,again.” Cooper got frustrated with thewrapping and didn’t mind when Kennedy helped. It's all so much more fun with little ones.

2011-10-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

At the train park in Scottsdale with the Endlsey'st

The kids didn't have the best time on the carosel

Thing 1

Thing 2

Our Tron costumes.

They looked much better in the dark

And our friends...just a couple of big boobs...

HAPPY 29th TO ME

2011-10-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have the best husband in the world. Yesterday was my birthday and he got me a new laptop. I am feeling that this will really help with my blogging efforts. Thank you husband. Hope you enjoy the pictures of Florida above.

Florida

2011-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

At the end of September, our little family went to visit my Aunt and cousin in Florida. It was great to be able to wear shorts again, play on the beach, and visit with some people we love. It really was an adventure.

We went to this super fun park. This is Curtis with all the kids:)

The plane ride really wasn't so bad. All you need is a cookie right?

Aunt Noni and Uncle Jim took us to the Alligator Farm. How cool is that ! We got super close, even pet a baby alligator. Cooper threw his binkie into one of the alligator pits. It got gobbled up pretty quick. He kept on saying "Dee dee go bye bye." Even a few weeks after we asked them what alligators say. Kennedy chomped her teeth, Cooper said "dee dee go bye bye."

Down by the river, this really was a sign that said be ware of alligators. I'm smiling, but really I was scared to death. The funny thing is it was right by a canoo ramp built by a kid for his eagle scout project.

Here is a video of a baby aligaor in the river by the restaurant we ate at. He really was just a couple feet away from us, swimming around. AHHHH!

A Healer in Every Home

2011-10-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is not a business blog so I’ve been hesitant to make a post on the subject, but many of you know what a part of my life essential oils have become over the past year. I feel like I should share my story so that casual references to doTERRA won’t leave any readers confused. In October of last year, I was searching for a more natural way to take care of my family’s health. It seemed like Cooper was always getting sick and I just didn’t think it was acceptable to be giving him drugs with such harsh side effects. My sister, Kelli, told me I might want to check out essential oils and that her friends mom would be happy to teach us about them. We went to her house very skeptical of what it was that she could share with us. The more she talked, the more I felt that this was the answer I was looking for. They were natural, they were safe for babies, 50-70 times more powerful and potent than herbs, they work FAST, many of them smell great, they work for bacterial and viral infections, they can help with headaches or stomachaches, there was a starter kit called the Family Physician Kit where I could get started and have what I need on hand for only $150, and above all they went through rigorous testing to ensure purity and potence. It really answered all of my questions. This past year has been a process and a journey. I have bought into the mission of one of my mentors Laura Jacobs “A Healer in Every Home.” I feel it is important for us to be able to take care of our own families. I now have the confidence that I can take care of my family and resources to go to when I don’t have the answer. I feel so blessed to have found doTERRA that I can’t keep it inside of me. I truly do believe that I have something that WILL bless your life if you will give it a chance.

If you want more information go here:
http://www.andithompson.idoterra.com/
www.mydoterra.com/andithompson

Or contact me at:
(435-) 531-1291

Summer of Weddings

2011-10-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

I had 3 step sisters get married this summer: on in July, one in August, and one in September. We put a lot of miles on the car, but somehow managed to come home with only a few pictures. All the weddings were fun and beautiful, but here's what we captured from Chelsea's wedding. We couldnt' resist the awesome brick wall. Sure do love you girls.

I ran my first marathon...

2011-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

On September 17th, 20011 I ran the Top of Utah Marathon. I didn't have my camera so I'll have to get pictures later, but here are my thoughts....

There was a time when I emphatically said: "I will never run a marathon, that's just too far." Having now completed one and feeling really good about it I emphatically state: "Your mind and body will do anything you train them to do and with ease." A few months before the race, I researched some training schedules and put them together to fit my personal schedule and what seemed right for me. I stuck to this almost exactly. The longest training run I ran was 18 miles and it was hard. The next week I 14 and it was just as hard. I started to realize on an even deeper level how much control I allow my mind to have on my physical limitations.

As the race got closer, I started to wonder if I'd done enough to prepare. As the doubt crept in I forced myself to acknowledge that I had followed my training program so that had to be good enough. I started the race with my dad and my running buddy Shanalee and was prepared for a good time.

What I wasn't prepared for was the rain. As my dad put it "it was raining Buicks!" Even though it was cold and wet and if it had been any regular run I would have called it quits in the name of sanity...I finished it and in 2 minuets better than my goal time of 5 hours. The conclusion: the rain and the thunder was exactly what I needed and it couldn't have been more perfect.

As a recreational therapist or maybe just as a human being, I can't help but relate my marathon experience to life. There are things that seem larger than life to me right now like writing a book, earning a million dollars, reaching millions with a message, and the list could go on and on. There are people who I see as larger than life who are doing these things. The question is "what is keeping ME from doing these things." I've got a song inside of me that I want to sing. Just like with the marathon, if I train my mind and body (and this happens one baby step at a time) I can do whatever I want to do. Here are some of my thought: start a heath blog, write a book, write a cookbook focusing on real family meals that are healthy, contribute to the mission of Laura Jacobs "a healer in every home" by educating moms on how to take care of their families naturally, earn enough money to give in a significant way.
If you've actually found this post and are still reading it, then this is probably a message for you too. What are some of your dreams?

Our two Fourth of July Fireworks

2011-07-04T17:54:00.001-07:00

My how they grow...

2011-04-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

I don't believe very many people check this anymore because of how often we post, but I stumbled upon these pictures today and thought I would share. Most of these were taken in the hospital. They really were so small. I know they won't stay small, but I hope they stay close.

Look at how TINY he was!

And look at how BIG I was!

He can't walk...but he can climb!

2011-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Coops and Kenners Laughing

2011-03-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

Babies' First Birthday!

2011-02-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well everyone, we're one! It's taken us a few weeks to recover from the really awesome party we had, but here we are to share some pictures and tell you what we've been up to. This is us with our cousin Damon on our new picnic table. It's pretty cool huh. I (Cooper) LOVE to climb all over and around and through it. My sister finally learned to pull herself up so she can stand next to it:) But we all look pretty cute sitting at it. We were spoiled by all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. We got a lot of super fun toys to play with and some very cute clothes. (Kennedy speaking...) One of my favorite gifts was the Baby Einstein DVD's. We watch Baby Sign. I love to sign "baby." Sometimes I get so excited while doing it that my mom is worried I'm going to twist my top half right off.

I did a pretty good job of eating my cake. The best part was all of the candy on top.

I pride myself in not being as messy as my sister, but as the "birthday boy" I felt like I had to do my duty and dig in.

This is how they all started out. We called them "duck cakes." We picked them because we LOVE bath time! We love lots of other things too. Our top three are probably food, milk, and mommy. Sometimes we want her to hold both of us all the time...she won't. We love dad too. We start flapping our arms when we hear the door open and we know he's home from work. We love puppies and can spot one from a mile away.

Cooper: I am a great big brother! I am super adventurous so I show my sister how to get into things. She finally learned how to crawl so she can follow me wherever I go. One of our favorite things to do is push all of our little balls under the oven, or pull all the silver wear out of the dishwasher... that's fun too. Another favorite activity is climbing the stairs. I laugh the whole way up. I'm not quite walking yet, but I'm close. Mom doesn't know how close because I've been close for a while. I like to really try things out before I move on. For example, I did the army crawl for months and just barely started crawling for reals. I have 8 teeth and have had 5 hair cuts. I say: mama, dada, ball, nana (banana) and all done. I've got a face you can't help but squeeze and sometimes I laugh so hard I think I might turn inside out.

Kennedy: I love to hold my brother's hand. The only time he lets me is when he's held captive like in his highchair or in the stroller so I take advantage of that. I love music. I sing at church and in the car, I play the drums and until I figure out how to play it I will keep singing the recorder too. I finally figured out the army crawl at 11 months and a week later I decided to really crawl so I could keep up with my brother. Mom and dad make me stand next to my toys somethimes and I don't really like it. I wouldn't even do that a month ago. They called me jello legs. I have 2 little teeth. they help me eat and eat and eat. People wonder how I'm so small since I eat so much. I don't really know so I don't tell them anything. There's only so much a girl can communicate with my limited vocabulary: mama, dada, ball, and nana. I also sign "baby," "more," and "all done." I wear my hair in a ponytail, I give kisses, pat my mom and dad on the back when they pick me up form my naps, and wave "good bye." I also have a giggle that melts my daddy's heart.

Pictures=1000 words Videos=1000+ words So no text this time

2010-11-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Playing Catch

2010-11-08T05:45:00.000-08:00

The video is tilted until the 30 second mark.

Peek-a-Boo

2010-11-07T21:27:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures

2010-10-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

My sister is amazing and she took some family pictures for us. This is just one I had her shoot on my camera, but I'm super excited to see the real deal. Don't I have such a cute little family?

Cedar Half-Marathon

2010-10-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

My dad and step-sister Shawni let me talk them into running the race. They did a lot better than I did.
I don't look so bad for having just run 13 miles right? (I was posing for the camera.)

I wasn't planning on running because I broke my toe. The Monday before the race I finally went out for a run and it felt great so I decided to go ahead and do it. My next run, however, hurt like crazy. I figure I must have over compensated for my broken toe and hurt my knee. I knew this wouldn't be my best race. Since I couldn't run more that 1.5 miles without hurting like crazy, I decided to walk the first 3 miles of the race. I walked with some really nice ladies who were planning on walking the entire thing! It was quite fun. At mile 3 I started jog. By mile 7 I was feeling great. It was at about mile 9 that I started really hurting. I limped the last 2 miles. I finished with an average time of a little more that 12 minutes per mile. Again...not my best race, but not too bad for walking most of it.

I feel like running is an activity I will be able to do for a long time. I'm not fast and I'm not competitive, but the more I do it the more I like it. I actually think I want to train for and run a marathon someday. I don't think I'll become a marathoner, but it's something I'm willing to put on my bucket list.

Some pictuers of our babies...

2010-09-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

The Worst Trip Ever!

2010-09-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

My mom planned a family reunion with her brothers and sisters. I was nervous about taking my 2 babies on such a long trip and with good reason. It turned out to be the worst trip ever. This is not to say we were unappreciative of everyone who was willing to help or that we didn't have a good time and have good memories. There was just no getting around the fact that 2 crazy ladies traveling 22 hours (28 for Kelli) worth of road (who knows how long that can take) with 3 babies is bound to be difficult. Let me tell you about it though.

It started with Kelli and Damon coming to our house. Damon and Cooper are starting to seem closer and closer in age. I'm pretty sure they're going to be buddies. Things were ready to go when they got here. Both Kelli and I were impressed with how calm things started out. We are used to things being CRAZY before we go on trips. We are trying to be more organized so we can feel more relaxed as we get on the road. I think we were both so nervous for this trip that we made sure to have everything super ready.

We left at about 6:00 PM with our fingers crossed that all 3 babies would sleep for as much of the trip as possible. We ended up making an unplanned stop in Kanab around 8:30, but it was perfect. I fed the babies on the grass of a hotel there and they were ready for the night. After Damon stopped stealing their binkies and putting his feet in their faces they slept for most of our trip. At around 2:30 we stopped for the night at a lodge my mom was able to get in Pine Top. It was a really nice condo and a beautiful area. It was great to get a few hours of "sleep" in a comfy bed (I don't sleep well when my babies are in the same room as me).

We got up, made pancakes, Kelli went for a run as she was training for the half marathon I was supposed to run and then we were on the road again for the last leg of our trip.
A few hours later we arrived at Los Alamos Ranch. It was a little place made up of a whole bunch of little cabins that were built ages ago and recently renovated. They were sufficient, but the first night had us excited to get back to our own beds and it got worse from there.

We tried to put the babies in the same pac and play as that was all we had room for. Cooper, however likes to roll and kick and...well, I had one baby in bed with me most of the time.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL the whole time we were there. Here's aunt Kelli with Kenna Baby.

My aunt Rachel helped out a lot with the babies. Actually, I don't know that there was an adult there who didn't help out with the babies.

Me and Kenna Baby (we really didn't spend the whole time in those chairs).

We went on a hike they call the cat walk. It was super pretty and one of the highlights of the reunion. We even got to walk over one of those extended bridges like you see in the movies. It was an interesting experience with a broken toe, but well worth it.

Both babies fell asleep.

From left to right that's me with Cooper, my uncle Aaron, aunt Pam, my cousin Trace holding Kennedy, my brother Rory, Kelli with Damon, aunt Noni, and uncle Jim.

This is us in front of our happy little cabin. It was the only cabin in our area that had a working porch light. That meant we were the lucky ones to get all of the bugs. One night we had uncle Grtarantula a baby scorpion for us. The next night we had 2 more scorpions and a HUGE tiranchula followed by a moth so big it was mistaken for a bat by multiple people. The spider actually put Kelli over the edge. If we didn't have 3 sleeping babies inside the cabin I'm sure she would have insisted we pack up and go home early. They say this was Billy the Kid's cabin.

When it comes right down to it, we are very glad we went. We were able to see some family that we haven't seen in a long time. It was the first time me and all of my siblings have been together in year. And I'm pretty sure it meant the world to my mom that we were willing to make the effort. The time away would have been better with our husbands, but experiences like this just help you appreciate what you have.

Grandma and Grandpa Came to Visit

2010-09-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson came down just to visit these two cute babies. It was so much fun to have them here. We went to the park and met up with some friends who were here from out of town. Curtis and I were also able to go the the adult session of stake conference without thinking for a second about our babies.

Curtis and I talk about how we LOVE having our independance here in Cedar City. We also love it when grandma and grandpa come to visit. It's nice to have company and to have someone to share the babies with every once in a while.

The Haumpson Family Reunion

2010-08-25T13:05:00.001-07:00

Every year we go on what we now refer to as the Haumpson Family Reunion. The Haub Family and the Thompson Family go to California and have a whole bunch of fun. This year was a little bit more interesting...since we had these two cute things to worry about. This is how the trip went. First, I packed up a whole bunch of milk and took the babies up to Granny Smith's house. Thanks again mom for watching them. Next, I picked up Darren, Kelli, and their 1 year old Damon and we were on our way.

The following story involves breast milk. If that makes you uncomfortable, please skip. On our way back through Cedar City, I decided to pump since we were waiting for Curtis anyways. I really wasn't used to the idea of throwing away liquid gold yet. 10 oz later we were on the road. We stopped at a super scary burger place in Vegas and then went on to Primm where we stayed at Buffalo Bills for $16. Yay! As we were unpacking our things, I realized that I had left my pump attachments at home. Out of habit, I kept them out to dry. It didn't take me long to wonder if the 10 oz. I got were worth it. I decided it would just have to wait until the morning.

I got up really early because I couldn't sleep, but since Damon wasn't tired...no one else was asleep either. We just got on the road. We went to or called 3 Wal-Marts and 2 Targets. None of them sold the attachments separately from the pump. It was on to Babies-R-Us. By this point, I am really worried that I might explode and Babies-R-Us doesn't open for another hour though, so we decided to buy the full pump and sell it later (anyone need a breast pump?)

I ended up pumping for the next hour and got 26 oz. By the end of the trip I threw out 190 oz. Pretty crazy.

After pump accessories, our first stop was 6 Flags! I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS! For the first half of the day we didn't have to wait in lines at all. We were worried about having Damon with us, but he was a champ. He took his naps in his stroller and was pretty happy all day long.

Day 2 was LA. We did some shopping, walked down to the pier, ate yummy food, and just had fun. Everyone told me I was going to miss my babies way too much to enjoy myself. I feel a little bit guilty, but I didn't. I love my babies and I was so excited to kiss their little faces, but I really did enjoy sleeping at night, being able to eat at meal times instead of feeding, and only having to buckle one seat belt when getting in and out of the car.

Day 3 was Saturday. In my half-marathon training schedule I was supposed to run 9 miles so I took off with my GPS watch and found out that we were only 2.5 miles away from the beach. I got to run 4 miles along the beach. It was wonderful. Running at sea level is awesome too. I felt like I could have gone another 10 miles after I got back to the hotel. After I got back, the plan was to spend the day on the beach. The first thing I did when we got there was take a nap (it was great), then we met up with one of Kelli's friends from high school. It was really cold so we didn't really get in the water, but had the beach experience none the less.

Day 4 we went to church and then went to take family pictures on the beach. We got some REALLY good ones of the Haub family. We sortof wished we had brought our babies for that hour. Oh well, guess we'll have to take some mountain pictures with them. This was really the last thing we wanted to do before leaving town. The car was all packed up and ready to go. On our way back we had a small accident though. I tried to avoid a trench that some kids must have dug in the sand, but the sand gave way. I stepped out to catch my balance and jammed my foot into Kelli's leg. It hurt and when I looked down my toe was no longer pointing forward. My response: "I broke my toe." I really would have just come home, but my toe was pointing the wrong direction. Darren volunteered to put it back where it was supposed to be. He pulled really hard and we both felt a pop, but it was still pointing in the wrong direction. So we went to instacare, they took x-rays, it was broken, the doctor put it back, and we were on our way yet again. We made it back to Primm in pretty good time, ate breakfast for dinner, and then went to bed. It had been a long day. The most upsetting part...now I have a broken toe and don't know if I should run the half in 3 weeks. Grrrr!

From Primm it was back home. I went back to Grandma Jojo's and Grandpa Genie Bugs to get the little ones this time. Thanks for everyone who helped out so that we could go enjoy ourselves, eat too much food, and spend too much money. Thanks Kelli and Darren for planning such a fun trip and letting us come with you.

Quotes:

Andi: "Oh crap! Will you steer"

Curtis: "JACK IN THE BOX!"

Kelli: "We could call you BK for broken foot."

Curtis: "They're just going to have to wait...while...I...do...this."

Curtis: "There's so much crime in LA, they don't care about me. Really, they don't."

Andi: "Look, a plane is taking off and a helicopter is taking down"

Date Ball Recipe

2010-08-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

1 C cut up dates
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C nuts
1 t vanilla
2 C rice krispies
flaked coconut or powdered sugar

Mix together dates, sugar, butter, and egg on the stove over med-high heat. Cook 5 minutes after it starts to boil. Remove from heat. Let cool 1-2 minutes. Add nuts, vanilla, and rice krispies. Form into balls and roll in coconut or powdered sugar. Eat. Yummm!

Date Balls

2010-08-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, my grandma used to make date balls. I LOVED them. I remember one time I was at her house and she had a kitchen full of date balls. She the proceded to put them in boxes and send to all of her grandkids who were on missions. When I was a missionary I never got one of those boxeds, but I wished many times that I were one of the earlier missionaries in the family when my grandma was healthy and able to cook.

I hadn't had them in ages and decided to make them a few weeks ago. I was so excited to share them with my husband and the conversation we had went something like this. Silly husband.

Me: Want a date ball?
Curtis: No.
Me: Why not?
Curtis: I don't like dates?
Me: I bet you've never even tried a date before?
Curtis: No, I haven't.
Me: Then how do you know you don't like them?
Curtis: I just know.

A Few Cute Pictures...

2010-08-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Cooper is so chubby he makes his dad look skinny!

Happy Birthday Addison!

2010-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

I guess it's tradition now that we let balloons go at Addie's grave on her birthday. We thought Cooper and Kennedy would enjoy the experience as well.

After leaving flours, we had pink and purple cupcakes and icecream. I love birthday parties!

It is so hard to believe that we would have a 2 year old running around if we hadn't lost Addie so early. I can't believe it's been that long. In the same breath, so much has happened since that day. Nothing will ever replace what we lost, but I am so glad we felt emotionally and physically healthy enough to continue growing our family. Our arms were empty and now they are full. We are grateful for eternal families.

2010-08-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Dad was out of town, so the babies told me they wanted to visit their cousin Damon. We did lots of fun stuff. We even went to a splash park and showed off our swimming suits.

When dad flew in, we went on to see our other cousins. These are all the babies born in 2010. We kinda like being the big kids.

Pioneer Day

2010-08-13T20:55:00.001-07:00

We went to the Pioneer Day Parade on the 24th. The babies didn't like the fire trucks, but they love being outside. They even fell asleep while we were watching the parade and ended up sleeping on the blanket for a while after the parade was over. We were okay with letting them sleep.

6 Months Old

2010-08-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Granny Smith came to visit and here we are celebrating the babies' half birthday.
I'm not sure why this picture flipped, but it's cute enough that I'm going to keep it here.

I didn't realize that 6 months was such a magical age. In the weeks surrounding the babies' 6 month birthday they just seemed to explode. All of the sudden they have so much more personality. They started rolling over (Cooper first and more proficiently). I used to put them on a blanket and that's where they'd be when I came back. Now, I usually come to the rescue. Either because Kennedy is being attacked by Cooper or because Cooper has rolled up against the couch and can't figure out how to keep moving. They learned how to put their own binkies in their mouths (Kennedy mastered that one first). Cooper laughs like crazy. Kennedy love to grab your face. They've gotten super possessive of their toys. Kennedy has this favorite Lion. When she sees that Cooper has it she dives for it. Both of them LOVE my water bottle. They start kicking with excitement every time I even lift it up. They also thing that anything on my plate should go in their mouth. I don't know why because I don't like to share, but I guess I've done it enough that they think that what's mine is theirs. And they LOVE water mellon.

These are the kind of situations I rescue my babies from.

4th of July

2010-07-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Me and Kenners in our 4th attire. Since they had lots of 4th outfits thanks to grandma's and aunt's they got to wear them over the whole weekend, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. They were very festiv this year. The Thompsons and the Endsleys

We really do owe our marriage to our friends Adam and Ashley. Adam was Curtis' roommate and Ashley was my mission companion. We met at their wedding luncheon. It's crazy that less than 4 years later we were able to get together with our combined 4 kids. We really have missed them since they moved.

While they were here visiting, we invited the old game night crew over(minus Josh, Megan, and JP--you were missed) and had a BBQ for the 4th. We have a group picture, but my camera battery was dead so I don't have one yet.

It was the first time we hosted a BBQ because it was the first time we had a grill of our very own. Curtis' parents gave us money to put towards one when Curtis got his masters degree...we spent it on our cruise instead. Then I read a book by Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover. It's one I would really reccomend and it's changed our spending habits. The new joke is asking "is that Dave Ramsey approved" before any purchase. The grill we aquired (complete with hornet's nest and a hole in the bottom that allows black gew to drip out) IS Dave Ramsely approved. We are super excited for many memories to be made with our grill.

Our Babies

2010-07-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard for us to believe that our babies aren't always going to be small enough to fit in the same crib or that they will one day crawl away when we put them on a blanket and try to take a picture of them. We are enjoying (almost) every minute.

Cooper is getting so much more personality every day. He loves to eat his toes, be tickled, get tossed in the air, swing, he gets excited about every new toy, he reexplores the exerssaucer every time he gets in it, and he LOVES his mommy.

Kennedy is still super calm. She has a few favorite stuffed animals, she loves to cuddle, her smile is killer, and she's got eyes that could melt anybodys heart.

5 Months Old

2010-07-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is being posted a little bit late, but I took this picture of them on their 5 month birthday. I love the outfits and I love their faces.

Youth Conference

2010-07-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Curtis went to youth conference so the babies and I decided it would be a great time to visit some friends and family. I'm terrible about taking pictures, but here's a couple highlights.

I got super lucky! Curtis' brother and his wife had their baby while I was up there. It was fun to hold such a tiny baby and even harder to believe that our babies were even a few pounds smaller when they were born.

We had a BBQ German style at my dad's house for his birthday. There's nothing like a brat w/mustard on a summer day. Cooper loved the experience too. His favorite part was the swing though.

Some people think you can't fit 3 car seats in a car. We did! I fear we might have been part of the statistic that __% of car seats are installed incorrectly, but we got to our destination and only had to take one car to do it. It worked, I just hope we don't have another baby before we can afford a bigger car because this could be a pain.

Addison May

2010-07-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

It blows me away to think that next month our little Addie would have been 2! We still miss her and what could have been, but the emptyness of losing our baby has been filled. We have been so blessed with Cooper and Kennedy. For memorial day we took them to her grave. I guess this makes our first official complete family photo. We love you Addison.

Best Job Ever

2010-06-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a job I've ever had that I've done exceptionally well at. Just ask my brother-in-law. He was my supervisor when I worked at a call center in college. Speaking of college, I was just an average student. I've had a bunch of callings too and I'm pretty sure I could have done a LOT better with all of them. I served a mission, but did nothing out of the ordinary. The list could go on and on.

Sometimes I feel bad about all of the above, but lets not dwell on the past because somehow I've tricked myself into thinking that I am an awesome mom. Some might say I set my expectations way too low. For example, most weeks, I don't make it out of the house more than 3 times (that's changing now that it's warmer and the babies are older), but here are a few things I do do. I exercise... probably 4 times a week. I make dinner pretty much every day and it's usually ready when Curtis gets home. I go grocery shopping and usually even look online to find out where the sales are. I am still nursing 2 babies after 5 months!!! They get bathed regularly. We play, we laugh, we go on walks. On any given day, the house is usually cleaned up at some point in time. I change a few diapers each day. I do lots of laundry! I might even start cleaning the bathrooms regularly again.

There is, however, one thing I feel really bad about. I am not documenting this perfect life very well. I could blame it on being so busy with two new babies, but that's not true. They've been sleeping through the night for a while now. I put them down between 7:30 and 8:00 and they'll usually sleep until 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning. I do have some time to do it if I really wanted to. The truth is, I still don't have a wedding book put together or mission pictures for that matter. For some reason, it's just a job I never want to tackle. So for now, I guess this blog is all we have. I will try to make updates more regular.

[Note to grandmas: please don't get your hopes up. I said I will try.]

Firsts

2010-06-15T20:53:00.001-07:00

While we were enjoying the sun in St. George, we (I) decided it would be a good time to Kenna Baby for her first swim. Actually, I just wanted to show her off in her cute swimming suit. We haven't found one for Cooper yet so he stayed inside with dad. The water was too cold though so I just splashed water from the hot tub on her and called it good.
Say good bye to Coopers over-the-ears hair. He got a "hairs cut!"

At first, he liked the buzzing of the clippers...

...by the end he was MAD!

He was actually too mad to get a good "after" shot. Here he is a few weeks later. He's in his bouncer and very happy having just finished his first bowl of rice cereal. He really did eat it right up. Maybe he's been ready for it for a while. It's just an adventure I wasn't ready to start. All I have to say is I'm glad Kenna Baby isn't ready yet. I'm just going to worry about one baby at a time.

2010-06-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Adam and Ashley were visiting from Arizona. Their little girl is just about 3 months older than our babies and she has teeth. They were all laying on a blanket together. We thought it was so cute and then the screaming started. Katie grabbed Cooper's finger and chomped down. It all happened too fast to stop and we were left with a very upset baby. I figure he needs to get used to it because pretty soon his sister is going to have teeth and who knows what she's going to want to do with them.
Ashley's parents had twins too. They are 30 now, but they still have the magic touch.

Mother's Day Adventure

2010-06-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why this picture turned, but I can't get it to turn back. This is how Kenna Baby and Cooper Dooper spend a lot of their day. They really like to hang out next to each other on a blanket. They tend to grab each other's hands or arms.
We went to visit our families on Mother's Day weekend. As usual, we didn't take enough pictures. Here is one of Grandma Thompson. I'm pretty sure she loves being a grandma.

We were also able to stop and see my grandma. It was the first time she was able to see the babies. Here she is with Kennedy...

...and this is her with Cooper.

One boy, on girl.

2010-06-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Look at those eyes...they probably know that their mom is going to do next.
Yea, I know. He makes a pretty ugly baby girl. It's a good thing he's a super cute baby boy!

Pictures

2010-05-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

We had some 3 Month pictures taken of our babies a while ago (I know...they're already 4 months old now). I think the pictures speak for themselves. We love our little babies.

How would you handle this?

2010-05-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Our babies are 4 months old now and I would say doing quite well. They are growing like crazy. Their smiles are heart melting. They are sleeping 6-9 hours a night (Cooper is usually closer to 6 and Kennedy is usually closer to 9). I just have one dilemma that if adjusted, I think would make all the difference in the world.

We're more or less following the "babywise" program. They eat, then they're awake, then they sleep and the cycle repeats itself every three hours except at night. They really do keep themselves on this schedule for the most part these days and it's wonderful. The problem I'm having is that they seem to think their night starts after their 4:00 or 5:00 feeding. Babywise says just wake them up for their next feeding and put them right back to bed if they don't want to stay awake. That is what we end up doing because they are SO sleepy. What we end up with though is one or two babies who think it's morning time at say 3:30-4:30 AM. If we could change these times from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM, mommy would be in heaven.

I've tried the following:
Feeding them when they wake up and putting them right back to bed. They're usually pretty happy. They just kick and talk until they fall asleep about an hour later. Thismorning, however, they were very mad and only went back to sleep for a second.
Going on a walk after their 4:00 PM feeding until they eat at 7:00. This meant they didn't get a real nap, they were a little bit grumpy for the most part, and were super tired when we got back. They actually slept pretty well that night. Come to think of it, maybe I'll try that one again.

We've got a few other tricks up our sleeves, but I thought I would ask for suggestions from any of you who might have any fresh ideas.

Is it just me or...

2010-05-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

are there some extreme similarities here? This is a picture of my family when I was about a month old. All growing up, everyone told me I looked just like my mom. Now that I also have my own replica, I bet I could put on a black dress and reenact the left side of this picture. CRAZY!

Our Biggest Loser

2010-05-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

You might have logged on hoping for pictures of babies...keep scrolling and you'll find a bunch of them.

This post is to invite you to joing our biggest loser challenge. My sister and I decided it would be fun to get a group together. We can each put in $15 and the winner takes all (or if there are a bunch of people who join we could split it between 2 or 3 people). It goes from May 10th to Sept. 10th. Get me your e-mail address and I will send you the rules. It's super simple and should be some good motivation to lose weight for those of us who need to. Watch out though, I'm not competitive, but I am extremely motivated:)

Happy Anniversary!

2010-05-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last week was our 3rd anniversary! Last year we went on a cruise. The year before that we went to Hawaii. The year we got married we went to Europe. This year we stayed home. We talked about going out, but we only have so many options in Cedar City. So I decieded to make filet mignon for dinner. It was my first attempt. I watched an online video on the food network and what we got wasn't too bad. I really actually like making fancy things. This recipe called for goat cheese and had you make a syrup with balsalmic vinegar and sugar. It turned out super yummy.

I really am so glad that Curtis picked me. Before I got married I was a day dreamer and I never could have immagined a life this good. Now I'm married to a dreamer and it makes me wonder where he'll take me. I guess only time will tell. For now, I'm enjoying the journey.

Our Garden Box

2010-05-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Last year, I planted a garden and the dirt we mixed in with it wasn't enougth to overcome the clay. Our corn only grew 10" tall and our carrots looked more like baby carrots. So this year, we are going to have a garden that works. Curtis loaded up 108 cinder blocks and came home with a knowt in his back so big you could see it. Thanks husband. Look how good it looks.

PICTURES!!!

2010-05-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

Me and Kenna Baby. She's our cuddler. Cooper and his Daddy. Dad HATES it when he cries and loves it when he's sleeping.

These are the outfits I would have put them in on St. Patrick's day had I remembered they were supposed to wear green:)

Me with our babies on their 3 month birthday!

From the pictures we post you might think they really like being next to eachother. They don't. They really don't seem to notice eachoter and they are at the stage that they swing their arms and hit eachother. I figure they are probably going to be best buds when they grow up so they will want picutes together. It's also funny to me how much bigger Cooper is than Kennedy. I promise, they drink the same milk.

Our babies are growing so fast! When we first brought them home from the hospital they both fit in this comfortably. Now, it's a bit tight. This is Kenna Baby in the Bumbo. She's got a ways to go before it works for her.

Cooper's chubby belly keeps him up a little bit better.

This is us, right before a walk. Don't I have the cutest little bears on the planet?

This is the last time I put them both in the bassinet. It's hard to believe that they both slept in there for our first few weeks home from the hospital.

I hope this makes you happy! Sorry it's been so long.

Pacifiers and a Church Outing

2010-03-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

What would we do without pacifiers? I know some people are agaisnt them, but they have probably never had twins...(the cutest twins ever!)

Two weeks ago C and K got to go to church for the first time to see their cousin Kaden blessed. They pretty much slept in Aunt Kelli, Aunt Kyli and Grandma Jo's arms the whole time. But their mom made sure they had cute outfits on (dad suggested "church pajamas" - that didn't go over well though). Afterwards we had a family picture taken.

Happy Birthday Curtis/ Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was Curtis' birthday and the following story might have something to do with why we are bad picture posters. Curtis decided that he wanted to go to St. George for his birthday and this is how it went. First off, Curtis pointed out when he came home from work that our babies would be pinched all night because I forgot to dress them in green. Oops, I dropped the ball. Next, we realized that our memory card was full. So we did what we could to keep the kids happy in their car seats for what ended up being 20 minutes while we cleared the card. We were finally on our way. We had a great time at Texas Roadhouse, Curtis got fitted and purchased his first pair of very fancy running shoes while I had the first time experience of changing a daiper and nursing in the car, and finally we went and visited our friend's parents while we were down there. It was on our way home that we realized we didn't take a single picture the whole night. So much for clearing our card. It was still a very fun night.
Doing very normal things like going out to eat is a whole new experience with two babies. We're looking forward to and a little bit nervous for our trip up North to see our families. We love our crazy, unpredictable, as soon as we think we have it firgured out something changes family.

I sure hope Curtis had a good birthday. He works to hard all day long. As soon as he comes home from work he jumps right in and starts cleaning up, changing daipers, burping babies, folding laundry, or whatever else needs to be done. I don't think we've gotten through very many nights where I haven't had to wake him up to help with the babies for at least one of the feedings. Our life has been flipped up-side-down, but we wouldn't want it any other way.

Worst. Picture-posters. Ever!!!

2010-03-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, Yes, we know! We have been promising for almost 3 weeks now to get some new pictures up of the babies (no one ever demanded pictures of us like this before). Let's just say that with two of them Andi's days at home and our evenings slip away from us. Between the feedings, burpings, diapers it is amazing what doesn't get done around here. Oh well, we are growing babies! We are sorry to disappoint the grandparents though. Here are some pictures to tide everyone over for a day or two:

At the doctor today. 2 Month check up. Cooper is 8lbs 11oz and Kennedy is 7lbs 12oz

I laid Cooper down for about 30 seconds to go grab something (he was wide awake) when I returned he was sound asleep in this propped up position. Since he had decided to stay awake in between feedings longer than he was supposed to I didn't dare move him and just let him sleep.

pictures!

2010-02-10T23:19:00.000-08:00

captions later

a few new pictures

2010-02-04T22:38:00.000-08:00

So, to make a short story shorter we have some great pictures of first coming home, first baths, and cute faces on Andi's point-and-shoot, however aunt Kelli took the camera with the memory card when she left today before I could pull the pictures off. So everyone will have to wait for those pictures. Here are some of the few pictures from my camera:

K in her build-a-bear dress---What a cute little girl! (More of these to come later)

Do you ever wonder what they are dreaming about?

Doesn't she look like she's relaxing at the spa for the day?

almost two weeks old

2010-01-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow will mark two weeks since we went to the hospital and Saturday morning the babies will be two weeks old. Here is just a quick post of a couple of cute pictures:

Kennedy was practicing her "Blue Steel" modeling pose (for all you Zoolander fans out there).

Cooper found his thumb! (sorry, this picture would not rotate for me).

Family Pictures

2010-01-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

So, with all of the hustle and bustle of the last week as of tonight we had yet to get our first family picture! Right after delivery there were things the hospital needed to do with the babies, Andi was feeling weird coming out of all the numbing drugs, and by the time things had somewhat settled down Grandmas and Grandpas had arrived. It was a busy few days. Even this week has been quite busy even when it is just the four of us. Usually if it is slow we take advantage of the time to nap!!! Tonight we finally had the nurse take a picuture of us. I included a couple more because I know that Grandmas and Grandpas and all those official and unofficial uncles and aunts want to see more of them. Enjoy!

Adventures in Parenthood

2010-01-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

We have (un)officially moved in to the hospital!!! Okay, we are temporary guests like you might find at a ski resort, however here there is no concierge or turn down service--we do however get some room service. I am kidding of course.

Cooper and Kennedy are still working on getting ready to come home and are making some progress. Kennedy is doing the best. She is eating regularly and even passed her car seat test! (That's where she had to sit in her carseat for 1 1/2 hours while they monitored her vitals to ensure she would be able to ride in it safely without any breathing/overheating complications. Her car seat about drowns her, but she did it!)

Cooper on the other hand started taking a regular bottle and attempts to nurse in place of the tube feeding. He just needs to gain some weight now. Both of them are starting to have some very alert moments and it is fun when their eyes are wide open and they are wondering what is going on in this crazy world they came to. The expressions on their faces are so fun to watch.

Here are a few more pictures.

no SPF required!

2010-01-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

Just as a precaution the babies are under the tanning lamps today for their skin. They seem to really enjoy relaxing. It makes me want to go on another cruise! (Though I don't think I would every opt to sip my pinacolada through my nose.) They also look pretty dang cute in their little eye protectors.

Cooper

Kennedy

Family of Five

2010-01-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we are officially a family of five! After a very quite year and a half after Addison we are fairly sure things are about to get a little more exciting (they already have). Everyone is doing great. Cooper and Kennedy are just trying to get their little premie bodies to regulate temperature, blood sugar, and get the hang of feeding regularly. They will most likely be in the hospital for a few more days to make sure some key hurdles are overcome before they come home. The doctors and nurses seem to be very pleased so far with where they are at, and it is expected that being early they might have a few struggles. The good news is that breathing does not seem to be an issue and that is what they were most concerned about while we were in the hospital a few weeks ago, though because their lungs are premature RSV will be a real threat to them. We will be keeping everyone up to date.

The doctor has also instructed us to limit our visitors at home to avoid RSV during these winter months. We would like everyone to know that while we would love to see you and visit that it will be very important to keep these kids healthy! (especially because they are so small) While we are at the hospital anyone is welcome to come see them through the window (just call or text us so we can let you know if it's a good time), when we go home the doctor's orders are that we follow the current hospital guidelines and not have children 0 -14 come in contact with them for at least 6-8 weeks. If anyone, including adults are experiencing cold symptoms (runny noses, coughs, etc.) we hope you won't be offended if we wait to see you until you are feeling much better. We are grateful for everyone's love and support through all of this!!! We are so glad Cooper and Kennedy are here!

Here are a few pictures:

Cooper (left) and Kennedy (right) looking at their mommy about 10 minutes after they were born!

Cooper hanging out with his dad trying to get warm (look at all that hair!) too bad his sister was not so abundantly blessed. She did get some though so there is hope she will not be bald forever

Two peas in a pod.

Twenty Fingers, Twenty Toes!

2010-01-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

Cooper and Kennedy were born at 8:19 and 8:20 this morning. 20 fingers and 20 toes!!! Cooper weighed 5lbs 1oz and Kennedy weighed 5lbs 0oz. Both wer 17 inches long! Cooper likes to scream and Kennedy was calm and peaceful the whole time. Andi is doing great and recovering. They were both breech so it had to be done the "non-traditional" way. Everything turned out great. Cooper needed a little oxygen, but he is doing fine.

Cooper

Kennedy

Are you ready to play...Turn That Baby!

2010-01-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, babies are still in the tummy. Cooper was still breech yesterday in the ultrasound we are working on getting him to turn. We've tried everything--turning out all the lights and running a flashlight down Andi's belly, drinking orange juice (gives them a sugar high and the babies move a lot), an accupressure point we read about online, and even music (specifically Jay Sean's "Down"---the lyrics fit great "Baby are you [head] down, down, down, down, down"). Someone at work today suggested a little Flo Rida, though the lyrics aren't so appropriate for children we'd have to change it to something like "gotta turn your head right down, right down". Of course Andi has also tried about every inverted position in the book short of standing on her head. Hopefully he will flip before any major labor starts. We are off to the Doc again next Wednesday. Everything else is looking good though. They are both a little over 5lbs now so we probably won't use all the premie clothes as long as we thought. We are just glad they made it to 35 weeks, though I am pretty sure Andi is ready to be done (probably something to do with the 10+ lbs of baby she's carrying around.

just the same

2010-01-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

Nothing fun going on here. Babies are still hanging out in their mommy's tummy. Andi gets to go home tomorrow and hopefully our doc will let her do the bedrest at home. She will be 34 weeks along and hopefully the babies will hold out for another few weeks. We'll see...

we'd rather be....

2010-01-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

Everything is nice and boring here in St. George. We even got moved to what we decided was the "presidential suite" today. Sarcastic for=an expensive room where you get waited on hand and foot. No changes today. Now on day 4 we are ready to be somewhere else....Bora Bora preferrably, but we are fairly sure that the doctor isn't about to allow Andi to fly to French Polynesia.

The good news is that now after 4 days the hospital relaxes their visitor policy and Andi can have 2 visitors at a time that don't have to be "banded". So if anyone wants to stop by and say HI just give us a call.

We are thinking at this point that we'll probably get to go home next Thursday and the babies will come somewhere around the 10th. We might still get a binary birthday...01/10/10. But honestly who knows at this point.

Thanks to everyone for checking in on us! We'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T23:04:00.000-08:00

Well, here's the update. About an hour ago they checked Andi again and we are now at 7cm! So we are probably having these babies in the next 24 hours. They are letting her go as long as she can. She still isn't feeling any pain and the contractions aren't really strong. We're going to try to get some sleep before a big day tomorrow! Amazing how things change so quickly. We celebrated midnight with a sprite. Now it's time for some sleep.

Happy New Year! 2010 is here (an Cooper and Kennedy are not far behind!)

UPDATE!

Everyone can relax! The doctored just informed us that the nurses are measuring the wrong thing, so at one part if seems like she is further along than others. She is really only at the same 4+cm/5cm she was at in Cedar City. We are back to BORING! This is good news because that means that if she stays the same then we can still go back home to have them. 6 days to go!

We thought it would be fund to have a 01/01/10 baby, but are sure that would probably consign them to be computer programmers with such a binary birthday, but we will take another day if that means bigger and more developed babies.

We'll keep you all updated!

33 weeks and counting....

2009-12-31T05:12:00.000-08:00

So, some of you might have heard, but yesterday Andi "won" a fun little trip to St. George, Utah for a most-expesnes paid (by insurance) ? night/? day stay at the beautiful Dixie Regional hopspital! It included an Iron county ambulance ride down the snowy I-15 corridor. The in-hospital dining includes gourmet cuisine and even some free ice chips!!! Is anyone jealous yet?

Here's the low down on how you too can be a winner! First, you must be pregnant with twins. At 33 weeks pregnant you will need your physician to examine you and you will need to be about 3cm dialated. You will get a quick stay at the Valley View hospital where they will poke and prod and monitor you for a few hours before telling you that you have progressed in labor to almost 5cm! At which time the physician will see to it that you are on your way to Utah's breathtaking Dixie!

Okay, all joking aside. When we went to Andi's routine appointment yesterday the doctor said it was time for bed rest a some monitoring at the hospital, which actually turned into some pre-term labor. Trying to slow things down they sent us to St. George just in case the babies do have to come early (Cedar won't deliver the babies if they are before 34 weeks).

So here we are. They have slowed things down and are holding out for 24-48 more hours before the babies come. The best thing would be to hold out for a week more and then we can go home and have them in Cedar, but that's still looking unlikely at this point. Everyone is fine though. The babies are still kicking, heartrates are great, positioning is great and Andi is doing fine except for dealing with the uncomfortable hospital beds. Last night we got some sleep and there were no major changes. At 11am this morning she can get the second of two steriod shots that will help with the babies lung function if they do come early.

We are joking about having one of them at 11:59 on 12/31 and the other at 12:01 1/1 so we would get a tax deduction for one in 2009 and have the New Year's baby in 2010. They could have completely different birthdays - day, month, and year! We'd probably just prefer that they wait, but there are mixed feelings about staying in the hospital for two more weeks! We will see what happens today. Watch for more updates.

All pictures are Andi-approved.

And the Nativy Goes To....

2009-12-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post tonight to share a wonderful experience (pictures coming later). We got to play a part tonight in the live Nativity at Tuachan ampitheater in St. George (Santa Clara). This was the third year that we were able to be a part of it and as always it was an amazing experience. Our good friends the Stuart family actually started the live Nativity and it grew to be so big that Tuachan invited them a few years back to use their stage. It has grown and changed over the years and many people in the area volunteer on different nights to be part of the cast. Families take part as either towns-people, shepherds, angels, wisemen, and of course Mary and Joseph. It is completed with recorded narration by Dick Norse, a wonderful soundtrack of moving music, and even live animals including a horse, a donkey, a camel, and a few goats and sheep. Three years ago we took part an I (Curtis) got to be the shepherd that carried the baby Jesus over to show the rest of the shepherds. Andi was there supervising some of her treatment center girls who were angels. Last year it was rained out so we actually had a little party at the Stuarts and watched one of the first years videos when their children were young and did it for their neighborhood. This year Andi and I were towns-people and I was the third innkeeper that turns Joseph away, but then feels bad and shows them to the manger where they can sleep. Because it is a volunteer cast we show up early to get our costumes, run through our part, do a practice run thru, and then do two performances back to back (it's about 20 minutes long). My friend Adam kept joking about getting a "Nativy" award for Best Performance (hence the title of this post--no such awards exist however.)

It really is an interesting feeling to play part in the story. I think no matter what part you get you begin to see the story unfold from a different perspective than just an onlooker. It makes you wonder how the people in the story really felt and what they really experienced. It has become a favorite new tradition of mine and we hope we can keep participating each year. We are grateful to the Stuart's and the Endsley's for inviting us to be a part of it.

On the way home we were listening to the radio and I heard an AMAZING new Christmas song. It is probably one of the best original pieces I have heard in a long time. I am always looking for good new music and this fits the bill. Here is the song on YouTube. The artist is Brandon Heath, a christian artist. If you like the song it is available until Friday on Amazon for free! (part of a 25 days of free Christmas songs) Or it is $.99 at iTunes. http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Before-Christmas/dp/B002X33IRO/

Enjoy! I think that this song summed up some of my feelings about our experience tonight. Very well written and performed:

2009-12-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

It's hard being pregnant. First, I should say that everything is going very well. If I were only having one baby, I would be big enough to have it now. As it is, I have an estimated 6 weeks left. The babies and I are growing rapidly. We're all slightly ahead of schedule:) Anyways, the hard part of being pregnant comes in the not sleeping well at night, the swollen feet, the weird dreams, and especially the things that people say. Following, is an exchange I had with my boss' 5 year old son earlier today. It's probably what most people are thinking, but they're not five so they can't get away with saying it.
Boy (pointing to my belly): What's that?
Me: My tummy with two babies in it.
Boy: I want to see.
I lift up one of my shirts (I dress in layers these days).
Boy: THAT'S GROSE!
-Pause-
Boy: I know someone who's REALLY REALLY REALLY fat...like you. She has five babies in her belly.
As far as I know he doesn't know someone who's pregnant with quintuplets. I think he's finally come up with a logical explanation for why some people are so big.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T21:43:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to write a “thankful” post for a while. I guess better late than never. First. I'm thankful that Thanksgiving turned out so well. Curtis' parents and aunt came to our house this year It was the first time I made a turkey all by myself. Thanks to roasting bags, frozen Rhode's rolls, and successful delegation...dinner turned out great.

My biggest thankful is a wonderful husband. I knew hew as a good guy when I married him, but I had no clue how great he would be. He does the laundry and the dishes (especially since I've been pregnant), he can live off of minimal hours of sleep and never gets grumpy because of it (hopefully that continues after the babies come), he works VERY hard at his job and does it very well, he's super smart, he dreams REALLY big, he's super friendly and likes most of my friends even more than I do—just kidding guys. Those are just a few of the reasons I love him so much. I'm grateful for people: sisters, family, a great ward, wonderful coworkers, and awesome friends. I'm grateful for my babies. I'm grateful for the perspective that Addison has given us as a family and I'm grateful for these two little miracles growing inside of me. I'm grateful that Curtis has a good job that will allow me to stay home with them. I'm grateful for our cute little house...especially our baby room:) Finally, I'm grateful for the restoration of the gospel and for our Savior. Where would I be without His strength and an eternal perspective.

Thanks

2009-11-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

I'm quite tired and going to bed shortly, but wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to our baby showers up North. You were all so generous. We came home with a car full of all sorts of baby necessities. Thank you a million times. We've been working on the big stuff, but didn't have any clothes at all. Looking at all of the blanket and the tiny little clothes makes it a whole lot more real. In the next 2-3 months, we really will be bringing two little babies home. Ahhh! I can hardly wait. It's hard to believe how much these two little babies will change our lives.

Fall Family Pictures

2009-10-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we ventured to the Griggs' cabin to celebrate some family birthdays. Since most of us were all in one place we took a few family pictures . We got the CD of pictures today from Andi's sister so I thought I would share a few of them.

Pictures of the Kids

2009-10-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

So, here are some of the first picutres of the kids. The photographer was great, especially given she didn't have any light to help her out. It's amazing how far technology has come. The first is Baby A (Cooper) at 18 weeks and the second is Baby B (Kennedy) at 22 weeks. They say they are measuring about a week further along. So that is hopefully a good sign that they are healthy.

Do I look that big?

2009-10-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to get Curtis' Jeep registered and this is a little conversation I had.

DMV lady: Oh, when are you due?
Me: The beginning of February.
DMV: REALLY! I thought you were going to say next month.

I work in a doctor's office and this is an encounter I had with one of our patients.

Patient: When are you going to have your baby?
Me: Beginning of February sometime.
Patient (with bulging eyes): But you're so big!!!

It's at that point that I insist on justifying my huge belly by explaining that I'm having twins:)

21 Weeks

2009-10-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's another belly picture with approximately 3 ½ months to go! I'm getting so excited. Okay, I've been excited for a long time. The nursery has been painted since before I was even pregnant. We've cleared out Robert's Craft of all the brown vinyl and are trying to patiently wait for the next shipment. I've been finding all sorts of deals on KSL and Craigslist. I got a double BOB stroller for $300! That's about half off with the extras she gave me. Thanks to my wonderful friends and family for picking things up for me. Cedar City doesn't have very many great deals so I end up asking people for favors. I'm trying to be ready by Christmas even though I probably won't have these babies until the beginning of February. I think it will be nice to know that I'm ready and I'm a little bit worried that I'll be on bed rest at the end (I hear it happens to a lot of mothers with twins). I figure I should prepare for it just in case.

Addresses

2009-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am posting a blog asking for people's addresses. I've realized that a lot of the people I keep in contact with now is through the blog world. In the coming weeks, we will be having baby showers and in the coming months, we will be sending out some very cute baby announcments. This is a call for any addresses. Thanks so much.

Baby Belly Pictures

2009-10-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Andi had me take a picture a few weeks ago and then again tonight. She hopes to be able to get up a weekly picture so you can see how the pregnancy is progressing (as well as generate some empathetical support from all of you mommies). Here they are. The first one is at about 18 weeks and the second is from tonight. The 20 week mark. Halfway for a regular pregnancy. Doc says that he won't let her go longer than 37 so we're over the hill for sure at this point.

18 Weeks

20 Weeks

We are having.....

2009-09-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

TWINS!!! oh yeah, you already knew that....

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................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ONE BOY AND ONE GIRL!!!!

Pink or Blue

2009-09-29T12:11:00.001-07:00

So we just got the news. It looks like we are going to have one of each. "Baby A" is a little boy. He was really calm the whole time. He had his hands in front of his face for most of the ultrasound. We have a 3D picture of his face (we might post it). He has a little button nose and full lips. "Baby B" is a little girl. She was anything but calm. Every face shot we got she was opening and closing her mouth. We think she might be a talker. She was also moving all over the place and tugging on the cord. The picture we have of her is with her mouth wide open. Maybe she'll be a singer.

LAST CALL FOR VOTES!

2009-09-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

So, the big day is tomorrow (Tuesday). We are going in to see what "Baby A" and "Baby B" are. This is the last day to cast your votes. We're both betting that it's two boys. I guess we'll see...or not. I'm only 18 1/2 weeks along. My doctor told me on Thursday that he thought it was too early, but we are going to try our luck. I don't really care one way or the other. I just want to be able to think about names and know what color of clothes to buy. I guess it all just seems more real when you know what gender they are.

OH SO BIG!!!

2009-09-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

I guess it's time to start posting belly pictures, but not today. I went in for my 18 week apt. yesterday. My doctor measured my belly and said I was at 27 cm. Twenty-seven!!! That's what I should be nine weeks from now with a single baby. Problem being, we hope I don't deliver 9 weeks earlier than someone would with a single baby. That means I will be VERY VERY LARGE! The honest truth is that I hope I get huge, but only so I can have two very healthy babies. It still doesn't make the anticipation of a huge belly any more sweet. The comparison has me a bit nervous. For example, I was reading in one of my pregnancy books about where I should be at this point. It says my uterus should be the size of a cantaloupe...try a watermelon!

Quick Trip

2009-09-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a whirlwind of a quick long weekend beginning last Thursday. Kelli and Darren got to Cedar shortly after we got home from work and we loaded up the car and headed to California. We stayed in Las Vegas that night after eating at Hash House a go go! As you can see from the pictures [coming soon] the meals were HUGE! I don't think we even have a serving platter in our house as big as the plates.

We were off Friday morning and made a pit stop at In & Out in Lancaster (a must a least once on a CA trip). We made it to Ventura where we stayed by the harbor. The skies were grey, but the temperature was perfect. After we wandered around the harbor we decided to go to Camarillo to do some shopping at the outlets to see if they had any baby clothes on sale for the babies-on-board. Even though we don't know what they are yet we figured that we will just save them. It turns out there weren't too many good deals though, but we did get some really cool argyle sweaters (just in case it's two boys as our poll indicates is the most popular answer--we'll see on the 29th!). We returned to Ventura and attempted to go to Andria's--a seafood restaurant where they litterally back the boat up to unload the fresh stuff, but to our dismay the power was out on that side of the harbor---so we had to go somewhere else. It was pretty late and we were all starving, but we finally got to sit down after a 45 minute wait.

On Saturday we headed up to Zuma Beach in Malibu to just take it easy. A few miles from Zuma we began seeing lots of cyclers and the far lanes were blocked off--it happened to be the Nautica Malibu Triathlon--lucky us! That meant parking a few blocks away and hiking in to the beach with all our stuff. It was a hazy morning so the beach was almost literally all ours. We hung out, tested the cold water (some of us only put our toes in and that was enough), and did a little California Dreamin' (We love naps!) The haze burned off in the late afternoon and the beach started to fill up as the tide came in and the waves got higher. We headed back to Ventura for showers and to go to dinner at Andria's--the power was on this time!

Sunday morning we went to a local sacrament meeting and then loaded the car up to head back for what seemed like a very LONG drive. Darren was a champ and made great time. We sat in the back and read and napped.

It was a fun trip and we wish it would have lasted a little longer. Maybe next year.

Thinking in Two's

2009-09-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we posted so we thought we would give everyone a glimpse of what has been on our minds lately (and is probably on the minds of anyone expecting twins).

Though we are very excited about having twins both Andi and I keep wondering "what are we going to do when we have two of those (e.g. babies). We understand that people have been dealing with two children (or more) at once for years--but for a couple of novices we are going through some interesting mental exercises. For example:

We went to Wal-Mart the other night and there was a cute little boy who got mad at his mother and he let her know it. He was screaming so loud you could hear it on the other side of the store. The mother was very flustered and did what she could to calm him down but he was having none of it. She obviously had to get some shopping done because she kept shopping. My thought out loud was, "Wife, what are you going to do when you have two children that are screaming like that and you need groceries?"

Whenever Andi sees a mother lugging around a car seat or even just trying to entertain her single child she pictures herself doing double. One has to wonder whether anyone has figured out how to change two diapers at once?

And then there are the horror stories of new mothers who haven't showered for a couple of days because of all the new things to learn, along with being completely exausted. Then multiplying the work by two...

Though it might seem that we are nervous that is not really the case. I think we have almost made a game out of trying to figure out how we will accomplish new tasks (x2). It will be an adventure for sure!

By the way September 29th is the day we find out if they are boys/girls or one of each.

Happy Birthday Addison!

2009-08-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that one year ago yesterday we spent all day at the hospital and at 12:15am on August 7th our little Addison was born. It is even harder to believe that today we would have a one year old! The last year has been a whirlwind and we have missed having Addison around, but we know that the Lord's plan for us is much bigger than we imagine (especially having just found out that we have twins on the way!). Today we got some flowers and decorated Addie's grave along with a gift from our friend Megan, and some flowers from family and friends. We took some pink balloons with us and let them go and plan on making that our tradition. Andi also asked a sister in are ward to decorate a birthday cake for Addison and it was AMAZING! We had some friends over and sang to our Addison. Thinking of what a difficult time we had letting her go and of all the love our family, friends, and neighbors showed we know we are very blessed. We know that there are many others thinking of Addison today. We know she is looking down and preparing her twin siblings to come to our home!

Twenty Toes!!!

2009-08-04T05:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read the title correctly. This is our official announcement in the blog world that come February we will have two new sets of toes, twenty in all, in our house! That's right, we went to the doctor on Friday for the first appointment and after joking with the him (as we have everyone else for the last year) about having twins it was confirmed that there are TWO buns in the oven!

We are both excited and nervous, but above all we are feeling very blessed. I'm sure that their older sister is getting them ready to come and live with us.

Over the weekend we visited our families and made the announcement. It was so fun to see their reaction. We made our parents t-shirts that said "Proud Grandparents of..." and then put the number of grandchilderen they would have with two more included. They all got a puzzled look, quickly counted their grandkids in their heads and then, wondering if we had counted wrong, asked if we were having twins?

We will keep everyone updated on the progress as we get further along. It will be about 8-10 more weeks before we find out if they are boys or girls or one of each. We'll take bets at a later date!

THE FOURTH OF JULY!

2009-07-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a while since we posted. Not a whole lot new to report. We had a great trip up to the Happy Valley area over the weekend of the fourth of July. We came up on Thursday night and Friday went to see the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

On Saturday night we had a barbeque at the Hatch's house and I took a few pictures of the nieces with their new cousin Damon. Grandma JoJo got the girls matching 4th of July dresses and Damon got dressed up for the festivities too.

I got a kick out of Aedyn following her twin "sissies" around. She's a crackup.

On Sunday Baby Damon was blessed and we celebrated Aedyn's and Uncle Trevor's birthdays.

Aedyn was so facinated by her cousin Damon that she has taken to carrying her doll around patting it on the back saying "Good Baby Damon" over and over and over. She loves her cousin.

Write/Call/E-mail/Text your Congressman Today!!!

2009-06-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI. Congress will be voting on Cap-and-Trade energy bills this week with VERY LITTLE debate. This is a big issue and has the potential to raise your energy bills by HUNDREDS of dollars next year! Congressmen Chaffetz (Utah 3rd District) one of the few people who does anything good on Capital Hill has said that for every public school in Utah this bill will raise energy costs by $10,000 or more. That means our struggling schools with underpaid teachers and over crowded classrooms will now have to pay higher energy bills. All for the sake of cooling the planet by less than 1 degree. No matter where you stand on the Global Warming issue this bill is UNDER-DEBATED and UNDER-READ by the congressmen that will vote on it. Call/E-mail/Fax/Text your Conressmen today and tell them to vote against it!!! No matter what state you are in. Get the word out. They are supposed to vote on Friday June 26th.

Here is a link to Utah's congressional districts so you can see where you are at and who your congressman is. Southern Utah is Jim Matheson. You can google them and there is usually a link on their website to contact them. It will take you all of 10 minutes to write a short message and tell them NO! Remind them who they work for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Congressional_Districts

Look up your state on Wikipedia.

Girls Camp

2009-06-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

When I got back from my 6th year of girl's camp, I thought it was my last. WRONG! I just got back from camping for 4 wonderful days with the Young Women in my ward.

I felt like a kid again:)

Until it started raining and we had to put tarps up over our tents to avoid and further puddles on our pillows.

Curtis got to come up as one of our priesthood leaders for one of the nights. I think he quite liked being at girl's camp. Our camp director is quite a prankster. After it got dark, she gave him a scary mask and told him to jump out at me when I was coming down the hill. He did and I fell to the ground. Only problem is he about fell to the ground too. He ended up with a paper towel and ice on his head because he ran into a small tree on the way to me. (I think the eye holes in the mask were pretty small).

And the best part of camp...camp fire. We had some good ones.

Gardening

2009-06-19T15:33:00.001-07:00

Before

After I'm going to try and see how green my thumb is. I've started a garden. Here are some before and after pictures of the plot I picked out in my back yard. There weren't too many tiny spaces to choose from. I went ahead and cleared away as many of the itty bitty rocks as I could and then did my best to mix potting soil with the existing clay. Now, about three weeks later...most everything is growing. I have corn, tomatoes, carrots, onions, zucchini, summer squash, & kohlrabi. I'm still waiting on cucumbers and the cantaloupe already died. Still, if I get one tomato, it will be worth trying again next year.

DC

2009-06-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

Right after the cruise, we took a trip to DC for my brother's wedding. It was a quick trip, but quite fun.
The church they got married in was so beautiful. It was a classic wedding with a rehearsal dinner and everything. I really did feel like I was in the movies.

I got so see some of the DC sights that I don't know if I've ever seen (I think I went to DC when I was 4, but don't remember it). It was a first for Curtis as well. We went to Arlington on Memorial Day and got to see President Obama drive past. That was really a cool experience! I almost wish we would have gone and heard him speak just a couple hours earlier. That's not something Curtis would have allowed me to set and alarm for, so we slept in and walked through the cemetary in peace.

More Cruise

2009-06-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

We already posted our underwater camera pictures, now here are some others. First off, Curtis started the cruise like any normal person would...on his computer, trying to send some last e-mails for work before internet cost $9.99 a minute. Eventually, the internet connection got slow. Result: Curtis allowed himself to crash.
The whole cruse experience was perfect! We were able to relax, get tan (I think I read four large books), and see some of the most incredable things ever. We spent the first two days at sea. Each night, we got these cute little animals on our beds. I loved them. The food was good, the desserts were even better, and we had some really fun people at our dinner table.

Our first stop was Jamaica. That's where we hiked up Dunn's River Falls. It was really incredible. I got this picture of the coast and my camera died while we were at Dolphin's Cove...so that's all we have of our Jamaican experience.

This is a picture I took in Grand Cayman. It really is that beautiful. We also went to the Turtle Farm. It was surprising how hard those turtles can flap. They calmed down when you rubbed their heads.

Our Escape!

2009-06-10T11:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, after a very long year of Curtis going through the Master's of Accounting program we were ready to get away. A week after graduation we packed our bags and flew to Galveston where we left on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman, (our Cozumel stop got canceled due to the "swine" flu). It was perfect! The ship was fun, and Curtis didn't even get sea sick (the patch worked great....no, not a nicotein patch!). We met some great people that we ate dinner with every night and enjoyed the ports a lot. It was nice and relaxing. Curtis didn't have to worry about cell phones, e-mail at work, or homework for school, and I had a great time having my husband all to myself for 7 days! At one point he turned on the news in our cabin and after about 2 minutes he was getting fired up about the Pelosi/CIA fiasco. I asked him if he would turn it off so I could have my husband back! He did and we went back to not caring about what was going on in the world. It was nice to have a break!!! We just got our pictures back from Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica and Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Yes, the water is that beautiful, just like in the magazines.

We did it!!!

2009-05-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be nice if I could take credit for any of it. Last weekend, Curtis graduated with his Masters of Accountancy (I think that's how your write it). It's been a tough road. He's still been working full time and his job isn't exactly stress free. Add a few masters level accounting classes and what do you have...a very busy boy. It's been many months of very early mornings and very late nights to get through. I'm so proud of him! Right before he graduated I asked him if he wanted me to remind him how much he doesn't like school should he ever think about going back again. His answer was “YES!” I guess we'll see what the future brings.

2 YEARS!!!

2009-04-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's been two incredible years! It really is hard for me to believe that two years have already passed since Curtis and I got married. It the same breath, I can't imagine life any other way. It just seems like it's always been like this. He is almost always absolutely wonderful and is patient with me when I'm not (most of the time). We've been through a lot together. He's the only one who I'd want to take this journey with.

Here's a story to illustrate the dynamic of our relationship. On the morning of our anniversary, this is a conversation that took place
Curtis: I hope your present comes today. It should have been here by now.
Andi: Oh, I thought we didn't get Anniversary presents.
Curtis: Why do I feel like the woman in this relationship? You can just give me what I ordered for myself.

What I good husband I have. He even got me flowers and got home from work before I did!

Amazing Arrangement (even if you don't like these songs)

2009-04-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I found this through a friend of a friend of a friend's blog. If you like Jon Schmidt you will love this. Even if you don't like one or either of these songs (the people I'm talking to will know who they are). Give it a chance though. Mr. Schmidt is truly talented. And this will give you shivers at some point.

ENJOY!

After I posted this originally I realized that because my wife has made our blog "cutsie" that this video doesn't "fit" into the blog. If you want to see it on youtube go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

2009-04-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

I know I've been a slacker about this blog thing and I feel like it's because a lot has happened since our last post. Come to find out, I only have one picture, so my life might not be as exciting as I think it is. Here are some of the updates none the less.

First off, Curtis turned the big 26! We, of course, did the whole cake and ice cream thing and put all 26 candles on one cake. It was awesome! So awesome that when he blew them out, the fire alarm went off. I guess that's when you know you're old. Things have been really busy for him with work and school etc. On his birthday, he decided he was going to take the day off work and take his road bike to St. George. It was a great birthday present.

We also ran another half marathon. Again, we must be getting old because both of us had problems with our knees, but we finished. I love training for races because when I know they are coming up, I'm much more likely to get out of my warm and cozy bed to go for a jog. We actually talked our dads into running it with us. They take our excuse of age away from us. They are both in their mid fifties and beat us! It was a chip race so my dad and I started behing the croud. After he took off from me, he spent the rest of the race trying to catch up to Curtis and Curtis' dad. He passed them without even knowing it and came in first out of all of us. It was a really good experience thought and somehting we'll probably repeat.

And, the la test may or may not come with pictures at some point in the future. I competed in a triathlon yesterday. I really shouldn't say competed...I participated in a triathlon yesterday. It really was a whole bunch of fun. When it was all over, I wondered why I was so darn nervous for it. The honest truth is that for most of the race, I forgot it was a race. For example, I was riding my cute pink bike along and I heard this lady coming up behind me. She couldn't be missed because she was breathing really hard. It reminded me that I maybe should ride a bit harder, but I didn't. Or on the run...I saw a few people who looked absolutely miserable! My first thought was "it's only a three mile run, why do they look so aweful?" Then I thought "maybe if I were running a little bit faster, I'd look like that too." The conclusion I came to was that it's not worth it.

Don't worry, we haven't turned into these crazy athletes. We've met our quota of races for the year and now that summer is almost here, we've planned some awesome vacations. It might be a month or two after the fact, but we'll let you know all about them.

A Birthday Present!

2009-03-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I see that my last posting was either not too popular or too political to comment on (my intention wasn't to make anyone uncomfortable, i just wanted to share)...that's okay though.

But, if you thought the political stuff was over for me, you were wrong. PLEASE DON'T STOP READING NOW---I PROMISE NOT TO GET ON MY SOAP BOX. I was at work during the Glenn Beck thing (plus we don't have cable). But I heard some excerpts on http://www.youtube.com/ and saw some of the video on http://www.foxnews.com/ and I think everyone should here this.

The main message is that, "If we can change ourselves, then changing the world is the easy part." I hope you will all agree that if we all become better people then our families, our communities and our country become better.

This is NOT a political rant, and it is not a boisterous listing of political failings. Glenn Beck presented 9 Values and 12 Principles that I believe will help us all to make this country a better nation. It is nothing that we haven't heard before from our parents, our church leaders, or our kindergarden teachers. Honesty, Courage, Humility, just to name a few....all good things.

So, if anyone wants to give me a birthday present (Tuesday is the big 2-6...okay it's really not that "big" of a birthday). Please take a few minutes and just here what Glenn has to say. I've posted the video links so you can just click, turn up the volume, and listen.

I think these principles are a great reminder to all of us of who we really do all want to be. The story in the last video link will make you tear up...okay...some of you will tear up...

Glenn has invited everyone to try out these principles for the next 6 months and on September 12th (Saturday) there will be a special show again to see what others around the country are doing.

Sept 12th is signigant because, as Glenn Beck points out, we have all forgotten what it felt like on Sept 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attacks, when we all became a little more loving, a little more charitable and a little more patriotic...

9 Principles

12 Values, Part 1

12 Values, Part 2

Fox News Video Link - A Great Story!

We Surround Them!

2009-03-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have received an e-mail from me about the We Surround Them special that Glenn Beck is doing on his cable show on March 13th. Here is the link again, and if you haven't been to the link yet or I missed you in my address book follow the link here: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/21018/ .

Many of my close friends know that since the elections last year I have been very politically outspoken. Andi tries not to get me going and would probably rather that I stop following the headlines on http://www.blogger.com/www.drudgereport.com in the monrings. She probably wonders why I even need to go to the gym if my blood is already moving.

Here is my honest opinion. America is a blessed nation. Many people have given up so much to make our country what it is, and many people are still making sacrifices to make this a great place to live. Unfortunately as a society we have also made some rather big mistakes, especially in what we allow our elected leaders to do. It's time to take a positive step forward, to stand up and find our voice and not allow our great nation to be burdened with political agendas that will damage this land for generations to come. Whatever the solution is it has got to be a positive one.

I thought the Glenn Beck thing was a positive thing and just wanted to share it as well as warn you that there is probably more political commentary to come.

I do hope though that everyone will pass this along to their friends if they think it is worthwhile. There are already hundreds of people planning to meet together and watch the program on March 13th to see what this is all about. I think there are meetings planned all along the Wasatch Front here in Utah as well as every state. There are dozens of meetings posted on craigslist and the internet.

My hope is that the Silent Majority will in some way find their voice amid all the confusion being created by our leaders in Washington.

I saved $60 on my groceries!

2009-02-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm really not sure how to start this post. All I know is that I'm pretty excited about what I'm about to share with you and am looking for any tips/suggestions you have.

Part One: A few months ago, Curtis told me about an article he read on MSN. There was a family who decided they wanted to retire in their 40's (I think). Anyways, what they did was live like they were broke so that they could save save save. He walked to work, she hung their family's clothes to dry and cut coupons. They shopped at thrift stores and drove an old truck when everyone he worked with had BMW's etc. She talked about going to one of his work parties in her thrift store dress and Payless shoes. She felt like a million buck...because they really did have a million dollars! They reached their goal 2 years early and he retired. I think she's getting a PHD now and they're set for life.

Part Two: For one of my New Year's resolutions, I wanted to start reading educational books. I really didn't have a direction: health, running, marriage, finance, whatever seemed interesting at the time. Curtis ordered a few books on money that seemed interesting and had good reviews. I started with “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey. He had a lot of really good advice and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't already figured out how to be a millionaire.

Part Three: I'm really not obsessed with money or whatever. I just want to do something productive with my time. I only work about 35 hours a week. I did that and more while going to school full time at one point in my life. I don't ever want to go back to that, but I know I can do more. One way I decided to do more is by saving on our food bill. I never thought that coupons were worth it, but if you get $0.75 on enough things, it all adds up.

Here's what I do. I get two or three papers on Sunday, then I cut out and file anything I think I might use. I even cut out brands I don't buy (I'll explain why). Then I go on www.pinchingyourpennies.com and click on grocery finder to find out all of the things that are on sale at the stores I shop at. I make my grocery list accordingly. I buy what I need for my meals and storage items that are on way good sale. Having a usable food storage is wonderful. Last weekend, we went to St George and I didn't have time to go shopping. It didn't really matter though because we were able to make the same food as we usually do with what's in our freezer and pantry. I've found that putting the deals together with the coupons is great! Here's what happened last week: I cut out some Brauny paper towel coupons (even though I've never bough Brauny) and later found them on sale. With the coupon, they'll cost about half the price of what we usually pay for paper towels. Reynolds wrap is on sale for .89 at Wallgreens this week and I have a coupon from a few weeks ago for $1 off. That means they'll pay me .11 to get some tin foil. Pretty good! About a month ago, Albertson's was having a deal. Buy 4 boxes of cereal and get some Silk (soy milk) for free. I had coupons for the cereal and for the silk, so it hardly cost me anything. I've had a few really good weeks and I'm getting better. Last week, I spent $40 and saved $60 between store sales and coupons. Anyways, maybe this will inspire some of you to save money just because you can. If you have any info that might help me to save more, please let me know (because I know there are lots of people who get food for free all the time).

It's the happiest day of my life...

2009-02-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

maybe not the happiest, but a very good one. On Friday, I went to pick up this road bike. I finally have a road bike! I've done a few triathlons on my mountain bike and I thought I was just a slow biker. It turns out, having a road bike makes a big difference. I took my new bike down my street and I felt like I was flying--with hardly any effort. I also felt like my hands were going to fall off because it was so cold. I decided that my first real ride would have to wait for a warmer day.
This is a picture of my bike. It was discounted $300 since it was one of the last ones of last year's models! He said it's usually pretty easy to find bikes my size (since I'm extra short). Curtis is still looking for one and since he needs a bigger bike, he might have to go with a 2009 and just pay the extra. I'm excited to go on some good long rides.

run forest run!

2009-01-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

So, I don't get a chance too often to post anything on the blog, so I thought today on my day off for the holiday I would update everyone on our training for the Moab 1/2 Marathon in March.

Andi and I have been doing are best the last few weeks to get into shape and work our way up to the 13.1 mile race. This will me the 2nd time we have run it as I talked Andi into running it in 2007. Last year I didn't get drawn out and Andi was pregnant so even though she had a spot we didn't go. This year should be fun because we talked both of our dad's into running it too. They have started their training as well.

We are also training for a triathalon in April, so we are spending our Monday mornings in a spin class and Wednesday or Thursdays at the university pool. Since the weather hasn't been too bad we have even been able to train a little outside.

I have been working hard to learn how to swim, since I have never really been a swimmer and have horrible technique. Today, at the suggestion of a friend we did what was called a Brick - bacically you immediately get off the bicycle after an hour long spin class and go hop right on the treadmill for a run. Because you have been sitting and the blood flow to your legs has been fairly restricted your legs litterally feel like bricks--at least I thought so. This trains you for the bike-to-run transition for the triathalon.

This week is a 5 mile long run and we will have 9 more weeks of training until the 1/2. I am also contemplating the St. George Marathon, but we will see how these first two events go. Andi said no way to the 26.2 miles. I thought it might be fun since I will turn 26 this year.

Christmas Joy

2009-01-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

I've been really bad at this blog thing. Really, it's not that I don't have time. I only work about 35 hours a week and I have Friday afternoons off. I don't have class or homework or kids or a calling that takes a whole lot of time. I try to be productive with my time, I keep a pretty clean house, I'm even cutting coupons because since I have the time I might as well be saving some money when I go shopping. I guess what that mean is blogging (along with ironing Curtis' shirts) are not a priority for me. Maybe when kids come along, that will change. Here's a sneak peak into our life in December.

We were asked to play "Mary and Joseph" in our ward's Christmas party. It was a little bit silly, but I think we did a good job. Here we are...

Here we are with our ginger bread house. Curtis was proud of his pretzel fence. He says it made it look "rustic." The house is one of those ones out of the box that gives you everything you need. They look real good, but let me tell you they don't taste good. We tried to eat one of the ginger bread men when we got home, it was way yucky. Next year, we might just have to make our own.

Finally, this is our Christmas tree. It makes me a little bit sad, but this was the last year we will be using this tiny thing. We bought a 7 ½ foot tree about a week after Christmas at 75% off. It's still in the box so I really don't know how it's going to look, but I think it will be pretty.

Addison May

2008-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been four months since we had our little girl! I still think about her every day. Sometimes I look at what we're doing and think of how different everything would be with a little baby. For example, Curtis had a business trip to Vegas last month. I took Friday off of work so I could meet him down there. I went shopping at the outlets while he was in meetings, we walked on the strip way too much when he wasn't in meetings, and swam laps in the pool at the hotel. The truth is, we were planning on having a 6 week old baby on this particular November week. While I was there, I couldn't help but think how differently things would have gone with a little one. First, we would have driven down together because I would have had no need to take time off work (I would have brought my work with me). Next, it would have taken a lot more debating to decide if a trip to the outlet malls were worth it. For our journeys out to the big city, one of us would have been carrying a baby on our belly for each of our walks up and down the strip. The other one of us would have been carrying a bag of baby necessities. Maybe we would have had to look for the best place to feed a baby or somewhere to change her. I'm sure there are 3 dozen other things I wouldn't be able to predict as well. As for the swimming, we might have skipped that all together. These are all adjustments we would have been so excited to make. For right now, we don't get to.

I thought I would post some of the things we have to remember Addison by as many of you haven't seen them and I keep getting requests.

This is a shadow box my sister made. In the little silver frame is her name, birthday, weight, and height. On the pink pieces of paper are her hand and foot prints. The flowers are some of the ones that were sent to us. The cap on the teddy bear was up on her head after she was born. The teddy bear was from the flower wreath at her burial. The name bands are obviously from the hospital. The white hands are actual molds of her tiny hands. Her left hand was perfect, her right hand was clenched, almost in and “I love you” sign. The clenched hands are typical of Trysomy 18. In the bottom left corner is a lock of her hair. It was actually pretty long and dark. Finally, the green background is actually the blanket we wrapped her in right after she was born.

This is a teddy bear that a program called “Angel Watch” made for us. It is made out of another blanket we used at the hospital. This is one teddy bear that children are not allowed to play with.

These are some booties and a sweater my mother-in-law had made for us. They are so sweet and tiny.

They just installed her headstone this week so I don't think any of you have seen it. I think it turned out really nice. As hard as this has been, we know we have been so blessed with a wonderful family and absolutely incredible friends who have helped us through this time. I'm pretty sure it will always hurt to know that we have a daughter who we don't get to see learn and grow. We are, however, so grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation. Knowing that this life is just a tiny step and that if we live worthy, we will be able to be with Addison again brings us comfort. The Lord does love us. This experience has brought us closer to Him and closer to each other. I don't know what else we will be asked to endure, but I do know that it's the though things that make us better people.

Mile High Apple Pie

2008-12-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! So Thanksgiving morning my sister and I got up to make this beauty. She doesn't have a timer on her oven. Needless to say, we forgot and the top got a little toasty. It was still real yummy though. A few Thanksgivings ago, I decided that I wanted to become an excellent pie maker. I'm working on it. Maybe next year I won't burn the crust:)

2008-12-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

We're back again and I wish I had something more exciting to share with you. I'm afraid this is only exciting for me. So back in October, it snowed. I was so mad as I scraped off the windows of my car that I decided I was going to clean out the garage. We had already decided it was too small to park a car and our stuff in it, but I was going to try. I worked so hard and parked my car in it one night. When Curtis saw we had an empty garage he thought it would be a perfect time to empty our storage unit. Grrrr! So we emptied the storage unit and then there was even more stuff to organize. When all is said and done, it all fit.

This is the side where all the shelves are

The is the front

And this is the back