Jon & Kate plus 8

I love this show. If you have never watched it, it is a documentary type reality show about Jon and Kate who couldn't have kids on their own and did fertility treatments and had twins the first time. Then they wanted more kids and had sextuplets! So it just about their lives and how they live with that many kids of the same age. I love it. I love how organized and bossy Kate is, (in a good way). If you have never seen it you have to check it out on Mondays on TLC.

Pippin

This is my dog Pippin. He is a West Highland White Terrier. He is so cute and has a great personality.
These were some pictures I took after I got my camera. I was tring some more effects out. I'm not sure how I like them yet.

Angus

I was playing around with my photo shop and I just love this picture. Angus was still so tiny here. I loved his flopped over ears. Now they are standing straigh up. I made this pictuer black and white with a color focal point. I thought that was cute. I like how the red collar stands out on him.

On the Bandwagon...

I bought the book almost a year ago when my friend Alisa insisted it was the best book she had ever read. I read part of the first chapter and just could not get into it. So the book sat around for the better part of the year. As I have been blogging, it has become apparent to me that I am definitely missing something. Everyone at work, church, and on the blog are talking about these books. Who is Edward and why does everyone get all doe eyed when they speak of him? What is the debate between Edward and Jacob? These are questions that had formed from all the buzz. I decided since I have a nice break and I will reattempt the book. When I went to Prescott this weekend I took it with me committing that I would read it; there were two other people reading the books. My friend Donna is so into them. She was almost done with the second and when we went to town we had to find the Barnes and Nobel so she could buy the third. We had some good discussions of the book. So now, I am on the band wagon and it isn't so bad. I can see now why every woman swoons for Edward-He's the perfect male character. I have not finished Twilight, the first in the series, but it is really hard to put down. My advice if you have have been avoiding the book-get on the wagon because there room for more.

Weekend in Prescott

I spent a really relaxing weekend with my SIL Heather and a few people from her singles ward. We had a really nice time playing games, karaoke, and lots of food. Justin's cousin Cindi and her husband own the cabin in Prescott in a beautiful and secluded spot. I spent most of my time in this adorable green chair in the master bedroom reading a book. It was so nice. The weather was wonderful. It was in the 80's during the day and in the 60's at night and in the morning. It was so hard to come back to 112 degrees!Yuck!

Wonderful green chair

Part of the kitchen

Lynx lake

Popover anyone...

Has no one ever heard of a popover? Last night I was watching the Food Network (love it)and Alton was on. I had heard of popovers, but I had never made or attempted to make them before. Well Alton made them and it was so easy. I decided since the missionaries were coming for dinner today that I would make them. It would be a nice change from the regular dinner roll. But where to find a popover pan? I went to Joanns-No, then to JCPenny's-No, then to Kohls-No, Marshalls- No, (but I did find the cute cake stand in the picture)then to Michales-No. No one had a stink'n popover pan!! So I called my mom and my mother-in-law to see if they had one, alas no luck there either. However, they both told me that I could use a muffin pan. Now the pan that Alton used looks like small drinking cups held together with wire. They are deep and narrow at the bottom and then it widens at the top. I have seen these before, but it must not be a common pan. So without the proper pan, I attempted to make them, (may I say don't try to make them until winter as your oven has to be at 400 degrees and my house is still not cooled off from it being on-which made my husband not happy). I can't say if they turned out okay or not because frankly, I have never had a popover. I don't know how they are supposed to turn out. I know that they are supposed to be airy in the middle, but how are they supposed to taste? I thought mine were a little salty tasting. But is that how they are supposed to taste? And the color, these look like they are burned, but they aren't. I thought that when I pulled them out they would be hard, but they were moist and soft.

If any expert of popovers happens upon my blog, please let me know if my popovers look okay and what they are supposed to taste like.

A Day at the Salon

My SIL Kassi just opened a cute hair salon around the corner from my house called Salon De Cheveux. Check out pictures and location at http://www.salondecheveux.com/.

Today my other SIL Heather and our friend Donna went over to get their hair done. She texted me to come over and hang out while they were there. So I went over and acted as the receptionist answering the phone once and entertaining this lady who came in giving working women flowers. She was nice and was also a MK consultant. Then probably the best part was when I shampooed Donna's hair. Now I have never shampooed any ones hair in a salon sink so I didn't know that when you turn the water on you needed to put the water head down so it won't spray out. I turned the water on and it shot straight out of there and side swiped Donna's face. We were laughing so hard. Then I couldn't figure out how to get hot water and Donna was complaining because the water was cold. Then I figured it out and then she complained because the water was too hot. Can't ever keep her happy. :)- Just kidding. The best part was that as Donna was sitting down in the shampoo chair she said, "maybe you should stop being a teacher and do this full time." Then I hit her with water and she said, "Maybe stick to being a teacher." I agree. But it was fun-you know it was Donna.

Just one more

My nieces all looked so cute and beautiful that day.

My mom and dad looked so nice. My mom did a lot of work for that day. I created my invitation so we had to make 400 of them and my mom worked so hard to find the ribbon for them and then putting them together and mailing them. It was a lot of work.

one more time...

Justin looks so good in this picture. I live it. He is actually smiling. He looked so handsome that day.
Justin with his brothers and sisters

This is what Kassi did to my hair. It was really pretty.

Wedding story cont...

These are some more photos from the day. These are my three dearest friends; Natalie, Erica and Leann.


My brides maids

Me with all my brothers and my sister

(from left-Nathan, Ben, Me, Jason, Suzi)

A Wedding Story

It was in 2005 when Justin proposed to me after a year of dating. We went on a trip to Disneyland with his family and it was there in a quiet corner near a McDonalds Fries shack that he got down on his knees(or feel from freight) and asked me if I would be his wife. At first I couldn't believe it! I said,"Are you serious?" and he said, "yeah." "Of course I will marry you!" And so as you can see in the picture I tried calling all my family to tell them the good news. Apparently Justin's mom and dad knew he was going to ask me. It was a very happy moment. Then exactly one year later on November 18, 2006 we were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple. It was such a beautiful sealing. The man who sealed us was such a cute old man and he reminded me of my Grandpa who had passed away a few years earlier. There was a really special spirit in the sealing room. It was so beautiful. I loved my dress, Justin's tux, and everything about the day. We had an Island themed luncheon and the food was so good. Justin's mom did a wonderful job arranging everything for that and did a great job with decorations.

My sister Suzi was my Matron of Honor and my best friend Kandis, Justin's sisters Heather and Kassi were my bridesmaids. I also had my two oldest nieces as Jr. Bridesmaids and my 3 younger nieces as younger Jr. bridesmaids. They all looked so beautiful. The colors for the wedding were chocolate brown and pink. I had all my brothers and nephews wear pink polo shirts. They looked so handsome.

The reception was more beautiful than I could have imagined. My mom was so great about letting me decorate the way I wanted it. The tables all had brown table cloths that draped to the floor and center pieces of pink roses and hydrangeas. They were so pretty. The cake was so good. It was made by Pam Bennett and each tier was so good. The frosting was a light pink with brown ribbon going around and in between each tier were hydrangea flowers.

It was a perfect day. We then left the next day on our honeymoon to Disneyland for a week. It was so fun.




Justin's family looked so good that day. Poor Kassi had the flu, but she looked great. She did my hair for the wedding and as I was walking through the temple I could hear people saying how amazing my hair looked and it did. I grew my hair out for year so she could do it. Heather did so much for me that day as well. She did all the flower arrangements and my beautiful bouquet. She also helped me organize and plan many things.

A sleep over

My niece Aubree came to stay the night. It was a lot of fun. We had a yummy steak and shrimp dinner. After dinner we went to this really good frozen yogurt shop called Berrygood, and it was. Aubree is something of an ice cream conasuer so it isn't hard to convince her to go get ice cream. This is a fun place to go. It is self serve and you add whatever toppings you want. You pay by the weight of your cup. I had chocolate and strawberry and Aub had a combo of three flavors and so many toppings I can't name them all. The girl working was laughing at Aub for all the toppings she put on. We watched the movie Nacy Drew and had popcorn (yes ice cream then pop corn). Then today we had fun playing with the dogs and going to a couple of shops. We then watched another movie and Aub texted her "friend" the whole time.

It was a good day and I love when my nieces and nephews want to come and stay.


I think she came more for the puppy than for me. :)

Only in Arizona. . .

Okay, I have a love hate relationship with my house. I love it because it is the right size for me and Justin. It is low maintenance and easy to keep clean. I hate it because there is absolutely no storage space. I have no closet space and the pantry is a joke. So I have been utilizing my garage and storing things in there that I don't use too often. So I put my 72oz bag of chocolate chips in my garage in December and said to myself then,"don't forget to get these out of here before summer because they will melt." It is 100 degrees outside and probably 115 degrees in the garage. Well, I went to my garage this morning to get something off the shelf and I shrieked! I forgot to get my choc. Chips out and this is what happened. If you look real close to the clear window you don't see chips, you see chocolate paste. So does anyone know of any good recipes that call for melted chocolate? I have 72oz that need to be used, because it makes me sad to have to throw it out. So lets just call this a scientific experiment. Hypothesis- Chocolate exposed to high heat source other than stove or microwave will melt. Outcome- test complete and hypothesis was confirmed. Don't leave things that will melt in the garage.

Happy Father's Day!

We had a nice, but quiet fathers day. We had a yummy dinner of chicken and dumplings and then we had Marie Calendar's pies. I don't think we needed four pies for a small crowd, but I sampled the lemon meringue and it was very good.
My dad is really in to U.S. history (as am I) and we had talked about the John Adams movie that was going to be on HBO and he had said he really wanted to see it. Well my dad, like most dads, is really hard to shop for. He just is. So I was so excited when I found out that the mini-series was going to be on DVD in time for Fathers day. And that is what he got from Justin and I. But he deserves it. My dad is the best dad. He is such a great example to me of service and kindness. He is always willing to help people when they need it. If you need anything, he will do what he can to help you. A week ago I was taking a class at ASU West and because of the astronomical gas prices Justin and I decided that it would be best if I stayed at my parents house while taking the class. So I did, and one night we went to dinner and this man came to the car and gave his sob story about his car being broken down and he was stranded and (my mom and I weren't totally convinced), but my dad gave him money because that is what my dad does, he helps people in any little way he can. So to you this fathers day, dad I say thank you for being a great example of kindness and service and thank you for all you do for me. I love you!














*The Lakers and Celtics were playing today and my dad didn't want to miss any of it. (I hope the Celtics win!Go Boston!)

Oklahoma-06

In 2006 my mom, dad, Grandma and I went to Oklahoma to visit our family that lives there. My Grandma has a lot of family there since that was where she grew up. We had a great time visiting family. The first two pictures are from the famous Fried Chicken fry. My mom, Grandma, Aunt Kathleen (Great Aunt to me) and Sally were frying my Aunt Kathleen's famous fried chicken. It was quite the task. They were cooking for a long time and they fried a lot of chicken, but it was worth it. It was really good. The second picture is me with my 2nd cousins. The last two pictures are from the day that Sally and Barbara took my mom and I to this cute town with fun shops and we found this antique store. I loved the name as I am a big I Love Lucy fan and if you watch it too you will know why I took a picture of the store front. I also love vintage hats and gloves. I love that women wore hats and gloves when they would go out. I probably wouldn't have worn this particular hat, but I thought it was funny. Ther are some other pictures with hats but for some reason they wouldn't copy over.

(This is also the trip when I got Pippin).