It's Been Too Long

I haven't written for so long and I have so much to say. The weather has finally gotten nice so we've been spending more time outside. It's nice to see the sun and to be able to play outside. Tomorrow we're getting sod delivered so we can play outside in the grass. My favorite thing to do with Brandon when he was little was to lay a blanket out on the grass and read stories together. There's nothing like it! So, tomorrow after "Mom's and Muffins" day, I'll be heading outside to put the grass in. Then I'll be spending time with Kendal and Brandon reading stories.

We've had fun the last couple weeks. On the Saturday after Valentine's day we took the kids to see Spiderwick. It was such a good movie. Kendal and Brandon loved it. I was worried they would be scared, but Kendal has been begging to go back and see it again. I'd like to see it again, so maybe we'll indulge her...but just this once! :)

On Presidents Day, Derek had to work, but when he got off we went to the park. Holy cow it was cold! It would have been fine if there hadn't been any wind, but here in Hurricane the wind blows so bad that it makes it colder than it really should be.


Then, last Friday and Saturday Derek and I went to a really neat marriage fitness retreat. It was given by a really good therapist friend of ours, Matt Eschler (www.matteschler.com). He's an amazing therapist. He's in our ward and is our home teacher. He teaches the marriage and family relations class during Sunday School and his class is packed. It's a 16 week class and I was lucky enough to sit in on most of the classes. Derek got to listen to all of them, but because I'm in Primary I had to miss a few. What an amazing teacher. We're pretty lucky because when Derek gets done with school (August 2009!!!) Matt wants him to come work for him. What a blessing! Anyways, the marriage retreat was awesome and really helped bring us closer as a couple. We learned so much about communication and how to communicate properly. I think it might take me a few more retreats to perfect my communication skills, but I'll keep working on it!

After we got finished about noon, we picked up the kids from Derek's mom's house and decided to go have some fun with the kids! First we went to my favorite restaurant, Pachanga's. It used to be Sharky's but they changed the name. The food's still the same, just a different name. We always get the nachos. They are so good! They feed our whole family. They're only $7, what a good deal! They're about 12" tall and they're on a huge round pizza size pan. The picture below is after we'd eaten the whole top off. Thanks to Brandon for the picture!

While we were at the restaurant, Brandon kept busy by taking pictures. Here are our "shy" pictures:


And the obligatory silly pictures:


After we'd eaten, Derek thought it would be fun to go golfing at Fiesta Fun. I absolutely hate miniature golf! I think I'd gone on too many bad dates miniature golfing that I thought it might be like pulling teeth...not fun. But, we had an awesome time! Brandon is a pro at golf. He got about 2 or 3 holes in one. Myself, not so great. But we had a good time. Since Derek loves golf, he was the one that helped the kids with their swings. I was getting ready to swing and Derek asked me with a smile if I was a left handed golfer. I switched my hands around and thought I'd fixed the problem. Again he asked me if I was a left handed golfer. I thought maybe it was a gifted thing, maybe I was really talented at golf because I was a left handed golfer. But then he told me, "you're standing on the wrong side of the ball." Duh! I really wasn't made to golf!


After awhile, Kendal and I got bored so we hung out waiting for the guys to get done. We ended up taking a few pictures. I love my daughter so much and one of the many things I love about her is her girliness. I bought her these flip-flops for summer, but she's been wearing them everyday since I bought them. No girl should ever be without a pair of silver glitter flip-flops!


After golf, Derek thought it would be cool to go on the bumper boats. I wasn't really up to it because I didn't want to get wet. I'm such a wuss! But, he talked me into it and as you can see I really got the brunt of it! He had other kids in other boats spraying me with water! The only solace I got was that I know he got it just as bad from Kendal and I! We had so much fun!

Since then, it's just been fun-filled day to day life. And with that, I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures:
A bunny eared Kendal! :) Everyone needs a pair of bunny ears. They're just as important as a pair of silver glitter sandals!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Dear Amanda,
Happy Birthday little sister! I can't believe you're so old. I still remember mom bringing you home from the hospital. I wanted to hold you and cuddle you all the time. You were such a good baby! What an amazing person you've turned out to be. You are so caring, loving and thoughtful. You are such a great aunt to Kendal and Brandon and I know how much you love them. I'm so proud of you and who you are. I want you to know how much I love you and even though you're far away in Kansas I'll always be there for you.
Happy Birthday little sis, I love you!

Heavenly Father Song

In Primary this year the theme is "I am a Child of God." As a presidency every year we give the kids CDs with all the primary songs on them. This is so that by the time the primary program rolls around they know them relatively well. Kendal is a sunbeam this year and is really loving the primary songs. Her favorite is I am a Child of God, except she calls it the Heavenly Father Song, which makes sense. The other night I wanted to get a video of her singing it, since we have almost no videos of our kids (we're such slackers!). I love her singing because she really gets into it. She's a little tone deaf (like her mother... Chelsi you know what I'm talking about) but she sounds like an angel to me.

Snow, Part Two

I can't remember the last time that it snowed twice in one year, that's how much it happens. But it snowed again on Sunday, February 3. We let the kids play outside Monday afternoon when Brandon got home from school and they had a blast. Kendal made a small snowman which we decided looks more like a bird than a man. Brandon just had fun throwing snowballs at everyone, myself included. I was glad they got to see what snow is kind of like. We don't have big snowstorms, but this will do.

Fun in the Sun

Last Saturday, February 2, we were tired of the cold so we and another family decided to head down to Mesquite to play at a park there. It was so nice! It was nice to finally feel the warmth of the sun. At the park they had a sand volleyball pit and the kids loved playing in it.

As Derek and I were driving around we both thought it would be a nice place to live. It's changed so much as we've gotten older. I remember when there wasn't anything there, now it's gotten pretty big. He joked that when he gets his counseling license he could set up shop right inside the door of one of the casinos and hand out business cards. He'd make a killing! :)

So, if you're looking for a warm place to play, head to Mesquite. The park we went to had a large picnic area so we brought a grill and had barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers. It was so much fun that I think we might head down there again this weekend!

Baby Easton

Baby Easton is here! He was born Sunday morning (January 27) and weighed in at 7 lbs even and 19.5 inches long. He is so so cute! I know Clint and Jenny are so excited to have him here.
Congratulations guys!

This picture is especially cute. Clint was changing Easton's diaper and noticed that he was saying "I love you".