Only One Word...

My sister Brooke tagged me with a new game. I haven't seen this one before -- I'm thinking this will be a little difficult for me.

The Rules: Answer the questions using only ONE WORD.

Then tag four others. I'm going to tag - Jennifer, Melissa, Nicole, and Stephanie.

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your significant other? Tim
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Wonderful
5. Your father? Caring
6. Your favorite thing? Twilight (today anyway!)
7. Your dream last night? Unknown (I never remember them, except that I have been dreaming about Twilight a lot lately...)
8 Your favorite drink? Vanilla Pepsi
9. Your dream/goal? Happy
10. The room you’re in? Family Room
11. Your hobby? Obsessions
12. Your fear? Heights
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. What you’re not? Energetic
15. Muffins? Okay
16. One of your wish list items? Midnight Sun... :(
17. Where you grew up? Snowflake
18. The last thing you did? Read
19. What are you wearing? Mom Uniform
20. Favorite gadget? MP3 Player
21. Your pets? Dogs
22. Your computer? Requirement
23. Your mood? Sleepy
24. Missing someone? Sure
25. Your car? Silver
26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? Wal-Mart
28. Like someone? Yep...
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Earlier
31. Last time you cried? Wednesday???

I know some of these are more than one word but I figured it would be okay as long as it was a name of something, like family room or MP3 player. ;) Gee, that was hard!! :D

Tagged by Bri...

So, Bri tagged me with another fun game. Luckily I didn't check the computer until AFTER we had cleaned house this morning! :D Good thing I decided last night that the first thing we would do today was clean. :P You are supposed to go through your house and take pictures of certain things. You're not allowed to clean or rearrange anything -- just show it how it really is. Okay, you asked for it! :D

1. The Fridge

Here's the fridge, with normal fridge type things in it. Nothing too exciting, although we do actually have milk which is almost like a miracle! :D I guess I could have opened the drawers and shown the cheese and ham and apples that live in them, but I gotta leave something to the imagination...


2. The Closet

Here is my half of the closet. Actually, there are more clothes behind the door, but the sliding doors are huge so I never actually get to the stuff behind them. This is where my ALIAS and Roswell books lived until I moved them last week. As you can see, there are still a few ALIAS books left (I have a ton of them) and my dolls that my Grandma made me and some other stuff up there on the top shelf. And we won't show the floor because no one really wants to see that mess!! :D

3. The Bathroom

We're going with the kids bathroom here, since it's the one I like. :D I still find myself going in there and just enjoying all the planning I did when I was trying to decide exactly how to do it. I love that it's so bright and fun. Plus the pictures on the wall of the kids at the beach are so great to look at. :)

4. Laundry Room

Well, I don't have a laundry room, so here is the washer and dryer that are outside on the back porch. The kids are always smearing some kind of mud onto them, so they never look very good. I can't wait to have an indoor laundry room someday, where the washer and dryer won't get wet from the rain and I don't have to worry about getting clean clothes from the dryer while wearing my nightgown. :D Speaking of clean clothes, I figured I should get the ones out of the dryer while I was out there. :P


5. Kitchen Sink

Here's the kitchen sink, in all it's glory. I washed the dishes last night, so this is what had ended up in it by this morning. Luckily the kids didn't need too many dishes today. :D


6. Self Protrait

So, since it's Saturday and I am not going anywhere, I'm sportin' the old No-Make-Up look. Since I don't really feel like scaring anyone, I figured I would take another approach to the whole self portrait thing. :D I drew this portrait of myself and what I am wearing today. :) Maybe tomorrow after church I will take a picture and replace this one. Or maybe not... I think it's a pretty good likeness, don't you??


7. Favorite Room

I never thought I would say this but my favorite room in the house is the family room. That is probably where I spend most of my time, other than in my bedroom. I love the shelves that have all of my books and fun things I love. I sit here quite often at night and watch tv or read my books. The computer is also in this room so I'm there a lot too. I am hoping to paint my kitchen/living room/family room/hallway pretty soon so I will probably like this room even more after that!

8. What is my kid doing?...

Well, this is what they were doing when I took the pictures! Jorden was gone on a campout so it was just the 3 younger kids home. Jillen was playing on the computer (looking at this blog!! :D ) and Jayden & Jensen were trying to see the world through orange and blue colored swim goggles. Silly kids!! :P

9. Dream Vacation

I have always wanted to see Scotland. I think because I imagine it as being so green and cool and rainy, which is completely opposite of Arizona! :) The castles and rolling hills are so interesting to me, I would love to see them all up close!

Of course, if I'm gonna be in Europe... How could I NOT go on a tour of all my favorite architectural sites?!?!? So many places I would love to see!! Here are a few of the ones that I can think of off the top of my head --

The Fred & Ginger building in Prague. It was built by Frank Gehry and it's my favorite building!!

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Look at all those flying buttresses!! And that Rose Window??? So beautiful!!

And how about a stop by Versailles??? The outside looks huge, and it is, but the real beauty is inside. Those King Louis' might have been tyrants, but boy could they build gorgeous rooms!!

And you can't forget the genius creations of Antonio Gaudi. Here is the Sagrada Familia in Spain. All of his buildings look like they are melting and dripping -- it's so cool!!

There are lots of other places to stop while there, I just don't have room for them all!! :D

10. Favorite Pair of Shoes

Okay, I am not a shoe person. There, I said it! I honestly own 5 pairs of shoes - my sandals that I always wear, flip flops for outside since I'm usually barefoot at home, a pair of tennis shoes that I rarely wear, and 2 pairs of black heels, one a little fancier than the other - but also less comfortable. So my favorite pair of shoes would have to be any pair that ends up on the shoe rack! :D I got tired of picking up the kids shoes and also of them getting lost so I got a little shelf and set it up in the living room by the door so that the kids could always put their shoes there. It doesn't always happen, but they are usually pretty good about it. And since my shoes live under my bed, I don't have to dig through that pile too often! :D

Having confessed my non-love of shoes, I have decided on a pair that I would love to have! They are not very practical and I have no idea when or where I would wear them, but they would be so fun!! I would also have to wear them when Tim wasn't with me, other wise I might end up taller than him, and I hate that!! :D I don't think I would go for the 3 or 4 inch heel, maybe something more along the lines of 2 inches, but wouldn't these be fun with a cute knee or calf length skirt that flared out a bit?!?! This is kind of what I'm thinking about. I would want them in black, of course. That way I could wear them more often!! :D

Now I have to tag a few other people...
How about: Jennifer, Melissa, Nicole, and Kelly. Come on girls!! I know you can do it!! :D

And if you're name isn't on that list, but you want to show everyone your bathroom and closet...be my guest!

Happy Birthday to My Grandma...

Today would be my Grandma Loe's 87th birthday. I can't believe it's been almost 19 years since she died. It seems like yesterday... I still remember her voice when she would call on the phone and I would answer. I remember the way her house smelled. I remember the dolls she loved so much. I loved being with her whenever I could. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her. I will always miss her, until I see her again.

I have been wanting to put together a little video with a song that I found a couple of years ago. I love the words to it -- they describe how I feel about her. I want to thank my Aunt Nancy for the beautiful life story book that she put together a few years ago. There are so many great pictures in it, I hope she doesn't mind that I scanned lots of them. :) If you're related to me you might want a box of tissues nearby before you watch the video, I know I need one. :) And just for today I turned off the auto play for my playlist, so if you want to listen to that then you'll have to turn it on. ;) (Apparently the playlist site is down so if you get to this before I do, and the playlist is back up, then just hit the pause button on it so that you don't have to listen to 2 different songs! :P )

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister-in-law Laurissa!! We sure are glad that Blake found such a sweet girl and that she likes our family, even though we can be a little goofy!! :D I hope you have a great day!!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Happy Birthday Dear Dad!!!

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Today is my dad's birthday and I thought I would post some fun pictures of him. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful dad! He is always so good to us and always goes out of his way to show how much he loves us. What a great example he has been to me in my life. He always worked so hard to take care of us as we grew up. I remember when I was around 10 or 11, the paper mill had layed off a lot of the workers and he was having to drive from Snowflake to the Valley to work during the week. I would save my money and then give it to him and tell him a very specific Barbie or other toy that I wanted. He never failed to show up with it when he came home for the weekend. I was always so grateful for that! I was surely a Daddy's Girl when I was growing up and I can remember asking him to rub my back almost everyday, and he always would, even though he was tired from working all day.

Happy Birthday Dad!! I love you!!!

Here's my Dad and Jorden, most likely sometime in 1997. He has always had a soft spot for babies, which is something he inherited from my Grandpa Jones. I am sure thankful to have grown up in a home where my Dad was just as loving to us as my Mom. I wish more dad's were like that.

My Dad and Jillen on Easter 2003. The kids have always loved having a Grandpa to climb all over! He's like a giant, moving jungle gym. :D

Here is my Dad with Jayden sometime in 2002 or 2003. My dad is the influence behind Jayden's love of all things camouflage and hunting. Here they are looking at an elk calendar. As you can tell by Jayden's expression, he's loving every minute of it!

Here is my Dad and Jensen in 2003. She is the first one in my whole family to have brown eyes. Actually, she's the first one to have anything other than blue. I remember my dad saying once about her that he never imagined he could love anything other than a blue eyed baby, but he was wrong, he just hadn't met Jensen yet. Isn't he so sweet?!?!

Here is me with my Dad and Mom. They look so young!!

Here I am with my Dad swimming at my Aunt Nancy's house. I was probably around 4 or 5 maybe?

Here is my Dad in the wilderness, which is one of his favorite places to be.

I love this picture -- he just looks so content. :)

Here is my Dad shoveling the snow from the front sidewalks. Taking care of us just like always.

Here is my Dad with Beau, Blake, and Bri after white water rafting in Colorado in 1995. They sure had a fun time! Just another one of those things that he does for us -- taking us on trips and never worring how much it is costing. :)

And here is one that I added for Brooke, in case she wants to snag it for herself. This is probably 1997, but I could be wrong. So cute!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

We love you!!!!!

August 12 of 12...

Well, it was the 12th again which means time for 12 of 12. You know the deal. If you don't then go back and check some of my old 12 of 12's. :) My day was pretty boring but I did my best to get a full 12 pictures this month. It was harder than I thought it would be! I guess that's what happens when most of your daytime hours are spent by yourself! :D

7:30am -- The three younger kids leave for school. It's so nice this year because the bus is picking them up at our house since there are no other kids from our bus stop. Yippee!! Now they don't have to walk/run to the end of the block everyday!

7:45am - With about a half an hour before Jorden needs to leave for the bus, I figure I have some time to read a little bit of Twilight. I read them all so fast the first time that I decided to reread them and really enjoy the story a little more. I started the day at about half way through the book and by the time the day was finished, so was the book! :D So much for taking it slow! Oh well, on to the second book...again. :)

10:00am - Laundry time! Towels, towels, towels!! I never seem to get enough of them washed!

12:00pm - Lunch time! Tim always comes home for lunch so I figured I would make some cheese crisps for lunch

1:00pm - Tim left the tv on after he left and how excited was I to see Emily Procter co-hosting with Regis! Too bad she didn't talk much about CSI: Miami. I was hoping she would spill some dish about Calleigh and Eric maybe hooking up... :) I guess I should have watched the whole show, especially since the Jonas Brothers were on and Jillen would have liked me to tape it, but I had other stuff to do. :P

2:00pm - I've been putting off reorganizing my shelves, so I decided to do it today! I got rid of some stuff and rearranged some other things. Boy, what did I do before I had these shelves?

The real reason I wanted to rearrange things was so that I could put some of my books out and not have them hidden in my bedroom. So out came my first series of ALIAS books and the first series of Roswell books, plus now my Twilight books have a home... :)

4:00pm - Jillen had a swimming activity for Young Girl Achievement Days. Apparently she didn't want me to get a picture of her! :D

7:00pm - After a little more Twilight reading it was time to make dinner. It might seem strange to some people but we love having breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, and sausage... Yum!!

9:00pm - Time for the kids to head off to bed! But before they went they decided to dress up Bambi. I have no idea why this dog thinks she is unloved... :D

9:30 - Finally!! Some Olympic Men's Swimming!!! I'd been waiting all day!! Here is Michael Phelps in his first race of the evening. Look at him go!! Even though he broke the world record, which he had previously set, he was disappointed that he didn't go faster. Turns out when he dove into the water he had a problem with his goggles and they filled with water. So to sum things up - Michael Phelps is so good that he could swim the race with his eyes closed and STILL win! And break the world record!! :D

Nice slow mo, eh?!?! What an awesome guy!! The most decorated Olympic athelete in history!! Go Phelps Go!!!

10:30pm - And then his second race, the Men's 800 Meter Freestyle Relay. Yeah, it wasn't much of a race. That's our guy in the lead, about to win, a full 5 seconds ahead of the current (now previous) world record. The second place team was 5 seconds slower than our boys. The green line shows where the world record is. We sure have an awesome team!! I wish I had gotten pictures the other night of the Men's 400 Meter Freestyle Relay. That was an awesome and SUPER exciting race!! I haven't cheered that loud in a long time!! :D

11:00pm - The Women's Gymnastics final. We got the silver, China got the gold. But it was our own mistakes that lost the gold for us so I can't really complain. Except for the fact that the team members are supposed to be turning 16 within this year (they can't be younger than that) and there is some serious controvery with the Chinese team. Is it just me or do these girls look about 13??? Well, I know it's not just me since everyone has been talking about it! :D But they performed well so I guess they earned the gold.


And even though this girl looks seriously 12, I just liked her from the first time I saw her. Then it dawned on me -- she looks like Michelle Kwan!! No wonder I like her! Michelle is my favorite!! So I looked and looked and finally found a picture of Michelle at about age 12 so that I could compare. Yeah, there's no way this girl is 16! :P

That was my day. Super exciting stuff huh? :D Maybe next month will be a little better since I will be back in school. Or maybe not, who knows!

Back to School...

The kids were sure excited to start back to school. Well, maybe everyone except for Jensen. She's a little unsure of having to be there all day, but she's done okay with the lunches so far. I guess we'll see what happens when they have something that she doesn't like... It shouldn't be long before that happens! :D

Jillen is in 5th grade this year. She has a man teacher for the first time so I'm anxious to see how that goes. She has a couple of her good friends in her class this year, but the others are in the other 5th grade class which is right next door, so she still gets to see them all the time. She was so excited to lay her clothes out the night before so that she would look just perfect for the big day. And so it begins... :D She went with the ponytail look for the day. I hadn't really noticed before but her widow's peak sure does stand out! At least it's even, unlike mine, so it kinda shapes her face. I guess it's a good thing that she inherited that from my Grandma Loe since that's who she's named after. :)



Jayden went with his new favorite shirt - yellow with camo!! Could it have been more perfect?? And he did get a hair cut on Saturday so he went to school with nice, trimmed hair. He has the same teacher that he had for his summer reading class so he is excited about that. Plus I think he likes that she's young and cute... :D He sure is a sweet boy and he's so excited to be in a "big" class. He said that some of his friends were playing soccer during recess the first day so he was little worried about that. We told him to join in the game so who knows... Maybe he will be a soccer star before we know it! :)



Jensen is in 1st grade this year and is in class all day for the first time. I guess she kind of got a taste of it last year when she had morning kindergarten and then went to the children's center while I was in class. Like I said, she is pretty picky about food so I am a little worried to see what happens the first day they serve something she doesn't like, which is just about everything! Poor girl! Luckily they have peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Of course I won't be there to cut off the crust and I think they are made with white bread. That should be interesting... I sure do miss her during the day but she is having fun and is excited that her friend Regan is in her class. She slept the night before with her braid bun from church still in her hair so she's sporting the frizzy do. She's sure cute!



And Jorden is in 8th grade this year. He doesn't leave for school until about an hour after the other kids do. He was happy to get back to seeing his friends on a regular basis. All of his church friends are at his school so he gets to hang out with them quite a bit. He is excited to be taking a food class this semester. Not really because he wants to learn about nutrition or how to cook, but rather so that he can get more food to eat during the day. :D I guess that's a good enough reason. And if it enables him to make dinner every once in a while, then all the better!!



Here are the little kids getting home from their first day of school. Jensen fell asleep during the ride, which lasts about 45 minutes. But the kids like getting to talk to their friends and also get some of their homework done. They may as well!! It just saves them some time once they get home. :)