Just Me Amy

Zack's 9th Nerf Gun Birthday Party

2012-01-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Invitation

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Zack's 9th Birthday. That seems so weird to say. I still can't believe that he is nine. We combined efforts with some friends of ours whose son has a birthday near Zack's and decided to throw a big Nerf Gun Party for both boys. It was Zack's idea. We were originally thinking of paying to have one of those laser gun partys that come set up at a park for you...but 'holy moly' that is expensive and he has so many friends, so there was just no way! So we thought of doing a nerf gun party at the church. I told him that way he could invite whoever he wanted....that was a mistake to say to a kid like Zack who has so many friends....we ended up with 30 boys at the party. It made for some seriously huge, fun nerf battles, but I wasn't thinking about just how many favors that is--I sewed the bags for their darts--or just how many presents that would mean he would get. The whole drive home from the church as I was looking at his huge stash in the back of the car, I kept thinking to myself, "I need to read that book that my Mom gave me about 'not raising entitled kids'".

I even tried to talk him into donating some of the toys to charity...but he would not buy into that idea...so we now own more nerf gear than I think any other boy on the planet!!! Good thing we had a whole week off of school because of snow, because it took him that long to write that many thank you cards!

This really was such a fun party....for Dads and boys and brothers (even sisters) of all ages. We had the kids come equipped with their own Nerf Gun (unless they didn't have one, we had some extras) and we got a ton of darts. We had two teams...Operation Orange and The Blue Bombers. Each boy got a scarf with their name on it so they knew which team they were on. We had the bags I sewed for them to keep their darts in (which by the way they didn't use---what boy wants to take time to put darts in a bag when they are being pelted with darts from all directions?) and safety goggles. We had tent canopies set up at both ends of the gym for the two teams. I think we played 3 ten minute rounds (we had the scoreboard and timer at the church going the whole time)...there were all sorts of rules, but I was more kitchen and photographer duty, so I never really got what they were, but there were several dads there in referee shirts, keeping the game going. After the first round we had dinner. After the second round, cake and ice-cream. And after the third round we opened presents. Such a fun night!

Does it even surprise you that Travis had the best gun and came dressed like this???

We did this cake in buttercream and then added the shapes and darts that we had pre-made out of fondant.

Those giant balloons I got at the party store and they were so much fun. We filled them too full, so they all popped, but when they did pop, it sounded like a bomb went off--the boys loved it!

I didn't think Josie would want to get into the game so I didn't make a scarf for her and the girls, but a couple of boys didn't come so we let them wear their scarves and they got right into the middle of it--no fear! She told us to call her 'Jacob' for the night since that's what her scarf said and she wanted the boys to think she was one of them--I don't think she fooled them.

The Problem with Expectations

2012-01-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

Okay I just wrote my first post in forever and after some serious thought, I hit "post" and got an error message...and bang...it's gone...lost somewhere in the abyss of words never posted. I realized....it's not just about expectations...part of the problem is this old ancient computer I am working on!!! I won't let it stop me...here goes again....

I sat down to my computer the other night and logged onto my Mom's new mission blog. It was so much fun to read and I asked myself, "why don't I blog anymore?" I immediately knew the answer...expectations! I had some seriously big plans for this little blog of mine. I was going to completely change the look and organization of the blog and my posts were going to be all idea related and pull in a world of readers and soon I would have a nice little business going and so on and so on....sounds so silly now that I put it in words.

I am a dreamer. I always have big dreams, but sometimes those big dreams stop me from doing little simple things, like recording memories...real memories. I re-read my old posts on this blog and realized that they were priceless to me, I just wished there was more. That's what I really want....memories of this time of my life. A time I will never get to re-live. And I don't want to protray things in a false way so everyone thinks I'm something more than I am. I want it to be real, what I'm really like...what my strengths and weaknesses are. I am doing it for me and my family and friends...those who already love us the way we are. No expectations...except one...that I write something...anything. Here's to a new shot at blogging and lower exptectations!!!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

A Ladybug, a Bumblebee, Harry Potter's Voldemort, and Lucius Malfoy, a hippy Mom and Ace Frehley from Kiss=a Super Fun Halloween

Happy 2nd Birthday Vivian

2010-10-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! My Vivi is 2 years old. Here's a few pictures from her small birthday party we had. What a fun little girl she is right now. She has a great sense of humor and can be quite a tease. She loves the color pink and insists that everything be PINK! She loves to read books and loves playing with babies. She likes everything baby...she likes to put a binky in her mouth (something she never used as a baby) and pretend that she is a baby. She likes to get all of my dish towels out of the drawer and use them for blankets for her baby dolls. She is talking really well and is always surprising us with the funny things she says. She is very independent and wants to do whatever Josie is doing. I can't believe she is two already...she's growing up way too fast. We Love You Vivian!

In case you were wondering...

2010-07-09T01:48:00.000-07:00

Here's what we've been up to recently...

I know I'm a lousy blogger, but here's a few of my favorite pics from the last few months...

Our Sweet Josie posing for pictures!

Isaac's pinewood derby car (almost placed this year...but came in 4th) The highlights of the race were definitely the two hosts...Travis and Joe...a little scary huh?

Vivi with the stomach flu

Our Precious Vivi posing for pictures:)

Isaac performing for a Scout talent show on his guitar.

Zack rock climbing

Josie is still crazy for horses!

And while camping with the family we learned that she's also quite fond of worms. She cried when I wouldn't let her keep them and bring them into the cabin. They were crawling up her coat---ewww!

Zack on a fun field trip to the beach...

That's Grandpa Scott on the TV...what do you think...does Zack look like him?

Camping Bonfire Baby Shower

2010-07-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

I recently threw a baby shower for one of my good friends and the theme was so fun and unique I thought I would post it. Her and her husband are big campers so we decided to do a camping bonfire baby shower. I had so much fun throwing this together. Well, mostly fun...the getting my yard ready was not so fun...we were going to have the party in another friend's yard, but her kids came down with the chicken pox a few days before, so we had to have it in my yard...talk about cramming to get my yard in order. (THANKS TRAV) Anyway, here's what we did...

A smores and soda bar

Kirsten helped me a ton with everything and I bet your not surprised to know she was the real brains behind this cake...isn't that a fun camping cake???

This is Beth and the soon to arrive baby BOY!

The smores bar was super fun and the kids were thrilled to come home and find that there were still ingredients to make smores with. I think they had more fun that the ladies:)!

Twilight (Eclipse) Birthday Party

2010-07-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is my disclaimer....I DO NOT LIKE OR ENDORSE THE TWILIGHT CRAZE!!!

That said, my friends birthday just happened to fall on the same day as the Eclipse movie release and she had mentioned wanting to go to the midnight showing for fun! So her sisters and husband and I put our heads together and decided to throw her a surprise party--vampire style! Here's what we did....

The Invitation

I photoshopped a bunch of pictures like this with pictures of Kirsten and printed them and framed them and had them around at the party. Would you believe Costco almost wouldn't let me print them because of Copyright laws?

This is the cake I did...I had a hard time doing a cake without Kirsten's help...we always do cakes together and I was really struggling pulling this off all by myself...Trav did help me transfer the fondant:)

Table Decor thanks to her sisters

Fun Times

I found the printables for these drink labels online.

Travis went and stood in line for us so we could party and YES he even dressed up as a warewolf. When he got there he called me and said, "I'm the only one dressed up and every little girl has come over and asked me to get a picture with them." Those are stickers from girls on his jacket. What a good sport!

The party was a blast...the movie...not so much. I was actually disturbed by how many little kids there were there. I was sitting next to a little boy that couldn't have been any older than Isaac....he was there with his Dad and little sister...Vampires, Werewolves, and a whole lot of making out??? I don't get it?

A Doggy Tea Party

2010-03-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

Would you believe my sweet little Josie is 4 years old??? We talked her into doing something different than going to ride ponies for her birthday this year. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. She decided she wanted to have a doggy party (because of course it has to be about animals) but said that it should also be a tutu party. So we came up with an idea for a doggy tea party! We've been talking about it for a long time and she's been very involved in helping me get everything ready. Every time we would work on something for her party she would say to me, "Mom don't you think you should say, "happy birthday to me!" She was so thrilled when the day finally came. I admit I was thrilled too! I had way too much fun planning this party. This is the first real girly birthday party I've thrown, so I'll be the first to admit, it's a bit over the top, but I loved every minute of it. I guess you could say it's a creative outlet for me:).

Here's what we did....

The table setting...

The Invitations

On the inside we had the info for the party and said, "wear a tutu, wear pink and come hungry!"

When the girls arrived at the party we had a puppy for them to adopt. They got an adoption certificate where they wrote the name of their puppy and then got to get the puppy dressed in a party hat and a little tutu and they got to make a personalized doggy tag with their dog's name.

Then they got to pick out a dog house and decorate it with stickers and their dog's name. These dog houses I found in the Valentine's clearance section at Fred Meyer. They had an ugly little chocolate dog in them, so I took the chocolate out and painted them pink. They cost me less than a dollar a piece. I also found a ton of other pink candy and things in the Valentines Clearance section of a few different stores.

After decorating their houses they got to come to the beauty parlor to get all made up for the tea party. We had party hats that I had made and feather boas and white pearl beads. I found little pink gloves in the dollar section of Target (they were part of the Easter line) so they each got a pair of fancy gloves and I had a lip gloss and nail polish for each of them. They were so cute and excited about this part. And Zack and Isaac helped the girls paint their nails and put on their lip gloss.

Then we went outside where I had set up a little photo station for them to get their picture taken with their new puppy. I got adorable pictures of all of the girls like this one of Josie and will send the pictures with their thank you cards.

Then we had a little lesson on etiquette and it was time for TEA! I have been gathering little tea pots and tea cups from thrift stores for a while now and we had enough for each girl to have their own teapot (filled with apple juice) and their own little tea cup which I monogrammed with stickers and even a little tiny teacup for their puppy. We used my fine china plates and they were so cute and well mannered. We had dainty little sandwiches and dog bone cookies for their puppies. We served strawberries and watermelon on toothpicks and had a ton of desserts. I feel bad I didn't take any pictures of the food bar. I had all the food displayed on the bar and most of it was brown and pink and looked so yummy. I had a ton of different pink candies in little apothecary jars.

And here is the cake which was decorated by my dear friend Kirsten. She came over the night before the party and we were up until 2:00 she was doing the cake and I was working on decorations and other food. We had so much fun (at least I did) and I am so grateful for such a sweet and talented friend. The cake turned out exactly like I wanted.

The best part of the party was what came at the very end. No! I didn't get her a puppy for her birthday, we just had a visit from a friend's dog name Sophie. She is the sweetest little dog and Josie just adores her. She immediately took her and wouldn't let anyone else even get near. She was so sad when it was time for Sophie to go home. How did we get such a little animal lover for a daughter? Neither Travis nor I are pet people. It looks like that might have to change someday....someday. Not this birthday.

Here are Josie's sweet older brother's being the servers at the party. They wanted so much to be involved in all of this and were so happy when we suggested they could be the servers. They decided on their own to wear their Sunday vests with their black sport shirts under them. They were so cute and so sweet!

Happy Birthday my sweet little 4 year old!

Just a note...next time I throw a big party I need to get someone else to be the photographer. I was so busy keeping the party flowing I didn't have time to focus on the picture taking. I just switched it to Auto and shot as fast as possible. I really wish I had gotten better pictures. Anyone want to swap??? I'll take pictures at your kids party and you can take pictures at my kids???

An unexpected VISITOR for the holidays

2009-12-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

This is one of the first Christmas holidays that we have not had visitors come into town to spend Christmas with us. Well at least that's what we thought. A few nights ago we had an unexpected visitor arrive...and this unexpected company has made life pure misery for me and my family. I don't usually like to use this blog as a forum for complaint, but I'm at my wits end....since this arrival we've done nothing but sit around and watch Barbie movies. This visitor has put a cramp in all our plans...all the last minute things have had to be Xed off the list and all our plans to get together with friends have had to be cancelled. This visitor has demanded all of my attention so the laundry and dishes are piling up and this visitor wont let us get any sleep at night. I think if I have to put up with this visitor one more day I might just SCREAM!

GO AWAY H1N1....I HATE YOU!

My End of the Year Synopsis

2009-12-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

I've had a lot of complaints from friends and family that I am not a good blogger...very sporadic. I know. I always think I will blog about this and that and then my days get away from me and I never get around to doing it. I will make it my new year's resolution to do better. But for now I uploaded a slideshow of our year in 2009. I know it's not very large and may be difficult to read but if you click on the slideshow you can go to Photobucket's website and watch it in a larger format there. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy this holiday season! God Bless!

2009-12-19T22:42:00.001-08:00

You Da Best!

2009-10-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was tucking her in to bed and she said,

"Mom I wuv you...you de best!"

"Thanks sweetie, I love you too."

"Mom don't tell Daddy I say you de best."

"Why honey?"

"Cuz he say, 'ahhhhhh, no fair!"

I guess that's what he gets for being in another country for a week...Mom steals the "best" spot! Life's not fair.

1 year old

2009-10-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

1 year ago today our sweet and beautiful little Vivian came into our life and what a joy she has been to our family. I've been emotional today thinking about her birth and thinking back on my feelings when she was born. She has seriously been one of those babies that every mother wishes for...she very rarely cried, went right to sleep when you put her down, smiled all the time and snuggled when you held her. When I'm standing in the checkout line with her in the cart or strolling with her in the stroller I always get oooohs and ahhhhs over her. She has the best little rolls of baby fat and chubby cheeks that are simply irresistable. She has these sweet little twinkly eyes and the cutest chuckle. She will smile for anyone!

Her brothers and sister just adore her. When she wakes up from her nap the boys argue over who gets to go get her up. In the morning if she wakes up before me, Isaac will get her out of bed and play with her until I wake up. I think "Isaac" was Vivi's first real word. She's been saying it since this summer. She also says "Zack and Daddy and hat and dog" and she has said "Mama" only 3 times. She cries when Josie is crying and loves when Josie plays the tickle game with her.

She just recently started playing this game where she gets on the bottom stair and then waits for me to look at her. When she sees I'm watching her she smiles and chuckles and starts crawling up the stairs as fast as she possibly can. She loves to stand at the dishwasher and hand me the dishes one by one as I put them away--when I'm trying to load the dirty dishes she comes over to play that game and gets frustrated with me because I won't put the dirty dishes away. One really funny thing about Vivi that I want to remember is that she never learned to roll over as a baby. When I would put her down on her back she was pretty much stuck in that position. She could sit and crawl and do all sorts of things but rolling over was not one of them. She's finally figured it out, but still if I lie her on her back to change her diaper or get her dressed she will start trying to sit up by doing a situp crunch instead of rolling over first. So funny. Maybe that's why she's been such a good sleeper, she's been stuck on her back!

She loves almost all food, but is not a big bread fan. Her favorite is fruit of any kind. She would get so excited when we would go out and pick berries off our strawberry and raspberry bushes. She would grunt and grunt until we would give her another one. She also loves noodles.

I seriously wish I could just freeze time right now and keep her a baby forever. I love you baby Vivian! Happy Birthday. I will forever miss you as a baby.

Here's a photo recap of this wonderful year...

Zack's latest

2009-10-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

Just for comparison's sake...

Beach Fun

2009-09-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things about living in Western Washington is being close to the water and being able to go to the beach and spend time in the water...so many beaches...lake beaches...ocean beaches. Here's some favorite beach pictures from the summer...

Actually this picture brings back painful memories. We had hiked down to this beach and Zack got completely wet and had to hike back in wet jeans--ouch!

Hammy Died

2009-09-15T18:52:00.001-07:00

Another event that happened this summer that I thought I should post about for memory's sake is that Hammy (our pet hamster) died. He lived for about 1 1/2 years. Isaac got him for Christmas two years ago. I have been counting down the days for this to happen and I must say I didn't feel one bit of remorse. I couldn't stand the boys bedroom smelling like a hamster and I am NOT a pet person at all. The boys didn't seem too sad about it, they liked him, but were never too into playing with him. Josie, on the other hand, was sad about it for days. She would suddenly just get sad and say, "Mom, Hammy is dead!" Then the other day she was watching the movie "Land Before Time" and she started sobbing. I came downstairs and asked what was wrong and she told me that the Mommy died and was crying so hard about it. Then a few days ago she had a hangnail and was fussing about it and said, "Mom, I think I gonna die." I assured her she wasn't and she said, "yes I am Mom, every person die."

We buried him over at the park across the street from our house...

Isaac's 9th Birthday

2009-09-15T13:19:00.001-07:00

This year Isaac wanted to have a Pokemon themed birthday party. So here's the recap of the party...(by the way this Pokemon thing is all new to me and it is quite the complex cartoon/game). I had to do quite a bit of research to pull this party off and I still feel like I don't have a clue.

Here's what we sent out for the invites. The inside had all the info.When the kids arrived we had them order on their menus what they want to eat and then I gave them a sheet that they could use to design their own pokemon. I told them that they would be sent off to the factory and made into super exclusive pokemon cards that only they would have. After the party I scanned in the images and used this website http://mypokecard.com/en/ to create the cards according to the paper they filled out. Then I printed enough cards so everyone at the party got a copy of all the cards that were created and I wrapped them in foil and sent them with the thank you cards.Here's a sample of the completed packs and these were the cards...
This was the menu I made. They had to check which items they wanted to eat for dinner...

For the cake I borrowed one of those ball cake pans and made a round pokeball. Unfortunately I made it the night before and by the next day it was sagging a bit because I covered it in fondant. But we made these individual pokemon cupcakes for each kid to match their pokeball necklace we made for them. Thanks Kirsten and Eve for helping me with the cupcakes and cake...we stayed up way into the night the day before the party doing these.
Then much to our surprise....Grandma sent Isaac a candy cake in the mail for his birthday. She has made him a birthday cake every year since he was born because we are usually in Utah on his birthday, but this year it didn't work out, so she sent this fun cake in the mail. It was a huge hit...do you wonder why???We played a game called "Make Isaac a Dusclop" (a Dusclop is a mummy-looking pokemon).
We gave them their pokeball necklaces and sent them over to the park to collect all 130 pokemon that we had printed on cardstock and stapled all over the park. Then they came back to the house for dinner. Then we played this game where they had to throw water balloons at the pokemon on the fence to see how many points they could get...

Here's the birthday boy blowing out his candles...

This is the pinata we made to look like a pokeball. I just bought a soccer ball pinata and painted it. Although I should have made my own because it wasn't very strong and broke as soon as Zack got up to bat, so most of them didn't get a chance to swing at it.

It was such a fun party and I was so glad to have Nana and Papa here to help out and be a part of things. Isaac keeps telling me that it was his best birthday party yet.

To Whidbey Island for a triathlon

2009-09-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

No not me...Travis was in a triathlon the first part of August on Whidbey Island so we went and stayed overnight for a couple of nights with Nana and Papa in a cool house near the beach. We had been having a horrible heat wave the week before so the cool weather on the Island was so refreshing. We had pizza at a great little place on the water in Langley, drove up over deception pass and visited our favorite lookout on Mt. Erie, visited Ft. Casey, and spent some nice relaxing time on the beach. It was so much fun and we were so proud of Daddy--he was amazing!!!

A most wonderful visit with Nana and Papa

2009-09-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Travis' parents came and spent some time with us near the end of July. We had so much fun with them. They are seriously the greatest and we feel so spoiled every time they come to town. Here are some of the highlights from their time here...

A trip to the zoo...

Camping and swimming in the river with Papa. This is one of my favorite pictures of the boys. They brought Isaac's bow and arrow and they were shooting this box. Isaac tried and tried to hit it and then Zack took a turn and hit the box the first time he tried. This picture really says it all...

Josie at Dance Class

2009-07-15T00:43:00.000-07:00

I know this video might seem a bit long...but not to the grandmas...so grandma and Nana enjoy...

Some Pictures...

2009-07-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

Funny Ike

2009-07-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

It worked. We rented a game!

Another Beautiful 4th of July

2009-07-06T00:26:00.001-07:00

We were just talking about our fun 4th of July we had last year with our dear friends from China Xiao Ping and Grace and missing them! Here's some pictures from this year's fun day. We spent the day at the beach with some friends and then off to the highschool for the fireworks. Super mellow and fun day.

The kids were taking turns pulling each other around on this log.

This picture is typical Josie just doing her own thing. She was just laying there watching the cars and people go by.

I love that she's not afraid to get really dirty or wear boys shoes either.

Face Painting

I was surprised that Vivi really seemed to enjoy the fireworks. She just sat there and watched them while I covered her ears.I love this happy chubby baby.

Josie was sad and pouting when I told her it was time to go home (it was 11:00).

They're Back

2009-07-05T23:57:00.001-07:00

We are so happy to have our boys back from their week long trip to Philmont (happy to see them...not all that dirty laundry!). Here's some pictures from their trip...

A proud Daddy with his two boys! And you should zoom in on this shot and get a good look at that belt buckle Travis is sporting. He even wore it to church today with his suit! Here the boys are with President Bishop (from our Stake Presidency). He became like a grandpa to them on this trip. They just adore him...we all do!

Zack always finds something to climb.

Here's Travis with the Stake Presidency and the General Young Men's President...President Beck.

The parade.

The cub scouts with President Beck.

Isaac got to help with the flag ceremony. Trav was so proud of him.

The sleeping arrangements. I don't feel too bad about missing this one. I don't think I would have enjoyed tent city quite like the boys did. And I don't think I could have handled the food. I guess the boys lived on cold cereal all week so I've been putting extra spinach in their smoothies all weekend to make up for it:)

The Lynnwood Stake Philmont Five

And the Crazy Summer Begins!!!

2009-06-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was imagining this nice mellow summer of me waking the kids up to a nice healthy breakfast and a morning of school work, jobs and reading and then trips to the library, zoo, park, etc...

So far it's been nothing like that!!! Last week was our first week of summer and it was about as crazy as it gets. I was teaching a cooking class during the day from 9:00 to 3:00 at our church for an Activity Day Girl's camp and then it was off to Cubscout camp in the evening from 5:00 to 9:00. We didn't walk in the door until 10:00 each night. It was seriously insane...fun, but insane!

Then on Thursday evening Travis and I were talking about his upcoming trip to Philmont. The Stake Presidency invited him to attend this special lds scout training in New Mexico and it's been in the plans forever. We decided a long time ago that even though it is a family thing, it would be too hard to take the whole family (especially since Vivi is still a baby and it would have been too expensive). When we were talking he was saying how he wished he were taking the boys (especially since he was going to be missing the big Stake Father and Sons outing). I agreed that it would have been a good idea to take them. That got the wheels turning in Travis' head and he called me the next day to say that he could use his airmiles to get them on the flight and it wasn't too late to register them. It was one of those, yep...this just feels like the right thing to do moments. And so we spent Friday packing and running around for last minute things and Saturday morning I drove them off to the airport at 4:00 in the morning.

So the boys are in New Mexico with their Dad and I'm really enjoying some peaceful down time with just the girls. While I was making dinner tonight, Josie kept asking me, "Mom, who is coming over?" Then she went threw a long list of people we have over often and I kept telling her, "no one is coming over, it's just us..the girls". She was in such a good mood and she said, "I so happy it's Just us girls!" We miss our boys, but it is fun to hear about all of their adventures and I'm so happy they get this time to spend with their Dad! And for now I'm happy it's just us girls too!

Wedding Highlights

2009-05-28T23:17:00.001-07:00

It was so great to be in Utah for all the wedding happenings. We are so happy that Becky found Derek. They are such a perfect couple and we are so thrilled to have Derek in our family. Here are some of my favorite pics (I know there's a lot but I was super camera happy!

At the wedding dinner at Tuscanos (yummy!)

Dave and Mikelle with Vivi

Josie and Harry waiting on the temple grounds

River looking adorable the day of the wedding.

The big anticipated moment--when they came out of the temple together as a married couple! Hooray! Becky looked so stunning!

Ike and Zack just chillin'

So beautiful and classy Beck!

Becky and Josie

My favorite picture from the whole wedding. I think this is the one they should blow up and frame on their wall.

Kath is such a pretty Mom.

Dave is the best with the kids! Wish he lived close to us.

Alex and River

All dressed up for the reception at Red Butte Gardens

Boys being goofy at the reception--they were totally done with getting their pictures taken.

What a cute family!

Becky's Bridal Shower

2009-05-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I posted. Life's been busy as usual. So much has happened recently. My May photo file has 630 pics in it. I'll try and go back and post some from the wedding in Utah and then some of the more recent ones. Here's some from the Bridal shower we threw for Becky. I really enjoyed doing it. So just in case you want to do a bridal shower with a green and red theme...here's what we did....
Mom found those green M&Ms at the M&M store in New York.

These cupcakes were so yummy. If you want the recipe go here...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/key-lime-coconut-cupcakes-with-white-chocolate-frosting-recipe/index.html

So much FUN! Thanks to all the sisters and Mom who helped me pull it off!

Look who's sitting up!

2009-04-27T10:13:00.001-07:00

I had to post this for Travis so he could see that Vivi is sitting up on her own. He's been out of town since last week. He's in India and finally gets home tomorrow. I'm so glad! (I bet you were wondering why I've been blogging so much lately:)

Scary Monsters

2009-04-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Neither of my boys ever had a phase where they were afraid of monsters. So this is all new to me with Josie. She has been refusing to sleep in her room for about a month now because she is sure the shadows in there are monsters. She's fallen asleep just about everywhere except her own bed. She's now a permanent sleeper on the floor in the boys room. I wonder how long this phase will last. She's always been a good sleeper until now.

Here's a video of her singing made up songs about monsters. It's kind of long. I think she would have sung about monsters all day if I let her.

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the long-awaited cubscout pinewood derby. Travis started weeks ago working with the boys on their cars (he made one with Zack too just so he wouldn't feel left out). Isaac said that he really wanted to make his car into a tank. We agreed that a tank would be cool-looking, but probably not go very fast. He said he didn't care if he won. He didn't really want a fast car, just a tank! So a tank it was. Here he is with the cars all lined up waiting anxiously for the race to start.

Much to our surprise...his car did really well. They raced them several times and each time he was coming in 1st 2nd or 3rd. Travis and Isaac were both beaming! Here are the top six cars...they had to race each other 6 times, in a different lane each time. He placed differently each race and we weren't sure if he would get a trophy or not.
Here the top six racers awaited the tally to see who the winners were..They first announced the winner for the people's choice award (everyone got to vote on their favorite car in the beginning)...it was Isaac's car! Then they announced third place...Isaac Tanner! Isaac jumped up and his mouth was open so wide for the longest time, he was so surprised and happy.

Great Job Isaac and Travis!!!

Some of my favorite pictures from April

2009-04-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Easter Recap

2009-04-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Easter egg hunt with friends from Josie's nursery class...

Josie sticks her tongue out when she's concentrating. I'm embarrassed to admit that she gets that from me. I try not to do it, but sometimes when I'm playing the piano, I catch myself...what a weird thing to inherit:)

Between the Easter egg hunt and the Easter baskets from that friendly old bunny (the one that we really know nothing about--is it a girl or a boy--do we know???) we ate more candy than should be humanly possible. I feel sick writing about it.

We had a really fun evening dieing eggs with our friends. We had about 24 eggs per family. Of our 24 I think we only ate 1 and I ended up tossing the rest...oh well, it was still fun to do, even if none of us like to eat hard boiled eggs.

Zack loves Vivi

2009-04-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Zack is such a sweet tender-hearted kid. He loves Vivi so much and is always holding her and looking out for her. Whenever she starts to fuss at all, he is right there picking her up and holding her. He even holds her while he's playing his star wars game on the TV. She is so loved.

The first warm day of the year

2009-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I picked the boys up from school and it was quite warm and they were so excited to tell me that it's warm enough to put their suits on and a sprinkler under the tramp. They've been looking forward to this since they got the tramp for Christmas. I didn't think it was THAT warm, but hey...it made them happy...really happy!

Cupcakes

2009-03-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

So this last Friday I spent the day with my dear friend making 350 cupcakes for a wedding. Don't ask me how I get myself into these situations...I'm really not sure myself...maybe it's because I have a hard time saying "no" or maybe it's because I like making cupcakes and a little extra money! However, it's a feat I know I couldn't have undertaken on my own. I'm so grateful to have a friend that I can rope into the crazy things I agree to do!!! And to tell you the truth it was really fun. You're the best Kirsten!

Oh and if you want some great cupcake recipes...let me know...we have three that have been tried and tested and are really great (chocolate cheesecake, lemon, and raspberry vanilla).

Vivian

2009-03-15T22:13:00.001-07:00

My little Vivi is almost 5 months old and as sweet and likable as any baby could ever be. I thought you might want to see those great cheeks. Don't you just wish you could kiss those cheeks??? I do it at least 100 times a day. I can't help myself.

My big 3 year old

2009-03-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

I seriously can't believe that my daughter is 3. It seems like she was just born and suddenly she's all grown up...why does that happen so fast? I love this little girl so much. She is full of fire and opinions and sweetness and love. She's cute and sassy and likes to be the boss. She loves her little sister so much and is so possessive of her. She calls her Widdy (because she still can't say Vivi). She always tells me when my breath stinks or when Vivi has a booger in her nose. She is quick to say she is sorry and always says..."I pwomise Mom, I pwomise!!!" She wants to be at my side at all times and gets so mad if I go upstairs or downstairs without letting her know. She has a way of getting her brothers to do whatever she wants and has her Daddy completely wrapped around her finger. She loves animals so much and is so afraid of a little tiny spider.

Here's a quick recap of her birthday celebration...

The boys love when we do breakfast in bed for them on their birthday and Isaac thought it would be fun if we did it for Josie. So I bought a special treat--toaster struedels and Isaac woke us up early so we could make breakfast before she woke up. We got it all made and put it on the special birthday platter and went upstairs singing "Happy Birthday" as loudly as we could. When we walked into her room, she sat up with this horrified, scared look on her face and immediately started screaming!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! GET OUT!!!!!! She was throwing herself on her bed and kicking and screaming. And the best part is we got it all on video. If I can figure out how to upload it, I'll put it on the blog. But either way, I'm happy we'll have that to tease her with when she gets older. Once we got her calmed down she was excited to eat her breakfast as long as it was at the table (the proper way)! We'll try and remember--no breakfast in bed for this girl!

Can you guess what she wanted to do for her big day??? Her one and only wish---ride a horsey!
So we invited her two little buddies and found a pony farm where we could go and ride. She was beaming the whole car ride there saying...I so excited!!! Almost there Mom, Almost?

It was a freezing cold day so Travis bundled Vivi up in his Marmot coat to keep her warm.

She was seriously beaming!

Here's Ike feeling a little too big for this little pony.

The whole gang at the horse arena...

Here's the cake I made her for her birthday. My dear friend Kirsten and I stayed up late doing it the night before. I know it resembles last year's cake, but she insisted on a horsey cake and every other horsey cake idea out there just seemed so wrong. What horse-loving girl wants to cut into a big unproportioned horse head and eat it??? (google image search for horse cake and you'll see what I mean).

What a sweety!She was pretending that she could read the card and who it was from...

And what did she get that she loved so much...can you believe it??? More horses! She seriously cracks me up. I keep thinking she'll outgrow this horse phase, but I'm starting to wonder now. Maybe we have a little equestrian on our hands (funny I don't even know if I used that word correctly or not???)

Josie and Vivi

2009-02-26T22:55:00.000-08:00

So the other day I was working on scrapbooking and as I was looking back on pictures of Josie I couldn't believe how much my two girls look alike as babies. I pulled up a picture of Josie on the computer and asked Trav and the kids who it was a picture of, they all said, "VIVI!" So here's a little test for you...which of these pictures are Josie and which ones are Vivi?
Yes, Travis you have to play too!!!

The latest February Happenings

2009-02-19T00:42:00.000-08:00

I have to say that life is as busy as ever and I never get around to blogging like I wish I did, but I have some exciting news....

John (my brother) got a job as a professor at Yale University this last week...hooray Dr. Williams!!! We're so proud. You can read more about it on Brooke's blog.
Becky’s getting married—it’s sort of old news, but I never officially wrote it here, so I thought I should note how extremely happy I am about it!!! Derek is seriously the greatest and I can hardly wait! You can read more about it on her blog!
Vivian is officially sleeping through the night in her crib. I love sleeping with my babies and I really miss her snugly little warm body next to mine, but I am really enjoying have my evenings to get things done again. She is the world’s best baby! Oh and she is also a thumb sucker (I have mixed feelings about that one too!)
I finally got a Kitchen Aid mixer!!! I’ve wanted one forever and it’s a long story, but let’s just say that if you do your visiting teaching…it pays!

For Valentine's this year the boys wanted to find Mario Valentine's for their class and we couldn't find any, so alas...we made our own.

Here are some of my favorite shots of Zack that we didn't use, but are so funny...

Travis took the boys snowshoeing on President's Day. They had such a blast, here's a few photos...

Here the kiddos are playing a game they made up on their day off of school called backpack heros!

Cute Zacky at his Valentine Party at school... Vivi sucking her thumb...

Oh how we've missed them!

2009-02-09T13:03:00.001-08:00

I know a lot of women struggle with their in-laws and when they come to town it's totally tortureous...but I am so blessed to have the most wonderful in-laws. They have been gone for a year and half serving a humanitarian mission for our church in Guyana and they just got home and came to be here for Vivian's baby blessing. They were here for a week and somehow that week just flew by...we had non-stop fun and everyone of us felt so spoiled. We shopped and bowled and hiked and ate out so many times and Nana volunteered in both boys classrooms and we ate more treats than should be humanly possible and Travis and I went out on a date and we looked at mission pictures and it was such a perfect week.
Thank you for such a grand time Nana and Papa! The kids all woke up this morning saying how much they missed you and wished you were still here.
Here's a few pics of our fun week together....

When we went to the outlet mall, Papa let them ride every single ride there.

Grandpa took the boys to REI to climb the rock wall...that's Isaac climbing...he made it to the top of the intermediate level climb. What a kid!

Grandpa bought these cherry chocolates that were to die for yummy...needless to say I ate way too many!!!

Which one would you have chosen???

2009-02-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

So I wanted to get a good picture of Vivi in her blessing dress that my Mom made for her and I wasn't sure where to go...I've heard of Yuen Lui before and that they do a good job so I decided to look them up online. I found a coupon for 29.95 that included the sitting fee and 1 8x10, 1 5x7, 2 3x5 and 8 wallets. I decided that it was a good deal and called and made an appointment. We had a great experience--our photographer seemed to know what she was doing and they seemed very professional. I had Trav's Mom with me and it was a lot of fun. Then they pulled up the proof sheets and there were several cute ones. We then realized that you had choose just one pose for the 29.95 special. We could not decide which one to choose. I decided I would just pay for another 8x10 of another pose and guess how much the one 8x10 cost??? $40! What would you have done???

Vivian's Baby Blessing

2009-02-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we blessed our sweet little Vivian and what a wonderful day it was. We were so happy that Travis' parents could be there for the blessing. And so many of our friends and family were there. Even though my parents couldn't be there, it felt like they were in a way because my Mom made Vivian's dress and she looked so beautiful in it. When Travis said Vivian's full name in the blessing Iwas so overwhelmed with emotion because it is my sweet Grandmother's name and I knew without a doubt that she was there in Spirit. The blessing couldn't have been more beautiful!
After the blessing we came home to the house for lunch and hanging out with friends and family and it really was such a perfect day! I love you my sweet little Vivi! Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a special day....I love you too!

Zack's 6th Mario Birthday Party

2009-01-23T12:42:00.001-08:00

I seriously can't believe that Zack is 6! He suddenly seems so grown up. He recently lost his two bottom teeth and is so confident and independent. I'm crazy about this Kid! Happy Birthday Mario Maniac!

Here's some pictures of the Mario Party we threw for him last Saturday. We told his friends to come as Mario or Luigi. I had purchased hats and mustaches for all the kids from OTC, but most of the kids were not interested in wearing a mustache. (Josie is Princess Peach)
The Party didn't start until 2:00 but the boys were dressed and ready to go in there costumes by 9:00 in the morning. They spent the whole day in character...it was really funny...Isaac really had Luigi down!

Here's Josie as Princess Peach

Here's the cupcakes I did for the party...no I can't take credit for the creativity, I just copied them from this amazing cupcake designer...http://www.flickr.com/photos/hello_naomi/1272940029/

We made this game board and the kids had to roll the dice and move Mario around the board. The space they landed on told us what to do next for the party (ie. play a mini game, eat cake and icecream, open presents, fight bowser, etc...) They were trying to earn a star by getting 20 coins and they got the coins for the different games and activities.

Here's what Vivi did during the party...what a great baby.

Here's Trav thinking he looks pretty great in a mustache.

The boxes for their coins

One of the mini games was Hide and Boo Seek...they had to find the hidden boos and shoot them with the dart gun. We also played pin the mustache on Mario, Mario Bingo, Mario Matching and Get the Goomba (pop a balloon that looked like a Goomba)

Singing to the birthday boy

Yep , this is Bowser. He jumped like a mad man on the trampoline while the kids all threw mini balls at him. What a good sport!

These Girls make me happy!!!

2009-01-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas

2008-12-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was so wonderful in so many ways...we had tons and tons of snow (which is unusual for these parts) and although it made getting around difficult the kids were in heaven. We also got a wonderful visit from my Mom and Dad and sister Becky and her new beau Derek. It was so much fun to have them here (even if Derek did see me in my underwear and even if we made Dad drive us to Target and the Mall the day before Christmas Eve). We loved every minute of it!We made it downtown to show off the space needle and favorites in Seattle--although the drive was really treacherous...I think these two are an adorable couple (I hope it works out--he's seriously great!).We were excited to find Santa at the top of the space needle.... Yep, they're cute...

Josie at the top of the space needle...Mom and Dad... It just wouldn't be Christmas Eve without acting out the Nativity. Here's Josie as Mary...
The Three Wise Men...And Zack as Joseph and Vivi as the Baby Jesus...

And it most certainly wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a dart gun battle...

It it most definitely, absolutely wouldn't be Christmas Eve without new jammies and cookies for Santa...

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year!

New Pictures

2008-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

So I'm planning on doing a recap of the big events this year because I know that I haven't been that great at blogging and there are so many things I want to remember, but for now I'm feeling so busy trying to get everything ready for Christmas so I think it will have to be an after Christmas thing.
However, I got a new DSLR camera for my birthday and even though I haven't figured out how to use it yet I've been taking pictures and falling in love with it. Here's a few fun ones I've taken lately...

Josie sits and plays with this little nativity scene every single day. She always has the animals talking to the baby Jesus.

I know this one looks kind of funny of Vivi (I'm not trying to brag about the big bald spot on top of her head) but I love the way it captures Josie's blue eyes.Yep, she's smiling and yes she has the Tanner cheeks!!! Now she's officially one of us.

All four kids after going to visit Santa on Saturday

I have to include this one because it captures Vivi the way she usually looks (happy). She is the most pleasant, happy baby. We all just adore her!

Zack, Vivi and neighbor friend

Josie dancing (she's always dancing these days and gets mad at the boys if they join in--she tells them that dancing is only for girls...I didn't teach her that...maybe that's Dad's influence.)

(this last one was with my old camera--see the difference???)

Pictures from our Trip to Utah

2008-11-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

A fun trip to the zoo.

One of Kathy's many creations

An attempt to get a picture of all the cousins

Adorable baby River

Sidewalk art at grandmas

Grandma taught the kids how to hopscotch

Kathy, River, Alex

The kids at the cemetary where Grandma was buried

The kids were fascinated with the cemetary and different tombstones (I remember being the same way as a kid when my great grandma died).

My sweet Mom and Grandpa

This picture makes me want to cry...I don't know of anyone that loved their spouse more than Big John (that's what we called Grandpa).

Choosing a flower to remember grandma

My beautiful sister and sweet Baby Vivi

Big John and little Vivi

My Dad and little Vivi

Grandma Vivi

2008-11-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

We just returned from a quick trip to Utah to attend my grandmother's funeral. She passed away last Thursday from natural causes and my sweet grandfather wanted so much for all of us to be there that he paid the ridiculously high price for me and my family to fly home and attend the funeral. I feel so grateful that we were able to be there. It was such a beautiful service and such a wonderful way to celebrate the life of this amazing woman.

I know many of you know this, but our little Vivian was named after my grandma. We gave her my grandma's full name "Vivian Nadine". It's a name I've always loved (I know Becky loved it too and wanted to use it) and I suppose the reason I loved it so much was because of my admiration and love for my grandma. I remember as a young girl looking up to my grandma so much and in so many ways. She was stylish and smart and I used to brag to my friends about how hip and fun my grandma was. She would have us to her house for a sleepover every year on our birthday and take us out to dinner and shopping to spend the $25.00 she would give us. I remember being so spoiled. She would buy us sugar cereal for breakfast and take us wherever we wanted to go. I always wanted to go shopping. She was opinionated and headstrong and a great teacher. While we were at the funeral and they were talking about different qualities my grandma possessed, Travis would look at me and raise his eyebrows as if to say..."so that's where you get that from."

It was so fun to look through pictures of my grandma as a young girl and woman and see the similarities between my pictures as a little girl and my own mothers. I was also surprised at how much Josie looks like my mom did as a little girl. It's amazing how the death of a loved one can make you feel so much more connected. I love you grandma!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

Josie and Baby Vivi

2008-10-26T11:14:00.001-07:00

Josie in her Halloween costume holding Baby Vivi. And yes, she does say at the end of the video, "her want your boobs".

She's Here

2008-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

We are totally and completely in love with this little girl. She is such a wonderful baby. We named her after my grandmother and even though Becky wanted to use that name some day, I can't help but feel like that's who she is supposed to be. It fits her so well (I know you'll agree Beck!)

I was induced on Wednesday and the birth went so well. She is so much smaller than my other babies have been and the only dark-haired baby we have had. She hardly cries and we are all crazy about her. I was really worried that Josie might have a hard time adjusting to her, but she is doing so great. She loves being the big sister and is being very possessive about Vivi. She doesn't like to share her with the boys. And every time she walks past her she has to give her a big kiss. She wanted her to sleep in her room (which is where the crib is) last night so we put her in there and after a few little sounds from Vivi, Josie decided she should go out.

Life already seems crazy again and we keep wondering how we will manage when my Mom leaves on Monday. But it is already worth it because she is such a wonderful gift from heaven. I feel like the most blessed person on earth.

Our favorite place to visit in October!!!

2008-10-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a bunch of random pictures from our recent trip to Remlinger Farms. It was such a beautiful Fall day. I was pretty miserable the whole time, but it was worth treking my large body around to get to see the kids thoroughly enjoying themselves. The boys said the Farm was going to think I was trying to steal a pumpkin under my shirt. A really BIG pumpkin! It looks like this baby will be here next week. They are going to induce me next Wednesday if she doesn't come sooner. I can hardly wait. Oh and if you live anywhere near the NorthWest I would highly recommend this Farm. We go every year and the kids absolutely love it!

First Day of School

2008-09-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of the first day of school. My favorite moment was when Zack asked if Daddy could come home from work and give him another Father's blessing because he was still nervous. And when I picked him up he said "the day was fine but recess was stupid! There were like a million kids on the playground and you had to stand in line to do something. So me and Isaac just did nothing!" One other favorite moment was when the principal saw us and introduced himself, Zack leaned over and gave him a huge hug. I seriously can't believe that Zack is in kindergarten. Every night he and Isaac giggle as he sings this little song his teacher taught them because it says, "toot toot, toot toot!"Here he is with his adorable teacher. I asked if she was nice or mean and he said she's mean to the kids that do bad things, but nice to him. He was so anxious the first day. We got there about 10 minutes too early and the suspense was just killing him.Here's Ike with his new teacher.
I found Josie in the boys room looking at this picture of them. She misses them but likes to take advantage of playing with their toys while they are gone.

Isaac is Eight

2008-07-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

So we're just about to leave for Utah and I had to sit down really quick and record a little bit about Isaac's birthday. He turned 8 on Tuesday and he will be baptized this Saturday. I really can't believe that he is eight. We had a little party with just a couple of his friends. We came here for pizza and donuts (that's what he wanted instead of cake) and presents. And then Travis took all the boys to see Wall-E. It was the easiest birthday party I've ever done but so much fun all the same. Zack was so cute and excited and he said, "this is the best day of my life...no wait....the is the second best day! My birthday is the best day!" Travis went crazy this year and got him a pocket knife and a real bow and arrow set. I guess turning eight is a big stepping stone in a little boy's life. And his Nana and Papa got him all his cub scout stuff. He was so excited about the scout uniform and when we went to the scout store to pick it all out, he wanted to look at everything and buy everything that a wolf scout could buy. He sat and read the wolf scout book the rest of the day. Thank you Nana and Papa!

He just seems so grown up all of the sudden. He has been reading the book, The Hobbit. It's a pretty difficult book, but he is so into it. It's fun to see your kids get older...but a little melancholy to think they'll never be little again.

That's all I have time for...gotta hit the road. Here's some cute shots I got of Josie at the pioneer day celebration we went to...

From Yellow to Green

2008-07-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post Isaac's latest accomplishment. He passed from the yellow belt level in Tae Kwan Do to the Green Belt level. It's so fun to see him so motivated and excited about something.

He's also been getting ready for his baptism. I can't believe he will be 8 years old next week. We are going to baptize him in Utah on the 2nd of August. He is so excited. He had his interview with the Bishop on Sunday and he was so serious and thoughtful about it. What a great kid!

Youth Conference Video

2008-07-13T23:16:00.001-07:00

Here's the crazy youth conference video Travis did...

A Happy and Very Busy Summer

2008-07-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

So I know I've been bad at blogging...this summer is flying by and I feel like we've hardly had a moment to stop and breathe. So here's a quick update of the Tanner Summer Happenings...

We got to spend an afternoon with Shane and Melanie because they had a layover here in Seattle. It was so much fun, we only wished it didn't have to end so soon. We even got them to the airport late and they missed their flight.

Josie had quite the attitude and wouldn't give Ezra the time of day when he tried to give her a hug. And she liked Naomi as long as I wasn't holding her. She is such a sassy pants sometimes. This was the only picture we got of all 6 kids together (Josie wouldn't be in the picture)

We had a great visit from one of our dear friends (Xiao Ping) from our days in China and his sweet lovely wife (Grace). The kids just loved them to death and wanted to be doing something with them every second. Thank goodness they were such good sports and let us drag them around to all of our 4th of July festivities. They even treated us to a wonderful Chinese dinner.

Here's a few shots from the 4th of July...

This week was a very busy one. We had Cub Scout Day camp every day. It was Isaac's first year to attend and he absolutely loved it. He got to do Archery and build things and make up skits. He was in heaven. Travis got to be the Assistand Den leader a couple of the days. And I was also volunteering all week so we were there every evening. But it was a lot of fun. It was also Youth Conference this weekend and Travis had to teach one of the workshops. His topic was mission preparation. So we came up with this movie as part of his workshop...(thanks to everyone who helped). (I'll attach it as a separate file because I can't get it to attach to this one).

Here's the kids trying to stay cool on the few hot summer days we've had with no air conditioning...

My roses are blooming and are so beautiful. My garden is in full bloom too and we've been starting to enjoy some yummy salads.

Oh and somewhere in all those happenings I had a baby shower for a dear friend (with almost 50 people in attendance) and I am having another one for my other dear friend this week. We are all three having girls...so exciting!

I KNEW IT!!!

2008-06-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not really. I always think I know, but I think the mother's intuition stuff is a bunch of bologna. On the way to the ultrasound all the boys and Josie were saying they think it's a girl. I was still holding strong in my boy feeling. I was even calling it a "he" as she did the ultrasound. I kept looking for confirmation but starting worrying when I didn't see any confirmation. I knew even before she said it that I was wrong. It's a girl. When I saw her I almost started balling. I could see her so clearly. Another beautiful girl. I'm thrilled and scared and shocked and excited. I never dared hope for another girl. What a blessing! Who is this little girl that is coming to our family??? I am so excited to find out.

Isaac's Guyana Trip

2008-06-17T01:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the video we made of Isaac's trip for him to share with his classmates at school. Hope you'll enjoy it too!

P.S. Stay tuned for our big announcement...tomorrow we have our ultrasound!

A post-worthy Post

2008-06-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

I find that I am more and more overwhelmed by blogging lately. There's just so much going on and I never really know where to start or what to write about. But today I got an email from my sweet husband with some pictures and I knew that I should share.

For the past four months Travis has been making plans to take Isaac and visit his parents who are serving as humanitarian missionaries in Guyana, South America. Travis decided that he would use his frequent flyer miles to take our kids on a special Daddy trip when they turn 8 years old (can you believe Isaac is turning 8 next month?). So we started making the plans and the more we learned about the conditions there, the more we felt we needed to do something to help and to try and get involved in the humanitarian work in some way.

We talked a lot about it with Isaac and really tried to get his input. He helped us come up with a plan for the students at his school to donate books that they could take to the children in Guyana (it's an English speaking country). So many of his classmates were so generous and we got piles and piles of books.

We also thought it would be a neat opportunity for the kids in our church to help the kids that belong to our same church there in Guyana. We had a primary activity where the kids helped color pictures for Family Home Evening Lessons that we later put together as Family Home Evening packets. We also asked the members of our ward to donate religous type children's books and media for the members in Guyana who don't have access to things like that. We also had a great response to this request and had piles and piles of church materials to send.

I had Isaac go to Costco with me and pick out different candy and treats that he would like to take for the kids there. We had about 150 lbs of books and treats (they didn't take much for themselves--a few outfits and swim trunks). And one week ago we sent them off. They flew to Barbados where Trav's parents met them and they stayed there for a few days in a really nice resort and swam and snorkled.

Then they headed to Guyana to Nana and Papa's place. That's where they're at now and I was so excited to get these pictures from them today that I just had to post. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to write about it all when they get home. Here's what they've been up to...

Swimming and playing on the beach for hours in Barbados. Isaac made a new little friend.

Here they are snorkeling with sea turtles. He said that some of them were as big as them. I don't know if I would dare do this.

This is Isaac with "the Dude". He's a favorite of Nana and Papas and they couldn't wait to introduce Isaac.They went to visit one of the church member families that have six children and took them some popsicles and some of the church materials. Here's Isaac delivering some of the books to a one room schoolhouse of children. They were so excited to get the books and I am just really wondering what Isaac must have thought to see how that school compares to his. They took some new cricket equipment and some of the treats to one of the orphanages that Nana and Papa have been working with. It looks like Isaac got to play cricket.

Today they drove for a couple of hours into the jungle and then got on this little motor boat to go visit one of the farming communities that Nana and Papa have been working with.

I'm sure I'll have so much more to write and more pictures to post when they get home (on Sunday). Travis keeps saying when we talk on the phone that no one will ever know quite what it is like there unless you visit. And he also keeps commenting on how impressed he his with his parents, how capable they are, and how much they've changed. Hooray for the elderly of our church who leave the comfort of their homes and retirement to serve and make the world a better place. I know Isaac will always have an amazing appreciation for the service his Nana and Papa have done.

Hooray for the 2nd Trimester

2008-05-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm back. It's been a long time since I've blogged. Why is that you may ask? I guess there are many reasons but the biggest reason is this pregnancy. I really don't get many chances during the day to sit down at the computer. Most of my computer time is usually in the late hours of the night, but lately I can't stay awake past 9:00. Tonight Travis is out of town and I can't sleep (that's always how it is--why is that?) so I sat down at the computer and opened my blog for the first time in several weeks. I sat here debating whether I should change the boring look of my blog or type an entry...I decided it was due time to write.

Lately I've definitely been feeling my age. I'm 32 and this is the first pregnancy I've done in my thirties and let me tell you....it's so different. I've been so sick and so tired. This pregnancy has made me feel like I'm not quite myself. I suddenly no longer know what I like and don't like. Everyday I crave something strange and different. I've gone from eating an entire jar of pickles to throwing up just looking at the jar. I despise cooking now, primarily because I can't eat anything I cook. I go to the grocery store and something looks good, so I'll buy it and come home and have to throw it away because I can't even stand to look at it. My poor family has had to survive on cold cereal and fruit (that's one thing I can usually eat). But after all this complaining, I think I am finally starting to get over the nausea. Well, not at this moment I'm not, but I've been starting to feel a little better on some days and that's progress.

Hooray for second trimester!!! I am truly getting excited about having another baby. I feel almost completely certain that it is a boy. I know I always say that I'm having a boy, but this time I feel more certain than ever. I wonder who this person will be and how they will fit into this crazy little family of ours. The boys both seem so excited about the baby and pray for the baby every time they pray. Zack looked at my belly the other day and said, "Mom you sure are getting chubby--I think it might be time for that baby to come out." Well's it's true about the chubby part, but I had to tell Zack that my belly is going to get a lot bigger before this baby is ready to come out. He said he would pray that it comes out soon so I don't have to get too chubby. I told him that he wouldn't want the baby to come out right now, it wouldn't survive and it might look like an alien. I don't know why I said that because then both boys had a million questions about what the baby looks like right now. Tonight Isaac prayed that our baby wouldn't come out for a long time. Josie is still in denial and says, "no baby, me baby!" I think she will have a hard time at first. She really enjoys being the baby and sometimes I fear that she's developed a "queen bee" complex. Perhaps we dote over her too much, but how can we help it? She's so loveable and so cuddly and so sassy yet sweet. At times I think we're crazy for having another child (I'm not so sure we've figured out how to parent the ones we have). But then I look at each of my children and how much love I have for them and how much they love each other and I know that it will be worth it.

Don't you think I was right about it still looking like an alien? I know! What kind of parent would say their baby looks like an alien???

A good week

2008-04-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I last blogged (I'm hoping one of these days I feel back to my normal self and get into blogging, cooking, cleaning, laundering, etc.) but here I am attempting to sum up a really great week we had last week.

My parents came to town for Spring Break and it was so wonderful. The kids were in heaven to have someone to play with all the time and Travis and I were in heaven to have someone cooking meals and cleaning house. Here's the highlights of the week...

Josie warmed right up to my parents and smothered them with hugs and kisses.

Zacky learned to ride his bike without training wheels thanks to the help of my Dad...

We went to see the Tulip Festival. Unfortunately the tulips weren't in bloom yet, but the daffodils were and it was still fun to see and take pictures.
We took a short day trip to Sequim to visit the wild animal park and got lots of up close action with the animals...

My Mom and I got to go together to the Young Women broadcast. It was so wonderful and we got to listen to general conference, which was so inspiring and touched me so much, especially Elder Ballard's talk on Motherhood.

We miss you so much Mom and Dad and thank you so much for making our week so wonderful!

This crazy thing I call my life!

2008-03-22T00:24:00.000-07:00

I do still exist. There are oh so many things happening in our lives right now that keep me from finding time to sit down and update my blog. But now that I sit down and try to catch up it's very overwhelming. I'll try and recap as best I can...first of all... This is me! Well, the picture's not of me, but this is definitely the position I find myself in several times a day. No, it's not a nasty flu bug, I'm expecting. I'm only about 9 weeks along, but I am stricken with the worst nausea. I've gotten sick with all my kids, but this just seems worse. I've been throwing up several times a day. Food has become my biggest trial. I can't stand to eat anything and I especially can't stand to fix food for anyone--especially peanut butter sandwiches (something I usually make a lot of)! I can barely even type those words. I called the Doctor and she got me on a pill that's helping some. At least I can keep things down, so that's progress.

I just got back from my cruise to the Bahamas with my sweet sister Becky on Tuesday. Needless to say, the timing of my pregnancy was not the greatest and I was pretty sick the whole time I was on the cruise. (Can you tell by that "I'm going to barf" smile?) The worst part was flying. Becky will probably admit she was pretty embarassed when I had to pull out the doggy bag on one of our descents and totally lost it. It was really great to get away and be with Becky. She is one of my favorite people on earth and I really enjoyed the chance to be together. The sunshine was wonderful and the snorkeling was a blast. However, Beck and I both decided we're not really the "cruising" type. Maybe it's because we've traveled a lot, but we just sort of didn't like the feeling of being stuck on a cruise ship and sort of shuffled around with the masses. A ton of partying and drinking and gambling and dressing up and laying out and eating. Maybe I would have felt differently about it all if I weren't pregnant, but I don't really think so. Also, it sounds so great to leave the responsibilities of being a Mom behind for a week, but I tell you, it's not! It's painful. I missed my kids and my husband so much. Josie got really sick with pneumonia the day after I left and Travis had to be Superdad! He did an amazing job. And she was practically better by the time I got home. I love this picture of him improvising...

Also I have to thank my sweet Brother Dave and his wonderful wife Mikelle (or MooMoo as Josie calls her) who flew out here a few days before I left to help out while I was gone. They were so great to have around and I don't think we could have done it without them. The most helpful and easy going company you could imagine. We all miss them a lot!

So if my returning from my cruise with some serious vertigo and vomiting weren't enough...we took Travis in for surgery yesterday (Thursday). He went in for major knee surgery to repair the torn ligaments from his basketball injury two months ago. The surgery went very well and the Doctor was so surprised at how well the ligaments looked that he didn't end up replacing them after all (that was the plan). Instead he just scraped out a bunch of scar tissue and said we'll reassess later. I'm sure it was do to the many prayers that were said on our behalf. It was weird to see Travis in a hospital gown with an IV in his arm and acting all loopy from the anesthesia. He's been a permanent fixture on the couch for the last few days and probably a few more days to come, but I really don't mind. It's actually great just to have him around...well except for when I have to prepare him food....that part's just hard for me right now. My sweet friend Beth made us an awesome dinner yesterday and although I couldn't eat much of it, it felt nice to have someone be so sweet! And Trav and the kids sure loved it. I just don't cook right now. And I have had several of you ask for my Chinese New Year recipes. I'm still working on getting them typed up (I have a hard time even typing about food)...as soon as I do, I'll get them emailed to you.

So that's a quick update of what's been going on here with this crazy thing I call my life. And even though I've complained enough in this email about my pregnancy issues, I am so thrilled that we are blessed to be pregnant with another child. I love this little (okay maybe now we would be considered big) family!

Happy Birthday Josie

2008-03-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

So today my little Josie turned two! I can hardly believe it. What a blessing she has been in our lives! We celebrated her birthday on Saturday. Because she loves horse so much the boys thought she should have a horse party--so that's what we did. I made her a horse cake and we invited her favorite little friend--Dallin and his family to go ride horses with us. We found this great little pony farm out in Woodinville and the kids all got to ride on their own pony for about a half an hour. Then we came back to the house for lunch, cake & icecream and presents...Here's my favorite pics of the day (it was really hard to narrow it down)...

I can't believe this is all for me!

So surprised to wake up and see her cake.
Here's the horsey cake I made for her.
She liked it so much she kept kissing the horsey on the top.At the pony farm waiting anxiously to mount one of them.
A little nervous right at first.
Zack got to ride on a pony named Cinnamon Bear
Dallin rode on a pony named Merlin.
Isaac ride on Jester.
Josie got to ride on Camelot. I'm not sure what's up with the pink hair??? I think they dress the ponies up for parties and stuff.

So sad when she finally had to get off the pony.
The whole gang. Opening presents (with a lot of help from big bros.)

She immediately had to try out her horsey.

The bubble gun from Isaac was a huge hit!

We are so crazy about this little girl. It was such a fun day. Oh, I forgot to mention that the night before she woke up at 3:00 in the morning and couldn't stop talking about riding the horsey. She talked for almost an hour about it before falling back to sleep. She was so excited. It is so much fun to see her love something as much as she loves horses. What a funny little girl. We love you Josie!

Tagged

2008-02-27T23:01:00.000-08:00

So I was double tagged by two sisters and I thought it a fun one so here it goes...

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!

2. Find page 123

3. Find the first 5 sentences

4. Post the next 3 sentences

5. Tag 5 people

I'm reading the book Fat Land--How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser for a book club I'm in. I'm actually enjoying it far more than I thought I would. Did you ever wonder how High fructose corn syrup became a staple in everything or why we don't have the presidential fitness award in our schools anymore? Do you remember that? Does that mean I'm old because I know what that is? Well, it's really been interesting...and not like a depressing you should never eat fat type of book, but an interesting..."wow I did not know that!" type of book. I recommend it and here goes the tag business...

page 123...sentence #6-9

Modern epidemiology to the contrary aside, how true is the underlying notion here -- that too much fat awareness somehow causes eating disorders? Once again, the data --- and the experience of physicians, health worker, and others in the field -- consistently indicate otherwise. The resident historian at Cornell University's Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Joan Jacobs Brumberg, who has written the only thorough, objective history of anorexia, put it this way: "An early and distinctive psychopathology of middle class life, the disease itself (anorexia) preceded the familiar body image imperatives usually associated with it.

Not my favorite quote in the book, but hey I had to follow the rules here.

I tag whoever reads my blog...I don't think there are more than five readers, but I know Mom Tanner reads and she'll be wondering what this Tag business is all about...Mom go ahead and give it a try even though I know the book nearest to you right now is probably the Book of Mormon (so let's say exluding that one). So if anyone else is reading...consider yourself tagged!

I have to say one more thing about the topic of this book while I'm on it...as I'm reading the book I was forced to ask myself, "why do I ever take my kids to McDonalds?" (I probably go there twice a month) I hate their food, I don't like to see my kids gobble down chicken nuggets that don't look, feel or taste anything like chicken. Here's the answer...drive thru, cheap, and play area! Then I started realizing that the market for drive thrus and play areas is held entirely by junk food places. Of course my mind started wondering, "What if? What if there was a place where you could go and get extremely healthy food and they had a drive thru and a play area and the prices were fairly reasonable. The answer??? I'd be all over it!!! Would you? Would we change the world? Would we put McDonalds out of business? Would someone write a book entitled "How Americans Became the Healthiest People in the World? What would we serve? (I knew that was your next question) That's the easy part. Here are just a few of my ideas...

for the kiddos...

Healthy Happy Meals (happy because you won't be made fun of at school--even if you eat one of these everyday) with your choice of...

Peanut Butter or Deli Sandwich (on whole grain bread of course--I'm thinking Great Harvest style) or Chicken Nuggets (baked, not fried) or cheese stick and whole grain crackers

with an apple, or carrot sticks or yogurt cup

with a 100% juice drink or milk

and for the Moms...(this I'm only exploring momentarily the possibilities could be endless and I think the Dads might catch on to these options too)

Thai Veggie Spring Rolls

Veggie Burger on Whole Wheat bun

Deli Sandwich (gourmet style on your choice of bagel or whole grain bread)--including my to die for chicken salad recipe

White Chicken Chili

White Bean Minestrone with Pesto

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber Salad

Poppy Seed Salad with Chicken

Citrus Salad with Chicken

Blackened Salmon Salad

For Drinks we could offer fresh squeezed juices or smoothies or herbal teas

We could offer desserts that include things like frozen yogurt, or whole wheat brownies or whole grain cookies.

Oh the possibilities are endless. I could go on all night. I just can't help but wonder why doesn't anything like this exist? If it did would you eat there? I would. At least once a week (probably more). So here's the idea...is there anyone out there with some real business experience that wants to make this happen. If so, you need to act on this...America needs you....I need you...my children's health is in your hands. Seriously, someone should do this.

This girl

2008-02-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was tucking Josie into bed and thinking to myself that I can't believe she's only been in our lives two years. She'll be two on March 3rd and in many ways I feel like she was just born and yet I can't even imagine our lives without her. She has so much personality and we are all so enamored with her charm. She is everything I had hoped for in a little girl (well I could live without the licking goats--see below).

Here's a little Josie...

To say that Josie likes animals would be a huge understatement. She is so crazy in love with animals (which did not come from me or Trav). Here's a few pics of our recent zoo trip on Monday...

Apparently she likes animals so much that licking a goat just seemed totally all right in her mind. Is there such thing as "mad goat" disease? I sure hope not.

Here she is perfectly happy reading a book with all her favorite toys around her. She loves books so much and is so happy just to sit and read them by herself.

She loves the spotlight. I got her these new shoes last week and she wants to wear them everyday. She points them out to complete strangers and tries her best to get a compliment on them. Then she shows them her little tiny ouchy on her hand and pulls this super sad face until they acknowledge it. I told her today how cute she looked when she wore the shoes with the shirt that matches and she insisted that I take her picture.

The Year of the Rat

2008-02-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write about our fun Chinese New Year celebration this year. We rang in this new year of the Rat with a huge party at our house last Saturday. We were having such a grand time that neither of us thought to take any pictures, so these two of the kids all dressed up in their Chinese clothes will have to do.

This year we did a party with just adults. We had several of our favorite couples from the stake (many of whom we met and got close with on trek). We had about 20 people here, so it was defintely a full house. After a month of perfecting recipes I pulled of a 16 course meal that turned out even better than I expected. I had one of the young women in our ward come and help me. I've been teaching her how to cook Asian food for a school project she is doing and she was so great about coming to help me...she even brought her boyfriend.

Here's me cooking like a mad woman....

I love to cook. If you know me at all you probably already know this. I love food and I love to make yummy food for others. It makes me happy. So if you want to come to our Chinese New Year party next year you need to move here or at least come visit for Chinese New Year. Thank you Shane and Mel for sending me the amazing Chinese New Year decorations. The decorations were perfect! Here's what I served...(I'm hoping to make you hungry so you'll come visit us soon...I'll make you some Chinese food if you come and vist...yep, that's a bribe.....

Spinach garlic soup

White Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

(this one has cashews and pineapple and chicken)

Barbeque Pork (Chinese style)

Jiaozi

(these are like potstickers and are a huge hit--I make them every year)

Egg Rolls

Chinese Anise Ribs

(this is definitely Trav's favorite and so it wouldn't be a chinese meal without these)

Salmon

Grilled Chicken Satay with cucumber sauce and Peanut sauce

(this one was definitely my favorite--I think I've perfected it and if you like to cook you should ask me for this recipe--it's amazing!)

Gong Bao Ji Ding

(An old favorite more commonly known as Kung Pao Chicken)

Beef and Broccoli

(this dish has definitely evolved over the years and I think I have finally mastered it--I got the most compliments on this dish)

Sesame Chicken Noodles

Orange Chicken

(I cheated and bought this dish from Trader Joes--I was trying to simplify and Trader Joe's does it quite nicely)

Cilantro Peanut Salad

(An old Nanjing specialty that I just can't let go of)

Mango Sticky Rice

(one of my favorite asian desserts)

Fried Buns with Sweetened condensed milk

Here's Zacky enjoying the aftermath of the party...when we realized we didn't take any pictures. Oh well, perhaps next year.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

Two New Videos of Girls that could be movie stars

2008-02-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

The first movie is of my little Josie not wanting to go to bed....

And here's one of Becky my sister that could be a movie star...we already think she is....

Some favorite pics from this Month that I didn't get a chance to post...

2008-01-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

All dressed up for church and wanting me to take her picture...100% Girl!

Hooray for a snow day!

Josie loves me to take her picture. She'll find my camera and bring it to me and say, "ME!" Then she'll do all these silly poses for me. Having a girl is so different. She's also doing something I am totally not used to...the girly squeal! High-pitched, loud SQUEEEEEAL! Is that part of the female genetic make-up?

Missing our Prophet

2008-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Last night we learned of the passing of our amazing prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. Travis was at a youth fireside and I was home with the kids. I sat down at the computer to confirm the news and got teary eyed as I read. The kids soon found me and asked what was wrong. I told them the news. Isaac had a million questions. Who will be the prophet now?...How long are they the prophet for?...Who will be the prophet after him?...etc... Then Zack looked at me and got all teary eyed and said, "Mom, I never even got a chance to meet him and now I never will." Then he broke into a full sob. He was truly heartbroken. I realized that my children have not had much experience with death (gratefully) and so the topic lead to many interesting questions and discussion about death and the succession of prophets. Zack cried for almost an hour. His questions were more concerned with President Hinckley. "Do you think he'll have to wait in line?"..."Now he won't be able to eat or have a nice bed to sleep in?"..."Do you think he put a sign in his yard before he died to tell people his house was for sale so they could go walk through it?" (I love the thoughts of a five year old).

A few months ago some of our really good friends were taking the discussions from the missionaries. The first discussion was very long and all of the kids except Isaac lost interest. He sat glued to his chair listening to everything the missionaries were saying. The missionaries started to explain that we have a prophet on the earth that leads and guides our church, just as in times of old. Our friends were quite surprised by this and asked who it was. We told them. Then Isaac got up and left. I thought he had had enough and left to play with the other kids. A few minutes later he came running into the room with the Ensign and a picture of President Hinckley. "This is HIM!" he shouted, "This is the prophet!" I knew at that moment that he really knew it! He had a testimony that he truly is a prophet.

What an amazing man! I can't even express in words the ways in which his life has touched mine. We will all miss him so much.

Busier Kids=Less Blogging

2008-01-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the picture I had done for our Christmas cards this year. The same Christmas Cards that have been sitting on my counter since the week before Christmas. I was thinking about sending them for the New Year and saying Happy New Year, but that didn't happen either. So if you didn't get a Christmas card from us this year...I'm so sorry. And thanks so much if you sent one to us. We loved getting them. I'll have to get an earlier start on Christmas next year.

I'm not sure what it is about time these days, but I feel like I just can't get a handle on it. Is it because my kids are getting older and busier or is it because I am trying to do to much? I feel like time is moving so quickly these days that my children are growing right before my very eyes and I feel helpless to make time stop or at least slow down so I don't miss something or appreciate the simple moments with my children for what they are.

Today I sat down at the computer to blog and both Josie and Zack (who were playing perfectly happy downstairs) immediately came upstairs and started needing me. I had just fed them lunch but they both claimed they were hungry and needed something to drink. I knew they didn't and was about to say that, when it dawned on me that they were hungry--for my attention. I decided to forgo the blog and play with them. We played for quite a while and sang songs and acted silly and you know what? I loved it. I loved it so much that tonight when all the kids were getting whiny again and wanting to play their video games and watch TV, I decided to test my theory and see if my attention would win over the TV and video games. So I let them start their video game and ran upstairs and built a fort in their bedroom. I brought up snacks and a big flashlight. Then I came downstairs and invited them to join me in their room for book club.

Guess what? They had no problem giving up the video game. We all snuggled in our little fort and started a new book and it was so fun. I wish I could freeze time and keep them little. Oh how I wish that! And I wish I could always see that being with my kids is a privilege that won't be around for ever and I should take advantage of it more and really try and "be" with them, not just around them.

One more thing...we lost Hammy today. I forgot that his cage was down on the ground this morning because the boys were feeding him and I got visiting with my Mom on the phone and pretty soon Josie came downstairs holding her hand out saying, "Eww, poo poo!" There was poop on her hand and when I realized it wasn't hers, it occurred to me that she had been playing with Hammy. I washed her and then went running upstairs to find Hammy missing! He wasn't in his cage and he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I can't stand even touching him so I hollered for Zack and he came up and helped me look. After a few tense minutes we found him huddled up under Isaac's bed. Phew! Josie is crazy for this little guy and don't let the picture fool you, she is in no way nervous around this little creature. She would put it in bed with her if I let her.

Zachary's Birthday Pirate Party--Arrrgh!

2008-01-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the highlights of our big Pirate Party for Zack's 5th Birthday....

The invite.

Kiddie Spirits.
Pirate cake.

Decorations.
Two serious Buckaneers

The Whole Pirate Gang.

Pirate Ike
For the treasure hunt I gave them clues and a map and the treasure they found was this pinata.

We had hot dog pirate ships for lunch and all sorts of other pirate food.
Here's the Black Pearl ship we created in the garage out of an old bookshelf. The game was called sink the ship and some of the pirates threw cannonballs and tried to get them in the ship and the pirates in the ship tried to keep them from coming in.
Ring toss game.

Life is busy

2008-01-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

Hello again. I've been busy. Life is busy. Christmas came and went and I thought life would calm down a bit after Christmas, but it just keeps on going and here I am tonight with so much to catch up on that blogging seems overwhelming. Do I write a blog about all of the fun things that we've been up to? Do I write about all my New Years Resolutions? Do I write and tell you that Travis blew his knee out playing basketball and is now a cripple? Do I write and tell the world how much I love my little Zachary who just had a birthday and means so much to me? Do I write about the fun and crazy pirate party we had for him on Saturday? Do I write that we just had Elder Scott (an apostle from our church) come and speak at our Stake Conference today? I have no idea what to write about, but we are happy! I know I'll someday look back on these times and wish I wrote more. I love my busy crazy life. I love being the Mom. I love waking up every day and being with my children and my amazing husband. So instead of writing all my memories, here's a bunch of pictures that will hopefully capture this crazy life of ours...

This is Hammy. He's the newest member of our family. It was Isaac's wish for a pet and so Santa (much to my pleading otherwise) gave us Hammy. He's been a delight to the kids. I'm trying to stay positive about it and not get annoyed that he stinks up the boys room or stays awake all night walking on his squeaky wheel or that he bit Josie.

I can't say I really blame Hammy for biting Josie. She is crazy about that little thing and pleads with us to put him down so she can play with him. She is constantly poking her fingers in his cage and trying to wake him up. I don't know where this love for animals came from with her, but she is just crazy for animals.

She's also crazy about putting on my makeup. Here's how I found her the other day after she got into my mascara. She's been busy these days too.
Zack has been talking about his birthday for months now and the thing he wanted more than anything was breakfast in bed. He kept making sure I knew what to fix him...strawberry toaster struedel and a strawberry smoothie ("but Mom make sure it's Dad's recipe"). He woke up at about 5:00 a.m. and crawled in bed with us and said, "Mom, I think you've forgotten about my breakfast in bed. I assured him I hadn't and it was still nighttime. I sent him back to bed but heard him tossing and tossing. Finally at 6:00 I got up and started fixing his breakfast. I saw him peak around the stairs to watch me. When we brought the breakfast to him he was pretending to be asleep but laughing with glee under his covers.
He jumped out of bed, put his clothes on and ran downstairs to open his presents. He kept saying, "I can't believe these are all just for me!"
He asked for a gameboy and thanks to Ebay...we delivered!
Here's Josie trying on a wig that we pulled out for our pirate party. She is so funny about her hair and clothes. She has such an opinion about what she wears! She only has two things she likes to wear...the shirt with the doggies on it and her pjs with the horsies on them. When I try to get her to wear anything else she throws a huge fit. And now her hair is getting longer, I've been trying to do little pony tails and bows and she will have none of that! She pulls them out immediately and lets me know she will not wear them!

I have a ton of pictures from the pirate party, so I'll post a separate blog about the party!

Christmas Eve Fun with Friends

2007-12-27T00:14:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Eve Outing

2007-12-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

I'm Reposting the Gingerbread House for those of you that wanted a closer look

2007-12-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

A Fun Detour

2007-12-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

So I find myself everyday with a list a mile long of things that need to get done and yet somehow I made time for this...Why? Because I would rather make a gingerbread house than do wash any day. So yes, I'm staring at a huge pile of laundry on my bed, but happy that I have this fun gingerbread house.

We had two of my good friends and their kids over two days ago to make our gingerbread houses. I made six little graham cracker houses for the kids to decorate and us three ladies made our own houses. It was total chaos, but so much fun. I love having an excuse to be creative, especially when it involved food. Today I made a very yummy double chocolate cake with a dark chocolate ganache for a Christmas party we were going to. It was decadent and really lovely. I covered it in white chocolate leaves and raspberries. Didn't have time to snap a photo.

Off to work on mailing packages...another good excuse not to tackle that laundry!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-12-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

We've been busy this week, but I just had to post a few of my favorite pics from the week...Hooray for Christmas time. I love this time of year. Merry Christmas everyone.

This was the largest snowman we've ever made. It was 8 feet tall and we named him Goliath. He didn't even make it through the night.

A Thanksgiving to be Thankful for

2007-11-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

So I wish I was one of those bloggers that could sit down everyday and write one small witty comment and post one picture...but I'm not. I find that my time at the computer is becoming more seldom. So when I finally sit down to blog, I have so many pictures and so many things I want to write about. So today's blog is only for our biggest fans...those that can persist through tons of pictures!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! This year we didn't go home for Thanksgiving like we usually do. Trav's parents are on a mission and so we knew we wouldn't be able to see them (we missed them so much this year) and we talked my parents in to coming here for Thanksgiving (and Becky Jean).

Here are the highlights of our Thanksgiving weekend...

Travis took the family on Thanksgiving Day for a long drive to one of our favorite Seattle spots...Mount Erie. I was so happy because I got to cook all by myself without any kids asking to help or needing attention. I love to cook. It is definitely one of my passions. I had so much fun preparing the meal and jamming to Christmas music. I love alone time. I guess because I don't get it very often.
This was the feast. Yah, you missed a good one. It was soooooo yummy!

My Mom made this little Thanksgiving turkeys with the kids. It has been a tradition in our family for a long time. The kids think this is the turkey associated with Thanksgiving.

I loved having my Mom and Sis to walk with every morning.
I just had to post this funny picture of Zack that Becky took.
Isaac was asking the other day if we could go to Tickabee for icecream. We had no idea what he was talking about. Finally I realized he had read the sign for TCBY and wanted to try it. I told him Grandpa would love to take him there. So sure enough one of the first things Isaac did was talk Grandpa into taking us there. (It didn't take much talking into)
We got to eat at my favorite Thai restaurant. It's called 24 Star Thai and is really close to our house. If you ever come to visit we'll for sure take you there. It's sooooooo good.

Josie didn't take any time warming up to my parents she kept walking up to them with her arms wide open and gave them so many hugs.

On Sunday we all went to church together. Becky brought her guitar and sang for the primary kids. The kids were completely awestruck! And Zack and Ike were beaming with pride. She is one of my favorite musicians of all time. She has some great songs on the Deseret Book Lullaby CDs (which she game me for my birthday). If you want to hear some of her music with her band the Mollies you can check them out here... http://www.myspace.com/themolliesmusic

Speaking of Becky....she is amazing! I just adore her. She is so talented and beautiful and kind. And guess what? I get to go on a cruise with her in March. She won a cruise at work and she's taking me! I am so excited. I love being with her.

Here's a few pics of the kids all dressed up for church.

Sick Week

2007-11-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

It's been over a week since I've blogged and so I imagine you must think I've been very busy getting things accomplished...oh I wish!

We have had the worst sick bug at our house. It started last Tuesday with runny noses, coughs, sore throats, fevers, and hit every one of us. So today when I woke up feeling just as awful and not showing any signs of improving...I went in. I took all three kids with me and went to the doctor. She said it looked like a sinus infection....which means I'm now on an antibiotic....and I have to say it's a relief to think there might be an end in sight to this nasty bug.

I'm quite behind on getting things ready for Thanksgiving and I'm sure if my parents happen to read this blog before heading here to Seattle, they might just change their minds and not come. I'm banking on them not reading this and all of us being well by Thursday.

Today was one of those days that if I were to be graded on my parenting I'm sure I would have scored a big fat F. The kids watched TV and played computers almost the entire day. And when they weren't I was on their case for fighting and not helping me around the house. And what did I feed them...the staple at our house--COLD CEREAL...yep, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hopefully this antiobotic will kick in and sanity will resume at the Tanner household!

Are you serious Mom, cold cereal again???
At least they were having a good time being together.

Emmy Turner

2007-11-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was Emmy Turner. I left my children for a very long night to accompany my husband to a Korea Conference he was asked to speak at. It was a conference to discuss the possible unification of North and South Korea. So after an hour and a half drive in horrible Seattle traffic, we arrived at the Doubletree Hotel of Tukwila to find the only English nametag on the table of 200 Korean names...Emmy Turner. I knew immediately that it must be me. Somehow they managed to get Travis Tanner right, but I was Emmy Turner. I graciously shook a thousand hands and sat down at the table hoping the food would arrive soon because I forgot to eat lunch and I was starving. I soon realized that we were the only non-Koreans present except for the Seattle Times reporter sitting next to me. I also noticed on the program (which was one of the few things printed in English) that their would be a speaker and enterainment before the dinner. Darn.

Then to realize that the speaker was speaking in Korean. Seriously Darn. I actually found the subject quite fascinating...the presidents of North and South Korea meeting together and trying to better relationships...only we didn't get more than the couple of remarks a kind woman sitting next to us translated for us...for most of the nearly 2 hour talk, I sat staring at Travis' tense hands and wondering if he was as bored and hungry as I was.

I could tell this was going to a very long night.

Finally after what seemed forever, he ended. Hooray, time to eat...oh wait, first we had to have some entertainment...that's right, pure Korean style...a Korean woman with a lot of jewelry and sparkly beads on her dress and a Korean man with long feathered hair treated us with "That's all I ask of you" from the Phantom of the Opera. Wow!!! We were both a little worried the little microphone wouldn't hold out through those high notes.

Then dinner. It came and what a dissapointment! They were serving what they called steak...I would actually call it flubber! At least we got a plate. There was one person at our table who didn't actually get a plate of food because the Doubletree ran out.

During dinner I noticed on the program that what they had Travis listed as speaking about was not actually what he had prepared and I started getting really nervous, "should I tell him?" I did and he handled it really well, he quickly went through his notes and started revising and I kept telling him to cut things...the evening had already gone on way too long.

It was then time for him to speak. He did amazing. He was very clear and made a lot of sense and I was very proud of him. He looked so professional and really sounded like he knew what he was talking about. He then was asked to take a seat on the stage with the panel that would then remark on what he had said. I thought the hard part was over...he had done what they asked and did a beautiful job...Phew! Now I could relax. Just as I settled into my seat, I realized what the first panelist was saying....

This old professor of Korean Studies was suddenly laying into my husband...things like, "I always find it so humorous to hear a Chinese studies expert try and talk about Korea. " I'll paraphrase, but he basically said, "nice try kid, you don't know anything you're talking about, I'm the real expert on Korea and everything you just said was bogus!" He was supposed to give a three minute rebuttal...what he gave was a 15 minute critisim of Travis. I almost fell out of my seat! There was no way I was understanding him correctly. He was so blunt and rude and I found myself glaring into the eyes of Travis' friend from the consulate who had asked him to do this. The funny thing was Travis never claimed to be an expert on the issue, he even said straight forwardly that he wasn't an expert and for that reason took his talk down a different track! My blood was boiling at this point!!!

Then the discussion went to the next panelist...an Electrical Engineer. That's right, he was not just any electrical engineer, a really smart one that had all sorts of degrees in electrical engineering. His English wasn't the greatest and through a lot of rambling I managed to make out that he was referring back to Travis (although he was calling him Dr. Trevr Turner) to answer more of his questions on Korean issues because "Dr. Turner" was such a Korea expert. He referred to Travis as the Korean expert probably 20 times in his remarks and asked him three long drawn out questions. His final question for Travis was (I'll paraphrase because his question took about 10 minutes to deliver) "What advice would you Dr. Trevr Turner...the expert on Korean affairs...give to our big Korean government officials in attendance to take back to Korea and tell the Government officials there?"

By this time I felt like running for the nearest exit and praying that Travis would follow me. I was really wondering if he even understood half of what this man had asked him because I surely didn't. Here were 200+ Koreans with all eyes on Travr Turner waiting to hear his expert advice and a professor that was surely fuming with frustration at the naivity of the second panelist. I was expecting something like...uh, uh, uh, could you repeat the question??? (not really, but that's what I would have said).

Instead, my amazing husband, handled with grace and poise this most akward situation. He first referred to the Korean experts opinion that he in fact was no expert on the subject matter, and then referred to all of the questions the second panelist had asked and answered them beautifully, and the last of the questions, I was shocked at his reponse. I won't even try to summarize what he said because it won't sound good coming from me, but I was so proud! He was like a true diplomat! He answered so well and I realized I didn't need to be sweating.

Then the audience had some questions for the panel...well every one of their questions was directed at Trevr Turner, not the expert. I guess they liked his answers better, that's not to say the expert didn't chime in with his opposing arguements on every question, but I could tell the audience didn't care for him any more than I did.

So after a very long and most akward night, we joined hands with the audience and swayed back and forth while they sang the reunification anthem and had our picture taken about 1000 times. I have to say that about every Korean woman in the room wanted to have their picture taken individually with my handsome husband. It didn't bother me. I was happy that he was accepted by them. And then we left and found ourselves running out of that doubletree hotel as fast as we could.

Now were back to normal life and I couldn't stand to just get back to normal without realizing in words that this was a really sureal evening...me as Emmy Turner. I wonder if I'll ever be Emmy Turner again.

Isn't this sweet?

2007-11-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here's Zack singing a new song we learned in primary. You'd think from listening to him that he was the sweetest thing on earth...well, he is usually sweet, but something happens to him when we go to church...he turns into such a rascal! We had to take him out of sacrament meeting kicking and screaming today.

My Man

2007-11-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday was Trav's birthday. I wanted to write that day and say how amazing he is, but it took me longer than I planned to get the house clean, so I'm writing tonight. I feel so blessed everyday to be married to this man. He is smart, kind, good-looking, thoughtful, non-judgemental, dedicated, hard-working, funny, a wonderful father and my best friend in the whole world. I am grateful everyday of my life that I have him as my companion.

On Wednesday morning Isaac woke up at 6:00 a.m. and came into our room and woke me up to say, "Mom we need to make breakfast in bed for Dad." I knew that Travis probably wouldn't appreciate having to wake up early on his birthday, so I sort of shrugged him off and said, "it's too early, go back to bed." The next thing I knew, I heard him downstairs trying to make breakfast himself. I decided I better get up and go help. So together we made some orange juice and a bowl of raisin bran and he was so happy to go wake up his Dad and wish him a happy birthday. Travis was very sweet and acted so happy and excited to be eating his breakfast.

I think part of the reason for his excitement was that he got to go on a field trip with his class that day and his Dad was going to be one of the chaperones on the field trip. They went to the Children's Theatre in Seattle and saw the BFG. They both loved it and talked non-stop about it the rest of the day. I was so happy for both of them.

Then we went to Herfy's for dinner. This is one of those old hamburger joints that's been around forever. They have all sorts of greasy food and great shakes. I never want to eat there and Travis loves to, so I figured since it was his birthday we would go eat cheese fries and greasy food and shakes. I was a little dissapointed with their one and only salad and ended up eating too many cheese fries. But it was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. Then we broke open a pinata that Grandma sent and played Battleship.

I'm so grateful for this man.

Doing what I love

2007-11-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day as the music leader in this ward. It was so much fun! I love this calling. I think it's probably my favorite calling in the church. With the primary kids we pretended to be Detective Clueless and I had different kids dress up as a Detective and look for hidden clues...clues about which songs we would sing. It was really simple, but really fun--at least for me. And I even get to go and do singing with the nursery kids (all 25 of them). I loved that too! Hooray for a new calling.

I love Halloween

2007-11-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Halloween I thought I better post the highlights. The best part was that Travis took the day off and went and volunteered at Isaac and Zack's schools. What a great Dad! Too bad the elementary school almost went on lock-down because Travis didn't know he needed to wear a volunteer badge and he went out in the hall to take a work call and the office was all over him..."WHO ARE YOU?" I just found out today that there is a registered 3 sex offender in the neighborhood of the school that they are a bit worried about, so I guess you can't be too careful.
Here's the highlights of the rest of the day..

Zack all ready to go to school dressed as a power ranger.

We learned that making black jello jigglers is a really bad idea.

Waiting anxiously for trick or treating friends to arrive. When they did they were so excited they went running in the house and one of our friends tripped and split his head open and ended up having to go to the hospital for stiches (that was a bummer, not a highlight).
The kids with our witch we made, she's looking a little razzled in this picture.
The Cauldron filled with witches brew to drink...those eyeballs were made with lytchees and maraschino cherries, there were also a couple of hands floating around in there.
Halloween spread (I love to do fun things with food). We had fingers made with pretzel dough...mummy dogs...a seriously ugly jello...apple bites...blood and guts soup...decomposed salad...petrified pizza...and spider and mummy cupcakes. So much fun.

Change

2007-10-27T23:26:00.001-07:00

The other day I was out walking and it suddenly dawned on me that I've changed! The biggest reason I noticed this was that I got my haircut short and I am okay with it. I've always hated short hair on me. I always thought I would grow into an elderly woman with long hair. In the summer I cut my long hair off on a whim. Since then I keep going shorter and the shorter I go the more I like it. I'm not that sure that I like the way it looks on me, but it's so much easier to do, and so I like it. Does this mean I've officially entered that homely "mom stage"--it's no longer about the look, but about what's convenient. If I start wearing sweaters with pumpkins and christmas wreaths on them, please stop me!

The other big change going on in my life right now is my church calling. The last two years I've been serving as the first counselor in the Primary Presidency. My good friend was serving as the chorister and she was amazing. She moved and our primary has definitely being feeling a major void. I suggested to the bishopric counselor the other day that maybe they should call me to be the chorister, I've done it before and I love that calling. I didn't really think they would do it, but Tuesday night I got the call. I'm super excited.

It's late and all three of my kids are coughing their heads off! Travis is in Beijing and I'm thinking tonight might be a long one.

The Monkey it is!

2007-10-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who commented on the costume for Josie...I think the majority went with the monkey, but my favorite was the witch costume, so I was going to have her be the witch...but then I was reminded that I won't be making those kinds of decisions for this girl....she has a mind of her own!

Tonight we were getting the boys into their costumes for the Halloween Party at the school. When Josie saw them putting their costumes on she started throwing a fit because I wasn't helping her get a costume on. I ran into her room and grabbed the witch costume and brought it back thinking she would be so excited to put it on. She said, "mmmmnnnoooo" (this is her new favorite word now) and then started doing monkey movements and sounds. I said, "do you want to be the monkey?" It was affirmative! I even tried talking her into the witch...no way...it was definitely the MONKEY! So a monkey it is....

The boys picked out their own costumes too! I thought they were both going to be Jedis, but when we pulled the dress-up box out, Zack couldn't make up his mind...first he had on his power ranger costume, but then he decided he wanted to be the Lizard, so he decided since it was too hard to decided...he would go as both! He even added the sword and headband because he needed "a few more things to make me look cool Mom!" This is my Zachary! Man I love that kid.

Here's Ike in his Jedi costume, which I am sad to realize is getting too small on him...

What to be for Halloween???

2007-10-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

So I have three costumes for Josie. I didn't buy a single one of them this year. So we've tried all three on and I still can't decide what she should be for Halloween. Please help.

Do you think she should be...

Picking out a perfect pumpkin

2007-10-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

A Perfect Fall Day

2007-10-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I love the Fall...the crisp cool weather, the excitement about Halloween, the yummy flavors like pumpkin bread and apple cider. It's been a tradition since Isaac was little that we go and visit the pumpkin farm together as a family. When we were in Virginia we had a favorite spot--Cox Farm and when we moved I was sure that we would never find a farm that was as fun as Cox Farm. But we found Remlinger Farm! This is our third year going there and we love it so much. I took a million pictures...so here's a few of my favorites. It was such a beautiful, perfect Fall day.

Now Life Can Go On...

2007-10-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight as we were driving home from a long, fun-filled day, we were reminiscing where we were at that time the previous Saturday...way in over our heads installing our new floors.

They are officially done! I absolutely love them! Finally my house feels like home! The first time I looked at this house, I thought to myself, "I like this house, but there are two things that I must change...those horrible, plastic-looking baseboards, and that horrible carpet (which was even in the dining room--who does that???)"

After a lot of coaxing and carpets that kept getting worse, Travis finally agreed the job must be done. He agreed to take it on to save a whole lot of money. So without any experience and very little equipment, we dove right into this project.

Here's the most amazing part...we only had one week to complete it! I had scheduled to have a baby shower on Wednesday, and this was the only time the floors would work into Trav's busy schedule...so we decided we would just do it!!! So the he took off work the Thursday and Friday before and we worked from 8:00 in the morning until about 1:00 in the morning on the floors until the day before the baby shower. Our bodies ached! Especially Travis. He of course, did all the hard physical labor. I was more like the project manager, making sure that everything was done just right..."um, I think you'll have to re-cut that one honey:)" And here's the miracle...we got it done! It was a close call and I didn't have much time to focus on the baby shower (sorry Ann--I still love you) or my children (I think they still know we love em--and I hope they recover from all the fast food and junk food they ate during the interim) but it all worked out and now I am so grateful for the hard work.

Here's some quick pics of the process...