An Inspirational Story

Jeremy and Amanda Peterson lost their darling little boy Payton in a tragic accident about 3 years ago. They were brave enough to share their story with others to help promote the Spot the Tot program. Please take a minute to watch this clip, it's very informative. WARNING: It's a tear jerker.

Cut and paste this link into your search bar...the clip is in the top right hand corner where it has a lady driving a car.
http://www.kutv.com/content/news/specialreport/story.aspx?content_id=51095dba-dbc1-4ccc-8691-13b1c1f7629c&articleID=38705

Happy Birthday Sue!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful mother, mother-n-law, and grandmother! We love you and appreciate all that you do for us! Sue is such a great woman and a great example to us. She would literally do anything for her children and is always willing to help out wherever she can. We love you Sue and hope you have a wonderful day. Wish we were there to celebrate with you but we hope you do something really fun!

More Family Fun!

We had a great time with my family this weekend. My brother and sister just finished up their semester at BYU so they came down for a visit before starting up again this week. My mom also joined them which is always fun!

The boys golfed and the girls shopped...that is usually how it goes down around our house! I won't complain though! We went to Primm to the outlets and got some good deals! Ryan, Abbey, and I rode the Buffalo Bills rollercoaster--so fun! We let the boys do some of the little rides in the middle of the mall and they thought that was pretty cool! We took Aria and the boys to this water feature by our house and let them play. They loved it! Aria and Easton were a little timid but Brady ran right through it and kept putting his face right under the water. As we were getting ready to leave there was this dog that was so ugly (sorry I hate dogs) I am so terrified of dogs and so are my kids. Abbey and I sat on the table forever with the boys because we were too scared to get down. The owner was standing about 50 feet away and didn't even care. She ended up being a really big brat which is another story entirely...but my mom thought this was hilarious! Yes I know what you are thinking, that dog is tiny, but I truly am terrified of dogs.

On Friday night my mom stayed home with the kids and we headed to the strip and went to Game Works! Geoff had all these points that his work gave him so we just wandered around and played stuff. In the end we all gathered around the Deal Or No Deal game trying to win enough tickets to get tatoos. It was a fun night but didn't get home until 1:30 which about killed me!

Thanks for coming to visit! We love living somewhere people want to come! The weather is so nice here right now, not too hot! I can't wait to see my family again in a few weeks!

Wedding Fun!

I had a wonderful time in Oregon this weekend! I met my family at the airport and the fun began. Both of my parents grew up there so we were able to drive around and take a walk down memory lane with them. We had seen all of this before but it was much more meaningful as an adult. We then headed over to my Uncle Ron's beautiful home. He has the most amazing view from his house and my aunt has done a wonderful job with their yard. It was so nice to not be stuck in a hotel room and to be able to spend some time with his family. He made us yummy ribs and we watched the office!

On Friday we got up and after a gourmet breakfast by Ron, headed over to the church to start decorating for the reception.
We spent most of the day there but did squeeze in a little time for shopping. That night we had the wedding dinner at the Claim Jumper...yummy!

Saturday was the wedding and it was supposed to snow. We headed to the temple and it was cold, but blue skies. My cousin, the bride's sister, didn't realize until she got to the temple that her recommend was expired. They worked it out and the sealing was wonderful! This is my beautiful grandma! We love her!

After the sealing we grabbed some lunch and then we were able to see my cousin Greg and his cute family! He even played the guitar and sang for us!

The reception turned out great! It was lots of fun to spend some time with our cousins we don't see much. The bride looked beautiful and was smiling from ear to ear the whole day! Yesterday we headed home. I was sad to say goodbye to my family but Abbey is coming on Wed so it was not too sad. I love spending time with my family but I really missed Ryan and the boys and was excited to see them yesterday! Ryan is an incredible dad and was so great with our kids. His mom and sister were able to come through here on Friday so I think that was really fun for him. Thanks guys!

What A Waste...

It is 11:30 at night. My bags are packed, I finally finished all my work hours, and I just finished watching Kristy Lee Cook get the boot on AI. Being the guilty person that I am, I decided to make my boys' their favorite muffins to eat while I am gone! Now these muffins are so yummy and they are our favorite thing to eat so trust me when I say I have made this recipe a lot. With that in mind, please don't ask me how I still managed to mess it up. Ask my mom, I am the queen of messing up recipes in dumb ways (in fact she is probably dying laughing if she is reading this) and tonight was no exception. I put the salt and baking soda in with tablespoons instead of teaspoons. Seriously?!? This recipe makes a huge batch, my whole KitchenAid full, and I had to throw it all away. I almost wanted to cry as I was washing it all down the drain. Don't worry though, I washed out the bowl and made a new batch, with the right measurements! Good thing I can't sleep anyway!

On a happier note, I am so excited to see my family tomorrow. Renee's husband has pneumonia so she is not coming tomorrow but might try to come on Friday afternoon if he is feeling better. I am sad. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! I know I will and I will have lots of pictures to share when I get back.

What we are looking forward to...

We don't have much to blog about so here are some things we are looking forward to...

My cousin is getting married this weekend in Oregon which means on Thursday I am heading out without my kids or husband. I am so excited because I am meeting my mom and dad, all my sisters and my darling niece Kylee there. It is going to be so much fun! I love spending time with my family, they are the best! I cannot wait to see you guys!

Abbey is also coming to Vegas the next weekend to hang out with us. We always look forward to her visits, my kids love her!

This summer we are headed to Utah so that Ryan can run the Wasatch Back Relay! He has done this the last 2 years with a random team but this year we are finally going to have a family team! It is going to be so fun! We cannot wait...it is always a blast!

Most exciting of all is that in June we are finally going to Pebble Beach! Ryan's grandma has a beatiful home on the golf course. We have been trying to make this trip happen forever and we have finally worked it out. I am so excited to go and spend a week there relaxing and hanging out. Some of my family is coming and we are so excited to share a place we love with them. Oh I have the chills just thinking about it!

The house!The view from the front porch!

What are you looking forward to?!?

Happy Birthday Little Bro!

Today is my little brother Chad's 23rd Birthday! Chad is such a great kid and I have been so lucky to be his sister. He is truly one of the smartest people I have ever met in my life. We have always had a very special relationship. When I was in the hospital he came to see me almost every night. He would call and ask if he could make his "nightly visit" It was so sweet! He helped give me blessings and was there when Brady and Easton were born. He is a great kid and someday will make some lucky lady very happy! He is single if you know anyone!!!!! Happy Birthday to a wonderful uncle, brother, and friend! We love you and are excited to spend some time with you in the coming months!

Conference Weekend!

We had a wonderful conference weekend spending time together as a family and with good friends. Ryan's best friend Jared and his wife Heather drove down Thursday night and stayed with us until Sunday afternoon. We had a great time playing games, swimming, watching movies, and eating lots of yummy food. We have had such good weather here the last few weeks so on Friday morning we decided to let Brady and Easton go for a swim in the backyard. They love to splash the water in their faces and Brady always puts his head in! They were in there forever and loved every minute of it! Here is a video of them playing...for the Grandmas!
As you can see, Jared and Heather were taking care of the boys and I was chatting with the neighbors! After this, Jared went in and cleaned my whole kitchen...they are the best visitors ever! Friday night the boys went to a hockey game. Geoff got some tickets from a guy at work and they had so much food. They had all you can eat "man food" and were right on the ice. We heard how awesome it was all weekend. Aleena, Heather, and I stayed home with the 4 kids and ordered pizza. After they all went to bed (except for Aria) we watched Enchanted. I had never seen it and I really enjoyed it. On Saturday morning we had a yummy breakfast and watched conference. Brady and Easton LOVE music and sat like this the whole opening song. It was so cute!That afternoon I worked and everyone went with Geoff to get new running shoes and then came back and swam! They said the water was freezing but apparently they didn't care, they had fun anyway!Aria put her feet in and watched and Heather took pictures!I think they revert back to high school when they are together. What do you think? That night the boys went to priesthood and we cooked. We had a BBQ outside at Geoff and Aleena's and it was so yummy! Easton was playing with this doll and having fun until he realized that the eyes open and shut, it terrified him. This video is so funny and shows how traumatized he was. He would not come to me, he only wanted Jared! Oh it was hilarious!
We played games and watched Dan In Real Life...Ryan and I fell asleep. Sunday morning we had another delicious breakfast and watched conference. Between sessions we took the kids to the park and let them run around. It was so nice outside. We came back and took some pictures of the cute kids! We finished conference and then had the yummiest meal ever...Cafe Rio salads! We didn't have anything to eat them in except plates so we used anything we could find including tupperware, mixing bowls, and best of all, a bread pan! After dinner Jared and Heather left and we were sad to see them go. We had a wonderful weekend together and my kids absolutely love them! Thanks for coming to visit guys! We can't wait til next time!

I don't have it that bad...

So everywhere I go I get asked if I have seen the show "Jon and Kate Plus 8!" I could always say no until now. Ryan fell asleep on the couch so I was just flipping through the channels and there was nothing else on so I decided to check it out. I have now been sitting here for almost an hour laughing out loud to myself. I seriously cannot even imagine. I have thought I have had a very bad couple of days between Easton slicing his eye open, Brady falling in the bathtub with his clothes on while I was in the shower, Easton getting a bloody nose, Easton getting a rug burn and 3 new bruises on his forhead (I guess he is very clumsy and yes, he looks like an abused child). I now realize that it could be so much worse. I am so glad that my kids were natural and I don't think there is any way I could naturally have 6 children at once. I have to say after watching this show my idea of how many kids I want to have is quickly shrinking. AAHHH!!! I feel stressed just watching it!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

The other day Ryan and I were eating chips and salsa and Brady and Easton were going crazy. We finally put them in their high chairs and gave them their own bowl of salsa. They seriously drank it...they loved it! It is their new favorite snack. They were such a mess after but at least they were happy!With all the excitement of Disneyland I failed to mention that my best friend from college came to stay with us for a few days. She has the cutest little girl Brooklyn who is just a few months older than Brady and Easton. It was so fun to have them here and spend some time with them. They are actually going to live here in the summer and we are so excited! Our kids had fun together! They loved to play upstairs and would chase each other around and then go sit on the ledge by our bathtub. They also loved playing with their toothbrushes which all matched! After 6 long weeks of not seeing the Geoff Hill family we have been so excited to spend some time with them again. We missed them like crazy! Last week Aleena and I took the kids to the park for the picnic. They were so happy to be together and they play so well! My kids love Aria and just follow her everywhere she goes! Laila is the most beautiful little baby ever, I cannot get enough of her!Day 4 and 5 of Disneyland coming soon...I have to get pictures from Whit and her mom before I post!