Our Party of 5

Facebook Wins....

2009-06-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

I've had a few people complain that I have not been very good with updating my blog so I will try and post some happenings in our family. I'll start with Alivia's 5th birthday. She turned 5 on May 28th and has been asking everyday when her next birthday will be. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and had a great time. She asked for a Pogo Stick for her birthday but we decided against that for now.Love the look on her face!Blowing out her candles.Maybe she is overwhelmed? Not sure!

Alivia is a witty, smart, and loving little girl. She has a temper to match though! She loves playing soccer, riding her bike, and LOVES her daddy. She is very excited to start Kindergarten next year and actually graduated preschool. She hated preschool when she was 3 and told everybody she was a "preschool dropout." We are proud of our little girl who is growing up TOO fast.

Aaron and I also celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on May 24th. We took full advantage of the 3 day weekend and headed to Big Bear, California. What a cool place! We look forward to going back with the kids soon. We stayed in a cute little cabin in The Village, did some fishing, ate lots of YUMMY food, and did some shopping.
On the fishing boat where we both caught trouts weight about 3lbs and measuring 18" long.Aaron with his trout.

I'm going to stop there because I didn't realize the pictures would be so big but I do have much more to blog about. I'll leave you with a few more pictures from Alivia's birthday(especially for you Mom).The all 3 stopped long enough for me to snap a picture(red eye and all!)
So excited about $20 for Grandma and Grandpa Egbert.
Alivia with "the rat".

Call it what you want....

2009-04-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Redneck, country bumpkin', hillbilly, hick, or even white trash. Aly taking a ride. Not as easy as it use to be a few years ago. Abby taking her turn.Alivia "no hands!"

We bought this 1950's Ford tractor about 4 years ago when we had our property in Alamo. We used it a few times but it's been "broken" for awhile now. We went to Alamo Saturday night to spend Sunday with some of my family. Aaron, my step dad, and my grandpa worked on it and after a few hours it was running. Of course, Aaron couldn't wait to start playing in the dirt.

How many people do you know own a tractor named Barbie? Well, the girls named the tractor Barbie after putting Barbie decals on it just after Aaron bought it.

We had a great Easter. We didn't get to go camping since Aaron had to work and had a scouting fundraiser, so we went to Alamo Saturday night. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast (as usual). I love Alamo in the spring. My mom's yard is the best in town! It's so quiet there and the kids spend the entire time outside just playing.

When friends are like family...

2009-04-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

It makes it even harder to say goodbye. Our very good friends packed up and moved to Alaska. It was bad enough when they left our neighborhood and moved to Scumerlin but all the way to ALASKA...come on now! We've been through a lot with them and I can't beleive they actually moved. We watched the kids grow up, several trips to Disneyland, lots of dinners together, birthday parties, Rock Band, and so much more. It is so hard to find good friends. We will miss our good friends but will never forget all the GREAT memories we made with them. See ya in Alaska, Mike and Becca.

What makes a mom happy....

2009-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Abby with the principal, Mr. Bailey.

Abby received the Super Hero award at school on Wednesday. The Super Hero award only goes to a few students in the entire school every trimester. She also received this award last year in the 1st grade.

While I am bragging about my kids, I should also mention Alyson received this award last trimester.

Now only if Alivia was in Kindergarten maybe we could go 3 for 3. GO GIRLS!!!

Where does time go?

2009-03-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

Alyson has been 10 for a week now! She got her first cell phone and reminds us daily that she'll never be a single digit age again. She had a fun weekend with friends over Friday night, Jonas Brothers 3-D Movie on Saturday, and friends from school over on Monday.

I have some pictures to post but have not downloaded them yet.

Totally Random....

2009-02-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I don't really feel like "posting" but I think the old lady giving the bird was getting old.

Happenings in the Egbert Family:

Soccer starts again in a few weeks. Actually, Alyson has already started. She had to find a new team since her coach is having some health issues. I am not sure we made the right choice of team for her but it's a short season so we'll see. 7 girls from her old team moved over together, so that's a positive.

I am now the Secretary in Primary. I served on the Enrichment Committee for so long, that I was ready for a change. It's fun being in there especially since I never attended Primary myself. We have a pretty large Primary!

Alyson and I now wear the same size shoe. Yes, she wears a size 7! I no longer can see the top of her head to do her hair. She has growing pains in her legs ALL the time so it won't be long before she is passing me up in the height department.

Abby has found joy in doing laundry which is okay with me. I hate laundry! She is doing very well in school and recently started playing piano. I will be coaching her soccer team again this Spring. She will be getting baptized on August 1st and is pretty excited about that.

Alivia is playing soccer again this Spring too! She is still going to preschool 4 days a week and loves every minute of it. I love it too! She gets pretty bored at home with me in the morning before preschool. She pretty much runs this household. I often wonder what she would be like if I would have had another baby.

Aaron is almost done working at project M and will transfer to Fountain Blue. He is still serving as the Scoutmaster in our ward. It's the perfect calling for him. Except the girls don't understand why they can't do all the fun things the scouts get to do.

I am trying to plan another Disney trip. I am not doing very well with the dieting but have decided I don't care. I start boot camp for fitness this week so my goal is to get into shape. If I can lose weight by working out, then great!!!!

Don't know if I posted this already or not. Aly recieved the Star Hero award last semester and The Scintas were there for the ceremony.

Sorry, this is so random....

Letter

2009-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

To the lady that shushed me during the FREE Little River Band concert:

On the road again...

2009-01-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

Aaron took the scouts ice fishing last weekend so I took full advantage of it and sent my kids to Alamo to see my mom for the weekend. Thursday night ,I went and watched my brother's basketball game. He is coaching at Faith Lutheran and they were playing Pahrump and Faith won! Friday night, a few friends and I had us a little girls night. We started here: The girls made me sit at the table so that I was facing the guy that looked like this:Okay, so this picture is nothing compared to the guy I had to look at the whole time.

After eating we headed to Red Rock Station to play this game: We were obviously the ones that had no clue what we were doing. We had fun but sadly didn't win.

After losing at Bingo we wondered over to the Rocks Lounge via the passed out lady laying on the floor to watch them:Zowie Bowie! Don't know how to explain them. They sang a lot of hip hop/top 40 songs. It was fun to watch all the drunk people and really fun to see 3 teachers from my kids' school. The kids and Aaron got home just in time Saturday for the babysitter to arrive and for us to leave and head to Primm to take advantage of free tickets to this legend: Good Times! Good Times!

Some fun Christmas Pictures

2009-01-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

Alivia and Grandpa. This was the Sunday before Christmas at the Gifford Party. I love this picture!
Why do you always make us stop at the top of the stairs for a picture????
The girls left a note on their whiteboard for Santa. It had to take a picture. Dear Santa,
I know that some people don't believe but I want you to know I will always believe. Love, AlysonThe girls got cameras for Christmas and Alyson took this great picture.Abby took this picture of Alyson Christmas morning.

Okay...be careful

2009-01-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

Those are the words I've been using lately. Seems Alyson and Abby have found the need to curl their own hair. I guess they are old enough, it just seems weird because I've been the one doing it all these years. They still are not great in getting the curling iron all the way down to the end so they fishtail it a little. It's okay though, they'll learn.

Friday night our neighbor took us to Famous Dave's for dinner. She wanted to buy us dinner for helping her out all the time. She is a widow (with no other family here in town) and has been our neighbor for 8 years. I took the girls (along with some friends) to see High School Musical on Ice on Saturday. It was kind of a last minute decision and I think the kids enjoyed it. As for me, I think they could have found a hotter Troy. Oh well, I guess the show was not meant to entertain housewives. LOL!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-06T07:41:00.001-08:00

Well, the holidays are gone and a new year has begun. With that being said, I am stuck with 20lbs to lose. Okay, I would like to blame it on the holidays but I can't because I've needed to lose that same 20lbs since about August.

I've joined a "Biggest Loser" competition ($20) and have until April to lose as much as I can. We will all meet at Sarah's house and weigh in and the winner with the highest percentage of weight lose wins the loot! I think it's up to about $400.00.

Here's my dilemma. I've tried doing meal replacements with shakes and stuff. GGGRRR..I felt really bad for my family for that week. I've tried low carb (after having Abby) and although I was successful and lost 13lbs. in 2 weeks, it is not really a lifestyle I want to live with. Weight Watchers works but I don't know about signing up for the meetings and stuff again. Pills? Shots? There are so many options out there and I need to make a choice....soon!

Christmas in Disney!

2008-12-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas in Disneyland. The kids and I packed up Sunday (14th) and left Aaron at home to work. Sounds cruel, right? He is working at M Resort and they had a big turnover so there was no way he was able to join us. We stayed at the Anaheim Hilton and had an awesome view of the park.

Highlight #1 - Alivia is now over the 40" mark so she was able to ride Space Mountain (loved it!), Thunder Mountain Railroad and pretty much everything else!

Highlight #2 - No crowds on Monday because of the rain. Didn't scare us off. We just headed out with our ponchos and umbrellas. Walked on to all the rides and even rode them more than once.

Highlight #3 - My kids were troopers. No complaining from anybody!

Highlight #4 - Being with some friends and having time with my kids.

Highlight #5 - Free tickets! Can't beat that.

Highlight #6 - Making it home. I woke my kids up at 5am on Wednesday because that big storm was coming in. I drove in the snow from the Cajon Pass all the way past Barstow. For those that don't know, it was far! Especially for me, the Nevada native. Notice their pants. We were very wet. In fact, I could squeeze the water from Alivia's socks.

Since being home, we've been busy. We had our annual progressive dinner with Aaron's family, the Gifford party, a few other parties and of course...shopping!

Cute, right?

2008-12-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

Aaron built a schoolhouse for the Schoolhouse Rock play my kids were in,so instead of them throwing it away, we built this:

Our very own gingerbread house.
We made the snowman and Santa a few years ago. Handy husbands are so....well, handy!

We had a yard sale on Saturday and I couldn't believe how well my kids handled it. I thought they would be trying to sneak things back in the house but they didn't. Actually, I let them help label things with price tags so they were eager to find things to put out. We ended up making almost $300.00. That means we had too much junk and as I look around there is still more junk we could have sold!

We started our yard sale at 6am because Alyson had to be at the soccer field at 1 pm for her last tournament. She did well and even scored a goal. This was it for the season. I am so impressed with the progress Alyson has made with soccer this season. Her coaches are great! They coach for the love of the game and not out of parental obligation. Neither one of these guys has a child, niece, granddaughter or any relative playing on the team. Coach Larry and Coach Al with Alyson. Impressive,right? I know I would never be that generous.
That's Alyson in the purple. Man, I wish my camera had a better zoom!Every year Aaron's Aunt Jamie does a Christmas video of the entire Gifford family (88 members thanks to Aaron's grandma and grandpa Gifford). She puts it to music and we are assigned different parts of a song. This year Aaron and I were assigned "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Clause." It's a lot of fun to watch the video and see all the different pictures.
Well, I would like to say I have all my Christmas shopping done, but I can't. I am running out of time but it will have to wait because the girls and I are going to Disneyland for a few days. We were able to land some free passes so off we go! Dad will have to stay home this trip because he has an important job, I guess. Sorry Dad!

Why we love our kids....

2008-12-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

We all have a past....

2008-11-29T18:26:00.001-08:00

Since, I just posted a few high school pictures on Facebook, I thought this tag was fitting.

1 Did you date someone from your school? Yes
2 What kind of car did you drive? A Lincoln Towncar - big ole' boat
3 Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try? Yes, even though the seatbelt didn't work, the horn didn't work and I didn't have to parellel park
4 Were you a party animal? Not really. More after high school.
5 Were you considered a flirt? Yeah probably
6 Were you in a band, orchestra or choir? No we didn't have that in Alamo...LOL!
7 Were you a nerd? This was the '80's. Being a nerd was cool.
8 Were you on any varsity teams? I swam for Clark's Varsity swim team until I moved to Alamo. Then I was a cheerleader.
9 Did you get suspended or expelled? Nope I was a good girl....Had them fooled.
10 Can you still sing the fight song? Sure can.
11 Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Anhder - no question!
12 Where did you sit during lunch? Usually at my house or somebody else's house.
13 What's your school's full name? Pahranagat Valley High School
14 What was your mascot and colors? Panther.Blue and Gold
15 Did you go to homecoming? Yes, I was homecoming queenMe with Stevie Ingram and Michael Stewart.
16 If you could go back and do it all again, would you? Yes(parts of it), it was a blast!
17 What do you remember most about graduation? The stupid story some lady read and it took FOREVER. Brandon, Rachel and Guy...LOL Rachel, Me, Kitten and Susan.

18 Where did you go on your Senior Skip Day? We painted the P mountain and then Cody Whipples and then went back to school for an awards ceremony.
19 Were you in any clubs? Yearbook. Alamo didn't have many "clubs"
20 Have you gained some weight since then? Yes,I don't want to think about that.
21 Who was your prom date? Guy Davis
22 Are you planning to go to your 10 year reunion? I am way too old for this question!
23 Did you have a job while in high school? I worked a little at Shumway's grocery store and at the Motel.

Good Times!!!
Tag all of you!

Tis' The Season...

2008-11-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Since we will not be giving any of our money to Disneyland this year, I thought it would be fun to do all the festive activities Vegas has to offer.

So, last night we jumped in the motor home and headed to Town Square to see Santa and watch it "snow". We needed propane in the motor home so we decided to fill the tank at the truck stop since we were already going to be in the area. We grabbed some pizza and sodas and headed out. I thought the line might be long to see Santa so I didn't really plan on it but there was nobody in line. We saw Santa and then waited for it to snow. It snows (soapy water) for about 10 minutes.

The kids had fun and it was nice to get out and do something as a family. Oh, how it made me miss Disneyland. Nothing else can compare but we'll have to wait until next year...

Soccer Season is over

2008-11-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

I always look forward to the end of soccer season but then I usually end up missing this...

Abby, Quincy and Leilah

We had a rough season playing mostly club teams but we did great and the girls learned so much.

About Me....

2008-11-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Tagged Again

About Me Tag.

 I AM: A wife, a sister, a friend, a daughter, a granddaughter, mom to my 3 girls, a soccer coach.
 I WANT: season passes to Disneyland, new carpet in my house,to lose 15 lbs, a 1 story house
 I HAVE: a great husband,active kids,lots of nieces & nephews, cool sister in laws.
 I MISS: swimming, my friends in Alamo, being young sometimes, my kids when they are at sleep overs.
 I FEAR: haunted houses, the economy getting worse, confrontation, something happening to my kids.
 I HEAR: Silence (I am home alone)
 I SEARCH: the internet, for the bottom of my laundry basket,for sales and coupons
 I WONDER: how my kids will turn out, if we are stuck in Vegas forever,if I will get better at running.
 I REGRET: not finishing college when I was younger, losing touch with some friends
 I LOVE: My family and Aaron's, my van, my mattress and pillow
 I FORGIVE: but have a hard time forgetting! Myself for some bad decisions.
 I ACHE: right now because I have an ear infection, cold sore and canker sore, for my grandparents.
 I ALWAYS: hate getting dressed for church, wait until the last minute to do things, tell my girls I love them.
 I TRY: to be organized, to be involved with my kids and husband, to go to bed early, to not watch too much TV
 I AM NOT: liking my hair or my clothes
 I SEEM: lost at times.
 I KNOW: how to talk to my kids,what I am getting everybody for Christmas
 I FEEL: sick and tired and I need to sneeze
 I DANCE: when just my kids are home with me
 I DREAM: about some weird stuff
 I GIVE: the finger to people sometimes when I am driving
 I LISTEN: to all kinds of music. Even some rap now and then.
 I SING: to myself, in the opposite dirrection of the person beside me so that they cannot hear my voice. (I really wish i could sing)
 I LAUGH: at Alivia a lot (she says the funniest thing),not enough
 I CAN'T: draw or do anything crafty
 I WRITE: in my journal about every six months or so (I always forget)
 I CRY: when my kids are hurt, when a family member is sick
 I SLEEP: with Aaron in my bed
 I AM NOT ALWAYS: organized, nice to my kids,patient
 I SEE: very well thanks to Lasik surgery
 I NEED: to stick with the running schedule,throw a bunch of toys and clutter out
 I SHOULD: be more motivated to do the things that I want to do, work out, eat better, be more grateful.

November,right????

2008-11-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

It's hard to remember with a forecast that looks like this:

I'm not complaining too much since we still have one more soccer game and Alyson has one more tournament. For weeks I've been wanting to put away shorts and stuff but we are still wearing them!!! I love our weather here in Vegas and I often wished I lived somewhere else until I really think about the 9 months of pretty good weather we get here in Vegas.

Well, since the weather has been so nice our ward is still do their park days. Last Friday we were privlaged enough to see this little addition to our play group:Yes, we were shocked to see a bobcat in the bushes not too far from where the kids were playing. We watched him for a minute until he jumped over the wall into a backyard. On my way home I called Animal Control but have no idea if they ever found him or not.

So, I am soooo sick of hearing about this :

PREGNANT MAN HAS A BABY

First of all he is not a man! He is a she. I wish the media wouldn't make such a big deal about it! I had to explain to my kids last night the meaning of transgender. Not an easy task!

2008-11-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Tagged...

8 Things

8 TV Shows
1. Biggest Loser

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. Desperate Housewives

4. Little People, Big World

5. My Name is Earl

6. Amazing Race

7. Survivor

8. Deadlist Catch

8 Restaurants

1. Macayos, a must for every great childhood (i agree with Diana)

2. Bajio

3. Cheeburger, Cheeburger

4. In-n-Out

5. Applebee's

6. Blimpie

7. Joe's Crab Shack

8. Chili's

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Took kids to school

2. Did some visiting teaching

3. Ran

4. Went to Ross and Walgreens

5. Made dinner

6. Laundry

7. Picked kids up from school and play rehersals

8. Went to a coupon class

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. Going to Disneyland

2. Getting better at running

3. Using coupons the way I was taught last night

4. The Holidays

5. Good sales after Thanksgiving

6. Soccer season being OVER!!!

7. Doing our 5k

8. My hair growing out a little

8 Things on My Wish List

1. Some new towels

2. Some warmer running clothes

3. New mats for my van

4. To be more organized

5. Season passes to Disneyland

6. That Abby's eyes would stop changing

7. That we could find a small (but not too small) town to live in

8. To pay off my house

8 People I Get to Tag

1. I

2. don't

3. know.

4. If

5. you

6. cant

7. think

8. of anything else to blog about or if it's been a long time..

I love our police scanner....

2008-11-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

About 2 years ago we bought a police scanner and let me tell you, it's addicting. We go through stages of listening to it all the time, to not listening to it for weeks. Well, last night we were on our way home from Cory's (Aaron's brother) and we had the scanner in the van so it was on and we were sort of listening to it. While getting the kids in the house we heard the dispatcher say our street name. What??? Wait!! What did he just say? So,we watched outside for awhile and nothing happened so we were all getting ready for bed when all of a sudden all 3 girls came running down stairs saying that the cops were out front telling us to come out of our house that the house was surrounded. Poor kids were shaking with fear and secretly so was I. Well, Aaron walked out front while the kids and I ran upstairs to look out Alyson's window. They were not at our house but across the street trying to get the young kids (home alone at 10:30pm) to open the door. Of course I had the scanner upstairs with me so I could hear everything going on.

Sadly, the 7 young kids were home alone and would not open the door. The cops kept telling them ,loudly on their speaker system, to unlock the door and let them in. The cops finally called for a locksmith and animal control (they have 3 pit bulls, nice!). After about 1 hour (still no locksmith) I guess the kids were brave enough to open the door.

Let me tell you how sad it was to see these young kids taken from their home late at night by Child Protective Service. Little babies being carried out asleep by strangers and young kids running back into the house to get formula and medicine for the sleeping babies.

I'm not sure where the parents were or how the cops and CPS knew the kids were home alone but it made for an eventful night and like I said, I love our police scanner!

Bit of a slacker....

2008-11-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to Quail Creek to get our motor home and bring it back here to Vegas and decided to make a night of it. We didn't have soccer games so we left Saturday afternoon and headed to St. George. It was a fast trip but it was fun. It was just us so we did some fishing, played some games, drank some yummy A&W Root beer, and the girls and I saw High School Musical 3 in St.George on Saturday.
This year was Halloween burn out for me. We had our ward carnival on Wednesday, school party on Thursday and actual trick or treating on Friday. Friday night we also went to Aaron's Mom and Dad's house for some home made doughnuts and other yummy food. Alyson dressed as a baseball player, Abby as Cinderella and Alivia a witch.
Alyson played in a all-star soccer tournament this weekend and did very well. She played 3 games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. They lost on Sunday to the Utah Wildcats. I didn't take any pictures but she's playing in another tournament this weekend so I will take the opportunity to take lots of pics of her playing. On Sunday we also went to this cuties baby blessingMaeve Iris Egbert. Kevin and Tiffany's little girl. SOOOO Cute!!

So, I am on week 3 of a 5K training program. It's so much easier when you have a goal and a partner to train with. Alivia is going to preschool 4 days a week now and loves it. She goes Mon-Thurs. 12:50 to 3:20. Abby and Alivia only have 2 soccer games left until the end of the season. I can't wait because I am burned out!

Campaign Slogan...

2008-10-23T09:21:00.001-07:00

Alyson likes to be involved in EVERYTHING. So it was no surprise when she told me she wanted to run for Historian at school. Historian is in charge of taking pictures at certain events and also helps out with the yearbook. We need to make 6 campaign posters to hang up in the hallways and I am in need of a catchy slogan.

Of course, there is always....

Alyson Egbert

Egg-cellent Choice for Historian.

or

Got Alyson? She does a student body good.

or

Always Alyson!!!

I don't know! It is hard to rhyme with Egbert. Well, that's what we will be thinking about over the weekend. They can start campaigning on Monday.

What to do???

2008-10-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

So we have a weekend with no soccer games, no birthday parties, no church meetings, no nothing!!!!

What is a family to do?

Go to Alamo (we haven't been since early August), Go camping at Quail Creek (in St. George), stay home and do nothing??? I mean there is plenty for us to do at home. We could clean the garage (we would need more than a weekend for that!), we could take off our solar screens and clean them (btw...we've never done that!), there is always yard work to!

Such a tough decision!!!

Debate...

2008-10-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just turned it off to watch My Name Is Earl..

What a shame!

Trick or Treating is going to suck this year....

2008-10-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Jill!

New Addiction....

2008-10-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

So, I really need to blog about my trip last weekend but I am waiting for some pictures. I didn't take any good pictures with my own camera so I am waiting for Jenny to send some to me. (Jenny, if you are reading this could you please send me some pictures...)

Also, I've been sucked into Facebook. I've had an account for awhile but didn't realize that's where the party was!!!!

Okay, back to the girls trip. What a blast!!!! We did a lot of laughing, eating and most of all we discovered her.... Joy on My Name is Earl was playing on this very cool airline....JetBlue has satellite TV and radio playing at every headrest in the plane!

So, after watching Joy on the plane on the way to Salt Lake, I knew the weekend was going to ROCK!!!!

New Playlist

2008-10-01T17:55:00.001-07:00

Put some new songs on...Turn it up and take a listen.

Unless you don't like any of them, then turn it down....

Update on Gramps...

2008-10-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a quick update on my grandpa. He's been home (in Alamo) for over a week now and is doing better. He was in the hospital for 17 LONG days and some of those days were pretty grim. He's a tough ole' goat and the doctors call him a miracle. Of course he is a miracle, he's my grandpa!!! So many people were praying for him and we continue praying for him daily.

We've been staying pretty busy. Alivia is in preschool 2 days a week (across town), gymnastics and soccer. Alyson is still in piano, soccer (0f course), achievement days and she has a solo in their school play. She would be involved in everything if she had time. Abby is still doing soccer, pulling straight A's and is also in the school play. I am coaching Abby's team still and help out with Alivia's team too. Aaron just works and goes where we tell him...LOL!!! Also, now that the weather is cooling off, the girls spend any extra time outside riding bikes or jumping on the tramp. Life is good!

I love this quote and makes it all worth it...

"Little you can give each other in the family is more powerful than the gift of time, laden with personal interest. It say's "I am here for you. I give you my time.""

This weekend....

2008-09-29T20:56:00.001-07:00

You can find me here,

Jackson Hole, Wyoming via Salt Lake City.

Girls weekend, no kids!!! YEE-HAW!!!

It's about time.

Election...kind of a joke....

2008-09-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

"Actually, it was kind of a smart choice. McCain went with a woman because he didn't want to have to be in a position to have to get CPR from Mitt Romney." –Jay Leno

"This isn't a presidential ticket, this is a sitcom. The maverick and the MILF." –Bill Maher

"Insiders claim that even though Jesse Jackson supports Barack Obama publicly for president, privately he doesn't like him. You know, it's kind of like Bill with Hillary." --Jay Leno

"Barack Obama gave a big speech on race, and there was one heckler in the audience, kept screaming crazy stuff the whole time. Turns out it was his pastor." --Jay Leno

"All three presidential candidates appeared on 'American Idol.' It was interesting. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell looked at them and said, 'Wait, there's a black guy, a woman and a cranky white guy. You stole our formula!'" --Conan O'Brien

This week, at a McCain rally, conservative Bill Cunningham used Barack Obama's middle name, calling him "Barack Hussein Obama." McCain criticized Cunningham and publicly apologized for the use of Obama's middle name. To conservatives, it is a mystery why Cunningham's remark warranted an apology. But then John Hitler McCain is a mysterious man.

And for the debate tonight....No comment!!!

Happy Birthday Shout Out....

2008-09-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

1988 The twins were 2 years and 8 months(it's written on the back). Samantha was 13 and Andrea 8.

Happy Birthday to the twins, my 1st cousins (Jamie and Jessica)! I can't believe you guys are 23 years old either! Make me feel really old. I remember your mom going into the hospital to have you.

Hope you have a great birthday!

Pros and Cons

2008-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

I know you all want to see a picture of my new hair, but it's really hard to take a picture of yourself. I will try and remember to have Aaron snap a picture in the next few days.

So, about twice a year I go through this thing of really wanting to move to Alamo. Usually the urge goes away after I realize I am (for the most part) happy to live in Vegas. The girls have good friends, good teachers, and we are comfortable here. I thought I needed to make a Pros and Cons list of moving to Alamo. So, here it is...

Cons
Limited activities for kids
Not having amenities close by
Traveling for Dr. appts. (trips to urgent care at 2am)
Leaving friends we have now
Aaron might have to commute for awhile
Kids get bored and in trouble (just like Vegas)
Favoritism by some teachers and coaches
Some of the teachers scare me
No soccer or swimming or rec. centers (i would sooo miss those)
No Fast Food!!

Pros
Close to lots of friends I've had since H.S.
Pay off all debts (if we could sell our house)
Help my Grandma with my Grandpa
Smaller schools
Space to roam
More trees and grass
Mom in same town
LDS community
One hallway High School
Community looks over their own
Family
Community is growing a little
Slower pace of life
No Fast Food!!

Alamo is a great place and I loved going to High School there. I think the girls would like it there too. It's a big decision and I don't think I will EVER make up my mind!!!!

Short Hair....

2008-09-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

I am so doing it!!!! I have such thick, course hair that trying to grow it long is just STUPID!!! I like all 3 of these so what do you think?

short, layered, wedge haircut is what I will be going for.

Wish me luck, I am going tomorrow!!!! Plus, short is in!!!! YEAH!!!!

Soccer, Soccer and more Soccer

2008-09-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Soccer season is in full swing....(SIGH!) This picture of Alivia is before her first practice.

We were at the soccer field Saturday from 7:15am to about 2:30pm. Aly's game was at 8am, Abby's at 11am and Alivia's at 1pm. Aly's team won 9-0, Abby's team lost 5-3 and who knows about Alivia's team. At that young age, they don't keep score.

My Grandpa had 8 inches of his colon removed Saturday because they found more cancer in his colon. They also removed a tumor out of one of his lymph nodes. He is not out of the woods yet but is doing much better than all the doctors expected him to. It has been an emotinal rollercoaster for all of us.

The best part of this whole deal is that my 2 uncles stayed with us for a week. That never happens since the majority of our family are right here in Vegas. I was thrilled to have them stay with us, just wish the circumstances were a little different.

Preschool....

2008-09-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

Alivia started preschool last Wednesday and LOVES it. What a relief!!!! Most of you know she was proud of the fact that she was a preschool drop out last year, so this is huge for us....
She also started soccer this season and is by far the smallest on her team.
Alyson and Abby have both started soccer as well. Which means our Saturdays (and Tue. and Thurs. nights) are spent at the soccer fields. This Saturday Aly has a game at 8am, Abby at 11am and Alivia at 1pm. OUCH!!!
Labor Day weekend we went to the 51's game. Here's some pics of us sporting the new hats we got.
Aaron bought me a new scanner the other night but I haven't had much time to play around with it. I have a huge box of pictures just waiting to be scanned. My sister in law throws away the pictures after she scans them. I don't know if I can do that???? Anyways, here's a picture that Aaron scanned for me of my grandpa and I two years ago. We were at a family reunion (camping, of course!) and it just happen to be on our birthday's(6/11/2006). This was the last day of our camping trip and I look horrible but I will treasure this picture FOREVER!!!!

Great Grandma....

2008-09-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hazel L. McVay

McVay, Hazel L., 97, passed away peacefully Sept. 3, 2008. She was born Feb. 23, 1911in Idabelle, OK, to David Anthony and Pearl (Goodman) Morris. She was a homemaker and married Charles McVay on Dec. 31, 1938, who preceded her in death. Also preceded in death by parents, infant daughter, Bobbie and grandson, Patrick. Left to celebrate her life filled with memories are daughter, Jerry (Kenneth) Bean of Wichita; sons, Ben (Linda) Tidwell of Alamo, NV, Tom (Ann) Tidwell of Desert Hot Springs, CA, Charles Jr. (Barbara) McVay of Wichita; 17 grandchildren; several great-grandchildren & great-great-grandchildren; companion, Aaron Taylor. Celebration of life 1:30 p.m. Monday, Old Mission Mortuary, family and friends gathering at noon for visitation. Final interment at Old Mission Cemetery, Garden of Love. Memorials: Faith Chapel, 6808 E. Harry, c/o Food Pantry, Wichita 67207. Condolences: www.oldmissionmortuary.com.

She lived a great life full of service to others and her church. I hope if I am lucky enough to live until 97 years old, I can be as healthy and active as she was.

My Grandpa, her son, is in the hospital and we are not sure what's going to happen. I am terrified of losing him. Does he know how much I love him? Does he know the summers spent with him were my favorite? Does he know how grateful I am that he's lived in Alamo for the last 15 years? Does he know that I could sit for hours listening to him tell stories? Does he know how much my kids and husband adore him? Does he realize the little things that will be etched in my memory forever?

Mixed Feelings....

2008-09-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have so many mixed feeling today.

1. My Great-Grandma, 98 years old, died today. She is my Grandpa Tidwell's mom and lived in Kansas. I didn't know her too well because she's always lived so far away. I remember her coming to our house to visit a few time. What a great life she lived!!!!
2. My Grandpa Tidwell will be in town again today for some more testing. Poor guy, I know he's not up for it.

3. We have our first soccer game on Saturday and I am way NERVOUS. We've only lost 1 game in 3 season but I think this season will be different. The league moved us to the highest division so we play mostly club teams. We scrimmaged another team last night and got trash kicked bad!!! I know at this age it should be about having fun, but I really hate to lose.

4. I am struggling with Alyson's soccer team. She is on the same team as last season but the girls are not nice and she is having a hard time. This team has lost several GOOD players because of a few "mean girls". I didn't want Alyson to switch teams because I know in life you have to learn to deal with these kind of people. It breaks my heart though because Alyson is such a sweet, loving,easy going kid. I got in bed with her last night explaining that these girls are not going to make or break her life. Plus, she's a better soccer player and can outplay any of them!!!! I am regretting my decision and wish I would have made the switch like a few other players did.

5. Alivia starts preschool today!!! WHOO! HOOO! She dropped out last year but is way excited about going this year. She only goes 2 days a week for 2 hours but it's better than nothing. I plan on going to the gym while she's at school.

6. We are only a week and few days into school and I am already SICK of homework. I guess it's the days we have soccer that are the hardest. It seems like Alyson is always dragging her feet and never finishes it all before we have to leave for practice. She's got plenty of time to get it done. I feel like I am always nagging her to hurry up.

You're Gonna Miss This or Then They Do by Trace Adkins is what is running through my mind right now!

Let's....

2008-09-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Change the subject!!!

So, we missed out on going to the Gifford Reunion this year. We had a few different reasons for not going. My grandpa had his appt. with the Oncologist on Friday and I didn't want to be out of town in case they admitted him to the hospital. Well, they didn't do the biopsy right, so they have to do another one next week. HOW IRRITATING!!!!! We had a couple other reasons for not going too. My kids were pretty bummed we didn't go. I guess they like looking like thisand like this
The kids get extremely dirty and they love it!!!!

Instead we had a BBQ and went to a 51's game with some friends (no names to protect the innocent, LOL!!!). We have never been to a 51's game and Saturday night was fan appreciation night so we scored some coupons to Carl's Jr., free ice cream sandwich, some hats, and a very cool firework show. Yesterday, I met up with my mom and the kids went to Alamo. They took the kids to Pioche yesterday for some more fireworks. Aaron and I sat at home and watched National Treasure 2 and 21. We are getting ready to go to breakfast ALONE and do some shopping.

McCain must want to lose.....

2008-08-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Although I am a Joe Biden fan, I can't believe McCain did not pick Mitt for his running mate!!! I think Obama did a GREAT job picking a running mate. The Delaware senator has held two of the most important jobs in Washington -- chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

I dont call myself a political expert but who is Palin?

The Plunge

2008-08-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well, most of you know that I was a competitive swimmer for lots of years growing up. I lived at swim practices and swim meets. I was Top 16 in the nation and a Junior Olympic swimmer in several events (I really need to fix my scanner because I have some really neat pictures). Anyways, I went and worked out at the pool today. The whole time I was swimming, I thought to myself, "Why haven't I been doing this everyday of my adult life?" It is such a great way to exercise since it works every muscle in your body. I know why!!!! I kept thinking "I will go when I get skinnier" and since that is not happening too fast, I took the plunge today! I guess, with age, you stop caring what other people are thinking.

I am swimming with Christian, our friends son, because he really enjoys swimming and wants to improve. So while I am getting in a little exercise, I am also helping him become a stronger swimmer. The lap swimming times are a little crazy at Desert Breeze so we are going to shoot for at least 3 times a week for now. I can't believe how great I feel this evening. I am already planning to go to the gym tomorrow morning and also swimming tomorrow before soccer practice.

I would LOVE to start my own swim team! I'm always asking myself "What am I doing coaching soccer?" I love soccer too but with my knees, I don't think I could play on an adult league or anything.

Well, time to sit down and read Harry Potter with Alyson. Who, by the way, asked to read Twilight. WHAT????? Yeah, right!!!!! You are 9 years old. There are a few girls in her class reading it. Whatever happen to Little House on the Prairie or Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing????

School...what did you think????

2008-08-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

AHHH....

First day of school.
Alyson with her "girls"
Abby with her BFFI would like to do a better post but I have the worst sore throat,so I am off to bed!!! Can't tell you the last time I was in bed before 10pm.

P.S. Please keep my Grandpa Tidwell in your prayers. He was just diagnosed with stomach cancer and I am heart broken. I was born on his birthday and was his first granddaughter and for those reasons I have always felt a special bond with him. He is 80 years old and cherished by many!!!!This picture was taken a few years ago on our birthdays at a family reunion.

Feels like Christmas Eve....

2008-08-24T20:45:00.001-07:00

'Twas the night before school starting, when all through the house
not a child is stirring not even a mouse;

The outfits are hung by the hanger with care,
in hopes mom won't tell me "find something else to wear"

The children were rushed and hurried to bed,
While visions of summer fun danced in their heads;
And Mamma relieved she can finally take a nap;
And get back to the gym cuz she's gotten real fat....

Now, Alyson!, Now, Abby!, Now Alivia and Maggie!,
Stop bickering, stop yelling, stop all that dang fighting
Grab your backpack and lunchbox, get into the van!
Off to your teachers as fast as we can!

So Random

2008-08-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Stole this from Andrea's blog.......

1. Do you wear a name tag at work? No, dont need to for my job....lol!

2. What kind of car do you drive? 2005 Toyota Sienna

3. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell? 2 crunchy tacos

4. Have you ever had a garage sale? Yes, we made $2800.00 in a combined garage sale. We donated it to my brother in law and sister in law.

5. Is/was your best friend a cheerleader? Of course!!! Whatelse is there to do in Alamo....

6. What is your best friend's favorite color? Blue and Gold...lol!

7. What college do you want to go to? None right now

8. What's the most unique thing you have in room that you are in? Fairy Wings (part of a halloween costume)

9. Whats one thing people may not know about you? I hate eggs, corn and biscuts and gravy.

10. Do your bed sheets match your room? Yes, they are white

11. What's the color scheme? nothing really, neutrals I guess

12. What kind of cell phone do you have? Samsung - cheap phone cuz my other one broke in June.

13. Who was your best friend sophomore year? Samantha

14. What color is your iPod? I dont have an ipod but my MP3 player is black

15. What kind of dog do you have? Poodle - Maggie Moo

16. Have your older sibs ever told you that you were adopted? Don't have any older siblings.

17. What is your favorite key chain on your keys? My Disneyland one but it's broken

18. What did you get for graduation? Money, Money, Money

19. What is your favorite Dane Cook quote?? Don't have one.
20. Who introduced you to Dane Cook? I know of him, but don't know much.

21. Who was your prom date? Guy Davis

22. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear? Nope but we have a million of them

23. What DVD is in your DVD player? A Red Box movie that NEEDS to go back

24. What's something fun you did today? My visiting teaching????

25. Who was the principal of your high school? Larry K Lytle

26. Has your house ever been TP'd?? Yes when I was in High School

27. What do you think of when you hear the word "meow"? Um, a cat?

28.what are you listening to right now? My kids downstairs

29. What is your high school's biggest rival's mascot? Lincoln County Lynx...Better dead than red!

30. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart? I hate Wal-Mart!!!

31. When is your mom's birthday? August 8

32. When is your dad's birthday? Jan 11

33. What's the area code for your cell phone? 702

34. What did you get for Valentine's Day? Dont remember

35. Which one was your favorite Backstreet Boy? Whatever....

36. Where did you buy the shirt you're wearing now? JcPenny

37. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror? Yes

38. Favorite class last year? Didn't have one!

39. How many states in the US have you been to? Almost all of them

40. Which ones? Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Oregon, Washington D.C, Detroit, Ohio (I could keep going)

41. What kind of milk do you drink? I dont....YUCK!!!

42. What are you going to do after this? Laundry and take Aly school shopping.

43. Who was the last person you went shopping with? Alyson and Abby. We needed a new shower curtain.

45. What is your favorite fruit? Bananas and Kiwi

46. What about your favorite dessert? Chocolate anything!

47. What is something you need to go shopping for? Tons! I am out of everything.

48. Do you have the same first name as one of your relatives? No

49. What kind of car do your siblings drive? Bob drives a Monte Carlo and my half sister is only 12.

50. What bank do you go to? Nevada State Bank, Wells Fargo and Cumorah

51. Do you like pickles? Not really

52. How about olives? Yes

53. What is your favorite kind of gum? Wrigley 5 - any flavor

54. What is your favorite kind of juice?? Schwann's Black Raspberry

55. Do you have any tan lines? Yes on my feet

56. What hospital were you born in? Women's Hospital Las Vegas, NV

58. Do you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher? Nope!

*Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...
*They have to be real places, names,things...nothing made up!
*Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.
*You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

*WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Robin

4 LETTER WORD: Rush

*VEHICLE: Range Rover

*CITY: Rochester

*BOY NAME: Robert

*GIRL NAME: Rochelle

*OCCUPATION: Realtor

*SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Rocks....on your fingers

*FOOD: Rice

*SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Rogaine

*REASON FOR BEING LATE: Rodents

*SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Run Forrest Run!!!

I tag: Anyone caught reading this blog...I know who you are. So get to it!

Camping the with Utes(i mean Orme's)....

2008-08-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went camping with our friends, the Orme's (who are BIG Utes fans). We left Friday night (Egbert style) and didn't get up to the cabin until about 11:30pm. No biggie for us but probably not a highlight for the Orme's.

The Orme's have 3 kids. A 12 year old, 9 year old (who, if arranged marriages were legal, would be Alyson's future husband)
and a 7 year old (Abby's BFF!!)
We've spent a lot of time hanging out with them this summer and I think this is the best summer my kids have had.

The kids did a lot of riding 4-wheelers and motorcycles and we even fit in some fishing. The adults had some good laughs and the dogs.....Well, that's a different story. LOL!!!!

We roughed it with no motorhome (in tents) so I've come to appreciate our good ole' coach. We left Sunday and stopped in St. George for some lunch, a dip in the pool and a milkshake! If we could have found something else to do, we would have done it just to avoid coming home.

The weekend was a blast! Oh yeah, I can't take credit for any of the pictures. I forgot my camera so here's a shout out to Chellie for making this post possible....

Addiction???....not me!!!

2008-08-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

The very first time we took the kids to Disneyland was in October 2002. We went with my mom and stepdad. Alyson was 3 and Abby was 15 months old. Of course, my scanner is STILL not working so I don't have any pictures to post. We spent 4 days there and enjoyed every second! Abby was scared of the characters but we did the whole autograph thing anyway.

This was our second trip to Disneyland. It was in October 2003 and we were there with most of Aaron's family(can't believe how much the family has grown). There was 18 of us. I was also pregnant with Alivia.
This was our third trip to Disneyland with the Wachel's in October 2004. We stayed the whole week, it rained on us 2 of the days we were there and Alivia was only 4 months old. GOOD TIMES!!! Check out the "short" hair. When I was pregnant with Alivia, I had a girl cut my hair and she did an awful job so this was an attempt to get it back to "normal" Annette and Denny met up with us on this trip.
Our fourth trip was in August of 2005 when we went with my dad, brother, half-sister, and stepmom. We had already planned on going at Christmas time with the Wachel's so we bought season passes on this trip. This is not a very good picture but I can't find all the other pictures we took on this trip. Sorry Dad and Bob. Our fifth trip was in December 2005. We again went with the Wachel's and went to SeaWorld before heading to Disneyland. It was so nice to go at Christmas time. In Feburary of 2006 (trip #6) Alyson, Abby and I went along for a quick trip with my sister in law Annette and some of her family. I left Alivia home this trip and enjoyed some time with the older girls. In May of 2006 we went with our friends, The Hosier's. They had never been before and we still had our season passes so why not?
Our season passes expired in August of 2006 so Aaron and I took a trip ALONE in July. I felt weird being there without the kids but we did things we don't normally do. We went on a few tours, we slept in and we took naps and then went back in the evening.

OK, I will stop there for now! I think I have 3 more trips to report but I will wait and do another post for those. I loving going to Disneyland with my kids. They will always have GREAT memories of the trips we have taken with our friends and family.

School Clothes...GRRR!!!!

2008-07-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Why is it when certain girls

Get to a certain grade

They have to pick ugly ( I mean certain) clothes

Now I try to be a "hip" mom but where do you draw the line? I hate to tell her "NO! Alyson that is ugly" but what is a mom to do? Alyson has her eye on the UGLIEST Hannah Montana outfit. I got out of buying it last week but she thinks we are going back to get it.

Whatever happen to this girl

Egbert Camping...

2008-07-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

This will just have to be a boring post with no pictures because I didn't take one single picture this weekend. We spent the weekend in Kolob with Aaron's family. We left on Thursday night so we had all day to hang out on Friday and Saturday. It is really nice to be able to get out of Vegas and the heat for the weekend. The kids are always entertained and the adults get to hang out and relax.

We played games (thanks Patti for all the new games), went fishing, rode 4-wheelers and enjoyed some good food!!! Alyson wrecked on her 50cc motorcylce on Friday but was not hurt so the weekend went flawless! We had a chance to visit with all the siblings except for Kevin and Tiffany because their baby is due TODAY!!!

Thursday before we left, I took Alivia to have her hair cut off. She hates for me to brush or put her hair up so I cut it short. It looks adorable and it was so nice this weekend to be able to brush it (without tangles)!!

I love it here....

2008-07-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are in Alamo right now and I LOVE it! Alyson rode her bike down to the gym yesterday and today for the volleyball camp she's playing in. How nice is that? She is always asking if she can ride her bike to school in Vegas, yeah right! I don't even let her ride around the block by herself.

Abby, Taylor (abby's friend), and Alivia have been playing outside the entire time. The only time they come in the house is to pee, eat and sleep. Oh wait! They've been eating outside on the grass. My grandpa's dog (Spike) was sprayed by a skunk last night so we had to wash the dog in tomato juice. It took the kids about 5 minutes to fall asleep last night and I have not heard 1 single police helicopter

I think I could get use to this way of life....

Happy Birthday Abby!

2008-07-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Abby turned 7 on July 14th!!!!

I am working on a slide show for her but thought I would post of few pictures of her special day. I told her she could pick 2 friends and do something small. So she picked Katie and Taylor to go to Libby Lu at the Galleria Mall. Of course, her younger and older sister had to go too! It was fun for them to get their hair, makeup and nails done. After our mall visit we headed to Cheeburger, Cheeburger (my new favorite place) to have some dinner! We had a big crowd but once everybody had a seat and ordered some food, it was all good!!!!

They brought Abby a "Happy Birthday" milkshake and sang to her. Soon after, she dropped the entire thing on the floor and had it all over her, the floor and the chairs....

Good times!!!

Hardy Party

2008-07-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went the Hardy Family Reunion on Kolob Mountain. We have not been to this reunion in YEARS!!! I'm not sure why but it seems like we always have something else planned during this reunion. Last year we were in Alaska and the year before that we were in Disneyland. Anyways, I am glad we decided to go this year. It was actually pretty fun.

The drive up was not so fun because of the rain, lighting, and cars crashing into light poles right in front of us. Aaron drove the motor home and the girls and I drove in my van. It started to rain on us in St. George and the girls were scared and worried about Aaron behind us in the motor home. Heading into LaVerkin a car coming towards us lost control and slammed into a light pole right in front of us! I totally panicked and didn't know if I could just call 911 from my cell phone. DUH!!!! I know. Anyways I called Aaron to let him know we were stopping to help so we ended up waiting at the scene so I could fill out a police report. The lady in the car seemed to be okay. I couldn't believe how fast the emergency vehicles were on the scene. Good thing too because it was pouring down rain!!!

It was really nice to be out of Vegas for the weekend. The kids enjoyed themselves too. Here is Alyson after Eric painted her face like Gene Simmons from Kiss: On Saturday some of the guys took the kids down to the reservoir to do some fishing. They towed Aaron's boat down there with Adam's Ranger. Anyways, a storm moved in REALLY fast and they were caught in a hail storm (hope that's how you spell it).
Eric (Diana's husband) drove 10 screaming kids all the way back to camp. My kids ran straight for the motor home but I couldn't resist snapping a picture before letting them change. Good memories!!!!

We left the motor home at the cabin in Kolob because we are going back in 2 weeks just to hang out. I love being married into this huge and crazy family!!!!

Last Year......

2008-07-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

So, about this time last year we were getting excited to go here:
Farmer's Market in Seattle, Washington

Which was our first stop on our way to here:
Alaska!

We were in good company with these people:
Kevin and Erin MohlerGary and Sheila Mohler

We saw some of these:

We went to celebrate this:
Our 10th wedding anniversary.

We did some amazing things! We went whale watching, saw a few glaciers, canoed up to a glacier, watched some pretty hot lumberjacks, ate entirely way too much food and hung out with really cool people.

Sitting at the pool with the kids today made me realize how nice it was to get away from the 117 degree weather, even just for the week!

Alivia....

2008-06-27T14:16:00.001-07:00

I started working on this slide show for Alivia for her 4th birthday 31 days ago!!! I finally had time to finish it! She is such a blessing to our family and keeps us entertained and laughing....

Disney Again????

2008-06-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am a Disneyland FREAK!!!!
Taylor, Alivia, Conner, Alyson, Ethan, Abby, Me, Christian, Shelly, the Orme's Grandma, and our Uncle Bob.

We left "the dads" home to work and headed to Disneyland with our friends, The Orme's. It was a blast!!! We left on Tuesday and came home on Friday. We went to the park on Wednesday and Thursday. It was fun for the kids to have their friends there with them and all the kids were so well behaved. It was my birthday on Wednesday while we were at Disneyland so I made sure to get the birthday button from City Hall and wear it all day. The cast members are so good at making sure they say "Happy Birthday". We had a good time!

Aaron went fishing in Canada for 5 days before our trip to Disneyland. He caught a 36" Northern Pike.

The kids and I got home yesterday afternoon, we packed them up and Aaron took the kids to the fishing tournament at Eagle Valley. So, I've seen Aaron for about 2 hours in the last week and a half. I love having the kids out of school all summer. This is the first year we are not year around and I can tell it's going to go by so fast. We have lots planned!!!!

P.S. I Love You...

2008-06-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

GREAT MOVIE!!! I watched it last night while Aaron packed his suitcase. He is leaving today for 5 days for Canada. Bombard Electric always sends the General Foreman on these cool trips. He's been to Oregon (twice), Cabo San Lucas, and this will be the 2nd time to Canada. I blame Bombard for Aaron's obsession with fishing!!! Aaron caught this Blue Marlin in Cabo.He even took the scouts ice fising this past winter.

CLUB READ - a great way to get kids to read over the summer. another great way to get kids to fight over who gets to read to Alivia so they can mark off another box on their chart. another way to go to the library and check out 35 books that will HOPEFULLY not get lost......

By the way, P.S. I Love You is a great movie!!! I think husbands would even sit through it without too much pleading and begging!!!!

Busy....

2008-06-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have so many things to share but I haven't been able to download all my pictures yet. We went to San Diego a few weekends ago, Alivia turned 4 and we had her birthday party at Pump it Up (what a rip off that place is!!!), Alyson's team took
2nd place in the Championship soccer game, we had Abby's soccer party and Alyson's soccer party. This all in the last 2 weeks!

Plus, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

WOOO HOOO! This is the first year we've not been on year around so it will be interesting....

I plan on posting (with pictures) about all the activities we've been involved in the last few weeks!!!!

It's MOVING!!!!

2008-05-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!!! My weight loss ticker is moving in the right direction. Weight Watchers is going well. It's a slow but effective way of eating healthy.

We'll just see how it goes this weekend. We will be going to San Diego for a wedding and to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday. Our kids are going to Alamo with Grandma so it will be a nice getaway.
I just can't beleive how his hair looked at our wedding! What was he thinking? My mom also forgot our rings at our house and we had to use Kevin Mohler's wedding ring and Shelly's engagment ring(her first engagment, that is). Then, Aaron put the ring on my right hand instead of my left but luckily things have worked out!!!

I can't believe we've been married 11 years. Time really does move so fast. We've experienced so much together and I couldn't ask for a more supportive, talented husband. He really is amazing and I am so lucky to be in such a great relationship!

There's no place like home....

2008-05-21T07:31:00.001-07:00

From 1993 to 1996, I worked for a seminar company and would be in a different state almost every weekend. I would usually leave on Thursday night and return home on Monday morning. I got to stay in some pretty fancy hotels but I also stayed in some scary places too. Detroit, Michigan was one of the scariest places! We actually stayed in Downtown Troy. It was a great experience and I met some interesting people....

A few of these state I've actually traveled to without it relating to work.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Where does time go?

2008-05-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

I found this slide I made awhile back. I can't believe how fast time is moving!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

I love Mother's Day! I love how excited my kids are to bring me breakfast in bed along with a few present. I love how Aaron makes it exciting for them and makes a big deal about it. I love going to church and listening to the primary sing a song for us. It's just a special time of the year and it makes me want to continue being a good mom. It even makes me wish to be a better mom because I realize how much they rely on me to set a good example.We had a pretty good weekend. We didn't do much Friday night because I wasn't feeling well. Thursday I had some sort of stomach flu. It was weird but I am feeling better now. Saturday we only had 1 soccer game and we ended in a tie 1-1. Abby and a few other girls were knocked around a bunch during the game. The team we played tripped, pulled on uniforms, and shoved. So frustrating as the coach because we are not allowed to say anything to the referees. So it was hard to watch my girls get shoved around. Abby came home with bloody, scrapped up knees. I asked Aaron to take some pictures of Abby playing but of course, I don't think he ever got up out of his chair to get any close ups. Coaching makes it hard to take pictures! Abby's the one with her leg pulled back ready to kick the ball. Abby pushed again by the red head girl that looked like she was 10.
I don't mean to be a bad sport but I hate Neusport!!!!

Alyson didn't have a game so we came home and did some work around the house. Aaron had a side job to do so the girls and I just hung out and watched Princess Diaries, AGAIN!!! We went out to dinner with our friends, The Orme's, last night and had some Prime Rib!! Yummy!!! I saved almost all my points (and ran 2 miles) for dinner and didn't even have to use them all. We had fun at dinner and laughed almost the entire time. We have a super busy week coming up and an even busier weekend. I hope to remember to bring my camera!!!

Strikers

2008-05-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

So here's a few pictures of Alyson and her team, The Strikers....
She is on the upper row, second girl in from the left. You should be able to spot her, she's the tallest one! Ok, she's not the tallest in this pictures because she's standing next to Shania. Second girl in on the top row.

Soccer, bowling, and.....

2008-05-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

First let me mention Alivia started dance on Wednesday. I remembered to take my camera and was able to get 3 pictures before the battery was dead! I am sooo bad at making sure my camera is charged, the card is in it and actually taking it with me. But isn't she cute.....
So we had a fun and busy weekend. Friday night we played parents of 1 child. WOW!!! How easy is having just one kid. The older girls were hanging out with friends so Aaron, Alivia and I did some shopping, ate at Subway and then went to the park to pick up our kids. We hung out at the park until about 9pm and chatted with some friends of ours while our kids played.

We had to be at the soccer field at 9am on Saturday morning for Alyson's soccer pictures and Abby's game started at 10am. I was so proud of my little team and especially proud of Abby. She scored 2 goals! We won 3-0. After Abby's game we had an hour to kill before Alyson's game so we went and got something to eat and then headed to a different field for Alyson's game. Her team did really well even though they lost. Alyson played most of the game and worked really hard. After the games we headed to Red Rock Bowling Lanes for Ashlee's birthday. The girls bowled, had some pizza and cake, and played a couple video games. Of course, I didn't have my camera at the soccer games or the bowling alley.

Then the real fun started! We headed over to Mike and Becca's (with Golden Spoon, of course) to play Rock Band. It was a lot of fun and I got a chance to sing, play the drums and play the guitar. It was a blast and we had lots of laughs. I can't wait for it to come out on Wii. I read it's suppose to come out on June 22????

Oh yeah, didn't do so well last week at Weight Watchers but I'm making up for it this week. I'll update my weight tracker after our weigh in on Thursday.

Just a few old and new....

2008-04-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

I got this idea from my cousin Andrea. I started thinking about the different cars we've had. So here it goes:

This is not an actual picture but my scanner is broken so I just found one online. Plus I have NEVER lived anywhere this cold.....

My very first car in high school was a 1985 Lincoln Town car. It was pimp! We had so much fun in that car. It was the ride of all rides. The funny thing is that when I traded it in for this 1993 Nissan Sentra:

They only gave my $800.00 for it. So then I drove the Sentra for about 4 years. Just in time to pay it off and then total it in a hit and run accident. That was the second accident in that car but I loved it. It was sporty and dependable. Even when I ran it out of oil once and then burned the clutch up in it.

So once the insurance company totalled it, Aaron and I were engaged to be married so we bought a 1997 Saturn.Aaron was driving his 1993 Dodge Dakota and we used it as our "nice" vehicle.
When Alyson was born I was driving the Saturn and Aaron was driving the Dakota. When Alyson was about 13 months old we bought our first Ford Expedition.
Aaron still drove the Dakota and I drove the Expedition after trading in the Saturn. In 2004, we traded the 97 Expedition for the 2003 Expedition. Aaron drives the Expedition because we sold the Dakota about a year ago and I drive my 2006 Toyota Sienna XLE. I LOVE it and I can't believe I didn't make the switch until after having Alivia. It is not this color. Mine is a dark grey color.

We also bought a Dodge Neon off of ebay in 2003. It was a cute little car but ended up selling it about a year and a half after buying it.

None of these pictures are actual pictures of our cars but I tried to find ones that were pretty close. We are happy with our current vehicle situation. I love having new vehicles but I also love not having HUGE payments too.

Another trip to the scale....

2008-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

So we weighed in yesterday and I lost 2.4lbs. I don't feel deprived or hungry and have found some yummy recipes. I don't feel like I am on a diet either. I've just changed the way I shop and prepare my food.

I went to the gym on Saturday but didn't make it the rest of the week. My goal is to go to the gym 3 times before next Thursday.

A friend of my mentioned I should have pictures taken every week and post those so I can see my progress for myself. I might just do that!

911...What's your emergency

2008-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Alyson and Abby were talking about emergencies and how to handle them in Girl Scouts last week. I play Bunco with their Girl Scout leader, so on Friday night she was telling me that Alyson told the story about her calling 911 because her parents were "missing!"

About a year ago I was coming home from Target and when I turned down a street close by home, there was a truck that tried to jump a huge ditch in the road and didn't make it. There were a few fire trucks, metro officers, etc... I called Aaron and told him to walk down to the corner to check it out with me. (the guy in the truck was okay because he got out and ran away from the scene).

The kids were asleep so Aaron opened the garage door and walked outside to take a look. Alyson woke up and couldn't find us in the house because we were standing down the street (like 20 yards away from our front door). She got scared, woke up her sisters, let the dog out of the kennel, and called 911. I thought I could hear them so I walked back to the yard, and there they stood. All 3 girls, the dog and the cat. Alyson was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher and when she saw me she told the dispatcher "oh, there's my mom." Poor girl was shaking and scared. I couldn't get to her though because Maggie (our poodle) wouldn't let us in the yard. I explained to Alyson she did the right thing and we love to laugh about it now! Aaron walked down to the corner to tell the officer to ignore the 911 call to our address.

Sorry it's such a long blog but I wanted to write about it since I am using this as a journal.

Before it's too late..

2008-04-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

*Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry,and
pick you up and take you to the park to play.

*Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink,
and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

*Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

*Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once,not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

*Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

*Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies,and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

*Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

*Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

*Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

*Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

*Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours,and miss my favorite TV shows.

*Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

*I will think about the mothers And fathers who

are searching

for their missing children, the mothers and

fathers who are

visiting their children's graves instead of

their bedrooms, and

mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms

watching

their children suffer senselessly, and screaming

inside that

they can't handle it anymore.

*And when I kiss you good night I will hold you

a little tighter,

a little longer. It is then, that I will thank

God for you, and

ask Him for nothing, except one more

day.............

It's here....

2008-04-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about the heat! It's suppose to be 92 degrees on Saturday. I'm not sure if I am ready for that kind of heat, especially since we have 4 soccer games still. It is so hard to play (and coach) when it's 100 degrees outside. Luckily, all of our games are pretty early in the morning. Alyson has one game that is at 1pm. I pray for a cool down before that game.

Friday night I went and played Bunco and rolled the most Buncos. I won $20! I love playing Bunco because it's super easy and fun. It's just nice to hang out with friends and not have to play Mom for awhile.

I woke up early on Saturday and hit the gym before our soccer games. Abby's team tied 0-0 and Alyson's team lost 3-1. I only got to see half of Alyson's game and they were winning when I got there! Frustrating for a team that didn't lose 1 game last year. We went to lunch after the games and then did some shopping. We stopped at home to change and then headed to the drive in movies. It was super windy and the kids were tired but the 2 movies were really cute. We watched Nim's Island and Horton Hears a Who. We went with our friend and their two kids. You can totally tell by looking at our hair that the wind was blowing. We sat between the 2cars to help block it.

We taught Abby's primary class on Sunday and I really enjoyed it. I love teaching in primary. I love it because I learn so much.

Not too shabby...

2008-04-17T11:14:00.001-07:00

So we had our first weigh in and I lost 3 lbs. I think I could have lost more but I got a LOVELY visit from you know who last night so I feel bloated and everything that comes with that monthly visit.

I've only been able to make it to the gym twice this week so that is my goal for this week. I am going to try and make it atleast 3 times this week.

We've had 2 soccer games already and we won both games and the girls are doing great! Alyson's team has lost both games but they are playing in the highest division in the leauge. They are playing against teams that travel to other states to compete. So they are doing great considering what they are up against every week.

We had a busy weekend but I didn't take one single picture. Friday night we went to Sheldon's birthday party, Saturday we had games, I had my hair done, and we went cosmic bowling at Red Rock Station. I love staying busy! We have another busy weekend ahead of us...

Once and for all...

2008-04-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

I will succeed in losing weight, I will make it to the gym, I will continue to go to my Weight Watcher meetings (with a few of my friends now, YEAH!!!), I will reach my goal!!!

I have posted a weight loss ticker on my sidebar. Brave, right? No, it's desperation and determination. I will get to my goal this time and stay there!

Snoop Dog did what?????

2008-04-08T07:45:00.001-07:00

Rumor has it, Snoop Dog was baptised into the LDS church. I've read different stories saying that it was an April Fool's joke but I can still have faith right? I LOVE Snoop! I think it would be hilarious to sit behind Snoop Dog and his family during sacrament meeting. I'm not sure if this story is true but I loved reading it!

Though Snoop Dogg has been hesitant to publicly discuss his recent spiritual journey, he commented on the experience of attending his first “Family Home Evening” in a recent interview with People Magazine.

“I was hooked from the start,” Snoop Dogg said. “We talked about the purpose of life, played Mousetrap, and ate brownies. The kids thought it was off the hook, for real.”

Gas is too out of control....

2008-04-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

Especially when your driving that. Last spring/summer we took so many trips in our trusty ole' motor home but this season is going to be a little different because the cost to fill her up is CRAZY!!!!!

We bought this motor home in March 2007. We have used it 11 times since we bought it. We picked it up for $5,000 and did a little work to it. Okay - it was more than just a little work but it was all sweat equity work and now it's doubled in value.

We took it out over Easter weekend and have a few more trips planned but nothing like last year. We've had to eliminate a few trips (ie..Coral Pink and Gifford work project in Kolob) but we still plan on going to Manti, a few reunions, and a trip or two to Eagle Valley.

We've talked about selling it and getting us another trailer but I LOVE traveling in the motor home. The girls have access to the bathroom, we can go get cold drinks out of the fridge while traveling, TONS and TONS of room for storage, and I love being able to pack a few things and go because everything is already packed. I guess for now, we'll keep it and hope gas prices go down or we may be in the market for a new "rig" next season.

Field Day

2008-04-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

The girls had field day on Friday so Alivia and I went to support the girls and help out the PTA. For the last 2 years, we have been out of town for field day so this is the first year since Kindergarten Alyson has participated so she was really excited.

I was so glad they decided to do it a little earlier this year so that it wouldn't be so hot. I remember in elementary school, field day was an all day event. It was usually in May and we were lucky if we didn't get heat stroke! Good ole' days!

Anyways, field day now only last for 2 hours and everybody was a winner. No first, second or third place classes, and NO tug of war! Heaven, Alyson, Nicole and Emma. A few of ALyson's really good friends since Kindergarten.Abby with a few of her friends for her class and Alivia too! The kids at their school all LOVE Alivia and sometimes I feel like she's a distraction.Alyson dribbling away! Abby doing the jump rope race. She was really fast!They couldn't get enough of Alivia.

We have our first soccer games of the season this weekend. I'm kind of nervous because our goalie from last season decided to play softball and so we are training a new goalie. I have to go pick up the schedule today so we'll see what team we are playing first. I can't believe how nervous I get for these games!!! Especially because we had such an awesome season last year. I hope we can do the same.

Fishing...again???

2008-03-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

So Aaron decided to go fishing today with his friend Mike AGAIN!!!! I can't get into his excitement for fishing. I like to go fishing once in a while but seriously he would go EVERYDAY if he could. I've seen him checking out the BassPro Tournaments online. Luckily, I don't think they have BIG tournaments like that at Lake Mead. However, those pro fisherman make some serious bank. My DVR is filled with different fishing shows and he even has the girls watching them!

So, the girls and I will be heading to soccer practice for a few hours and then we may catch a movie. I've been thinking about taking them to see Horton Hears a Who. Alyson spent the night at her friends house last night so I will be picking her up on the way to soccer. Man, I hope they didn't stay up all night. That is one thing I dislike about sleepovers. I hate how grouchy they come home the next day.

We went to dinner with our friends Mike and Becca and Becca's parents last night. We went to Joe's Crab Shack so the kids could play outside and we could visit and catch up. It's been WAY, WAY too long since we last seen them. They are such good friends and I love spending time with them. We were at Joe's for about 3 hours and we were still chatting in the parking lot. Good times are had when we hang out with them!

The girls had field day yesterday so Alivia and I hung out at school through field day and lunch. Alivia was having fun with the girls so I hung out with the PTA group while she sat at the lunch tables with the girls and even went to recess with them. She cried when we finally left but was asleep before we even got home. I got a peek at the yearbook and I can't believe they have a picture of Alivia in it. Does that mean I spend too much time there? Not really, they just all know and love her there!

Who needs boys....

2008-03-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Not us!!!!

We went camping over the weekend with Aaron's family. We did some Easter egg hunting, riding ATV's, air soft gun fights, and relaxing. I love getting out of town and hanging out around the campfire. I did not do much camping as a kid and I am so grateful that my kids will have TONS of camping memories.

I am working on a online photo book of our trip. I will post it when I am finished. Hope everybody had a Happy Easter!

Doodlebops

2008-03-16T19:54:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why I didn't blog about this before but a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to take Alivia to see the Doodlebops. My cousin had bought them to take her nephew and neice but was unable to go so I got to go with my SIL Annette and her daughter Adrianna.
The girls had fun and the seats were not bad!!! I thought it would be something fun to do with just me and Alivia. I try and make a point to spend "quality" time with each of my kids alone. It seems it's easier with the older girls to find stuff to do so this show was perfect!

The funny thing is that I had to make a point of turning on the Doodlebops a few times a couple days before so that Alivia would know who they were. She loves them now and kept saying the entire show "Mo is awesome." She tells me she misses them. Too funny! The things we do (and sit through) for our children......

Thanks Samantha for the tickets!!!!

Easy Reading....

2008-03-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes - Robert (grandpa) Ben (grandpa) - Robin
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? today when I tried on a pair of pants and they are too tight
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING Yeah, it's not too bad
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? pastrami
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? yes 3
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? of course!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Just a little
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? heck yeah!
10.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? anything sugary
11.DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12.DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? anything chocolate
14.WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? attitude
15.RED OR PINK? Red
16.WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my weight and growing my hair color out
17.WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST Mike and Becca
18.DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Yep
19.WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? plaid pj pants and no shoes
20.WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE Tuna Sandwich
21.WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Big Brother on Tivo
22.IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Hot Magenta
23.FAVOURITE SMELLS? My house after baking
24.WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Aaron
25.DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Becca-She ROCKS!!! Well, I think she does. I miss her :(
26.FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Nascar
27.HAIR COLOUR? brownish blondish
28.EYE COLOUR? green
29.DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Not anymore - thanks to lasers
30.FAVOURITE FOOD? Anything Mexican
31.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings.
32.LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Evan Almighty
33.WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black Old Navy shirt
34.SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer.
35.HUGS OR KISSES? Both
36.FAVOURITE DESSERT? Brownies
37.MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Don't know
38.LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND Don't know
39.WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Helen Keller with Alyson.
40.WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have a mouse pad - wierd!!!!!
41.WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Big Brother
42.FAVOURITE SOUND? Alyson learning to play the piano
43.ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles are cool - even Alyson can sing along
44.WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Alaska, Hawaii, Florida??? Which is furthest?
45.DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I'm good under pressure - is that a talent?
46.WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Good ole Las Vegas, Nevada
47.WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Everybody!!!

Good times...

2008-03-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

It's so funny that I always look forward to having some time by myself and then while I am by myself I miss my family.

Aaron took the girls Friday night to meet some friends at Valley of Fire to do some camping. It ended up being a short trip for them but they had a blast! I planned on going until I found out Anya, Jamie, and Erin were all staying home. So it ended up being kind of a dad and kid campout.

It's probably better anyways because I'm sure they have more fun when us "grouchy" moms are not there. It's hard to see but our kids are up there! Even Abby!!!!!

Aaron took his fishing boat with him so they also fit in a little fishing at Lake Mead. Not for very long though becasue Alivia lost her fishing pole in the lake so she decided to take a nap. She was pretty sad about it. She kept telling me the fish ate her fishing pole.

They had fun camping and fishing and I hope the girls know how lucky they are to have a daddy that is so fun to hang out with!

Not even sure if anybody is reading my blog because the lack of comments! Oh well, I think it is a great way to journal and I plan on printing the pages and putting them into a notebook.

9 going on 13...

2008-03-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well, Alyson is only 1 year away for being a double digit age. She informed me of that yesterday!

Sunday was Alyson's 9th birthday so on Saturday we went to Justice for Girls for some makeovers. Alyson had her very best friend, Sydney, stay the night on Friday night and then Saturday morning we went to Justice and then to lunch.

It was a blast for her and I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Abby

2008-02-27T09:54:00.001-08:00

Since I did a post about Alivia, I thought I would include one on Abby.

Abby Christine Egbert is a true blessing. To know Abby is to love Abby. Unless, you get her wet when she's not expecting it, if she can't do something right the first time, if she doesn't bring home all A's every week, if the cat or dog get on her bed, if she can't find her homework folder, if she's tired, if she thinks we are going to be late, if her pants are too tight on her ankle, if you tease her about boys, if she's not the first one to the van everyday, if one hair is out of place in the morning or if it drys before she gets her headband on. She is pretty picky with her food compared to the other girls.

However, Abby is the most generous, thoughtful, and caring person I know. She is always worried about other people. For example, a little boy in her class handed out little stuffed animals for Valentine's. Well, the kids in the class started punching the little stuffed animal in front of Miguel. It made Abby so sad becasue she thought Miguel's feeling were getting hurt by them doing that. She was almost in tears when she was telling me what the other kids were doing. She has an incredible smile that complete strangers are drawn to. I never have to remind her about taking care of her glasses. The eye doctor is always amazed that we don't have to come in and fix her glasses all the time. She is a tough little girl and has been through some difficult things. She was in the hospital last year and didn't complain the whole time. She even took out her own I.V. My heart breaks for her sometimes because she is so sweet and I know I will never be able to show her how much I love and appreciate her!

Today I am grateful for....

2008-02-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

Platinum Extended Warranties!!!!

I've been complaining for the last few weeks about my brakes making a really horrible noise. So last night Aaron checked my brake pads in the front and back. Well, as he was checking the front brakes he noticed a leak from my water pump. He ended up replacing the back brakes because the front ones were okay for now. He thinks I drive too fast so of course I got a lecture about the wear and tear of brakes. YEAH! YEAH!

I made an appointment to take the van in at 10am this morning. Went pretty smoothly. I also mentioned to the service manager about the passenger side door trying to smash my kids every now and then. Sometimes it will open half way and then just start closing automatically. Luckily it does have a safety feature so it wouldn't have smashed them completely. My DVD screen is loose and I am SOOOO sick of hearing "Mom push it back". Meaning, it wiggled forward and they couldn't see it that great!

Also, some radiator gasket was missing, the power steering was leaking fluid, and I have a belt about to bust. Plus, the coolant for the water pump is green and it should be red. HUH? I guess we'll have to blame good ole' Jiffy Lube for that one.

Anyways, ALL of these repairs are covered under our Platinum Extended Warranty. YEAH! Even a rental car was covered! 2008 Toyota Camry. Not sure if we'll ever use the amount of money we paid for the warranty but for now, I will pick up my van tomorrow without paying a cent!!!!

So I am grateful for a husband that can save me money by replacing my brakes. (that was not a covered item) and for our decision 2 years ago to purchase this wonderfully expensive warranty!!!

Cuz I care...

2008-02-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

YOU MUST KNOW *77

I knew about the red light on cars, but now the*77 . It was about 1:00p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. Lauren's parents
have always told her never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.

Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called *77 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was an
unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.

I never knew about the *77 Cell Phone Feature, but especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull
over for an unmarked car. Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe and quiet place. You obviously need to make some signals that you acknowledge them ( i.e. put on your hazard lights) or call *77 like Lauren did.

Too bad the cell phone companies don't generally give you this little bit of wonderful information.

*Speaking to a service representative at **Bell** Mobility confirmed that *77 was a direct link to state trooper info. So now it's your turn to let your friends know about *77.

Send this to every woman (and person) you know; it may save a life. This applies to ALL 50 states

Alivia

2008-02-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

What do I say about Alivia???? Nothing much to say besides the fact that she won't go to preschool, she hates going to sunbeams, she watches the same episodes of Curious George over and over again, she aggrevates the cat and dog, she colors on things, she has to have a nightlight and the dryer light on at night, the minute Aaron leaves for work (4:30am) she is in bed with me, there are certain people she WILL NOT talk to (ie..Bob Egbert,Diana's husband Eric), she thinks she has to watch a movie in the van even when we are just going to the grocery store, she doesn't know the word "hold on a minute", she throws a fit when we have to leave Alamo, she hates swim lessons, she cries when I make her pick up her toys, and she won't hold her crayon the right way!!!

Besides all that, I have never seen such a sweeter girl! She brings so much joy and happiness to our family. She is witty, spunky and loving. The other night after I had tucked her in, she yelled from her bed "Mom.....I'll miss you til the sun comes up. Stopped me in my tracks. I started crying because I know she loves me unconditionally. She loves me when I feel angry, depressed, overhelmed, stressed and everything in between. She loves to scratch my back and never misses a chance to tell me she loves me. She loves her sisters and can't wait for them to get home from school everyday. She's happy to be home playing trains with Aaron or helping me fold laundry. When she sees something she wants, she doesn't throw a fit in the store. She normally says "Mom can I have that for Christmas next year." She is very independent and figures out just about anything on her own. She doesn't mind that we call her Monkey, Rae Rae, or even Maggie once in awhile (our dog). She never complains about being in the car so much. Whether it's taking the girls' to school, to soccer, to piano, to girl scouts. She's cool to be along for the ride. (with the movie playing, of course).

Random

2008-02-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

So I found this on another blog and thought it looked fun...SO this is what you do...first, read the question, second, type the first answer that comes to your mind in Google image search and third post the first picture that comes up

1. Age you will be on your next birthday 34

2.Favorite Food Mexican

3.Favorite color Red

4. Place I would like to visit Bahamas

5. Where I live Vegas

6. Name of past or present pet Maggie

7. One of my favorite places Disneyland

8. Favorite Holiday 4th of July

9. Bad Habit too much tv

10. Favorite Animal Dolphin

11. Favorite cartoon from your childhood Smurfs

12.Your name - Robin

13. Sports you play or played swimming

14. Favorite Extranvagence (what you do with a little extra money) - Housecleaner

Kind of hard to use the first image cuz there is some funny ones....

Addictions...

2008-02-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

So, I thought with the writers strike I would be able to be more productive. Yeah, that's not happening. Instead, I've found new shows to become addicted to.
Ok, Moonlight! Same story line as the Twilight book serious. Vampire meets human, blah, blah, blah! However, Mick is HOT!!! I'm new to the show so I am still watching reruns to get caught up. That's okay with me though cuz I could watch Mick all day, everyday!Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood. I didn't even know Snoop Dogg was married. This ain't the Huxtables! That's a line in his opening song, and it's the truth. Probably not the best show to watch but I LOVE Snoop. I've always loved Snoop! Little People, Big World. I am a fan of the Roloff family. I would love to live on their 32 acre farm in Oregon. Jon & Kate plus 8! Parents raising a set of twin and sextuplets! I'm sure with sucess of the show, it's easier to do. She's recently hired a nanny, they get VIP treatment when they go places and they hired a housekeeper but I can't imagine her life when the sextuplets were babies! Ok, call me a dork on this one. One Tree Hill. It's a modern day Beverly Hills 90210 and I was a devoted 90210 fan. Didn't miss an episode! Not a show to watch if you get offended easily. Some of the references towards the LDS church are not the best but I can look past that.

Anyways, that's just a few shows that I've been able to get addicted to while the normal shows (grey's anatomy, desperate housewives, etc..)are held under lock and key.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions,

2008-02-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've really paid close attention to the Presidental race. I listen to talk radio, watch Fox news, and read about it online everyday! I would not call myself an expert on all the issues but I am nervous about the 2 candidates that we'll have to choose between come November. They both suck rat patootie!

Now I know they say it isn't final yet because they still have a few more states to vote but I am just preparing myself now. I am not a fan of either candidate but I know voting is my obligation as an American citizen.

Aaron and I switched parties this year and voted for John Edwards (democrat). He didn't get one single delegate from our precinct. I had origanally thought of switching back (republican) for the general election. What is better, voting for a Republican that I can not stand or voting for a democrat that is CRAZY!?! Bloomberg as an independent? I don't know, could happen!

Why do we wait on these things...

2008-02-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Dear teachers, home projects end up being parent projects!

So, Abby had a project due today at school. First of all, I hate home projects! Alyson had so many of them in the 1st grade, that I cringe when I see that little piece of paper come home explaning what project we have to do.

So last night at 7pm, we started her project. Today is the 100th day of school so they had to do a project displaying a 100 of anything. We did this project with Alyson in 1st grade also. Her teacher liked it so much, that we didn't get it back! Oh well! So this is what we made for Abby...

100 marshmellows over a camp fire! Yes, last night we glued 100 marshmellows. The hardest part was keeping track of them because Alivia kept trying to eat the ones we had counted out. Abby was proud of her project and so was I.

Hair Issues...

2008-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

So, I've been having issues with my hair for awhile. Can't decide if I like it dark, blonde, or brown with blonde hightlights. So I am going today to have some blonde highlights put back into it. I hope it helps and makes me feel refreshed.

I have also been doing Weight Watchers at home and have been doing pretty well. Today, I've decided to go join the meetings. I thought maybe posting about my weight loss journey would help me stay motivated. I'm hoping to lose 20lbs. It's the same 20lbs. I lost about 2 years ago.....

Devastating...

2008-01-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

So a few days ago my cousin, Raymond, was diagnosed with bone cancer. I guess I should mention the fact that he is only 31. He has 3 kids and is a WONDERFUL dad. I am shocked and devastated. He has to go to LA for treatment becasue Las Vegas does not have any bone cancer doctors here. I will continue to pray for him! His family loves him so much and I can't imagine him not kicking this thing....I love you Raymond!

Good Times...

2008-01-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we suprised Alyson and Abby with tickets to see Brad Paisley.

They love Brad and watch his TV concerts over and over again. They know most of his songs word for word. We bought box seats so we didn't have any drunk, rowdy people next to us. The girls could see perfectly and didn't have to worry about people standing up and blocking their view. It was so much fun to watch them sing and dance to all the songs.

Abby had to take a little nap during the show but woke up to dance to her favorite song - Ticks!

We drove to Alamo on Friday and the girls had their pictures taken in Alamo on Saturday. We left Alivia in Alamo with grandma and came back to Vegas for the concert. Aaron was ice fishing with the scouts so he met us in Vegas just in time to leave for the concert.

Your kiddding, right?

2008-01-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

So today has been crazy! Aaron is the Scoutmaster in our ward and today they left to go ice fishing for 2 nights. Yes, they are camping in tents, in the snow just in hopes to catch a few fish! I'm up for roughing it a few nights in a tent but in the snow, NO THANKS! Needless to say, he was not ready and that meant the Scoutmaster wife had to get all the stuff pulled together for him. Not sure what time they ended up leaving the Church but they had about a 3 hour drive ahead of them.

I'm thinking that wife to the Scoutmaster sounds like a pretty good church calling!

I went to the doctor to get my results from my blood test and everything was normal. Except, my gallbladder enzymes. They are very high and I just might have to have it taken out. I go next week for an ultrasound to double check.

Well, the kids and I are going to Alamo tomorrow for the night. The girls are having their pictures taken up there on Saturday. My cousin and her 2 kids are going with us.

It's been an exhausting day, my house is trashed, I have no idea what the girls are going to wear for their pictures, Alivia is asleep on my bed (along with 2 loads of clean clothes needing to be folded),there is a police helicopter circling around the neighborhood, and I haven't packed to leave tomorrow morning!

Didn't work

2008-01-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

I tried to post the link to the Girl Scouts webpage for the cookie choices.

It didn't work but here it is again...

http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/meet_cookies.asp

Forget your diet....

2008-01-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Order some Girl Scout Cookies!!!!

Even though I don't get that many responses on here, I thought I would mention Alyson and Abby are selling Girl Scout Cookies.

Meet the cookies. They are 3.50 a box. Since I have 2 girls in scouts they have double the cookies to sell!!!! We will start delivering cookies about Feb.23rd.

Random...

2008-01-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I've agreed to coach another season of U7 girls soccer (Abby's team). My brother and I coached last season and it was a true learning experience. We played 13 games and we were undefeated until we lost our very last game of the season. I was pretty bummed that we didn't have an undefeated season but we came close!!! Over half the team is coming back for another season with us, so I am hoping it will be a good one. It is very time consuming, especially, because Alyson plays also. So that means practice for both of them during the week and at least 2 games on Saturday. I did have to miss a few of Alyson's games last season because of time conflicts with Abby's team. Alyson's coach is not returning so I have no idea what team she will be playing for. She tried to talk me into coaching her team too, but I don't think that will happen! I like soccer but my real passion is swimming. I would love to be able to coach for a swim team here in town.

I haven't been feeling very well for the last month or so, so I went to the doctor to have some blood work done to check a few things. I went to Labcorp for the blood work and let me tell you, I have a bruise about the size of an orange on my arm. A nurse in my ward said that they probably hit an artery instead of the vein. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday to get my results and hopefully come up with a reason I've felt so bad lately.

Aaron knows I've been feeling really down and depressed lately so he brought these home for me on Friday. Pretty thoughtful and surprising enough, I felt so good last night.

Aaron built a fire in the backyard in our new fire pit and we sat outside for awhile and watched a movie through the sliding glass door. We have speakers outside so we were able to hear it as well. I made hot chocolate and we ate oatmeal and toast for dinner. It was a nice, relaxing evening and I enjoyed hanging out with the kids and Aaron. Aaron has his tent out and setup so that he could waterproof it before he takes the Scouts ice fishing. He is really looking forward to this trip next weekend.

This morning we went to our caucus location and represented our candidate. It took longer than I had thought and we stayed to help put away chairs. I guess all the years in the church, it wasn't even a second thought.

3 is our number

2008-01-14T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, since I am only having 3 kids I am stuck on what to do with all the baby quilts I have. Of course, I will keep (and treasure) the ones my cousin, Andrea, made for each of my girls. All the others really have no significance. I've kept a couple for the girls to play with but I still have SOOO many. I haven't been able to bring myself to donating them to DI either. I've often thought about giving them to other people that are having babies. It always seems like everybody has plenty of baby blankets. What to do, I am stuck...

Our ward is having a New to Me enrichment. We are setting up our stuff that we no longer need or want and everybody can walk around and take what they need or want from somebody else. Everything else will be donated to Shade Tree. That might be an idea.

This is all part of my clutter free way of living, which is going very well. Still have a few more closets and cupboards but I am on my way...

Bowling, Tennis, Baseball, Guitars

2008-01-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

Oh WII!!!

We went to Brianhead with Kevin and Erin Mohler over the weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and came home on Sunday. We had planned on taking the kids tubbing on Friday and Saturday. So, we got all dressed up but we were turned away on Friday because of the wind. Saturday the wind was blowing even harder so we didn't even attempt it. Aaron and Kevin took the older kids out for a little while to do some sledding. They had fun playing in the snow but the real fun was playing the WII.

It was a great trip and I am so grateful to have Kevin and Erin as friends. We also converted yet another couple to the great game of Settlers of Catan!!! Yeah!!

Aaron also enjoyed his time in Brianhead....

Happy New Year...

2008-01-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

I know it's a week into the new year already but we've been out of town almost all week.

For New Years we went to Alamo after Aaron got off work on Monday. We hung out with our friends Rachel, Brandon, Mark, Kitten, and Melinda. Of course, we had all of our kids so there was 14 kids total. Actually, Alivia was not feeling well so she stayed with my mom and went to bed early. It was fun and everybody made it to see 2008.

New Years day we went shooting with Rachel, Brandon and their kids. It was a lot of fun. A few of the guys that work for Aaron bought him a GPS for Christmas so we went to Box Canyon in Alamo and found the Geo Cash there.

They also found the rock I spray painted my name on probably about 16 years ago. Don't worry everybody does it and it's fun now to climb around the rocks and look at all the names. My name on the rock in the middle of the picture. You have to look close.

Then on Thursday we left and went to Brianhead with Kevin and Erin Mohler It was a blast. The kids had fun and the adults got to visit and relax a little. I will make a different post about that trip later.

Zoey 101...

2007-12-31T14:15:00.000-08:00

Should she stay or should she go???

I just saw a preview for an "all new" Zoey 101. The star of Zoey 101 is no other than Jaime Lynn Spears. UMMMM... does she really have a choice if she stays or if she goes?

Luckily for me, my girls have no clue that Jaime Lynn Spears and Zoey 101 are the same person. The other day in the store Alyson saw a magazine that had Jaime Lynn on the front with the headline "Pregnant." Nice, huh?

Please Hannah Montana, please remember that these little girls look up to girls like you....

Until next year...

2007-12-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over and we really did have a good one. I love that the kids are getting older and actually get the meaning of Christmas. Christmas Eve we had my dad and brother over for some dinner and Guitar Hero!!! We exchanged gifts and then watched Luke II and then Alyson read it from her scriptures. Abby pretty much kicked my brother and dad out because she wanted to go to bed so Santa would come. We still didn't get to bed until about 1:30 (that's what I figured).

Christmas morning was fun. It was just us for awhile and Aaron had fun torturing the girls before they could come downstairs. We were getting the camera and video camera ready. I didn't get very many pictures this year because usually my mom is here to help but my mom, brother and stepdad got here right after the kids were done opening presents. Alivia took forever to open her presents because she opened every present like this:

Aaron is taking the scouts ice fishing in January so he love his new ice fishing pole. The Baby Alive is an added bonus! Alivia wanted every toy open as soon as she unwrapped it...

After opening presents with my family we went to the Egberts and I forgot to bring my camera! Not one single picture. We have spent the last two days doing nothing. The girls keep commenting on how nice it is to stay home and play. I have to agree!

I love Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T18:14:00.001-08:00

So what time do you think you'll get into bed tonight?

For me, I am going to guess about 1:30!

I'll let you know...

Splurge!!!!

2007-12-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

So last night we went to our friends, Mike and Becca's to exchange gifts and hang out and we ended up playing Guitar Hero 3 for the WII...

So of course this morning Aaron and I were looking all over Craigslist to find one. Not only did we find one, we've spent the last 4 hours playing it. GOOD FUN!!! It is so much fun and I am really good, if I do say so myself.

We justified buying it a few days beore Christmas because we labeled it "the family gift". Actually, Alyson is pretty good on it too so that makes it all okay.