Our Phair Family

Elizabeth's Family Planning.

2011-01-12T14:39:00.003-07:00

Previous to giving birth to Addison I was thinking "Two kids are enough." and after we had brought Addison home I was willing to consider another baby. So we asked Elizabeth "What do you think about having another brother or sister?" she began to cry! She said "But I like this one! I like my sister!" (She thought we were going to get rid of this baby and get another one) I laughed and said "OH NO!!! We're keeping her! No one is going anywhere!"

Weeks later, still in love with having a sister she asked if we could give her more brothers and sisters "LOTS of them" she asked.

Today she clarified, "Mom, I want one more sister and then a brother next.

I just want 3 not "lots"" and then repeated, "One more sister then a brother. Three, Mom".

After having lost the twins I can't help but think maybe two of our babies tried to come at once but my body wouldn't take it. So, I've been thinking of Addison's sidekick and when "she" may come??? Maybe in a year or two?

Gratitude.

2011-01-11T14:49:00.008-07:00

Well..... This will be a work in progress.

I have MANY pictures to add and Jake has many on the jump drive (where it is I don't know?)
SO MUCH has happened in this past year. It was difficult but I am grateful for the learning experiences and opportunities of growth.

First of all, I'm not sure how honest to be here....

I think I'd like to be rather honest for posterity sake. First off,

we moved from Washington State to Bend, Oregon. There IS a story there....

We lived in Washington for 1 year. We moved there July 4th weekend of 2009 and moved to Oregon July 30, 2010. The area we lived in was BEAUTIFUL, we loved it. We planned and hoped to buy a home and stay for a long time. But the cost of living was a bit much. -But that was not the "issue". Now realize that I am aware that not everyone has poor experiences and that not all of Washington is bad! I believe that we are given certain experiences for our own good. -For the blessing of growth and learning where the Lord feels we are in need, in this life.

I have always felt like "I am not good enough" like I must have "this" or I must have "that" to show I am "good enough". This was a lesson for me. In the past few years we had been struggling financially because of poor decision making etc... (e.g. "I must have 'this' or 'that' to be 'good enough'") I would get depressed because I didn't have "enough". This weighed heavily on my poor husband who tried so hard to make me happy. I knew the problem to my unhappiness lied with me, so I began to pray for gratitude.

Gratitude has become such an important anchor in my life. I continue to pray for gratitude daily. I have seen remarkable changes in my life due to the blessing of gratitude. I believe that gratitude is ESSENTIAL for our learning and growth in this our eternal life. I believe it goes hand in hand with Humility, Charity, Love, Faith and Hope.

I had grown and made a lot of changes in the 2 years prior to moving to Washington, but I still had this feeling of needing/ wanting more to show that "I am good enough".

I think we had been in Washington for 2 weeks when someone in our ward told me that "You couldn't afford a home here." (now, I LOVE this sister and I completely forgive her! but again, this is something I have come to know that my Heavenly Father was trying to convey a message/ learning experience to/ for me) ... then a few weeks later some ladies in our ward were putting together a preschool group. I was SO EXCITED and asked if I could join. I was turned down. First they said "Well, we just want boys in the group." and I said "Oh, well I know that these two little girls are involved." then I was told "Well, Elizabeth is too young. We want kids who are 3 years old." I said "Well, this child is turning 3 in December and Elizabeth's birthday is in January and this child's birthday is in April, all turning 3." They finally said "Why don't you just join gymnastics?". A member of our Bishopric stopped by for a visit and he said, "We have real problems in this ward with the "Have's" and the "Have not's". Later after I had been asked to help on the, formerly known as the "Enrichment", Committee that the entire ward knew that I had been "Offended" NICE! I was mortified. There was a lot of talk about money. I'm not going to go into all that.... But it was expected that we were all to "donate" anything wanted or needed for our activities. I was later called to serve in the Young Women's presidency. Again, it was implicated that we were to "donate" all funds needed and wanted. We were still trying to get out of debt and save to buy a home, I couldn't afford several hundreds of dollars a month to "donate". So, when I turned in my receipts I was VERY nervous. But I did it. As I handed them over I felt the tension. They were looked over and what was said was "WOW, you certainly do save everything don't you?". Then I was told "Well, lets shave this down a bit" and I was told somethings would not be reimbursed. I was okay with that. But then I was told "Wow, your husband must not have a good job.", "MY HUSBAND HAS A GOOOOOD JOB!" I was STUNNED. She said those words 3 times, each time telling me that my husband does not have a good job and how hers does. I felt like "YEAH I GOT IT!". I remained calm remembering that we are here to serve the Lord and this is a Church meeting. Then throughout our meeting planning activities and so forth she would stop and ask me if that was "Too Expensive" for me. I finally said VERY snarly "I'M NOT POOR!" .... it was not good. -The children in our ward there whom Elizabeth had to be socialized with due to my meetings and so forth were MEAN to her. She would cry and they were manipulative and nasty. She started to react and words would come out of her mouth like "I can't wear that or they will laugh at me". I'm sorry, but a 2 year old should NEVER have those thoughts!! I kept thinking "These poeple are not Christian!" Its like they lost their basic ability to be Christians. When the parents started to look at me and comment about Elizabeth and my parenting I was "done". my insecurities were damaging me and my child. I was reacting and not acting. Now, I was not the only person who had been treated this way. Actually, some others' stories are MUCH worse. But this is about me.

After months of coming home from church and my meetings bawling for hours, Jake asked his boss if we could move. Jake wasn't happy there either. People hadn't been nice to him, but not as bad as me and Elizabeth.

Through the termoil and strife I was able to serve and make some good friends. I felt I loved the young women and I tried to bring the gospel and spirit into our meetings. When it was time to go I was VERY happy and excited to leave! I struggled to know if I had done everything the Lord had asked of me or if I had failed and brought strife into the situation. I prayed and prayed about it. I HAD to know I was okay with the Lord. I felt that I had received my confirmation that I had done all that He had asked. I didn't feel I knew why I had gone through that experience until I had been here in Oregon for a few months. I must admit I was scared after that experiece and having lived in Oregon before not having a good experience...

We moved to Bend. Our apartment is HUNDREDS less then what we paid in Washington and it is much sunnier here in Central Oregon. I needed some sunshine :) our apartment has lots of windows to let the light in, more space and a nice portch. Elizabeth LOVES her pre-school, they do Yoga and Swimming lessons. Its been so fun living closer to Jake's family so we can visit and love them. We welcomed our little Addison Grace into our family in October. My sister Susan was so wonderful to come from Seattle to wecome Addison and help out a bit while Jake's Dad and Gma Carol as well as Kendell's family entertained Elizabeth through the Halloween festivities.

Our ward is less wealthy then our last. We specifically chose not to go to a "certain" area of town, I no longer wanted to be around that type of people. I had NO desire to "keep up with the Jones'" I just wanted to be happy and content with what we have, continue to get out of debt and plan for the future. Our ward here has been very kind, loving and welcoming. They remind me of the Lords' people and who I want to be. They serve one another and love one another.

Jake has been meeting new friends and has had time to go to his cabin with old ones. Jake is now serving in the Elders Quarum presidency in our ward and has blessed our family greatly through is ever growing spirit and eternal love.

Some members of our ward threw me my first baby shower for Addison. The people we interact with here truely strive to live the Lords gospel and just be good people. I remember my parents telling me time and time again how money is not a blessing. I "knew", but now I KNOW. I no longer have any desire to be like the Jones'. I LOVE being The Phair's :)

Sickies

2010-05-23T17:29:00.011-06:00

Well since moving to Washington Elizabeth has gotten sick several times. In March, seemingly out of no where she had complained of a tummy ache became more and more agitated and then just POPPED! She started vomiting and didn't stop for 3 days! Ugh! I felt so bad for her. She did SOOO well, just rolling with the punches. She's amazing to me.

By the 4th day the vomiting stopped, but she then started to act more sick, tired, lathargic. I started to worry. I couldn't get her to eat or drink.

We called the Doc & they told us to take her to the ER.....

FINALLY at our SECOND ER visit we got some help :)

(The first ER visit: LOOOONG frustrating story.....)

They gave her an IV to fill her back up with fluids :(

"Owie"

She honestly did SOOOO well!

Someone at the hospital gave her some "princess" stickers (lots of them!)

so we played "Memory" with them while we waited.

As far as I know, this was her first popcicle, she LOVED it :)

She said "It's working MOM!" -"I feeling better!"

She really seemed to understand what was going on. We were SOOOO PROUD!

Her color started to return and she seemed to 'come back to life'

Just watchin' some cartoons

It was a LONG hard week. While we drove home she said

"I so glad I feeling better Mom!"

Honestly we could not have been more proud of her.

She handled everything so well and we were so surprised at how much she really did understand.

We got home at 5am and Jake even woke up and went to work!!!

Ugh, that man is a machine! He's a trooper!

Other happenings in our life...

2010-02-17T17:31:00.032-07:00

So one night we could not find where Berkley had gone...

I found him here

The tent is his new favorite place too :)

But only after Elizabeth has gone to bed!

This is our favorite movie spot:

in her favorite 'princess' dress

Shhh! Movie time MOM!

Little Miss in the tub

Talking to me

Our little Mr. Mr...

The boys just chillin'

I recently got called to the Young Women's presidency in our ward. I was asked to make a Valentines treat for the girls, while they make Valentines projects.

I thought "What's more Valentines then chocolate truffles??!"

SO I MADE SOME!
HOW FUN IS THAT?

Some were chocolate and some were vanilla with nuts.

I liked the vanilla with nuts better. The chocolate was just too rich.

Trying new recipes in my "new thing"

I recently made whole grain chocolate chip cookies with nuts. OH MY GOSH!!! YUMMMMMMMMMMY!

Elizabeth's "new thing" is sleeping in odd places :)

Everynight I go in to check on her and this is what I'm finding as of late:

DO you think she'll kill me someday for taking pictures of her while she's sleeping?

With FULL FLASH in the middle of the night :D

This one happens nightly, LOVE the bum!

Taking Berkley to the potty in the rain.

Our friend Heather in Texas made her a couple of Tutu's Here is one:

She LOVES taking pictures with Berkley

Him? -Not so much

He's more attracted to the light of the flash

Sleepy Dog

SPOILED doggy!

We are having fun in life! Lots of learning and growing experiences for us all! Elizabeth has added another school day to her week, so she now goes Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mom is BUSY with the Young Women program at church, but finding so much joy :) Jake is still loving work and contiualy learning and growing there. He's ALWAYS on and off of conference calls :)

Special Day

2010-02-17T17:06:00.024-07:00

Jake had to go out of town the week of Elizabeth's birthday so I wanted to make it special.

I called a girl in our ward who has a horse and had made a comment that she just LOVES to take people on rides! I was SO going to take her up on that!!

Besides that, she seemed super cool & I wanted to get to know her better :)

This is Heather and her horse Sarah:

Sarah IS a LOVER!!!!!! Perfect for us!

She LOVED our kisses!

Sarah just begged for more lovin's

We got to see Heather clean her hooves and we got to brush her coat!

We learned about how to take care of a horse.

Heather took Sarah out for a warm up:

Elizabeth's turn!

7th HEAVEN!

Yup, riding lessons seem to be in our future...

She was a natural

She did not want to get off

But finally it was MY turn!

It was seriously SO FUN!! Heather was way cooler then I thought.

She taught me to TROT!! -Heather said I was really good and had great form :)

It was REALLY GREAT!! Now we have new friends :)

Elizabeth's 3rd Birthday and first PARTY!

2010-02-17T16:16:00.031-07:00

We decided to have Elizabeth's party at her school, Gymboree Play & Learn

I got to design her cake

She chose to have Diego & Baby Jaguar on her cake :)

She LOVES horses so he just HAD to have a horse balloon!

The kids started to arrive and the play began :)

The all had SO much fun exploring Elizabeth's fun school

We played lots of games & sang songs

BOUNCE!

PoP the Bubbles!!!

Music with Maracas!

Everybody UNDER the Parachute!!

For more games and songs

"Mom is this all for me?"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Elizabeth's "booty"

cut the cake!

YUMMM!!

I was SO pleased all the kids had SO much fun!

Then we opened gifts.

When Elizabeth got this dress she was SO EXCITED!!!!

Jake captured this moment perfectly, she asked "FOR ME??"

She was gracious and thanked all her friends for their gifts

When we got home she really got to explore her new toys.

The day was perfect :)

This balloon was HUGE :)

I think she was trying to climb into the castle?

This horse NEVER left her side for 2 weeks!

-Now its on her wall :)

The next morning she brought her new dress to me while I was still in bed and asked "MOMMY CAN I WEAR MY PRINCESS DRESS??!!!" Then she PROMPTLY asked me

"Mommy can you take a picture of Elizabeth and my princess dress and Berkley?"

(with breakfast on her face "))

Honestly the day could not have been more perfect.

Thanks so much for making it so great everyone!

Playing with Christmas gifts

2010-02-17T15:13:00.023-07:00

Okay so this is a little out of order but thats the way I loaded them & it's too annoying to fix it... :)

Here's Elizabeth's new dress from Gma Morey

She's actually THRILLED with it,

its just that this was our first Sunday having to go to church @ 9am.

Our first early morning :) We are like clockwork now :)

After church all she wanted to do was this:

After dinner Jake felt it very important to teach

me the ways of DOMINO'S!

(He's annoyed that I'm not paying enough attention & I'm taking pictures :D )

Here's someone's NOSE!

Domino's -They have pretty colors :)

While I learned Elizabeth played with the trains:

I think she payed more attention to how to play then me?

Gramma Sue gave Elizabeth a tent for Christmas

-Here is Dad getting it all together:

I had already gotten her a tunnel for Christmas &

the tent came with one too, so we ended up with an extra long tunnel!!

SO FUN!

It's the COOLEST!

Our pretty girl :)

Thanks Gramma Sue

Its one of our favorite toys now :)

We get it out about once a week, and when it comes out it stays for a few days.

-Until Mom feels over crowded. But then its always fun to get it out again!

Its our new favorite place to watch movies :)

Gma Carol & Gpa Phair got us a Crepe pan & cookbook.

I was SO excieted to try it out!!!

YUP! I made Cheese Blintzes! YUMmmmmmm!!!!!

Then Jake had a work party so I made herb crepes

They were SO GOOD! -and perfect :)

We got the recipe for this yummer mixture from the cookbook they gave us.

Its a smoked salmon dip with red and green onions,

dill & other herbs in a ricotta & cream cheese base.

you roll up the mixture in an herb crepe & then cut it at an angle

to serve for appetizers

SO FUN!

The leftover mixture we served as a dip

He was a HIT!

2009 year in review

2009-12-31T13:57:00.005-07:00

Here I'll share a few things that didn't make it to the blog, but I wanted to keep record of.

First off we always start our year out with Elizabeth's birthday. She turned two in 2009. We took her and her friend Anela to the Kangaroo Zoo where they could go crazy jumping around on large blow ups and slide down slides. For a special treat we took the girls to McDonald's on the way home. They were ADORABLE!

With the economy fall out of 2008, a lot of the effects didn't necessarily show up from 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' until the spring. We were unsure about Jake's employment. All over the country there were massive cuts, layoffs and it came to Jake's company too. We were unsure as to our financial future. Besides the fact that Jake had gone as far as he could go with his company. So we worried a bit and prayed about it a lot. We felt strongly that everything was going to be okay, no matter the outcome. We prepared for a change we felt was to come.

An opportunity arose with a company that had purchased 15 locations from Jake's current company. They were a Canadian company who weren't exactly knowledgeable about US laws and regulations regarding guns etc. Which so happens to be Jake's specialty. Jake just happened to have been helping with the change over of those 15 locations.

It took quite a while to get things finalized but in May we knew we would be accepting a position with this company. They decided to make one of their new locations their "Corporate Office" for their US businesses. So, July 4th weekend we drove into Washington from Utah. It was scary and exciting.

We had moved several times in the past but we always knew that we'd be moving again so, if we didn't like a place it was no matter because we knew we'd be leaving soon. But if we did like a place it was just icing on the cake :) This was more permanent, as well as we were not planning on me working, so the relationships in our community and ward were very important to me.

This was to be our new home. I just HAD to like it.

Jake was excited right off the bat, I reserved my judgement, I wanted to like it and be happy here so badly. I knew that my happiness was crucial for my family's happiness. Elizabeth did very well and just went with the flow. I was surprised by her lack of reaction and "Go with the flow" fun attitude. She never asked or seemed to even wonder "what the heck was going on?".

I prayed and prayed about it. We drove around and we found a town that I felt very comfortable with and I started to ease my stresses. We found an apartment complex that was close by in a nice area that we felt we could rent while we took time to delve into the community and decide where we would really like to be and buy a home... our first home.

I knew it would take time for friendships to come. It has been hard and lonely at times but we have held fast to the Lord and this all has been a great growing experience for us all.

Jake LOVES his new position and is getting recognition for his good works, ideas and efforts in the work place. I had often felt he was more used and abused before and I would get especially irritated when others would take credit for his ideas or work. Now he just shines with joy and strength. He strives in all areas to be better. I like him a lot. -I always have though :)

Elizabeth gets lonely from the lack of friends to play with, but we're working on that. We joined Gymboree. Her class is one day a week for an hour and a half. Sometimes we do have the opportunity to catch another class or two, which is really nice. She gets to run and play with other kids, do art projects and learn some basic school skills. Every week they focus on a new letter of the alphabet. She's having a blast! It's remarkable how much she has grown. She blows us away!

After trying for over a year to have another baby we finally learned we were pregnant in August. I went to the Doctor right away because I knew my thyroid had to be monitored closely for the development of the baby. After some blood work, I got a call saying that they were "very concerned" about the results. They said they didn't know how I could have even gotten pregnant with my thyroid levels so off. They sent me in for an Ultrasound. They warned me that the outcome may be grim. They said "There may be an empty sac, or a dead fetus" I was told it was a very slim chance that everything was going to be okay.

While I was hearing the worst news ever Jake was out of town, unreachable. I called my parents and they offered me love and support and prayed with me. We felt like no matter the outcome it was going to be okay and the Lord would be with us. Jake came home and I filled him in. We went to the Ultrasound. Everything looked okay, the baby was in fact in there. The Ultrasound Tech said they may have me come back to make sure things were still going on the right track (the baby was still growing). In the mean time they took my thyroid meds from 50 mcg to 125 and told me to take two daily until my numbers got better.

Our second Ultrasound we were needing to make sure of a due date. At this visit the tech saw TWO babies!! We forgot all about a due date while we were excited and stunned by the news. My Dr had her nurse call me and said "The Dr looked everything over, we think we caught it in time and everything looks great! It's okay to be excited. Your having twins!". At this point we needed to switch Dr's to a high risk Dr. (short version).

My new Dr. did an Ultrasound and he said that the babies had stopped growing. [From the first Ultrasound they were only measuring one more day of growth and that was almost a month ago at this point]. He said it would be in our best interest to have a D&C to remove the dead tissue.

When I look back on it I felt my pregnancy symptoms going away. The sickies and me being so tired started to subside. I just felt like "Maybe this pregnancy is just different". A few days before all this had happened I had a dream that I lost the babies. I had never had a dream like that with Elizabeth. Sure we had issues and complications while I was pregnant with Elizabeth but I never doubted for one second that she wouldn't come. I KNEW she was supposed to be here. I think I didn't want to admit that maybe the babies wouldn't live. We wanted them so badly.

I know so many women have gone through this and it has been much more of a traumatic experience for others.

We went through an array of emotions, but never angry. we felt so strongly that the Lord was with us. Jake was beyond saddened by it all. We had been so excited. One day he just came to me and said "It's going to be okay. I KNOW we will have more babies." and his heart changed with that hope.

I still get teary at times. But I know its okay. My thyroid is right and I have started making some other changes to help us on our journey. The Lord will bless us with more babies when the time is right. Besides, we have a pretty dang great kid right now!

This year has been full of learning, growing and healing for us. We have been blessed greatly.

We had the wonderful opportunity to have time off over the Holidays to go to Oregon to visit Jake's family. We have NEVER had time off over the Holidays. Jake has ALWAYS had to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas, even when he worked at the Corporate offices in Utah. This company is a huge blessing for our family.

It has been so long since we had the opportunity to go to Oregon as well as at times I wasn't sure I wanted to go because of past hurt feelings. This trip was really very wonderful and fulfilling. I really can't wait to go again! I can't wait to keep building positive, loving relationships with our friends and family in Oregon. Thank you, we sincerely love you all SO MUCH! Everything and everyone was so wonderful!

I feel happy here in our new home, Washington. Its very pretty here.

I have been learning to be more domesticated this year! I have been baking breads and all sorts of other things! I mastered the crepe! I have been making all sorts of decadent deserts and savory dishes with them! SO FUN! Next year I'm getting a sewing machine!! WATCH OUT! I also am excited to learn to crochet! I want to make a blanket, scarves, our Christmas stockings..... HATS! -SO MANY things!

This year we began Jake's birth family geneology for him. Its been an awesome experience thus far. Thanks Mom Morey for all your massive efforts and thanks to Gma Effie for your information and love in welcoming us into your family. You and your family have been so loving and generous. Thank you Marla for everything you contributed, I SO look forward to getting to know you and your family!

I am very thankful for the influence of The Lord in our lives. I am thankful for the gospel and it's teachings. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve and for my friend and neighbor in Utah, Christina, for reminding me of how awesome it is to help others. I am thankful for the Spirit of the Lord in our lives, for our ancestors who watch over us and love us, protect us and cheer us on! I am thankful for our family and friends, for the love that they have shown and offered us. I am thankful for forgiveness, -for being forgiven and the blessing of forgiving others. I am thankful for joy in the little things of life. I am thankful for peace.

This has been a great year for us and I can't wait for 2010!

Elizabeth will be 3 in just a few weeks!

The ONLY thing she asked for Christmas was a Birthday Party,

so we are trying to give that to her. PLEASE pray that people will come!!!!

Thanks for checking in and I promise to be a better record keeper in the new year :)

Happy New Year everyone.

Note: Re: Christmas in Oregon

2009-12-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

Sorry ya'll, I was noticing while we were away that my camera was taking rather crappy photos??? I JUST figured out why... it was on the WRONG setting!!!

UGH! Well, we're just going to have to go back!

Christmas in Oregon

2009-12-30T11:48:00.059-07:00

As we were packing up we realized we were quickly running out of room. So, we just HAD to open a few gifts before we headed out to Oregon!

It was SO FUN!

Berkley even got to open a gift! He even did a dance around the room to show his excitement :)

Our first stop in Oregon was Gma Sue's

playing with Gma

I've cleared space to put up the tent!

It's happening TODAY! I'm excited!

Next stop was Jake's sister Kathleen's

The boys were SO GREAT with Elizabeth! Thanks Bren & Sam :)

Kath showed us her latest work

While I fell in love with this piece of hers :

Pictures really do NOT do it justice!

Then out for Chinese

Elizabeth was glued to Sam!
I had JUST missed the cutest shot of her just staring up at him :/

Then it was off to Gma & Gmpa's in Salem!

Gma had a great idea to make a ginger bread house Christmas Eve!

This is fun!

Wait...

It didn't take very long for the "Constuction & Acrchitect" people to take over :)

While Gma made a yummy snack

we watched the boys work

It turned out GREAT!

Later that night we got to go to Jake's sister Kendell's to visit her fam!

Chatting after dinner

Spending time with everyone was really so wonderful :)

seeing Gmpa with the kids

it was such a nice time :)

Catchin' up on life and whatnot

Elizabeth ran around "talking on the phone" :)
(which wasn't really a phone)
Ryan was nice enough to play along :)

Elizabeth LOVED all of her cousins it was really a nice treat

Ahhh Kendell, your such a good Momma :)

I can't believe how much these kids have grown!!

They are all so beautiful, inside and out.

Christmas day

It was perfect

Dad is this backpack too big? NOPE.

This gift from Gramma Carole and Grandpa Phair

is a horse family with a playground.

(That's chocolate on the side of E's mouth)

Our big gift to her was a Doll House:

Which came with a "people" family which she very quickly

chucked aside for the horse family :)

So extra thanks Gma & Gmpa for the horse family & playground!

resting later after all the play and yummy eating.

OOOH! I wish I got a picture of Gma's YUMMMMY Breakfast,

for lack of knowledge, 'danish thing'.

It was GORGEOUS and more importantly DELICIOUS!

We followed our "Morey" tradition by going to the movies later to see Sherlock Holmes while Elizabeth got to spend more time with her cousins.

The following day we went to visit Jake's friend Mitch and his family.

They were eager to get the kids together. Sorry Marley's, maybe next time will go better?

I felt really bad because, as anyone who has little ones knows that after a few days of travel, off schedules and late nights does not bring for a happy healthy kiddo :/

That night we just HAD to go to Jake's home town favorite

While I had to exit the restaurant early due to an overly exhausted little girl :(
We slept in the next day and packed up to be off again on the road.

Thank you for the love Gma & Gmpa!

You were WONDERFUL hosts xoxo!

On our way out we made a few stops.

We got to go see Ben & Lori in Silverton.

We fell in LOVE that little town!

Gunner did SO well bearing with us!

Lori & Ben are awesome friends. Thanks guys!
We miss you!

We were off again,

"Hey Mom, do I have candy cane on my face?"

Ah, I don't care.

We took the opportunity to stop and visit Jake's sister Jen's family

It was So nice to get to see them and visit, as it has been 3 years

since I have been back to Oregon!

Brian even dressed for the occasion :)

hee hee :)

We were SO LUCKY to catch Collette and her family in town!

I can't get over HOW GROWN UP EVERYBODY IS!!!!!

SO in love :)

Brad showing off his MASSIVE MANLINESS :)

He was at LEAST a foot taller then everyone else!

-You KNOW that boy is playing some B-Ball!

Brook is even playing B-Ball for Mt Hood! ROCK ON!!!

Maybe since we live closer we could catch a game?

Jill is as gorgeous as her mother and sisters!

Regan is just not so little anymore!

Collette and her beautiful boy, with her twin Mother!

I took a pic of the house because
someone drove by and decided to use it in their TV show! Cool huh?!

So watch TNT's "Leverage" on Jan 13th, their Season premier, to see Jen & Brian's house!

(The house is so big I'd have to stand accross the street

to get the whole thing in the shot) Hee hee :) SO check it out Jan 13th on TNT!

Really though, our visit was just lovely.

We VERY MUCH enjoyed visiting with everyone and

look forward to building our relationships as we live a little closer now.

We look forward to seeing you all SOON!!!

Thank you for a very Merry Christmas :)

Little Dreamers

2009-12-21T19:34:00.002-07:00

So I always wondered what Elizabeth dreams about when she has bad dreams. Last night I heard a SCREAM and a cry so I ran in to see what was the matter... She says to me, right when I walk in "I DON'T WANT ANYMORE NOODLES MOMMY!!!!" (giggle) "Okay honey you don't have to have noodles." All the while completely sleeping. I tucked her back in, she rolled over and went right out, but not before asking "Mommy can you make me my Cereal?"

I can deal with those kinds of bad dreams :)

Seeing Santa

2009-12-21T03:57:00.003-07:00

We were a bit weary about seeing Santa. Jake and I were not sure what to expect from Elizabeth. Would it be scarry? We went to our ward Christmas party and she didn't want to leave Santa's lap! She LOVED him and cried "SANTA, SANTA!" when we took her away.

All became well again when Dad suggested a race!

Our First Fall in Washington

2009-12-21T03:18:00.035-07:00

We thought we'd go to a local farm to pick our pumpkins...

We had NO idea what a big deal that was!

They had EVERYTHING there! ...and a $20 per person admittance fee!

Elizabeth got a barrel ride from Daddy

Yup. She knows she's the bees knees for us :)

We got to see all kinds of animals!!

But best of all we got to hold a kitten :)

There were chickens, goats, pigs, ...everything!

We got to go on a hay ride!

Woo Hoo!

Picken' out the pumpkins and helping Dad :)

Daddy is the BEST!

For Halloween we got invited to go Trick or Treating

with some people in our ward :)

Elizabeth was a fairy princess.

-The day before Halloween she told me she wanted to be a creature monster :)

Lucky in love

All the girls

getting ready to go

Every home on the street was DECKED OUT!

The whole gang:

We joined Gymboree so we can get out of the house and play and learn!

Elizabeth gets to run around and play with all this

Her class is a pre- preschool ;) They learn various school skills. Its been GREAT!

They even invited her to join the preschool class!

Even after a few years I LOVE to watch her sleep :)

This is us today

SEE YA LATER!

MOVING TO WASHINGTON!

2009-12-21T02:45:00.023-07:00

We moved to Washington 4th of July weekend 2009.

We had no where to go to see the fireworks and Mom HAD to see fireworks!

So, I found a restaurant on the water and it could not have been better! :D

We had dinner and watched the show

This is actually someone else's table :)

Grandma and Grampa Phair came to welcome us :)

Oh the LOVE :)
They are SO FUN :)

This is our new home :)

I even got to see my cousin tha tI haven't seen in ???? years

Since I was 12 I think?

She pretty much POWER rocks it!!!

We got to meet her WONDERFUL family :)

and play with her cool toys :)

Sharing an apple and watching the football game with dad :)

Elizabeth LOVES her daddy time :)

Tellin' Dad all about it

Wait.. what is that?

Ah who cares? Its still yummy :)

Elizabeth and I HACKED off our hair!

Being in WA is HOT in the summers with NO A/C!!!!

Odd place this Washington for builing homes etc with NO A/C.

They say it doesn't get that hot here... it was 104 this summer.

Elizabeth refused to let me cut her hair so... boy was she in for it!

She's all happy, this is fun! Wait, what's going on???

We had a few tears, it was scarry, but it all turned out

well and she ended up LOVING her new cut :)

She even got to sit in a FIRETRUCK to get her hair cut!

My hair doesn't look so good here. -Sorry, I failed to take a pic when it was first cut and by the time I did want to, my hair cut had completely changed.

We have a GREAT park accross the street from where we live.

We got to see "Horton hears a Who" there :)

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE

2009-12-21T02:00:00.028-07:00

Saying goodbye to Utah... These are some pictures of our last months in utah.

On Father's day we went up to Sundance as a family,

and Jake showed us his old stomping grounds.

We took a scenic ride up here:

On this:

I think I remember Jake saying it was 3,000 ft up we went?

It was either 3 or 6 I can't remember? but A LOT!

I was a little nervous I'm not gonna lie!

Jake showed us all around and he even got to show us some of the

things he built while living up here.

Like this bridge :) SO PROUD :)

We got to go up the mountains and roast marshmellows and have smores with the Meiners and my brother Dave when he came into town for a quick trip.

Awe missin' those kiddos

Elizabeth HAD to try it herself!

Best Buds :)

We will miss the time we spent with the Phair peeps in Utah:

Jake is excited to show E a monitor lizard

I'm excited she got to jump around with Celise

We went to the Zoo right before we left:

Elizabeth's FAVORITE thing at the Zoo is the Carosel

So we had to ride it a few times :)

Oh the Phair family getting together :) Missin you all

Cousins are the coolest :)

We went to the Kangaroo Zoo one more time too

Playin with Ian :) BOXES are SOOO COOL!

Wanting to be like her big cousin Morgan :) Elizabeth just STARED at Morgan until I told Morgan that she probably wants some noodles. So kind Morgie got her a bowl and shared her noodles. Elizabeth watched her eat and mimicked her. We think that Morgan's the coolest :)

We said goodbye to our dear friends :(

Thank you Utah for our wonderful memories. We hope to see you again soon.

I MADE BREAD!!

2009-10-12T12:28:00.003-06:00

I made bread for this first time EVER yesterday! I have made banana bread before but not regular bread. It was AMAZING! I told Jake I wanted to crochet, quilt, sew and a bunch of other things.. his response was "So, you want to be a grandma?" I said "YES I DO!" :) -Someday ;)

First things first :)

I'm on my way to being more domesticated WOO HOO!! This is fun!

A Work in Progress

2009-10-02T11:11:00.003-06:00

I'm working on catching up. Bare with me. Life became a little hectic for a while. For those of you who don't know we moved to Washington State. Jake is now working with a new company and we are both very much enjoying his new position. I have been staying at home with Elizabeth and she started a "pre-preschool" program where she learns skills and enjoys activities that will help prepare her for going to school. She is in HEAVEN with it!

Its a good program and she loves it :)

Re-adjusting has been a challenge but we like it here very much and look forward to settling here after we buy a home. It'll be nice to be "settled".

It's fall now, my FAVORITE time of year! We are looking forward to Halloween!! Keep checking back with us for picture updates. Elizabeth has grown so much and I have a new do :)

Boys Trip

2009-03-05T10:41:00.019-07:00

Last fall Jake was able to go hunting with his best bud Mitch, Mitch's father and Jake's father. What a great experience! -I just got these pics so I decided to share them :)

Father and Son:

Best Friends:

Our little man:

The Beast Master:

Could it be more perfect?

It was a GREAT trip!

Hello? Beautiful, gorgeous... wish you were here!

More of our Beastie Boy at play:

Yeah, I know.. he should model :)

Jake & Berkley:

Perfection.

Facebook

2009-03-02T12:45:00.001-07:00

So I finally joined Facebook after continuous pressure by 'everyone'. When my husband came home from work saying "We need to join Facebook" I knew it was all over! I actually like it. So if I have yet to find you come find me!

Updates & E

2009-03-02T12:13:00.003-07:00

SO I have to say that my family makes my love cup run over. This past week I was very sick (just an incredible icky virus) Jake took a day off of work to tend to Elizabeth for me & tend to me too. They both were so wonderful. One night after vomiting (sorry to share :)) Jake handed me a cup of water while I sat on the bathroom floor & Elizabeth picked it up & said "Here you go Mommy... sorry Mommy." I started to cry because I just felt so miserable and she pushed my hair from my face gently and then she got the brush from the counter top and started to brush my hair saying "Its ok Mommy." -My Two year old. I just never want to forget this.

After lying down for a while I got up and she ran to me asking "Are you better Mommy? ...better?" and gave me a HUGE hug. For the next few days she tended to me after Jake returned to work and always asked if I was ok and "Still sick Mommy?" This is a picture of her just playing beside me on the sofa.

It was so funny she got her chairs from her room after I told Berkley to "Go sit on the chair!" (get off the couch) so E ran to her room & got one of her little chairs and plopped it in the living room saying "Here you go Berkley" if you remember these are little kid chairs and our dog Berkley is HUMONGOUS. it was too funny.

E is addicted (to put it mildly) to the Backyardigans kids TV show. I LOVE the silly things she learns from this show like the other day she started with "Oh for goodness sakes" :) You'll often hear her playing in her room singing the songs and from no where a cry of "WHOO HOO!". It always makes us giggle.

The other day I was reading E a book in her room & she just got up & took off. So I sat there for a minute & waited. After a minute or so I called out "Hello? Has anyone seen my daughter Elizabeth? She just left me." A moment later all I hear is a little giggle from the living room.

I love how I can talk to her and she listens and it always surprises me how much she really understands. I think it's funny when I tell her things like "Ok don't get hurt." and "Don't die ok?" -just to be funny as she's running off to play and she'll call back "OK!" I know it maybe sick but it makes me laugh. When she does get hurt I'll ask "Are you dying?" and she'll say "No.".

2009-02-04T12:37:00.004-07:00

So I was showing Elizabeth my blog updates and she of course like most children LOVES pictures of herself!

"Ah! Ohhhh!" Then she said "Where's Layla?" that's what she calls her friend Anela (her parents also call her Layla at times) so I scrolled and showed her the pic of them holding hands and then she giggled and said "Oh, hold hands."

She had a comment for most of the pictures then when we got to her and Dad she said "OH look Elizabeth and DADDY! Oh, I LOVE DADDY!" -Yup, he's the favorite.

She's so funny in her responses to our questions. Jake was trying to get her dressed for bed and she was kicking him and he was telling her to stop so he finally said "Do you want to go in Time Out?" She replies with a giggle "Yes" so he put her in Time Out. She sat in her chair swinging her legs singing and giggling (we can't help but laugh) She loves to say "Sorry Daddy" and give hugs.

Little things still get me like when I had her in the tub this morning she was playing and I told her to get her hands wet and wash her face and she did it! Then I said "Try again, you have some food on your face" so again she did it and looked up and said "Good?" smiling at me.

LOVE HER!

Yesterday she was walking around with two of her toys saying "How do you do?... How do you do?" all day long.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ...and other fun adventures in the cold!

2009-02-04T10:28:00.039-07:00

This is this morning..

We don't go out a ton in this weather... we do go for walks when the weather isn't too bad.

Here is a day we went out to play.

Berkley obsessed with this light pole??? Maybe there were bugs hiding in there?

She has the controls for Berkley's shock collar on her neck.

Our neighbors built an igloo in the yard this is it not yet completed.

When they did complete it they slept in it!

She's SUPER mad at me 'cause I took the controls back.

This is on our "girls night out"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Her birthday fell on a Sunday this year so on Saturday we took Elizabeth out with her little friend Anela.

Check out the superb sweater from Gma Effie! SO CUTE!

Everyone asks me where we got it. Gma made it baby!

We went to the Kangaroo Zoo it happens to be out in the middle of no where....

It was a really pretty day tho

Girlfriends:

PARTY TIME!!

This is the greatest place! Our new favorite!

Whoo hoo Anela!

We ALL had SO much fun!

This one was Elizabeth's favorite... less intimidating I think, and uncovered.

....Later we took E to Build a Bear

I'm not gonna lie... it was a little anti-climactic

We didn't know what we were doing & the kid didn't do all the "cutesy" stuff I guess they normally do.

Lets accessorize our bunny with some bows!

And name her "Tasha"

Ok... it's SO naptime!

On Sunday we had Cake!

Ummmm ummmm!!!

She SO does not seem 2!

...other then the tantrums to prove it :)

We LOVE Daddy!!!

Jake jokes that she's his 30 year old because of the things she says :) She blows us away.

I love my family. They are so much fun!

Tagged!

2009-01-05T10:12:00.002-07:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Depends -for kids you gotta wrap! This year me and Jake did neither for one another.. we were dorks and gave each other our gifts 2 days early! We were too excited :)
2. Real tree or Artificial? FAKE ALL THE WAY!!!
3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving or so...
4. Do you like eggnog? Yeah, I dilute it with skim milk though and need water on the side.
5. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbies
6. Hardest person to buy for? My Spouse -he wants only the expensive gifts!
7. Easiest person to buy for? Elizabeth (Actually I have to tell myself to STOP shopping!)
8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - Thank you for starting it for us Deb
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm too lazy to do either
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Where do I begin ...
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf
12. When do you start shopping? September
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes... shhhhh...
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the chocolate yummies! This year we made yummer cookies. It was fun!
15. Lights on the tree? I like white. This year I did color for E and I didn't love it. next year it'll be white.
16. Favorite Christmas song? I had so much fun with ALL of them this year!
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home!
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Hmmm....?
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Mean shoppers and road rage people!
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red or Burgundy & Gold
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I LOVE TURKEY! Ham is good too I just can't eat too much of it (the fat swirls gross me out) -Basically the same traditional Thanksgiving meal.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I got it! MP3 player (I got 2 actually, and running shoes)
25. Who do I tag? Whomever :)

Testimony

2009-01-05T09:44:00.004-07:00

So recently I found out that I have a condition that is going to make it very difficult to get pregnant. This deeply saddens me. So anyway, part of it is that I have to loose weight, etc. So I recently started running.

I run and run and run until there is nothing left in me and I can barely walk. I want this so badly. What do I do? Then someone finally said to me something so simple, she said "No, run SLOWER, pace yourself. You want to be able to last and 'go the distance'. So, I've been practicing "pacing" myself. It's great! I'm enjoying it so much more and I've been able to go further then I've even been before.

I think about this in my life, "Pacing myself" so I can "go the distance". I want so much to be with my Heavenly Father again. It's funny because in my Patriarchal Blessing it says "Remember that it is not required to run faster than you have strength".

My parents are such great examples to me in my life. I look at them and say to myself "I need to be better!" and I try and try so hard that I tucker myself out. I'm reminded today that they are marathon runners in life and have had lots of training. I'll get there, but for now I'm starting to really pace myself, not put too much pressure on and enjoy the ride. But most importantly I'm getting out there and starting to run.

The Holidays :)

2009-01-05T08:30:00.024-07:00

We had fun so much fun :)

Sorry about the picture quality. I realized a little too late that my camera was on the wrong setting. -I thought everything was blurry because I hadn't put my contacts in yet :) But here are a few highlights from Christmas and our sledding excursion.

This is from just yesterday. This dress was from Grandma Morey, thanks Bec for picking it out, it's SO cute! People kept coming up to us at church and telling us how cute she looks :) It has the cutest bow on the back! I couldn't get a good shot :(

Christmas day!!

Santa got the Pie a Rocking horse!

(it comes apart from the base and she can ride it on wheels)

And a stroller for her babies!

Grandma Morey got E. a new baby!

Now this is one of her gems this Christmas: Grandma Effie knitted her a sweater. It is GORGEOUS! This is going to be a wonderful heirloom. This picture does it no justice!

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Phair made her this blanket and one of those personal table toppers, I'm not sure what you call them. But they are awesome!

Pie was very very excited to have a new "goggy" from Grandma!

And Grandma Emmett was psychic she got a Elizabeth a keyboard!

She LOVES the piano!

We had a very blessed Christmas.

And most of all we really enjoyed our day together.

Here's Berkley's gift :)

Then we went to visit the Guinns.

Elizabeth is finally opening up to Uncle Matt :)

We went sledding with Aunt Kathy's family a few weeks ago:

I'm sorry I just couldn't get over how cute and funny she looked!

YAY!!!

I was FREEZING and not about to frolic in the cold so Kathy took E down the hill.

She did have fun until:

The nail in the coffin: The splash of snow....

YUCKY!

Elizabeth is my daughter thru and thru! She was saying "Cold HURTS!" and then "Aallaala INSIDE?" then Kathy said "Do you guys want to wait in the car?" and E heard her and said immediately "YEA! CAR!"

She cracks me up!

She's got those "Morey Eagle Eyes" she saw daddy pull into the parking lot from so far I couldn't even tell it was him! She said "Daddy's here!" And he was!

Berkley has been LOVING the snow! He wants to play out in it FOREVER! He hates me taking him out to go potty, he knows it's "Do your business and lets go!" He's going to be sad when we move back to a warmer climate!

New Years Eve is always quite the event at our house. I went to bed at 8pm and so did the Pie. Daddy watched the ball drop and came to bed. We're party animals!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-16T14:29:00.003-07:00

This is the Compliance department's Christmas photo at Jake's work
We like guns :)

Happy Halloween! ...a day or two late :)

2008-12-16T13:38:00.013-07:00

I thought you all might like to see 'The Pie' in her costume :)

We met up with our neighbors, and Pie's best bud Anela ("Lala" to Elizabeth),

so we could all go together.

Elizabeth was a scarecrow and Anela was a fairy!

Daddy met up with us at the mall.

Anela's little brother Landon was a pea in the pod (how cute is he??!)

Trick or Treat!

We all had SO much fun!!!

There were some AMAZING costumes there! Here are two:

I failed to get a picture of our cute decorations before they pooped out :(

Our pumkins were super cute if I do say so myself :) Ahhh, next year!

More to come ...I PROMISE!!!

2008-12-14T23:03:00.001-07:00

We still have Halloween pictures and lots of cute videos, but I've been on here for quite a few hours now, so that'll have to be another day :)

Daddy and Daughter

2008-12-14T22:55:00.004-07:00

These are just a few pics we took last Sunday.

We collected pine cones for Grandma Morey outside of church.

Unfortunately Berkley ate them ...sorry Grama :(

WHERE HAVE WE BEEN????

2008-12-14T21:30:00.039-07:00

Sorry everyone! I have had some health problems as of late and -well that's boring so lets talk about something great! Elizabeth! She still has us completely infatuated with her!

Here is a bit of what's been going on with us since August:

Elizabeth went through a period where it seemed that he legs stopped working? She'd get all excited about whatever she was running to and would forget to use her legs to get here there and she would fall.... over and over again :) Silly kiddo.

In September Jake, for my birthday, sent us to Atlanta to visit my best friend Heather!! it was heavenly! Here a few of my 200 photos that I took there:

Girlfriends @ the airport getting ready to go!

The Pie did pretty well on the plane, I did hope she would sleep. No such luck :(

So as soon as Heather picked us up she passed out cold!

J.P. has the coolest toys!!!

This is his BEST toy ...MOM!

We went to the Children's Museum!
I just LOVED looking back at the both of them :)

J.P. LOVES trains!!!!

They have this GREAT pool for fishing and playing in the water!

Check out the fun raincoats!

My babe

This was Pie's favorite part:

They had a whole grocery store where you buy the food and then they have a home kitchen set up where you can take your food. She liked to sit and play with all the different foods.

Oh mylanta! I need to get this girl some piano lessons! -And a piano....

Every time we go anywhere that has a piano she makes a b-line straight to it!

We got to go to STONE MOUNTAIN!

-More riding in the car...

Check out the amazing granite carving!

its a depiction of the civil war

We got to go on a TRAIN RIDE!

ALL ABOARD!!

Then we explored a bit :)

Bye Bye!

Putt Putt!

A HOLE IN ONE!!!

They had a really beautiful plantation home fully equipped with farm animals!

Pie didn't like them so much.

Later we went to biggest mall ever -or something like that :)

It was actually really cool:) They had a little train for kids and they took us for a short ride

I'm sad I failed to get a picture of Heather and me together but, it was a really good trip and SO nice to see them! I love her family and she just renews my spirit. Thanks Babe :)

E has this thing where she likes to layer her clothes, like the other day she put on 3 pairs of pants and wanted to wear them all day long. Here is just a fun example of her layering:

She is learning and growing so much it awes me.

She is so beautiful and so kind.

In January she'll be turning 2 and it feels like she's turning 12!!

She seems so much older then she is!

Terrible Two's?

2008-08-03T08:01:00.009-06:00

This week was jammed packed with tantrums. Well, when I say jammed packed you have to remember this is all relative of course. Elizabeth is usually very happy and well mannored, so when she's irritable or throwing a tantrum it's crazy for me because we're just not used to that. Although I am bracing myself for the future. :)

Jake's Mom, Sue, came into town this week. It was nice to see her and get the fam together. Jake missed out as he was gallivanting in Phoenix. Everyone became Elizabeth's best friend when they shared their ice cream.
-Shhhhh!!! Don't tell dad!!

Jake reminded me that I had left some pictures/ events out.
I hope I didn't forget something else he had wanted to see on the blog?

You know... with the tanrums and irritability, various frustrations and growing pains ....

as soon as she had finished her rant, face all sticky with tears, snot, drool and her hair sticking to it all I was still so in love with her. She smiled and hugged me and even went in for a kiss. We snuggled for a while, until the smell of her poopy diaper starting to overpower EVERYTHING and the unhumane look of her... I asked "How about a bath!?!" she said "Yeah!" in a voice as if she had never been angry and life was always rosey. -She jummped off the couch and headed to the bathroom. I'm thankful for my little girl. She's helping me to grow and learn through love.

I am so thankful for this experiece I have been blessed with.

Having too much fun to be blogging!

2008-06-24T00:01:00.035-06:00

So... Everyone in the WORLD (and yes we do know everyone in the world) has been calling/ emailing telling us to update our blog already! So here it is! Prepare yourselves for TOO many pictures!

I have cut my hours at work to only 2 nights a week (24 hours a week) and life has been GREAT! I have so much more balance I'm rested, my house is clean, my child is happy and my husband is happier. I feel so much more peace.

So here is our silly summer so far. (not necessarily in order)

One morning "The Pie" asked me to put on her little swimmer diapers over her jammies, so I did. Then she brought me another pair, so I put another on her over her diaper, over her jammies and over her other pair of little swimmers...

She tried to get me to put on her plastic pants OVER everything else!

Here she is trying to do it herself.

The pictures can be hard to see because first of all I took the pics with my phone and second her jammies are multi colored and so are her little swimmers.

And so we try the head...

Pie, quite often, will go into her room and shut the door. I went in to check on her and this is what I found.

She's now swinging on the swings all by herself!

-I was pretty surprised when she asked to do it herself!

She LOVES to tackle, hug, and cuddle Berkley! "Ba Ba!" or sometimes "Bakie!" is his name.

..even if he doesn't always like it, like when he's trying to chew his bone.

We got to meet up with Jill and her family on the 4th!

She has the kindest husband and her kids are THE SWEETEST!!!!! I'm so happy for her! They are darling! I grew up with Jill back in NY and she is now living in Colorado. She looks EXACTLY the same!! SO pretty! I have to say, I LOVE her gray hair!!!! It looks SO GOOD on her!!!!! Catching up was so fun!

We happened upon a momma feeding her babies!!

We get to see Kath about once a week. We went on a picnic this day:

Kathy being a good auntie and E eating one of her fav snacks, corn.

Nice view huh??

The boys being boys....

Could this kid BE ANY CUTER?????

We took in a parade:

EVERY ward in the area had their own float! They worked very hard on them!

This is the Singles Ward's banner before their float

it reads: "OVER LAND OR UNDER THE SEA, I'LL SEARCH FOR THE ONE FOR ME!" We thought it was pretty funny. One lady told us that the other year their float was a wedding cake!

Summer lovin'

This is a standard stance from The Pie. She rests her thumbs in her arm pits. :)

She LOVES to talk on the phone!

She/ we LOVE these jammies from Grandma Marla.

We took her on a walk up Bridal Veil Falls and she took off running from me and b-lined it to this baby! She ran right up and sat down next to him and leaned over (I got nervous I didn't know what she would do!) She hugged him then kissed him and this is a shot of her clapping and saying "YEA!!!...BABY!!!"

Talking to Dad. Looking SO grown up!

This was Father's Day.

Bridal Veil Falls.. looking so small.

Summer has been fun. We've been going to the pool, the park, visiting friends and having all sorts of adventures! E is saying new words everyday. She's getting taller and taller!! She has weighed 22lbs since December!

She cracks us up! She'll say "Mommie, shoes." then bring them to me and help me put them on then say "Good girl! Lets go!"

The other day she dropped some cereal by me and guided my hand to the floor, when I picked it up she said "Good Girl!" and gave me a kiss.

We didn't get to see any fireworks this year due to my work schedule and then on the 4th Jake flew into town around 6:30pm and at 7:30pm E brought me her jammies for me to help her put them on . I did and she ran off saying "Thank you". then at 8pm she took her things and started into her bedroom saying "Night Night" when I followed her I found her reaching for the scriptures saying "Sciptures!". I said "I guess we're not going anywhere?" Jake was so tired from the travel he was glad. Ahhh life is fun!

One Word...

2008-06-09T07:03:00.004-06:00

Little Debbie did this and I thought it was fun so here we go...One word.
That's all you can write as your answer. Can you do it?
Not as easy as you might think!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? .................... Table
2. Your significant other?....................... Loving
3. Your hair?.................................... Dark
4. Your mother? ................................. Kind
5. Your father?.................................. Great
6. Your favorite thing?.......................... Love
7. Your dream last night?........................ Bachelorette
8. Your favorite drink........................... Water
9. Your dream/goal?.............................. Perfection
10. The room you're in?.......................... Bedroom
11. Your ex?..................................... Doctor
12. Your fear?............................... Falling
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years........... Settled
14. Where were you last night?................... Home
15. What you're not?............................. Thin
16. Muffins...................................... Nope
17. One of your wish list items?................. Home
18. Where you grew up?........................... NY
20. What are you wearing?........................ Um....
21. Your TV?..................................... OFF!
22. Your pets?................................... Crazy
23. Your computer? .............................. Gateway
24. Your life?................................... Blessed
25. Your mood?................................... Contemplative
26. Missing someone?............................. Family
27. Your car?.................................... Green
28. Something you're not wearing?................ Shoes
29. Favorite Store?...................... Wal Mart
30. Your summer?................................. Fun!
31. Like someone?................................ YES
32. Your favorite color?......................... White
33. Last time you laughed........................ Yesterday
34. Last time you cried?......................... Head

That is hard! -Especially FOR ME!

One HARD Week...

2008-05-25T04:07:00.011-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I work at a hospital at night. From 6pm-6am. This is a very hard shift and a VERY busy job. I work it anywhere from 2-5 times in a week. Very often I find that I have only had 2-4 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period and I am due back at work that night. I thought it would get easier but after a few months its proving to be harder.

I had a hard week this week. I had finished a 5 day stretch after Wednesday night and Thursday I could not function. Friday I tried and Saturday I did. So, I'm sorry to those of you who do not get phone calls returned and don't receive enough thank yous we love you and thank you!

This is what E does while I put on my make up, then we brush our teeth together.

(She get's out of the sink for that ") ) -She is SO FUN!

Thursday night I was bawling to Jake saying "I can't do this! I'm quitting!!".

But, getting the opportunity to hang out with my tittley peep is just worth every and any sacrifice. She means so much to us. She is SO funny I get to laugh everyday! I am so thankful for her spirit. Here's a few pics from this past week.

She RAN up to me and Jake with her dish in her face!

She was laughing really hard but of course I was too slow to capture that.

Dad flew in for the weekend and we were all so tired we just hung out.

Dad hangin' out with the E.

...and Berkley's Butt

They are watching her favorite show HI-5 (Well, the only show she watches).

It's really cool, I like it! They have really fun songs. Jake gets SO bugged because I'll sing them all the time. The other day he called me saying "This morning I woke up to you singing that HI-5 song! I said out loud (alone in his hotel room), 'Libby STOP singing that song!' and I woke up and opened my eyes and I had left the TV on and the show was on!" We're haunting him! :)

http://www.hi-5us.com/flashsite/SWF/home.html

Our Day Out

2008-05-16T05:07:00.037-06:00

Today we went to go play with Jessica and her peoples! ...and we decided to cut my hair:

I LOVE IT! GO BANGS!

Then we were off to go see FARM ANIMALS!! And RIDE PONY'S!!!!!

We walked in the door and they had a gift shop so Elizabeth had some fun:

Ok we need to get her a cowboy hat!

She must wear it 24/7 because she's just too cute!

One of the workers brought in a little goat on a leash ...but, Elizabeth didn't seem to care?

Jessica showed the tittley-peeps the baby chicks

Then we went to ride the PONY'S!!!!

Pie Pie wasn't so sure?

But then Mom reassured her and all was well!

YEA! Clapping hands!

Then we went to Jail!

Roxy is a CUTE jail bird!

Mylanta would you just look at those cute toes?!

MOMMIE!!!! (Translation: You MUST come see the ducks!!)

They had all kinds...

This is fun!

They had lots of different kinds of chickens and turkeys and peacocks and more GOATS! There were lots of different kinds of horses, donkeys, cows....

I just LOVED her squatting to see the chickens!

This goat poked his head out to get some snuggles!

He kept rubbing his head on our hands. It was fun!

And there were LOTS of Mommas and Babies!!!

These ones were SO TINY!!!! Couldn't have been more then 2-5 lbs.

They were hungry but Momma didn't feel like giving it up so she kept walking away. They came up to us and were licking and trying to suck on our fingers!! It was GREAT!

This Momma and baby were so precious!

They were so snuggly with one another.

It reminded me of someone I know...

Jessica's kids were so great playing with E and watching over her. She loved it! -Anything that makes her feel like one of the BIG kids! Christian and Ashton were GREAT!

Check out those Clydesdale's! -(Am I right?)

Pie Pie did NOT want to leave! Maybe one more ride on the pony Mom?

She tried to climb back into the ring!

When we got home I had to check out my hair some more... I LOVE IT!!!

(You KNOW YOU do it too!)

Wind blown and all... still amazing!

Ok I look a little weird because I was taking my own picture in the mirror...

I asked Elizabeth if she liked it and she said "Yeah!" and gave me a big hug and a kiss!

We had a fun day! Thanks Jessica!

Sorry it's been so long...

2008-05-14T03:53:00.036-06:00

What's up with us? Work... lots more work... sleep.. and enjoying one another....

I have had the darndest time lately getting any good pictures! -Whenever I pull out the camera or video thing this is what I get:

She knows that there are pictures of her in there and wants to see them.

"SUCH A DEAL!" Mom would be proud! I got this table and chairs at a local grogery store for a SMOKIN' deal! They were on a closeout.

Elizabeth LOVES them!

This is one sunday after church...

please ignore Dad's laundry behind her... he's preping for another trip.

She has done the CUTEST things with Berkley and I for the life of me cannot get a shot of them! But I did snap this really quick, he was sleeping on the couch and she climbed up and layed with him.

Of course they jumped up and were all too exctied about the camera before I even finished taking the picture!

I tried to get a picture of this... I was cleaning and I looked over to see what she was doing and she was walking around and on the couch holding this little red case in front of her face! It was HILARIOUS!!!!! Of course when I pulled out the camera down it went.

We have TONS more teeth coming in... we now have 3 molars and the 4th is 1/2 way in, and another tooth next to her bottom two. All the others you can see where they will be popping in shortly! -This picture is a few weeks old when her molars were still coming in.

For our 5 year anneversary we went to St. George

Now, I'm not a desert person, but Jake and I decided that we wanted to live there!

It was really great. We fell in love... again.

We look like such geeks but we are so happy who cares?

The Temple was beautiful!

And there were these bugs flying SO FAST around the flowers, Jake thought they were humming birds. -You couldn't see exactly what they looked like until you took a picture:

Thank you Val for taking Elizabeth on such an important weekend for you guys... Jordan's first Prom!!! I know Elizabeth had fun with you all and it was nice not to have to worry but we still missed her.

This past weekend we went to the Zoo!

Elizabeth LOVED it!

The Zoo was a Zoo!

I like the monkey's

Elizabeth wanted the elephants!

More monkeys

And some silly turkeys... it was fun they were totally gobbling

Then on Mother's Day I got up at 4:30 am... why you may ask? Well it because I have a whacky sleeping schedule.. in fact I have no sleeping schedule.. So, I made some chocolate covered strawberries and tried to deliver them... too early :)

They looked so pretty and better yet they tasted SO GOOD! Jake finally called me at 9:30 am and I was at my sister Kathy's hourse delivering her her yummies and he said "HEY! Where are you? You are ruining you breakfast in bed!" So I hurried to make 2 more stops and rushed home for my french toast and of course strawberries.

That night Jake made me some Tilapia (I LOVE FISH AND SEAFOOD!!!!!)

And some pasta...LOTS of garlic, oregano, SCALLOPS, SHRIMP, and some more stuff...

UH!!! YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

And of course strawberries for desert!

I love being a Mom :)

Goodbye Utah....Hello Great State of Texas!

2008-03-29T07:03:00.003-06:00

...NO, NOT US!

Clara, Daniel and the kids!

This week my BEST BUD, here in Utah, moved to Texas! :(

I had to open my big mouth and tell her how GREAT Texas is and about 5 minutes later her husband accepted a job and they were moving!!

Seriously, I will miss them all very much.

Her kids are the greatest and Elizabeth loves them and feels so comfortable with them.

I love you, Clara and our "girls night outtings" thanks for being such a good friend.

TIME TO START A BLOG!!!!!

WELCOME HOME!!!!

2008-03-28T07:03:00.000-06:00

Our little man was returned to us today! I gotta tell ya I was missing him so bad. I begged and begged Jake to call and check on him! Jake called the man and this is what he said, "Man! Berkley is the BEST dog I have EVER worked with!" [remember he's a hunting dog trainer] He went on and on about how he did this and how he did that so wonderfully and it was so fun for him to watch him and that you could see that he was just CRAVING to get out there and run and "work" a field. But when he would take him home it was a totally different story... he said that Berkley would first explore each room and then settle himself at the front door with is face in his paws and cry. Berkley was so 'home sick' that he only ate 1/2 a cup of food in the 4 days that they had had him!

They had friends come over that had a little girl around Elizabeth's age and Berkley just perked right up again! ...but as soon as they left Berkley begain to sob again. He said "I think he misses the baby."

They fell him love with Berkley and his tender heart very quickly, but they were very concerned about his home sickness and that he had never in all his years seen a dog so depressed. The man said "Lets give it a few more days."

They really wanted to make it work. We prayed that the right thing would happen whatever that was and that Berkley would be ok. Friday came and Berkley was no better so the man called Jake and said "I'm going to take him out one more time to say goodbye and then I'm going to bring him home."

The man sat and talked with us for a long while, giving me direction as how I might better "control" Berkley. -He told us that his wife cried that they had to send him back. He told us that we have the best dog ever and that we have a companion for life. Berkley is OUR dog forever. He asked if he could take him out every once in a while and that if we were ever going away for the weekend or on vacation to please call him and he'd watch him! Then he told us that he was SO impresses with Berkley that he found a breeder and was going to get a German Wire Haired pup of his own THIS AFTERNOON!

We are so happy to have him back home! Elizabeth screamed and giggled when she saw him ran to him and patted him. After Berkley had sufficently loved everyone he ran straight to his bowl and chowed down then completely PASSED OUT on the floor. Life is at peace with our family together again.

So much fun where do I begin?

2008-03-24T22:31:00.055-06:00

So... my child has learned to lift her leg high enough to climb on the sofa and the chair all by herself! Oh so much fun! -FOR HER! Now I'm freaking out even more thinking "Oh great at some point when I'm not looking she'll climb on the couch and fall off and break her neck!" -Do I get that from my mother?

What is behind here?

I MUST get the bracelet on my ankle!

See Mommy!

We took a visit over to Sportsmans Warehouse a week ago because they had BABY BEARS!!!!!!!

Elizabeth was SO excited she giggled and giggled when she saw them!

SO TINY!!

They made the funniest noises it was SO great!

The next day we went to visit Cabellas

I showed Elizabeth a pop gun and she laughed so hard when it went POP!

Of course we went to see the animals

And the fishes

While driving home the sun was setting and it looked so beautiful. We decided that Utah really is a pretty place to live.

The weather has been getting so nice we've been taking advantage of it! Every day we get out. It's so cute Elizabeth will bring me her shoes then go to the door and tap on it to go out.

When we got out she took off!

Singing my favorite chant "Mommie... Mommie... Mommie..."

We saw some kitties through a window and we stopped to check them out and we were invited into our neighbors' house...

She has all sorts of fun friends in her home!

The next day we went to play SOCCER!

Elizabeth LOVES this ball!

I was trying to teach her to kick it but even getting her to step on the grass was interesting.

Then she kept falling on it. :)

We'd like to introduce you to Elizabeth's BEST friend:

Never go anywhere with out it! -Thanks Grandma Carol!

I LOVE her face when she is trying to figure something out!

Concentration:

The other morning was very cold and rainy so we stayed in. Elizabeth has never been into TV. She will stop what she's doing and do a little dance to whatever music is in the back ground then go back to something more interesting. Today, I had recorded some children's shows and played them to she if she'd be interested. She fell in LOVE with a different version of Sesame Street meant just for little ones. She sat down and was glued! Here she is with her doggie.

The next day the weather was better. I'm working on the whole grass thing... Here she's mid sentence talking to Mom.

This is all Berkley wanted to do:

People have of course given clothes that are "not our style" I guess you could say, of course everyone has this problem. Before I had Elizabeth I didn't know what I thought was cute on "my" little one. My mom bought her this outfit and I have WAITED and WAITED to for her to be big enough to get it on her!

She looks like a dork.

But it was still cute watching her RUN around in it. Yes, she is RUNNING!!! And on the grass no less! ...and it's Easter Weekend... it's Eastery. Jake made me change her before we went out.

Her FIRST pine cone!

I hope to be a good mother like my mother. My mother always showed us things in nature and tried to teach us the names of all the plants. I don't remember them, but I do LOVE them! Here I'm showing Elizabeth the buds on the trees. Thanks Mom!

Then we went to Utah's AQUARIUM!!!! -Yes, they have one. To be honest I was worried and had very LOW expectations, especially when we drove up and I saw the building! -An OLD SUPER MARKET!!

But it was actually pretty cool!!

Every Aquarium has a side dedicated to their states 'natural' waters:

The Utah part was lame.

But the murals were really nice! ...Looks like the Carolina's...

Then we moved on to the fun stuff! The salt water tanks!! I really thought that they did a great job! -You have to start somewhere right?

We really had a good time! -Here are a few pictures:

YEA Jelly fish!

Check out this baby:

This guy looked an awefull lot like my DINNER!! YUMM!!!! LOBSTER! -He's HUGE!!

Surprisingly I actually saw some animals I had NEVER seen before!!

It was exciting. -We love Aquariums!

Than at the touch pool....

I ran into DEREK DAVIS from Fairport!!!

He seems so happy with is kids! -He has another one somewhere with momma.

I love seeing people and catching up!

Easter Sunday was fairly uneventful later in the day we went out for a bit of a walk.
We walked to a park but Elizabeth was NOT having the jungle gym or the swings! So we went back home to kick the soccer ball and spend time with Dad before he leaves again.

She likes carrying it.

Today we got a package from Grandma Effie!

Here is her card to Elizabeth "Happy Easter my little one. I hope you get to hunt Easter Eggs this year. It will be so much fun. I made you a book to read and it won't break or tear like paper. I crocheted you a little duck to hug but it doesn't have a tail. The pattern I made it off didn't have one. So it's one of a kind. I would love to see you and give you a big hug. I know we will all get to see each other before long. Momma said that you were walking now. Isn't it fun? You can explore places you didn't know were there, Have fun. I love you, Great Grandma."

Grandma Effie is Jake's birth father, Clay's mother. Effie is 85 and lives in the great state of Texas! Her kindness and thoughtfullness just brings tears to my eyes and a warmness to my heart. We cannot wait to meet you and hug you!

Saying Goodbye

2008-03-24T22:31:00.054-06:00

I cannot find the right words.

We love you so much little man.

We miss your love, your hugs and your kisses.

Berkley went to live with another family this weekend.

We miss him SO dearly.

We were trying to find a home for him ...for lots of reasons. We gave him away and the man kept him for 24 hours and returned him. His wife said "NO!". That 24 hours was ok, nice even. Well, this time was different. I'm sure Jake misses him but I'm bawling and I want him back! Jake says it'll get better after a week. The man said that we could call him if we changed our minds, Jake won't let me call. I miss him. I really do. His new home is with an older couple with grown children 18 and up. He is a dog trainer. He specifically trains dogs to hunt. He was looking for a hunting dog and family dog just for them. Berkley is the best dog ever. He'll have so much fun hunting and running around the family's land. The family just lost their 'family' dog. I hope Berkley is happy there. They said that we could go visit but Jake doesn't want to. I really do.

Who might Elizabeth Be?

2008-03-16T06:41:00.004-06:00

What Elizabeth Means

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience.

You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along.

But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.

You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.

Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.

Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Who Jake is...

2008-03-16T06:41:00.002-06:00

What Jake Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you.

You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries.

You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life.

You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip.

People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

What Libby Means

2008-03-16T06:41:00.001-06:00

What Libby Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Daddy and Daughter

2008-03-15T04:23:00.005-06:00

It's been HEAVENLY having daddy home for so long! Jake hasn't had to travel in weeks!

But next month he'll be gone about 90% of it. :(
When I work Jake has been hanging out with Elizabeth and on the weekends while I'm catching up on sleep they get daddy-daughter time. I love to hear them laugh together!

Thank you Jake for being such a good Dad and Husband.

We miss you when your away.

Libby Vs. Jake

2008-03-10T21:02:00.011-06:00

I noticed a couple of #'s are missing ...I just copied them from Crystal's blog.

1. Who eats more? Jake, thank goodness!

2. Who said "I Love You" First? Me first. –Kinda, he said “I know you love me.” -I do.

3. How long have you been together? 6 years in April.

4. Who sings better? Jake, he’s really good but if you ask him he’ll say he’s terrible??? I seriously think I'm tone deaf but I have a blast being a goof and belting crapola out!

5. Who's older? Me, by ONE YEAR… Jake LOVES to tell everyone that his wife is WAY older then him! -Dork! I may be older but you LOOK older! HA! (He's got tons of gray hair)

6. Who's smarter? Depends on what we’re talking about. If your wondering about guns, or outdoorsy stuff then it’s Jake. If your wondering about movie stars and various non important things it’s me.

7. Whose temper is worse? Mine I would say. I really do not like getting mad, but when I’m way tired then it gets the best of me. Jake just gets quiet when he’s mad. It’s wonderful though that we are both so quick to forgive! –Jake just said that I’m WAY quick to get over things and move on. He stews a little longer then me (he used to stay mad for a while but now it’s only like 5 minutes longer then me).

8. Who does the laundry? Me. Jake tries to help but I’m kind of picky about the folding.

9. Who does the dishes? Me. Jake sometimes. Again, I’m a bit picky on certain things…. :) ..Like how long the dishes sit in the sink….

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? The right side if you are facing the bed, Jake. The right side if your in the bed, me. -I don't know why that's interesting to know?

11. Who snores? Neither of us,...unless we're DEAD TIRED or I might if I’m all kinked asleep on the sofa.

12. Who's hair is longer? Mine thank goodness! Jake has been begging me to shave his head. But I'm his hairdresser and I’m the one looking at him so it’s NOT gonna happen! love you!

13. Who's better with the computer? Me, but I’m so dang impressed with how Jake has rapidly improved! I’ve learned that Jake is so stinkin' smart that whenever he gains an interest in something he learns everything he can about it and super FAST! He’ll read something on a subject and then just take off! It’s pretty impressive!

14. Do you have pets? Yes, Berkley. I do love him. Except when he eats Elizabeth’s books! GRRR!

15. Who cooks dinner? Ah… I’d say it’s ½ and 1/2 Jake is a really good cook and he enjoy’s it. Ok, he probably cooks dinner more often.

16. Who drives when you are together? Usually Jake. He used to feel weird if I drove him around. But I think that he realized that that’s just dumb and now he’ll ask “Do you want to drive?” –Sometimes I just want to drive, other times he can have it! ESPECIALLY if it’s a long drive, then it’s all him all the way!

17. Who pays when you go out to dinner? Either, it’s both our money, it doesn’t matter.

19. Who is the most stubborn? I’m sure we both have our moments. --Jake says me and I say him!

20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? Uhhh...that would definitely be me.

21. Who's parents do you see more? His. They fly in from Oregon to see family/ other various reasons pretty often as of late. Mine live in New York :(

22. Who named your pet? Jake kept coming up with ideas and I kept vetoing them until he got to Berkley.

23. Who kissed who first? Come on now....I kissed Jake first…

24. Who asked who out? I told him that he should ask me out (and then I asked him if he wanted my # just in case he wanted to ask me out) …then he did. Yeah, I’m subtle.

26. Who's more sensitive? I think we're both sensitive in our own ways. But I'm more so, I think. Jake just said that it depends on what it’s about.

28. Who has more friends? Me. Jake is a little anti-social sometimes. I hate it when he gets that way because when he relaxes (in certain environments where he may feel uncomfortable) he’s the most AMAZING person to be around. He can pull out of his shell like he’s never been in one.

29. Who has more siblings? Jake. By one boy. Jake has 5 girls and 2 boys in his family and I have 5 girls and 1 boy.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Ah, we both definitely have our moments. I would say to be honest it’s really equal -like it should be.

31. Who's more sexy? I’d say Jake and he’d say me.

32. Who sleeps naked? Uhhh……thanks for playin’…

33. Who's the better cook? Jake cooks every day things better ...really yummy! I think because I get bored and think “We can just have cereal or sandwiches”, but the big items (Thanksgiving dinner, lasagna, stuff like that…) I do better.

34. Who has more money? It’s all OUR money. We’re in it together.

35. Who has more tattoos? Me. I have one small one that I wish I could have removed -Jake wants one and I say “Over my dead body” and even then I’d kick his butt!

36. Who eats more sweets? Humm… We just like different kinds of sweets. Jake can eat all day long anything that looks like it has sat on a gas station store shelf for like 3+ years YUCK! And I like godiva chocolates and stuff… neither of us eat a ton of sweets, but if there in the house then I’ll eat them ALL! (Except for his yucko gas station crappo)

37. Who is closer to their family? Me.

38. Who has the older car? We are a one car family right now.

39. Who has bigger dreams? I love that we both are big dreamers -sometimes Jake feels like they are unattainable and my job is to show him that NOTHING is unattainable! I do really like that we have the same dreams for our life. I think we mesh well together.

40. Who cries more? Me. I’m totally a girl.

*Now repost as You Vs Your significant other*

My Cup Runneth Over...

2008-03-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

My family came in for a visit :)

I'm sorry... I didn't take pictures everyday because at the really fun moments I was having fun and not hanging out behind the camera :)

Sunday we went to go see Little Debbie in Park City ( for approx. 5 min) on our way out we got down the freeway about 1/2 a mile and stopped. For 2 hours!

So, we did a little of this:

and a lot of this:

So I went to go see what Dave, Mike and Bec were doing in their car

A lot of the same...

Are we moving!?!

Nope. False alarm.

So Dave and Bec came to us for a visit, apparently Mike needed some "alone" time :)

Dave said "Hi!" to Elizabeth

She did this:

Then they left and all was fine

This guy thought that we were cool and tried to start a snowball fight with us:

Are we moving yet?

So, something like 3 hours late, we got to Kathy's

Everyone busted out the cameras

Mine is cooler then yours....

Kathy was so kind as to make King David the famous "Morey Ho Ho Cake"

in celebration of his recent Birthday

While Kyle just melted all our hearts!

Ian loved it so much he wanted to make sure he got every last bit!

We laughed... at each other.

Monday I got to hang with the kids while the "adults" went skiing and snowboarding. I fell in LOVE with Debbie's boys! Elizabeth was in awe and just followed them around everywhere! They all kept telling me what she was trying to communicate, it was SO cute!

At one point in the day Elizabeth had stopped playing and started approaching me and Kyle said "What's she doing?" and I said "Oh, she just wants a kiss." -"Ohhhh." and I kissed her and off she went to play and Luke stood there and watched and came up to me and I said "Oh, do you want a kiss too?" and he said "Yea!" so I gave him a little kiss and he smiled and off he went to play. Um...yeah, I was in love! Debbie's boys are SO sweet!

Later in the day they had a debate about whether Superman was real or not. So, they asked me and I said "Well, you know... some people think that your dad is Superman." they sat on that dead silent for quite a while then finally Evan said "No, we would know." -I said "Not necessarily, Superman has to keep his identity a secret. You should ask your Mom and Dad."

Debbie told me that later they did!

Then we had ROCK BAND night!

Morgan, McKay and Andrew were SO good!!!

What is this craziness?

We tuckered Kathy out.

Rock on Dave... Rock on...

Little Debbie is being a good parent:

Becky is being a good auntie:

Rock out DEB!

Mike is every one's hero!

The spectators:

Ian was in HEAVEN!

Rockin' out with Dad!

Mike doin' what he does best; being the best uncle.

I loved every second of this trip. I cried when they all had to leave. I'm SO glad that Elizabeth loved Bec and Mike as much as I do. Bec taught Elizabeth to say "Becky" I was like "?!?!?!" From the moment Elizabeth saw Mike she was comfortable with him, she handed him her sippy cup and walked away. He was safe enough to watch her most precious possession. Later they told me while watching her that she fell asleep on Mike's chest. After Mike and Bec had gone Elizabeth ran into her room, where they were staying and called out "BECKY!.... BECKY!" and looked all around for her. Later that day Debbie pulled up with her boys and Elizabeth Screamed with excitement! I'm so glad she loves my family as much as I do.

Thanks for the visit.

This Week...

2008-02-19T19:49:00.007-07:00

... I started out this post wanting to share a quote about marriage (from Gordon B. Hinckley's book "Stand a Little Taller") and I just found the greatest scripture:

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." -James 5:6

"No man or woman proceeds alone. All of us are largely the products of the lives which touch upon our lives." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Sometimes I feel like I am wrong for being open but this is how I have percieved things when doing so and at times I feel wrong, like I should keep all to myself. But lets be honest here, that's just not me. I enjoy my friends so much; we can be honest and open and pray for one another and provide such wonderful support to one another.

Thanks President Hinckley, he will touch my life forever.

This week was jamm packed and way too quick! My favorite father-in-law; Ron, and his wonderful and beautiful wife Carol came into town for the weekend. Jake's cousin got married on Saturday, and of course I FORGOT the camera!!! -and Elizabeth was SO cute!!! It was really a neat day. I got to meet another "Libby", the spouse of one of Jake's cousins' and tons and tons of Phair's! Everyone was able to get together at Val's for some what of a reunion on Sunday night, Val said they had 81 people there!!! However, Jake and I were unable to make it. :( We missed out bigtime.

Sorry if you don't want to see me and my boyfriend kiss. Here is what I wanted to share:

"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." -Ephesians 5:33

"Happiness in marriage involves a willingness to overlook weakness and mistakes....

God has brough us together as families to bring to pass His eternal purposes. We are part of this plan in this marriage relationship. Let us love and respect and honor one another. We can do it, and we will be the better for it." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Welcome to the family Celise Eliza Phair Feb 5th, 2008

The happy Momma

"See that ye love one another, ...learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires."

-Docterine and Covenents 88:123

And THIS week I get to have MY family here!!!!

I've been TAGGED!

2008-02-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Heather! This is how it works:

A. The rules of this game are to be posted at the beginning.

B. Each player answers the question about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

What I was doing 10 years ago? Um.... 10 Years ago.... I was 21 and living in Provo with Heather and peeps. I think at that time I was going to hair school. I was busy staying up late and being a silly girl with all the other silly college girls and crazy boy crazy!

5 Things on my "to-do" list today:

1-Lets see... I've already taken Berkley potty, started my cleaning, done 2 loads of laundry and got Elizabeth dressed and fed. (no I'm not amazing, I've just started working the night shift at the hospital, so I'm up at odd hours.)
2-Now I need to FOLD all the laundry and put it away...finish picking up the kitchen, put away the towels and bath mats back into the now clean bathroom...
3-Sit for Clara's kids
4-Go grocery shopping
5-Spend time with Spouse who just came back into town and took today off to hang with us. (He should be awake by the time I get back from erronds and sitting. His trips can be very intense and since he doesn't drink, when all his co-workers go out he stays late to finish working.)

3 of my bad habits:

1-Cussing. I hate to admit it. I have gotten a TON better over the years, but I do still have my moments. I feel ROTTEN if I do cuss now.
2-I'm TERRIBLE at checking my voice mail! Sorry! Nothing personal!
3-Overeating. -Which I'm totally working on.

Places I've Lived: (in order)
Rochester, NY
Las Vegas, NV
Provo, Utah
Fairport, NY
Orem, UT
Salem, OR
Woodburn, OR
Lewisville, TX (Dallas)
Round Rock, TX (Austin)
Wexford, PA (Pittsburgh)
Chattanooga, TN
Riverton, UT
and now back to Orem.

Things most people don't know about me:
I am really OCD about cleaning and organizing. (You have NO idea how much it bothers me if someone sees my house a mess I fret over it forever!) BUT when it comes to my bedroom I have always failed miserably. From when I was a kid up to now. I have heaps and piles of clothes, etc.. on my floor. It buggs me, so... I shut the door and go to reorganize another space. ??? ...I know.

Ok, there you go... more then you ever wanted to know about me! Now I tag Crystal, Suzette, Little Debbie, Chyenne, and Becky.

Gordon B. Hinckley

2008-01-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

1910-2008

This wonderful man is reunited with his wife again this evening. We know he missed her very much. We are sad to let him go but are glad that he has moved on. His accomplishments were great while here on this earth. He was brilliant, down to earth, loving, humble, kind, humerous.... I could go on and on. Senitor Orin Hatch tonight said "This is a man that we should all strive to be like."

Elizabeth turns 1

2008-01-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth 2006

2007

And now 2008...

This is Elizabeth's Birthday outfit.

Gma Morey picked out this beautiful blouse all by herself! I LOVE it!

She wasn't so sure about the cake....
neither was Berkley.

So she dumped it on the floor and opted for the yummier green beans!!!

THEN she got excited!

One of her presents was this dress from Gma Emmett.
She was excited to wear it to church that Sunday.

Every moment is so special.

Spinning

2008-01-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so I promised a picture but I'm not so inclined to share it. :) Maye next time?

Lets just say Spinning is hard and works you big time! The good thing is, is that the instructor was great and she said that I can come back even though I am painfully out of shape!

Apparently I went to an intermediate class. :)

The instructor also said that spinning is a GREAT way to prep/ help you with running!

I liked it. So I'm gonna stick with it!

Sneeking Up on E

2008-01-11T23:26:00.002-07:00

Libby's Amature Photo Hour

2008-01-11T23:26:00.001-07:00

Here's Berkley doin' what HE does. Pointing.

Alama said "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Alma 37:6

...just livin'

2008-01-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

We got to go spend time with Jessica this past week....

and Kristina and Clara

And meet Kristina's new little man! -Oh he's a snuggler!!

Then there was this:

From this to

this over night

Berkley LOVES the snow!

Elizabeth loves watching him

But I think she's like me...
'Cold is poop!'

Here we are trying to wrangle Berkley inside!

Uh!... I'm ready for warm weather and here we are no where close to having spring.

Thursday was also my last day of work.

I had the opportunity to work for my brother-in-law, Matt, for a little while. While at work Elizabeth got to get to know her cousins better because Val, Shannon and Courtney were so kind as to tend to her. Thank you Matt, you are a GREAT boss!!! and Thank you so much girls for your help. I know at times it must have been tough but we really appreciate it and I know it was a good experience for Elizabeth.

New Year

2008-01-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Side note: You'll have to forgive me, I'm not feeling good :( (swollen glands, sore throat, ear ache, headache ...all on my right side and my right eye even hurts?) I'm bumming it today.

I was reading Little Debbie's blog and for the new year she is taking on a project called "Project 365" where you take a picture everyday for a year to document your life. It sounds really cool!
I have been thinking about what I am going to do this year for my goals. ...and did I meet my goals from last year?

I believe my two goals were #1 Get to know my daughter, watch her grow and love every minute of it and #2 Loose weight (everyone's goal)

I did one, well ok I lost like 20 lbs right after I had her and then after that I've lost and gained and I'm now down what... 5 lbs? Yeah.

So.... I've been thinking and thinking.

1. Get HEALTHY -I'm a food addict (that includes exercise!)

2. Run a marathon with my sisters

3. Become more selfish and more selfless

(Ok... I've had a lot of people ask me about being more selfish and more selfless. What I meant was be more selfish in certain ways (like concentrating on being more healthy and finding time for myself to exercise or just time for myself) and selfless to give back to those who have helped us so much and be more of service to others and my family etc...)

4. Get out of debt!

5. Keep my mouth SHUT (at those certain times about those certain things)

What have I learned this past year?

1. I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN!

Ok....

2008-01-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

This is the winning picture.

Be sure to vote on February 11th and tune in all the week to Live with Regis and Kelly to see this years winners!

Inspirational Thoughts

2008-01-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

You know... I have been reading her Small and Simple Things book, a little every day. I'm trying to read it slowly; it's a small book and I want to savor and appreciate all she has to say. I wanted to share something from her book but to be honest I can't chose just one. She is such an amazing daughter of God, woman, wife and mother. I think my favorite thing to share for now maybe a bit long, but it's worth it.

"Some years ago I had a friend who decided at the age of fifty that she was going to learn to play the piano. She courageously started out with Thompson's Book I. Each morning she went to the church at 7:00, where she would practice on the piano and, later, on the organ. After about a year they asked her to play a special number for one of the Relief Society lessons. She said she didn't feel ready, to give her another 3 months. The 3 months had passed, and she consented to play a special number that she had memorized. This was her first public appearance on the piano. She started out beautifully. It went well for about 3 measures; then she lost it. Everything went blank. Her music teacher, who was present, said, "Don't be ruffled. Just start over." She started over and made it all the way through without a single mistake.

We have never loved my friend more than we did that morning. Perhaps it was because she faltered a little in the beginning and we were all pulling for her, saying to ourselves, "come on, we know you can do it." If her performance had been flawless from the start, we might have all been defensive and said, "Oh well, she can learn to play the piano because her husband is the kind who will get his own breakfast while she practices and her children don't make demands on her" and so on and so on and so on. As it was, She faltered a little, and we loved her the more, That experience has given me great comfort. I figure that if I fall a little short of what is expected of me, perhaps my sisters in the gospel will be compassionate and love me for trying."

Thee lift me and I'll lift thee and we'll both ascend together

-John Greenleaf Whittier

And He's Gone Again...

2008-01-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Jake has left for San Antonio.

All I have to say is "This is POOP" :(