Two months later......

I am finally getting around to posting Zanders Birthday pics

from January! I can't believe it's already been two months

since my last post! Well Zander turned 7 on January 9th.

Him and a few friends went to pirate Island pizza to celebrate!

They had lots of fun playing arcade games and eating pizza.

(FYI; their birthday package pizza is kind of yucky!!) but when

you are 7, I don't think you notice if the pizza tastes good

or not as long as it's pizza they don't care. We came back to the

house to open presents and play. It turned out to be a really nice

day weather wise too so it was great to be able to send the

kids outside afterward to play! I also posted some older

random pictures of Zander too.

One of Zander's favorite things to do is ride with his daddy!

He is about 4 and a half in this pic.

One of his other favorite things is to get as dirty as possible!!

this is our backyard after it rained a TON a few years ago.

he is also about the same age as above.

I just noticed all of these pictures are from 2007! I wanted to post

a couple of younger ones, but my computer was having brain trauma

or something so they wouldn't upload.

This one is from 2006 so he is 3. Sorry thats the youngest one

I could get. He is at the Omaha zoo in Nebraska.

I love looking back at old pictures! I can't believe how fast

they grow up! I am so proud of Zander! He is such a good

kid! We love him very much!! Happy Birthday bud!!

HaPpY ChRiStMaS!!

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and happy new year!!

I love the holidays because it always puts everything in

perspective again. You remember what really matters and

then you get to start the new year off with a fresh start and

new goals. Some of my goals are to be a more patient mom!!

A better sister and a better wife! Not that I really need help

in those areas, but ya know; there's always room for

improvement!! ; ) Family night before Christmas we went to

the visitors center and the temple, then we went to Woods

Ranch to play in the snow! We had our annual Chistmas Eve

party at our house with BJ's mom and siblings (also for his

birthday). Then Christmas afternoon we headed to BJ's dads,

then off to Kanab. We had lots of fun! For New Years we headed

back to Kanab for games and late nights! I got to see my forever

bff Cyndi lou hoo and play a little Texas Hold'em! (we kicked

Doug's and Brent's butts!!) Fun times! Thanx Cyndi!

Me trying to convince Calista to go down with

me. She refused, she wanted to go by herself!





Tag getting ready to go down!

Zander getting a face full of snow!

Christmas morning we had to wake up the kids!

I woke up at about 7 and couldn't go back to sleep

so at 7:45 we decided to go wake up the kids.

Looks like Santa came!!

Calista showing off her new princess shoes

Happy Birthday Calista

Calista and her cousin Carson turned 3 last week! Since they are

less than 24 hours apart we have celebrated there birthdays

together. It's so fun to have them so close! I always like to try

new things for my kids birthday cakes, so I decided I wanted

to try my first fondant cake! I got my sister in on it so she made

Carson one too. It was a very time consuming project, but it

was fun! I have to say it didn't turn out quite like I had hoped,

but it turned out okay. If anyone is wondering if it looks lopsided,

it is! I wanted to off center the two tiers, but then I wished that

I hadn't and just worked with it! The party was a success and

everyone had lots of fun! I still can't believe my baby is 3!

The birthday kids!!

make a wish!!

Home for Halloween

In my last post I said that we hadn't been home on a weekend

in almost two months. Well after 2 1/2 months we were home

at last!! I thought that after school started in August things would

settle down a little, but in our case it just got crazier!

This year we went to hurricane to this fun street! Its really

is cool, they close the road and almost every house is decorated

with spooky things, music was playing and everyone is dressed

up. There were a few haunted porches that the kids had to go

in to trick or treat. They had so much fun! We will probably go

there again next year, if we can.

SCARY STUFF!

Ready to trick or treat!

Monday night we went to Grandma & Grandpa

Browns house for family night. The kids carved

their pumpkins and played some games.

The kids got these cool suckers so they were

showing me how scary they could be.

Calista getting a prize out of grandmas
special brain filled treasure box

bobbing for apples

I thought this picture turned out pretty cool,

there was smoke in the air from the outdoor

fire pit. sure makes for a spooky picture!

gutting pumpkins

catch up!!

I figured it was about time I posted a new blog. I honestly don't

know how its almost October already!! We went camping up to

pinevalley last weekend with BJ's family and it was so nice to get

to enjoy some cooler weather! First maybe I should tell you whats

been happening since school started. Well BJ started his new job in

Fillmore the week of the 24th of July, and has been gone Monday

through Thursday every week since. Me and the kids have been

hanging out in St. George trying to sell our house! (great time to

sell your house!!) Lots of lookers just no takers. Anyway We

also bought a new car and since it's used we have been trying to

get all the warranty work done on it that we can before it expires

next year. So since the only BMW dealers are either up north or in

Vegas we have been traveling a lot. Plus BJ has been helping my

Dad do the electrical in his basement, so we havent really been

home on a weekend in over a month! (that's just not right!) I

have been keeping busy during the week with kids, homework,

and canning! I have bottled peaches, plum jam and also did

raspberry, and peach freezer jam too. Oh and Potty training

Calista! It has been a process, but I think she finally got it!

She is my first kid to be potty trained before 3! I am super

stoked!! hopefully she keeps it up! This weekend I'm heading

to Vegas to get some more stuff done on the car and for a girls

day with my friend Annie. I'm hoping next weekend we can just

spend it at home as a family! I knew that when BJ decided to

accept the transfer to Fillmore, he would be gone a lot, but it's

starting to wear on me. I just want our house to sell so we can

all live in the same town!! Pinevalley was lots of fun, and the

kids had a great time getting wet in the creek.

BJ's niece Brynlee


Tag warming his feet, because his shoes got wet.




Reelin it in!!









The guys getting down and dirty!!

Zander and his Great Grandma Brown.

Showing off his playdough creations

do you believe in aliens??

Tag decorated his cake with nerds candy

......and ate it too!!

First day already?!

Seriously where did the Summer go? Taggart and Zander

had their first day of school last Thursday. Taggart has

been so excited to start Kindergarten. Everyday for the

past couple weeks he's been asking, "Is it time for school

yet? I love how excited they get for their first day!

Taggarts first day wasn't actually until today though. They

do it a little weird at their school. The Kindergartners just

go with their moms or dads for 30 min. with one other

classmate and do a little scavenger hunt to learn about

their classroom. They spread them out for the first two

days and then start their actual first full day today.

It was so funny, when we were all done with the

scavenger hunt and ready to go, he said, "I thought I was

going to school today?" He was a little bummed he didn't

get to stay for a regular schedule day. Last year I was a

little teary eyed when I dropped Zander off for his first day,

but this year was much better with Taggart. I think because

he had his big brother to walk with him and he wasn't alone.

Zander has been pretty excited too, he didn't think it was fair

that he couldn't eat lunch at school last year. So this year since

he is such a big boy now and in first grade he gets to eat

school lunch!! I think he's been more excited about that

than anything else. I told him that in first grade you go

all day too. Not like kindergarten where you only go a few

hours. When I picked him up after his first day, I asked

him how it went and he said, "I was there forever mom."

Too funny! He likes his new class though and his teacher so

I think he will adjust pretty quickly.

Tag and his teacher Mrs Key

Zander and his teacher Mrs. Mehl