Santa Came

We had such a great time with our family in Elko. Barts parents are such wonderful hosts and they make sure we are all comfortable and taken care of. They sure love and spoil their grandkids. One night the moms even found time to go to a movie and get ice cream afterwards while the boys stayed home to watch the 13 grandkids.

The Three Amigos- Bostyn, Gus, Tate (20 months)
Santa found Zhoee

Jadon and Bossy

We stayed so busy these are the only pics I have-I may have a few on the video camera-I'll post them if I do!!!

Christmas Village

We had a fun time in downtown Ogden going through the Christmas houses!!! We even saw Santa!! The entire time we waited in line Zhoee practiced what she would tell Santa. Her turn came and she wussed out! She hid behind her mom and cried. Jadon, of course, had no problem at all rambling off his list to Santa.

Zhoee had to get as close as she could to little Baby Jesus!

Isn't she cute trying to peek into the stable.

We're Younger Today!!!

We had such a fun neighborhood Christmas party at our home last night. We laughed and laughed and ate yummy food and laughed some more. The football game was on, we played Christmas pictionary (have you seen The Break Up, that game scares me) But, besides Bart teasing me because I continuously hit the point of the marker against the board..... we made it without any major fights and the GIRLS team won. The white elephant gifts included a book called "As We Pass Gas"(Bart can't wait for a free min. to read it), a "Guns don't kill people, Chuck Norris kills people" t-shirt. A 1985 origional Nintendo with many games, and some bright blue, red, and purple Mary Kay make-up. We laughed so hard as we shared stories about our jobs and kids. When the night was over, one of our friends told us that we gain years of our life by laughing... it actually makes us younger because it healthy to laugh. I feel younger this morning with all the laughing we did last night... I remember thinking a few times that my cheeks and stomach actually HURT, I was laughing so hard. I always stress how grateful I am for my wonderful husband and beautiful children this time of year, how happy I am to have such great parents and parents-in-law and wonderul sisters and brothers but last night I was so thankful for such great friends. Here's to great neighbors and friends!
PS: Thanks so much Carlie, Mom, and Dad for watching the kids for the night!!! You're amazing!

Home Alone

I remember laughing and laughing when I watched Home Alone 2 in theater with my family. I was probably like 12 years old.? My parents have it on VHS so we borrowed it and it's all the kids want to do in this snowy weather. They watched it last night and Zhoee fell asleep during it. As I moved her upstairs she slightly opened her eyes and told me she needed to go back downstairs to finish "Kevin movie". Then first thing out of her mouth this morning when she woke up was, "Mommy, I just want to watch Kevin, now". What a good show!!!

OHH! Edward

Ok, This was just too funny I had to blog about it, seeing how I put the posts into our scrapbook.
I was just busy cooking awaya minute ago in the kitchen and Zhoee just came up to me with my high heels on and toting a baby inside her shirt to be "pregnant". I asked her when she was going to have her baby. She then yelled, "Edward, our baby is going to come out now". I was shocked- Did she say EDWARD and that she was having his baby??? My thoughts: Twilight, of course. Had she heard me calling his name out in my sleep? :) JK I'm not that obsessed over the vampire. I hurried and asked her who Edward was.... I was so confused and surprised at how my 3 year old knew who Edward Cullen was. She told me Jadon was Edward for pretends and they were married. "Who chose the name Edward", I asked. "Edward, from Enchanted", she explained. OHHHHH!!!! That explains it!

Christmas Card Dilemma

So, I had a card all ready to send in to get printed. Cute pics of the kids, my list of recipients in the making and then Bart brought up a good point. He said "Everyone who we're sending cards to has already seen those pics on the blog". Humph! He ruined all my efforts and excitement. But, it was a good point. So, I need to either get some new Christmassy (my favorite word lately) pictures of the kids in some cute wintery clothes or just send normal cards. But, doesn't everyone like to get picture cards??? What a dilema! Time's a ticken and I better get busy!!!!

i LovE ThIS bOy!!

I just finished playing with Bossy and remembered I hadn't uploaded some fun pics of him. Here they are. I laugh all the time at the mischevious and naughty things he does.

I just got Bostyn a new baseball hat and he won't take it off. He keeps going up to the glass doors and putting his face to the door and tapping the front part of the hat against the glass.

What a goof.

Yes, I put my kid in the laundry room sink if they need a bath during the day! It's close the the family rom and kitchen so I can see them! They love it more than the tub.

I just went upstairs to do Zhoee's hair for preschool. Two minutes later we came down to find Bossy fast asleep in his high chair. He hasn't done this since he was a little baby!

Piggy back rides are Bostyns new form of transportation. If any of us sit down he jumps on our back, expecting a ride. Jadon is a good sport and totes him around.

You are so fun to play with Bossy!!! I love you so much, Mom

Yummy Soup!

And it couldn't be easier to make!!!
For my meal group this month I made a yummy cheddar broccoli soup. I have made a similar soup for years but this recipe had a little different flavor and we all really liked it!
Cheddar Broccoli Soup

(This recipe makes enough for 2 families)

1 pkg. (16oz) frozen broccoli
6 carrots, sliced
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cups butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups flour
10 cups water
10-12 chicken bouillon cubes (to taste)
1 (16 oz) container cheez whiz or velveeta cheese

Steam Vegetables until almost tender. In a separate bowl, microwave butter or margarine until melted. Stir in flour and mix until smooth. In a large saucepan dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water. (I used a big stock pot) Add a cup of bouillon water to the butter and flour mixture and whisk together. Then add to boiling water and stir. Add drained vegetables to soup. Add Cheez Whiz or Velveeta Cheese. Stir until melted.
From frozen: heat and serve

What do I want?

Bart has continued to nag me about writing up a Christmas list. I look through ads, browse through websites and I really can't think of a thing I really want. Am I weird! He thinks I am crazy and came up with a list for himself 2 pages long. Sometimes I think he really is 8 years old. If any friends out there have some ideas of things for me to want for Christmas please let me know!!! I need to ask Bart for something or he'll end up pacing from one end of the mall to the other and end up buying me a weight set or guitar or something else on HIS list!!! I'm worried. HELP ME ! What are some "mom" things that I could ask for??????

Temple Square

Mikala and Jadon (inseparable)

We were married here almost 8 years ago!!!

How cute is this boy???

Bostyn- in deep thought

Zhoee and Bossy

Spencer, Alex, Bostyn, Jadon, Mikala, Clancy, Zhoee

We took FrontRunner to SLC on Sat. and enjoyed Temple Square. We went to the Conference Center and Joseph Smith Memorial. The lights were beautiful but my favorite part was the water in front of the Temple which had a small nativity scene in the middle and floating light bubbles all around. It was so peaceful and Christmasy!!! (can that be a word)

Thanksgiving Weekend 2008

Grandma Romer helping Bostyn

My Grandma and Grandpa Jarrett, Jadon, and Carlie

We went to Hyde Park and ate with the Jarretts (my mom's side) We played some mean games of speed afterwards in the church gym.

Bostyn couldn't stay away from the basketball games. He kept taking balls away when people were playing and we'd have to chase him down, pry the ball from him, and return it.

Later Thanksgiving Day Bart's sister's family came over and our kids were so excited to have their cousins here for a few days!!! They stayed for the entire weekend and we had so much fun. Tiff, Carlie, and my mom and I went Black Friday shopping. CRAZY!!! We went in Ogden (I won't ever do again) Then we went to Chuck E. Cheese's that night.

We were really sad when the Talbots left today, but only a few weeks until Christmas!

Belly Shirts are back

Don't we all, as mothers, sometimes fall behind in compiling the kids' clothes that are now too small and putting them in storage???? I have lately, and there are some size 3T shirts (yes, Zhoee is three but wearing 4T or 5T) that she insists still fit her!!!
So, she was slipping on a shirt that was too small and I told her, "Lets find another shirt cuz that one is too small now and it shows your belly." She told me, " It's not too small, and I LIKE it to show my belly. I think that's kind of cool." And she got her way, she's strutting around in it right now. Don't worry she'll be forced to change when she gets ready for pre-school. She just makes me laugh!!! I'd like to hear what her dad will say if she continues to sport these same styles when she's 16. He'd sit her down for a little talk.

Drum roll please......

This ended up being a three day project... We started Sat. night and I finally finished today with Zhoee and Bossy's help!!! Yah, help, that's what it was?? :) We're ready for Santa now. The trickiest thing was figuring out where to put the furniture. We have gained a couch table and a piano since last Christmas. So, The tree went right in the smack dab middle of the room. The kids will have at it from every angle:)

The Wrestler

Jadon's latest wrestling meet at Weber High School. He did great and took 3rd in his group. I left early because Zhoee and Boss were all over the place and I was a little bit tired from my all-nighter the night before. Bart said as soon as I left Jadon pinned his next apponent. I was sad I missed it!!! Good job, J!!!

Yes! I already saw it!

We decided just yesterday that we NEEDED to see TWILIGHT opening night. I origionally wanted to wait until Friday night because I have to work on Fridays and I thought that staying up until 3:30am might make for a hard day at school. Well, I was right. Today has been a very tired day and my eyes cannot stay open.
YEP, WE WAITED IN LINE, in the WINTER weather, for SIX hours. IT WAS SO GREAT!!!
Bart was such a good sport when I called him during the day and told him I just had to go.
My mom, and three of my friends left for Layton at 5:30pm. We claimed our place in line at 6:15 and made ourselves comfortable. We ate Costa Vida for dinner traded off waiting in line and did some shopping at Target and then at about 11:30pm we were heading in....
I won't say anything about the movie for those who are planning on attending!!!
But, I REALLY DID ENJOY IT!!! I was having a hard time with Edward at the very beginning But.... As he fell in love with Bella and they were together... He just got better and better.
Enjoy the movie all you TWILIGHT fans!!!

We're BLUE through and through

GO COUGS!!!
Bart can't talk about anything other than the big rival game this weekend!!!

He's been at the game the last couple of years but things are looking like he's going to enjoy the game from the couch with the rest of us this year. I think I'm going to have to buy him BYU season tickets next year. He's convinced me this game is going to be better than the Superbowl and we need to be ready with a movie and treats for the kids in the toyroom so we can watch the game. Oh, and I already have the checklist for game treats and snacks! You know where we'll be Sat. at 4:00pm - yep, sitting on the couch wearing our BLUE shirts!!!

Another Girl!!!

Nope, not me. My little sister Kelsie and her hubby, Isaac, just found out today their little baby is a GIRL!!!(95% sure) (She's due May 28) Zhoee was so excited and Jadon just said, "Ahhh, man. I really wanted a boy." I can't wait to go baby girl shopping with Kels while they are here for Christmas!

Wrapped around her finger!

I was just explaining to Zhoee that she cannot get into our bed tonight. She ALWAYS gets into our bed during the night. And the suckers we are, we let her. I let her becuase I'm to dang tired to walk her back to her room and lay by her till she falls back asleep. Bart tells me he just can't say "no" to her and he LOVES to snuggle with her, as she loves to snuggle with her dad.

SO, back to the story, I was telling her tonight we won't let her get in bed with us and she needs to stay in her bed ALL NIGHT!
She looked at me with a really smug, very CoNfiDenT look and said, "oh, Daddy will say yes." Bart, I hope you are reading this: YOU'RE WEAK and she knows it!!!

Hair and Garbages

When I was young, well probably up until I was 14 or so, I would wear towels, shirts, and slips on my head and pretend I had gorgeous, long, thick hair. My favorite was this clogging slip I had for dance, you know, the ones that are really ruffly to make the dress big and puffy!!! I wore it ALL THE TIME! I get teased to this day. So, my Zhoee is a girl of the same heart. She has a strong desire to have the thick, long, hair she obviously was not blessed with either (cutting it herself didn't help any). We bought a long, black wig for her witch costume and even though Halloween is over, the wig isn't put away. She insists on wearing it ALL THE TIME. You should see her dance around and twist her head so her hair gets in her eyes and then she acts annoyed and brushes it back off her face. She is ADorAblE!!!
Bostyn, on the other hand, has been obsessed with tipping over the garbage cans. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, ALL THE TIME!!! Then, if I'm not there to stop him, he rummages!!!
He must have learned that from his DAD, definitly not from me! :)

Are we OLD???

After our date to the Logan Temple Friday night Bart and I decided to get a late dinner at Chili's. It was 10:00pm so we thought the dinner crowd would be gone and it wouldn't be busy as usual. HA ha, We sure are OLD parents now. So, it was packed. We still had to wait for a table. There were college groups at EVERY TABLE. We usually do our "stuff" in Ogden or SLC so I guess I wasn't used to the overwhelming college crowd. As Bart and I ordered and talked we looked around and noticed there wasn't another "couple" we could see. Every table was pushed together with 3-4 others to fit huge groups!!! The FUNNY thing was almost every college student had their cell phone in their hand texting someone or whatever else. Bart was positive they were texting the person sitting at the other end of the table. We laughed so hard thinking about when we were in college and dating cell phones were not near as popular. We each had one but there was no texting, no pictures phones, no internet connection. We used them ONLY because we didn't have land lines. Times have changed. It was seriously so FUNNY. They could NOT even set their phones down to eat. ALL OF THEM were constantly moving their fingers along the keypad. Then I noticed someone I went to high school with sitting at one of the tables among a group. I have been married almost 8 years, have 3 children worst of all, I am a slow texter. We would NEVER fit in!!! (well maybe Bart, he's a texter and can't go without his cell) We laughed and laughed at how OLD we are getting!!!

ATTENTION: THis blOg IS GoiNg pRivAtE

Please leave your email address if you'd like access to our blog!
We'll switch over to private sometime in the next week and don't want to miss anyone!!!
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In case you're interested, here is an interesting news story from KSL which aired on Nov. 3rd about the dangers in blogging 'publicly':
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4699330

Creativity

The fireplace in the family room has been so bare. After brainstorming some ideas with my mom and sisters I came up with this....

Some new stuff

What's going on??
1. We all got our flu shots this morning. Bossy didn't even cry AT ALL!!! He's so tough. Zhoee, in all her girly drama, needed 2 nurses and her mother to hold her down with tons of thrashing around and many tears.
2. I think my washer is in it's last days. It's leaking some oil and every time it goes on the spin cycle it bumps around and I think it's going to move across the laundry room. AHHH!
3. Bart says I took too many pics of the kids over Halloween. I DIDN"T
4. I raked and raked and did yard work all day Sat. and then it rained and blew on Sunday and our yard looks as bad as it did Friday.
5. Right when I thought Bossy's huge scrape/goose egg on his head was starting to heal... He ran right into the corner of a counter at the Drs. office. Poor kid, No wonder his head was measuring a little on the big side.
6. Last Mon. my volleyball team came up with a BIG "W'. It was VERY close and such a fun game. We won in the third game 17-15. YEA!
7. I proved Bart right when he claimed it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to spend less than $100 at Costco. (I could have done it if I didn't need to get gas too.)
8. I am so so so excited for the Holidays coming up. I've been tempted more than once today to go down and get out the Christmas bins. Is that a little childish of me????
9. We're trying to get used the the time change. Our ward doesn't start until 2:30 and it was pitch dark when we walked out at 5:45pm. The kids were a little confused. But, the great thing, Bossy has been in nursery for 3 weeks so I get to sit and listen in a class instead of hall duty with a loud, active, hungry 18 m. old. I've been loving it!
10. Every FHE night Jadon insists on playing Hide-n-seek. Bossy is catching on and starting to find little places he can hide throughout the day. His latest one is under the kitchen sink. He doesn't think there is room for all my stuff, so he just throws them out to make room.

11. Lastly, Zhoee got out the game Operation and begged for me to play. I am a little annoyed that she will not believe me that the point of the game it to try to NOT have the game vibrate and buzz at you. She just won't have it!!! She sticks the tweezers right on the side and tells me she won first. What do you do?
Here are some fun Corn Maze and Halloween pics.

Bart wore a wig from Jamaica- and honestly he does resemble the drunken Jamaican beach bumb who claimed to be "in love" with my sister Kelsie. HA!!!

The Neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat

Bostyn won the prize for most imaginitive costume. He was a Chrismas Tree with a stocking for his trick-or-treat bag. It was so cute.

The night before Halloween we took the kids to the Heritage Center Corn Maze in Logan. They had a blast. They were as scared as their mom about being able to find their way out. We ended up having to cheat to get out of there. I was panicking!!!

This is where we can always find Jadon... in the treehouse or doing tricks on his swing.