The Austin Family

Ragnar Relay

2010-05-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm so lame at blogging that I copied this from my friend, Diana's blog. We really had a great time---I couldn't have written this better myself.

30 Hours 51 Minutes Later

I just finished the most grueling and the most awesome 200 mile race ever. It all started back in December when I received an innocent little flyer in my mailbox, tempting me with the awesomeness that is the Ragnar Relay. It begged me to find 11 of my closest friends and sign up for this crazy drive. run. sleep. repeat. race that was going to start in Santa Barbara and end 200 miles later at one of our favorite beaches a few minutes from our home. I get a hundred of these flyers a year {well, not really that many} and I usually throw them away, but not this one. I remembered that Katelyn had said she had run one in Utah and loved it. And well if there is a race that's totally cool and someone else has done it, then I get to feeling like I'm missing out and a bit jealous and think I have to do it too. It seemed crazy, at first glance incredible and a slight bit impossible... Sold! It was a no-brainer, I had to do it. And Team I Run Like A Girl was born.

Adrienne, Me, Tarah, Katelyn, Annalee, Lori, Jenny, Teri, Jenn, Julie, Kerry, Liz

After several team meetings, a few drops outs, and a bit of drama {who are we kidding, there were 12 women involved}, we finally had a team settled and ready to run. We trained our little hearts out and it was fun. We all took it seriously and made sure we were in the best shape of our lives. Girls were running further and faster than they had ever run, and this was just in training.

Does this van make my butt look big?

When Thursday night at 6pm rolled around, we were ready to rock it. We piled into 2 big white rental vans {scary molester vans if you ask Christy who looked out her front window to see one parked in front of her house all day, until she remembered it was race day!} and drove up to Jenny's dads house for a massive slumber party. Meet Van 2 {my van}:

Annalee, Julie, Kerry, Tarah, Me, Katelyn

Katelyn was my bunkmate and I don't think we slept a wink all night. I would have chalked it up to sharing a bed with someone new, but she's so tiny that there was more room in that bed than my own at home. Then maybe it was the killer sore throat that came on as I shut my eyes, but probably most of it was nerves. Although I was runner #12, and wouldn't run a step until around 6:30pm the next night, it was still pretty darn exciting.

The lovely orange flags we were required to use to cross the street.

As usual, Adrienne {who has anxiety} was in peak performance with an excellent rendition of SNL's Molly Shannon, "I kick & I stretch & I kick again. I'm fifty!" She keeps you peeing in your pants with laughter {did I mention she has anxiety}. Although there would be girls peeing in their pants later on because they ran so fast and couldn't stop. That's the kind of team I was on. I am so proud.

The most beautiful starting line.

Not everyone got so lucky with their legs {we each ran 3 times}, there were some super sketchy parts of L.A. to run through, but those who got to run near the beach were indeed lucky. On one of my legs I ran right by a Green Joy clinic. What is a Green Joy clinic you ask? Let me describe the signage and I think you'll figure it out. Picture a black circle with the word Green arching on top and Joy arching on the bottom and in the middle a medical staff insignia on top of a marijuana leaf. Oh yes, this was one really niiiice area of town.

Here's our girl Teri, starting us out right. Man, she was F-A-S-T.

The slap bracelet baton was passed on and on all day long {did you know Adrienne has anxiety}.

Finally, mid-afternoon, it was our van's turn to run. We flipped from totally relaxed and goofing off, stopping to cheer, honk and wave at runners, to being in the hot seat. It all happened a little too fast and we clearly weren't totally ready to handle it. We had to do a drive-by drop of Katelyn at the exchange while we went to park the van, not sure if we would make her hand off or not. She was already a little stressed from me almost running a major red light because we got a little lost getting to the exchange and were late, late, late. Then to add fuel to the fire, they told her she couldn't check in without an orange ticket that they were supposed to give us at the morning safety training but didn't. When we finally caught up with her there was a wild look in her eye and a lot of yelling, go here, do this or we're disqualified as she frantically ran to the exchange point where Jenny had been waiting to hand off to her for a while. Apparently she turned this extra adrenaline into energy because she ran her pants off.
Here's my bestie Katelyn after she busted out 7:53 minute miles for 5.5 of them in the hot afternoon sun. She totally rocks. I want to be her, or at least some version of her.

Or Kerry, I could totally handle being Kerry too. She busted out every leg in awesome time with a big fat smile on her face and a sweet, "I'm okay" when we tried to give her water. She would pass these poor blokes with a pat on the back and a keep up the good work wave.

We were having sooo much fun. It was such a great day, I love my girlfriends.

Tarah kills me. She took on these killer hills for 8 long miles and just ran, ran, ran. She ran fast and focused. She didn't even try to figure out how to get her borrowed ipod off of repeat because it would "waste too much energy", so she just shut it off. What? That's the mark of a really good runner. I am not that good. Not even close.

Finally it's my turn to run. Lucky me, since it's going to be just barely past 6:30pm when I start my run I have to don all the safety gear: Head lamp, reflective vest & butt light.

There are so many darn turns on my run that I have to sharpie them onto my arm to make sure I don't get lost. And this leg is only 4.5 miles! You just never know about the signage... will a local yocal have thought it was funny to turn a sign around or even have stolen it? Will there be any other runners on the course with you? I don't want to chance it.

Here's Julie with the big hand-off to me. I'm so proud of her, she's just run a super hard leg & the longest she's ever run in her life. She stayed on pace and made great time. Go Julie!

I found a friend, a little running buddy that was a bit faster than me but since there were so many lights to even things out, we ended up running together a lot. It helped to keep me fast. I wish I knew exactly how fast, but I messed up the stop watch on the Garmin I was borrowing so it only recorded half my time. I know I was running close to 9 minute miles, but I'm not sure how much faster I was... bummer! I was really excited to know.

And we're heading into the night section. It's somewhere around 2am or so, we've been "sleeping" in the van at the Santa Monica Pier. Which they told us we couldn't do. That we had to go up to the exchange point and throw down sleeping bags on the grass under the spot lights next to the Starbucks tent and all the runners. What the what? No thanks, we'll just chance getting a ticket because we're sleeping right here. And from what we could see in the parking lot, there was plenty, plenty to keep officers occupied all night. We were the least of their worries. While we are trying to get some shut eye, we can hear other vans schmoozing it up with each other. What are they doing? It's the middle of the night, you have to run 2 more legs, GO TO BED. We even got an invite to come sleep next to a team full of guys out on the beach. Whaaat? Where are my ear plugs, let's shut it down. Just look at all those vans...

But again, no sleep. It's kind of hard with a seat belt in the middle of your back or a street light in your eye, or Julie's shoe under your pillow. But you don't notice that you're sleeping on her shoe because you're so tired. And then she tries to find her shoe {and hopes it didn't fall out of the van} and is hanging over the cooler from the front seat with her buns in the air trying to grab at a shoe under the seat that just keeps moving away from her while she cries "I found it, but I keep pushing it away." And Annalee pipes up, "That's because my foot is in it! It's my shoe!"

Here's my girl Katelyn getting ready to run after a few choice comments back in the van: "I'd rather you kick me in the face than run right now." and "This is my sexy voice."

Katelyn will be singing Brad's praises in about 20 minutes when he catches up to her on the bike. Brad will announce to her that he's counted 28 homeless men so far and she'll agree. She'll even get a little wanna-be-racer run out from a bar and track her for a quarter mile until she tells him she's going to push him out of the way. So glad to have Brad tonight. So glad.

Smiles all around, all night long. I even ran a Personal Best - I busted out my measly 2.5 miles at 8:40 minute pace at 4a.m.-ish. I've never run that fast and it felt great, I even passed a few people. Again, Brad you are my hero. I was so happy you were right behind me when I got a whiff of pee and saw a homeless guy sleeping on the front step of a business. And most especially when I headed into the dark park behind another guy runner. At first I thought, I'm not alone there's this guy in front of me. But then it occurred to me that we both had our ipods blasting in our ears and there was no way he would have heard me being attacked. Plus I think it made me run faster not wanting to look like a wimp with you there. And Jenny's rad music mix was pretty cool too.

Breakfast break and bathroom spit baths. Our last legs are coming up soon.

Katelyn's last exchange. Finally in homegrown territory now, Huntington Beach.

The final exchange for Van 1. They are done and can totally relax. Now it's up to us to bring home the bacon!

A very relaxed Lori & Jenn with some free Starbucks hot cup of chocolate.

Kerry is always relaxed.

Julie getting ready. Super excited for her last short run.

Annalee just crushed it. Her longest run of the race (8.8 miles)and it was super hot. "I don't do gu. I'll just take a jolly rancher and I'll be fine. I'm not even bringing water with me." Tough as nails with a sweetheart of a hubby who ran with her.

I am the very last runner for our team. It's a grueling 5.5 miles from Aliso Creek Beach to Salt Creek Beach with 2.2 miles of a steady incline on PCH, dodging cars and no support. Then a 900 foot elevation gain in about a half mile {which nearly killed me} and the rest was mostly down hill from there.

I did it again. Another personal best. I ran this leg in under 10 minutes miles. I should have written it down because it escapes me now, but I believe it was between 9:30 & 9:40 minute pace. I'll take it, either one! Woo hoo for me.

Don't we look hot in our Lulu gear? We didn't think we would be the fastest team, but knew we would be the most stylish. And I swear those outfits made us run faster. In the end, we placed 4th! 4th in the all women division of around 20+ teams. There was only a 15 minute difference between 2nd, 3rd & 4th place. Wow! I guess we are one the fastest teams after all. Who knew?!

Christmas Day 2008

2009-01-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Notice the cement floors---I can't wait to post pictures of our new floors---coming soon!!

Taylor bought Steve a wallet for Christmas LAST year. He is very picky about his wallets---he hates when they are too big, so he never used it. Taylor always told him how rude that was, so for Christmas this year, she wrapped it up and gave it to him again. We all got a good laugh out of it.

We had a wonderful Christmas morning. I love that it was just our family. The kids were happy to get the presents from Santa that they asked for. Taylor asked Santa for a digital camera---we might be sorry that he brought her one---she has been taking pictures of EVERYTHING!! Parker wanted an I-pod and a robot (whatever!) and Lexi wanted a doggie and a horsie. Taylor was "testing" Santa Claus this year to see if he brought her what she asked for, without telling me or Steve what she wanted. I'm sad to say that I think this was Taylor's last year in Believing---

Christmas Eve

2009-01-29T21:08:00.001-08:00

Kendyl and her future boyfriend, Max

The kids acting out the Nativity scene.

New Christmas pjs

My kids with their best friends.

Every year for Christmas Eve, the Thurmans invite us to go to Pasadena to be with their family. It is a fun tradition for our family, considering they are the closest thing to family we have here.

Kino Bay, Mexico

2008-12-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving break, we went to Kino Bay Mexico with my parents, grandparents and 2 sisters and their families. We are very lucky because my grandparents have a home on the beach there and they know so many people and all of the fun places to visit----they are great hosts. We haven't been there for 3 years and we were long overdue. Kino Bay is one of our favorite places to vacation. We love going for Thanksgiving because it makes you so thankful for the blessings that you have. Most of the the people there have nothing (as you can see from the pictures), but are so happy and will give you what little they do have. Some of the things that we enjoyed while we were there were sailing, kayaking, collecting sea shells, shopping, eating yummy food, walks along the beach in the morning, fishing, playing games on the beach, losing the power in a rain storm, the sunsets, the paddle boat, the Mexican people, flying kites and most of all---Being with family. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for a great time.

Cousins!!!

2008-11-23T01:39:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to get a visit from some of our favorite family members. Steve's uncle Mark and aunt Lori and their two children, Reed and Mary came from Colorado to go to Disneyland. They stayed with us the first half of their trip---we had such a good time. All of us girls went up to the Grove in LA to spend the day shopping, the boys went Mountain bike riding, and luckily the weather was in the 90's so we spent the last day basking in the sun at the beach! The kids all had such a blast. On Halloween day we met them up at their hotel and spent the afternoon swimming. More than anything, we spent time together catching up. We absolutely LOVE when they come. Reed and Mary and Taylor, Parker and Lexi all get along so well---it truly is a pleasure to be with them. We can't wait to see them again.

Aquarium of the Pacific

2008-11-23T01:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, me and the kiddos went up to Long Beach and spent the day at the Aquarium of the Pacific----It was so amazing. I think we all had a great time.

Picture Tag

2008-11-23T01:03:00.001-08:00

The tag is go to your picture file and get in 4th folder and 4th picture and post it! I was almost afraid to see what picture it would be, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. It is of Lexi when she was 6 months old. Now I tag...Kenzie, Lori, Christy and Rebecca

I know...I'm so lame!

2008-11-23T00:56:00.000-08:00

I know that I need to update my blog---finding the time is incredibly hard for me right now. Check back next week---we are leaving for Mexico in the morning so I will post when I return home. Happy Thanksgiving!

June 21-The First day of Summer

2008-10-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

The first day of summer is my birthday---this year it was 100 degrees here, so we spent the day at the beach. It was a perfect day and a very relaxing way to spend my birthday. I love the ocean.

Lexi's 2nd Birthday - June 15

2008-10-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I made this cake---my sister, Andrea, made me think that it was so easy---not so for me!

We had a very simple birthday for Lexi this year. We went to the park with friends and had dinner and a little party. Lexi absolutely loves Elmo and Abby Cadabby so we did the theme around those two. She was a little nervous about all of the attention she was getting during the birthday song and present opening but I'm not surprised---none of my kids like to be in the spotlight!

Our star reader

2008-10-04T23:16:00.001-07:00

Taylor was awarded the Star reader in her class at the end of the year(2nd grade). This is a goal that she worked on for the whole school year---she really wanted to be the one sitting in the chair as the star reader. We were, and still are, so proud of her for accomplishing this goal.

Taylor and Sr. Cantoran

Taylor's dance recital (June)

2008-10-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Taylor and her BFF Megan

Waiting at their dress rehearsal

Taylor and her teacher, (Mikelle)

How goofy are these costumes?

Happy Birthday Steve

2008-08-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Steve is the best dad, husband and friend that I could ever want. Steve has so many qualities that I love---one of my favorites is that he takes time for EVERYONE---no matter what. He makes everybody feel important and treats people, both old and young, like his best friend. I think all of you reading this would agree that everyone who knows Steve, loves him. I always tell myself that if I could be a little more like Steve, (and a little less like myself), I would be doing pretty good. Thank you for your example---I love you. Happy Birthday Baby

More pictures of Kendyl

2008-08-08T09:39:00.001-07:00

Kendyl Grace

2008-07-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

She's Here!

2008-07-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Kendyl Grace Austin
July 25, 2008
5:57 pm
7 pounds 10 ounces (Annalee's smallest baby)
18 1/2 inches long
Blonde hair
Cute button nose
Mom and baby are doing great. She is a beautiful baby.
Pictures soon.

(Posted by Kendyl's favorite auntie Angela)

Spring Break

2008-05-28T23:09:00.001-07:00

I will post details tomorrow.

MARCH RECAP

2008-05-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Easter was a rough day for our family. Parker woke up with the stomach flu,(notice the pasty white coloring of his pictues). It was sad to watch how unexcited he was about his Easter basket and all the candy that was inside. By evening, he was feeling better, only to have Taylor and Lexi start in on the fun. I wasn't able to take a pictue of the kids in their Easter outfits that morning, but a couple Sunday's later I tried. Nobdy wanted to cooperate!!!

My brother Evan and his wife Nicole came to visit---we had such a good time. My kids love both of them as much, if not more than their own parents. We love it when family comes to visit. We went to the beach for a Sunday afternoon picnic.

St. Patricks Day dinner with the Ames and the Thurmans. It has become a tradition to eat a green dinner with these two families and then hunt for the pot of gold.

Steve and the kids rode their bikes to the beach. The camera battery died before he was able to take Parker's picture.

Parker received a scholar award at school. He was so excited---and so were we.

Parker and his teacher---Mrs. Tawil.

Taylor and Megan at Disenyland

Taylor and Lexi at Disneyland waiting in a never ending line.

I know, I know...I need to update my blog. It's coming!!

2008-05-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

WE'RE MOVING TO UTAH

2008-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

My parents are moving to Ferron and I just couldn't bear the thought of that beautiful home leaving the family so we're moving to Utah into my childhood home. Just kidding Annalee, I just wanted to see if I could get you to update your blog! Wishful thinking??? Call me when you see this, I want to see how long it takes you to notice this.

Western Day

2008-04-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Western day at school---Taylor and Parker were psyched because they normally wear uniforms. We were lacking in our western wear---but they had hats! Steve was out of town for his grandmother's funeral so he missed seeing them in cowboy hats (which he wishes was more often), so he asked Taylor to have me take their pictures. How do you like Taylor's pose. Lexi found Taylor's hat and put it on and wanted her picture taken so she could look at herself.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2008-03-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Taylor attended her first daddy daughter royal ball. She and Megan wanted to go together so Alex and Megan, Steve and Taylor went to dinner first and then to the dance. Taylor had such a good time. She learned how to waltz, had their pictures taken, made a cute frame for the picture and even got her fingernails painted my Steve. Notice the big burn on the side of Taylor's face? (I am an awful mother---I burned her face with the curling iron on the morning of school pictures--isn't that just great)? When Steve and Taylor came home---they danced the night away and then decided that they needed to finish their night off with ice cream so at 11:00 they went to TCBY and bought ice cream---they were kind enough to bring some home for me too. I will try and post a little video I took with my camera of them practicing the waltz after they got home. I have to say that Taylor had the best night and went to bed with a smile on her face. She has such a special relationship with her dad.

Taylor's new bedroom

2008-02-11T20:33:00.001-08:00

As you can see from the pictures, Taylor's bedroom desperately needed a makeover. She told me that she wanted a Roxy room for her birthday---so after hours and hours and more hours of painting, she got her "Roxy room." We are still working on finishing the details. I just got her a new white chair to match her desk, so she doesn't have to use the old ugly card chair anymore. If you are ever out and about and see any cute accessories that would match her new room, call me. But seriously how ugly was her old room?? Did you notice the green base boards?? How about the 2 feet of white base boards where they ran out of green?? And for those of you wondering---Yes, we bought this house with the bedroom looking like that. Stay tuned for more---because there are 3 more ugly bedrooms where that came from.

Taylor's Baptism

2008-02-04T22:24:00.001-08:00

I will write about this exciting day tomorrow. I am so tired. After working on updating my blog for over 2 hours, I now remember why I don't update very often---it is so time consuming.

Taylor's Birthday

2008-02-04T21:52:00.001-08:00

This was a big birthday for Taylor. We had a lot of family in town to help celebrate. The night before her birthday she got to go see Dancing with Stars live in San Diego with Grandma Austin and her friend Megan and her mom. It seems like we did a lot of "celebrating Taylor" this birthday---it's been fun for all of us. On the night of her birthday, we had friends and family over for cake and ice cream. We are actually going to be having her birthday party this Saturday (Feb. 09). See how behind I am?? Taylor wanted her room redecorated for her birthday present---what an expensive present, but she's waited a LONG time for a cute room of her own. I will post pictures soon.

Christmas 2007

2008-02-04T21:21:00.001-08:00

Christmas came and went really fast. I feel like I don't have a lot of pictures to document our favorite holiday. The few pictures that I do have aren't the greatest because my camera was on it's last leg---everybody in every picture has red eye---sorry!

Sick of Zions National Park???

2008-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of updating my blog. This might take a few days, seeing that I am 3 months behind. Check back soon.

Zions National Park

2007-12-06T13:07:00.001-08:00

On our way to Utah County for Thanksgiving, we spent a couple of days in St. George. On one of the days we went hiking up in Zions Canyon. We had such a nice day and couldn't have asked for better weather. It is unbelievable how beautiful that national park is, and I don't think our kids appreciated the beauty that surrounded us like Steve and I did but they will someday. Our Thanksgiving week was great and I'm so thanksful that Steve talked us into spending the first day of our vacation at Zions National Park.

Tagged.....Cute Husband Information

2007-11-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

1. What is your husband's name? Most of you know him as Steve, but his real name is Robert Steven Austin

2. How long have you been together as a couple? Since 1998

3. How long did you date? 9 months--although I knew very quickly after meeting Steve, that I would marry him.

4. How old is he? To his disappointment---he is 30!!

5. Who eats more? Steve, unless he is on his crazy eating diet.

6. Who said I love you first? I honestly cannot remember. HE says I did, but I can't imagine that I would have been so bold. I'm going to have to break out the old journal.

7. Who is taller? Steve---by 2 inches

8. Who sings better? Steve for sure. I keep telling him he need to join the ward choir.

9. Who is smarter? It depends on the subject, but mostly Steve.

10. Who does the laundry? I can't even count on 1 finger the times that Steve has done the laundry, although he helps me fold the laundry all the time.

11. Who does the dishes. Both, plus Taylor and Parker

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Steve

13. Who pays the bills? Me

14. Who mows the lawn? Steve, although I did it twice

15. Who cooks dinner? Mostly me, but Steve certainly jumps in and helps if he's home.

16. Who drives when you are together? Steve

17. Who is more stubborn? We are both equally stubborn

18. Who is first to admit when they are wrong? Since I've never been wrong, I'd have to say Steve

19. Whose parents do you see more? Mine

20. Who proposed? Steve

21. Who is more sensitive? No question---ME

22. Who has more friends? We have the same friends--but everyone loves Steve---he is a friend to all

23. Who has more siblings? Steve-4 Annalee-7

24. Where did you meet? At his parents home in New York. They set us up

25. Where was your first kiss? In the Tucci's driveway. I was a nanny for this family in New York

26. What was the first thing you said to him? I can't remember, but I was late in arriving at his house, so I probably said, "Sorry I'm late"

27. Where was your first date? The Army/Navy football game in Pennsylvania

28. Where did you get engaged? By a creek up American Fork canyon

29. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Up to a cabin in Ophir Utah

30. If you could change anything about it what would it have been? It was perfect

31. Who wears the pants in your marriage? We both have one leg in.

Tagged: Nicole Ault, Tiffany Austin and Rachel Trotter

2007-11-07T14:43:00.001-08:00

I've been taggggggged

Four jobs I've had:
1. Domestic Engineer (I have to make myself sound interesting)
2. Sundance Resort Summit Club
3. MTC (as a Janitor 5am-9am)
4. Nanny in New York

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Count of Monte Cristo
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Top Gun
4. Any movie with Reese Witherspoon

Four places I have lived:
1. Laguna Niguel, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Ridgefield & New Canaan CT & North Salem NY (Nanny Jobs)
4. American Fork, UT

Four favorite TV shows:
1. Biggest Loser
2. Mystery Diagnosis
3. Oprah
4. Little House on the Prairie

Four places I've been:
1. Mexico
2. Bahamas
3. Belize
4. New Orleans has recently been added to my list

Four favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Fruit
3. Bread
4. Candy like Mambas and licorice

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Gmail
2. KSL.com
3. Blogspot
4. Yahoo Home

Four places I'd rather be:
1. On a fun family trip
2. Hawaii
3. shopping
4. On another Cruise with my family

Four blog buddies I want to tag:
1. Lori
2. Angela
3. Emily
4. Cindy

Halloween Night

2007-11-03T20:54:00.001-07:00

Tanaka Farm

2007-11-03T17:21:00.001-07:00

Parker had his first field trip to Tanaka Farm in Irvine. He was so excited to ride the school bus. Lexi and I met the class there. It was a perfect way to spend Halloween day. It was fun to watch Parker interact with his classmates---he's not as reserved with them as I imagined he would be. I love his teacher and classmates and so does Parker---it makes those early mornings managable because he can't wait to get to school.

Carving Pumpkins

2007-11-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin carving with the Thurmans has become a tradition for our families. The kids had such a good time and as you can see so did Steve and Alex. We enjoyed pizookies while we worked. It was a perfect night!!

Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-03T14:12:00.001-07:00

Taylor was chosen as an outstanding student in her second grade class. The school awarded her with a gift certificate to the pumpkin patch for free ride tickets, so for Family Night we went to the Pumpkin Patch in Laguna Hills with Steve's Uncle and Aunt (Mark and Lori) and their two children (Reid and Mary), from Colorado. The kids were having so much fun until the neverending teacup ride just never ended!!! Taylor had to run for the bathroom and was green the rest of the night. I felt so bad for her---she didn't even get to use the rest of her tickets. While we were there we ran into the Zimmerman's and the Brian's. It was a fun night (for the most part---bless Taylor's heart).

Funny Bedtime Song

2007-09-28T15:56:00.001-07:00

This video will make any parent laugh. We've all been there and I'm sure we'll look back at these times and WISH we could all tuck our kids into bed one more time instead of them going up to their rooms by themselves because they don't want to be with us.

Steve has a new friend!!!

2007-09-15T22:15:00.001-07:00

We had a new family move in next door and they are the nicest family. Jennifer, (age 13), shown in the pictures above is at our house a lot. We all love her. As you can see though, she thinks Steve is pretty cool. She is into boarding (of any kind) and so she likes to talk boards with Steve, or anything for that matter---she loves to talk to whoever will listen and Steve, bless his heart, will genuinely engage in conversations with her. If she is at my house when Steve comes home, she beats Taylor and Parker to the door to greet him, although most of the times she is already outside waiting for him to pull up. I have to say, it is pretty funny. Steve thinks I'm mean to post this, but honestly, I am not doing it to be mean---I think it is so adorable. She follows Steve around like a shadow.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

2007-09-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

I guess I won't be winning the "Mother of the Year" Award any time soon!!! This post it note was on the back of my chair. One of my sweet children was mad at me--- why? I honestly cannot remember, but when I saw the note I laughed and grabbed my camera. How sad is it that I actually thought it was cute?? She was horrified when she realized that I might actually see the note so she casually walked past my chair and grabbed it and threw it out. She didn't know that I already took a picture---I told her that moms have eyes on the back of their head. (In case you can't read what the note says, it says I do not like you).

Celebrating Steve's 30th Birthday!!

2007-09-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

According to Steve, his 30th birthday was the Best!! He was really dreading this day, but to his surprise it ended up being a great day. It started bright and early at 4:45 am. He and his friends met at Paul Myer's home for a mountain bike ride-his current, favorite activity. At 10:00 we met friends at the beach for an end of summer rendezvous. The beach was super fun and very relaxing. Too bad summer is over. We ended the day at Claim Jumper with friends for Steve's birthday celebration. Thank you everyone who helped to make this day so special for Steve. He was very touched by all the letters that were in his book---and a big shout out to Marc Hemeon for pulling the book off. It turned out awesome---thank you Marc.

First Day of School for Taylor and Parker

2007-09-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Taylor and Parker on the morning of their first day of school

Parker and his Kindergarten teacher---Maestra Tawil.

Taylor and her 2nd grade teacher---Senior Cantoran.

Taylor loved her first day of 2nd grade. She told me that she thinks 2nd grade will be her favorite grade. I am very happy about the teachers that both her and Parker got.

Parker was pooped by the time he got home from school---poor guy!!

He loved school and told me that Kindergarten was better than Pre-school. For those of you that don't know, Parker and Taylor go to a Spanish immersion elementary school so the majority of their learning is in Spanish. Well, when Parker came home I asked him if he understood anything that his teacher said, and he replied, yes. Simple as that. When I asked him what she said, he said that he forgot. Either the poor kid is in denial, or he wasn't paying a bit of attention.

A look back on Steve's first 30 years! Happy Birthday Baby.

2007-09-01T16:32:00.001-07:00

Steve's B-day Pictures (continued)

2007-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

JOSH GROBAN

2007-08-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day Steve and the kids got me tickets to see Josh Groban. Steve knows how much I absolutely love Josh, as well as his music. The concert was Saturday the 25th in Anaheim We had the best time, and I have to say I was sad when the concert was over. Josh (I consider us close enough to be on a first name basis) put on an amazing concert. I will forever be in love with Josh Groban, and my husband for taking me. Thank you Steve...it was a night I will always remember.

Family Reunion in Picayune Mississippi

2007-08-21T00:33:00.001-07:00

We recently returned from a family reunion on Steve's mother's side. It was her mom's 80th birthday so the whole reunion was planned around that. Thank you Grandma Floretta for having a birthday and giving us a reason to get together. The birthday party was really fun. Steve's mom and her two brothers wrote a song for their mom and sang it---they are an extremely musically talented family. It made me wonder what happened to Steve and his siblings (his brothers told me that they chose to accelerate in sports instead of songs). However I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when the family, including Steve got up in Grandmas church (she belongs to a non-denomination Christian church)and sang a worship song. I teased Steve and told him that he's been holding out on the ward choir, so anyone reading this---get Tricia on him---I think he needs to join the choir! ( I video taped the whole thing---maybe I'll make a you-tube video and post it on my blog).

Steve's mom is from Mississippi so Steve grew up spending a lot of his summers in Mississippi until his family moved from Colorado to New York (at age 10). Anyway, to spare you a lot of boring details---he was able to meet FIRST cousins for the first time on this trip. Isn't that crazy? The rest of his family still made a trip once a year to visit Grandma and attend family get togethers, but this was Steve's first trip back to Mississippi in 19 years. I tried to post pictures of everyone in Steve's immediate family---We had a great time with them.

New Orleans

2007-08-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a family vacation to New Orleans and Mississippi. We were out there for a family reunion and to celebrate Steve's Grandmothers 80th Birthday. I will post pictures form the B-day Party and Reunion later (they are on Steve's computer). These pictures are from the Swamp Tour we took in Slidell, LA and from the time we spent in New Orleans. We had such a good time on this trip. The swamp tour was really neat. We kept our eyes open to see Shrek.=) The kids as well as the adults loved seeing the alligators in the wild. After the swamp we went to New Orleans. It was so much fun. We just walked around, went to tourist trap shops, ate at a nice restaurant, went to a 3D ocean movie, drove around Hurricane Katrina sights, and went sight seeing. All in all it was a very relaxing vacation.

2007-07-30T13:17:00.002-07:00

How many kids can we cram into the car??

2007-07-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Last week we were swimming at our old pool. Lori left early to take Chase home to take a nap, so I offered to bring Megan and Zach home after we were done swimming. Christy was without a car that day so she rode over with Jessica. Jessica left to take Owen and Brock home for naps---I told Christy that I would drive her home if she wanted to stay longer and then I told Jessica to let Paige stay and swim and I would bring her home as well. When it came time to leave, Christy and I had to laugh because we only had 7 seat belts, but 10 people that needed buckled. On top of 10 people, we had 2 huge inflatable pool toys to shove in. It was quite comical. Taylor would not be in the pictures because her hair was not combed, so just picture one more face shoved in the chaos.

Tagged!

2007-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Jobs I've had:
1-a Nanny
2-Roberts Crafts
3-Golf Driving Range
4-Sundance Summit Club
5-Janitor at the MTC (5AM-9Am)

Movies I'd watch over and over:
1-Top Gun
2-The Count of Monte Cristo
3-Anne of Green Gables
4-Adam Sandler movies
5-Phantom of the opera
6-Pride and Predjudice
7-movies with Reese Witherspoon

Places I've lived:
1-Am. Fork, UT
2-Greenwich, CT
3-New Canaan, CT
4-North Salem, NY
5-Provo, UT
6-Laguna Niguel, CA

Favorite TV shows:
1-American Idol
2-The Biggest Loser
3-48 hours mystery
4-Dateline
5-Oprah (which I haven't seen in years, but I love late night re-runs)

Favorite Foods:
1-Italian food
2-sweets of all kinds
3-fruit
4-bread
5-sorbet

5 places I'd rather be:
1-Hawaii
2-on a Mediterranean Cruise
3-Lake Powell with my family
4-Greece
5-out of my nursery calling (did I say that out loud)?

Tagged:
1-Andrea
2-Cindy
3-Angela

Parker turns 5!

2007-07-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, Parker celebrated his 5th birthday. We were in Utah, so we had a family birthday party with cousins and grandparents and then when we came home he had a pirate birthday party with his best buddy, Zach. The party was a lot of fun for all in attendance. The kids had a cannon ball (waterballon) toss, made their very own parrot (feathers and all) for their shoulder, walked the plank, ran around looking for where the tic-tock sound was coming from and went on a treaure hunt to find treasures. We also had a suprise visitor come. Our local pirate---Jenny Tucker. The kids loved her. She painted their faces and Taylor and Megan helped her give them all tatoos. All in all the party was a success. Thank you Lori for sharing in another great party---a party for 2 is a lot easier than a party for 1.

Parker's 5th Birthday

2007-07-26T17:32:00.001-07:00

2007-07-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

2007-06-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that Steve started this blog for me---I guess he thinks that I have free time. Actually I have free time this week. Lexi is in Utah with my family-I have no excuse not to update our family blog. By the end of this week (with Jessica's help), I should be up and running!!

Day 1

2007-06-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my first attempt at creating our family website...Let me know what you think