One of my jobs

So sorry for not posting anything in a while. I've been busy. In fact I'm not even at home or on my laptop so there won't by any pictures, but just wait I'll get them up soon.
This past week I have been in Utah for Stampin' Up! Convention. What a BLAST! I love being a demonstrator. I got 4 free stamp sets, made 8 make-n-takes, got the new catalog (coming for you aug 11) and lots more fun stuff. I also met a ton of people - and what a small world. I met a demonstrator from Lethbridge (Canada for those that don't know) who knows my Grandma!! What fun times I have had.
There are so many new and exciting things coming this Aug I can't wait to show them to people. So if you like crafting in general, start checking my website (link to the side) and you'll be amazed at the new stuff that just won't stop coming!!

4th of July

Our fun fourth - we played outside in the morning.

Then we headed to the parade. The biggest thrill was the candy.

I thought this horse was very patriotic.

Later that night we went to some friends for the fireworks. The sparklers were a hit.


But Whitney didn't like the noise. Danica loved watching the "snakes"

And Dave enjoyed being the pyro of the family.

This is how Whitney hid from the fireworks. Shortly after this picture she burried her head and fell asleep.

Our first trip to Craters of the Moon

We managed to get out to the Craters the end of June. We enjoyed our time there, and I would like to go back and actually explore some of the park. We went to a Jr. Ranger program and hiked one small trail. Danica and Whitney both hiked the whole thing (it was a total of 1/2 mile round trip). I should actually say they ran the whole thing. They stopped on a rock for a picture break though.

At the Jr. Ranger program they both helped out with the "Safety Bag" and helped explain what you needed to bring on your hike and why. They were great helpers.

We then stayed for the evening program and while we were waiting for it to start, the girls decided to take turns taking pictures. Danica took the one on the right and Whitney took the one on the left. Not bad - don't you think. The other kids in the photos are just some kids that were waiting for the program too.

Overall we had a fun time, I would like to go camping there so maybe we will get that in sometime this summer, but we will definately go back for some good hiking!

Are they growing??

Well, what a week we have had. Bumps and bruises and lots of blood. So - I'm sparing you any pictures. (plus I didn't take any)
Whitney has fallen and scrapped her knees about three times this week, fallen off the kitchen chair twice and hit her head, and fallend on the playground and scraped up her chin pretty good.
Danica has had the minor bumps that accompany any active child, but had a big one yesterday while I was walking the track. She was playing under the bleachers with Whitney and they were taking turns running out and "crashing" in the grass. So I didn't think much of it when I saw her laying on the ground, but as I rounded the corner I heard her crying (which is a daily occurance right now) so again - not too concerned. I asked her what happend and no answer just sobbs. As I got closer I realized this was not just a bump as her head was dripping with blood. So, I grab both kids who are now crying because whitney thought I was going to leave her and walk to two blocks home - trying to keep Danica from touching her head because I didn't want her to know she was bleeding, at least not until we got home. after getting her cleaned up the best I could I found that she had a good cut about 3" and then the surface scrap continued to the middle of her head. UGGGHH. Once she was calmed down I asked her how she did it and she said she just missjudged where she was under the bleachers and stood up right into the metal corner.
A special thanks to our neighbor (our adopted grandma) who brought over a stuffed animal to make her feel better.
and as I have been typing this, Whitney has stubbed her toes twice. When will it end?

Crazy Lions

Whitney disappeared for a while one day and when she reemmerged she was a lion. And a cute one at that. Then Danica and Whitney spent the next hour or so trading off the lion costume to see who was the best lion.

We love pretend and dress up. What fun for the imagination!

Well, as you can see I'm still behind on uploading and posting blogs. Here is a glimpse at Danica's birthday.

I learned from this cake - it is best to use shortening for the decorating frosting as using a complete butter frosting makes for docorations that don't hold their shape. also, frost and then put together not the other way around. But she loved it so it was all worth it.

Presents, presents, presents. Can you just see the excitment she had. It didn't matter what she opened up, she would exclaim, "a ____ I've wanted that forever!!" But the best present of all was when she opened the Hannah Montana doll that her sister got her. She dropped the doll and squeezed the life out of her sister she was soooooo happy!

what did we get ourselves into?

Well, when you move around as much as we do, it is very difficult to make a trip out to find a place to live, so we have to go by phone calls and what the owners tell us. Well, here's what we got.

living room and bathroom (yes that's the whole bathroom, the shower is just to the left you can see the blue curtain)

don't you love the wallpaper in the kitchen, and yes - only one plug and half being used by the fridge.

No doors on the closets and don't you love the green carpet.

I have to admit that when I walked in and was overwhelmed by that old house smell and saw these rooms I about burst into tears. Dave - amazing husband he is hugged me and said at least it's not a one bedroom cabin. It made me laugh because I actually liked the cabin. But it's true you really can live anywhere for a short amount of time. We have been here for a month and for the most part it is working out okay.

I do have a question for all of you though - our renter's policy says this was built in 1985. I'm going for 1955 myself. What do you think?

Girls nite from the move

What a great family I have. I married into a family with a bunch of CRAZY girls. (well, I fit right in) They planned a girl's night/guy night for the one night we were with them. The guys got to play all their "games" and were even gracious enough to take most of the children. While the girls got to go eat at P.F. Chang's and then have a wild Kareoke party. I don't have pics from dinner since my battery died, but here is a sampling from the party.

Sing BABY Sing!! It's time to PARTY!!

(so Christina, what is up with that belly? YIKES. I hope it's just the angle)

We sang duets too.

Even Mama Kilton and Baby Reagan joined in the fun.

and well, who can resist "The Twist"?

It was a great stress reliever I can tell you. Thanks to all my wonderful family (on both sides) for all your help though all of our moving.

Firedragon

Whitney has been biting her sister lately. So after many time-outs and talks we finally told her that if she bites again she will get hot sauce on her tongue. Well, she just bit Danica again, so we put her in time out and Dave got out the tabasco sauce. He put a drop on her tongue and ...

no reaction. She smiled. She liked it.

ummm, so now what do we do?

Happy Birthday, Danica

Five years ago I became a mom. To this beautiful girl.

Some things she likes to do:

Jump rope ; climb trees ;


play outside., and do crafts

She also loves to play tea party with her sister, help make dinner and treats, and she loves to wash windows and do dishes (when it's her idea).
She is such a fun little girl that is so grown up for her age. I am so grateful that she chose me to be her mom.
I love you Danica

How fun it is to move!!

Oh the joys of moving. What fun our kids get to have discovering things. Whitney found that the dresser drawers make great hideouts and play places. (i'm not sure how she got through all the boxes to get to the dresser but hey kids are imaginative.) She also discovered a swim diaper somewhere and decided it would make a great hat. Doesn't she look so cute!!



The girls were great helpers to daddy when he started loading the truck. They carried anything they were strong enough to carry. (you'd think they had done this a couple times already :) ) Dave was so amazing with the packing. He not only started packing boxes since I was swamped with that scrapbook, but he loaded the entire truck by himself (minus three big items that he had our friend Barry help him with). He really is my Superman!! oh - and he helped to finish cleaning the kitchen once he had finished loading the truck. Is that not a man or what!!
Then came all the fun. The day we were moving we planned on getting up finishing up the cleaning and checking out by 8 or 9 am. Well, 12:30 pm and we are finally done cleaning. Gotta love having to wash window three or four times because every time you turn around there's another hand print. Then, we walk over to the office and they are on lunch break- AHHHH! So Dave walks back to the cars finds the phone burried in my purse and we call them. They finally get there, and we get checked out (now about 1 pm) Then what was supposed to be a quick trip to Walmart for gas and snacks (ha ha, not with a tired two year old) and a stop to get lunch we are finally on the road. Then every 2o minutes we hear - I have to go potty!!! Tell me again why we potty trained Whitney before we moved ??? The wind is blowing so hard the truck is at an angle and I have to get whitney out on the side of the road every 20 minutes since there is nothing between towns. We nearly get blown away only to not have her go because she is not comfortable. UGGG.

We finally make it to Albuquerque around 7:30 pm (it's only supposed to take 4 hours). By now I am very tired because I've only had a few hours sleep, and I've been cleaning all morning, fighting wind in the car and little kids, and we still are trying to make it to Provo tonight. Hahaha. It startes to storm and now we get a break from the wind, but have to fight sleet and rain. Well, as I am doing the head bob I realize I need to tell Dave I'm not safe to drive anymore so we get on the walkie talkie and I let him know I need to stop. We pull into Gallup about 11 pm, it is still raining and we see the sign for the hotel, but then we get to the stop sign and neither one of us could remember what direction. so we pick one and yes - it was the wrong one. It's dark and raining and everything looks the same so Dave flips a U only to end up in this:

Yes, we got stuck in the mud. Not just the truck, the car too since I was following right behind. Luckily enough we got the car out, but the truck is just a tad bit heavier than the car, after trying for 30 minutes we call AAA and get a tow truck on it's way. He showed up shortly after midnight and was able to get the truck out of the mud. Yay!!!!

On to the hotel to get cleaned up and rested.

The next day we don't get on the road until 9:30 am, but I think it was worth it. We are only half a day behind schedule at this point - no biggie right.What an adventure we had that day. So grateful to the Lord that I didn't fall asleep, that we were able to get a tow, and that the hotel had wonderful showers and beds. All in all, the rest of trip was a breeze. I will post all the fun we had with our families later. (thank for hanging in to the end)