the tag i procrastinated...

here is my other tag from anita - the one where you go to your pictures and open the 4th folder and post the 4th picture and blog it. here's mine:

you may think this is a little strange, but it was a pretty cool day. i had just finished the duluth half marathon and the elite marathoners were coming in (yes, i am that slow...). rita, karyn and i were standing in awe, watching them come in. this is the first place woman - it was pretty incredible to watch them and the moment they cross the finish line is very emotional. the energy at the finish is unreal. so that's my 4th pic in my 4th folder.

i tag tara, jenn s., andi, and janelle.Y

oh, christmas tree...

well, we had our first minnesota christmas tree cutting experience...it was quite the adventure. we have a family tradition of cutting our own christmas tree the day after thanksgiving (we usually go in the morning and then spend the rest of the day decorating). we started this tradition in ny when we discovered granger's tree farm in mexico, ny (loved it!!! petting zoo, fireplace, hot cocoa, treats, popcorn, tractor ride, etc.) - last year we went to utah for christmas, so we didn't bother getting a real tree. so this year we found a tree farm about 20 min. away and set off (later than normal) to get our tree. we forgot to get cash out and when we got there found out they don't take visa (very small tree farm...nothing like granger's in ny!!!). we head back to mankato to get some cash out - aaron tries twice at cub, but it keeps swiping his card as a credit card so we have to make a trip to the bank. then we realized that we would get home later than we thought in time for date night, so we had to swing by the house to retrieve a forgotten cell phone to call the couple we swap babysitting with. we finally get back to the tree farm and start hunting for a tree...well, minnesota trees are very different than our beloved ny trees. they all looked very funny to us! we ended up getting a very fat 8 foot tree (that is probably 8 feet wide) with very long needles (the vaccum isn't liking that). they did have some diluted hot apple juice...whether or not that was a good thing - i don't know. we'll see how next year goes...

emma's all smiles

dallin helping dad get the tree tied on

kaylee is a nut...

chubbs with his candy cane stuck to his glove - mmm, fuzzy...Y

Tagged...

so anita tagged me twice (i will only do one for now - the other one would require me to schlep out the external drive...not that motivated right now)

here we go...

8 Favorite TV Shows
(okay, honestly i think the last time i watched tv was when i was in the hospital with emma when she got her appendix out and all she wanted to watch was hannah montana...seriously, i haven't watched tv for years - but if i got the chance, these are the shows i would watch)
1. everybody loves ray
2. the office
3. arthur (i know, i know...)
4. any cooking show
5. ace of cakes
6. i think that's it - i'm not very good at this so far...
7.
8.

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. took dallin to playgroup
2. screened some videos on eating disorders for class
3. went to class
4. took the kids to the dentist
5. went to parent teacher conferences for the girls
6. watched the shanafelt kids while they went to their parent teacher conference
7. made potato soup and cornbread for dinner (carbs, anyone?)
8. spent too much time on blogger and facebook

8 Things to Look Forward to
(most of mine are pretty similar to anita's)
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas
3. tanner being potty trained
4. being done with school (only 7 years to go...)
5. getting out of debt
6. aaron getting tenure
7. watching the kids grow up happy and healthy
8. Seeing family this summer

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. chipotle
2. panera
3. los hermanos (utah)
4. Neighbor's (local Italian)
5. olive garden
6. dino's pizza
7. contessa
8. pf changs (mmmm...lettuce wraps!!!)

8 Things on My Wish List
1. sleep
2. All debt gone
3. be done with school
4. be a successful nurse anesthetist
5. vacation in hawaii
6. healthy, strong, independent kids
7. continue marathoning
8. my hubby (oh, wait, i already have him - hehe)

8 People I Tag to Play Next
1. colleen
2. kelsey
3. mindy
4. tiffany
5. shannon
6. kj
7. jessica
8. katrina

here's our halloween pics...finally! we had our ward trunk-or-treat and we also went to the parkers for a party and trick-or-treating.

dallin was diego (yes, he was diego last year too - i wasn't going to argue with him!)

emma was a "diva rock star girl" - she looked like a hippie/disco chick to me, but whatever!

here is kaylee as a snow princess with her friend katelyn who was a jedi

here's tanner with his little buddy jack in the wagon while we were trick-or-treating. aren't they soooo cute!!!

tanner with his vampire daddy - doesn't he look like a cute little outlaw? (tanner, not aaron...)

somehow i failed to get any pictures of me (imagine that) though i did look pretty scary!Y

appendicitis...

well, i know it's been too long since my last post - and i'm not even posting halloween yet (i have to find the camera first...) i do have a couple pix of emma in the hostpital from aaron's phone (hence the grainy-ness). on sunday we noticed that she had some bumps on her face and we wrote it off as a reaction to halloween makeup. then on monday they got worse (later we found out this is a reaction to a sudden increase in seratonin levels) - by the time she got home from school we decided to take her to the express clinic. she was also complaining that her stomach hurt. well, they ruled out strep and sent us home (mikaela warned us not to go...should have listened to her!) anyway, she ended up vomiting all night and instead of her tummy feeling better, it was getting worse. she was obviously in a lot of pain, so we took her to the main clinic and after an ultrasound, a ct scan and some bloodwork, we were on our way to the adjacent hospital for an emergency appendectomy. it was pretty quick (thank goodness it didn't rupture!) with just a one night stay in the peds wing. she bounced back very quickly and went back to school today. she's been showing off her scar and has had lots of love and attention from everyone. we are especially grateful for our friends, the harpers, who dropped everything to take over the rest of the fam while we were in the hospital. anita took over driving the kids to preschool and the parkers and the andersons stepped in with dinners, which was a lifesaver! she was loving the unlimited amount of tv (with her very own remote that she guarded with her life) and she thought it was the coolest thing to make her bed go any which way she wanted. she had lots of visits from friends bearing gifts and her class gave her a huge bundleful of get well cards they made. she thinks she would like to be sick more often...Y

it's been a while...

i know, i know - i was going to do better at keeping stuff posted...

well, we've had lots going on - i went to charlotte, nc a few weeks ago for training to be a girls on the run coach. it was awesome! for those of you who want more info on the program go to www.girlsontherun.org - it's a great running program for young girls to build thier sense of self and to prepare them to fight against the onslaught of negative media and peer influence. very cool...

aaron also had a conference in indianapolis, and of course it was the same week - our trips overlapped by a day. thank heavens for christina, one of my former young women from new york, who is now in graduate school up in the twin cities. she came down and stayed with the kids - we are forever grateful to her for that!!!

other than that we've just been crazy-busy - i'm just getting over a cold. we're excited for halloween - we'll for sure have some pics to post of all that hullabaloo...Y

Tagged...

Thanks Tara - here we go...

TAG - 5 Things...

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. enjoying newlywed life (i'll just leave it at that...)
2. working at Apple Computers, Inc. in Cupertino, CA
3. saving lots of $$$ for byu
4. visiting my family who lived only 2 hrs away
5. did i mention i was a newlywed...

5 Things on today's to do list
1. class
2. take dallin to playgroup
3. FHE (family home evening)
4. finances
5. cross training

5 Snacks I enjoy, unhealthy to healthiest:)
1. muddy buddies
2. popcorn
3. crackers and cheese
4. nuts (almonds mostly)
5. any fruit

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire (you mean "when")
1. pay off all our debt and all our families debts
2. put away for kids weddings/college/missions
3. new car for me / motorcycle for aaron
4. finish updating house
5. go visit family

5 places I have lived
1. Utah
2. California
3. Idaho
4. New York
5. Minnesota

5 places I have worked
1. Elk Grove School District
2. Big 5 Sporting Goods
3. Apple Computer, Inc.
4. Volt Services Group
5. YMCA

Now five of you get to do this. Anita B., Colleen C., Mindy D., Tiffany C., Mikaela G.

A day of laziness with Tanner...

poor tanner - he's been sick since monday with a fever. we've been so incredibly busy since school started that all i wanted to do was sit and snuggle and do nothing but make my baby feel better. yesterday was just as crazy busy as monday and today was kinda nuts until after my noon class - then i just wrapped him up in his fleece and satiny blankie and we cuddled while i read - for like 5 hours! it was heavenly. i know it sounds bad to feel relieved/contented when your child is sick, but i loved it!! i didn't want to give him up to his daddy when he got home...Y

First Day of School

the kids started school a couple weeks ago. after i did a celebratory dance in the driveway - i went in and spent the time with tanner doing something spectacularly exhilerating (like make a menu and grocery list for that week).

kaylee is in mrs. edelstein's third grade class and is already doing excellent work! she started ballet and will be starting girls scouts (brownies) this week.

emma is in mrs. modrow's first grade class. i can tell they are going to get along very well. emma is also starting girl scouts (daisies) and begging to get into swimming (you think she would have had enough after this summer) - so i think another year or two we'll try to find a swim team or club that doesn't have meets on sundays.

dallin started preschool and is loving it! they only meet 3 days a week and it's torture for him to get through the weekend. at least i know he'll be ready for kindergarten!

so it's just tanner and me...my baby!!!Y

Kaylee's Baptism

our little kaylee is baptized! i can't believe it, but she's turned into quite the responsible girl. we had a wonderful day. aaron's parents, my parents, my sister and my niece all came to visit from california and utah. we got to be baptized on her birthday (which was on a sunday) so that was pretty special. we are grateful to all our friends who came (christina stuetz even made it down from the cities) to support kaylee in her decision. we are so proud of her!Y

kaylee in her beautiful dress that jody and tara picked out in utah

kaylee and her daddy right before the service

Renegade Kids with Camera

i found these pics on my camera - usually i just find 20 or 30 pictures of the wall or the carpet or something else totally uninteresting - but these ones were cute. Y

dallin in all his glory...

here's emma workin' it...

cousin anjulee - born to pose

Camping with the Young Women

here's some pics of the yw overnighter we had in august. we went to minneopa and had lots of fun. didn't get very much certification done though...

here's the four girls at the mill - erica, lisa, laura, and marian

this is below the falls - marian, laura, erika, tara and lisa (sitting).

another one below the falls - lisa, erika, marion, laura

a shot from above the falls

...and another one...

Just checking in...

things have been pretty crazy lately - aaron went back to work last week (sob!) and classes start tomorrow. i'm just taking one class - family life & sex education (should be fun...). i was also registered for a marriage and family diversity class, but with the women's leadership program this year, girls on the run training, plus the kids stuff and just (just?) being a mom (and training for grandma's marathon on top of all that) i decided to drop it. things have just been creeping in - it seems like every year or two we have to re-evaluate and simplify so that it doesn't overload the fam.

the good news is that our families are coming in this week for kaylee's baptism (gasp!!). i can't believe she's 8 years old already! it seems like just yesterday that aaron and i were at byu in our cute little apartment at wyview, waiting for her to arrive. she was so little and petite and the days were so relaxed and full of fun with our friends - the pachecos, dances, conlins, penningtons, valentines...lots more names i can't remember. what did i do with all that free time!!!

anyway, i'm sure we'll take lots of pictures this week and next (school starts on the 4th - 10 days away - not that i'm counting...)Y

I Love My Hubby!!

today's been kind of a crazy day and i made a deal with aaron that if he mowed the lawn, i would put the kids to bed. well, i happened to look out the window and saw this...

( i couldn't back up far enough to get the whole thing in the picture)
man, i love him!! isn't he great!!! (sigh...)Y

Summer's almost over!!!

this summer is flying by and i can't believe the kids are going to start school in 3 weeks!! (not that i'm complaining...) we've been a crazy busy lately - the week after girls camp aaron went up to the boundary waters with the young men for a week. i was so jealous! he promised that we would go one of these days, just the two of us. he said it was breathtaking. maybe someday...

here are some pictures that he took - he said they had a blast.

we also have been spending a lot of time at the pool - which has been really nice during these hot and humid minnesota days. the kids love it - even tanner is trying to put his face in the water by himself!

isn't he so cute!! i can't stand it sometimes!!

dallin is so funny - he's been saying "watch mom!" and then he holds his breath, his cheeks all puffed out and then starts swimming...with the water up to his chin and his hands on the bottom of the 1 ft. pool. i have to try not to laugh!

i will have to say, emma is quite the little fish. she would swim 24/7 if she could.

not quite sure what kaylee's doing here - maybe trying not to look too old to be in the kiddie pool? she is growing up so fast. her baptism is about 2 weeks away and i am having a hard time feeling really old. of course she seems to have aged about 10 years this summer...

anyway, i'll write more later. i feel like i'm kinda getting better at this blogging thing.Y

Dallin turns 4!

Today is Dallin's fourth birthday!! I can't believe he's already 4!! It doesn't seem like too long ago that Aaron and I were in the hospital (for 3 days) waiting for him to arrive. He is such a fun kid. I don't know what I would do without him!

We had a combined birthday party for him and two of his friends - Callisto and Brynn - whose birthdays are all a couple of days apart. In NY we had always combined his party with Collin Donahue's since they were only a day apart and I was wondering what we would do here in Mankato. But it turned out nicely and hope it works out for next year also (although I don't know how long Brynn and Callisto will stand having a non-girly birthday party - we'll see!)

Anita made this adorable balloon cake and Rebecca had some very cool activities - ice sculptures that the kids built with colored ice cubes in all shapes and sizes and bubble painting and "erase the face" (the kids drew faces on the sidewalk and then threw water balloons at them).

He got some fun presents from Grandma & Grandpa Jeffrey - 2 Nerf dart guns and a very cool Adidas warm-up outfit that looks soooo cute on him! We got him a baseball, a glove and a tee that he's been begging for. His sisters got him an over the door basketball set and Tanner got him underwear (what a thoughtful brother!!)

Anyway, we had a great time and realized last year he got gypped (we closed on our house and moved in the day before his birthday) - so this year was a much better celebration (minus family and the Harpers not being here to help us party!) I can't believe we've been in Mankato a year! I feel like we're still newbies here in MN!Y

Girls Camp 2008

I just got back from Girls Camp yesterday - I had such a blast! Here's a pic of all of us by our sign that Mikaela made. From left to right we have:

Me - with my famous bandana on (I never take it off at camp!!)

Lydia - made us a wonderful Snoopy doghouse for our play - she is the craft queen

Erica - shares my love of They Might Be Giants and was a fish in the pool

Marian - YCL - she was such a great mentor to the younger girls and an incredible help to Mikaela and I!

Lisa - YCL - saved Lydia from drowning our first day at camp! her testimony was also pretty powerful

Sydni - what a pretty smile and beautiful eyes!!! she caught on to making friendship bracelets faster than i ever did!

Missy - our camping expert- she was such a crack-up!

Michelle - YCL - she was our "goddess of love and beauty"! always had an eye out for those boys!!!

Amy - YCL - always thought of the smart way to do things and her testimony was absolutely beautiful - i notice she was very compassionate and thoughtful of others

Mikaela - my partner in crime

Brianna - she made a great charlie brown in our skit and was always ready to pitch in and help and had very good ideas (she's in the red shirt on the climbing tower)

Laura - my buddy - she would be escort me anytime I needed to go anywhere and helped me haul anything heavy - she was the fire master

I was called towards the beginning of the year to be the ward camp director and Mikaela Griggs was called a couple months ago to be assistant director. I was so excited to get to know the girls better (I had several of them in my Sunday School class last year) and I've always loved the experiences I've had at girls camp. We had ten girls go from the Mankato Ward and by the end of the week I was absolutely amazed at how great they all were! They were so helpful and kind to each other and so fun to be around! The camp had a climbing tower, a swimming pool, a bb gun and archery range - one day they even had a petting zoo open and some of the girls got to ride horses - so we had lots of fun. We also had COPE exercises, which is teambuilding activities - it was very cool. Mikaela and I were a good match - she is very creative and kept us busy playing games or doing something fun. She was so organized (you could see a line down the middle of our tent - her side nice and clean, my side not so much) and made the cutest signs for us to mark our territory. I think my favorite part was testimony meeting we had around the campfire - our four YCLs (youth camp leaders) all shared something they learned from a conference talk and then opening our meeting by bearing testimony and then we got to hear from most of the young women. I loved hearing what they were thinking and feeling - we have some pretty incredible young women here who are going to be great mothers and leaders and teachers someday! I am excited for next year - if they decide to keep me!!!

It was nice to get home and hug and kiss Aaron and the kids and take a long hot shower and then we went to Culver's and I pigged out on a bacon cheeseburger!!! Y

let's try this again...

i know it's been way too long, but now that tara has helped me to make it cute (thank you tara!!!) i think i'm committed. things have been crazy around here lately. i just finished a class at msu - now i'm preparing to go to girls camp next week and aaron has a week of high adventure with the young men the week after that. we're all having a good summer, though. kaylee is glad to be done with her session of reading academy and all four kids are loving being outside every minute they can. we've recently discovered the pool here in mankato (thanks to half the ward moms - kids or no kids - being there almost everyday!) so that's helped to cool us off a bit. aaron has been seeing some clients and goes to the university for a couple hours here and there, so it's been nice having him home so much. we're trying to get as much done on the house as possible, but there's always something...

anyway, i hope to get better at this and i will post some more pictures soon. Y