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