Adventures with the Arnolds

2011-10-31T13:12:00.001-05:00

Ema is enjoying her class fall party!

2011-10-01T17:54:00.001-05:00

Saturday afternoon at the loop with the girls!

I just hit the jackpot!!!

2011-09-28T15:27:00.002-05:00

Ok... so not really :) If you click on the title to this post, it will take you to their home page and you can read more about it from there... you can also click on the widgit top left of the page to get to the website as well!

How many of you moms out there get TIRED of planning what to fix for dinner each night?
I know I do.
I've often said, won't somebody just tell me what to fix, cuz I'm tired of coming up with ideas on my own! When I go shopping, I try to plan a menu for a week or 2 at a time... but my menus end up repeating the same thing over and over... spaghetti, mac n cheese, tacos, chicken this, hamburger that... yada yada yada.... I know many of you who shop according to sales, and don't plan a menu... this is something you will definitely be interested in as well!!!

The other day, Mike came home from work and told me of an ad he heard on the radio. It's called Ez Meals! They plan your meals and sets up a shopping list and all you have to do is download it and print it! Its pretty cheap too! $!.25 a week, or $15 ever 3 months!!!

It's great because... it is designed for those who...

are on a budget
on a diet
have a picky family
etc.

So How does it work you ask??

you can select what store you want to have the menu generated with... I use Kroger because that's where I do MOST of my shopping :) (they have 28 different plans you can choose from... from gluten free, low fat, to family of 4-6, and vegetarian)

Once you select your plan you print out the menu they select based on what's on sale for the week using the weekly ads that the stores put out.

For my family 1 weeks worth of dinner meals the avg. cost is $85 worth of groceries! I'm sure you couponers are thinking you could get it cheaper... I'm sure you could ;)

I think its great! I'm looking forward to it!
Its definitely a good thing for this Mommy!!!

The 1st Day of Kindergarten...

2011-08-17T09:36:00.002-05:00

Chester is nervous about starting school and after his mother explains all the fun things he will do in school he is still reluctant to go. His mother then decides to give him a kiss on his palm, which is now his kissing hand. She tells him no matter where he goes her love will go with him and the kiss will never wash off, even when he washes his food. All he has to do is press his hand against his cheek and her love will rush to him.

After Ema's teacher read this to the class, she handed each of the students a little packet of pocket tissues with a note that read...

"I gave you a little wink and a smile
As you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave
And know your child must stay.
You've been with her for five
years now
And have been a loving guide.
But now, alas, the time has come
To leave her at my side.
Just know that as you drive away
And tears down your cheeks may
flow.
I'll love her as I would my own
And help her learn and grow.
So please put your mind at ease
And cry those tears no more.
For I will lover her and take her in
When you leave her at my door."

Ema gave me a hug and I asked her if she was ready for school, she said..
Mom... you have to go.
I took that as a YES! LOL!!!
I think we're BOTH happy she's in kindergarten now, and it makes it easier knowing she is ready for it as much as I am! :)

Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself!!!

2011-08-17T09:24:00.001-05:00

Her teacher read a story called the Kissing Hand. Then had each of the kids give their "special someone" a little gift... a little poem stuck to a little packet of tissues...

2011-08-17T09:22:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Kindergarten!!!

2011-08-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

Her next assignment was to put her hand print on a poem, and handprint a paper about how she felt about her first day of school.

2011-08-17T09:18:00.000-05:00

Ema found her cubbie! We noticed she is right next to a girl who is coincidentally named Emma Grace! Good thing we only have one M in her name or there would be a lot of confusion!!

2011-08-17T09:15:00.001-05:00

She has her first assignment! A classroom scavenger hunt!

Ema Starts Kindergarten!!

2011-08-17T09:11:00.001-05:00

Ema is so excited for school, I can barely keep up with her!

2011-08-11T09:10:00.000-05:00

Metta waits with Ema at the bus stop

2011-08-11T06:41:00.001-05:00

First day of school!!!

2011-08-11T06:35:00.000-05:00

First day of school... waiting for the Middle School bus

6th Grade Can Really Kill You!!!

2011-08-09T17:31:00.002-05:00

Or... at least make it difficult! :)

After 20 min. of fighting her locker... she finally got it to work!

(It has a tendency to get stuck on the last number. She has a hard time getting the knob to turn.)

Looks like she's got it figured out now! Even with her daddy pressuring her...

"hurry the bell's going to ring"

"hurry you're going to be late!"

"better not be late to your class!!"

Attempting the Locker Combo... YIKES!!!

2011-08-09T17:11:00.016-05:00

Kaleigh working out her combo.
Pesky thing kept giving her problems :(
Glad she's got it worked out now!

Good luck in Middle School!

Bring on 7th Grade!!!

2011-08-09T17:11:00.007-05:00

Looks like her locker and combo were no match for her :)
She is excited for the new year!

Middle School for Marley!!!

2011-08-09T17:11:00.006-05:00

Marley is trying out her new locker!!!

look ma... I'm riding without training wheels!!

2011-08-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

2011-08-05T14:15:00.001-05:00

Sisters Riding Together!!

Mormon Night with the Nashville Sounds!!

2011-06-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

We surprised the girls and went to the Nashville Sounds Baseball game for FHE. It was really fun! The Sounds WON!!! woo hoo!!
The Mormon Missionaries in the Nashville Mission sang the National Anthem, and did a GREAT job!!

It was really cool to see David Archuletta in the stands watching the game too! Marley got his autograph. :)

Ema Breaks Her Collar Bone...

2011-05-30T15:09:00.000-05:00

She just got so excited to go down the slippin' Slide, that she didn't think to look before she ran across it. :(
One of the little boys that was over playing at our Memorial Day Picnic was coming down the slide the same time she was crossing... unfortunately, she flipped and landed wrong. She's a TOUGH trooper though! only 2 doses of pain meds!! One the day it happened, and one the next afternoon...

She ROCKS!!

My girls being girls...? or just Themselves??

2011-05-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

I can do anything better than you... If one can do it, they ALL can... Before you know it, they'll be climbing the walls... oh wait... they ALREADY are!!!
Now I get to spend my day cleaning off greasy hand and foot prints :S

Kaleigh Got Her Ears Pierced!!!

2011-05-04T14:59:00.000-05:00

She was in a bit of shock with the "pinch" LOL... she's happy now, and LOVES changing them! Way to go for getting Straight A's Kaleigh!!!

Marley heads out for a Week at LBL...

2011-04-25T14:53:00.001-05:00

Marley's 6th grade field trip to LBL (Land Between the Lakes)...

We moved out... just in time!!!

2011-04-22T14:41:00.001-05:00

My piano had been sitting just next to that window... and had we not moved, my an would have been smashed... lucky we weren't there when it happened!

FINALLY....House Pics!!!

2011-04-20T14:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome... may all who enter as guests, leave as friends...

Going UP the stairs :)

Dining Room at the top of the stairs...

Kitchen from the Dining Room

Living Room From the Dining Room

View from Living Room Bookshelf to Dining Room/Stairway

View of Living Room from Piano...

View down the hall from the top of the stairs...

Bedroom of Metta and Em

Bedroom of Moe and Koke

Girls Bathroom

Laundry Room (directly across from girls bedrooms)

Master Bedroom

Master Bath - Double Vanity

Jetted Tub/Shower (#1)

Top of the stairs... going DOWN...

still going DOWN...

Left into the Family Room...

Little room under the stairs (aka Tornado Shelter/Recreational Storage)

Family Room from window (behind the couch)to Entertainment Center and Bathroom Door

Bathroom #3 Vanity...

Jetted Tub/Shower... The toilet is hidden back behind the wall by the tub...

Can't forget the large Game/Coat closet in the Family Room :)

Extra Large 2 car garage w/ insulated garage doors!!! Makes for a perfect place for Mike's Bike Work Station :)

We've Moved!!!

2011-04-05T10:00:00.002-05:00

After almost 4 yrs. of house hunting, the search is over. We have finally found what we've been looking for!

We were picky in our search. We wanted some specific things. This house gives us those things, and even some of the wants (like a fireplace!!!) It also has a few things we wish were different, but its all good :)

It has room for my piano, plenty of bathrooms, a great view, and fits our dining table!

The story behind this house is one that will last for years to come! It is full of ups and downs, heartbreak, and hope.

We welcome visitors! Please come by and say Hi!!!

The Arnold's Adventures in Buying a House...

2011-04-01T10:03:00.127-05:00

We spent about 4 LONG years looking for the right house for us. I kind of wish we would have taken a picture of every house we looked at so I could see just what we went through for what we got! lol

We put offers in on a couple of houses only to have the sellers back out or have issues :( VERY discouraging!!

We first saw this house LAST year on our Anniversary (March-2010). We tried to buy it then!! (we had NO idea of the situation that we were getting into until we got a lawyer involved due to lack of communication from the seller) The Owners were divorcing and had been court ordered to sell... or put it up for auction. It didn't sell so it went up for auction. Somebody bought it at auction, and needed to have the owner sign off saying he'd make up the "difference" to the bank... Meanwhile... the guy who bought it at auction decided to put it up for sale while he was waiting for the sign off...

We saw it come up in our listing, and knew we needed to look at it. We saw it, walked through it, and loved it! It felt like home already... We put our offer in and bantered back and forth a bit, but got it worked out so we were in contract! YEAH US!!! We got very poor if any communication from the sellers agent. It was HORRIBLE! Our closing date of June 1st came and went without any explanations from anybody, just that we were still waiting on "the court"... Well, we figured since my mother-in-law was in town on business, we'd take her on a walk through of the house so we got it all arranged... and ready to walk through... Now comes the heart break...

Our Realtor called us to say that the house was unavailable, (June-2010)and that it had been pulled off the market!?! Honestly we weren't surprised, because of all that we had dealt with... but it was still a blow. Apparently the owner never signed the paper saying he'd pay the difference, and he let the house go into Foreclosure. The guy who bought it at auction should NEVER have even put it up for sale because he NEVER owned it! So because it went to foreclosure, our offer was VOID, and the guy who "bought" it at auction didn't get it either...

So what were we to do??? I kind of lost heart at that point, and gave up on looking at most of the listings that came through our email. I knew that with the start of the new school year approaching timing just wasn't right at all... so I gave up. I told the Lord, I was tired of looking and being heart broken. I knew that the house was where we were supposed to be, and we had felt prompted to buy it, but frustrated that it fell through. I told Him that I was going to quit looking, and that if He wanted me somewhere, He'd better hand it to me, because I wasn't playing the game anymore. I was emotionally spent trying to figure things out.

I'm glad Mike hadn't given up on the house like I had. Around Christmas time (2010) Mike felt like he needed set up the emails to have them go to him as well as just me. (I had quit looking at them in July but hadn't told him). One EARLY morning in late February (2011) Mike picked up his phone off the dresser and started looking through his email listings... He would skim past the listings that didn't have a picture...if its not important enough to include a picture its not important enough for us to look at... only, today, he actually looked over the info for the listing, and realized it was OUR house!!! THE HOUSE WE TRIED TO BUY!!! It was up for sale!!! He woke me up (it was about 4:30/5:00am)to tell me all about it. It was labeled as a HUD house. (minor fixer-upper) It was CHEAPER than what we had it on contract for the year before! We saw it on a Thursday or Friday, and arranged to go see it that Saturday. Mike and I went by ourselves... didn't tell the kids anything... We walked through it and still felt THIS WAS OUR HOME.

Because it was a HUD home, it has a different process for purchase... you have 1 week to get a bid in for the property, and then they decide which offer is best and accept it. We offered exactly what they were asking, and said we'd pay all of the closing costs... instead of having them pay up to 3%. We were pretty sure that our offer would stand, but there is always that bit of doubt... especially with OUR experience :D

Our offer was accepted but it took them FOREVER to tell us, so now instead of 10 days we had 8 days to get the appraisal and inspection done... our life became STRESS city!! We got it all taken care of. In the process of putting our loan stuff together, we found out that HUD has a $100 down program! We took advantage of that! As is our luck, we had little issues come up one after another... nothing major just annoying mole hills.

Finally our closing date was here... April 1st! we signed the papers, and payed the closing costs (which really felt like paying off a credit card more than buying a house). But in the end, it was so nice to finally be able to walk into our OWN house!!! We estimate that we will have it paid off in about 15 yrs!! That's exciting for us too :)

Its been challenging... one repair fixed, only to find something else needing work. For the whole month of April we found ourselves at Home Depot or Lowes EVERY day! We are so happy with our Home though. It feels like the right place for us.

Mike is close enough to bike back and forth to work. The girls are 1.5-2 miles from school. We're 3 minutes from church. 5 min. from the freeway. 20 minutes from the temple. We have so many ward members in our neighborhood that are within walking distance! I LOVE it. All my girls have made great friends... both in church and around the neighborhood. The schools are great, and I am Happy!

5th and 6th Grade DC Field Trip!!!

2011-03-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

Marley and Kaleigh got to spend their Spring Break in Washington D.C.
They had a TON of fun site seeing and spending time with friends. I'm glad they got the chance to go...

Snow Days!!!

2011-01-10T15:15:00.000-06:00

This was one LOOOOOONG Winter Break! I'm glad we had some snow for the girls to play in though!

Added New posts...

2010-12-03T11:01:00.002-06:00

So I've added a couple new posts (I post them according to their actual dates), in my need to get somewhat "caught up" this year.
Scroll down a bit to see them!

Making Home-made Root Beer

2010-07-10T19:50:00.002-05:00

look at the cool ride

2010-05-06T14:11:00.002-05:00

I wonder what the driver of this car could possibly be doing, or getting at Home Depot? Any guesses? lol

12 Years... REALLY?? Where has the time gone?!

2010-03-20T07:55:00.017-05:00

12 yrs and counting!!!

So this year Mike and I took a weekend vacation for our 12th anniversary. We went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We stayed in the Cascades section.
I loved the view!!!

We were gone from Friday night through Sunday morning. We were lucky enough to get a great deal for the 2 nights :)

Friday we went shopping over at Opry Mills Mall, we had dinner at Tony Roma's... I had Mahi Mahi, and Mike had steak... pretty good stuff!!!

Saturday, I got up and got my workout done, took a shower, and then went to the spa for some pampering! Mani-Pedi's are so much fun... and at the Relache Spa,quite a bit more $$ than I was originally planning on spending. Oh well :)

So you may ask, what was Mike doing while I was off being pampered??? Here's a look...

That night we had dinner at (birds-eye view)

This was our table...

For dinner that night Mike had the Mahi Mahi, and I had the steak... both were SO GOOD!!!

We are still looking for an excuse to go back and enjoy it!!!

Sunday morning, we were up early and walked around taking some pictures of the atrium. Here are some of my favorite ones...

We have had an exhilarating 12 years! It's just FLOWN by!!! I'm looking forward to many more years to come...

Happy Birthday Marley

2010-01-04T10:12:00.000-06:00

Marley,
You are a beautiful Daughter of your Heavenly Father. He loves you so much. You are such a beautiful young woman, inside and out.

We hope you continue to follow the Lord, and keep his commandments.
Happy Birthday dear daughter! We Love you!!!

Happy Birthday Metta!!!

2010-01-02T13:11:00.001-06:00

A letter to my daughter...

Metta, You are a beautiful girl inside and out. :)
Your zest for learning never ceases to amaze me. Your willingness to be helpful and obedient is such a blessing. You bring such a wonderful spirit into our family.
I love how you get excited about the simple things in life. I love how your "Ah-hah" moments light up your face.
I love how you're always ready to share.
But most of all...
I LOVE YOU!!!

We all love you girl!
Mom, Dad, Marley, Kaleigh, and Ema

Let's play a game of Catch-up!!!

2010-01-01T12:09:00.005-06:00

I am SO far BEHIND on my blogging... March is almost over, and I haven't done any birthday posts... let alone our anniversary! I am going to do my best to do a catch up... it may take a while though...

(I will type it up as I would have, had I been current... since I'm using the post date and time as if I were posting ON TIME!)-- if you understood that... Kiss Your Brain!

Rachel's Spring Resolution...
I am a member of an online weight loss/diet community Sparkpeople.com I am on a few different teams. One of them is a team for LDS ladies... one is just a general team according to my start up date, one ties in with Biggest Loser (BLC).

I gained a fair amount of weight over the Christmas holiday... way more than I should have... I made a goal to work it off! I got my hands on a workout system called P90x. After reading through it, I'm so excited to start my adventure. My BLC is starting a new round... (it's 12th) I'm setting a rigorous goal of losing 10 lbs. over a 12 week period. The 12 week period will have a weekly weigh in (wednesdays), it starts Jan. 13th. I'm ashamed to admit this, but my starting weight is 174.8 (175) So I want to be down to 165 by the end of the 12 week challenge. I will be starting P90x Jan. 11th and working out 6 days a week following the routines for the Lean program. I'm way excited... ( I did have before pictures on my phone, but they aren't there anymore... I will take measurements, and pictures at the 6 week mark of the challenge and again at the end of the challenge.

Wish me luck!!!

If you want to read or follow my progress click HERE daily for my exercise blog and to see how I'm doing...

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-25T18:34:00.019-06:00

Santa Made it to our house!!!

The girls were awake at 5:00 am, but were good to keep themselves contained in the room until about 6 o'clock. by 6:30 the girls were going back and forth from the kitchen to their room and just peeking down to the tree. We told them they could go down and LOOK but NO touching anything...

Well, that lasted all of about 2 min. (I'm being generous with the 2 min. time) We heard a couple of the girls saying... oooh! feel this one! it's a ____!!! Unfortunately for them we heard EVERYTHING!!! So, even though we were getting out of bed and on our way to tell them it was ok to get ready, we told them they had to go back to bed for 20 min.

They all made it back to the room, and when all is quiet we could hear Ema pipe up saying... "Thanks a lot Kaleigh, you ruined christmas!!" It was all Mike and I could do to not bust a gut laughing!!! It is quite funny to hear a 3 yr old think that Christmas is ruined! ;)

So 20 min. later we were all up, and eager for the presents...

Santa left a piano full of activity books and stories. He placed all of our stockings around the piano.

We made the traditional call to Grandma and Grandpa Arnold and let them join in on our present opening.

We had left all the presents piled up in little piles... Family, Girls, and Individuals.

We let the girls open the presents they got for each other first...
Each girl had fun and did a great job of buying for each of her sisters. Presents for each other were things like a Rubix Cube, Barbie type dolls, bop it, Magna Doodle, Paperoni, Moon Sand, Jewelry Beads, Princess Soccer ball, Games and so on and so forth... enough to keep them busy for a while :)
Here are a few we captured with the camera...

Then it was time for the stuff from Mommy and Daddy :)
(Santa does our stockings and display stuff)

We had left it in piles... one for each of the girls...

Here is a quick pic of each of the girls with their loot!

Metta made mommy and daddy each an ornament...
an applesauce/cinnamon/gingerbread man, and a cute blue ornament with some very creative Snowmen... :)

Daddy got a gift card to the local Bike shop...
Mommy got some piano music...

Then, Daddy noticed a small present left under the tree... It said it was for Me! I wasn't expecting anything because I got my piano (a huge chunk o' budget) As I read the note that came with it, I turned into the biggest boob... I had a hard time finishing it because I was crying!
Here's what the note said...

Rachel,
I know that you got the baby you have been wanting and that you said you understood and knew that that was your Christmas gift this year, but I felt otherwise, and since I know that you have been an exceptionally good wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, I got you another gift that you have been wanting. Only thing is, that I couldn't fit it here under the tree with all the other gifts. So... you need to go to the potting shed where I left it.

We had a great Christmas!
Aunt Debbie sent the girls a gift card for Target, and they got the movie InkHeart and each got a little dollar toy too!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Michele gave us a gift card for a family adventure! The girls decided they wanted to use it on the Chatanooga Aquarium or Science Center (either way it is a small vacation)

Uncle Joel and Aunt Linda gave each of the girls a nice warm fleece blanket

Grandma and Grandpa Reece gave us all pajamas and a little stocking with a gift.

Grandma and Grandpa Arnold gave us all books: Fabelhaven, Mice of Magic, Max Lucado's Your Are Mine, and If I Only Had a Green Nose, I Love You This Much, How High is the Sky?, and Another Witness; a book of religious piano music and LOVELY pictures! And soft pillows and pillowcases so we could have "tweet" dreams!

It was a GREAT Christmas!

2009 has truely been a great year of blessings for our family!

Christmas Eve 2009...

2009-12-24T15:46:00.000-06:00

We have had a magical year this year... and Christmas was NO different!

We have a few simple Christmas Traditions...

Christmas EVE...
1- We eat pizza and watch The Polar Express
2- We call Grandma and Grandpa Reece and open our gifts from them...

This year we added to our tradition! We had family to celebrate with this year. We started by decorating yummy gingerbread men!

Then we started up the movie and ate our dinner.
FINALLLY... it was time to call and talk to Grandma and Grandpa Reece, Uncle Nathan, and Uncle Jared, Aunt Emily, and their kids J & J...

Grandma and Grandpa Reece gave the kids Pajamas!!! They loved them!

Aunt Emily Stayed up way late to finish these wonderful aprons for each of the girls. The girls LOVE them, and have already enjoyed wearing them during their hours of crafting!

The girls got a nice gift card from their Aunt Debbie, and decided they want to go get a family game with it! Thx :)

After opening presents and saying goodnight to Joel and Linda and their Little Men, the girls all cozied up in the big girls' bedroom. I read them the last bit of "The Worst, Best Christmas Pageant Ever." By the time I was finished, Ema and Metta were out and snoring... Marley and Kaleigh however were a different story... it took them another little bit to calm down... oh well... at least they stayed in their room right?!

Christmas Letter of 2009...

2009-12-20T14:19:00.001-06:00

Well since everything else this year has feels as though it has been fashionably late, why not make my Christmas Letter fashionably late as well!

Quick and Ezy Pzy. For every letter of Christmas, there is something we can look back on in this the year 2009 and remember...

C- Changes... Mike Changed Positions at Work. He is now an Analyst w/ VZW HQ
(Metta started Kindergarten)
H- House Hunting Continues...
R- Read the Book of Mormon TWICE!!!
I- Increase... We Have Increased Our Knowledge of Scripture Through Daily Study Topics
S- School Sports!!! Marley Made the Basketball Team! She Improved With Each Game!
T- is for Tornado... missed us by about 300 yds on Good Friday
M- Music Now Fills the House Since I Got My Baby Grand!!!
A- Adding to the Population... Nope, Not in this house!!! We had family join us here in TN! Welcome Reeces! We're Glad You Came Our Way :)
S- Seeing Family in UT during our Summer Vacation and Seeing Historical Church Sites as Well as a Couple Homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder

This year has been full of blessings left and right. The things listed are a mere tip of the ice berg. We are enthusiastically looking ahead to what adventures will come our way...

Merry Christmas Family & Friends

Sargent Ebony...

2009-12-11T16:33:00.001-06:00

Well, its finally happened!!! I got a piano!!!

I call it Sgt. Ebony :)

I have wanted a piano for 12 some odd years.

I was torn over the decision to get this...
I didn't want to have to worry about moving a piano to a new house, so I was being patient and when this one had the price it did, I just had a hard time passing it by. But being so close to Christmas.... eek! makes it a bit tighter than I was expecting....

All said and done... I'm HAPPY! I LOVE it! and yup... Mike gets the prize for the best Christmas present of the year!

I love that my kids have fun tinkering notes out of it! hee hee... I am such a giddy school girl!!!

what's in your cereal bowl?!?

2009-12-09T15:55:00.003-06:00

Well, I just had to share this story....

Ema... my sweet little Ema... sigh...

Ema was down on the computer for a while to do her "letters" and PBSKids stuff. She decided she was hungry so she came up and found me and had me pour her a bowl of cereal. I figured that while she was in eating breakfast I could take a break from cleaning and do some catching up on reading blogs and FB.

A little bit later she came up to me and said, "mom, I wasted your milk" I completely thought she meant that she wasn't finishing her cereal and had left it sitting on the table, so I told her she needed to drink it so she wasn't wasting it, unfortunately she was already running down the hall away from me as I said it. I didn't pay too much attention to her running off... I should have!!!
A bit later, I glanced at the clock and realized we had story time at the library in 30 min. I knew I needed to hurry and get her ready. I walked up and into the front room and see an EMPTY milk carton (gallon size) laying on the carpet in the middle of the room. As I scanned the room I saw a cereal bowl full of milk, and an interesting white substance piled around it on the floor, as well as a big container full of milk. It took me a good few minutes to put the whole scene together...

As best as I can figure here is her thought process...
her mini wheat cereal had soaked up all the milk, so she needed more milk, she thought she could do it on her own so she tried... then she thought... oh this is SO MUCH better with sugar, so she went and grabbed my sugar container out of the pantry and poured about a CUPS worth into her cereal bowl that was now to brim with milk... well she was having too much fun pouring milk and thought i bet it would be yummy if i poured all the rest of the milk into the sugar container that still held about 5 Cups of sugar!

As my eyes met the reality before me and comprehended what was going on it was all i could do to not cry and laugh hysterically. I knew I had to approach this delicately. I was seriously wanting to lose it, and trying everything in my might to not be too, as we say it here Dragon Ladyish, or too nonchalant about it... I now understood fully what she meant when she said she wasted my milk... my LAST gallon of milk! deep breath in through the nose out through the mouth...

I swept up the piles of sugar with my broom then soaked up the rest with a towel. once I felt it had dried sufficiently to vacuum I vacuumed it up as best as I could then called and told my hubby he HAD to get a rug doctor on his way home from work... Not exactly the plan of events for my day... but it sure left me with a good story to tell her when she gets older!

oh, and YES we did make it to story time at the library... we even saw her cousins LM and LB! What a day!!!

ThanksGiving!!!!

2009-11-26T15:37:00.004-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

(happy anniversary mom and dad!)

We have had a fun day today. We made too many rolls to count for the Thanksgiving Dinner at the church today. I also made a couple pies... Pumpkin pies!!! Mmm :)

We are having another dinner on Sunday with the Reece and Pike Families...

Hope ya'll had a fun Thanksgiving holiday too!!!

200

2009-11-18T19:17:00.005-06:00

Well, this is my 200th post.
I've been doing this since the Halloween of '06. I Haven't missed a month.

In lieu of this being my 200th post, I wanted to do something EXTRAORDINARY, but nothing extraordinary has happened... up to this point... I forsee an eventful finish to this year however!

But, I thought I'd share with you a little something I've been pondering, and even gave a lesson on it in Relief Society...

How to be Totally Miserable...

How can I be totally miserable? Well, if you think about it, there are PLENTY of ways to be miserable. Enjoying the journey of life is often just a matter of your ATTITUDE.

"Daily, Constantly, we choose by our desires, our thoughts and our actions whether we want to be blessed or cursed, happy or miserable." -- Pres. Ezra Taft Benson

Here are a few quick ways to get you started on your trip to Misery...

Avoid Good Company

Avoid Adventure (... "mom are we lost?" "No sweetheart, we're on an adventure!")

Put Yourself Down

Re-live Your Bad Memories

Avoid Scripture Study

Avoid Personal Communication With Your Heavenly Father

DON'T Smile, or Laugh

Complain About Your Blessings

DON'T Learn Anything New

Procrastinate Repentance

Did you know that Happy people Act, Miserable people are Acted Upon?

I see it this way... Think of a bucket, what does it do? Nothing. It sits there and waits for somebody to fill it up or empty it or to move it. It doesn't get up and move itself! Somebody else comes and does the work... fills it up, empty's it, moves it etc. Those "somebody's are the happy people acting on those around them.

Have you ever felt like the happiness was being SUCKED out of you when you were around somebody who complained, and was miserable all the time?
When I started thinking about it that way, I made a goal for myself, that I would not be that person. I wasn't going to be the bucket.

I decided that whatever happened or how frustrated I was that I wasn't going to rain on somebody else's parade because I was choosing to be a "sucker"
Since this "deal" with myself, I have tried hard to look for the humor, silliness, etc. in situations that are ever present in my daily life. I believe that a good sense of humor is a characteristic of a well balanced person. So I'm trying to be better balanced myself.

I'm going to modify a short story to prove my point here...

A hunter walked by a man sitting casually under an apple tree watching the clouds roll by. The hunter asked why the man was sitting around wasting his day not being productive. The man under the tree answered him with a question, "Do you keep your bow strung up all the time?" The hunter said of course not! The man asked the hunter why not? The hunter replied it would lose it's spring! The man sit it was just so with his mind... he didn't want it strung up all the time.

I feel as though I can take a deep breath, and not let the stresses of daily life overwhelm my brain and thoughts. I understand the importance of taking ME time. Blogging for me is a ME time. I use my blog as a therapy session... well for now anyway...

So to finish this epic post, by saying Life is Good! Life in the Service of the Lord is GOOD! Yes Service to your family is indeed a service of the Lord :D

I am taking on the challenge to be happy in what I do. I'm trying to better cultivate a spirit of gladness in my home and subdue and overcome all elements of anger, impatience, and mean talk among us that the light of the gospel might shine more brightly from our faces wherever we go and whatever we do.

I truly have a reason to be happy and of good cheer. The Lord has blessed me and my family greatly this year. I challenge you to find things to be happy and cheerful about... even if it takes a while to find something to be happy and cheerful about!

In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured!

baby casper

2009-10-31T20:26:00.003-05:00

The littlest ToT er of all... Baby Casper :)

r Trick or Treaters

2009-10-31T20:20:00.003-05:00

Alice in Wonderland, Abby Cadabby, Super Girl, Hannah Montana, and Lightning McQueen!

My Basketball Girl...

2009-10-27T12:42:00.006-05:00

Well apparently my daughter has a liking for basketball! She summoned up the courage to try out for her school team... and... MADE IT!!!!

She was so excited that she made it! She let everybody know! Ok, if you saw my FB page, you know that I told everybody too!!! :) (I'm a proud mommy that way!)

She's had 2 practices a week and has improved her skills with each one. This week they started playing games. Marley was writing little notes saying how nervous and scared she was to be in an actual game. I can completely understand those feelings... been there done that myself!

Moe had talked about wanting some snacks to help her energy for the game, and so I thought that if she was feeling that way, the other girls on the team might want a little something too. I bought them each an apple, a small gatorade, string cheese, and some other fun stuff. The snacks were a big success!!! It's not going to be something I do every game though...

They had their first game and their score came up a bit short. Marley got to play a little bit and almost scored a basket at the end of the game!!! She's got a good drive!

Here are a few pictures that we caught of the team...

Calling out the Team

Tip Off

During the Game

Marley goes in...

our newest form of entertainment...

2009-10-26T13:37:00.001-05:00

See the laundry go round and round... it has been more popular to watch than the TV I think!

Monkey Metta?

2009-10-18T13:31:00.000-05:00

Metta's new thing is climbing the door frames then just holding herself up with her hands... Crazy I know!

Picnic in the Park!

2009-10-01T11:45:00.002-05:00

Nothing beats good food at the park...

Baby Reece!

2009-09-25T16:12:00.002-05:00

Congratulations Joel and Linda!!!

Baby's here!!!!! Still waiting for the stats.

Our newest addition(s)

2009-09-12T16:50:00.000-05:00

Recently we've had a little fun on Craig's List, and bargain shopping! We found bunk beds for the girls, and an entertainment center for Mike's birthday T.V.. For my birthday we got a blue-ray Home theater system!

Labor Day Fun!

2009-09-07T16:55:00.003-05:00

We were invited to go camping over Labor Day weekend. After reviewing our schedule of things that had to be done, and looking at Mike's work schedule, I had figured we'd leave early Saturday morning and meet our friends then. Mike felt some extra ambition, I guess, and said he thought we could leave and make it there Friday night. That meant I had to get a bit more done a bit quicker... Oh well!

He got home and we got things packed and loaded. I still hadn't done any grocery shopping for our camp food, so I went in to do the shopping as the rest of them headed to get dinner.

We are about an hour and a half away from the camp ground, and as we left I called the friends we were camping with and let them know that we would be there in a couple hours. We pulled up around 11 pm to the campground to find that it was closed. Our friends happened to call us within minutes of pulling up. The girls were sleeping soundly at this point, so I elected to stay and sleep in the car while the guys unloaded our gear, and hauled it to the campground in our friend's pick up.
Mike set up the tent and got it all ready for us. Once he was ready the pick up came back to pick up me and the kids.

ahhh, a good night's rest!

We had a nice campground! It was a great group site! Saturday the group (minus me- I didn't have any shoes b/c Marley was using mine) went for a hike to the dripping water fall. They had fun playing in the water. I had fun napping and listening to music!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the dirt, and with their friends. The kids also decided that they were in charge of building the fires to sit around. For the most part, I was ok with that. My girls were right there with the boys getting dirty and tending to the fire(s).

Just being out camping made me want to do it more often.

Sunday, we got up early, and got ready for church. We drove to Murfreesboro. Church was nice. The drive was LONG... everybody was having a hard time staying awake. We brought back part of our dessert with us... the Ice Cream!!! Yes, it stayed nice and frozen in a cooler in the back of our car for over 5 hrs! It was SO good with our dutch oven peach cobbler!!! YUMMMY!!!

Monday Mike went out for a bike ride... he did some awesome hill repeats We had a nice BIG breakfast to give the rest of us a great start! It was time to start breaking camp. I know we had a lot of stuff... but our friends take the cake with their load! They seriously take their kitchen sink with them... lol!

We headed down to the lake to let the kids play and work off some energy. As the guys were unloading the boat, I heard a weather alert come over the radio of a near-by fisherman. Severe storms coming our way with sky to ground lightning, and high winds. Within minutes, the storm was on us. We waited it out in our cars. It was pretty intense! As the storm passed, a light mist formed over the glassy lake. The kids were anxious to get out and on the boat. It was a fun way to finish our Labor day weekend!

I figured I'd post this... even though there are NO pictures... Hubby's camera never gets unloaded :(

Congrats Debbie and Bryson!

2009-09-06T16:35:00.000-05:00

Introducing:

Deron Paul Robison
5 lbs. 12 oz.
19 inches long

6 Yrs Ago....

2009-08-20T08:05:00.002-05:00

6 Yrs ago today...

We left our home in Utah, and traveled across the country carrying our whole life in a moving truck. We had 2 kids. One in Nursery (age 3), one in Sunbeams (age 4), and one on the way. We had no idea what we were moving to. We had never seen a picture of the house. We just felt right about it and signed the lease. We did know what ward we would be attending, but had NO clue where it was.

To help us with our move, my Mother and Father-in-law and my brother Joel came along. Mike wanted to get here as fast as he could. The rest of us were content to make it 8hrs a day. They guys typically all rode together in the moving van, and Nancy and I were in our little red car with the girls. It was a life saver to have the extra drivers with us... I think I found my led foot on that drive ;)

When we got to Tennessee, we found we had a tornado welcoming us! It was all surreal. I happened to be in the moving van with Mike and Joel, and my in-laws had the girls in our red car. They had stopped at a rest stop and let the girls play for a bit while they were waiting for us to catch up. We noticed how dark the sky was but didn't think much of it until we started seeing cars pulling off the free way and into the ditch area, or parking under the overpasses. We turned on the radio and got the news of the weather alert. Not knowing much about TN, we had no clue if the storm was heading toward us, away from us or what was going on.

All's well that ends well :)

We made it to our house. It was still one piece. We've been here ever since. We've LOVED our neighbors. Our ward has been a tremendous help and a blessing.

In 6 years we've added 2 kids and a 2nd car to our family. We've now been a Tennessee family longer than we were a Utah family. We've spent more of our married life in TN. I really enjoy it here. The fall is beautifully brilliant with color, the spring is more white with blossoms than the winter is white with snow... which we really miss! The humidity is a bit much at times, but it's all good.

Here's to many more years in Tennessee :D

Birthday and a Baby...

2009-08-19T07:45:00.001-05:00

Happy Happy Birthday to Mike!

Today was supposed to be a vacation day for Mike. But when work needs to be done, it doesn't matter what the schedule says. He was only expecting to be at work for an hour or 2. That turned into ALL day. Good thing we didn't have any big plans!

Frustrating yes... but it just saves our vacation time for another time!!! We plan on taking full advantage of it too!

I was getting stuff together for Mike's birthday dinner, and realized I didn't have a cake mix. I couldn't run to the store because I had a napping Ema that I didn't want to disturb...No problem I thought, I'll just make his mom's Wacky Cake. I have the recipe... I thought...
I tore my kitchen apart looking for it, couldn't find it. I remembered I had shared the recipe with a friend online, so I tore apart my computer desk looking for it... NO LUCK!!! :'(
I decided to make a cake for him. That meant I had to make it from scratch. I found a basic recipe, and voila! It actually turned out! It tasted good, and wasn't crumbly, or heavy! It was just right!!! So NOT what I expected!

Joel and Linda came over to celebrate with us. Of course Dallin came along and loved every minute he got to play with his cousins, and they loved every minute of having him here :)

Early in the afternoon we got a text saying my sister was in labor and in the hospital! Yippee!!! About the time we were sitting down to dinner we got the message that we had a new little nephew! How exciting! Mike now shares a birthday with a nephew!

I still have to get the pictures off my phone, then I'll add them :)

So happy birthday to the boys!!

First day of kindergarten!!!

2009-08-12T06:44:00.001-05:00

All ready and NOT quite time to go... :)

School Starts...

2009-08-11T06:30:00.002-05:00

Heading off to their first day of school...
Marley started 5th grade today, and Kaleigh started 4th grade :)

Christmas Shopping Time... Again :)

2009-07-30T08:33:00.002-05:00

Howdy!

I was informed today that there is less than 150 days until Christmas... YIKES!!!
Time to get my lists going! Now, having said that, I've found the perfect things for Ema.

For any family out there who is in question of what to get for Emalee, HERE is an AWESOME starting place...

She already has the Cutting Food Set, but she loves it SO much that she could handle a few more... easily!

As for Metta, Kaleigh and Marley?!? I'm still working on things for them...

Summer Vacation... June 18th - July 11th

2009-07-13T10:03:00.002-05:00

We're BAAAAACK!!!!

I'm going to have to post our vacation in a series of posts. TOO much to get done in just one. We did so many things! Some things we got pictures of, others I'll just tell you about briefly.

We just had fun being together as a family...

** Note **

this will take the better part of a week to post for a months worth of activities... So... Check back often!!!

Vacation Part 14... Carthage... and Home

2009-07-11T15:23:00.000-05:00

We left Nauvoo and headed toward Carthage.
We got there just after a group had started their tour. So we waited for the next group to start. We saw a little video in the Visitor's Center and then walked through the jail.

It was nice to pause and reflect on the life of Joseph Smith. What he lived for, and what he died for.

I hope my children felt the Spirit there, and planted their own testimony seeds.

We left Carthage and headed home. We pulled up in our driveway at 6:30 am, and got ourselves showered and ready for 9:00 church. We made it... It was SO nice to be back in our ward again.

Vacation part 13... NAUVOO!!!

2009-07-11T14:15:00.010-05:00

We drove all night to make sure we had as much time as we wanted in Nauvoo. It was a good thing we did! We pulled into Nauvoo at about 4:30 am. Mike got some great pictures of the Nauvoo Temple all lit up with the lights. I'll have to add some of those when he gets them done...

After he spent an hour or so taking pictures, we slept for an hour or so in the car. Then we went to breakfast at this little place...

This must be the "in" spot because that's where a lot of the missionaries went for breakfast too!

It was a breakfast buffet, with made to order pancakes or french toast. YUMMY!!! We all ate until we were stuffed.

We went to the Visitor's Center from there...
We stopped by the little cabins they had set up and arranged to go on a wagon ride around Nauvoo for a little later in the morning.

Here are the girls ready to go!!!

While we were waiting we went into the Visitor's Center and walked around. We saw a little video in one of the theaters. Mike and I had a super hard time of staying awake. I think I did a bit better than him though ;)

Once the video was over, we went outside to be ready for our wagon ride around the Sites of Nauvoo.

(we would like to do the carriage ride next time and hear pioneer stories etc.)

This is on the wagon going around the Nauvoo area...

The girls were all excited to be going for the wagon ride. They got to see where we would be going for the day, and it built up their anticipation even more!!!

These are some of the buildings we passed while on the tour. It was fun to see some of the missionaries come out and wave as we'd pass.

We stopped briefly at the Gunsmiths, but they were in the middle of an explanation and didn't have the time to wait for the next one to start.

Here is a picture of the Mississippi River. Nauvoo was mostly swamp/marsh land when the early saints arrived. It was the job of the women to clear out the trees, and swampy marshy areas so it could be drained while the men worked in the fields and on church things.

The girls were so excited to ride in an ox pulled wagon. They talked about wanting to do that ALL day! We finally gave in... it didn't take to much persuading ;)

It was just a quick walk around the pasture. During the walk we were told why oxen were used vs. horses etc. Oxen walk more at the speed of people. and they were stronger and could carry/pull heavier loads longer.

The girls got to pet the oxen. The one on the left just about stuck it's horn into Marley's face when she got a bit too close.

We have many more pictures... of course, we are still waiting on them to be processed so we can actually USE them :) please be patient and return often!

Meeting my Friend, Alisa

2009-07-10T13:57:00.001-05:00

We left LIW homestead later than we were expecting, which thus made us later than we were expecting. We had planned to meet a friend of mine for lunch... it was closer to dinner by the time we got there. Luckily we could arrange everything through texting :)

We got to know each other on a website called SparkPeople. It is a free weight loss and diet site. Alisa and I happen to be on a team together on this site. When discussing my family travel plans we discovered that my family would be close enough to hers that we could arrange for this little meeting!!!

We chatted for about 10-15 minutes then she had to run and get some things done. It was fun meeting her and her kids. She has a daughter pretty close to the same age as one of mine. She was so cute, as they left she came up to me and said, I need to get a hug too! :D
Her daughter has chatted with me a little bit through IM too... so cute!

I'm glad we got to meet each other!

Here is my sweet family waiting for dinner to be served... It's a good thing dinner didn't take too long to get to us! It was REALLY good :)

Mike looks like he's about had it in this picture... I guess that's what driving through vast amounts of NOTHINGness can do to a person after a while :)

Vacation Part 12... L.I.W. Family Home in De Smet, SD

2009-07-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

From Mt. Rushmore, we took a jaunt over to De Smet, SD (where Laura Ingalls Wilder's Family settled and she was married)

On the way there... we got a flat tire... LOVELY!!!

We were about 10 miles from Huron. We had to empty the car of all people and the stuff in the back so we could replace the flat... We made it to Huron, and luckily enough there was a tire shop where we could get it fixed. We found out the whole tire needed to be replace, it wasn't just a flat and a patch... ugh... anyway... we went from flat to fixed up in a little less than an hour! So we were on the road again soon.

This was one of those stops that probably meant more to me than the rest of the family, but we all had fun... at least I think we did :)

We didn't have a TON of time to spend thanks to being cut an hour or so, but we did do the car-tour... The surveyor's house, a replica of the Brewster's School, the old school house, and her family's house. We drove past Loftus' Store and the Train Depot. We didn't have a whole lot of time, like I said, but it was fun. All of us girls got a sweatshirt from the gift shop. :)

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the houses, because of copyrighted things being in them, and the light from the flash effects the fragile materials etc. But we could take pictures outside and in the school houses. As soon as my pics are done, I'll put my favorite ones here :)

The Girls at Mt. Rushmore

2009-07-09T16:59:00.002-05:00

We decided we could make the trip home a bit exciting by stopping off and seeing some landmarks or historical sites along the way. My girls have heard about Mt. Rushmore, and seen it on TV and such. With the girls studying US/American history in school, I thought it would be fun to actually see some of these sites.

We spent some time walking around and looking at the monument... most of our time was taking pictures of it :)
We even took pictures for other families! lol... that is what happens when you're holding a nice camera...people trust you to take good pictures.

It was really interesting to hear the history behind it too! I also found it very interesting that although it was done YEARS ago, and the tools were crude, and technology wasn't where it is today, that there weren't any deaths in the making of it! There were a few injuries, but NO deaths!!!

After walking around and taking our time at the monument, we wanted to cool off with some ice cream...

I have more pictures...but they aren't ready for blogging yet... sorry!

Martin's Cove...

2009-07-08T21:00:00.004-05:00

A little stop on our drive home...

On our way home, we went a different way than we usually do. We headed up toward Casper WY. Along the way we passed this site by chance. Mike saw the historic sign and thought it was worth a quick visit. We watched a short video about the pioneers trek, and some of the struggles they faced.
We got there and had only a few minutes before they were closing for the day. I would have liked to have gone through some of the buildings... oh well... After the visitor's center walk through and video, my girls were each given a little necklace with handcart stamped on it.

I thought these names were interesting... my maiden name is Reece... it looks like I've got some research to do!!!

Vacation Part 11... Bekah's Baby Shower...

2009-07-06T10:44:00.003-05:00

My sister Bekah has never experienced her own baby shower. Her oldest is now almost 6 yrs. old and she is expecting her 2nd one... VERY soon!

With her first one, he came suddenly and there were lots of complications. She never had a baby shower. She really wanted one, and really wanted to do it while I was in town. My mom got it put together very quickly... like within a week!

She had assigned me and my sisters in law each to come up with a game. I think we were all pretty creative... well, I except me... I just found a game online to use...

Emily's game was quick and fun... hold a paper plate up on top of your head, and draw a picture of a baby. Bekah picks out her favorite one and the person who drew it wins!!!

Linda's game was a MadLibs story she had every body contribute to... Nouns, Adjectives, Numbers, and so on. How Bekah became a Mommy! It was quite the story :)

My game was called Rhyme Time Rhetoric. They had to guess what rhyme I was saying by listening to my crazy clues...

Marley had a quick and ez game too! She had Q-tips in a bottle and we had to guess how many she put in there... 74 was the lucky number!!!

Grandma Reece planned a fun game... new to me! The instructions were to hold the baby talk on the phone and fold a batch of towels... all at the same time. It turned into quite the show. Some ladies got pretty creative with how the accomplished the task. They were to see how many towels they could get folded in a minute. ROFLMBO!!! So funny to watch!

As part of my gift for her I made her a diaper cake... I had never made one before, but I liked how it turned out. Bekah LOVED it... she said it was super special to her because she decorates cakes. She got a lot of nice things for her little one.

Vacation Part 9... baby blessing #2 Ethan Ellis

2009-07-05T10:31:00.002-05:00

Today was baby blessing #2 for us. We were able to watch Mike's brother Mark head the circle, and bless his son, their first baby, Ethan Ellis Arnold.
He had a HUGE amount of support from Family and friends.

Since it was the first Sunday of the month, it was also Fast and Testimony meeting. This was also the first time in a LONG time my husband's family was together... all the siblings and their spouses with the kids. The testimonies that filled the meeting were mostly from his family. Such a wonderful treat for the grand-kids to hear the testimonies of so many family members. Such a wonderful spirit was felt.

Mike and I elected to stay for all the meetings. The kids (all but Ema) went with Grandma and Grandpa Arnold to celebrate with Ethan. Mike and I enjoyed Sunday School and our meetings (relief society and priesthood). We also realized just how much we appreciate our own leaders and teachers in our own ward. It's nice to know that the Gospel being taught in those classes is the same all around the world.
Ema loved being in her class too! She had to tell us all about her picture she had colored. :D

By the time we got to the luncheon, the food was mostly gone... which we expected. Mom and Dad Arnold, with the help of the girls were able to save us each a plate of food... Thanks :) it was ALL good stuff!

Vacation Part 8... 4th of July Picnic and Fireworks...

2009-07-04T09:58:00.004-05:00

The Arnold side had planned a full day of activities...
family pictures, picnic, and fireworks

We went to Gardener Village. Gardener Village is an historic area in the city of West Jordan.It has been a long time since I was there last. The grounds are beautiful, and quite popular for photographing families, and couples. In fact, both of Mike's siblings had engagement pictures taken there. It was fun to walk around the grounds and see what shops there were, although, I didn't make it to see EVERYTHING. I still liked what I was able to see. My girls enjoyed some of the stores...

Today we also had a family picnic planned at Michele's house (Mike's sister). The kids had a TON of fun playing together. They really love their cousins.

Matt and Michele gave each of the girls a book to celebrate their birthdays... present and past...

Mark and Mitzi gave Kaleigh an Art kit full of crayons and markers and fun stuff to keep her busy. They gave Ema some Dora the Explorer books.

Grandma and Grandpa Gave Kaleigh more art supplies! Watercolor paper, and watercolor pencils, a sketch pad, and some pencils, and a little bag to hold all the pencils. They gave Ema some wooden vegetables to cut apart in the little play kitchen she got for Christmas.

From there we went to Grandpa Arnold's house because they splurged for the grandkids and bought some fireworks and sparklers to light. We never do 'light yourself' fireworks, mostly because Mike doesn't like to pay for them. Which is surprising be cause he likes excuses for lighting things ;)

After watching those fireworks, we went to Sugar House park to watch the "big" show. My brother and his wife were there and we tried to find them but the show started before our paths crossed and we had a nice spot for photographing the fireworks... so we stopped where we were and enjoyed the show. My girls really enjoyed it!

Vacation Part 7... Birthday Celebration for Ema and Kaleigh

2009-07-03T09:37:00.002-05:00

I had told the girls we'd do a BIG birthday party at the park, and invite EVERYBODY... Both families, some friends whoever wanted to say hi and catch up.
Well, we got both families!

I told Kaleigh she and Ema would have their own cakes and that we'd have cupcakes to share with everybody else.

My sister Bekah is a great cake decorator. She made a special little cake for each of my girls. They looked like little wedding cakes!

We arranged to meet at Woodledge Park, the little neighborhood park I used to play at as a child. I knew ALL my family knew where it was, and I knew most of Mike's family could find it. (in the neighborhood just behind their street) The park has been redone recently... I missed some of the old playground toys... Teeter Totter, Tire Swing, the BIG slide, and swings... The new stuff was fun for the kids. and The big rings were fun to climb on!

We all brought our own dinners, and I had the dessert for everybody. It was quite funny though because ALL of Mike's family showed up with Subway. We had Fiesta Ole, my brother Jared came with Subway... I announced that when my family got there, they'd have KFC... I called it!

The girls had lots of fun with their special cakes. Such a fun birthday present from Aunt Bekah!!!

Emily and Jared gave the all of the girls a gift, to celebrate ALL 4 birthdays. Ema got some beanbags, and the rest got special "treasure keepers"

Joel and Linda gave each of the girls a personalized notebook and pens/crayons

Debbie and Bryson sent each of the girls a card with some Moola

Grandma and Grandpa Reece gave them some nice card stuffed with Presidential Faces :)

Thanks to everybody who came and had fun! Sorry about the LACK of bathrooms at the park... ;)

I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of everybody there!!! We are glad that you all were able to come :D

Vacation Part 6... LAGOON!!!!!

2009-07-01T11:56:00.004-05:00

What a day this was!!!
Grandma and Grandpa Arnold treated us to a day at Lagoon!
It opened at 11 am, we got there around noon, and left after 11 pm when the park closed. We started on the North end of the park at the SkyScraper, then had fun on the Samurai,and soaked some of us on the Hydro Luge. We did a few little kid rides for the little ones like Paratrooper, Flying Aces, and the Tilt a Whirl. Then it was time for some more big kid action and on to the Jet Star2, Bat, Jumping Dragon, and a new one this year... Odysea. Some of the big kids enjoyed doing the bumper cars. Grandma went with Ema, Metta and Kaleigh on the Lady Bug Bop (a kids version of Rocket) After that, Kaleigh thought she could handle the "real" Rocket. (Later in the day, Mike and I accompanied her. We did the Blast Off ride. Re- Entry kind of makes me nervous...) The little kids got bored waiting for the big kids on their rides, so they went and did some on their own... baby boats, and a few others.

Then, it was LUNCH time!!!

We weren't too looking forward to the prices of "theme park" food, but when we saw the serving size... our eyes popped! When they say NACHO SUPREME...they mean GIGANTIC! Tacos were under $3 and HUGE!!! (2 could have fed ALL my kids)
We definitely got some food for our dollar :)

Mike and Kaleigh were raring to go on more rides... they didn't even want to rest for a bit and let their food settle. I THREATENED Mike that if Kaleigh got sick, it was HIS sole responsibility to take care of her... he laughed it off and they went running off to do the Rock-o-Plane. Ugh... my stomach started churning just watching them! It's a good thing they both have strong stomachs.

The rest of us did a few little rides waiting for lunch to settle. Tidal Wave was a big hit. Metta and Ema LOVED it! the little boy across from us...we're just lucky he didn't lose his stomach...his face sure scared me! I thought for sure, I was going to be wearing his lunch! We went from there to the Wild Mouse, and Cliff Hanger. Then over to Spider.

Metta, Mike and Kaleigh all had to go potty or stop for a water break, I forget why they were together going that direction...anyway... On their way back to the group they stopped at the colossus for a quick ride. Metta got all buckled into the ride and as soon as it started moving she cried a bit, then screamed as it went over the hill, and cheered and laughed as she went upside down. She LOVED it. But didn't want to do it again... lol

Grandpa, Mike, Me and Kaleigh wanted to try the new ride Wicked... a ride that goes straight up and straight back down then around a corner and cork-screws... It took a while to get to that one... that was THE LONGEST line of the day! 30 min. for a 45 sec. ride! SO WORTH IT!!!!

Ema was wanting to do some rides so on our way to the Sky Ride we came to the Musik Express. She and Mike shared a seat and Metta and Kaleigh shared a seat...and squished each other. Mike was having a bit too much fun...

Kaleigh was still being extra adventurous, and went on the Centennial Screamer and Mike and Metta rode together... what a hoot! Kaleigh got a bit panicked when she couldn't find a seat belt, and it didn't help to have Marley tell her that the ride doesn't have seat belts, and that it goes upside down... She enjoyed the ride :)

Just as we were about to ride the Sky Ride across the park, a lady came up pointing at a couple kids who were just getting off the ride. Apparently they were spitting while riding... LOVELY... They stopped the ride for a few minutes, and called Park security over, and I believe the guys were kicked out of the park. ANYWAY...
This ride usually makes me nervous because of how high and the lack of equipment to hold you in. Yes, I have a fear of heights... not so much of the heights, but FALLING from those heights...
We get on the ride and it is me and Marley, Grandma and Kaleigh and Metta, and Mike and Ema. (grandpa was going to walk across the park and meet us at the other end) We got going, and the ride...STOPPED... the cars were swinging, and rocking...yikes, Marley was ok, as long as I was ok. If I got nervous, she got nervous... We were behind Grandma and the girls, they liked to turn around and wave at us. Mike was busy trying to keep Ema holding still so she wouldn't stand up or slide out the bottom. I'm SO glad he had her... I know I would have been panicked the WHOLE ride! We all SAFELY made it across.... Whew!!! Sigh...

We could see the clouds moving across the sky threatening to rain, and then we started seeing lightning in the distance. It was late, but Mike wanted to get a few pictures of the night lights etc., so we rode a few more rides while we waited.

This is when Mike, me and Kaleigh rode the rocket. The lightning was getting closer, and little drops were falling here and there. The ride started having issues with not locking properly. Oh great... They got it working, and we shot up in the air. I really don't like the second or so before the fall. Kaleigh sounded TERRIFIED, but enjoyed it overall. (just don't ask her to ride it again!)

The SkyScraper (ferris wheel) was having issues and wouldn't run. I didn't know that until I had waited FOREVER for them and decided to walk over and see what was going on. They actually had people stuck at the top waiting to get down and off. Those people were quite nervous seeing lightning and watching the storm come in. They got it working just long enough to get everybody off, then closed it to new riders... all that time waiting... and Mike wasn't going to get his shot after all... :( and it was late enough that the park was closing now...

Ema absolutely loved some of the rides, and when she was told it was time to get off, she screamed at us... She did NOT want to get off!!

Throughout the day we had been discussing the "Bounce-Back" option. We decided to register for it and maybe bounce back later that week for Lagoon-a-beach. We had completely missed out on that during our day of riding rides.

We ended up coming back the next day and spending the WHOLE time at Lagoon a beach.

Let me just say that this little trip to Lagoon brought out a new side of Kaleigh and Marley... or rather reminded me of original personalities...
When Marley was a little toddler (18-24 mo.) she was shy. Didn't like meeting new people etc. Little sister Kaleigh comes around and demands the attention. Big sister needed attention too so she slowly changed and has since become pretty outgoing and friendly! Marley has always been comfortable with heights, and tricks and stunts so we figured if any of the girls would LOVE Lagoon it would be her. Kaleigh freaks out to even get a piggy back ride down the hallway... she's too high... too unsure...
It floored Mike and I that Marley backed down on so many of the rides... they intimidated her. Kaleigh was the one RUNNING to all the big "scare the pants off you" rides.

LAGOON A BEACH... day 2

We got to Lagoon shortly after it opened, it was WAY crowded compared to our previous day.
The girls had fun in the lazy river, and in the little pools. We spent our time 50/50 in the pools and on the slides.

Mike wanted to do the Liquid Lightning Slide... NOT me... I just watched. I did have fun on the slides, and in the water. The girls were all having fun too.

We weren't planning on staying ALL day again, as we had arrangements to meet up with family. About the time we were planning on leaving to meet family, it started raining. COLD COLD rain... We had fun swimming, and were content to call it a day.

Lagoon... it's what FUN is!!!!

Metta lost her first tooth!!!

2009-06-30T23:30:00.004-05:00

Will the tooth fairy find her way to Grandma's house?

We were all quieting down getting ready for Grandpa Arnold to start family prayer, and Metta just couldn't leave her tooth alone...

Right as Grandpa started the prayer, it popped out of her mouth, and her eyes were as big as silver dollars... and her face was priceless!!! Kind of a mix of excitement, and panic oh no, my tooth came out all in one, now what...

Needless to say, I was giggling trying SO hard to keep some composure during the prayer, Marley was giggling, and not making it any easier for me to stay quiet. Once prayer was over Grandpa was curious as to what was going on, but Metta didn't make him wonder long... she jumped straight up as soon as Amen was said and was showing off her tooth!

Yes the tooth fairy did come... but couldn't find the tooth !!! She left a dollar, AND the tooth!!! how lucky is that!?!?!?!

Vacation Part 5... Baby Blessing #1 Ian Matthew

2009-06-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

We had our vacation planned from Fall in 2008. We knew that there would be 2 babies born before we would be there. We were hoping to see them blessed.
The first one blessed was Mike's Sister's baby Ian Matthew. He's a cutie, and well loved by his 2 older brothers.

Mike and I chose to stay at church and finish out the meetings rather than going back to the house right away. Our girls enjoyed it, although they said that the primary sang songs that they didn't know... Hmmm... I think it's just that the ward we were visiting had learned some songs for the new year that our girls hadn't learned yet... Ema loved going to the Nursery...went right in and right to the toys and was like... Mom...go away...this is MY class... NOT yours!!! bye!!!
sniff sniff... smile...big girl!

Back at her house we had a nice luncheon, and let the kids run around and play with their cousins. Uncle Matt couldn't go with out celebrating his birthday a bit more, so he provided the pinata... too much fun... TOO MUCH CANDY!!!
I swear that's all my kids ate for the next week! :)

Vacation Part 4... Price Family Reunion

2009-06-27T11:20:00.001-05:00

While in Utah, we had fun attending the Price Family Reunion.
Once each family had their picture taken and documented on film...and video, we got to eat! The grilled chicken was superb! It was great to see family. Some we haven't seen for a very long time!

As a side note... I didn't realize how similar the Price Family Reunions are to the Reece Family Reunions :) Quite comical to me...

As is the tradition with the Price Family, they had a table with silent auction items. I walked up and down the table for something to catch my eye... it took a couple passes... I saw that the "hot" item was a block puzzle made by Uncle Paul! Nobody had put a bid down, and my kids wouldn't leave it alone, so I put a bid for that... then I noticed some pictures of the Salt Lake Temple. Mike's cousin had taken the pictures, and they looked VERY nice!
Almost professional :)
The first one I bid for showcased the temple in such warm light of i think a sun set...could have been a sunrise... I had never seen the SL temple photographed that way, and I liked it! so I bid... Mike's cousin...i think...I'm not so sure of the lines on the Price side, wanted that picture too, so she swooped in under me and out bid me in the last min. to go. So I jumped to the next picture... SL temple with spring leaves framing the steeple and the statue Moroni. I like that one, and the frame was just as beautiful! I put my bid on that one! Sorry Aunt Joyce... I out bid her in the last 15 seconds.

I'll make it up to you!!!

We ended up with the picture and the puzzle. The puzzle was in pieces when we got it, so Mike took it upon himself to figure it out. Once he figured it out...with a bit of help from Uncle Dick, the girls wanted to try putting it together... Mike said we couldn't go swimming until they had figured it out. Talk about some SERIOUS motivation to put it together...the RIGHT way!!!

We shared a most FUN day swimming at the Veterans Memorial Pool in Provo, UT. My girls think they need a pool in our back yard now... :)
The pool had rules about photographing...it wasn't allowed, for the protection of the kids... I completely understand, and as much as it was hard to NOT take pictures, I followed the rules... so NO pics for this one guys! Sorry!!!

Vacation Part 3... Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

2009-06-23T10:34:00.003-05:00

I was ecstatic to find out that the Oquirrh (pronounced like Okra but stopping at the r sound [O'kr]) Mountain Temple was having their open house during the time we'd be in Salt Lake. I had my mom reserve us some tickets. It was such a BEAUTIFUL temple! It felt HUGE inside! I was surprised to find out it was only a MID sized temple! I'm so used to the EXTRA SMALL feel! I was surprised with ALL the stairs! Usually you would find escalators to use. Not in this one! They do have 1 small elevator available for those who need it, but other than that ...you get to do the stairs. I liked it! I thought it added to the grandeur of the inside. They got the material for this temple shipped from all over the world. Morocco, China, and Egypt...just a few places...

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple is the 130th Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the 13th in Utah, and the 4th one in the Salt Lake Valley. There are 4 ordinance rooms and 6 sealing rooms.
The temple grants South Jordan the distinction of being the only city in the world with two LDS temples (the other being the Jordan River Utah Temple, located approximately 3½ miles to the northeast)

Our primary group in Murfreesboro has been to the Nashville Temple on various occasions to walk around the grounds and visit with the Temple President and his wife. When the girls found out we'd be in UT for the primary's visit, they were sad. I told them that we would be able to go to a temple open house and see all around the inside of the temple. My girls were WAY excited to see the inside of a temple.

THE TEMPLE IS THE MOST SACRED PLACE ON EARTH FOR MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCH

WHAT WE LEARN IN THE TEMPLE GIVES MEANING AND DIRECTION TO OUR LIVES

FAMILY TIES ARE MADE ETERNAL IN THE TEMPLE

TEMPLE WORSHIP FOCUSES OUR LIVES ON JESUS CHRIST

EVERYTHING IN THE TEMPLE TESTIFIES OF JESUS CHRIST'S DIVINITY AND SACRIVICE AND TEACHES US TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE OF LOVE AND SERVICE

When we saw exactly where the temple was sitting, Mike and I looked at each other and said...We almost bought a house in THAT neighborhood!!! It is a beautiful temple. Marley made the comment that she wanted to be married in THAT temple. :D
It was a fun and special time with our family. Before we walked through the temple, they showed a little film about the importance of temples etc. During the film, the showed some of the pictures that can be found on the walls of the temple. My little Ema was paying enough attention to point them out when we passed them! "that picture in movie!" My Father-in-law, and most of my siblings and their families were able to go through with our group. We enjoyed the spirit we felt there.

While in Utah, my kids could look out the window and see temple after temple. In fact, on one of our drives they were able to see the:
Provo, Timpanogos, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Jordan River, and Salt Lake Temple. On another occasion, the saw the Bountiful temple. We were able to see more than half of the temples in UT. What a blessing!!!

Vacation Part 2

2009-06-21T19:35:00.002-05:00

The first week we were in UT, we stayed at my parents' house. We were lucky enough to be there the week of the neighborhood yard sale! I found a few treasures to bring home for a really good price! yippee for me!!!

Marley and I took advantage of the yard sales and went for our run/walk around the neighborhood to scout out the deals. There were SO many things I wanted to get, but darn it all...trying to take them back across the country made me think twice! I saw a couple AWESOME halloween costumes, and other fun things. Marley found a camera case and tripod for her camera, and a few pairs of shoes! You know you're in trouble when you have to pack a bag of just SHOES for family vacation!! Sunday shoes, running shoes, cycling shoes, etc. etc. etc. One heavy bag... yikes!!

We were able to celebrate Father's Day with my family. We had a nice big dinner... and PIE for dessert! I taught my brother how to make this pie to impress the ladies...or his mission companions... $100 Banana Creme Sensation!!!

ingredients: graham cracker crust, banana pudding, sour cream, cool whip, and a center layer of sliced bananas! MMmmm!!!

I had to make sure Mike got a piece of pie cuz he missed our ward's traditional Father's Day Pie on the Porch. Everybody at home seemed to like it!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads

Vacation Part 1 ... The Trip Begins...

2009-06-18T18:58:00.010-05:00

Today we left for our traditional once-a-year vacation! We had originally planned to take it slow to get there, but since when are we good at that, right?!?

We went from TN to Mansfield, MO without a break. You may ask, Why Mansfield? What's there? Well, I'll tell you!

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Rocky Ridge Home/Museum is there. I'm a HUGE fan of the Little House books. I've read all 9 by Laura, and LOVED them. I have also read the Rose Years books which loosely follows Laura's daughter's life in the Ozarks. I've read most of the books to my girls, and figured that since we were headed out in that direction, why not make a stop and check it out!

Once we got there, Mike was ready for some sleep and Ema was already asleep, so we let them sleep, and the rest of us had fun!

The girls had so much fun looking through the exhibits and seeing things that belonged to Laura and her husband, and her family. Hand written letters between Laura and her sister. Clothes they wore. etc. Then we walked through the house. We were the last tour of the night. We got our own private tour... just me and my girls! Her Rocky Ridge Farm looks just as I imagined it.

Kaleigh enjoyed seeing real life stuff of the person she chose to do an oral report about for school.

In the gift shop, we picked out a pioneer bonnet for each of the girls. We got a rag doll for Ema for her birthday, and one for Kaleigh's birthday, Kaleigh also picked out a charm bracelet that shows off all the LIW homes.

While we were driving Mike saw a couple billboards for a restaurant he'd seen on the Food Network... Lambert's Cafe... Mike asked me if it was something I was interested in, and I said, SURE!!! Why Not!!! We're on Vacation nad Ema would love a place like that for her birthday dinner!!! So we stopped! Man...that place was busy!!! With a party of 6 it makes for a LONG wait. We were content to wait it out...it ended up only being about a 30 min. wait! Food was AWESOME!!! ROLLS WERE HOT AND GREAT!!! We tried a bit of Fried Okra...not bad...
We fed our ENTIRE family of 6 for less than $40!
They were NOT small meals either!!!

We left so stuffed! Onward from there to SLC! We wanted to get there to see Grandma Arnold for a bit before she had a business convention in Baltimore to attend for the next week.

We left TN at 8 am on June 18th and pulled in at grandma's house at 5:30 pm on Friday June 19th. Mike drove the WHOLE way! he managed to get 3 hrs of sleep in about 33 hrs worth of driving time :) Gotta Love that man!

Freaking AWESOME!!!!

2009-06-02T15:59:00.002-05:00

Did I mention this is a group of 4-8th graders?!?

Sunday's Family Walk...

2009-06-01T08:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day...a bit on the warm side, but so pretty!!!
On the way home from church, Mike and I decided we wanted to go for a walk with the family today. Just a fun, no worry, as long as we want to go walk.

We got home told the girls to change quickly and to have a piece of pizza. It took us a bit to get everybody ready and out the door, but we did it!

We drove over to the Thompson Lane greenway trail head and started walking. The girls were having fun, and all was well. It got a bit warm in the sun (87), and much more comfortable in the shade :)

We met a retired couple who moved to TN about 4 years ago. We started chatting with them after they asked if ALL those girls were sisters...and our kids... A question we get a LOT out here! They asked us where we were from, and started talking. I think we talked for about 10-15 min. They asked us lots of questions about Utah. They wanted to go visit Zions, and Bryce Canyon, and tour Utah a bit, and were wondering when the best time to do it would be. They have been married for about 55 years. They sounded like they were going to head out Utah's way in the early fall...some time after labor day.

Ema decided that she wanted to pick up treasures. I quickly made up a rule that said she could only have 1 treasure. if she picked up something else, she had to decide which one she wanted more, then put the other one back on the ground. I was amazed at how obedient she was! She'd pick up something new every 2 or 3 steps...which for her isn't very far apart...pick up a treasure, and put it in one pocket, then she'd take what was in her other pocket and throw it off to the side. She made sure we knew she could only have 1 treasure. SO cute! anyway... I wish her bigger sister would have heeded the rule a bit better.

Kaleigh had been up the path almost out of our sites for most of the walk, and by the time we were all back together again both of her pockets were crammed FULL of "pretty" rocks and sea shells left along the river banks. She didn't like the idea of only having 1 treasure so much. Thankfully by the time we were back in the car her pockets were empty!

We walked for about 2 miles to get to the park, then we let the girls play and Mike ventured on more down the greenway to get some pictures. I wasn't thinking and was wearing shoes that made my feet incredibly sore, so I stayed put, and watched the kiddos play. Metta has really been wanting me to take pictures of her on the Monkey bars. Pictures are good, but videos are better...

Marley I guess, has been doing her little trick for a while now, but since she has only done it at school, it was a bit surprising to see it out of nowhere. When Mike first saw her do it a week ago, he only saw it out of the corner of his eye and flinched like he needed to go pick her up because she had fallen. It takes a lot to scare him at a playground, but that seriously made him jump!!! :) He got some pictures of her doing it last week, but I got the video of it this week.

I'll have Mike do a post with his pictures. He had his camera out more than I had mine out...

It was about 4:30 when we decided to leave the park and head home. (the Girl Scouts started showing up for their reserved pavilion and it got pretty crowded) We headed the 2 miles or so back to the car. With just over a mile left to the car, Kaleigh's nose sprung a nasty leak of red...not sure if she got kicked in the face trying to put Ema on her shoulders or if it was just hot for her... needless to say, I was not happy and I picked up my pace and "encouraged" Kaleigh to do the same.

All in all it was a nice relaxing Sunday. The girls did really well on our little 4 mile journey. I hope we get a few more this summer!!!

Marley flips out...

2009-06-01T07:51:00.002-05:00

Metta's fancy new trick

2009-06-01T07:50:00.002-05:00

Park Play

2009-05-31T16:08:00.002-05:00

Family Fun Walk...with a "park" stop

2009-05-31T16:01:00.001-05:00

Ethan Ellis Arnold

2009-05-22T17:13:00.001-05:00

Hes just like his dad eating and sleeping are his 2 most favorite things. what a life!

CONGRATULATIONS Mark and Mitzi!!!

2009-05-18T16:23:00.002-05:00

Welcome baby Arnold...

Ethan Ellis Arnold
born today at 12:25 (MST)
weighing 7 lb. 12.3 oz
and a long 20 inches

2009-05-10T23:36:00.002-05:00

Welcome Baby Bates!!!!

2009-05-09T11:19:00.006-05:00

He's here!! Baby Bates Born Friday May 8 2009 @ 7:14 pm (MST), 8.6 lbs, and 21". No name yet. Mom and baby are doing better than we could have imagined!

Congratulations Bates Family!!!! Zach and Tanner are going to be some awesome big brothers!
We have a pretty handsome new nephew to spoil!!!

They Jumped off the Page...

2009-04-15T10:09:00.003-05:00

The other day as a family during our nightly scripture reading, we read Alma Chapter 7 in the Book of Mormon. On Sunday it was referred to during our Testimony Meeting. I reread it this morning in the quiet minutes before my two little ones got up. These next verses jumped off the page and hit me so hard.

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. Alma 7:11

And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works. Alma 7:23-24

And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen. Alma 7:27

How fortunate we are to have the Restored Gospel on this earth today. To have a Living Prophet to Guide through these Latter Days. To know that our Heavenly Father Loves us, and knows of our pains, and that Jesus Christ his son has FELT our every pain, and anguish. He did that willingly FOR us! I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When Tornadoes Strike...

2009-04-13T07:49:00.010-05:00

As many of you know by now, We had a SEVERE tornado sweep it's way across Rutherford County, more specifically Murfreesboro on Friday, April 10th. On the news last night they had classified it as an EF-3 with the possiblity of upgrading it to an EF-4. It was 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide It was on the ground from start to finish for about 30 minutes and it's path was an estimated 20 miles or so long...(according to the news last night on channel 4 @ 10:00) They believe this same tornado actually started more south of us and worked it's way up to where it touched down in Murfreesboro. The news stated that 718 homes had been effected, either damaged or destroyed in Murfreesboro alone. About $33.4 million dollars damage. There were at least 3 other EF-1 tornadoes the same day in various surrounding areas.

(image from The Daily News Journal)

On this map, If you follow the road that says W. Northfield Blvd. and go to the 11 o'clock position from the letter N, we are approx. between the NW Broad and Tomahawk Dr bullet markers.

Our day went like this...
I was being lazy listening to an audio book, and the girls were home from school (Good Friday), watching one of their DVDs. I got a few text messages saying We were in a Tornado Watch (nothing spotted but conditions could result in a tornado so be ready). We are often in watches that don't amount to much, but with it looking rather bleak outside, I was at least paying attention to what was going on. About lunch time the wind started getting pretty erratic, I looked out the front door, and saw my girls bikes all over the front lawn. I told them to move them to go gather them up and put them under the car port near the house. Marley saw immediately how serious I was and quickly got her sisters to help her. Within about 10 min.

(12:12pm)I got a string of text messages saying TORNADO WARNING... (the clouds are starting to hook and conditions are perfect for a tornado to touch down.)listing all the involved counties. As SOON as I got the warning text message,I immediately forwarded the message to Mike, who was at work in Franklin, TN. I went in and calmly explained to the girls that I needed to turn off the DVD they were watching and keep an eye on the news. I explained that we were in a tornado warning and that we needed to watch the news for a while to see what was happening. The news had pin pointed where the tornado was supposed to go and according to them it was supposed to go North of us and skip our area. I was a little easier knowing that it wasn't heading right for us. The news would announce an alert live, and then the National Weather Service interrupted after each one. They showed approximate times for when the expected the storm to hit certain areas or streets. None of the streets were close to me so I wasn't worried, just alert. This happened about 3 times in a matter of 15-20 min.

(12:35ish) I notice the wind was getting extra strong and we were hearing some thunder going on around us.

(12:40 pm)I never send my mom alerts about tornado warnings, but for some reason I sent my mom a message letting her know we were in a tornado warning, no problems right now, and that we would keep her updated . Our lights had flickered a bit. Nothing serious, just more reasons to pay attention. Then our power went out.

(12:48 pm) I sent Mike a message, "Power is out now... And it sounds lake a train is coming down the street." I looked at my cell phone to get the time.

(12:50 pm) The house started shaking and the sound of the train got worse. I told the girls to go sit in the hallway, and close the doors . I followed them. Kaleigh doesn't like the idea of tornadoes at all and she was quite panicked. Marley was calm, but I could see worry in her face. Kaleigh suggested that we should say a prayer. I completely agreed, and ask her if she'd like to be the one to say it. She surprised me and said YES with out any hesitation.

(12:55) I get an URGENT weather alert txt message showing winds NE 45 mph. (I didn't need to read it to know it because I could feel it) and one from Mike saying that all the VZW employees in the Boro had been evacuated to the tornado shelter. I decided that my girls needed something to get their mind off the storm so I played an audio book for them for a few minutes. After a minute or two, once the house had stopped shaking so ferociously, (as I had been sitting in the hall I could feel wind rushing under and around the house. It felt like every door and window in the house was open and pushing air through the house...a very creepy feeling) I told the girls to sit still I wanted to go around the house to check the doors and windows because I was just sure the back door was open and blowing straight into the house.... I looked out the South windows...lots of little debris, and to the North, just a few branches lay across the yard. I walked back to the South (front of our house)and peered out the window again, and saw this

(12:56) I took this picture (on the left) with my cell phone of the only damage I could see done to the outside of our house. I only took the picture out the front because it was still extremely windy and the girls were getting nervous that I wasn't with them. Once we all came out of the hallway, I walked out and around the house to survey the damage.

Our lamp post top was blown off, but the wires were still very much attached, and actually the light still works!!!

(1:00 pm) I got pummeled with a ton of text messages that hadn't made it through. Most of them were from Mike. He wanted to know if we were still ok because the last thing he had heard from us was that the power was out etc. The lines were jammed with so many people using them that the messages to some time to get through.

(1:05 pm)I took the picture of our drive way at . The garbage can in this picture is not mine, it belongs to our neighbors just across the street and to the West. It blew up to our house from their driveway.

(1:07) I get a text message saying, "You Safe?" I replied "Yes... who is this?" One of our bishopric members heard that the tornado hit Avon Rd. He knew I lived on Avon Rd. and was concerned and checking up on us. Our hometeacher also made sure he contacted me before and after the tornado to make sure we were prepared and safe. My battery on my phone died shortly after that, so I had plugged it into charge for a few minutes so I could send out the "all clear here" message.

(1:58) I send this message to Mike at work, "OMGsh... We r so lucky. So much happened all around us. Say a prayer of gratitude."

(2:04) I post to Facebook, "I am so grateful to hve come throught the tornado with barely any damage...others in the neighborhood were not so lucky.

(2:17) Mike tells me he's on the phone with a vendor that he works with who is also a storm chaser. And that they were discussing the storm. While he was talking to her, she spotted another tornado in the makings in one of the counties south of us.

(2:27) I send a text to Mike saying We r safe the tornado passed just to the west of our house back by the old wooden barn. (200-300 yds)

(2:33) I get the message that a family in our ward has just lost their house due to the storms.

(2:36) I get a comment asking about a sister in our ward.

(2:47) Text Message from my mom, "How are things looking now?" and my friend Corina saying she had just SEEN the tornado, and that it was close to her house too.

(2:49) Sent my mom the message, "the tornado hit just west of our house behind the barn at the end of the street. We r fine. Not much damage. Power out as well as most cell usage. We r fine."

(2:54) Get a message from a family Mike Hometeaches...They are fine. Also alerting us to the needs of the family in the ward who lost their house, letting us know they were safely out of town on an inspired last minute vacation, and that a some men and women from church were putting a group to go clean up the family's belongings that night.

(2:52) Message from my mom Glad to hear you're ok, it looks like it's about over

I left my phone in the car to charge for some time... and responded to few text messages from family who were concerned about our welfare. I told them We were fine and I'd be more thorough later.

Apparently the tornado had made an unexpected turn and headed our way instead of going farther North as the trackers had predicted, it ended on or near Compton Rd. where a lot of our friends live.

(6:00) I take the girls out to dinner at Wendy's. On our way home we drive through the subdivision to our West (Riverview/Avon) We find Riverview to be UNRECOGNIZABLE! Homes and trees were destroyed left and right. As we left that neighborhood we went up and around to Haynes to come into our neighborhood. I couldn't believe what I saw. Homes without roofs right and left. Houses moved off their foundations. Brick homes that were nothing but rubble. We found out that a young mother and her 9 wk old infant were killed at their house on the corner of Haynes and Sulphur Springs. We went up Sulpher Springs to get back to our house. Nothing but destruction. So sad to see. The girls were reminded of how lucky we were. Kaleigh commented that her prayer worked. It kept our house and family safe. With as close as it was, I don't doubt it.

(7:00 pm)Mike gets home from work grabs a few supplies and heads out to help clean up at our friend's house.

Mike spent all of Saturday doing debris removal in the Regency Park Area (across from where the 2 fatalities occurred). I stayed at home keeping my kids out of the way of our neighbor's clean up and babysitting a little sweetheart so her dad could volunteer his time and efforts to the clean up. He commented to me on the amount of people that 'came out of the woodwork' to help clean up. He also was amazed at the different restaurants or businesses that showed up offering food and drink to the MANY volunteers.

Saturday night we still had no power and had arranged to go clean up for Sunday at the local gym, but found out they were closed, so we went to my visiting teacher's house and got 6 people showered and cleaned up...that includes hair fixed...in around an hours time. Thanks for allowing us to intrude on your evening!

Our neighbor was kind enough to run an extension cord from his house to our house to power our refrigerator. That saved us from losing a lot of food. Thanks a million!!!

We woke up Sunday morning with no power. Luckily everybody had picked out clothes to wear and knew where they were so getting ready for 9:00 church was easy. It was a great day to be in church and to think about the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and to hear the testimonies of those who had been touched by the weekend's events.

We came home from church to find we still had no power. It was a nice warm day so we spent it outside in the yard. Mike spent some time driving around to check on ward members to check on their damage status, and to see how they were doing personally. Once he got home we stayed outside and picked up the few sticks and branches that had fallen around our yard from the storm. Mike fought the Cedar tree in our back yard and claims he won :) Mike 1 Tree 0.
For dinner we went to the bishop's house and had a nice dinner with our ward family friends. While we were out,(8:00pm) we got the call from our neighbor that our power had been restored. Apparently the power company was baffled as to why we didn't have power either! They found that it was just a small little piece at the top of the power pole that had come off. In a matter of 5 minutes they had popped a replacement piece into place. A few sparks followed and then our house and our neighbor's house lights both came on.

We are glad, grateful, and blessed that our only problem caused by this storm was the power being out. YES it was inconvenient but we'll take that over the alternative.

The home owners came out Saturday to check on us and see how the property fared the storm. We are all very grateful. Kaleigh has a strong faith in prayer. Her seed of a testimony has been planted and is starting to sprout.

If you would like to see any news coverage Fox News and Channel 2 News These channels have some good coverage.

Saturday morning, Mike and I walked around the Riverview neighborhood. We also checked on one of the sisters in the ward to see how she fared. She was lucky! We took some pictures of the destruction we saw...

UPDATES: Tornado reached EF-4 strength with sustained winds near 170 mph.; damage at $33.4M and rising
Two confirmed tornadoes that carved separate paths through Murfreesboro and Rutherford County on Friday caused more than $33 million in damage, affected more
than 700 homes, killed two, and injured more than 50.
a total of 59 homes were totally destroyed, 182 had major damage, 109 had minor damage and 169 others were “affected.”

An Explanation...

2009-04-03T12:00:00.003-05:00

Mike and I recently celebrated our 11th Anniversary!!!
To mark the occasion, we..ok I wanted to document how we met and what led up to us getting married... :D
I posted with my side of the story, and Mike posted with his tale of what he remembers...

I can think of some little things that got left out, but overall, as much as I hate to admit it, Mike remembered MORE of the details than I did. And YES, I did ask him about dates... but only a couple...I knew the most important ones ;)

So enjoy our little trip through memory lane...

My turn to tell the tale..... (Mike)

2009-04-02T18:07:00.004-05:00

So Rach told me that I had to add my side of the story I told her that I was just going to put "I concur" and leave it at that. But after reading her post I feel I need to add or maybe correct a few things. So here I go, and I will be going down the same way so enjoy the ride of Deja vu. Oh and Rach can’t get mad at the novel I write because she told me to.

As for the start being a play I don't remember that. I always thought it was a youth activity at the Church, but hey what does that matter. I do remember taking them home in my Moms old 1984 Dodge Aries SE, yes don't forget the SE because that made it a special edition, and then I drove right back to AC to hang out with the big kids who could stay out later. LOL.

Then we get to August 11th. I don't remember what I was doing but there was a knock on the door and my Dad called me up. I don't remember who came over, but they asked me to join them. So I got cleaned up, changed and headed over. I walked to the door and I saw Rach and thought something along the line of "WOW" but anyway I was just a couple of weeks from heading out on my mission to Belgium for two years. No point looking for that special someone right now.

Anyway to fill in what we did at the party before the dance, there were games and silly large group things. The one game I remember most was "I love you but I just can't smile." For those of you who are not familiar with the game the premise is this. You sit in a circle and one person in the middle. That one person in the middle, here on out to be known as the requester, then looks around the circle and in typical teenager flirty ways picks out who they are most into, or someone who is next to the one they really want to flirt with, whatever they think will get them noticed best, and goes over to the chosen one, here on out to be knows as the recipient, and says something along the line of "If you love me, smile." Of course there can be some very fun and long versions of this like "(insert name here), I know that you really love me and will do anything to make me happy. I really would like it if you would show me some off your cheesiness with a nice big smile” At which point the recipient of the request must say, "I love you baby but I just can't smile." Repeated three times. And they cannot smile while saying this. And this is where the fun begins because the recipient attempts to get it out as fast as they can, or as calm as they can, or they just bust up laughing because the requester has just started acting like a cat and is purring or meowing, or making funny faces, or standing on their head.... you get the picture. Anyway a few memories of that game, other then the ones above and that have to do with Rach and me go like this. Rach was the recipient of the request to smile by Mike, no not me, Mike Criddle. He went to her and asked her to smile and she made it through it even though he sat on her lap and put his arms around her and did a pretty good at trying to make her smile. As she finished her part for the third time, she pushed him right off her lap and onto the floor. Yes she was feisty even back then. The other memory of the game was that nobody was able to get me to smile. I was unbreakable. It became a challenge to see who could break me or the other unbreakable.... I don't remember his name, but nobody could do it. Yup I was a stone face back then too.

As for the dance, Rach said all that really needs to be said because we did dance, and stayed together the rest of the night. And my friends in the car drilled me about what had happened with Rach that caused us to become inseparable.

Rach had told me about the Region dance for the next night and I spent all day Saturday hoping she would call and ask me to join her. And the wish came true. Once again we never let go of each other.

The next week was forever long because Rach was out of town most of the week and so there was no talking, or contact. And since this was before the age of communication thru email, txt, and the likes, it was awful. But I wasted no time once I knew she was home talking to her on the phone and setting up out plans for going out. Yes it was Aug. 18th that we next went out. After Bekah's birthday celebration and watching "The Swan Princess" Rach and me took off and went to see "While You Were Sleeping" which is still one of Rachel’s favorite movies. And the kiss that I gave her on the porch when I dropped her off was just a nice little peck.

I have always loved hiking Timp and with the fact that next to the big waterfall was where we had our first real kiss just a day after the peck, it's even more special. I am surprised that Rach didn't mention the part of the hike that she always tells everybody about. After we ate lunch at the lake at the bottom of the glacier and we started heading back down and since there was snow well below lake I threw myself down the next section and bounced, tumbled, and slide the next couple of hundred yards. The whole time I was whooping and hollering, having a grand old time. Rach says that I shouldn't have done that and that I looked like a rag doll just being tossed about. I love the fact that I was in control the whole time and was even making myself flip and twist a little extra. Ok so maybe it wasn't the brightest thing to do but I was a hormone-enraged teenager that had to show off. But it was still fun and I want to do it again.

After we got home my family had the traditional dinner of choice for the Birthday boy. We had, and I can't remember here because I love all three, tacos, enchiladas, or fajitas. And Chris went to pick up Rach without me knowing.

I don't remember much about Rachel's birthday except the roses, which her Dad thought was a waste of money, especially for a soon to be missionary.

After looking at the rings of Saturn I did say my little cheesy line that I would rather see a ring around her finger. I don't remember specifically asking her to wait for me, it was more like, "and if you are still available when I get back then we will see where it leads." Or something like that but I did make her agree to date as often as she could so that she would know if she wanted me when I got back.

I think it was that night, but it might have been another, when I got home I went into my parents room to say I was home and I sat down on the end of their bed and told them that I think I had found the girl I was going to marry. They just said not to let it affect me going on my mission and I told them that was not going to happen because Rach would not let me stay home from a mission because it was that important for her to marry a return missionary. Besides she still had to graduate high school. What did they think I was going to do marry a high school kid? Silly parents always worried about something.

Rach has all the important details from then on to the engagement so I will just fill in a few more. While out on a date with a good friend and former mission companion, Aaron and his date, we stopped at Sierra West and looked at rings. Rachel picked out the one she wanted and we even check her size but I didn’t buy it then because as I told Rach, I just didn't have the money. I had just started working and needed to save up. So the next day I went back and bought it 90 day same as cash. Good thing I knew the manager who got it all worked out.

Then I surprised her with the ring, although there is still debate on that point, on November 15th. It was the night of my best friend's mom's 40th birthday party. We had been helping with the set up and I had it worked out to use the excuse that I needed to go pick up a CD that I could only find at a music store in the mall downtown. After we bought the CD I said something about the fact that we had some time before we had to get back to the party and asked if she wanted to get something to eat. Yes I am sad to say that we ate at McD's, maybe this is one of the reasons I refuse to eat there anymore. After that I said that I had never seen the view from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, which I hadn't because they converted it from the old Hotel Utah while I was on my mission. Rach had talked many times about how beautiful it was and I knew that when I said I had never been there she would suggest going up. Plan worked. Once we were there It was just a matter of saying how beautiful the temple looked all lit up, and when Rach said that it was, I followed up by saying "But it will be even more beautiful when we are in it and you are wearing this." Just before I said this I had slipped the ring box out of the pocket in my wide ribbed corduroy pants and opened it for her to see the ring she had picked out. Suddenly I couldn't breathe. My chest was being crushed by a very strong hug. Rach spent that night at the party with a hand that was constantly floating. This lasted for only about another week or so when everybody she knew had seen it.

11 years and I still have to remind her of the dates. Yes that is right she txt me all day asking about one day or another. Who says the man can't remember dates. Just don't ask me about historical dates.

Anyway now you have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As far as us getting older than we were yesteryear folk remember.

How We Met...My Side of the Story :)

2009-03-20T10:36:00.015-05:00

Join me on a trip through 'memory lane'

First Meeting...

I was in 10th grade at a school play with my younger sister Bek, and some friends of mine...Tiff, Criddle, and a few others... After the play we went out for some food at the local 'hot spot' Arctic Circle. Being 15 yrs old I had an early curfew, and couldn't drive. I had to be home somewhat early compared to the others... This was a problem as the group I had come with weren't quite ready to go. A nice guy in the group offered to bring us home... his name was Mike. We thanked him as we got out and walked in the door...in time for curfew! My Aunt and Uncle were there visiting and made this comment, "That's the kind of guy you want to marry, one who is willing to leave a party to get you home in time for curfew!" I laughed it off and forgot about it...

A year and a half later...just before my Senior year and my 17th birthday...

There I was. My family had just moved to a new city. I was excited to get to know the others my age in church. I was grateful for the new start. I had been gone to a week long girls' camp and got home Friday Aug. 11th completely exhausted only to get a call from my friend Tiff. It instantly energized me!

She had called to organize a group date later that night. I loved hanging out with all of them. I was excited to go, and yet a little nervous when I later found out it was a Young Single Adult dance...the kind where you are supposed to be 18 or older... which I wasn't!! We were trying to get a group of even girls to boys although nobody was pairing off... The group ended up being a person short... Tiff had the inspiration to call her neighbor to join the group in place of the guy who couldn't make it. When he walked in the door I looked up at him and raised my hand at him and said, "Hey Mike!" I knew him from stake activities, and from our group of friends. He had been to a graduation party I had been to earlier that summer when some of the friends in my group had graduated. I had talked to him a little bit then... kind of being 'flirty' only he has no memory of it now...or of even being at the party in general. Anyway... as Tiff's house filled with Young Adults the excitement increased. To be honest I don't remember all we did. This group of friends did lots of group dates and now they all kind of jumble together.

The time came to leave for the dance that was across town. The caravan of cars pulled down the street. Me and a couple other girls rode up with Tiff. I do remember sitting 'shotgun' and making the statement that I felt like something special was going to happen. I didn't know what, but something special was going to happen. I left it at that, and was just excited to be out.

We go in to the dance, and huddle together on the dance floor chatting about nothing in particular. I don't remember how it started but I know I began singing with the songs, and just acting goofy. I was mortified when I got a tap on my shoulder in the middle of my rendition of Celine Dion's Power of Love. I swirled around and saw Mike! He said something that I swore I'd never forget, but unfortunately have...(something about can I take you out of your misery comes to mind) He asked me to dance. I wasn't going to complain! Dancing at a dance is good right? Even if I had just royally been embarrassed beyond measure!!!

We gravitated toward the seats against the wall where Tiff and some of the others were sitting. We all talked for a while. I can't remember exactly when, or how, but we started holding hands, and never let go the rest of the night. He ended up leaving a little bit early to take some of the people in his car home early. I walked out with them and said goodbye with a wave as they drove off. I left a little bit later with Tiff and her car full of girls. I was the first drop off. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for their drive home. I heard I had been the topic of conversation...

The next night, Saturday 12th, I had a region dance I was planning on attending. I had already picked up an extra dance card because I had heard a friend of the family was coming to visit, and that she might like to go with us. I asked her, and she responded she was too tired and didn't want to, I had 'inspiration' to call Mike! He said he'd love to go. We had SO much fun at that dance! I had never been so happy! He brought me home after the dance and came in to see my family.

The next week we went out to dinner and a movie...it just so happened to be my sister's birthday and he celebrated with us :) nice guy! He kissed me goodnight before leaving! (So much for Sweet 16 never been kissed!!!)

His birthday was the next day. He'd planned to hike Timpanogos I got a last minute invite... I had no idea what exactly I was in for. I'd never hiked it before! It was a HARD hike for me, but It was completely beautiful! He kissed me by the waterfall :)

It was another week before we did anything...my 17th birthday was coming up. My family had planned a surprise party for me. All the friends from the new ward came. Mike showed up with some beautiful roses for me :D

School had started. He had worked it out to come out to my house and pick me up and drive me to school. We'd talk again in the evenings about 5:00 for about 20 min before he would have to go for dinner.

I went to his mission farewell... and got to meet a lot of his extended family.
One night before he left, my dad had borrowed a telescope from the school had everybody stargazing and looking at the planet Saturn, with the rings around it. Mike whispered to me that seeing rings around Saturn was nice, but he'd rather see rings around my finger when we were married, and then he asked me if I would wait for him...on the condition that I HAD to date while he was gone.

We wrote each other as often as possible. He knew when I was dating because the letters slowed down for a bit then picked back up. :) He had arranged for me to have flowers delivered to me for my 18th birthday, and even sneaked in a little call once to tell me they were closing down a city so not to send any letters until I got an address from him. I think it was just an excuse to call me at 5 in the morning :)

When his plane flew in (Sept 26th), I unfortunately was running late, and didn't get to see him walk off the plane, but I was ok with that because it gave him time to reunite with his family without me being in the way. Once he saw me though, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and wouldn't let my hand go.

We were waiting on the grass just near the East entrance at 3:00 am (Oct. 5th) for the Sunday session of general conference to admit those lined up around the temple. Mike looked over at me and said, "I think I just decided I want to marry you" to which I quickly responded, "You JUST decided this?" After eating dinner in the ZCMI food court at McDonalds, he gave me a ring to solidify the engagement on Nov. 15th as we were overlooking the SLC temple.

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on
March 20th 1998.
It's been a wonderful 11 years with many ups and downs, but where the Ups far outweigh the downs :)

Inspiring...

2009-03-02T08:33:00.004-06:00

I saw this on a friend's blog. It was exactly what I needed to hear today. His words just struck a chord with my heart.
I hope you enjoy it too.

Thanks Pincock Ohana!

Grandpa Price...

2009-03-01T22:43:00.004-06:00

Mike's grandfather passed away earlier this week, and we felt it was important for him to be there with and for his family. We had a couple days to get everything in order so he could fly out to Utah. He flew out Thursday morning to be there for the funeral on Saturday, and will be back Tuesday late night.

It's been an emotional week for me at home. Reading family members memories etc. of him reminded me of my own grandparents, Both of which passed away YEARS ago. ('86 and '94) I realized just how much I missed my mine.

I personally have only a few memories of Grandpa Price. The one that comes to mind so quickly I hesitate to share...

The family was gathered at Grandma and Grandpa Price's house. It was a sunny warm day, and we had just eaten lunch and were around the kitchen and living room talking. Grandpa got out a watermelon and was getting ready to slice it. He picked up his chefs knife, and lowered it in a karate chop motion over the center of the watermelon. The knife easily penetrated the entire melon... but didn't stop... it went through the melon and the glass plate it was sitting on too! He got very frustrated by that, and said a choice word...only a few of us heard...those that did turned bright red, and didn't dare repeat what they heard. It to me was quite humorous. Grandpa had a way with words :D

Grandpa Price was very good with the great grandchildren. I'm sorry mine didn't get to know him better. He LOVED to sing nursery rhymes and bounce the kids on his knee.

We love you and will miss you deeply!

God be with you til we meet again!

Diaper Commotion!!!

2009-02-28T12:32:00.009-06:00

Well, there has been so much commotion and emotion over this past week that I don't even know where to start.

Potty Training...Commotion sounds like a good enough place to me!

Last Sunday, I had a meeting at the church and Mike was left home with the kids getting them ready for church. He did fine, as he usually does...until it came to Emalee! She looked great, and was well put together, her hair was done and everything. The problem came when she sat on my lap! I noticed that she was NOT wearing a DIAPER...but TRAINING PANTS!!! EEk! She's NOT potty trained!!! I asked my dear husband why she wasn't in a diaper or if he knew she was in a diaper. He told me, in a hushed but panicked/worried tone that he couldn't find any, and thought 1, I either forgot to buy them, or 2, they were in the car I brought to church. I smiled, and said...Oh Yeah...they are in the trunk in the car! Anyway... we left her in the training pants, and ran her to the bathroom every 20 min. When we took her to her Nursery class, I informed them of the training pants and lack of diaper. They looked at me like... Are You Serious! I gave them the instruction that if she says she HAS to go...run her there, and get me on the way back otherwise it would be too late...well.. I decided that in between Sunday School and Relief Society I'd get her and take her potty, put on a diaper if needed... I got there to take her... and they said we already took her potty, and she's dry! She's good! I'm like..Are You SERIOUS!? she's been in training pants ALL this week! She is refusing to wear diapers. Now that I have to do laundry, she's apparently gone through all the training pants...I thought she had a pair but can't seem to find them...I need to wash them! Time for a diaper... sheesh! All she can do is yell NO DIAPERS MOMMY NO DIAPERS!!! BIG GIRL!
I guess we'll see how it all goes! This is definitely happening on HER schedule...I would never have picked this week if it had been up to me! So far she's done pretty good I just have to ask her frequently or tell her it's "potty time" and she is right there ready to be a big girl!!! Yippee!!!

Mike's New Toy...

2009-02-27T22:42:00.000-06:00

On Monday I got an email about doing wedding pictures for a family in the ward, and we needed some additional equipment. The store we needed to go to just happened to be around the corner from where Mike works in Franklin. We went in and found what we needed, Mike and I asked about a couple of other items were also interested in. We've been talking about getting a newer camera. Mike asked if they had the camera in stock...usually they don't because it's a pricier camera, so not in high demands right now. Anyway...long story short... Cool Springs didn't have it, they called the main store on West End...they actually had it! We got it, and a lens. On the way home we were noticing that the serial numbers on the paperwork didn't match the one on the camera... hmmm... odd... anyway...Mike had it at work later that day and noticed it was NOT the right camera! He had been given the cheaper model... K200D ...sigh...call the store whoops, they packaged the wrong one in the box, and YES they did have the right one in the store the whole time... *sigh of relief* Mike drove back to the store to get the right one, and at the same time he was there decided to pick up the battery grip accessory. Wonderful! He came home and started looking at it...and realized he was given the WRONG grip! AHHH! they had given him the grip for the K200D...not the one we had. Since the store was closed, it meant we had to wait until Tuesday to see what they could do. We figured it was easier to try the Cool Springs store as it was closer to work. This grip is not a common item...as the camera is a rare item in and of itself... We were told the grip would take a while to be shipped from the warehouse etc. and that there wasn't one in the store. Ok, no biggie, just an extra we wanted... So Mike drives home...He gets halfway home and the store called to tell him they had gone and looked through all the inventory for one, and actually found one, and if he came back and got it, they'd give him a deal... he turned right around got the grip, and an EXCELLENT deal!
Now he's a happy man! Even if it took him a few trips to get what he wanted and what he paid for! Happy Anniversary babe :)

I have a famous cousin!!!

2009-02-26T15:15:00.003-06:00

My cousin is awesome! Check her out!

It just makes Tax Season that much more bearable!

Our Family Night at MTSU

2009-02-01T13:05:00.016-06:00

We got to go watch Marley perform at MTSU's Lady Raiders Basketball game last night. Ema was so tired she fell asleep before we got there

Even the roaring crowd and MTSU band...(that we were sitting right next to) couldn't wake her up! Leave that to the Kaleigh department! She "woke up" in time to see the half time show! :)

Marley's Cindy Cinderella's Talent Academy has done things like this for the past 30 some odd years. There was a younger group, and an older group of girls that got to perform. Both groups did an awesome job!
This is the younger group doing what they called the "brush your hair" dance...

The older group did the "Hip Hop Hokey Poky" dance...

Marley wasn't so sure she really wanted to do the half time dance. I'm glad she did. It wasn't as nearly as bad as she thought it was going to be...infact...it wasn't bad at all!

Thanks Eric for getting us the tickets :)
and Great job to Marley, for dancing her little heart out!
and Good Game Lady Raiders!

Mike's New Job!!!

2009-01-20T11:13:00.002-06:00

It's official!!! I just got the phone call...
Mike has a new job/position....
Yes, He's still working for Verizon Wireless.
No, it's not still in Murfreesboro. He will be working in the Cool Springs, Franklin, TN area call center. It's about 30-40 minutes from here and very near the temple!

He is a National Report Analyst (I believe this is what he called it).

He will be doing what he loves, and has wanted to do. He has been Salary since moving to Tennessee, and now he'll be hourly...which means?!?! OVERTIME possibilities and a smaller spring bonus but with his overtime being compensated it will equal out! :D
He is to start his new position on Monday Feb. 2.

We are SO excited that this worked out. Now if we could just get a house thing to work out...

If you like Josh Groban, You'll Enjoy This!!!

2009-01-20T07:40:00.000-06:00

Thanks AnG!!!