JD's birthday

J.D. is growing up. I guess that is what's supposed to happen, but its sad. Kids grow up too fast. He started kindergarten this year and will soon be in 1st grade. He turned 6, I can't believe it. Its crazy, I can still remember holding him after he was born. 

Fun little tid bit, I will always remember how long we have been married, by J.D.'s birthday. The age he turns is how long we have been married. We were married a week and a half before he was born. Isn't that funny.

We celebrated his birthday at family dinner at our place. He was Chicken for dinner and Chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. We found a new recipe online and it actually turned out pretty good. It was a cranberry recipe and I hate cranberries, but it was really good. I was surprised. After the kids went and played for a little bit and then he just couldn't hold it up any longer, it was time for presents.

He had a blast opening his presents. He got quite a few of the large die cast cars. They were really nice. He also got some Lego's and shoes. He was the happiest kid. Even better he got to pull the cars out and play. Owen wanted so badly to play with his car, but they were too nice. I know how Owen plays, no one wanted him to ruin them. So he went downstairs and got his cars. They played with his cars for the longest time. 

Cutest picture: dad playing on the floor with Owen and his parking lot full of cars. Too cute. 

 Owen is very particular with his cars. When he plays with them he will arrange them just so. It looks like a parking lot and he makes sure all the car are facing the same way as well. In the above picture dad had changed on of his cars. With no surprise he fixed it to face the same way as the other. Dad kept changing his cars and he would ball up his fists, take a breath, and then change it back. It was so funny to watch them.

After the playing was over we had dessert and ended the night. 

Thanksgiving with Annie and Greg

Thanksgiving with Annie and Greg is always a nice relaxed time. Since it is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we're not rushed at all and we have plenty of time to visit. Annie made a ham instead of turkey. That was nice. I can only handle so much turkey. We had funeral potatoes and other side items to complete our meal. It was really good and again even better when everyone pitched in. After we were done eating the kids pulled out all the toys to entertain themselves while we all sat and let our food settle. While we were sitting we had a movie playing. We even joined in a Nerf gun war with the kids. It was a lot of fun. Those Nerf guns get played with every time we are there. Owen is really funny to watch. He tries so hard to be able to cock and pull the trigger of the Nerf guns. His poor little hand are just not strong enough. His face gets all tense as he tries as hard as he can. Eventually one of us will help him and his face lights up with triumph. Its hilarious.

 Once we had sat and settled it was time to head to the parade. It's tradition to head to the Ogden City Christmas parade and the lighting of Christmas village and fireworks. I look forward to it every year. Even though my kids are not fans of all the snow gear that they have to put on, I think they enjoy it as much as I do.

 When we got there, they had closed some of the streets. We finally found a parking spot and headed for the street. There weren't many place left were the kids could see. There was one tiny spot that we eased our way through and we sat in front of a group who were sitting in camp chairs. The kids loved seeing the horses and all the lights, but more so they were excited to see Santa. Once we saw the big man that was our cue to head to the top of the parking structure. That's were we sit and watch the fireworks and the lighting of the Christmas Village. Best seats in the house if your ask me. Many others will agree because it was crowed up there. In years past it has just been us, but I guess our secret is out. The cannon went off, the Village lit up and the fireworks went off. I love fireworks and since we didn't see any on the 4th, this was a first for the year. The were amazing. The kids loved pointing out all the different colors. When the fireworks were done we headed back to Annie and Greg for dessert and hot cocoa. It great tradition that I hope never changes.

Christmas Decoration

I was really excited to put up decorations this year because of my new additions. I made some Christmas blacks that I couldn't wait to put up. I made a Christmas tree, a Count down to Christmas, and the word Jingle. They turned out so cute, and they looked great in my front room. Ben helped me set everything up, upstairs and then he had things to do while I set up the tree downstairs. It didn't take us too long to get everything set up.

Sadly now that I look back at my pictures I didn't take a picture of my tree, my favorite part of our decorations. Oh well. Next year.

Thanksgiving with Nelson and Deann

After stuffing our faces with my family we headed up to Nelson and Deann's. It's tradition to go up there for desserts and games. The drive wasn't bad, which is always nice. The kids even slept on the way up there. I was glad for that. Owen is a bugger when he doesn't get his naps.

When we got up there the kids had a blast playing with Deann's grand kids. Nikayla and Braden are always so nice to our kids. They will play whatever game they want. It's fun to watch them too. So while the kids played we adults sat and visited for a bit while watching the football game. After visiting with Nelson and Deann we headed over to Ben's Grandma and Grandpa Sagez's house. Whenever we are up seeing Nelson and Deann we try to visit Grandma and Grandpa as well. Its nice to sit and visit with them. Grandma was very excited for our visit. She was working on a family history project that she really wanted to share with us. She had received fabric and pictures from her sister to finish the quilt she had started. Grandma is an avid sewer, and she's really good at it. She had the majority of the squares ready to be stitched together. The pieces she had were really pretty. Another blessing about this visit was Grandpa. When we have visited in the past he normally just sits in his chair watching T.V. He is in a lot of pain and its agony to have to move around. But this time he turned off his T.V. and visited with us. He even played with the kids. They had the biggest smiles on their faces. I hope that that moment would be something that my kids will remember forever. With them being so young I'm not so sure. But it was so precious, I wish they will.

 After we were done visiting we headed back to Nelson and Deann's house. When we got there we pulled out the desserts. The kids pigged out on more pie. I was a little worried by how much sugar they had had that day, but its a holiday, that's what your supposed to do, right. While eating our desserts we were talking about the black Friday sales. Nelson and Deann wanted to go to the Brigham City Walmart to try and get a ping pong table. So we took that as our decision to venture the crowds. We had been debating. So come 7:30, he left and headed for Brigham City.

When we got there the parking lot was packed. We were lucky to find a spot. When we went in the store it was nothing but chaos. Taking the kids was a mistake. The were not that entertained by the crowds and to try and move around with that many people and not rip one of their arms off trying to get to an item, was just crazy. We only go for the movies, nothing else. Was it worth it... maybe not. This year they cordoned off sections for the big stuff. They had organized lines and everything. It was nice, but at the same time it was insane. I waited in line for an hour just to get to the cordoned off section that had the DVDs. When I was finally admitted in they told me I was only allowed 5 minutes and 10 DVDs. The thought in my mind was "What the crap, I've waited my time to get these and I'm taking as long as I want and I'm getting what I want." Luckily for me they weren't really sticking to that. However I didn't find more then 10 so I would have been okay anyway. We got our movies and headed to the check out stands. It was even more insane than the lines for the junk we had. Ben took the kids and got the car while I waited in line. You can meet some really nice people waiting in line. Its the only thing that keeps you from going crazy at such a packed store. After we got out with our purchased items we finally called Nelson to see where they were at. They missed out on the ping pong tables and had headed home. I felt really bad for them. It was a drive to be able to come down and leave empty handed. I ask myself again, was it worth it... maybe. We also stopped at the Harrisville Walmart to see what was left. We got a few more movies there and then headed home.

Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad

Thanksgiving this year flew by. It seemed like we prepared for it for the longest time and then in an intense it was gone. This year we had our Thanksgiving feast at Jenny and Brian house. We decided that it was time to give mom a break from cooking the turkey each year. We each brought our portion to the meal, which definitely make it much easier. Jenny and Brain did a great job on the turkey this year. They told us that they ventured to new things with this turkey and even watched many video's online to be able to carve it with ease. It was funny to watch how excited Brian was to carve the turkey.

Once we were all there, we visited for a little bit and then did what we were all there for. We ate. It was all amazing. Thanksgiving food is the best. Its the one day you really don't mind stuffing yourself till your sick. After eating that much food, of course it was then time to relax. We sat and visited while watching a movie and going through black Friday adds. Jenny was even kind enough to paint all the ladies toe nails with her gel system. It was just a nice realizing afternoon. It was even better having Grandma Shupe with us. We don't get to see her enough and its always a joy being able to visit with and play games with her. Once the time passed we all went our ways to celebrate with other family.

Cars

Owen loves his cars. He has 50 match box/hot wheel cars and a dozen or so others. He plays with his cars everyday. It never fails, when you walk in his room, he is playing with his cars. Recently his biggest thing is to line them all up. He will drive them around on the floor, bed, table, etc; and then park them in nice even rows. Its too cute for word. Which is a bummer seeing how I can't get his picture to download to show you how cute.

Journaling

So I slept on it and the unknown was driving me crazy so I decided to take a test. I'm saddened by its results. I wanted to be, but I guess its not right, right now. I am more so sad for Ben. He was joking around with it and was really excited at the possibility. The other day when I told him not to joke around with it anymore he just happily said "Well if we are, then I have not let a day pass by where I wasn't excited, if we aren't, it was good practice for when we actually are." He made a good point, but I'm still sad that I didn't get the results that I wanted. Now I will just wait for nature to inevitably take its course. :(

Journaling

I have it, its there sitting on the bathroom counter, just waiting for me to get up the nerves to take the test. I am excited at the thought, but in my mind I am scared. Scared if its right and scared if its not. Scared in the fact that if it is, am I really ready for this. I say that I am, I feel that I am, but am I really. If its not, then what's wrong, sad at the thought that I'm not.. My mind just races. I know nothings wrong, I can feel that. But then the thought of am I really not ready for this.

Ben and I have discussed this for quite a while now and we both feel that its right, but why do I feel that I can't handle it. I've heard many say that its easy with 3, but I just tell myself I'm not them. I have flaws that are repeatedly shown to me every day with the 2 we have. I don't know, I guess I'm just scared of the unknown.

I think the thing that is the most crazy about this whole thing is Ben. He is always right. He was able to tell with both of our kids and he is acting and joking around like he has in the past, and he is just...always right. I hate to say that some times ;), but he is generally always right.

When will I finally have the nerve to find out, I don't know. Not now, but I'm pretty sure I will figure it out soon.

3rd field trip to the Pizza Man

Gabbi had her third field trip this morning. We went to the Pizza Man in Ogden. We were supposed to have around 12 kids there, but things came up and we had only 4. It was still fun with just the 4 of them.

 When we got there, we were introduced to the owner and his son. He talked to the kids about how long the business has been there and how long both he and his son have been apart of it. We then walked back to the kitchen and the son began to make some dough. The kids were asked if they knew how to make dough, surprising one of the boys guessed all the ingredients needed. After the son added all the ingredients to the mixer, he turned it on and the kids got to come up close and see it become dough.

When the dough was done, the son pulled it out of the mixer and flattened it in a plastic container. After getting all the air bubbles out, he then ran it through the dough press. It went through the press 3 timed before it was ready to be cut up for bread sticks. Once he had cut it up, the kids got to pattern their own bread sticks. They thought that was pretty fun. All Owen wanted to do was eat it. They all did really well at the twist and were very proud of their creations.

After the bread sticks were done, the owner walked and put it in the oven. When he came back to the table, he brought over some pizza dough for the kids to each make their own pizza. They got to pick our what ever topping they wanted and add it to the pizza dough. Gabbi piled on the pepperoni, which really surprised me because she normally doesn't like the pepperoni on her pizza. She always takes it off when we eat it at home. Owen was only interested in eating the toppings instead of putting them on his pizza. So I made him a ham pizza. Even us mom's were able to make a pizza. Brought back memories of working at Papa Murphy's.

After the kids were done making their pizza's, the owner through them in the oven and then showed this kids what happened to the bread sticks when they were done in the over. He then buttered them and sprinkled their special mixture on top and he then asked us to go to the front of the store where we could taste the things that we made. The kids loved the bread sticks. I think they both ate 2 or more. Plus some Hawaiian punch to follow it down. When the pizza's were done, he put them each in a container with some extra bread sticks and gave them to the kids. They all had so much fun and I'm glad they were able to go for their field trip there. The Owner and his son made it a blast.

The kids with their to go boxes ;)

6 years

Yep, that's right. 6 wonderful years. Ben and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary this last weekend. It still amazes me how fast it has gone by. We have a wonderful home, great friends and family, 2 beautiful kids, and 1 amazing marriage. I couldn't have asked for a better friend, mate, and partner; to go with through this life and the eternities. He is my best friend and I am grateful everyday that Heavenly Father put him in my life so many years ago.  

For those of you who don't know our history, Ben and I met in the 8th grade. They had just  moved in down the street from us. I first saw his when he came into Mr. Loveland's science class. The only seat that was left in the room was at my science table with 2 other girls. I felt bad for him, but not to bad ;) We started to talk and we hit it off. We became great friends. We even did the "boyfriend girlfriend" thing til the end of the school year. When the next school year started and we were just friends, but we had the same group of friends so we were together, a lot. We even went to a few high school dances together, which of course I loved, he might not have been so sure. We continued to be great friends. We were in choir together as well, which made it that much better. Come graduation we were even better friends and even walked together at our graduation.

After graduation Ben enlisted in the Army reserves and left for basic training while I went up to Logan and started my freshmen year at Utah Sate. When he got back from basic training we didn't see each other very often and then Ben was deployed to Iraq. While he was in Iraq we wrote letters when we could and he was even able to call, twice. I was very surprised and excited by those phone calls. After my freshman year was done, I moved back home to attend Weber State. I started my Sophomore year while Ben was still in Iraq. He served 15 months in Iraq and came home in March, right before his younger Brother was leaving for the MTC.

When Ben got home things were a little weird, but began again were we left off. Ben was preparing for his mission and in the same light, I was preparing for mine. We helped each other get our papers ready and our interviews. Ironically enough, we had our interviews with the Stake President the same day, our mission calls were delivered on the same day and we went to the temple the same day, same session. It was just amazing how everything worked out. Ben left for his mission to the Philippians in September and I left for my mission to California in October. We even saw each other at the MTC a few times. It was weird, but nice to see a familiar face in a world of strangers. While on our mission we were able to write letters to each and even e-mail. It was nice to be able to stay in contact, it was even better that we were able to spiritually help each other as well.

I came home from my mission at the beginning of May and he returned home the beginning of September. We had the one initial awkward first meeting and then picked up quickly were we left off. We were engaged by the end of September and married November 18th 2006 in the Bountiful Temple for time and all ETERNITY!!! We then began our lives together. We have had great memories and miserable ones. We have had tuff times and great times. We have even had some scary times, but over all our marriage and our life together has been the best. I really couldn't have asked for anyone better. I have everything I need with Ben and I hope he would say likewise. I love him so much and the kids he gave me. It has been a great 6 years and I can't wait for the next.

Anniversary Weekend

We decided to keep things cheaper this year by not going to a hotel. But we still planned a lot of fun things to do. We dropped the kids off at mom and dad's after lunch on Friday and then headed down to 25th street. Ben wanted to do some window shopping. The shops down there have an antique aspect to them and we went into a lot of fun little store. One which specialized in antiques. One of the coolest things I saw were some wedding dresses over the era's of time. They truly had some beautiful dresses. After our walk down 25th street we headed to the Junction to see Breaking Dawn part 2. We have had our tickets for a couple weeks now and we were both very excited for the show. It was a great movie. A perfect ending of the epic shows. Its funny to think about it, but Ben and I have gone to each movie on our anniversary weekend for the past 5 years. It's sad to think that next year I have no idea what show we will be watching.

After the movie we went to do some shopping. We were looking for white clothes. We are part of a Christmas program that requires us to wear white clothing. We have been searching for almost 3 weeks now and haven't found anything. So we thought we would try again with some different stores.

We went to Target and found not what we were looking for, but things we needed. We found some fun books for the kids for their stocking stuffer's. But no luck on the white clothes. We also stopped at Gordmas, the store that has almost everything. We found the remainder of our stocking stuffers, slippers. We also found a really cute white tutu and leggings for Gabbi. No luck on white clothes for Owen. After leaving Gordmans we stopped at Carter's. They did have white girl pants that could pass for boy pants, if I cut off the bow in front. So we bought them and were finally done with our search for white clothes. We then headed to get something to eat. Ben's work buddies raved about this BBQ place, so that's were we went. We wanted to try something new. To my surprise, it was great.

After we were done with dinner we headed for Walmart. I had to pick up a few things for dinner on Sunday. Got to love the errands. After wondering around Walmart, we got the things we came for and then headed to our next show. Ben and I love movies, so it only seemed fit that we would do what we love on our anniversary. We have been wanting to see this movie and I'm glad we finally did. Here comes the Boom was so funny. I absolutely loved it. It was funny and very entertaining. Ben said the same thing. It was such of good movie. A buyer when it comes out. When the movie was over we headed for home to watch a movie we bought from Hastings that day. Les Miserable, the Liam Nisan version. Another really good show.

 Saturday morning we planned a nice breakfast. We bough Texas toast so we could make french toast, a favorite of ours, along with eggs and sausage. I love a full breakfast. After we got ready for the day, we headed to our church building for tithing settlement. Not what I really wanted to do on our anniversary, but it was better to get it done with then to drag it out. After we were done there we headed up to Logan. Its always fun hanging out in Logan, my so to say old stomping ground. When we got up there we headed to the Temple. The place where it all began, the Temple. We started our life together in the sacred walls of the Temple and it was only fitting that we celebrated there too. It had been a while since we have been to the temple. We have the same old excuse as everyone else, but that is no excuse. So we were excited to be there. When we had finished our session we decided to so some more shopping. We stopped at the D.I. to see if by some chance they would have a white skirt for me, since we hadn't found one anywhere else. Lucky me, Ben found one and I found a few others. Really cute skirts, I was excited. Love new clothes. After we were done we went to the Mall to walk around. It wasn't much that we hadn't seen before and decided to catch another movie. We first went to get a smoothie from Jamba juice as a snack and then headed to the theater to watch Lincoln. It was really good. A nice portrayal of a very historical event in Lincoln's life. It was put together very nicely. I would recommend it, if you like historical films.     

 After the movie we sat for a little bit to figure out where we wanted to eat. We wanted to be able to sit down and have a nice dinner, but at the same time quick service. Ben still had some homework that he needed to finish before the night was over. We decided to go to Rumbi grill. The specialize in Island foods. It was so yummy. I got an Island burger and Ben got a Lula pork rice bowl. Both were very good. We shared both items so we could each have a taste. We were both really impressed by the restaurant and in the words of Ben, "This is my new favorite place to eat." He was happy to hear that they have one in Riverdale. When we were done eating we got in the car and headed for home. On the way it started to rain, and it rained hard. It got a little scary going through the canyon. But we survived. We finally made it home, unloaded the car and then I left Ben at home so he could get his homework done while I picked up the kids. When I picked up the kids, they were so excited to see me. They both ran as fast as they could to give me a hug. It made me so happy to see their excitement and I knew Ben would feel the same way when we got home. So I scooped up the kids, there things, and then headed for home.

Such a great weekend.

Proud Momma

I'm so proud of my little girl Gabbi. I guess I can't really call her my little girl.

I was on the computer this morning going over the finances and Gabbi comes running up the stairs. She then proceeds to tell me of a special spider that she tried to kill. She said it was special because it couldn't die. The look on her face as she tells me this story was very animated.

When her story finally ended about the special spider, she took me downstairs to show me. I asked her were the spider was and she said under her shoe. So I am prepared with paper to smash the special spider that won't die. When I lifted up the shoe, there was the spider, dead. When I told her that she killed it already, she jumped up and down with excitement. She was very proud of herself for killing the special spider. I was proud of her for not being afraid of it like her momma is. I make Ben squash them. We're not fans of spiders or bugs at our house.

The day Ben showed Gabbi not to be afraid of spiders and bugs has paid off. Now I can just make Gabbi squash the spiders for me when Ben's not around. Ha Ha ;)

Block Letters

So I have been keeping my time by doing crafts. In an earlier post I talked about getting block letters for Thanksgiving. I also got some for Christmas.

It was hard choosing what block words to pick. The store had some really cute ones. One said Santa, Ho Ho Ho, Joy, Noel, and then Jingle. They were all so cute, it was hard to decide. I figured whatever I chose wouldn't turn out as nice as the store's example, so I chose one that I thought I could handle. I chose the word Jingle.

I also decided to do this cute countdown as well. I have always wanted an Advent calendar, and I thought this one was cute enough to use as such.

This one I signed up for at a Relief Society craft night. I wasn't able to finish it there so I finally finished it when I finished my block words.

Here's the Gobble, just in case you missed it from my earlier post.

So I have had a lot of fun doing these block words. I hope to be able to have one eventually for each holiday. Like I said I am slowly starting to add to my small collection of holiday decorations. A little at a time.

2 year old Check up

I was going over my blog and realized that I never posted about Owen's check up.

We went to see the Pediatrican on October the 15th. I was surprised how long we waited in the waiting room. Normally we check in and we are back in the exam room within 5 min. But this time we probably waited 30 or so minutes. It was hard to keep Owen occupied.

When back in the exam room they weighed him, measured him, and check his heart rate. He was such a good boy doing everything the nurse asked him. When the doctor came, he checked him and said that everything was just fine. I asked him about him sucking on his fingers. It could cause problems with his teeth, so he said the sooner we can get him to stop the better off we are. But I have tried everything I can think of and nothing works. I'm not sure what we will do about that one.

His measurements were much better then last time.

Weight 27.4 lbs 42 %

Height 33.75 in 32%