02/2004

So what's up with the date??? Um, that would be the EXPIRATION date on the sore throat spray Troy has been using all week. Is that a problem???

My sister (aka the expiration date nazi) may just go into heart failure when she reads this. She is the type that throws things out BEFORE the expiration date just to be safe.

Anyhow, I think my house needs to be quarantined. Seriously. It was just a few weeks ago that I had strep throat and felt better for about two and half weeks before coming down with a major cold. You know the one that starts in your head and sinuses, works it's way down to your nose where you can't breath and then breaks up into your chest. Ya, that kind. Just about the time I started to feel like maybe I could function again Troy and the girls (ALL THREE OF THEM) start coming down with it. Hope and Hallee have managed to only get the mellow version, Caymbree worries me, and Troy...well deathbed is a very appropriate word here. He has been down and out for the past FOUR days with no end in sight. Ughhhhhhhh..... I need a vacation.

Okay, enough whining. On to a more positive note. My dad had meetings down here yesterday so my parents were able to spend the day with us and hang out. We went to Paradise Bakery & Cafe for lunch (Oh, so yummy!) and then stopped by our favorite dessert shop. You can NOT come down to this area without stopping by NOTHING BUNDT CAKES and trying one of their cakes. Oh my, oh my they are amazing. Check out the link to see what they really look like. It makes me happy just thinking about them.

Ute Gymnastics

We went with our friends last night to a University of Utah Gymnastics meet. It was fun to watch an amazing team compete and see how much support they get from the community.

Lucas and Hope - two personalities that couldn't be more similar!

Hallee and Anika

The kids were thrilled when SWOOP came right to our seats to give high fives to everyone....

....that is everyone BUT Caymbree. When we first got there we pointed out Swoop clear down on the floor and she was NOT happy about it. She just kept pointing at him and doing a little fake cry sound. Imagine her reaction when he came within a few feet of us! After practically crawling out of her skin with terror she finally calmed down once he walked away. However, she made sure to keep her eyes covered for the next three minutes JUST in case he happened to come back. What a whimp!

Thanks for a fun time Grimes!!! How are we doing so far at our goal to get together more than twice a year? Twice in two months isn't all that bad hey?

Saved by G&G

We are SO NOT a one car family. And yet, we often find ourselves in that particular situation. It all stems from my husbands inability to keep a car for more than about a year. Half the time he puts our cars up for sale, forgets to tell me and the first I hear about it is when someone calls with questions about "the car you have for sale."

Well, this last week he decided to put his car up for sale and within a few days it sold leaving us with only one car. This meant on some days I was loading the girls in the car at 6:30am to take Troy to work and/or loading them back in the car at 9:30pm to go pick him up. On days he had auction I would be left without a car all together. I'm not whining (ok, maybe a little) but I was a little worried about how long we would be able to pull it off. That's where Grandpa Tom and Grandma Diane stepped. They where gracious enough to loan us one of their cars for a while until Troy finds another one. I AM SO GRATEFUL!!!! It has made life so much easier on ALL OF US!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Grandpa sporting Hope's Hanna Montana wig

They also came bearing gifts for the girls. As if loaning us their car wasn't enough! The girls love their Disney characters and sleep with them every night.

TROUBLE

EXHIBIT 1

EXHIBIT 2

Caymbree has now figured out how to undress herself. So yes, we spend a lot of time RE-dressing her.

EXHIBIT 3

The stool. This small little object has become Caymbree's personal assistant in getting into trouble.

Sisters

And this is when having a sister makes it all worthwhile....

Delightful chaos

This past weekend I took the girls to Logan for my sister- in- laws baby shower and to meet my sisters newest addition...Baby Becca. This meant six kids under the age of seven staying at my parents house. Who knew chaos could be so much fun! :) My sister has a boy the same age of Caymbree who kept us in stitches and awe as he proved just how much he could get into, take apart, and destroy within a short period of time. Within a few hours of being there we had to go buy child door locks for every door in the house. And yet, he still managed to get into everything. All we could do is laugh. Case and point....
We left the kids with a babysitter for a few hours and came home to find that Bridger had found a tube of red lipstick that he applied all over his face and the carpet in my parents bathroom. Thank goodness for GOOGLE!!!! I typed in "How do you get red lipstick out of carpet?" and it came up with rubbing a bar of IVORY soap and warm water all over the stain. And surprisingly, IT WORKS!!!! Good to know...good to know.

My kids were absolutely smitten with baby Becca and constantly wanted to hold her. Hope even more so. She would do just about anything to get to hold her and would just sit and rub her head while saying "Oh, she's soooooo sweet."

The girls got lots of dress up time with their extended cousins and felt it appropriate to do a fashion show in the middle of the baby shower. Sorry Rachel :)


Hope and Adi were constantly in grandma's play make-up and Hope would come up with quite the masterpieces. After taking the picture below I finally said, "Hope, make-up is suppose to make you look pretty not like a monster!" Whoops!!! Way to go mom. I crushed her soul and as the tears started to swell she said, "I was trying to make it look pretty." Ya, I had some making up to do. (And no, this picture is not Hallee. It is Hope. Scary isn't it?)

Bridger and Caymbree were so cute to watch together. He is ALL boy and constantly wanted to wrestle, chest bump, and tease and Caymbree is pretty much all girl. However, they squealed with delight everytime they saw each other and started giving kisses on demand to one another.

It was such a fun weekend, I just hope my parents and their house survived. The crazy part is that we only had 8 grandchildren 2 boys, 6 girls. With the birth of Becca a month ago, Rob and Rachel's baby girl due in a few weeks and Kory and Kristie's baby girl due the end of May we will be at 11 grandchildren 2 boys and 9 girls. YES, NINE GIRLS!!!!! We haven't even BEGUN to know the meaning of chaos. At one point of heightened craziness I looked at Rob and Rachel who had glazed over eyes and said, "just think, you will be contributing to all of this in just a few short weeks." I think I may have scared the tar out of them. All Rachel could say is, "I didn't think it could get any more crazy than this." Gotta love it.

Martha Stewart wannabe's

My mom, my sister and I threw a baby shower for my sister in law Rachel. It was so much fun but absolute CHAOS at times. Trying to keep six kids under the age of seven entertained, clean the house, prepare the food, and get ourselves ready proved to be no easy task. Luckily my dad stepped in and took the three oldest girls on a grandpa day for most part of the morning.

With about 45 minutes to go until guests arrived the kitchen looked like a tornado, I still did not have any make-up on, and we were still putting the last finishing touches on the food. Eeeekkkk!!! However, it came together like it always does and it was a fabulous day!

Need a fun idea for a party??? This strawberry topiary was a huge hit. We purchased the topiary from Hobby Lobby, then put toothpicks all over and then applied the strawberries stem first. We covered a cannery can with scrapbook paper and put the topiary in, add some tissue paper and ribbon and whaaaalllllaaaa---- Here's what you get.