Leading

Although you can't hear it there is classical music in the background that Charity is trying to lead. Is she a Grandma's girl or what?

Growing

I went to the doctors the other day to get an ultra sound done, and once again my due date changed. Looking at this picture I want you guys to tell me how far along I look. Those of you who 'know' the answer please don't let others know. In a week I will post how far I am to see if anyone can guess it right.

Santa!

Tonight we went to the ward Christmas Party. Of course Santa was there so I had to get a few pictures. A couple of girls in the ward stole my kids from me the whole night. But I didn't mind.



Brennden actually sat on his lap and told him that he wanted a race car and tracks too. I thought that after he saw Santa that maybe he would believe more. He has asked questions and made comments that go something like this; "Mom, tell me the truth about Santa. Santa is just a people, mom. Why doesn't Santa fall of the roof. Where are Santa's eyes? He can't see me right now." I don't think he will be a believer for long.



Charity was all happy and doing her cheese face up until she got close to Santa. Once there she kept trying to lean away from him. She never actually got in his lap.



But she didn't cry. Yea! Probably because he gave her some candy and I let her eat a few m&ms to make sure that no crying ensued.

Dressers

Dustin, his Dad, and Grant helped to build dressers for the kids rooms. It's obvious which one is in which room by the items on top. Both kids love them. I think they turned out great. Charity loves to open and close them. I just put their clothes in them today so I will have to wait and see how long it takes Brennden to figure out where all his clothes are so that he can dress himself.

Can you see Brennden's abs in this photo? I can't believe how much he is starting to thin out. But rest assured, he still weighs a ton when you pic him up.



This is a video of Charity dancing. We were watching a Scooby Doo movie on tv when some music came on. There isn't any sound, but you can see Charity shaking her little bottom. I didn't get much because as soon as she saw that I had the camera she had to come up and start making cheeze faces. Both my kids love the camera.

Its Confirmed

Angie went to the doctor today and we found out two things. First Angie is pregnant, but that is no suprise to anyone. Nevermind that we were on two birth controls. Second our due date is June 21st. Hopefully the baby wont come on the 19th, Charity might resent that when she gets older.

Uhh.....

Brennden came to Angie and I today with his toothbrush and said "Mom if i get the bad guy in the heart with my toothbrush he will die, and we will have to throw it away cuz it will be bloody and kucky."

My Heart Is Melting

Brennden said the sweetest thing to me the other day that made my heart melt. I was putting away a few photos and he was helping/watching. He looked at one of them from my wedding and said, "Mom, why are you putting that away? You look so beautiful." Awww. Isn't that the sweetest?

Angie's First Elk

This last weekend Angie, Josh, Dad and I went for Angie's first elk hunt. Our scouting day went great, we only saw one bull, but saw tons of fresh sign. The opening morning we went to our spot and waited for the sun to rise and the elk to start to move. We saw two elk right as the sun was rising, but were unable to get a shot off. After about another twenty minutes we saw three elk running through a clearing on the side of a hill about 350 yards away, but were unable again to get a shot off. Ten minutes later we heard Josh's shot and after thirty more minutes we headed towards Josh and tried another area for about thirty more minutes and headed back to help Josh dress his elk out. We then went back to camp and napped before the evening hunt.
In the evening we headed to a spot we had seen while hunting near Josh, two hours of waiting and nothing showed up so we left and tried to see if they had moved into another area near by, and lucky for us they had. But unlucky for us they moved out to fast before we could get set to take a good shot. We then headed back to camp to wait for the morning. Josh and Dad left to take his elk back to town and left Angie and I for the morning hunt.
In the morning we headed back to the spot we had seen them in the evening and tied up the horses and began to sneek up the trail. When we got to the spot were we had seen the cows the night before we scanned the meadow and found 2 bulls and 3 cows slowly moving out to the trees. Angie got set on the north side of a thicket to take her shot but couldn't quite see what she needed due to a small rise in between her and the elk. A quick move to the south side of the thicket and we could see them meandering there way towards the trees, Angie got re-set took off the safety and boom. The cow arched her back jumped, and began to run towards the trees. We began the hard game of wait then chase and after about two minutes started to walk to were she had shot the cow, but before we could get there we heard the cow fall and hit the ground about 75 yards from were she had been shot. A quick trip to the horses, phone call to Dad, and forgeting we had a camera later we began to dress the elk. Angie held down her breakfast and actually did quite a good job in skinning and quatering her cow. We then put the elk on Fraiser and began the long (actually it just felt long, it was really about 40 minutes) ride to the truck and the hunt was over.

A New Bathroom

This is how the bathroom used to look before all the upgrades that I did while Dustin was gone.

This is the new rug. I can't believe how much different the rug made it look.

And this is the paint job I did. I really like how the color pops but isn't overwhelming.

The space above the toilet was too big a blank spot so I painted some picture frames and put this saying up (which my sister helped me think of because I couldn't think of a good saying to hang in the bathroom).

Things needed: 1 qt Spring Green paint, bathroom rug, 3 picture frames, white paint, blue paper, and a printer.
Total cost: $0.00
The paint rug was free from a swap meet that the RS did, the green paint I got on line as a free sample, the frames I have had for a few years, and the white paint we got with our house to touch up the walls if needed. I can't believe how it all turned out. When Dustin gets back tonight I am going to surprise him with it.

Solitare

I was playing a game of solitare today and was delt this hand. And I thought Microsoft was supposed to be honest.

Fence

A great big thank you to all those who helped in putting up this beautiful fence. Hopefully this will keep little kids away from the wash, big kids from cutting through our yard, and most importantly, strange men from walking across our property.

Bows

My sister showed me how to make these pretty bows while I was in St George last month. They were so cute I decided to make some more while Dustin is away to help pass the time. It is time consuming but easy, cheap, and you can make them for any outfit.


These are a few little Christmas Bows for the hair. I've only made one big one so far but plan to make more next month while I am in St George again.

These are my favorite ones. I love the color of them.

I've always thought brown and pink go well together.

He Says The Darndest Things

So, Brennden has been and still continues to say the funniest things. He was farting yesterday and so I asked him if he had to go poop. His response, "No Mom, my butt is just windy." No idea where he got that from but it sure made me laugh.

He obviously notices that Dustin hasn't been here for a while. I try to tell him why, and I thought he understood, until today. I was making soup and scones for dinner and Dustin really likes them. Brennden tells me, "Daddy isn't hungry today." I ask "Why?" "Because he didn't want to eat so he is working instead." Apparently he doesn't quite get it.

With guns being around our house so much we've been trying to teach Brennden that the only thing you can shoot is an animal and only if you are going to eat it. Now everything we eat Daddy shoots for us. He must hunt ALOT! Haha.

I also try to talk to him about the church and Jesus. He says we go to church to make Jesus happy. I think that's good enough for now since I haven't been able to get it in his head that we go to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus. When I ask, "Why did Jesus die?" He tells me, "Because people did shoot his hands and feet and sides with nails." Shoots? At least he got the nails part right. I was especially impressed about the sides, most kids don't remember that part. Although he answered that he died because he was shot and not for our sins, I'd say he did a good job.

I also think that he is craving attention from someone other than me right not for obvious reasons. When Grandma Farnsworth came over the other day to switch our trucks back, he cried because she left. Sad = ( So we are going to plan a day to go over there.

I love my little guy. He is still growing in spurts. Loves trains still and also dinosaurs. In fact, a new show called the dinosaur train has just started and he absolutely loves it. He can point out so many dinosaurs and tell you at least one fact about them to. He has liked dinos for about a year now. I took him to Thanksgiving Point on the way back from visiting Dustin last week and he loved it. Hopefully Dustin can go with us next time. We could have stayed for hours if I had a stroller for Charity. I had to kinda rush him and we only stayed for an hour because I had to keep chasing Charity around (no surprise there).

He loves to do little workbooks that I have ordered for him. He loves to count and write. He is always asking why about everything, and I do mean everything. Each time we go to the library he has to get at least 7 books. And yes we do read them all before the next week rolls around. In fact we usually ready a couple to Charity (mostly picture books) and then about 4 a day to him. I might need to get a bigger book shelf. I hope his love for learning follows him throughout his life.

Did I mention that he also loves being in photos and that he has to always make funny faces in them. Just like a boy. It's a wonder any of our professional photos have smiles in them.

How does she do it?

Look at all that hair. I can't believe it's long enough to put into pigtails! I made these bows and more like them with my sister while I was in St. George. There are so easy and super cute. I don't know how she does it, but she gets cuter with every passing day. But don't let her small size and cute face fool you. She can be a big monster when she want to be. Whoever said "they have red hair because they are full of fire" must have had a red head. Even though she is small in stature, she makes up for it with her big personality. Anyone who has babysat her can tell you, she knows how to work it. She can go from happy to throwing a fit and happy again with the flip of a switch. And she tries throwing a fit with everyone to see if she can get away with it.

At the library the other day, she threw herself on the floor and kicked and screamed because I made her put some books back. Of course this only happened for a few seconds because I just walked off so she jumped right up and was happy again. Good thing she knows I won't give in to her. That's about the only thing you can do to make her stop, ignore her. If you get made at her she just goes to the corner then looks at you and laughs. Booger!

She also has a wonderful vocabulary. She tells you No, Stop, Trouble, Don't, Trouble, and screams at the top of her longs in a high pitched voice. She also knows exactly what she wants and lets me know too. She says a-huh and u-uh. She also pushes things and throws things that she does not want. Which makes a mess when it comes to food and carpet.

Not only does she know what she wants, she knows how to go for it by herself. She has No, i repeat, No fear. She climbs anything that she can. You know the ledge in the bath tub with the little handle above it. She climbs on the ledge and then tries to get her feet on the handle. Don't know what for, but she tries. She also climbs up and down the bunk beds without help. She has fallen off, but that doesn't stop her from doing so over and over. She has also fallen off the table (kitchen table which she climbed onto herself), the high chair, the back of the couch, the window sill, and I'm sure a number of other things that i can't think of right now. She has also climbed a 10 foot ladder to get to a slide.

She may be small, but she is not fragile. And with it all, she smiles and laughs. It's like she thinks its fun. I feel bad for anyone who tries to get in her way. If she is like this already I can only imagine what the future will bring. Don't get in her way or tell her she can't, she'll mow you down and laugh while she does it.

So Cute

While I was at work one day Dustin took this cute picture of Charity asleep on the floor. Every time he tried to put her to bed she would cry so he just let her run around. Isn't it just so cute? He just had to take a photo so that I could see it too. I"m glad he did.

It's Gonna Pop!

This is a punching lion balloon that Brennden got for Easter. I'm actually suprised that it has made it this far. Look at how big he gets it. I'm just waiting for it to pop in his face. I try to warn him but that just makes him blow it up bigger and say, "Look mom, it didn't pop." I hope it doesn't because I'll have a sad scared boy when it does.

Veggies

This is one days harvest. Can you believe it. I am amazed at how well my garden did. Everything looks great except for my corn. The only one that does is in the compost pile that sprang up way to late to actually grow anything on it. Here is the list of what I have canned or frozen from my garden; 2 quart bags of cantalope, 6 quart bags and 2 gallon bags of watermelon, 16 quarts of pickles, and 9 pints of salsa. I also have about 9 more pints of tomatoes out on the vine about ready to pluck. Hopefully the frost doesn't take them out first.

Boredom.....

I have been out of town working for the last week, which isnt unusual, but it has been the most boring time I have ever spent out of town. Hopefully the doubles I'm starting tonight will help with that. Theres nothing like working 18 hour days, sleeping 5 hours during the day, and maybe if im lucky food, but hey atleast I wont get bored now.

Self Sufficient

The other night Brennden went to use the bathroom. I heard the water running and assumed that he was just washing his hands. But then I noticed that the water wasn't turning off so I went to check on him. Brennden had started himself a bubble bath. And the water was ICE COLD! He didn't seem to mind but I did. I turned the water on hot and swished it around so that the bath would warm up. When it was nice and warm I turned the water off and let Brennden has his alone time in the bath. I told him to call me when he was done so that I could get him his towel and help him get ready for bed. Apparently he wanted to be self sufficient the whole way through the bathing process because he never called me for help. His towel was hanging on the back of the door where he couldn't reach it so instead he grabbed the hand towel and wrapped it around himself. He then came to tell me that he was done. All in all he started himself a bubble bath, washed his hair and his body, drained the tub, and dried off all by himself. But hey, who's complaining? Not me.

Storage Shelves

This weekend Dustin designed, built, and put together some storage shelves for our garage. Up until now our garage has been a jumble of boxes stacked up about ready to fall over. I think he did a wonderful job. Now our garage looks tons cleaner and we don't have to worry about boxes tipping over and stuff spilling out all over the floor. Now all we have to do is go through all the boxes and figure out what has to go and what can stay.

Quote of the Day

"Mommy, I can't be with Charity, she is to whinny butt."-Brennden

Now the truth. Charity was laughing with Brennden when he tried to get to watch the TV. (Brennden is grounded from TV for the week.) Mom said no.

In Our 2nd Year...

I thought I would make a list of our 2nd year accomplishments. So here I go. We were sealed in the Monticello Temple, paid of the truck (we now owe nothing on vehicles), got our 5th cat (rest assured, we only have 1, but this is our fifth), both got big callings in church, (Dustin in Elders' Quorum Presidency and I am in Primary Presidency), started our food storage of which we could actually live off of for at least 3 months. We also started a business, put in a sprikler system, started a garden, Dustin was released from his calling, went on our first family camping trip, Angie shot her first real guns (7mm mag once and a .270). I know there are more but these are the ones that I am most pleased with. I can't wait to see what we will accomplish this next year of marriage!

Our Second Anniversary

Yesterday was a great day. I can't believe we've been married 2 years. It feels both longer and shorter than that. Does that make any sense? The day started off with Dustin making me a breakfast of waffles. They were delicious! After breakfast Dustin went out and un-winterized the lawn mower. While he was doing so, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
While Dustin mowed the front yard, i went and got our first catelope from the garden. I wasn't planning to eat it yet but Brennden dropped it and it split open. We all enjoyed it. Even Dustin took a bite even though he hates them. Then we all went to the back. The kids played in the dirt while I pulled weeds and Dustin dug a hole for the fire pit.

After all that we went into town to pick up Dustin's truck. Hopefully it won't need to get fixed again for a really long time. At least this time didn't cost us any money. When we got home the kids napped while we sat down together and watched Glenn Beck. Once the kids woke up we packed them up and took them to a sitter.

I was craving spicy food so we decided on Si Senors for dinner. I can't believe how different it is going on a weekday instead of a weekend. We were in and out quicker than we have ever been anywhere. Since we had so much time left before we needed to get the kids we went mini golfing. It was fun. There was a bounce house in there and we decided that we would have to take the kids someday. They would love it. After that we still had time left so we headed out to the mall. We just walked around for a while and them looked at phones. We have been thinking about switched carriers in the next few weeks.


Then it was time to head home. The best part, not once did we talk about the kids except for saying that we should take them to the bounce house. It was great to get away and just be together!

Firetruck

Over the weekend there was an Emergency Preparedness Fair at the church. They talked about CPR, finances, 72 hour kits, CERT (community Emergency Response Team) Training, food storage, and how to prepare your home for emergencies. They also had a fire truck there to help entertain the kids. Brennden was in heaven. He recently got a hard hat which he calls his fireman hat so this was the icing on the cake.


At the time, Brennden was the only kid out there so the firemen let him sit up front. He got to put on the headphones and talk through them to the firefighters. He didn't want to leave. They turned on the lights and let him have a hay day. It was great. I felt kinda bad for them near the end though, Brennden is going through the 'why' stage. Poor guys had to answer a million questions, the answer of which I had no idea what all the words were. But hey, as long as he had fun, right.

My favorite quote from Brennden, "Mom, I like trying new things." He was talking about a cucumber. He never liked them before, but now he does. Yea!

Rough Day at Work

Today I had the most interesting day at work I have ever had. I was working at the store for Tiff and Chad. All was normal until about 8:15 pm. I went to "Frank's" apartment to do a collection. 7:45 pm I had been by earlier in the evening and left a notice and drove by and had seen that the notice was down so I decided to stop and wait to see if I could see any signs of life coming from the house. I parked in the parking lot and saw 2 teenages leave the house. I waited until they went in to confirm that someone was in the house. 8:15 knocked on the door heard people inside and knocked several more times. 8:17 The neighbor comes out and asked who I am and what I was doing. I told him I was there to talk with Frank. 8:17:30 The neighbor came up the stairs and asked when I was going to leave and that I woke up his daughter. I informed him I would be there until I talked to Frank or, 9 pm whichever came first. 8:17:45 The neighbors chollos all came out and wanted to fight. The first guy asked if I was always this rude, I apologized and started looking for an escape route but found none. The guys then started with the threats, which included a gun and the most severe beating I had ever recieved. and then retreated to the bottom of the stairs to wait for me to come down. 8:20 Violet called and asked if I were able to get into the home. I informed her that I had not and the guys had threatened me and I felt she should call the cops after I informed her of the situation. 8:22 Sirens in the distance 8:23 911 dispatcher calls and asks were I am and informed me several officers were on the way 8:24 The police show up and all the chollos are nuetralized at gun point and the 911 dispatcher was rudely hung up on as the gun came my way. 8:26 the 8th officer, yup the 8th showed up and began knocking on Franks door. 8:27 after the police threaten to break down the door the door opens. 8:28-8:30 the police search the home of Frank and the chollos, finding 1 loaded pistol in the chollo residence and 6 loaded guns in Franks home. 8:30-8:45 the police question everybody and figure everything out as best they can. 8:50 the police tell me that Frank had given the ok for me to enter his home and do the repo. 9:00 my back up showed up (Jaime) to help me carry the HUGEST couch I had ever seen. By 10:00 we had all the couches loaded, back at the store and everything put in place.

VACATION!!!

Angie got a phone call about 10:15 on Wednesday morning. Turns out she had won an all expense paid trip to Denver for 3 days 2 nights, with spending money. The only catch was she could have 1 guest and had to leave in the next hour or it would be gone. Well I didn't know Angie could move so fast. Not only did Angie pawn off the kids on Grandma and Grandpa, but had her bags packed and had the tow truck coming to my rescue. Thats right it did come with a catch. I had left Wednesday morning to go to take some certification tests on Thursday and Friday, but on the way up Wolf Creek Pass my truck started to sputter and then within about half a mile it wasn't even able to hardy hold an idle. I managed to get turned around and coast all but the last 10 miles to Pagosa Springs were I managed to get slight phone coverage and get out my distress call to Angie to come pick me up and take me to Denver. Within 45 minutes of my call the tow truck arrived, dropped me off at the mechanics and found the problem about 30 minutes later. The culprit? The fuel pump that had just been worked on by the dealer was pumping at 12 psi, a far cry from the 51 psi in the manual. To sum things up, Angie showed up, got me to Denver only 3 hours late, but I made it in time to keep the hotel reservation that were made for me. I was able to get a friend to go get my truck as I type, and was able to still take my tests. Thank goodness for a loving wife, great parents, and an awesome friend.

Harvest

Yes, it's true. The harvest has begun in my garden. I started some plants indoors what seems like forever ago, and today I was able to take my first bite out of my first home garden. Although I have had plenty of casualties, I do have a pretty good garden. Right now I have 4 raspberry bushes, (the second batch of them) 3 watermelon plants, (the only plant that all survived) 1 cantalope, 6 strawberry, 2 peas, 1 cucumber, 2 red bell peppers, 5 onions, 6 corn, 2 tomato, 2 broccoli, (I have tried and tried to plant more but they just don't want to grow) and 2 carrots. I have planted so many carrots and I actually have a few growing. I have been told that you just can't grow any and I thought they were right until I started to see some carrot tops this week. I also have 1 dead blackberry bush which I plan on replacing this week.

Back to the harvest... Today I was able to eat some peas in the pod from my garden. Brennden, Dustin, and I enjoyed the 2 whole pods together. It wasn't much but there are plenty more growing. I can't wait to taste all the rest!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Charity's 1st Birthday!!! And this year has been packed full of things for her. Starting with her favorites: book- Touch and Feel Baby Einstein, Food- Spaghetti and Lasagna, Dessert- Chocolate cake and Otter Pops, Game- Peek a Boo, Toy- A ball. She has learned to sit, crawl, roll over, walk (I mean run), climbing, says mama, dada, bubba (Brennden), arf, uh-0h, what's that, yeah, and others that I can't think of right now.

She loves to color, and dance. She has had about 5 hair cuts. She also LOVES Brennden. He can always cheer her up before anyone else. She has master the fake cry with tears and all. She loves to clap her hands and lead music. She doesn't care for veggies but will eat a multitude of a fruits including; pears, bananas, cherries and grapes. Whenever she sees a cat or dog she gets all excited. She has even been on her first horse ride.

Her latest interest is the toilet. She has figured out how to open it and play in it. Fun. She likes to go swimming and slide down slides. Laughs every time she swings. She also likes jumping and playing in the dirt. She has no fear. She can climb into her highchair without any help and out of her walker.

She still sleeps with her bunny. She even sleeps through the night. She has acquired 3 beautiful teeth and has not yet learned that she can bite. With any luck she never will. On occasion she will watch a Baby Einstein movie all the way through. She shares her toys and her food. She loves playing with Brennden whether it be with trucks or in a hut.

Charity puts everything in her mouth. Dirt, the drawer knobs, thumbs, blanket, and pacifiers that don't belong to her. Her tongue is always sticking out. Her first year has been full of lots of laughs and lots of tears. I can't believe it has already been a year.

I know this post was kind of all over the place but I just wrote whatever came to my mind in the order it came in.

Brennden's 1st Swim Lesson

Today Brennden started his swim lessons. I decided he needs them because he is afraid of falling in the water. First we were late because the bank was so slow. In fact, I left twenty minutes early and arrived eight minutes late and I didn't even get to deposit the money because the bank was so slow that I left the line.

Brennden went ahead and got into the pool with all the other kids. I could tell he was nervous just by the look on his face. It was borderline terrified. But he soon calmed down and started to enjoy himself. He learned how to paddle his arms and how to kick from his stomach and his back. I was surprised that he was even doing what the lady said to do because I could tell he was scared.

Then it started to go down hill. They had him jump on the pool from the side, and he actually did it. But then they pulled out a slide. Now let me go back a few weeks to when we took him down the big slide and the city pool. We didn't tell him to close his mouth and plug his nose when he got to the bottom so he got a lung full of water. Now he is afraid of pool slides. So they let him get out and get warmed up. After the slide they jumped into the pool once more from the diving board and then they were done so he didn't really miss out on much.

Then the really embarrasing thing. Brennden had told me he peed in his swim suit right after getting out of the pool but there wasn't much I could do at the time and it's not like anyone would notice since he was already all wet. But apparently he was done. He started to go around the side of the house to where I couldn't see him, so I called for him. He didn't come so I called again. Then one of the other moms came up to me and told me he was going potty. And he was. In the dirt. Not only was he peeing in the dirt by the swim instructors house, but he hasn't mastered the 'pull down the front part only.' He was bare butt and all where everyone could see him. I guess everyone will remember who we are tomorrow. Oh the joys of motherhood.

Hunting

Today the hunt results came out and one of us drew out and a bet you cant guess who......well, it was Angie. She drew out for her first choice on her first draw. I wish I was that lucky (yes thats a jab at you Josh). Anyway she drew the ELK-1-153 hunt, which I believe is Humphrese cow but the website will only display draw results right now so we will find out in a few days.

Frustrated

So, about a month ago we got a call about being able to refinance our house for an interest rate of 4.88. We got all of our paperwork in and waited, and waited, and waited. A month later we were finally able to get back in contact with the guy who said it would be done by the end of the month. Today we got a call from Wells Fargo stating that the guy couldn't do it because the bank we worked for doesn't do FHA loans so she would be taking over. Unfortunately the interest rate has gone back up to 6.00 which makes it not worth doing anymore. It irritates me that he took so long and that we lost our chance. We would have been paying $300 less a month if it had gone through. Hopefully it will go back down soon and we will give it another shot.

Nightmare On Elizabeth Street

Dun, Dun, Dun. It all started on a bright, warm afternoon. Brennden woke up crying. He never would tell us why he was crying. Then, later that night, he woke up crying again. This time we were able to get a why out of him. His reason, "I don't want to go down the big slide." Let me rewind. Earlier that day..... we went to the swimming pool. Brennden has been asking to go down the big slide all year long and now he was finally going to be able to. Dustin took him down, Brennden had fun on the slide, but not once he got to the bottom. Falling in the water scared him. I later was able to get him to go down with me. Once again, he had fun on the slide but not on the fall. After thinking about it for a second, I discovered one big mistake that we had made. We never showed him how to plug his nose at the bottom. When we would go into the water, it would go up his nose. And we all know how that feels. Now he keeps saying, "I don't want to go down the big slide, only the little one." Hopefully we will be able to show him how to plug his nose and get him to go down again. Until then we might have to endure a few nights of crying about the slide.

Thank You Dustin

So, it has been a while since I have been to St. George to visit my family. This weekend we are headed down!! And poor Dustin is tired of traveling. As soon as we got back from Idaho, Dustin worked out of town for a week. (more like 10 days I think) Then this week he again had to leave town. Each time taking 8 hours one way. He left wednsday, worked 28 hours, then drove back yesterday. Once he got home he had to fix my car so that we could take it this weekend. He didn't get much sleep last night, then he has to drive 1.5 to work today. After that he has to drive 6 hrs to St. George. Poor man hasn't been home for a while. When we get back I will have to let him sleep in as much as he can next week and let him enjoy being home for a while.

Charity's Favorite Words

As some of you know Charity is a little talker. I have been trying to get Angie to post this for about 2 weeks and am out of town and bored so it looks like the task now falls on me. Well to get back to topic, Her absolute favorite word is Da Da, it was also her first word. Next comes Ma Ma which is a close second. What, that, aarf and quack also are among her understandable words. She also says little sentences, mostly consisting of what what what that when she finds something new. I think its pretty cute. She loves to whisper too, it is really cute when she does it.
She is also on the verge of walking. Before I left she took one step and wouldnt do anymore. I told Angie to push her down if she tried to walk so I could be home when she does. So far she hasnt tried from what Ive been told.

Lost?

I feel like I've been lost for awhile. I haven't been posting, exercising, or cleaning. The laundry is clean but it is on the bed, in the dryer, and in baskets waiting to be put away. The weeds have gone wild. Except for the corner where my garden is growing, or at least it was til today when the ants happened upon it. Dustin and Brennden both need hair cuts but I haven't gotten around to it.

Charity is either getting a new tooth or has allergies. Her poor nose is so runny it is making her cough. Brennden has been afraid of something in the closet. In fact, he is sitting next to me 2 hours after bed time because he is scared and crying. (And trying to get candy out of me too.)

Other than that everything is just the same as always.

Learning New Things

Charity has now discovered that she can wave. All day at church she just waved and smiled at everybody. She has also learned what a duck says. She doesn't quite pronounce it right but she does try. She is also a remote control girl. She gets all upset when you take it away from her so we have given her our old dvd player remote.
The most wonderful thing of all that she has learned... not to cry when she wakes up. Instead she just says a few words then waits for someone to come and get her. I love this in the morning, but sometimes I wonder how long she sits there for.

Daily Quotes

Brennden has been a fountain of great ole laugh out loud quotes lately. I can say something, anything, to him and his reply, "Okay mom. Whatever." Complete with the hand and rolled eyes. And if I ask him to do something he says, "Not right now, maybe later." As if he really has a choice. If he want to tell me something, "Mom, look at me in the face." He says this because I make him look me in the face when I talk to him or he won't hear a work I"m saying. And every two hours for the past two weeks, "You (or if someone is over, he/she) want to watch Spiderman." He states it as if it is a fact and not a question. It's too long to let him watch every day (2 1/2 hrs) and all of his friends think it is a scary movie so he doesn't get to watch it very often but that doesn't stop him from asking. And of course, the all important, "Mom, arms in!" As he watches Super Why almost every morning and they get ready to put their arms in to become 'super readers'. If I miss this he pouts for quite a while.

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Monkeys and Such

After months of waiting and preparing our FFL came in yesterday. So now you have no excuse to not buy your guns from me, unless your from out of state then I cant transfer a pistol to you but you can still buy it from me and pick it up at the gun shop of your choice.

Random Happenings

Brennden has a boo boo on his finger that looks like he had a sticker stuck in it. When I asked him what happened his reply was, "The snake bit me. I tried to pick him up." I certainly hope that's not what happened, but who knows.

Charity has found a quicker way to travel. She puts her hands on a book on the floor and slides right along. She gets moving pretty quick at times.

We have new pets! But not good ones. The new addition is...........gophers! How fun. :(

Dustin's gun broke. Argh. Might need to buy a new one if we can't find a barrel. Anyone looking for a gun?

Brennden wanted to go outside to play with the water at Grandma and Grandpa's house. When I checked on him he had his shoes and socks floating down the stream.

The kids took a 3 hour nap today. I felt a little lost. What do you do with that much time?

I decided to start working out again, and pulling weeds at the same time. What was I thinking? Now I am so sore.

Oh yeah. I had Brennden tested for preschool. They said he was at risk because of his score. What do they expect trying to get a 3 year old to pay attention in a room full of toys. But I don't mind, if he still tests at risk in Aug. he gets to go to preschool for free. Otherwise he won't get to go because it costs $130 a month. Who pays that much for preschool!

Run Off

Today we had a classic New Mexican snow storm. It snowed really hard for about 2 hours then the sun came out and melted it all away. When Angie got home from activity days I talked her into taking a picture of me in the wash next to our house. I was expecting about 6 inches deep, but to my suprise it was 27 inches deep and it was freezing cold.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

So, we have an old broken cell phone that Brennden plays with. Today he comes and sets it next to my phone and says, "Oh, that's my problem. It needs a new battery." I just started cracking up laughing.

Uno Mas

Last week the ATF agent came over and did our field inspection/audit. He had a few things to say when he got here. One of the first things he told us was that he had never seen an application so complete or accurate. He was also impressed that we had all of our tax and business licenses and permits ready. He didnt have any issues with any thing. He said that he had never seen a first time applicant get it right on the first try. The only items that havent been taken care of were the alarm on the safe and the insurance, neither of which were required, but were suggested. He told us that it should be approved and that he was going to submit his report to the licensing division in Virginia on Monday and it should be 2-4 weeks from tomorrow until we have the license in hand.

Sunset

Yesterday night when I was at work I looked up and saw this sunset. It only lasted for about 15 seconds but I was able to get a picture of it on my phone. One thing it for sure, New Mexico has the prettiest sunsets.

Children's Museum

Today I took the kids the the Children's Museum. Charity had a great time in the soft play. She's in a play pin like area looking at herself in the mirror.

Brennden loves playing with the velcro wall. There are different shapes to stick to the wall, but his favorite part is the cilendars and shelves that he lines up to send a ball through.

This time they had a dinosaur exhibit. At first Brennden was afraid of the dinosaurs until he realized that they were stuck. This one you could control with a remote.

I had a hard time getting to be in this picture because these dinosaurs made noises.

There was also a movie about dinosaurs that you watched in a balloon looking thing so that the movie was all around you. Both of the kids were actually pretty good and quiet. It was funny when one dino jumped out and attacked another one. Everybody jumped, except for the man snoring.

Charity and the Elephant.

More of the play pin.

Another Step

Today I went with Dad to Albuquerque to pick up my gun safe. Well actually we went so Dad could buy a new gun and I just happened to be going to buy a safe today and went with him and picked it up at Sportsmans instead of at Wal-Mart. And incase you are wondering it does not have an alarm on it, yet we are going to have ADT come out and put a vibration sensitive door alarm on it. Hopefully our meeting with the ATF will go good on Tuesday and that will put us on track to get our FFL in about 6 weeks.

What A Day

Today I had the day off so I decided to do something productive. First I tackled sleeping in. Shortly after that I got online for 8 hours off and on and did some training for work. In between I watched a movie, cut down a tree, picked up my new FRCs, and came home and took a test on my training, got an 83% with about 4 hours of instruction. Not to bad for a class that usually takes 3 days now isnt it? As I was finishing my test, FedEx brought Angies a/c condenser and shortly there after it was installed. Hopefully doing it myself it will be right (we had it fixed 2 times before by a shop and I finally looked at it and realized that they hadn't pulled the transmission cooler away and had a hole rub through). Now its time for some ice cream.

Yea!

As you can tell, Brennden is learning to ride his bike. He has had this bike since before Christmas but it was too cold and he didn't have a helmet. Then he got a helmet for Christmas. He was very excited and put it on right away. And now, 3 months later, he is riding it for the first time.
This is the smallest helmet we could find and it is still a little bit big on him, but it's not like he is going fast and is going to crash very hard.
As long as he wasn't going too slow he did pretty good. He can get on it by himself but not off of it without tipping it over. He already tells me to "Go away, mom. I want to do it myself." Even though he has tipped over a few times. And he was trying to go on the dirt. Once he gets better I can only imagine what he will try. I just hope he doesn't give me any heart attacks.

First Thing First

Tagged by Annalee
FIRSTS:1. Who was your FIRST prom date? I think I went by myself but ended up with Joe and someone else in all the pics because they went stage too.
2. FIRST date?Real date... Gezz, I would have to say Trevor
3. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? No
4. What was your FIRST job? Papergirl for the Spectrum
5. What was your FIRST car? Some old red Hyndai
6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? No text messages today.
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Charity, she woke me up crying.
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? I have no idea.
9. Who was your FIRST Kiss? Trevo, but not on the first date.
10. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? To St. George for Ashley's wedding.
11. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? I would probably say Jake from elementary school and no we haven't talked since Middle School.
12. Where was your FIRST sleepover? I haven't the slightest idea.
13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Dustin
14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Feed Charity
15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?Beach Boys
16. FIRST piercing? Ears
17. FIRST foreign country you've been to? I've never left the country
18. FIRST movie you remember seeing? Babie
19. When was your FIRST detention?I never went to detention.
20. What was the FIRST state you lived in? Idaho
21. Who was your FIRST roommate? Not counting siblings, Jan from college. Worst thing in the world.
22. What happened the FIRST time you were pulled over driving? Did you get a ticket? Stupid really. I had half of the tail light in my rear window out. No I didn't get a ticket, it was a stupid thing to get pulled over for.

I tag whoever wants to tell us their firsts.

Well, It's About Time

It seems like an eternity since Charity has been trying to teeth. At least once a month she showed all the signs of getting one. Fever, crankiness, swollen gums..... Well one finally popped up. Her bottom right tooth broke through a few days ago. And she was really good about it too. She was only awnry for a day. Once she got some medicine in her system she was fine. She might have to start getting a bottle soon. Guess it's time for another one? I just feel like she is getting so big and that she won't be my baby for much longer. I swear Brennden was a baby for longer.

DA DA

This morning as I was getting ready for work Angie was getting Charity ready for the day when I walked past the door and heard da da. I thought it was pretty coincidental so i walked past again and she said it again. It sure seems like I get all the first, rolling over, crawling, poopy diaper, and now her first word. Isnt it great to be a dad?

So Close Yet So Far

Today I went around to almost all of the pawn shops to drop off a picture and description of my ring. At the very last one I stopped at the lady looked at me and said, "We had one just like this come in yesterday. We told the guy the ring size (5) was too small and that it looked like 10 kt gold. Those two things mixed together probably won't get the price that you want." A price was never discussed and the guy left. They didn't get his name either. I was soooooo bummed. Hopefully he will try another place and I will get a phone call. Now that I am pretty sure that it is out there and that someone is trying to cash in on it, I am fairly confident that it will soon be in it's rightful place on my finger.

The Forgotten Post

I realized today that I forgot to post about Brennden's "uplifting" experience Sunday. On the way out the door to go to church Brennden pulled what I like to call a Sydney. (Sorry if I spelled it wrong.) I'm sure Keri knows what I'm talking about and is probably laughing right about now. for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me expound on it a little. Every time I open the garage, Brennden likes to run up to it and help lift it up. Sunday was different. Instead of lifting it up, it lifted him up. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I about had a heart attack. Needless to say, Brennden has not run to help the door since. I'm sure he will soon go back to doing so though.

Cheap Date

Well actually it wasn't. We decided to stay home and watch a movie. Well little did we know that it would be a four digit number at the end of the night. First I decided to scare Charity and when I did a sequence of events occurred and my laptop fell and shattered the screen. Before we could recover from that Angie discovered her ring was missing. We thought we saw it after she came home from work but aren't to sure. We called everywhere she went Yesterday and the day before to no avail, we tore the house apart, turned it upside down and shook it around yet nothing fell out. We called the ring company and they no longer make that ring so I would have to have them custom make it for an additional $675. Angie told me she doesnt want a new ring because it doesnt have any memories, so I guess ill just have to turn on my metal detector and search the whole county until I find it. Aarg isnt this just wonderful?


UPDATE: 9:04 pm,
Angie talked to a neighbor today and found out that they had a laptop that had the insides fried and they offered it to us, after much tinkering and modifying the pre-owned monitor works like a charm, the funny part is they both came out of a Dell, but they werent even the same model or manufactured by the same company. The broken monitor was a Samsung and the pre-owned monitor is a Hitachi.

The Dentist

Today was Brennden's first trip to the dentist. He did a great job! No xray because he is too short. We normally don't hear that about him. They brushed and flossed his teeth without incident. He actually said that the flossing tickled. But when it came time to scrape the stains off of his teeth, the world ended. Well, it did for Brennden anyway. He held still the whole time, but tears started to fall. :( I had promised him that if he held still and was good that I would buy him ice cream, and he remembered. First thing he asked for when we got to the car was "Ice cream?"

The actually dentist's office did not run so smoothly though. For some reason they couldn't find our dental plan with our insurance company so it took 1 hour before we were seen! And that was with an appointment. I couldn't believe it. It was the insurance companies fault though so.... Just another 6 months and he gets to go again. Guess it's time for me to go soon since I'm the only one left that hasn't gone recently.

Pampered Chef

I am hosting a Pampered Chef party at my house next Thursday (the 12th). If any of you would like to look at their website and perhaps purchase anything please feel free to do so. All that I ask is that you enter my name as the host so that I will be able to get credit for it. Because, lets face it, everybody likes to get credit. You can order from the 12th through the 15th. If you don't order anything, at least you can find cool little kitchen things that you hope someday to acquire and save up for them. The website is http://www.pamperedchef.biz/toadskitchen

Car Seats

As I was getting my kids into their car seats the other day I just had to smile and laugh. When Brennden was 7 months old I had to put him in a front facing car seat because he was too tall. I know you're supposed to wait until they are one, but his feet already touched the back seat and I thought, "If I were to get in an accident both of his legs would get broken." His legs were so squished I don't know how he could have been comfortable. He is still in that same seat today. Charity, on the other hand, is tiny. Her feet don't even reach the end of her car seat yet. (Which is Brennden's old car seat.) Good thing though, cuz I'm hoping to keep her rear facing until Brennden gets a booster seat. That way we don't have to either: buy a new car seat, or change the car seats from car to truck whenever we go somewhere that we need the truck.

Good Friends

I was thinking it was awfully quiet, so I grabbed the camera expecting to find trouble with a mess, and I got this delightful surprise. Needless to say the banana ended up in the trash. Who knows how many times it was on the floor. And it was completely smashed.

Since Charity spends so much time under the table Brennden decided to join her. It's nice to see them getting along so well and playing together. I can only hope it will last through their teenage years. My mom always tells me, "This is the calm before the storm."

Getting Closer

Today I finished filling out the application for our FFL. In 8 to 24 weeks we should know if we are approved. In the mean time I need to go buy a gun safe and take care of some other issues before we can get up and running. So with all things going well I should be open in April. Now you just need to fight amongst yourselves about who will be my first customer.

Angie

Dustin didn't want to write this blog for me so I guess I will brag about myself. In have decided to once again join the workforce. My job is really simple. I can work pretty much on my own schedule. All I have to do is set up, stock, and straighten displays. (ex. cards, dvds, books....) It's only 10 hours or less a week but it is extra money and gives me a break from my usual routine.

My dreams and wishes are very simple. To get a new wardrobe. Silly I know, but most of my clothes are from high school. And lets face it, I'm not in high school anymore. And what isn't from high school is maternity. Sad to say, I'm still wearing some of them. On a recent trip to the mall I found some clothes that I like. I also found out how hard it is to find shirts that don't require another shirt to go under it. Thank you mom for being so patient with me at the mall. (3 hours and only one outfit to show for it.)

I have also been busy sewing away. I have hemmed all of Brennden's pants and one pair of mine. I made a bumper for Charity's bed so that her arms and legs would stop getting stuck. And now I am currently working on making slip covers for the pillows currently on our couch. I am tired of the brown on brown. It doesn't look nice.

I am still working on eating healthy and watching portions, but it's a process. Hats off to those of you who are doing it. And this ends our family update.

Dustin

As most of you (or maybe all of you) know, Dustin usually gets paid by how much he gets done. But lately he has been getting paid hourly. What does this mean? Long days. My poor husband has now been working 12 hour days and will probably continue for the next month and a half. Charity usually wakes up as he is leaving and is already down for the night by the time he gets home. When she does wake she won't go to Dustin because she is hungry. : (

I'm not going to post his current weight or height (or mine either). Sorry. He still loves guns and is soon going to be able to get his license to sell them. Even with that going, he is going to work on getting more education for work in hopes of being able to start his own company. We will have to wait and see how things go with Obama first. It might not be worth it to start a small business.

Dustin loves playing with the kids. Last night I got home from the neighbors and found him on the floor with both kids climbing over him! It was a wonderfully heart warming moment to walk in on.

Brennden

Where to begin? Brennden is continuing to grow both physically and mentally. At his 3 years check up he weighed a whopping 34 lbs and was 37 inches tall. He is already in size 9 shoes. So much for being a little boy. He loves to read, write, and dance to music (even sacrament songs). His favorite color is red. I know this because the only shirts that he ever gets out of his closets are the red ones. His favorite foods are: bacon and eggs for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, and pizza for dinner. You'd think we order pizza all the time because when the door bell rings he shouts "The pizza's here!"

Can you believe it, he is already in primary! It feels like he just started going to nursery. We have recently discovered that he knows and can point out Jesus is pictures. The other day I asked him to go get the scriptures and instead of bringing me his picture scripture book, he brought me the Book Of Mormon. I didn't even know that he knew those were scriptures.

Brennden is still into balls. He likes basketball, football, baseball, and soccer. Future athlete? Mister independent takes FOREVER to get ready. He has to button, zip, snap.... You name it he tries for what seems like an eternity to do it on his own before asking for help. And yes, that means he no longer runs around in his underwear. Instead he runs around in his jammies because I don't have the patience to wait for him to get dressed by himself and listen to him complain the entire time but not want my help. And that is Brennden in a nutshell.