Sunday Confessional

Ellie and I bagged going to church today. Dan went, he teaches Gospel Doctrine.

I had my left over Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese Spaghetti for breakfast.

I'm miffed, because I asked for a treat last night, and Dan got me an "average" size bag of M&M's. Doesn't he know that when I usually buy myself a treat, I get the family size? It doesn't help that he bought himself a 12-pack of Mt. Dew knowing that Ellie and I don't drink it...BLECH!!

I don't plan on getting ready today until I absolutely have to.

Even though I love Dan to pieces, a four day weekend is about ALL I can take!!

Even though I think this is disgusting, I like to pick Dan's zits. It is completely painless (for me). Don't worry I do it in the privacy of my own home. There have only been a couple of times that I've been distracted by one in public, I call dibs on it, and then I'll get it in the car!! :P

Sidewalks Should be Colorful...

Our family

I know, we look a little like this (cut us some slack, we can't be photo ready all the time!!)...

We traced Ellie, she wanted her picture to be naked, but Dan drew panties on it anyway...

Poor thing, she is eating peanut butter and toast, I really need to go grocery shopping!!

Then, the most exciting...Ellie wrote her name!! Now, I don't want to hear any "my kid has been doing that since they were two" stories. I think she's "gifted"!! :P

Cheek Squeezing

Apparently Ellie has inherited her Dad's love of cheeks...

They both pull the same face...

Isn't she talented?

Ellie's BFF

As some of you may remember, Natalie moved. It was such a sad day for us because Ellie and Natalie have always played so well together. We try to get up to see them as often as we can, but with gas prices...it isn't that feasible.

Ellie and I got the chance to go up and play last Friday...Ellie was in heaven!! They played dress up (doesn't Kaydee look fabulous as a princess/pirate?). There was also a water fight that was held after Nicole got home from school. Luckily, Ellie got grumpy (no surprise, right?), so I got to hold her and avoid getting soaked...Debra wasn't so lucky!!

We were so glad that we got to hang out with our friends...we sure do miss them!!

Nie Nie Dialogues

When I have spare time one of my favorite things to do is blog hop. Even if I haven't listed the blogs that I enjoy...I bookmark them. I recently found Nie Nie Dialogues through the Jolly Porter (a seriously funny blog). Christopher, the writer for The Jolly Porter, had posted on his blog that his sister and his brother-in-law had been in an airplane crash, his sister's blog is the Nie Nie Dialogues.

I decided that I was going to read the Nie Nie Dialogues from the very beginning. I did. No blog (or person for that matter) has ever made me want to be a better mother, wife or person. The beauty that Stephanie radiates through her posts is so encouraging. There really are good people in this world, and this good person needs our help. Stephanie and Christian were severely burned, and their care will be well in the millions. They have four beautiful children (you'll find out when you read her blog, you know you want to!!) that need to be cared for also. One of the most comforting things is to see how their families have rallied around them, what a great family.

For updates on Stephanie and Christian, go here. For a website that was set up for the family (that will give information about donations), go here. Silent auctions will be held on more than 90 sites tomorrow. To participate, bid or find out more about these auctions, go here. To donate, click on the Donate to Nie button on the top, right side of my blog.

Scared of Running...

Is it because I know I will get a bubble butt and massive calves? Please, I already have both, but I'll just be more toned (yeah, baby!!)....

Basically it all comes down to this...

I run with Meagan. Meagan reads lame books like this. Out of pure curiosity, mainly for conversation I ask Meagan about the book. I think it sounds dumb, only to find that when I go running by myself I look under the bleachers to make sure there are no vampires...especially baby vampires with LOTS of teeth!!

It doesn't help that last Thursday Meagan and I went running and there was a creepy man (probably a troll) hiding under the bleachers, and every day we pass a lady that looks like a witch waiting for the bus. Am I judging? You bet, it is 5 am!!

I need mace.

Gag Me!!

A mother licking her thumb to clean off a child's face is gross, but a husband licking his thumb to wipe off makeup under his wife's eye is just NASTY!! If you are nasty like that please refrain from performing said act in the company of others...

Ellie's Apron

A couple months ago I was able to go with my friends to learn how to make an apron, and I wanted to make one for Ellie only reversed. I put it off and put it off until she reminded me that she wanted an apron just like mine. I was hoping I would be able to remember how to do it, but it was actually easier than I remembered!!

By the way, I used Ellie's Rose Petal Cottage apron as my pattern and I cut off one of the apron strings...OOPS!!

Family Reunion (Don't be Jealous...)

We had a good time at our family reunion this year...

Our reunion consisted of a scavenger hunt, pinata, water games, and the EVER popular home made waterslide!!

The pool at the end of the waterslide...

Ellie and Grandpa, Ellie was VERY anti pictures today (I got screeched at more than once)!!

Ellie and Dan...

The boys lathering up...

This video was one of my favorites...basically because Shelby knew who was all coming down the hill, and he jumped over the bails of hay to escape.

This is at the very top, so you can see just how long the slide was...



This was Ellie on the car ride home...still being anti pictures, good thing Dan and I can laugh about it....

Panguitch Vacation

The one thing this summer has lacked was a vacation. When Nate and Jen asked us to go to Panguitch to stay at Jen's parent's cabin (actually their large house), Dan and I jumped at the chance.

We left after Dan and Nate got off work. Jen was already in Panguitch with their kids. We ended up getting there around 11 pm. We packed Ellie in the house, and just called it a night.

When we got up, we did some 4-wheeling, and Jen caught a horse for us to ride. I'm allergic, so Ellie chose Dan to take her (who are we kidding, I really wasn't a choice, she prefers to do EVERYTHING with Dan!!). Ellie LOVED riding the horse, she told Dan she even liked it more than riding the 4-wheeler. It was such a beautiful day on Saturday...we really lucked out!!

Oh, and I'm totally embarrassed to admit, I had no idea Dan knew how to ride a horse!! He learned how to ride one back when he worked on a farm in Idaho...he said it is just like riding a bike!

Ellie was more than happy to pose (and yes, even smile) on the horse by herself!!

Here is Ellie trying to convince Dan that it is her turn to ride the horse again...

Can you guess what Dan told her just by looking at the picture?

Chase and Ellie play really well together. Ellie does occasionally try to be affectionate which totally grosses Chase out!! Dan loves this picture, he says Ellie looks hardcore!! :P

Jen's parents had everything up there; a trampoline, a playground, 4-wheelers, horses. It was so much fun!!

Hey wait, I've seen that face before...

By the time Ellie got to ride the horse again, she was ready for a nap...you can still see that cute, grumpy face!!

Jen is such a good sport, she caught the horse for us to ride only to catch brutal allergies. A little later we went on a long 4-wheeling ride which only solidified my beliefs that I am just not cut out for the great outdoors!! :P

Ellie pitched a fit when we left Sunday morning. She kept telling me over and over that it (the cabin) was her house....maybe one day...

Finally Finals...

I took my math final today, what a relief (kind of). I bombed my second test, but I recovered with the third, so technically I only needed to make 100/140 to pass the class today...hopefully I did!!

Now my next couple of weeks will consist of finding the "right" daycare for Ellie pants (I had found one the first part of June, but the lady said she would call me in two weeks to let me know for sure. I finally called her two weeks ago, and she said she couldn't take Ellie...it was a little frustrating to say the least. I've found at least four or five that I will be investigating next week.

I will be observing a teacher prep day and the first day of school, and then starting school again on the 27th...man, this summer flew by WAY too fast!!