Copley

Jakers Jack-o-lantern's!

2011-10-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday we visited Jaker's in Springville UT, I had been talking to some co-workers and friends about where a good pumpkin patch around these parts was. Growing up in Cedar I always enjoyed our trip to the pumpkin patch in Paragonah I have really never been to any other, considering I never knew of any other pumpkin patches because there werent very many to choose from around there :) But now we live in a place where there is a pupkin patch just about at every corner, and most of the big ones require you to pay and entry fee plus the price of the pumpkins you pick! Well Jaker's has a lot more going for them that just the fact that its all free (except for the pumkins, but they are VERY reasonable priced) its loads of fun, feels like a REAL pumpkin patch, not to carnival like the others and we seriously could have spent all day there just playing in the ginormous pit of corn kernals! ( I seriously want a corn box instead of a sand box now haha!)

They had a two mazes constructed out of hay bales, you could go through without getting corn husks stuck in your hair or bugs all over you, or coming out all itchy, Grant sure had fun in the big maze climbing and jumping from hay stack to haystack, and playing king of the mountain.

ahhhhh... the corn box! Only thing bad about it was coming out of the corn box with an "ear of corn" ! haha! Sorry I just had to. The petting zoo was also fun, they had a reindeer, kangaroo, and a GIANT pig! It was seriously the size of a good size calf!

Despite the heat... which by the way was a blazing 80 degrees! Grant was getting discouraged in the hunt for the "perfect" pumpkin due to the heat, but we ended up taking home 2 of the best lookin pumpkins out of the whole bunch! Oh we also bought a few of those orange things too :)

A "spooktacular" time !

2011-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Halloween time here at the Copley house, in fact most of our FHE's this month end in some kind of goolish craft :)

One thing we can't go without making are White Choclate caramel apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, in fact we have made them twice now and I am sure we will be making them all through November too!

This was one of the kids favorite crafts, Mad scientist jars with creepy crawlies! So easy and they look so neat when they are all together!

When I Grow Up....

2011-10-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is a phrase that I hear often at the beginning of almost ALL of Grant's sentances these days. The Orem fire station is just down the street from where we live, as we were taking daddy to school we noticed that it was a bit busier than usual around the fire station, there were school buses, cars lined up on the side of the road and lots of people gathered in the firestation parking lot. So we decided to check it out on the way back. It turned out that they were having their annual public safety festival and so we joined in on the festivities, and we were so glad we did! The kids enjoyed FREE popcorn and cotton candy, fireman hats and badges! There were different demonstrations involving fire, how they rescue people from car accidents, CPR, explosions, and they even had a house that was filled with "smoke" that the kids could practice escaping the right way. It was very informative for the parents (it actually made me think of going an buying a fire extinguisher...... which I still might) and hands on learning and fun for the kids, it made for a great feild trip that day :) So Grant's sentance for the day to me was "When I grow up I want to be a real live fireman!"

I like big BUNS and I can not lie!

2011-10-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have a confession... I like big BUNS! I have been wearing them a lot lately, mainly because I feel I have NO time whatsoever to get ready and this is the easiest and fastest way I can look and feel "put together" :)

I don't necessarily feel like I look amazing wearing a bun but I feel its a look most people can pull off, because it doesn't have to be perfect, and in fact it looks better if its not, the messier the bun the better!

I HEART Lauren Conrad buns!:) (sounds funny I know) I just love her style, she has the most laid back but yet polished looks, she and Rachels Zoe are at the top of my fashion guru list.

I love this "romantic" rendition of the messy bun.

Who thought the word "messy" could look so fabulous!

My bun is a bit to Prim and Proper in this photo, normally a bit more messy than this but dressed up or dressed down its perfect if you don't have the time on your hands to fuss with your hair!

Now alot of you, like me, don't have super thik hair and are probably thinking how the heck do I get a full volume bun with so little hair, You can do the way I did it with gym socks!

Yep! I said socks! Just head over to Openning Ceremony to get the full tutorial on how to make your own magic hair donuts and they have several ways to wear them!

source

Or if you don't feel like making your own you can go to Sally Beauty Supply store and buy Hair Stylers Mesh Chingnon its only about $4.00

image source

Falling in Love with Fall

2011-10-06T02:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but my favorite time of the year is Fall, I love the trasitional seasons don't you? They are the most beautiful times of the year. I could live without the snow that the dead of winter brings, and I could live without the scorching heat of summer, but If the year only had two season's I would pick spring and FALL!

Every day a different craft, this day we made saltdough Mickey Mouse pumkin patch!

Having a fall scavenger hunt for acorns for more fun fall projects

my kids had a blast picking up these acorns pretending to be squirrels!

Family trips to the park when the weather is just right, catching water skeeters and having boat races...

And relaxing under a tree.

If I could stay in Fall forever I would, I LOVE falling in love with FALL!

Stayin ALIVE!

2011-10-05T02:55:00.000-07:00

All too often we take ourselves and life too seriously and we forget to have fun and let loose. Luckily for me I have my own remedy for situations like this and it goes a little something like this..........

I love that my sister is always down for my crazy ideas, this is one reason I love visiting my family, they lift my spirit when Im feeling a bit down, and make me laugh hysterically until soda comes out my nose ;) And they always remind me of what is most important..... FAMILY

I wish for a FISH!

2011-10-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

We took a ride up American Fork Canyon a few weeks ago to take the kids fishing. Grant has been begging me to take him all summer long, but since I am no good when it comes to setting up a pole I have always left that duty up to his dad, so the poor kid had to wait 4 months to be able to have this moment, even though no fish were caught this day, the kids were getting a kick out of watching the fish jump out of the water to catch their dinner. And just being together up there in the mountains was the hilight of my week.

bustin out the fly fishin pole!

Doesn't my little "dolly" look like a seasoned fisherman?? She absolutely LOVED it !

Grant finally got his summer wish to go fishing with Dad :)

But the most sweetest moment of all was when Grant put his arm around Evyn and said "here Evyn "doll" I will teach you how to fish like me!"

I absolutely love this picture of the two of them, This is going up on my wall for sure!

Labor DAY!

2011-10-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

So Labor Day this year went something like this.....

Waken up and meeting in Enoch at 5 am, getting ready to run our first family half marathon!

Deryck and I 6 miles into the run, almost to Summit and feelin good!

Tired and hurting but still enough energy to pose for a photo op!

We all made it to Grandma Stubbs' house in Parowan! Now ready for some breakfast.mmmmm!

All the cousins enjoying the Utah County Labor Day Parade!

The REAL cabbage patch kids playing around in Grandpa Stubbs' "Garden of Eatin!"

Enjoying our traditional Labor Day lunch in Grandma's front yard and having some laughs.

4 years old!

2011-09-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

My crazy little Grant is getting so big! Four years ago at approximately 9:45 pm he came into our lives. Watching him grow up has been hard for me because it reminds me how fast the time goes by and that I need to cherish every little moment with my little ones. I love you Grant Aaron, Happy 4th Birthday!

Zoology!

2011-08-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

We had quite the fun day at the Hogale Zoo with the cousins. We have been to a lot of Zoo's but suprisingly this was our first time visiting this Zoo. It was fun to watch the kids get excited ovver all the animals AND the dinosaurs! I am sure we will be going back again once they finish the polar bear exhibit.

Seven Peaks

2011-07-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

Anton, Angela, Ascher, Alexis, Grant, Aaron, Andi, Tyler, Me, Evyn, Nana and Papa

Seven Peaks 2011

I remember going going to Seven Peaks once a year when I was growing up, but somewhere in time we all got really busy with jobs and growing up that we stoped going, it has been a good 10 years since we last went as a family, but now that I have kids its time to start the tradition all over again :) ! I can't tell you how much I love spending time with my family, there is never a dull moment, and everyone always has a great time. Thank you Papa for taking all of us.

4th of July

2011-07-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to get to spend the 4th of July with my cousins and their kids at my Aunt Charlotte's and Uncle Steve's house
this year. The kids really enjoyed playing together and it was fun to watch all of them get so excited about everything. Even though it was raining the entire time we were doing fireworks it was so much fun!

Andrianna and Tyler's Wedding Extravaganza!

2011-06-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so this may be a little bit of an overload of pictures but after what I call "Andriana and Tyler's Wedding Extravaganza" I just wanted to relax for a bit, so I slacked on posting about the wedding :)

I headed to Cedar 2 weeks before the wedding so that I could spend Memorial Day with my family and do all the last minutes for the Bridal Shower.

We had the Bridal Shower that Saturday at my brother Anton's house, Everything turned out exactly how I pictured it and we all had a blast!

For the drinks we had a Mint Julep bar and mini waterbottles

This mossy Idea was actually the whole inspiration for the decor of the shower and I loved how it turned out!

On the Menu: Pita chips with Parmesan Spinache Artichoke dip .......

Turkey Pinwheels and Nuts about Berry salad in a cup (not pictured)

Last but not least Andriana's favorite cake... From scratch Red Velvet (I made 3 the night before yikes!)

The best part of the shower were the people who came, I don't have pictures of everyone who showed up but this one has a few of my favorite people in the world!

The next week we had all sorts of fun, my sister and I enjoyed a little bit of pampering, getting spray tans and taking the kids to the aquatic center and then the Friday before the wedding we all gathered at the Canyon Park for a dinner hosted by Tyler's family.

Cousins, Sister's, Grandmas, Mother's and Daughters we be!

A few of the silliest cousins I know! It was so cute to see all the little one's playing and having fun together.

The gangs all here!

These moment's don't happen often enough but when they do you leave longing for more!

This day came tooo fast, Im getting choked up as we speak, I really never thought of the day my little baby sister would be getting married, I always thought I would have been through at least 2 other sibling weddings before this one but I almost wasn't quite prepared for it! haha! Even though there are 8 years between us, she is one of my best friends, she was my first mini-me and I remember dressing her up and doing her hair and makeup and taking "glamour" shots of her in our backyard! This day brought me back to those days as I helped her put on her dress, wipe her eyes , and fix her makeup just before she walked down the aisle. What a beautiful ceremony and a day to remember.

luckily I had Evyn to make us laugh and calm the nerves as she dragged Braden and I down the aisle, what a

Aint no party like a Pena Partay!

Let them eat cake!

Circle of Friends

Grant and his Cousin Reagan.... they love eachother
Doesn't my sister look gorgeous!

There is never a dull moment when we all get together.

I want this to be perfectly clear ..... Alexis was the mastermind behind the car! hahaa! And of course my Aunt Brenda has a jump rope in her car for special occaisions such as this!

Happy Birthday Evyn Elyse!

2011-05-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

My baby is 2 today!!!

I have such a sweet little girl, she is growing up so fast! She's potty trained and talks full sentances and has the cutest little mouse voice :) She is the little mommy and is so kind and gentle and loves to take care of others, but don't underestimate her, she does have it in her to be miss sassy pants and she can hold her own against her big brother Grant. She is such a funny girl and she can always put a smile on anyones face.

I love you little dolly!

Oh the places we go!

2011-05-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

Discovery Gateway

I loved everything about it! Except for the fact that I took the kids on a Saturday by myself, YIKES! can you say crowded? But it was so much fun that it didn't matter :)

The Orem City Park

One of our favorite places to go after story time at the city Library.

Summer Time and the Livin is Easy.....

2011-05-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

So lately my kids and I have been OBSESSED with Maricino Cherries, I have been testing out a few drink ideas for my sisters Bridal shower in June and so with some of the left over ingredients we have been making them into popsicles, here is just one of the many different flavors (and one of their favorite) it's just simple :

-Newman's own natural Lemonade

-Maricino Cherries

so instead of going out and purchasing a box of manufactured popsicles, go and pick up some very inexpensive popsicle molds and make some of your own, Its sooo much more enjoyable and they look pretty too! ha ha:) To add a refreshing twist to this combination (which is my favorite) add a tsp of Creme De Menthe syrup! You can usually find this in the ice cream topping section at the store.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Grant

Evyn

I could not ask for anything more, I love you. You are the center of my world and I am honored to be your mother.

Hunting for Easter Eggs in my kitchen!

2011-04-01T03:26:00.000-07:00

For the perfect Easter Egg hunt you need rolling hills of green grass....... Loads of Easter Eggs filled with surprises! But don't forget this is a hunt.... so the eggs need to be hidden:) And after you have gathered up all of your eggs. You sit down to enjoy your findings!

TADA!!! Easter Egg Hunt cookies! I got this recipe from one of my FAVORITE blogs MADE and you can get the recipe here , the origional calls for m&m's but how could you not put Cadburry chocolate eggs in these cookies, if you are going to have an easter egg hunt you have to have easter eggs!

The things we do...

2011-04-01T03:13:00.000-07:00

When its cold outside...... When its warm outside..... When life gets crazy.... we keep it simple :)

Happy 28th Birthday Deryck!

2011-03-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

Just want to say Happy Birthday to my husband, Who is absolutely amazing ;)

I just love this picture.

A few yards and a little inspiration

2011-02-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know I talk about sewing a lot and post about my creations on FB all the time, but I have never posted any pics of my creations and here is why

1: I am way self concious about the things I create and I never think they are good enough to be able to share with everyone else.

2: I really hate downloading pictures onto the computer..... It seems like it takes forever, but Im just lazy;)

Also I love to sew and I have been sewing with a tiny crapy sewing machine for a long time and would get so frustrated during a project that I would just simply quit midway and nothing was ever completely finished. So I bought an older used one and I finally started to actually finish projects, the stitching was clean and smooth and it made sewing a breeze, and ever since then I have been using my "Hour" a day time to my self to sew and create.

My sister's wedding is in June and and with Evyn being the flower girl I thought Im going to make her dress, because I found the cutest dress in the store and I wanted to copy cat it, but in purple. I never ever ever use patterns bought at the store because... I simply can't understand or follow the directions, so usually I will just use something that they already have, get the measurements and make my own patterns with paper (much easier). Alright enough hoopla, here is what I have been up to.

The Dress isn't completely finished, I am still deciding on what "accents I want to put on it, and Im waiting to put the zipper in just in case Evyn decides to have a major growth spurt ;)
These are just some throw pillows I made to livin up my living room for spring, notice the kids already ripped off the button on the round pillow, nothing lasts very long when you have toddlers ;)

More than just a Valentine.

2011-02-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

It feels like i have not blogged in forever! Just wanted to reflect on this years valentines day, Deryck and I celebrated it last Friday because he was going to be gone, we had a simple dinner with our two babies and it just had to be a sushi night, because that is something both Deryck and I absolutely LOVE. The kids and I have been in Cedar since Saturday night and Sunday we got to go to stake conference with my parents, Grant was surprisingly good but Evyn was crazier than crazy and liked to run up on the stand, silly girl. I love spending Sundays with my family, we celebrated Valentines day on Sunday so that everyone could be together, my mom made such a cute valentine's day spread and had a little treat basket for each one of us. We enjoyed playing games and decorating cookies. On Monday my mom and the kids and I headed to Parowan to "kick" some valentine's at my Grandparent's house, It was so cute to see my Grandpa love on my kids, and see the joy and surprise on his face when he saw them. We visited with Grandma while Grandpa took the kids to feed the horse and show them where he keeps his bee's, I pushed them on the old tire swing that I used to swing in when I was little and the world just seemed so right and peaceful in that moment. Grandpa showed the kids some of his special treasures that he has kept in a keepsake clear top coffee table in the front room, he shared stories of how he inherited a few of them, and how he found some, he showed us some of his model stock racing cars that were signed by the drivers, I loved listening to him talk about them because you could see the excitement in his face. Then at the end of our visit he told me he had a gift for me, he went back in his room and brought out a cute little box with two little gingerbread men on the front, when I opened the box and saw what it was I almost cried! He had intended to give it to me for Christmas but he hadn't finished making them, it was my very own set of gingerbread house cookie cutters that he had made! I have wanted my own for a very long time and it was very special. After our visit we stopped by the Parowan Dairy Freeze for some traditional hot wings french fries, and a coke and fresh lime. On the way home we stopped in Enoch to kick another valentine at my Aunt Brenda's, it was so good to see them and visit. This valentine's day wasn't about a bouquet of flowers, or a box of chocolates, an ornate greeting card, or expensive fancy gifts, it was about the simplicities in life, and being surrounded by people who love us, and truely feeling our love for them. Happy Valentine's Day!

A Gold Star.

2011-01-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Can I just say how in love I am with my Evyn "doll" and Grant"man" They are growing up so fast, learning so manythings and I can't
imagine how boring and unfulfilling life would be without them.

We recently started a "star chart" for them, they can earn gold stars throughout the week by doing something nice, listening to mommy and daddy or being nice to eachother, they can also earn black stars and that is NOT a good thing. at the end of the week we coun't up all the gold and subtract all the black, if they have 5 gold stars then they get to go somewhere fun or get something fun. Here is where the stars have taken us recently

A dinner date and Ice cream, to the play place at the mall, and Dispicable me, ( note this is not all one day ;) )

To see the fish and animals at Cabella's (even daddy's get gold stars too! haha! )

On a play date to the Kangaroo Zoo!

Christmas!

2011-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Deryck's dad was going to be in St. George for Christmas weekend and that weekend only, our orignional plan was that we were not going anywhere for Christmas because both Deryck and I had to work, but we made it work and drove down Christmas Eve and joined my parents and family in Parowan for out traditional Christmas Eve party at my Grandparent's house. I love getting together with family and just having no care in the world and laughing and talking. My kids really enjoyed it and I think it made Christmas more exciting for them.

We spent the night at my parents house in Cedar and opened presants and ate a yummy breakfast, It was so much fun to just watch the kids open their gifts and get all excited for what they got. Deryck and I have a rule that we only get the kids one big gift each and one small gift each, this rule is only because they have 3 sets of Grandparents, and usually more than half the gifts under the tree turn out to be for the kids, (they are a little spoiled ) being the only grandkids on each side of the family. Grant's big gift was the Fisher Price ixl, which I have to say is the best gift ever...for me and him ;) Evyn got a dress up box and lots of fun dress ups. That afternoon we headed to St. George to spend the day with Deryck's dad and Nancy, where the kids got to open even more presents, we enjoyed a nice dinner and it was so good to see them after 6 months of not seeing them. We headed back to Cedar around 7 because my youngest brother was calling from Mexico, I loved hearing his voice and seems like he knows the language pretty good, Im do proud of him and so greatful for the service he is doing in Mexico. What a perfect Christmas!

Holiday

2011-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

We started out our Christmas celebrations with some of our close friends and had a Christmas party at the Zorad's, Thank you Krystal and Boone! We miss you guys.

We finally got around to taking the kids to sit on Santa's lap. When little Evyn saw him she ran towards him and held out her arms for him to hold her, it was the cutest thing ever! no tears here. I think we saw about 3 Santa's and Grant asked everyone of them for the same gift, a new snow globe :)

Evyn's Terrible, Horrible No Good VERY BAD Day.

2010-12-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

December 10 was a very traumatizing day for all of us, Especially my little Evyn Dolly. Around 3 Grant, with all good intentions, was in the kitchen wanting a drink, so I got him one and got Evyn one as well in their "designated" plastic cups :) They sat in the kitchen drinking thier juce and I went into the bedroom to finish folding clothes. Grant had decided that he needed more juice and asked me for some, I topld him to wait a few more minutes and I would be right there. Then a few minutes later I heard him say to Evyn "go show mommy" and I started to walk into the front room to meet her assuming Grant had successfully pourd more juice in her cup and didn't want her to spill it all over the house. I saw him coaxing her and told him that she needed to stay in the kitchen with the drink and she knew that but Grant kept coaxing her and she was resisting his nudging, It was at that moment I realized she had a different cup than I had given her "a big thick glass cup" (the only glass one we have in the house by the way) and as I urged Grant Not to push on her, He pushed, tripped the both of them and the came crashing down, Grant on top of Evyn, and Evyn's mouth straight onto the glass cup. She screamed and had what I thought was the berry juice she had been drinking all over her face, I scooped her up and noticed her front tooth was gone and realized that the "berry juice" was her blood, I freaked! but tried my hardest to stay calm and ran her to the bathroom and rinsed her mouth so that I could asses the damage. After Evyn (and Mommy) stopped crying we went into the kitchen to see if we could find her tooth, no such luck so I just assumed she had swallowed it. I swear I called EVERY pediatric dentist from here to Sandy and they had all closed at 2 and would not see her for an emergency because she had not been to the dentist yet and is not a "'registered patient" Really people?? I was so mad, so Monday I scheduled her for an appointment, it was a crazy day and in the midst of all the running around I had left her insurance card at the house and said that I would have to re-schedule! UGHHHHH! They put her on stand by and we finally got her in to see the dentist on Wednesday and this is what we found out.

Her tooth was shoved back up into her gum 1/4 in! we were all so shocked, even the dentist said he had never seen a case as bad as this.

She hated the dentist, but she was such a happy girl after she stopped crying when it happened, she even attempted to eat an apple!

This was Saturday night, her face was so swollen clear up to her eye.

The dentist wants to try and avoid invasive surgery, so he is having us wait it out and see if the tooth will push itself back down just enough that he can just pull it out, that can take up to 3 months, so if this does not happen then she will have to have surgery :( poor baby.

A much needed getaway.

2010-12-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Lets play catch....up! haha! So last weekend I finally got the opportunity to visit my family, its hard to make time to go anywhere when your husband works EVERY Saturday, but this weekend Deryck had a business trip to go on and had to drive through Cedar so I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit the family. Deryck drove down with a coworker who was also going on the trip the night before so that they wouldn't have to drive down early Thursday morning which is good news for me so I wouldn't have to drive him EARLY that morning. The kids and I drove down Thursday night and surprised my family, it was so much fun! It was so nice to get to hang out with everyone and play games together again, have a dance battle while playing the XBOX kinnect (which by the way is Flippin awesome!) and just sit and laugh with my sister and mom. Grant even got to have dinner with the ward missionaries (my mom was feeding them that night) and he was so excited about it. Aunti Andi and Uncle Tyler treated me and the kids to a showing of Tangled, which was absolutley fantastic and it was Evyn's first real experience watching a movie like a big girl with her kiddi combo pack and her own seat! It's not often that we get to go to the movies, so The next day we went to Harry Potter, with my brothers Anton and Aaron, and my all time favorite Alexis (aka aaron's/Grant's girlfriend ;) ) and Deryck, Love love loved it! Saturday I got to spend some time with my dad while giving him a ride to Orderville to pick up a work truck, good chatting and good times, that is until his work truck's fuel pump stopped working on the way back just 15 miles up the canyon ;) Deryck's trip was more than successful which made the weekend even better ( we all know that is a good thing;) We topped off the weekend with Impromptu family pics since we were all together and it was a good time.

Gotta love my family, what a good looking posse!

I didn't get around to editing these but everyone looks cold except for dad, good choice on your background pops!

haha! my inner "special" came out in this one!

Could not get Evyn to look at the camera, granted it was cold and she just wanted to get out of there, but don't you just love Grant's cheesy face in all the pics? ;)

Boring blogging/ SEW....What's up!

2010-11-15T20:48:00.000-08:00

Ok so I really want to blog but I always feel like I have to have pictures on all of my posts, well looks like Im going to have a really Boring blog for a while because my camera is busted;( so sad because I have all this stuff to take pictures of and NO camera. First off, I found as my friend Megan would say "a jem" of a sewing machine at the DI and amazingly it is fully functional and all parts are metal! YAY! I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, most of you are thinking "why didn't you just buy a new one?" well for those of you who know about sewing machines, know how expensive a good machine can cost and most of you who know me, know that I am borderline CHEAP, and broke (but that's a whole different story) haha. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out this machine was in great working condition and only $20. I would love to say I have sewn a million things with it already but the truth is I find that the only time I have to sit down and sew is when the kids are naping, NICE! I love the kids clothes at GAP, but find their clothing to be rediculously OVER priced, So I frequent the store (with phone camera ready) and snap pics of my favorite pieces, examine the fabric and identify the pattern and before you know it Im home sewing a replica for usually under $8, this is where I wish i had my camera so you could see for yourself, Maybe I'll just take all my pieces over to my cousins or have one of my friends snap some photos of them. Can't wait to share my creations with you!

Spooks, Tricks, and Treats!

2010-11-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween we enjoyed a Day at Cornbelly's (pictures coming soon) as a gift from my parents. Then we spent the night trick or treating with cousins!

Grant was M.I.A. for this picture, but in case you couldn't tell, that is Evyn on the far left, she was Tinkerbell! since she has no hair, I made her a wig! haha! All of the kids were sooo darn cute!

And of course when one child starts to cry during picture taking, its like a chain reaction!

Grant, Reagan, and Mya loading up.

One of my favorite things of the night was Grant and his method for getting a lot of candy, "We got to hurry to the next one, then run to the next one!" and at every door he would say "Trick or Treat! Halloween! "

Cute cousins in their skeleton jamies!

The parting gifts

We dined on Navajo tacos, they were pumpkins!

Chelsea's homemade doughnuts and cookie dough spider truffles.

All thanks to this cute family, Thank you Chelsea and Josh!

Nana and Papa Visit!

2010-10-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my dad actually had a few days off work! I know... crazy! So him and my mom came up for a little getaway to watch a JAZZ game and visit. There was nothing that I needed more last week than to see my parents, it really took my mind off of things and I needed that the most. We went to Thanksgiving Pointe on Saturday, they weather was not ideal so we just went to the Barnyard Boo, it was starting to get too cold to be outside so we didn't have a chance to hit up Cornbelly's but my parent's being who they are, purchased us some tickets so that we could take the kids on a warmer day. I can't begin to tell you what amazing parents I have but I my kids adore them as much as I do so it's hard on all of us when they leave, and we already can't wait to be able to spend more time with them as soon as we can. But Im just glad that they were able to make a trip up. Here are some pictures from their visit.

She kept saying "oohhh! Punkins!"

isn't thist the cutest little cheesy face you have ever seen?! What a crack up!

Need I say more? ;)

My Evyn Elyse.

Spooky Spooky!

What cute little "pumpkins"

I love the face Grant is making! We wanted to get a picture of him and Evyn together with the fall leaves, but he insisted that we take one of him riding the sheep! That's Grant for ya!

Grant found a pony to ride that was just his size, He didn't wear his cowboy boots for nothin!

Nana and Grant

Grant cleaned up the streats of Barnyard Boo and threw these two criminals into the Utah Territorial Jail, they are known as NANA and PAPA.

Making cookies!

Evyn throwing Bats at the Haunted house.

A Weekend in "Grandmaland"

2010-10-05T07:51:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we packed up the kiddos and headed to Colorado to visit Grandma Pennie at her new place. When we drove up the first thought was Snow White and WOW! It's about 10 acres and her house is a little old victorian style house, white red and green, really old, but so darling, I love old houses because they have the most unique layouts. Grant told me that there was even a "whompus kitty" that lives in the attic! haha! what an imagination. Im soo sad about the pictures, I took pictures of all of our adventures every day we were there, of Grant and I riding horses together, Deryck fishing in the river, Grant and Evyn chasing chickens and swinging on the tire swing horse, but the last day we were there my camera decided to go crazy and all my pictures were lost, so all of these pictures were taken just right before we left on Sunday. It was loads of fun though and we were glad that we got to visit.

YEEEE HAWW! Ride em Cowboy!

Farm Fresh Eggs!

Chicken Run

Singin E I E I O!

You know me, I gotta make some Monster Cupcakes! SPOOKY!

Grant is 3!

2010-09-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Can someone tell me where the time went? Because I would really like to know so that I can tell it to slow down just a bit;) Grant is 3 today, I have been saying for the past 2 weeks now " I can't believe Grant will be 3!" because I really just can't get my head around the thought!I love you my little Grant man and I hope that you will have a wonderful 3rd birthday.

More Kanara Falls

2010-07-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Kanara Falls 2010

2010-07-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been, you have to go, this was my first time going with the family, they have been many times before without me;) It was also Grant's first time hiking ever! and the boy did good, the whole 4 hour hike he had a grin on his face from ear to ear and I did not hear one complaint! What a beautiful place. Enjoy the photo collage montage;)

4th of July and farewell continued

2010-07-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had a glow stick pool party and roasted the most ginormous marshmellows in the fire pit that Brandon built.

We ended the busy week with Brandon's mission farewell, What a great talk he gave, Im sure going to miss that kid, but Im so proud and excited for him. Adios mi hermano!

4th of July and Farewell

2010-07-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Uncle Max's place in Pinto, 4-wheelin, Rhino Ridin, Tree climbing, chit-chatting, heck of a good time;)

This year all of the Festivities were celebrated on the 5th, but non the less is was fun! We enjoyed the parade.

We played with fireworks.

Evyn's 1 year old pictures

2010-06-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

My friend Megan took Evyn's pictures and they are so cute I just had to share them! Thanks Megan! enjoy;)

Baltimore Times

2010-06-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

Well we have been enjoying our time in Baltimore, doing a lot of things, seeing alot of the sites, I know I haven't been good at posting lately, mainly because I don't get the internet in my apartment and it is just too much for me to take the kids down to the lobby and have them sit quietly while I blog;) so here is a quick run down and, not all of the pics, but some of them.

We have been to the inner Harbor 2 times now and I have yet to post any of the pictures because both times I forgot my camera or it wasn't working, so other people have pictures of us there, just waiting to swap with them;) But we enjoy going to the Harbor because there is just so much to do and see, our last trip there we went to the National Aquarium, it was amazing!

We took a small trip to DC, we saw the white house and the first thing that Deryck said was "that's it?" I guess he was expecting it to be more "grand" than it was;) we didn't get to see the Lincoln memorial or the wwII memorial because it started to rain and the kids were getting cold but we will go back again once my family comes out.

Just last Sunday we went to watch an Orioles VS Red Sox game, it was nice to go do something I wouldn't normally do, but MAN! are those games long! Grant slept the entire game because he was sick, and Evyn stayed awake the whole time and cheered and clapped when everyone else did. Although it was a good experience, I don't think you will catch me at another one anytime soon;) .

Then on Monday my friend Sarah and I went in search of Charm City Cakes;) I knew we weren't going to see more than just the building but it was still fun to go and actually see where they are. Surprisingly in was smack dap right in the middle of what they call the "blue light district" meaning high crime ghetto. luckily it was during the day but I still can't believe we walked around the block with our kids;) next time I go, I'll just eat at The Dizz, then maybe I will have a celebrity sighting;).

Here are some pics! Enjoy;)

Evyn turns1!

2010-05-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

My little dolly turned 1! I can't believe its been a whole year since she joined our little family. We had a family "unbirthday on mother's day the week before we left Cedar so that my family could celebrate her birthday, unfortunately Grant got had the flu on Evyn's birthday and so we had a very quiet "quarentiend" birthday in the apartment so we didn't want all of the babies to get sick so we just exchanged presents and cupcakes at the door, then Grant and I watched Evyn open her gifts, she got lots of clothes, and that is "what a girl wants:)" . It was hard to keep Evyn awake until Deryck got home around 10:30 but Deryck was able to watch her blow out her candle, and she did it all by herself;) LOVES YOU EVYN DOLL!! Happy 1st Birthday!

March madness/ April

2010-04-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad at posting but here is a little picture catch up!

We have been spending the majority of our time in St. George escaping the snow and swimming at the Rec Center... I can't wait for Cedar's Rec Center to open!

Grant has been wanting to walk around the Temple grounds forever so we finally took him, on the way into the Temple grounds he fell and scraped his elbow, when I asked him if he was ok he confidently replied "yes! Jesus will make it better." he spotted a couple who had just got married and asked "what are they doing?" we told him how people get married in the Temple and that mommy and daddy were married in this Temple and he said " Ya I was a baby in the Temple! Im going to be married there." Deryck and I just looked at each other like WOW! Children are amazing.

The last big snow fall uncle "Run-Run" (Aaron) took the kids and I sledding at Cal Ranch, boy did we have fun! I usually hibernate when it snows because I dread the cold, but it was sunny enough for me to suck it up and take my kids out to play in the snow and Im so glad that we went. Thanks again Aaron you are a GREAT uncle!

And he's going to..........

2010-03-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was full of exciting events. Not only did we Celebrate Deryck's 27th birthday, but my youngest brother Brandon recieved his mission call! We all had our random guesses and I was sooo sure that he was going foreign, somewhere spanish speaking of course, but only two people guessed right. I am excited to say that Elder Brandon Pena will be serving in the Mexico, Mexico City North mission!!! I have 2 other brothers one older than me and one just 4 years younger and Brandon is the first in our family to serve a mission, I have had several cousins who have served missions but the only other person close to me who has served a mission was Deryck, He is the only missionary I kept close tabs on ;) So this will be quite a fun experience for the whole family. He won't be leaving till July 21st ( I know... that seems like a long time;) so Im glad that we will get to spend most of the summer here with us. We love you Brandon and are so proud and excited for you, you will make a great missionary! LOVES!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DERYCK!

2010-03-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Deryck is 27!! Happy Birthday babe! LOVE YOU!!!

and more

2010-02-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ok so if you are reading these posts I need to tell you that they are backwards so if you want the exact play by play you will have to start from the bottom to the top of the page;)

I took one of the pictures with my Grandpa Clarence in mind, I am standing by a protected species of bees at Xel Ha, these are hives made of followed out trees and yes there is a lot of honey inside;)

Deryck and I spent our last night in Cancun walking on the beach ( I know how sappy) but it WAS so romantic.;)

We woke up early saturday morning and layed out on the beach, it was the nicest day about 90 degrees and of course it had to be the day of our departure. I didn't want to leave Cancun without sea shells for Grant and the whole time we were there we couldn't find any on the beach, but Deryck was determined and dug through the sand as the waves rolled in like he was panning for gold and low and behold found a treasure trove of sea shells! All in all we had the time of our lives and are so thankful for the people who made it possible for us to go, can't wait for next year!

Cancun continued...

2010-02-03T17:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the temple, then you have the ring where they hit the ball through in a 7 on 7 game using only elbows knees and hips NO hands and feet it was approx 2o feet high! AMAZING! The most interesting sight to see was this baptismal faunt, then there was the observatory, the Myan people were truely brilliant in their studies of the sun and astrology.

This is at the center of the Arena where they played "ball" this is where they say "kukulcan" (kukul meaning feather and can meaning snake) sat but we call him Jesus Christ ;)

Friday was basically our last full day in Cancun, Deryck and I went to Xel- Ha (shell ha) which is basically a protected cove which was a mixture of salt water and fresh water, you had to wear biodegradeable sunscreen, and you could just snorkel, ride a tube through the mangroves at the begining of the cove, clif dive, ride bikes, swim with dolphins, and caves, they had all kinds of wild life, it was so relaxing and beautiful

Cancun Trip 2010!

2010-02-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

We all stayed at an all inclusive 5 star hotel Riu Caribe, this is the view from out balcony.

Beach time! we spent our first day lying out on the beach and hanging with friends

Wednesday Deryck and I went zip lining (not pictured will post later) at Selvatica and then joined our friends on a trip to the Mexican Market. Bargaining is sooooo much fun!

Thursday we all visited Chichen Itza, I have to say this was the best part of our trip, as soon as I saw the ruins I got chills! It was even better because our tour guide new a little bit about the LDS and so it was very insightful.

In like ForeVeR!

2010-01-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

I know, I think this is the longest time I have gone without posting. Probably because papa has been cleaning and organizing the space on the computer so I haven't been able to upload or find any of my pictures! He means well;). Here is a quick update on what we have been up to....

Evyn is mobile and fast! She is crawling, climbing and has learned Pat-a-cake and can say mama, dady, and bubble bath, and is now sporting two bottom teeth!

Deryck is going to school, now working for AMP security (same thing as APX) just different company, recruiting a lot of guys and moving up the ladder, he will be back East again this summer. busy busy busy!

Grant is finally has a good structured routine, he is learning how to read, and is now finally enjoying playing with his sister now that she is mobile;)

I have been on an excercise craze and am obsessed with Jillian Michaels workouts, and I ams starting to actually like long distance running.

I promise we will have tonz of new pics to share with all of you after next week, we are taking the kids to Colorado to stay with Grandma Pennie for a whole week! and then its off to Cancun Mexico for Deryck and I for a long awaited vacation in the sun!

more holiday pics

2009-12-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

thanks for letting me steal these pictures from you Brenda!

Run, run run as fast as you can! you can't catch us we're the gingerbread men! haha!

Do you play.....Croquet???

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T17:28:00.000-08:00

WE ate dinner at Grandmas, went for a walk to feed the ducks and got attacked! and the boys played croket.

Grant told Santa he what he wanted for Christmas and Evyn beat Santa in a starring contest, Grant captured a moment while two cousins shared a hug.

While gingerbread houses were being made, some for the first time, Sisters talked and laughed together.

Halloween 09

2009-11-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

This year Tanna and Anton hosted a very spooky party and it was a blast Tanna had decorated everything! and I mean everything, the food was all spooked out too! it was really cool, it was also so nice to finally meet Tanna's family. So thank you Tanna for the very fun Halloween party.

Those of you who know me know that I am obsessed with Disney, and the movie Alice in wonderland, it's obvious! So when I heard that they were coming out with a remake by Tim Burton and that Johnny Depp was the star (who I am also obsessed with;) I know exactly what we were going to be for halloween, I went as the White Queen from the new movie, and Deryck went as the Madd Hatter, we made both costumes by hand and I have to say they turned out spectacular, so good infact that Aaron wanted to wear it to the howl that night so they hurried and made a costume swap and apparently Aaron was a big hit at the Howl;)

When we were in Pittsburgh I found the best second hand kids store ever and they had these cute Disney origional costumes and I bought both of them for $10 total! I know amazing, then I just made Evyn a pair of cute ears and there you have it! Two cute little trick or treaters! I have to say thanks to my dad for taking Grant trick or treating, you are a life saver!

Preview

2009-10-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

We had a "first session" for family photos with Aaron and his new camera
here is just a preview of some of the "out takes" during our outing ;) I will post the final ones when they are finished
Thanks Aaron!

Apple of my eye

2009-10-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here is just another one of the many ways we enjoy Grandpas apples

What you need: Grandpas yummy apples, caramel cruched oreos and butterfinger, white chocolate and a very cute little helper

What you get: to die for caramel apples, sticky fingers and faces and good times with the apple of my eye

Our Octoberfest!

2009-10-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is a recap of what we have done in the past 2 weeks

Visited the Judd's Pumpkin Patch and found some very cute pumpkins!

Made fresh apple cider with Grandpas cider press, you won't taste anything better!

Had our annual Spooky dinner

Drove to Cali for some Trick or Treat fun at California Disney , we dressed up, road rides, danced and enjoyed lots of yummy candy

We enjoyed two more days of Disneyland fun, It was busy but I recomend doing Halloween Time it was soooo much fun !

Then we stayed one more day and drove to Lompoc CA to visit Deryck's dad and Nancy and enjoyed a day at the beach.

What a great vacation, it was very much needed, and we loved every minute of it!

VOTE FOR GRANT!

2009-10-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

We entered Grant in a contest and we would love to see him win Fan Favorite, he was a late entery so we need to catch up so go vote for him @ www.gap.com/castingcall and enter his ID# 914629213 I think you have to register with the website so that they can keep track of votes but you should do it anyways, you can vote once a day till the 22nd of October, so go vote! Thanks!

BREE

2009-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Grant is 2! Even though he woke up very sick on his birthday, he was still Mr. Personality and had a fun birthday. Our lives have been more adventurous and exciting because of Grant and we are so blessed to be his parents! I will keep it short and sweet and save all of the mushy mom stuff for Grant;) Happy Birthday my little man! LOVES YOU!

Exciting Events

2009-09-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few exciting events

Evyn was finally given a name and a blessing by her daddy the weekend that we arrived home, she wore my blessing dress, she looked so precious! Thanks to all who came.

We did the Iron County Fair thing on Monday, and this time actually took part in the horse races this year, Deryck's dad, Grandpa and Uncle all had horses in the races, and yes we got to have our pictures taken!! Deryck's dad's horse "The Heckler" won his race!!

AND

Even though it is still in the making... Grant has decided that he wants to be a big boy and has been going to the potty by himself! What a relief! No more diapers for the GrantMan!! Wooo Hooo!

2009-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

On our may home we stopped at Deryck's mom's house in Rangely Colorado. We had a great time, Deryck and I canoed down the White Rriver that runs through Pennie's backyard we caught lots of fish along the way and also saw a 7 point bull elk lounging 30 yards away from us! It was so exciting! Grant had a blast and all he wanted to do was ride the horses and grandma's "motorcycle" her 4 wheeler;) Thank you Pennie!

Almost HOME!!

2009-09-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well we have had quite the road trip! After we got Grant on the plane with our good friend Adam (what a saint! ) We finally left Pittsburgh around 5 pm Sunday, we stoped twice on our way first in Indiana and second in Nebraska and now we are in Colorado at Deryck's mom's. We are going canoeing and fishing, and riding, we will leave tomorrow morning and head back home! It was quite the summer experience and we can't wait to do it again next year. Although we didn't make our goal of 100 sales we got close, but because we didn't we are taking on the daunting world of JOB HUNTING! AHHH! We would really like to move up north so we are looking mostly up there, so if any of you hear of anything let us know. We can't wait to see alll of you !

OH! we are blessing Evyn this Sunday at 9:00 am we would love to have those of you who can make it, come. I have a new number but if you need directions just text Deryck! LOVES!!!

Look who's swimmin!

2009-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ok So the last few days it has been perfect swim days ( and we don't get too many of those because of the rain) so I have been taking Grant to the pool a lot, when we first got here he would barely get in the water let alone let me put on his floaties. But it just takes time;) within two days he has taught himself how to swim wihtout me by his side (with the floaties) and how to hold his breath under water without me blowing in his face. Way to go Grantman do! It may not be an exciting video to watch but it's something to watch!;)

My Hobbes

2009-07-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

(this is my first day with Hobbes)

Yesterday was a very sad day. My mom called me around 11:00 am PA time and she was hysterically crying and trying to tell me something I knew I didn't want to hear, all I heard was Hobbes is dead. After I got my mom to calm down she proceeded to tell me what had happened, I was thinking maybe he ran out in the street and got hit by a car, but it wasn't a car, it was the neighbors pitbul. Apparently the neighbors let it out only at night to go rome free around the neighborhood, because throughout the night it had kept coming in my parents backyard causing all of the dogs to bark well the nieghbors didn't lock it back up because they couldn't find it so they just let it run loose. My mom hooked the dogs up in the backyard while she did some laundry, well that dog came back and into my moms backyard and that is when my mom heard all the commotion and when she went out to look, Hobbes and that dog were gone. she went to the front of the house and that dog had Hobbes in his mouth and she was trying to get that dog to drop Hobbes and he finally droped him in the nieghbors driveway, my mom said that he must have been killed instantly. Animal Patrol was called and they have to get rid of their dog, and possibly pay restitution.

We have had Hobbes for 4 years, since he was a baby, he was the last of the bunch, the little runt that no one seemed to want so they sold him to me at a cheaper price, he was an extremely smart dog, learned so quick. We named him after a cartoon cat and it fit him perfectly because he was accident prone and we always joked that he had 9 lives after surviving a terrible fall down concrete stairs when he was just 9 weeks that left him with a crook in his left leg and falling out of the back of a pick up, and running off my parents roof. We loved him and it will be so sad coming home and not seeing how excited he would have been to see us. A few months ago we bred Hobbes to a little Yorkie, just as a way to make a little extra cash, little did we know that it would be so much more than just that. The owner called me last week to tell me that she had given birth to just one tiny male. We will miss you Hobbes, Im sorry we were not there.

BBQ and more

2009-07-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

yesterday our regional manager gave our team $1800 to have a big bbq at the pool, so you can only buy so much food and have left over money so what do you do with the left overs???? YOU TRHOW IT IN THE POOL! They let all of the guys dive for $500 in $1 coins and quarters and it looked like spawning fish! but the guys earned it, they matched their best week last week and worked hard WAY TO GO BOYS!! going for our daily walk!

My little man

Deryck and Jess were the big winners with $72 and $88

My friends Kelly and Rachel with Grant man

Friends Sombryn and Bree.... And Bree is married to a Derrick too! haha! they are expecting their baby on the 4th and it's a girl too! we have a lot in common

look at all the white backs !

Dial explaining the rules

She is getting quite chunky!

By far my favorite thing to do here is go to the DRIVE IN !

Super model... my little mis DIVA! That is her new nick name because she runs the house...for Real!

More PA shananagins!

2009-07-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

Enjoying an early day off work at the company BBQ on the 4th

Grant was showing the Dial girls that he is the boss of Evyn, and they have to ask him to hold her;)

Racheal helping Grant with his first sparkler!

Matt entertaining the kids with fire! Way to go Matt ha ha

Grant isn't quite as tall as an elephant..... but his imagination and personality might be!

They had a Zebra there especially for Grant! ha ha

We took Grant and Evyn to the PA ZOO it, he love it !

Well whaddaya know there is a park discovery in PA too!

Grant taking a bath with "Russel" yes all of them are named Russel except for the red one apparently his name is "Aaron Russel" that is what Grant calls him. thanks nana for the " Russels!"

Now that Grant basically has the whole Nacho Libre movie memorized and can quote from it....Papa decided to fuel the fire and get him a mask ! Love it !

Welsome To Pittsburgh!

2009-07-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I finally found a computer to use , Thanks to Adam, any ways it's been interesting out here in PA. It is so beautiful here, and there are so many places to shop and visit, I haven't done a whole lot mainly because I have two small children and getting them in and out of the truck is challenging. It also rains a lot here, the first week it was really warm and sunny but this week it has been cold and raining every 10 min. So swimming has been put on hold for a few days or even more now that Grant has come down with a case of pneumonia! I know... he just had to get sick here where we have no family practitioner of pediatrition... so we had to visit the emergency room instead and can I just tell you... it was a joke! we spent a total of 4 hours.... and that was just waiting time! Any ways, I am about to throw the Nacho libre movie out the window, he watches it at least twice a day! But it keeps him happy. Sunday is the only day that the guys have off, so we go to church then the guys have a softball game later in the day, and last game it rained so much and we had no umberella and so we just sat in the truck. I know that it is a break for the guys to get out and do something but it deffinately was no picknick for me, I got to chase Grant around trying to keep him off the field while trying to watch Evyn at the same time. I like softbal but I hate the fact that they play in a league because if we want to do something as a family, we have to rush to get back for a stupid ball game, so it's almost pointless to plan to go site seeing or go on a fun trip, I was looking forward to visiting all the historical places but now im starting to wonder if we will ever get the chance?? The girls get together every once in a while and do something fun but again, im the only one out here with 2 small children, everyone else has either 1 infant or older kids who can watch themselves, so I don't get to go that often. But over all I love it here even though the muggy weather has reaked havoc on my skin and I don't venture out much, I just wish I my family could have come out so that I felt like I had someone to share adventures with. I will try to post more exciting pictures if I ever get the oportunity to go somewhere exciting;)

Evyn is smiling and laughing now , I love this stage!

Grant in the Emergency room getting ready for his chest X-ray

After daddy's softball game, we are soaked!

The city, on our way to the game

This is what is on the other side of the tunnle, it is so neat because when you enter the tunnle to go to the city all you can see is the hills and green, then when you reach the end of the tunnle all of the sudden you are in the City, it kind of takes your breath away.

Of course we had to EAT AT JOES! what a dork!

I don't know why I found this to be the coolest thing ever, every state should have this sign in all the major shopping parking lots! haha!, this is at the mall.....sweet!

These are the apartments, Ventana Hills, Hills???? No kidding!

Our backyard, well kind of;)

Swimming at the pool

Grant chasing bunnies! there are little forest creatures everywhere and at night the hills sparkle with the glow of fire flies.... reminds me of DisneyLand at night! ;)

The honey suckles in front of the apartments

daily luch out on the balcony.... feels like summer;)

Off to Pittsburgh!

2009-06-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Well the day has finally come, the kids and I are finally going to PA. I have to admit I am nervous about geting there, I hate planes and traveling in general but to have to do it by myself with 2 little babes is going to be hard, but I know I will make it. I probably won't be posting as much since we won't have a computer but I will try to when the computer is available in the office. The first thing I have to do is buy a camera, can you imagine going site seeing and not having one????!! So that is my goal this weekend. I don't know what to expect when I get there or what it is going to be like without the help of my family ( I have been spoiled) but it is an adventure and I can't wait to tell you all about it;) LOVES!

4 years and 2 kids later

2009-06-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today is mine and Deryck's 4 year anniversary...... Time sure does fly! I can't believe how much can happen in just 4 years, we have two beautiful babies, Grant who is almost 2 and Evyn who is a month old TODAY! But it seems like just yesterday that we became parents for the first time;) Although we are thousands of miles apart on our anniversary and have been for the past 2 months it seems like he has never left my side, even though he is super busy everyday and can barely find time to fix himself a meal, he always makes it a point to call every evening no matter how late or how tired he is to check up on us and make sure we are doing well and tell the kids that he loves them and to "kiss" them goodnite. I speak for both of us when I say it has been a wild rollercoaster of a ride to get where we are today and we have a lifetime to go to get where we want to be and an eternity to enjoy! Deryck and I met almost 9 years ago in high school and he has been my best friend ever since and has given me two of the most precious gifts in the entire world. It's amazing what can happen when two people fall in love. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE!

Grant's 1st date

2009-06-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

They grow up so fast! haha! Grant went on a "date" with Tanna (Anton's girlfriend) Tanna offered to take Grant to Park Discovery and they had a blast. Tanna use to be a nanny for two kids in Las Vegas but she moved back to Cedar and she is missing her "rugrats" as she calls them. So she wanted to spend the day with Grant, and of course it was an offer a mom couldn't refuse;) Tanna said Grant did run into a few "bullies" when he tried to play with another kids squirt gun he was asked very sternly by the kid "to Put that back where it came from";) Grant politely gave it back, then he kept telling Tanna "silly kids" he loved his day date with Tanna, Anton better watch out or he might lose his girl to Grant lol! Thanks Tanna !

Pool Time

2009-06-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

So even though the wind today was out of control! We decided that it was still warm enough to go swimming in Nana's pool. Grant has been waiting all week for the pool to be ready so we could not tell him no anymore and we all gave in and put our swim suits on and braved the wild wind. The water was actually not that bad so we were able to enjoy the overcast sun;) and swim for at least an hour.

Farewell, and yummy messy fun

2009-06-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we took a trip to St. George for a farewell dinner for Doug and Nance, Doug got a great job offer in Santa Barbara CA, so they were moving that weekend. It is a strange feeling having your family spread all over the place when you have had them all very close for a long time, With Pennie in Colorado and Doug and Nance in CA. and us leaving for PA soon, it is going to be hard for us all but it will deffinately make for some good visits for the kids in the future. I just want to say how much we love and appreciate Doug and Nan for all they have done for us and for all their love and support, we will miss having them close by.

Today Evyn had two doctors appointments and between the feedings and diaper changes and all that I needed to spend some quality time with Grant, so after putting Evyn down for a nap that is just what we did. Since Grant is in the stage where he loves getting into everything and making messes I thought it would be a good Idea to decorate a cake and let him have free range of the frosting, as you can see by the pictures he frosted his head instead:) He has also just learned how to sing happy birthday so he loved the Idea of making a cake just so that he could sing the song, plus we got to have our cake and eat it too! it was so much fun and it was so nice to not say NO to making a mess. LOVE YOU GRANTMAN!

Baby Pictures

2009-05-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

I had my little sister Andi take Evyn's baby pictures at a week old, I love the way they turned out . Thank you Andi!

24

2009-05-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I celebrated my 24th birthday with my family, unfortunately Deryck wasn't there to celebrate with us but I was lucky enough to spend all last week with him and he took me to a movie and out for ice cream while he was here. We went to PF and had fun just laughing and talking and then went back to moms and had cake and ice cream. I ended my night cuddling with the kids on the couch , with one sleeping baby in one arm and my little sleepy boy in the other thinking of how blessed I am to have such an amazingly close and supportive family and the two most preciouse gifts of all lying in my arms, I could not have asked for a better birthday.

Grant helping mommy with the candles Anton and Tanna enjoying ice cream

um... didn't know we were having a cake eating contest??

Our Little Princess

2009-05-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me so long to post this. Evyn arrived Monday at 2:18 p.m. weighing 7lbs 6 oz and 20 in. She came so fast that the epidural I recieved was basically pointless and Evyn didn't even want to wait for the doctor to get ready, by the time he sat down to tell me to push she was already on her way out and with 2 pushes she was! So at least I can say that I somewhat know what it feels like to have a natural birth and all I have to say is women who CHOOSE to go all natural are not only crazy but the but man are they tough! Any ways it was nice to be able to go home the next day.... I hate hospitals. I am just so greatful that she is here and that her daddy was able to be there, it is kind of funny because I was scheduled to be induced at 7 in the morning but I went into labor on my own at 3 am. So here are some pics of our new little princess.

I got sick 3 days before she was born, Grant found my mask to be quite " silly"

Grant adores her, he is the perfect big brother

Waiting

2009-05-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I had a false alarm Thursday night... I totally though my water had broke at around 9 p.m.... to make a long story short...it turned out that what I was experiencing was from the doctor checking me earlier that day at my appointment, so everything was ok. However that night I started feeling sick, sore throat, body ache, ear ache, fever, the usuall flu like symptoms, so I have been sick for the past 4 days which has been absolutely miserable to say the least. I am soo glad that Deryck will be home this afternoon, I can't wait to see him, it has been a whole month! I know I will feel so much better when he gets here and can give me a blessing so that I will feel a little better before the big day tomorrow;) I will post pictures as soon as I can. Thank you all for your love and support for us.

Last appointment

2009-05-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I had my last appointment this morning.. I have to tell you that I have never prayed so much in my life that things would go well today. But my prayers were answered and I haven't dialated any more from last week! So everything looks great with the baby but i still have to be careful for the next 2 days so that I don't go into labor. But I am just glad the countdown is almost over and I will finally be able to put my mind at ease once the hubby gets here Sunday. YAY!!

Count down to baby

2009-05-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I have my last Dr's appointment tomorrow! It is exciting but I am nervous at the same time... at my last appointment within a week I went from a 1 and not thinning, to being a 3 and 50% effaced! While most women would be happy with this progression, I am just praying that I haven't dialated any more or else they will just have to admit me, and Deryck doesn't come home till Sunday. So I am just trying to take it easy.. which hasn't been easy considering I am still trying to get things ready for Evyn and Grant has decided to start his Terrib;e Two stage which makes everything a bit more hectic. But I have managed to get in an hour or two a day to have some "me" time which has consisted of me being crafty and here are a few of my finished projects for Evyn.

With us moving to Pittsburgh soon I decided that I deffinately needed to get a bassinet for Evyn, something that would be easy to ship out there. I purchased this bassinet for $10 from some lady, it was all white to begin with which I didn't like so I basically replaced all of the exhisting white fabric with something a little more girly.

I made her a Zebra crib sized quilt, and then later decided it was tooo plain so sewed some flourishes on it.

My diaper bag was looking pretty used so I decided to sew a new one with some left over fabrinc I had stored away. I like the way it turned out so I think that I am going to make another one with the left over Zebra fabric I have.

EASTER FUN

2009-04-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

*Deryck Grant and I braved the cold weather and went to the Easter egg hunt in Enoch, where we found more nuts than eggs (meaning the parents get WAY more out of control than the kids, I mean who ever heard of a 6 month old hunting for eggs? Well apparently they do when they are attatched to a CRAZY parent! LOL!

*We had our usual egg coloring contest... Brandon won, Grant took 2nd with his Nacho Libre egg (thanks to my dad he is obsessed with Nacho)

* We had our family easter egg hunt at Nana Tuni's, and YES we all hunt for eggs because there are no little kids in the family and my mother still insists that we do it, but we love it because the eggs are filled with money instead of candy, and it gets WAY competitive!

* we had a YUMMY BBQ

That was our Easter in a nutshell!

Change of Plans

2009-04-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Ok So Deryck is going to be leaving This Thursday instead of Saturday... he was originally going to fly out, but now he is DRIVING! I know CRAZY!....... But it will be best for us in the long run, his manager offered to pay him big money to drive his truck out there so that they can ship some things that they will need out there, we were going to ship my car out there when I was ready to leave but the cost of shipping went up to $1000.00 instead of the original $500.00 so we decided that since not only they will pay him, but pay for all expenses to get out there, it is a much better deal! The crapy thing is, it is going to take him about 3 days! UGH! But it will be worth it. WISH HIM LUCK!

Catching Up!

2009-04-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a new post for a while so here is an update on everything that has been going on. Most of you know that I have moved in with my parents and now live in the apartment upstairs, which I am completely grateful for, my parents are absolutely amazing and have been a great help. Deryck leaves for Pittsburgh this Saturday and I can't even begin to tell you how anxious the both of us are to be embarking on such an adventure! It will be crazy without him here but Iknow that this is for the best. We have a solid date for the birth of our daughter, I am going to be induced on the 18th of May, I know that it will be a much longer labor than usual but this was the only way that we could ensure that Deryck will be here for her arrival... we are soo excited.... I also realized that I was in No Way ready for this baby to come, I hadn't even bought anything!! So I finally went shopping for a few things, I figured when she comes at least she will have the neccesities, onsies, diapers and plenty of Mommy Margaritas!! haha! We will figure the rest out later;) I finally had some maternity pics taken, I am in my 35 week! Ahhh! I didn't go all out, I just had my sister take them in our appartment on a lazy day, I have to say they turned out GREAT! Thanks Andi!! Any who these are the goings on within the Copley/Pena household:) I will be posting about easter soon! TTL!

Homemade FRUGAL TIDE:)

2009-04-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I just had to share this wonderful Frugal tip with all of you because I thought it was the most impressive thing that I have learned in a long time about how to be frugal, plus it makes for a GREAT FHE with the family and kids. I got this wonderful tip from none other than the mother on the TLC channel with 18 kids. I know what you are thinking..... but in a way I actually look up to her for the fact that she is sooooo patient, teaches her children about God and how to work, and most of all she is VERY frugal. I have a lady in my ward who watches the show too and her and her family made it for FHE and she said it works just as good as TIDE. So I am going to give it a try and I will blog about it after my first load of Laundry with my Frugal TIDE;) Here is what you will need.........

FIRST
*In a saucepan bring your water to boil on med/high

*While the water is boiling, grate one bar of your soap.(She recommends Fels -Naptha, Ivory, Sunlight, or Zote's bars. But after researching online, I found another lady who changes the recipe and buys whatever soap is on sale.

*Slowly stir in soap flakes, a handful at a time, into your boiling water.

*Stir until soap is dissolved and melted

NEXT
*Fill your 5 gallon bucket halfway full with hot tap water.

*Add your melted soap mixture, baking soda, and Borax.

*Stir until powder is all dissolved

*Fill the rest of your remaining bucket up with more hot tap water.

THEN
*Stir again

*Cover with lid and let sit for overnight or 24 hours to thicken(all liquid concoctions will be different depending on the type of soap you use.

*After your liquid detergent sits for allotted time frame, Stir. And fill a liquid soap dispenser (I used an old fabric softener container) and fill halfway full with mixture.

*Fill the remaining container full with hot water. (So every time you dilute your mixture)

*Shake before every use

Yields: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons

*Top load washer -5/8 cups per load (approx. 180 loads)

*Front Load washer- 1/4 cup per load (approx. 640 loads)

This is so easy to make and It really cleans well . YOu can use non-scented soap or scented. All the supplies (including bucket and lid and tax) cost $8.96. After I did the math on how many loads I can make out of the baking soda & Borax it cost us$1.86 for the ten gallons. (640 loads)

If any of you try this I want to hear what kind of soap you use and how you like it to!!

Birthday and update on Evyn

2009-03-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

So I know I am a little late on this but the hubby turned 26 on March 4, it was just a quiet B-day, I took Deryck to his favorite place, The Ninja, and then we enjoyed his favorite Dairy Queen ice cream cake at my parents. But I just wanted to let him know that I love him and am sooo thankful to have him in my life. LOVE YOU BABE!

Monday we were scheduled to have an ultrasound but when we got to the doctors they had me down for just a regular check up intstead, I was bummed but it was a pretty good thing that they checked me and the baby. I have been having very intense contractions on and off for the past couple of weeks, luckily after checking me and seeing that I wasn't dialating, the doctor said they are just "bracton hicks", I had them in the last month of my pregnancy with Grant but not this intense or painful. When they checked Evyn's heart beat it was WAY too fast and would not slow down, of course this sent my heart rate racing, and so we were both off the charts, they had me rest for a bit and finally after a while it started to slow back down. We were able to reschedule our ultrasound for today, and let me tell you I have a really calm baby.... it must have been her nap time because she would not budge! We couldn't get a good picture of her face, but they did what they could, One thing is for sure.. she has my toes! We setteled for a food picture of her little feet, which are adorable too! Her heart rate was again a little faster than normal today but it slowed down, and everything looks good except my fluid is low so they will have to keep good track of that and do a few more ultra sounds just to make sure everything will be ok..... What a difference this pregnancy is from the last one... I had it easy with Grant. But I am am ready to face anything this one has to dish out in order to meet my baby girl!

Whats New.....

2009-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get the job that I applied for with the accounting firm, but I guess it was meant to be..... As the hubby and I continue to substitute teach at Canyon View (which we do a lot of thanks to my mom) We are starting to get things organized and planned out for a very busy summer. We found out last week that we will be going to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to sell alarms, so I am pretty excited and nervous about that all at the same time, except I will only be gone for two months instead of 4 like the hubby. I am going to be staying with my parents come April and wait for the baby to come, then I will be taking the kids, along with my little sis, to Pittsburgh at the end of June! It all seems so crazy but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Luckily we have had many opportunities to work various side jobs to get us by, with subbing and going to Vegas or Arizona for pre season selling, so we are getting by. Just want to thank everyone for their support and prayers and for helping us out. We LOVE YOU!!

My lovely baby bump!

2009-02-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

So even though I have been pregnant before and most people have seen me pregnant...... people have been asking me for pictures of this "baby bump"... not that I am opposed to posting any, I have just felt like more of a hermit this time around and don't really care to have anyone see me big and round;) So for those who are curious here they are.

24 weeks..... and counting!

Workin the camera! Im sending this one to Tyra! haha!

Peace amidst the Chaos

2009-01-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post and since it's a Sunday and I have some free time while Grant is taking a nap I thought it would be a good time to blog. First off I have to say that the economy has got us down in the dumps! Deryck has now been unemployed for almost a whole month now and it is driving us both crazy!!! I never thought that I would be ernestly job hunting midway through my pregnancy and the thought of having a full time job scares me, BUT this is exactly what I went to school for, our back up plan if you will, however I hate to say that the economy has ruined that plan as well, because THERE ARE ZERO job openings!! AHHH!! I have applied for many but have yet to have an interview. Meanwhile Deryck has been applying for jobs everywhere as well but has had no luck either. Amidst all of this chaos and worry, we have not forgotten that we have been sooooo blessed to be able to make it through this month so far. Even on the worst days, we can see the spiritual blessings in our lives and that alone brings us peace and reassurance that we will indeed make it through these hard times. We have our health, 2 healthy babies, and our family and faith. Indeed we are blessed.

SO SWEET SO CAVITY

2009-01-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to blog a little bit and tell you about my brothers band that him and his friends have, they have played a few gigs over this past summer, and have started to clean up a few of their best songs, they are hoping to make a CD soon, but I just wanted to help get their sound out to more people so I will post a link to their myspace page on my blog. The band is named SO SWEET SO CAVITY. This band has a great sound and I just want to show them all the support, and I hope that you will visit their myspace page and have a listen, and give your feedback. P.S. Their song Population Cedar CIty is just them goofing off, it's not their real sound but it's funny! ENJOY! If my link doesn't work then just type in this URL in your navigation bar
http://www.myspace.com/sosweetsocavity

3 Christmases and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have never been soooo exhausted in my life, nor have I ever done as much traveling as we have in the past 3 weeks! I will try to make this all very short. We went to St. George a grand total of 5 times, drove to Rangely Colorado 1, had 3 Christmas parties, had 3 Christmases and had a very quiet but enjoyable New Years Eve. All in all I had one of the best Christmases ever, And I am more than excited to see what the new year will bring, We Wish you all a very Prosperous New Year xoxo! The COPLEY'S

Christmas Party in St. George with Santa (grandpa Doug) and Nancy

Christmas in Rangely Colorado at Grandma Pennie's (it was the smallest town I have ever seen, and ugliest place too, good thing the snow covered most of it! haha! ) Grant had fun sledding with Grandma

St. George, Grant and his blinky light christmas shirt, woot woo!

Christmas in St. George at Great Grandma Copley's, We had a yummy Prime Rib dinner, opened lots of presents and played fun Games

Christmas Eve in Parowan, We ate, and exchanged white Elephant gifts , this years creative gift award goes to Aunt BRENDA SANTANA!

Mom and Papa with theit white Elephant gifts

Grant and his 2nd cousin Aiden, this is my cousin Ian's youngest, they live in New York and we haven't seen them in almost 4 years! so it was sooo nice to spend Christmas Eve with them

Christmas at my parent's house, most of the presents, actually 90% of them belonged to Grant

Watching and helping Grant open all his gifts, he was a little overwhelmed!

Daddy helping Grant set up his new train he got from Grandma Pennie

Riding his new Radeo Flyer Tricycle from Papa

Hmmmm looks familiar, I think there is a picture of his uncle Aaron in the same mask many Christmases ago

This was the only picture we took on New Years Eve, in fact Grant was the only one partying, I think he has a hang over from all of the food he ate!

Seeing PINK!

2008-12-25T12:23:00.000-08:00

Looks like we are going to be having a GIRL! It was so thoughtful the way my hubby told me, He sent me on a scavenger hunt throughout the house and at each place there was a letter spelling out EvYn for a girl or EvAn for a boy, he saved the give away letter for last, I opened the gift and all I saw was the corner of a pink blanket and my eyes started to well up with tears! inside was the letter Y and a precious little sunday dress! If I look shocked in this picture it's because I am, there are only 2 grandchildren that are girls on the Copley side of the family so girls are very rare! I still can't believe it! Im soooo excited!! What a great surprise this was, I feel sooooo complete;)

Girls night, Parade, Hospital.. a whirlwind weekend

2008-12-09T12:19:00.001-08:00

So most of you know that me and some of my girlfriends from highschool get together once a month for girls night, well this time it was at Kristi's house and we made gingerbread houses. I spent the prior 2 weeks making dough, cutting shapes and putting the houses together, it was exsahusting but fun, I ended up making 8 houses in total, which is a lot for me! The girls did a great job and it is always a fun time when we all get together. Thanks Kristi!

Finally finished making and putting the housed together 10 min before girls night!

Good times decorating houses and getting messy, they sure look good enough to eat!I didn't decorate a house but I kept the frosting bags full!

Megan and Natalie hard at work! Look at the concentration! haha
Friday was the ward Christmas party and I have to admit, the food was actually really good! And I am not saying that just because I am prego, They really did a great job, but I spent most of the time chasing after Grant through crowds of hungry people!

Saturday was great fun, We woke up early and cleaned the house as usual, and then by noon we went into town to pick up my sister, Deryck, Grant, Andi and I all went to the Cavalcade parade, I have never been before but I think it was one of Cedar's better parades, although there were lots of spaces between floats and it did seem to drag on.. we all had fun just being there. After that we went and had luch at Pizza Factory nothing is better than a veggie calzone smothered in alfredo sauce to satisfy my appetite! And the best part is.. we didn't have to pay a single dime for our whole meal! Thanks to some coupons we got from Canyon View! Later that evening Deryck and I watched 4 Christmases which by the way is absolutely hillarious!

Grant loves balloons, so for him to be able to see a Giant horse balloon was pure excitement!

This was towards the end of the parade, you can tell because Grant's smile is nowhere to be found!

Daddy and Grant, wow and they are both smiling!

Aunt Andi, she is Grant's favorite person next to Grandma

Sunday I was really excited to go to church because the relief society was having a special lesson, we were even on time, but we were only there for about 10 min when I felt a horriffic pain in my lower right stomache, now I felt it earlier when we were at home but not this bad. I knew that something was wrong and told Deryck to take me to the Emergency room, we left Grant with my parents and off we went. We were in the emergency room for about 5 hours while they poked me with needles, took my blood and urine samples and did an ultra sound, They thought it was a bladder infection but it wasn't, so they tested my blood for infection in my appendix, it showed that there may be some infection, I was still having the pain when the nurse came to get me for the ultrasound my stomache got really hard like I was having contractions so I started to get really nervous, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to see my appendix with an ultra sound due to me being pregnant, they tried any way but couldn't find anything and the baby seemed to be ok. They sent me home with instructions not to eat just incase I had to have surgery, and I had to go back for a follow up on my blood at 9:00 thay same night, I asked Deryck to give me a blessing so that everything would be ok and the pain would go away. An hour after we got home the pain was almost completely gone, I went back at 9 for the follow up with my sister and they found no trace of infection in my blood. I was so grateful to know that everything was ok and that I wouldn't have to have surgery, talk about a faith builder!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T16:46:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving was everything I had hoped it would be this year and more! We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmothers house in Parowan, and the food couldn't get any better! The day after Thanksgiving we decorated our gingerbread houses with all the cousins and aunts, and some of the men went Christmas tree hunting, it was the first thanksgiving in many years that we have had a full house! And I am talking about wall to wall kids and grown-ups, but it was so wonderful to see that, and Grant actually had cousins he could play with! I think that it was actually the first time that he played all day long with kids his age and I think it was great therapy for not only me but for him as well because he was such a happy kid all week long! It just makes me that much more excited for Christmas! The presents are great but nothing beats spending time with fmaily laughing and playing , telling stories and enjoying eachothers company;)

Crazy boys, cousin McCade, and my lil bro ( the 4th Jonas brother) Brandon or who Grant likes to call "uncle OBBY"

Grant was so caught up in all that was going on around him that he dindn't even want to sit still and eat his first Thanksgiving dinner!

Cute cousins Kylie, Andi, and Hailey

Baby Addie, this is my first time meeting my new cousin she is the cutest most chubbiest baby ever! they call her baby peanut!

A great weekend

2008-11-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

So Deryck and I finally got to go on a "date" this weekend, It has been forever since we have gotten to go out and spend a day with eachother without Grant, thanks to my parents we got that opportunity. We went to an early endowment session, This is deffinately my idea of the perfect day and date, everytime we get the opportunity to do something together we always pick the temple as our getaway. I can think of no perfect place to be on a Saturday morning. After the session we went and ate at one of our favoite places Texas Roadhouse, mm...mmm good! Then we did a little Costco shopping and of course stopped by Sportsmans Warehouse, and of course I can't leave St. George without stopping by Nelson's Frozen Custard for some of the best ice cream in the WORLD! If you have never been there or have never heard of the place... SHAME ON YOU!;) For years I have watched my parent's take a day out of their week to spend time with one another and thought nothing of it, but now that I have my own kids I am just starting to realize how very important and vital it is in strengthening not only your personal relationship with your spouse but your home and family as well.

OH BABY!

2008-11-13T11:18:00.001-08:00

Ok so we are officially announcing that we are expecting baby #2! We found out 2 days after Gran't first birthday, and the first thing I said was "well at least we made it to year 1!" My due date is May 25th! I am so excited to hopefully share my birthday with this new little one. We have had baby names picked out for our kids since before Grant was born, this baby's name will be Evan whether its a girl or a boy, but it will be spelled differently for a girl, Evyn, and the middle names will be different, Paul and Elise. I have to be honest, it has taken us a while to get comfortable with the idea that we will have 2 kids under the age of 2 but now I can say that we couldn't be more grateful for this little blessing, and we are so much more than Excited! However just to add to the suspense of having another baby, Deryck will be leaving to work for Apx Alarms in April and will be gone for 4 months and will only be able to take a week off to fly home to be here when I have the baby! Oh boy! But hopefully in June the kids and I will be able to join him so that he won't miss out on the first couple of months of this baby's life, and quite frankly I think I would go nuts without him!:)

Tricking and Treating

2008-11-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a little bit different than it usually is, considering Grant is only one, we didn't feel it necessary to do the door to door thing, but we did go trunk or treating at the car dealerships, which I think is so much more fun, and I think we will do that from here on out;) We did stop by our friends Krisit and Skip's house, by that time it was getting late and Grant was getting tired, So Deryck and I thought it would be fun to go bowling, we bowled one game and Grant couldn't get enough of it, He LOVED it! We stoped by my parent's house after that and that is where we found a blonde haired hippie who sounded like Aaron, but deffinately didn't look like him, but low and behold it was!! He was getting ready for the Howl. Grant was dressed as a skeleton, I was dressed in Halloween atire and Deryck, we Deryck was dressed as himself ooooh scary!!
Don't let your eyes fool you, this is Aaron

Check out that perfect form! He could be pro!

Bowlin with Daddy

Our cute little skeleton

Grant helping mommy improve her game;)

A beautiful October day

2008-11-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

The day before Halloween Grant and I finally decided to carve the pumpkin that we grew in our garden. It was such a nice day, infact it was sooo nice outside that after we carved our pumpkin we went and played in the leaves, It's not every October that a child gets to play outside with just a diaper on, Grant found a stray kitten and started chasing it down the street, so I just figure we would take a nice little walk together and look at all the fun Halloween decorations, my brother Aaron snapped pictures of us as we walked... Awe tender!

Playing with pumpkin Guts!! EEWW!

The finished masterpiece! Grant's Mickey Mouse pumpkin!! We love Disney!

Enjoying the leaves on a beautiful October day

Grant haming it up for the camera

Taking advantage of the warm weather

A srtoll down the block

2008-10-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

We had our annual Spookfeast dinner On Sunday, We made Frankenstien nuckles with bloody brain sauce and what I called "monster balls" haha! We also had devils on horse back (coconut shrimp) and devils eyes (deviled eggs) and snake bread, and foggy spiders juice! It turned out spooktacular!

Andi, Grant and Papa enjoying their spooky dinner!

MMMMM. Dry ice and Spider Cider!

Twon playing with his food

This is the closest she has ever been to

anything that resembles a snake! YOur brave!

C is for COOKIE!

2008-10-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Once again Grant, Grandma Tuni and I spent some more fun times together, this time we made out traditional pumpkin cookies, Grant gobbled his cookie down in less than 5 minutes! Later Grant helped Grandma Tuni clean the dishes, Grant is obsessed with house work, you even say the word "Wash" and he'll go straight to the laundrey room! He is grandmas big helper!

Pumpkin Hunting

2008-10-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

So today My mother, Grant and I went "pumpkin Hunting" in Paragonah, while Deryck and his family went deer hunting (YUCK!) haha! And the rest of our family were bumbs and stayed at home. We had so much fun, this year was especially difficult finding the perfect pumkins since the pumpkins were looking a bit sad and mushy, infact, Grant found a "stray" mushy, rotten pumpkin in the middle of the dirt road and I really thought we were going to have to go home with this discusting thing because Grant, for some reason, fell in love with it. He was actually talking to it like it was some cute little lost puppy! It was great fun! We ended up taking home 7 pumpkins. We stopped at the Parowan cafe for lunch, now I have never had anything bad to say about the Parowan cafe, but we now know not to go there during the deer hunt! It was busy, and it took an hour to get a BLT and a Salad!! After the cafe we stopped at the CV girls State soccer game, unfortunately they lost when the opposing team scored the winning goal in the last 5 sec. of the game uhh! Tonight Grant and I are going to find Halloween costumes! Im so excited, I love Halloween! heheheee!

A little catch up!

2008-10-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Let me catch all of you up on what has been going on in our exciting life. In September we celebrated Grant's 1st birthday on the 16th, it was quite the birthday party, there were lots of family and friends that came and had loads of fun. I made grants birthday cake all by myself and not to boast or anything but it turned out perfectly! We had carniasada and chicken burrito buffet along with lots of other good eats and as tradition in our family we had a Pinata!!! Grant of course had the first go at it but along with a few others but it was uncle Jaryd who took it to the ground (quite entertaining but also frightening at the same time considering he was swinging around a metal softball bat blind folded!) But we all survived. We opended present and talked. It was the perfect day... well I guess we could have done without the wasps attacking our food!