Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Holy War even in Cali


We have some wonderful neighbors that moved into our neighborhood earlier this year. Because of my l
ack of wardrobe Viril quickly saw that I was a Zoobie. He stopped me and said I don't know if we can be friends and I quickly asked why- he promptly explained that he played for the U back in the 80's. This started a friendly banter that last weekend turned into much fun and laughter. You can still have a holy war even in Cali. Ty still goes around the house yelling B-Y-U.... Go mighty cougars. It's adorable



oh yes and BYU won!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for but for today I am most thankful for my family- all 101 of you!


Thanks Mom for the fun hats!

Happy Birthday Brian BIG 3-0

So since I've been 30 for a whole 6 weeks now I knew what Brian was in for.... nothing new. He got to teach his Sunday school class, be set apart, his PPI, and tithing settlement all on his Big day- wasn't he lucky. Now if you ask he'll tell you that he HAD to make his own dinner but the truth it that he wanted to make it. I at least put my foot down and said no you may not make your own cake... although I made him open his presents before he made dinner so that he could have special tools to work with. Being that Brian is getting up there in age, and doesn't have much lung capacity Ty took it upon himself to help blow out the candles and open the presents- isn't he such a thoughtful son. HA HA HAPPY Birthday Babe! We love you

Saturday, November 21, 2009

I love a good deal



Two 22 pounds turkeys, 2 boxes of cheez-its, 3 boxes of pop-corn, 2 bags chocolate chips, 64 oz of OJ, 8 5pd bags of flour, 2 5 pd bags of sugar, carton of ice- cream, children's tylenol, bacon, eggs, 5 candy bars, english muffins, and red potatoes- Plus $5 off next purchase, and a $10 Khol's cash certificate. All for a grand total of $54 dollars- thanks to sales, promotions, and coupons.

Doesn't everyone have days like this


Apple Core, Baltimore, who's your friend...

What do you do with 40 pounds of apple? Buy an apple peeler/corer/ slicer- and make applesauce and apple pie filling...

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins

We started with 7 of these....

And ended with 6 gallons of this....
and have made lots of goodies.... yum Pumpkin cookies, bread, ravioli, pancakes, and of course PIES!

Happy Halloween 2009


It's only a month later... but Halloween was lots of fun! Ty ran to the doors, tried to go into people's homes, and loved getting candy. We only went to about a third of the neighborhood but came home with buckets full. (Mom and Dad Tax was good this year...)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Butler Monster mash

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Potty Training... or parent training

So- it's time! My friend Heather sent me the ebook on potty training in 3 days . I began reading it on saturday (instead of my RS lesson.... ooh which by the way is my new calling as I was released from nursery AND cub scouts! YEAH) Anyways I so started reading it... follow directions exactly blah blah blah, throw out all diapers, have rewards, throw them straight into underwear, KEEP them with you at ALL times. huh- that shouldn't be too hard. It's amazing how often T isn't by either mine or Brian's side. so Wednesday we began our 3 day journey. THIS was not the easiest thing, along with not going outside to play, not going for walks, or going to park. You must stay home, close to bathrooms and stay positive. You heard me- positive ugh "it's ok you pooped your pants next time tell mommy when you need to go potty." All day long, "T remember to tell mommy and daddy when you have to go potty." "hurry run run run let's go" So thursday night I'm reading the book again as I'm getting frustrated. (He is smart, I mean really smart. You can ask him where anything in the kitchen goes and he knows and puts it there. You put something away in the wrong spot and he lets you know... but somehow the connection that you need to go potty in the potty wasn't connecting.) It says children 2 and half are more difficult as they are more set in their ways... check and that boys are more difficult... check and well basically it's going to take longer than the 3 days. It's a week later and he's doing better. If we (well Brian as I'm in UT) stays on top of TY and ask him he does stay dry, take him to the bathroom if he wake up in the night he stays dry, but the kid refuses to #2 in the toilet! This is why I didn't do cloth diapers! I know someday it'll all click and hopefully in the next week, but for now I think it's just parent training...





Yes he is mooning you, I asked him to turn around and look at me while I took his "potty training day one pix...." and this is what I got must be his father's influence





"potty training day 5" Ty's scooter he got after filling up two sheets of going potty stickers- he's been wanting one of these for a long time and was so excited. He didn't let it out of his sight all day.

Camping Fallen Leaf Tahoe


Now this place just might be heaven on earth. We live in an area surrounded by Oak trees- Now for many this would be a source of joy- however for me I hate them. They look dead to me, and unfortunately the fact that they DON'T change colors doesn't help them. I love Fall. I love everything about it. So when some friends asked us to go camping I was ecstatic! COLOR! We had so much fun at Fallen Leaf. Ty loves camping so he was in heaven. Our friends had brought along an extra bike with them- why I didn't think to bring his I don't know- but Ty loved it. We went on a beautiful hike to a lake, walked to the river where there were seriously hundreds of beautiful red salmon and rainbow trout (too bad we aren't fish eaters...), star gazed, had coyotes in camp, had to lock our food in a bear locker (that means the rangers mean business...), and just had a whole lot of fun! Just what the doctor ordered.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

My next 30 years....

Well the big 3-0 came and now it's almost 20 days later and amazingly enough I'm still alive ... I thought about doing a 30 countdown of things I wanted to do before I turned 30, but alas Father time came and stole my days and has left me without my 30 things countdown. I'm not sure why 30 was/ is so hard for me. I think if I was honest with myself it has alot to do with where I wanted to be when I turned 30. I started feeling a little sorry for myself had a whole list of things I wanted- finically stable, home, kids, studio... you get the picture. And well, it hasn't happened but I had the thought that there are many things I've been able to do and accomplish and that list made me think maybe 30 isn't so bad-

Saturday, October 24, 2009

My Honor Roll Student!

I think they should make bumper stickers for adults that say my Husband/ wife is an honor roll student... hee hee We got a letter in the mail saying Brian made the Dean's Honor roll. He got a 3.9 GPA for the semester. I couldn't be more proud of him. He works so hard and is LOVING school. Looking back over the last year, I can see Heavenly Father's hand in our lives so that he could get to this point. Yes, I would love a job, but I love that he is loving school, is excited for the future, and is working hard for us!

Disneyland 2009

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With Brian's semester being over we took advantage of a week break and went to Disneyland with my sister and her family! We were there for 3 days and it was a blast. We found a good cheap hotel close by, so we walked to D-land and came back and forth for naps and meals. The kids were zonked the first day, 2nd they were up till 11 hyped up on corn dogs, fruit snacks, soda, and ice cream. (On a side note why they heck is a corn dog $5.75???) and the 3rd day as you can see Ty fell sleep in his stroller. Ty was able to ride the Matahorn with us.... scared to death didn't scream but covered his mouth the whole time. The rest of the big kid rides we switched off with Andrew and Liz. Ty loved meeting Mickey and Minnie, pooh and tigger, and pluto! He now has to sleep with a pooh bear I got when I was in Hong Kong ever night. We had so much fun with Liz, Andrew, and Abby! Thanks Andrew. It was a wonderful vacation.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The one you've all been waiting for...

Yes I am back to blogging, it's just a bit overwhelming when you haven't done it for a long long long time! So here we go a run down of the last (oh man has it really been this long...) 2 months.

September...
Most of September was filled with school pictures. In hopes of catching up on some bills and trying to get one more class for Brian I offered school pictures for anyone who would listen. For the most part it was a good experience and I definitely will try to do it again.

We also had a weekend to ourselves as everyone was gone. It was nice to just relax and have fun- Brian made Ty his own "Mater" (from the movie Cars) PJ bottoms. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of them just yet... After my time in UT for work I met Brian and Ty in beautiful San Diego. We were able to see and stay with my Grandma Cowles, visit with my brother Dan and his family and see my cousin Chelsea and Aunt Eileen and meet up with my sister Liz and her family. It was so much fun. Ty loved playing with his Gram'ma Cowles and especially her toy car that he could screw and unscrew together. He also enjoyed playing with his cousins and going to the beach!


Monday, August 24, 2009

2 Years ago...


Two years ago I had about 75 people crammed into our home for the blessing our little man I can't believe how fast it's gone. Two years ago tomorrow, the 25th Brian, Ty and I were sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. Two years ago was one of the happiest days of my life. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the blessings of the Temple, for the that special moment when the vail was thin and things were very clear, and that I can be with my family for Eternity. Two years down- eternity to go... life is good!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

just another reason


This is just another reason why I love Brian- Here I am in UT working and I get this email picture- I couldn't stop laughing, Hopefully Kelly will think it's just as funny as I did- doubt it though... hee hee

"Butterfinger by mid-night tomorrow or the Tiger gets it"

look what I found

It's amazing what you can find on the internet these days.... He hasn't let me take a pix in his uniform so I found one- or two
group
Chef DuMars cooking white roux
Look how cute he is-(he's the one on the far right in the top pix and on the bottom also) and for the record doing amazingly well- top of his class! He stressed and stressed over a mid-term last week and was so excited when he got a 85/86 WAY TO GO BABE We're so proud of you!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Paint Ty's room




Brian woke up the other morning to T saying "Paint Ty's room" so- they painted T's room on saturday- and of course he was a big BIG helper...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Unita Photo Trip

So since I was out in Utah anyway... a friend from BYU-Photo and I planned, well actually she did all the planning I just tagged along for a camping photo trip to the Unitas. We were up by Mirror Lake for those who are familiar with the area. It was beautiful, cold, windy, relaxing, rejuvenating, and it reminded me of why I love photography... which some days unfortunately is needed. Hope you enjoy the little piece of Heaven that I found this past week...





Thursday, August 6, 2009

Is it really so bad...

Is it really so bad for me to want a clean house? Brian and I just finished having a "discussion" (and yes I should probably cool off before writing and venting but I threw my probably should have's out the window this morning...) so we were having a discussion about my views on cleaning. I HATE cooking in a dirty kitchen, I despise walking into a kitchen with dishes overflowing, and I really can't sit in a room next to the kitchen that has dishes overflowing- on a side not for some reason it does not bother me if it is someone else's home, but where I reside. It also seems to get worse when there are things around me that I can not change- teenagers that look at me like I am the scum of the earth for asking them if they've done their chores, 18 year olds that I have to walk on egg shells around, and a two year old who has to do EVERYTHING and be into everything. I know I have a need to control something and that happens to be the cleanliness of where I am. So is it really so bad if I like to have the dishes done around lunch AND dinner? ( I mean there are 10 of us around if everyone has breakfast, there are at least 7 bowls and 8 plates and probably 15 cups by the time lunch is done...)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Help vote to get scholarship money!



This company is giving away 150 $1000 scholarship money for your favorite photo- so this is one of ours... I hate to solicit but we need all the help we can get for Brian's schooling in the fall and winter! THANKS