What we do for a Toy...

Ever since Ethan saw that McDonald's had the batman toys he has been wanting to go. I hate spending the money on a Happy Meal when all that he eats is a 99 cent Hamburger. The Fries go untouched and the drink is rarely finished. All he is after is the stupid toy. McDonald's is a good bargaining tool however. Since I opted to have Ethan's school pictures retaken and he didn't want to do it, I had to pull out the bargaining chip. Luckily we got a good picture after much struggle and negotiating. As promised we headed to Micky D's for lunch. The kids ate their usual mini burger, leaving the fries for me and set off for playland with the coveted Batman toys.
Unfortunately the story doesn't have a happy ending. A while into their playing another mother mentioned to me that one of the kids had a huge "blow-out". I went to check on Stockton and lucky me - I was the winner!! I have never seen a mess so bad. (I wish the weather was warmer outside so I could have sprayed him off with the hose to eliminate the mess inside the house.) Not to mention the embarrassment of the other parents pulling their kids out of the playland and telling them it was NOW time to go home and having to report the "incident" to the workers. I am sorry to be the mom of the child who caused the playland to be closed for cleaning. And to think - this all happened because of a TOY!!

Do I Keep it or Get Retakes?

This is my first year dealing with School Pictures and I was disappointed when I got Ethan's back. When I showed him the picture he told me that the lady told him to say "candy". Apparently Ethan tried to be a ventriloquist when saying it (He does this when he gets nervous or is in new surroundings)because they did not capture his true smile. So do I keep the picture as a memory of Kindergarten and Ethan's persistent shyness or do we try again?

I Love Fall

My favorite time of year is here! (well officially on the 22nd) How can you not fall in love with FALL? Here is my top ten reasons to love Fall:

* Choosing Halloween costumes
* Caramel Apples
* Cooler weather
* Corn Mazes
* Sweaters and Hot Cocoa in the morning
* Trick or Treating on Downtown Main Street
* Halloween Candy
* Playing Boardgames
* Leaves on the ground
* The Beautiful fall colors

When we lived in Vegas I remember missing many of these things. I am so grateful to live in beautiful Cache Valley where we can enjoy the changing seasons.

There is life...

So being the worrier that I am, thanks mom for giving this gift to me, I was worrying about my first ultrasound. You hear all of the bad things that can happen or have happened to other people and you are sure it will be the same for you. I am happy to let you all know that we are having ONE baby and everything so far looks normal. The baby is measuring a week early but they are keeping my due date the same which is March 31.

We will be finding out the sex of the baby around the 10th of November. For you wise all-knowing people out there - take the poll on the right - do you thing we are having a Boy or a Girl?

Special Delivery!

I guess it is time to fess up so people stop looking at me funny. Yes I have gained weight - mostly in the belly area and no, it is not a tumor. We will find out if we are having one, two or five babies on Tuesday, Sept. 10th.

Since this may come as a surprise to many of you reading this please note - it was a definite surprise to us! This was not in our plan but must have been in someone else's and we are trusting that all is going to work out for the best. (we are mostly concerned about Ryan's back and My anxiety) A lot changes with a third child. Hopefully we will be up for the changes - bigger vehicle (Ryan still doesn't believe me that 3 car seats DO NOT fit in the backseat), more bedrooms (hence the push for the basement completion) and having your routine shaken up - will we ever get to normal??

So there you have it - my clothes don't fit, I am nausiated, I am sucked of all energy I would like to have, my dishes don't get done for 3 days, my kids wonder why I have to lay down to rest 4 times a day - good thing this only lasts 9 months!

Now you can all be apart of our 9 month journey!

On Labor Day...We LABORED.

Finishing the basement is something we have been planning to do for the past 2 years. Now is the time to finally get it done. We have selected a completion date of Dec. 1st as our goal.




With AMAZING and AWESOME help of Dad and Landon, and with Travis and Colby stopping by for a while we saw great progress! Our Food Storage room is framed, sheet rocked and partially mudded (who knew it takes 3 coats??) The 2 bedrooms are framed and the bathroom is framed. It is neat to see the progress. There are a lot of decisions still to make but I am excited for everything to come together.

11 years later...

Ryan and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary this past weekend. A lot has changed including our looks but we are still in love after all these years. It was nice to go out just the two of us to a restaurant that did not have burgers and fries on the menu. Ryan, you are my best friend and I love you! - Mandi