Go Me!

Please indulge me for just a moment while I brag. This may not be that impressive to some of you, but I am pretty proud of myself. I did something yesterday that I have never done in my whole life.

I ran 1 whole mile without stopping!

I have never done this before, not even in Jr. High. Every week in Jr. High when the P.E. teacher would announce that it was time for the "fun run" (which by the way is a completely stupid name, it was only fun for the P.E. teacher and 5% of the students) I would groan. I was the girl at the back of the pack every week. I would come in close to last place.

Before I got pregnant with Jaxton, I was walking everyday. I started incorporating short bursts of jogging. I eventually worked up to being able to go 5 minutes without stopping. I wasn't able to even do much walking while pregnant with Jaxton. Last month I started my training sessions again. I started out being able to jog for 2 minute bursts. I added 30 seconds every day. And finally yesterday, I was able to go a whole mile. Yay!

I am also at the half way point of my weight loss goal. I have lost 18 pounds since September and have 17 pounds to go (if I hadn't gained 6 pounds over the month of December, I would nearly be there, but that is beside the point). I am well on my way and hopefully I will be able to fit into my "regular size" clothes by summer. Go me!

Adventure's In Ear Piercing

For Hallie and Avery's birthdays, they wanted to get their ears pierced. We did it last week while my sisters were here. Hallie and Avery were very excited, until they sat in the chair, and then they both changed their minds.

Deer in the headlights!

This is the point where she was starting to change her mind.

She was really brave!
As soon as it was over she kept saying "it didn't hurt!"

Avery was more than just a little unsure, she was ready to jump out of the chair.

They got a lollipop when they were finished. That is the only thing that stopped Avery from crying.

She loves having her ears pierced now.

Kristine and Katie had a fabulous time trying on the Hannah Montana hairpieces. Kristine's is especially classy!

They love their pierced ears and can't wait until they can put on their new earings that they got for their birthdays. They both say that it was worth it. They look so cute!

The Best, Softest Sugar Cookies

A couple of people asked me for this recipe last weekend, and I don't remember who they were, so I will post it here, and hopefully whoever it was will see it. Sorry!

I got this recipe from an old ward cookbook, courtesy of Barbara Ostlund. It makes really good and really soft cookies. This recipe makes a TON of cookies. I just frost them and then lay them on a cookie sheet and freeze until the frosting sets and then I stick them in a Ziplock bag, they will last for a few months in the freezer.

1 C. shortening (butter flavored, of course)
2 C. sugar
1C. sour cream
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
5 + C. flour

Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour (start with just the 5 cups). Add shortening mixture. Add 1/2 to 1 C. more flour (you want the dough to be firm enough to work with, but if it is too firm, the cookies won't be as soft). Flour your working surface and rolling pin very well. Roll a chunk of dough out to 3/8". Cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet sprayed with Pam and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (don't let them get brown). Frost.

Frosting: (I like a lot of frosting, and so I make this big recipe of frosting, if you don't like so much frosting, you could halve this recipe)

1 C. butter or margarine
3 tsp. vanilla
8-9 C. powdered sugar
milk

Soften margarine or butter; mix in a few cups of powdered sugar. Add vanilla and a few tablespoons of milk. Add remaining powdered sugar and enough milk to make the frosting smooth, but not too runny.

Our Fun Weekend With The Fam

As I mentioned, last weekend all of my sisters (minus Natalie, sorry Nat, we really missed you) and my parents came for a visit. It was rather tight sleeping quarters. My dad has an injured knee, so we gave our room to my parents. Nick took these "fun" pictures to document where the rest of us slept.

Nick slept on the couch and I slept in Avery's bed.

Hallie and Avery had a slumber party in the play room (don't they keep it so nice and tidy)

Hannah and Kristine shared the sectional (Kristine is there under the blankets somewhere)

Katie took Hallie's bed, which meant she was bunk mates with Hayden. It was a totally enjoyable experince for her I am sure, with Hayden waking up every two hours.

We had such a fabulous time. I haven't gotten to spend much time one on one with Katie for a long time. Christmas is always a little hectic, so it was fun to get together. We went to WalMart at 11:00 on Friday night, which was a real choice experience. We stayed up talking in the bathroom until 2:00 in the morning (the bathroom was the only room that no one was sleeping in). We did important things like measuring our teeth to see whose are smaller (Katie's by just a hair), and comparing eye size and other stupid girl things that girls do. It was so much fun!

The real reason everyone was in town is this lovely couple. My sister Kristine is getting married in less than two weeks! She is marrying a great guy named Jordan, who just happens to be from the Sacramento area.

Kristine had a bridal shower on Friday night, thrown by her sweet future mother-in-law, Amy and her friends. It was really nice to meet some of Jordan's family. And then on Saturday Kristine went through the temple for the first time in the Oakland Temple (it was just our bad luck that the Sacramento Temple was closed last week).

Dad, mom, Kristine, Jordan

Dad, mom, Kristine (Kristine you are so photogenic, you look perfect in every picture!)

Katie, dad, mom, Kristine, Jordan, me, Nick

After the temple, we tried to go to a restaurant my dad likes in downtown Oakland, called Max's Cafe. We drove forever to get there and then it was closed. So we got on the freeway and headed back to Sacramento. We hit major traffic and couldn't find any restaurants close to the freeway. So finally we ended up eating at Jack In The Box. It was quite an adventure. The traffic was bad the whole way home and it ended up taking us 4 hours to get home.

We had such a good time together and I was so sad to see them all go, but we will see them all in a few weeks!

My New Do

First of all let me say that I now realize that I do not know how to pose in a picture by myself. I rarely take a picture by myself and apparently I have forgotten how to do so. I feel stupid and don't know how to hold my head or my body or anything. I guess I am never going to have that career as a model after all.

I have been waiting to post a picture of my new hairdo, for a day that I like how my hair looks. Apparently that day is not coming though, so here it is.

I got my hair cut by my mom's stylist while I was staying with her. Since then I have re-cut it several times. I cut a couple of inches off of the back to give it more of an a-line and I have "fixed" the bangs a bunch of times. I think I have a sickness. I am like those crazy people who keep getting plastic surgery and can't stop themselves. Oh my gosh, I am the crazy "Cat Woman" that they frequently feature on Entertainment Tonight.

Anyways, I had a lot of dead hair that needed to be cut off, so my hair does feel much better. And I like that my hair is still long enough to put into a ponytail. Other than that, there isn't much that I like about it. I thought that I just needed some time to get adjusted to it. I have had time and I still hate it. I feel like I have the same hairstlye I had in 9th grade.

I am really tempted to chop it all off though. It is taking great restraint on my part not to do so. Maybe when the bangs grow out a little I will like it more. For now I have promised myself that I will not touch a pair of scissors and will just leave it alone.

Happy {late} Birthday Hallie!

I totally meant to do this post yesterday, but as I said, I have been crazy busy. This is a tribute to Hallie on her 7th birthday (we'll just pretend that it is still her birthday). Here are the fun things about you at age 7.

We had spaghetti and meatballs for your birthday dinner. This is the same dinner that you have requested for the last 3 years. Because Avery wants to do everything that you do, we have also had spaghetti and meatballs for her birthday dinner for the last two years.

You love Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Jonas Brothers and the movie Hairspray. You are always singing and dancing.

You just lost your first top tooth, and it left a huge space. You look like a cute, little Jack-O-Lantern. Hopefully you get your dad's giant chompers and not your mom's tiny teeth.

You are so brave. You were so sad when you couldn't enter the school talent show. I would have rather sold all of my worldly possessions and live as a slave than speak in front of people. But not you, you have serious guts. You were chosen to introduce your class at the school assembly last year, and you were more excited than scared.

You love school and learning. You are very competitive and want to be the first to try everything. Although you are starting to complain a bit about homework.

You love your new haircut and are always trying to get people to notice it.

You have such a big heart and are always thinking of others. Today you told me about a charity that is trying to raise money and you wanted to donate all of your extra money to them.

You love laughing and everything fun! You are always cracking jokes and trying to make everyone laugh.

We love you Hallie and you are such a special girl. Happy Birthday!

Welcome Back!

I know that I have been a really crummy blogger lately, but I have been really busy. This is the first of many posts to come that will catch you all up on what has been happening around here. So check back as there will be much more to come.

It was Hallie's birthday yesterday. She is now a big, grown up seven year old! Avery's birthday is March 7th, so we always have one family party to celebrate both of their birthdays. Most of my family was in town this last weekend (you will find out why in another post, stay tuned! I am sure you are all on the edge of your seats, but you will just have to be patient) so we had their party this weekend. Here are some pictures from the party.

Hallie opening her High School Musical 2 CD, she was very excited about it.

Avery got 2 Sharpay dolls(High School Musical). This one came with a golf cart and clubs, very cute.

The girls all looking the new Barbie kitchen table over.

Hallie got a bathtub for her American Dolls
The party guests enjoying the madness. {My sister Hannah, me, my mom, my sister Katie and my sister Kristine}

Aunt Katie with baby Jaxton. I don't think he was put down the whole weekend, he was in heaven!

Hallie and Avery enjoying their cupcakes

Hayden loves Nick's brother Tyler! She got him to play dress up with her. She let him wear her Seerella dress. It was so cute!

Hayden

Those of you who know Hayden well, know that I could post something new about her everyday. She is the busiest girl. She is always into everything. Here is a bit of what she has been up to lately.

My sisters got her a new dress up dress for Christmas. She wore it for a few days, but then she was back to the White Trash Seerella dress. Then a few days later when the girls were playing dress up, Hallie and Avery pulled a dress out of her closet and convinced her that it was a Gabriella (of High School Musical fame) dress. This is her new uniform. This isn't a great picture, but it is all I have.

I don't know how I don't have any other picture of her in the dress, because she wears it non stop. She only takes it off for one of the following reasons:
1. it is time for bed
2. she wants to wear another dress up dress that she refers to as Ju-Ju for some unknown reason
3. we have to leave the house
4. she feels like running around the house in the buff

In other news, I finally weened Hayden off of her pacifier. What a nightmare. While I was visiting my mom, I had finally had it with getting up every hour of the night because she couldn't find her pie-pie. The first few nights were a little rough, but she has actually adjusted pretty well. She still asks for it when she is getting tired, but she actually goes to bed with very little trouble. Tonight she suprised us all. Nick and the kids were watching a movie, it was getting close to bedtime, and she came and asked me to put her to bed!

She is starting to be aware that the things that she does are naughty. This does not stop her from being naughty. Now when she is doing something naughty she says very matter-of-factly, "sorry mom, sorry." I think we are getting somewhere. Hopefully soon we will not have so many sorries, she will just stop being so naughty!

She is very into giving kisses lately. The other day she climbed onto my lap and gave me a big smooch and told me that we were married now. I told her she couldn't marry me, she had to marry a boy. She said okay, thought about it for a minute and then said she would marry daddy. I told her she couldn't marry him, because I am already married to him. She looked at me very seriously and said "Who I marry?" I said she had to marry a boy, but not until she got bigger. So now every time she gives me a kiss, she says, "I marry a boy when I get bigger."

Whenever she is upset, she likes me to sing her favorite song, "Teach Me To Walk In The Light." Now, whenever anyone else is upset, she sings it to them. It is not very effective, but this does not deter her. This morning Avery was mad that she didn't get the color of bowl that she wanted (this is something that happens every morning at our house, inevitably, someone does not get the color of bowl that they want). So Hayden breaks into song. Then Avery always gets mad that Hayden is singing. Oh, sisterly love.

Hayden is getting to be a bit easier to deal with. She is still a handful, but the good moments definitely outweigh the bad. Thank goodness she is so darn cute!

Grandma C.

So, I have been MIA because my grandmother passed away 2 weeks ago Sunday. It wasn't sudden or unexpected, but nonetheless, difficult. I left for the funeral Thursday, January 24th. I took Hallie and Avery with me, and we drove to my parents house and picked up my dad and sister Hannah, my mom was already in Utah. We arrived in St. George on Friday, just in time to go to the viewing. I had not cried until I walked into that room. It was such a mix of emotions.

The funeral was the next day. Two of my sisters (Hannah and Kristine) and I sang one of my grandma's favorite songs, "How Great Thou Art." The first three verses were beautiful and we kept our composure quite well, considering we had all been crying all morning. Then we hit the fourth verse, and Kristine lost her composure. Then Hannah and I lost ours as well. Have you every tried singing while you are crying? It is really quite difficult. I am really glad that I had the opportunity to sing and honor her.

My sister Katie gave a really great talk representing the grandkids. She did such an awesome job. My grandma has been sick for a long time. Most of the grandkids are younger than me, and do not have many memories of how much fun she was. One of my cousins said, "wow, I wish I had known that grandma."

These are the things that were great about my grandma:

1. She loved holidays and made them a huge deal. She had a huge backyard, I think it was a whole acre landscaped. When we were at her house for Easter, she would have my grandpa grow the grass really long so that we could have an Easter Egg hunt. It was the world's best Eater Egg hunt. She filled half of the eggs with money, we would make a killing. I always went for the eggs with money, being the cheapskate that I am. Christmas was her favorite holiday. She had a huge house and it was always decorated beautifully. One year for Christmas, she sent our family a huge box marked "The 25 days of Christmas." In it were 25 packages so that someone would have something to open everyday of December. It was the most exciting way to count down to Christmas.

2. Going to her house was like going to Disneyland. She had the huge yard with a huge swimming pool with a slide, and a huge swing set. Then behind that there was a fish pond, and a pig pen. She had the world's coolest bathroom. It had plush blue carpet and all of the faucets were gold swan's. There were huge crystal chaneliers. She had a huge bathtub that all of my sisters would get in and she would fill to the top with bubbles. The best part of the bathroom was the mini fridge stocked with bottles of Caffiene Free Diet Pepsi's.

She gave us free reign of the food storage. We could open anything we wanted. Trust me, this is cooler than it sounds when you are six years old. She had a balcony off of her bedroom and we used to go out there and watch the planes take off and land at the Las Vegas airport.

3. She was so fun. She just loved to have fun with us. She would take us on donut runs in the middle of the night. She would sneak into our room after my parents were asleep and take us to pick out our favorite kind. She lived outside of Las Vegas out in a rural desert area. There were these huge hills by her house and she would drive as fast as she could over them so that the car would catch a little air at the end. It was so much fun, and she would turn around and drive over them over and over again. It was a blast.

4. She loved us and was so proud of us. The first thing she wanted us to do when she saw us was listen to what we were doing in school, or listen to us play the piano or sing. She loved for us to put on plays and dance shows for her. She would clap and tell us how much better we were then the last time she saw us.

She will be greatly missed. I am blessed with the comfort that she is in a better place, and she is free from her earthly challenges. Love you grandma!