In no particular order....

I have a hobby, obsession or a sickness. Whichever you prefer. And this isn't even all of them.

(My scrapbook collection)

Packing up a house, you realize just how much *stuff* you really have.

I think I realized just how many freckles I have when I looked at these pictures. Yuk! My kids are cute though! (Carly has the biggest mouth!)

First time with curlers in her hair. Her hair has a natural curl in it so I thought the curlers would just enhance it. Well, I either took them out to soon or they're too big because it didn't really do anything. She thought she was pretty cool with them in though.

I know Carly looks drunk....I promise....it's just water in her sippy cup.
BTW...I never have pants on my children. I just realized that in most their pictures they have no pants. Either I am a lazy mom or it's just too hot here. Maybe it's a little of both :)

More pictures of our ridiculously cute kittens. I really wish they weren't so cute...now that they can get out of their box and pee and poop all over the floor it is lowering their cuteness factor. Carly absolutely LOVES them. She can't get enough of them and is constantly wanting to look at them or pet them. I'm surprised she hasn't squeezed them to death.

(Carly had no pants on in these pictures either!)

We're moving...

It's official, We got an offer on our home and we took it. We have to be out by August 13th, which is right around the corner. I don't know how we're going to pull it off but we have no choice! I will miss this house a lot, there were a lot of good memories here but I am excited for the future!

I will miss our swimming pool and the cute tire swing that Chad hung for Carly, I will miss our cool tree in our backyard that my kids loved to play in. I will miss our huge room with nothing in it, it was a great room for the kids to run around in. I will miss Carly's huge window in her room, at first I didn't like it but it grew on me and it's not very often you find windows this big.

I will miss our huge backyard and how much fun my kids had running around, I will miss the many things in this house that entertained my kids (who needs toys?) I will miss the fact that this is where my baby girl became a big sister!

quick trip

I was able to fly up to SLC the past couple days to be there for my Grandpa's funeral. I'm so glad I was able to make it. A funeral is not a fun thing to do but I was able to see a lot of family that I hadn't seen in a while and I also got to meet my newest nephew (luke) for the first time.

The two pictures below are my with my 10 (yes 10) year old nephew Josh and my younger sister Sharise. We took the picture to show how short we are or how tall he is.

Sunday Afternoon

This is how Sam eats Watermelon.

This is how Carly eats watermelon.

This is how Mommy and Daddy clean up the watermelon.
p.s. Don't mind Carly's scraggliness. It was hot outside.

This man will be missed.

Summertime....

I love this goggle face!

I love sleeping children!

Carly and Adam.
We were lucky enough to have permanent playmates for Carly for 2 weeks. Daniel and Alycia (Chad's sister) sold their house and needed a place to stay until they went on vacation. We were willing to let them stay with us for those two weeks (I would much rather have a noisy house than have them waste money and be trapped in a hotel room for two weeks) It was actually really enjoyable and the two weeks flew by. The older boys had fun in our pool and Carly and Adam had fun playing together (when they weren't fighting over the same toy, gotta love 3 year-olds) And I had fun having some adult conversation during the day. It was bitter/sweet to see them leave on their vacation. Bitter because I won't have another adult to talk to in the house and Carly will go back to being bored with me and sweet because it was nice to get the kids back in their own bedrooms!

Da da da daaaaaa.....videos! It's been a while.


After having over 100 degree weather the past couple weeks and no rain, it was nice to have this short (too short) downpour the other day. The kids loved playing in it as you can see!


Carly learned how to go under water. One day we were swimming and she watched Chad go under water and she just did it. She LOVES the water and now she always wants us to take her floaties off so she can swim under water. She is our little fish!

just another day...

I won this cute little hat for Carly. I got it in the mail today and she put it on and didn't want to take it off! It's so cute! Go HERE to check out all the cute stuff!

More pool pictures. This is how Carly and I spend a lot of our afternoons while Sam is sleeping. It's pretty much heaven in this hot humid climate.

Proof that somedays Carly is actually willing to share her toys with her little brother.


Sam LOVES taking a bath. He is a little dare devil and has to stand up and walk around, even if he falls 10 times he gets right back up (kind of annoying but what can you do?) He was kind enough to edit this picture himself so I didn't have to put a black bar in.

Let's see...this is our 4th litter of kittens. Hopefully this time we will be successful at keeping the dogs away from these cute little bogers. This is by far the most colorful batch she's had. Two orange kittens, two black and gray, and one plain gray. They are so cute! It is so hot here that we've decided to keep them in our laudry room. Miss Kitty does great. She let's us know when she needs to go outside, she goes and comes right back. It's great, it makes it easier to keep the dogs away from them.

A little bit of this and that...

The past couple weeks have been full of swimming and more swimming. It has been so nice to be able to enjoy the pool this summer (last summer I was too wrapped up in a newborn I didn't have much time to swim) Almost every afternoon when I lay Sam down for a nap Carly and I head outside for some pool fun! She LOVES it and can't get enough of it.
On a side note I just have to thank my dad again for helping put up the pool fence (last summer) It has been so nice to enjoy being outside with my one year old and not have to constantly block him from the pool! Thanks again pops!

Our little Sambo has turned into quite the climber. He has now mastered climbing our coffee table, our fireplace and now the staircase. His most favorite thing to do is climb the outside of the stairs....thanks to the example of his older sister! He also has become a fan of eating. He has always loved to eat (well....ever since he was introduced to real food) He will eat anytime, anywhere and pretty much anything! If you don't want to share your food then don't let him see you eating. He will practically charge at you while throwing his binky from his mouth across the room! He is growing up to be such a fun, goofy little boy and I love it!

This was how Chad and I spent our day date. Ever since he got this little buggy he has been wanting me to go with him and ride. Now that school is out we were able to get a babysitter one afternoon and take this baby out. Chad's parents met us out there. It was fun to have other people to explore with. I wish I would've got more pictures of the trails and the creek but this is the only one we took. Can't you just see the excitement on my face?!? It was actually just excitement because I had a break from being a mom for a couple hours. :)

on to the next phase....

It's official. We're moving on to the next stage in life. What that is...I'm not exactly sure. Ultimately within the next 12-18 months we are wanting to build on 2.5 acres that we are going to purchase from Chad's Sister and Bro-in-law. They bought 10 acres and are willing to give up 2.5 so we can enjoy owning some land. I'm excited about that phase. What I'm not so sure about is the time in between. There are a couple options we have been looking at and all of them involve selling our house :( In order to build we need to be able to save a little more money than what we are able to save right now..thus the reason for selling our house and simplifying things for a while. Are options are:

1- renting a trailer home from a surprisingly nice trailer "subdivision?" http://www.grandoakshomes.com/ A couple of people from Chad's parents ward live in them and they are pretty nice for a mobile home. They have a public pool, weight room, walking trails, backyards and even a carport (yay right?)

2- building a barn on the land and make it a livable space while we save $$$ and then build and then once are house is done, tear down the walls in the barn and voila....you have a usable barn.

3- simply finding a rental home to rent until we are able to build.

All of these ideas mean simplifying our monthly bills, our square feet and our stress....all of which would be nice. I will be sad to leave this house, the backyard, the pool and mainly the area of town we live in...I am 5 minutes from a grocery store and wal-mart, 10-15 minutes away from the YMCA, 20 minutes away from church, and 10 minutes away from a mall and all that fun. I know it's not all in vain and eventually in the future we will hopefully have our house built, have a nice garden, some chickens and we'll have some pretty nice neighbors too!

I had to get a picture of this cute little dress that my friend made for Carly for her birthday. Carly loves to wear her "Dora dress."

We took it easy on Memorial day and hung around our house and swam. It was nice to enjoy the nice weather and the pool. Our friends came over to enjoy it with us.

A flower we picked from our magnolia tree. The kids thought it was pretty fun to play with. Sam wanted to eat it.

The Birthday bash

I decorated her chair with balloons and paper but she tore them off right away.

She gave Dora a dimple in her cheek after she blew out the candle.

We had a quiet little Birthday party for Carly. Just the four of us. I made spaghetti (which is usually her favorite) Then we opened presents and had some birthday cake. I think all in all she had a good birthday. She kept asking all day if she could eat her birthday cake and open her presents so it was hard to get her mind focused on something else. I still can't believe she is 3 years old!

Happy Birthday to you....

2 years old

Carly 4 months old

My Carly turns 3 years old today! It's amazing to think that I have a one year old and a three year old! Am I that old?!? Seriously though, I think this birthday is a bitter sweet. Along with the Independence she has gained she has also gained a butt load of attitude that I'm not quite sure how to deal with. Where has my sweet little girl gone? I ask myself that question at least 10 times a day. Her new favorite phrases are as follows:
"NO!"
"Don't say that mommy!"
"Don't spank me mommy."
"No Sambo!"
(all of the above said with major attitude)

Her new favorite hobby is taking toys from Sam and then hitting him.

Enough with the bitter...now on with the sweet. She now will say "I love you mommy" at random moments. I love to hear it because it doesn't happen very often. She often compliments me on my hair or the clothes I am wearing. She loves to sing and sometimes she'll even dance. She loves playing with bubbles and play dough. She can count to 13 in English and 12 in Spanish. Every now and then she'll bust out a new Spanish word she learned from Dora and it surprises me every time. She likes to have you tell stories to her before bedtime and sometimes, very rarely you can get her to tell you a story.
Well...I think that is enough for now. I sure do love this little girl.
(pictures will soon follow)

Giveaway!!!!!!!!!

GIVEAWAY!! Go here and enter! They have such cute stuff, I love it!

Lots of Pictures

Thanks to Chad's laptop I'm able to finally post pictures of my trip. We had so much fun! We were very busy but I got to see a lot of old friends and family. It was nice to spend time with my brother and for my kids to spend time with their Uncle. I'm sad I didn't plan it better so I could see my little sister Graduate or my big sister's new baby, but we had fun and we already miss everyone!
Above: Just a silly picture of a silly little girl.
Below: Two excited nieces waiting to see their Uncle Dan get off the airplane!

I stole this (below) picture from my sister.

(below) A walk down memory lane. This is where it all began. This was where Chad and I first lived right after we were married. It's not the one right on the street but the one next to it. They look alike. We have some really great memories from this place. We had to hook up our clothes dryer on our back porch because there was no room inside. We couldn't run the washer while taking a shower or else we'd get dirty clothes water come up through the drain. We got our firsts pet fish and our first two pet kitties here. I miss this little 400 square foot cottage but I could never go back to it!

Below: This picture is out of order but for Mother's day we had a girls night (on Saturday) We had pedicures and went out to dinner. It was so much fun and so needed. It was fun to be with my mom and my sisters.

(below) Celebrating my Dad's birthday with my Bro-in-law's graduation cupcakes!

Below: My Grandpa Holt has always had a huge garden and green house as long as I remember. I have yummy memories of eating fresh peas, cucumbers and green peppers straight from the garden. Sometimes we would even pick out our own flower we could take home (to kill) I love going there whenever we have the chance. It always reminds me that someday I want to have a garden as big as his. I honestly don't know how he does it at 80+ years. Carly had fun running around in the greenhouse pretending it was a forest.

This was the cake I made for Sam. I had the hardest time deciding what to make but the monkey turned out cute and it fits his personality.

This was at Pirate Pizza (or something like that) It's a new place in St. George that is really fun! After some confusion with our order and then Carly dumping our whole pizza on the ground we decided we should do cake and ice cream somewhere else :)

Sambo man is One!

It's crazy to think a year has come and gone since our little man was born. It has flown by...a

little too quickly, my baby is soon becoming a toddler and I don't know how much I like that. He is so fun and quickly learning his independence. He loves to walk and is now trying to run. He loves to play outside and he loves to be with Carly. He dances whenever he hears music. He has started to cuddle with us but only for seconds at a time. He has four teeth. He will eat pretty much anything. His smile is contagious along with his cute little giggle. He hates getting his

diaper changed. He loves bath time and would probably stay in the bath for an hour if I let him. He wiggles and moves like crazy, even in his sleep. We sure love this little man!

Things done in the past two weeks...

*Flew to Utah
*Saw my little bro. return from his mission
*met some good friends of mine at a fun little park. (it had been YEARS since we've seen each other)
*Met some other friends at a different park to catch up on life.
*drove to SLC to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday
*celebrated Mothers day by getting pedicures with my mom and sisters.
*drove back to St. George.
*Celebrated Sam's first birthday at a cool Pirate Pizza Place and then birthday cake and presents and my sister's house.
*drove to Las Vegas and then flew back home to Texas (not by myself this time!)

Many pictures will come soon. Our computer is being silly so it is out of commission.

What a trip!

I am in Utah. I never thought I would make i. I flew out Tuesday. My flight was scheduled to leave at 2:35. Well, Chad dropped me off with the kiddos. I made it through security by myself with no major issues. I found the gate and found some seats next the he window. Well...it turned out that my flight was going to be pushed back about a half hour. "no big deal" I though. I had lots of stuff to keep the kids busy. Carly had fun watching the airplanes and striking up conversations with complete strangers. Well...about 40 min. after we were suppose to be in the air we finally were able to start boarding. I got on the airplane...found our seats...well, the lady we were sharing the row with decided she wanted to take the window seat which was suppose to be Carly's. I was a little worried because you have more wiggle room when your by the window. Well, it turned out this lady didn't speak any English. Well...we got settled on the airplane. Carly made friends with he lady that didn't speak English. Thanks to Dora the Explorer Carly is bilingual :) She ended up calling this lade "Abuela" (grandma) I found out she was from Guatemala. With a lot of hand gestures and he little Spanish that speak we were able to communicate a little. She ended up giving Carly some money from Guatemala. She called Carly "bonita" She was an Angel. This lady saved me from a lot of stress. Well....back to the crappy part of the trip. We sat on the airplane, it started backing up when the pilot announced they forgot to check the brakes...so we pulled forward..they checked the brakes...after about 20 minutes we were headed out again. We taxied to the runway, when the pilot announced we had to go back to the gate because there was still an issue with the brakes. So we went back to the gate and after about 20 minutes they announced that we had to get off the plane and get on another plane. I wanted o cry, and I almost did!! This was my worst nightmare. By this time we would've only had about 40 minutes left of flight if we had taken off on time. Well, we got off the plane, they couldn't get me my stroller so I had to lug two carry on bags, Sam and try to keep Carly near. We had to hike to another gate and wait...yes...wait for another plane to come in. So after about 25 minutes another plane arrived and we started boarding again. To sum things up..we made it o Vegas about 2 1/2 hours late! I am so glad that is over!

walking

Here is are Mr. Sam, walking around all over the place! I still can't believe it either but he loves it and he is actually much happier! He has been watching Carly too long and he finally wanted to get in on the walking action. He is getting better and faster every day. I don't know if I'm quite ready for it but I guess I'm going to have to be ready!

We spend the evening out at Chad's parents house last night. The kids had fun exploring as always and Chad and I enjoyed the hammock!