tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323430572024-03-13T13:29:37.215-07:00Hope is the ThingJazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.comBlogger425125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-23024117971099877442016-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:002016-10-23T14:15:14.166-07:00Fall Break Visit to Gardner Village<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-31298577060500696662016-10-23T14:08:00.000-07:002016-10-23T14:08:56.839-07:00Fall Field trips with Hazel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hazel's preschool September field trip...</div>
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...and October's!</div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-67531336421498294522016-09-18T23:17:00.001-07:002016-09-18T23:21:13.471-07:00Back to School, Back to LifeThere is going to be a rather large section of record that is missing from the Shorten Family History due to my inability to function with change on the horizon. Around the turn of last year, we made the decision to build a home and move to sister's hood (still the same city). Perhaps I'll write about that later along with everything else I've missed this year....a highlight reel perhaps--wouldn't that be fun! But until then, the only way for me to get back on track here is to just start. So I thought the kids going back to school is as good as place as any to getting back to blogging.<br />
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About two days after moving in the first week of August, we took off for a family reunion in Idaho. We returned with one week to spare before we embarked back into the life of rigid routines and overlapping schedules. This week also happened to include Ryder's birthday...if I could go back and do it all over again, I would have delivered him on his actual due date and not ten days later which always manages to fall a day or two before the first day of school. But alas, there are some things you just can't control. Back to Ryder's birthday celebration. Ryder picked his favorite birthday meal, breakfast burritos to feed everyone and a doughnut cake topped with dynamite candles. He opened presents and then we went the movie, Pete's Dragon.<br />
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Our sweet boy is getting older and wiser too, I believe. Slowly and surely. He is caring, thoughtful and funny and I just love saying goodnight to him before he goes to bed because he always, always hugs me (really) tight and asks me how my day was. He's a brave soul for being our first child and I'm so grateful for the patience he shows us as we're navigating parenthood. Ryder, I love you so very much!<br />
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And somewhere in the middle of all of that we fit in a back to school shindig/fashion show. It's just all, ya know...tradish.<br />
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The next day was Sunday, where we had out back to school dinner. We ate one of our current favorite dinners are tostadas with pineapple pico de guillo and had peaches and cream for dessert. Phil gave us all a <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood-blessing?lang=eng">priesthood blessing</a> for the new school year and we talked about our new theme for the year:<br />
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"Live in Thanksgiving Daily" (Alma 34:38)<br />
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And I think maybe, just maybe, we got them all ready and set for the first day at a brand-new school. (Phew!)<br />
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I didn't really have time to think about what life would be like with my two oldest both in school all day, so the wonderfulness of it all came as a pleasant suprise. I still have Hazel who is just in preschool for three days a week, but it's so nice to have the first half of the day to gear up for when they come home. </div>
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Back to Hazel going to preschool. Well, after a brief moment of sadness, it was just so fun to see her delight. Plus, I know now, letting them go to Kingergarten is WAY harder than preschool, so I might as well save up my nostolgic, meloncholy sadness for next year. She was so excited to get going on things she's watched her brother and sister do each year. As you can see, she gave her first day two thumbs up! She was also so excited to start soccer because at the end of a game she gets a treat. And truly, isn't that what life is all about?</div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-91146673078279479752016-04-23T19:25:00.003-07:002016-04-23T19:25:25.729-07:00Penny's Birthday & Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Penelope Rae turned six! I personally believe Penny would qualify for a fantastic perpetual six-year-old. I'm already not looking forward to her turning seven. She's fun, dramatic, charming, kind and determined. We kicked off Christmas vacation with Penelope's birthday party. We always like to go up to Tremonton for a couple of days before Christmas for some good cozy fun. This year we decided to celebrate her while we were there. </span></div>
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While we were in Tremonton we made some time for play in my parent's winter wonderland. </div>
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We came home a day before Christmas Eve just in time for our viewing of The Christmas Carol in Christmas jammies with some Christmas cocoa. Something I'm thinking of refering to as the 'Triple C Tradition' for future Christmases.</div>
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We woke up Christmas Day to presents, cinnamon rolls and a very thick blanket of snow, which only slowed us down mometarily on our way to my sister's for Christmas lunch and fun.</div>
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And that along with a relaxing and lazy Christmas break brings our calm and happy 2015 to a close. Something for wich I'm so grateful to our Heavenly Father.</div>
Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-45411309771491984112016-03-24T22:30:00.000-07:002016-03-24T22:30:23.111-07:00Thanksgiving 2015Thanksgiving was rockin' this year. Our grateful gathering was graciously hosted by my parents in their beautiful home. AND this was the first holiday in awhile with my entire family. PLUS, my grandpa came. So, as you can see, it was a rockin' good time.<br />
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I've always really enjoyed the formula my family follows during Thanksgiving.<br />
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A. The Feast. This usually happens in the early afternoon, around a time you would have a late lunch, which is pefect timing for finding everyone in a perfect state of hunger.<br />
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B. The Veg. The visit. And unfortunately, the clean-up, along with the one poor soul who decides to take on the mission of strategically finding a location for all the leftovers in the refrigerator and the other poor soul who gets stuck at the sink only to leave with water all over their tummy. This year since we had all our tiny kiddos, we played Bingo where the winners (everyone) got to go shopping at Nana's 'Bingo Botique'. What grandchild doesn't love a Bingo Boutique? I don't know, because I have yet to find one.<br />
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C. The Movie. Every Thanksgiving we go see a late afternoon/early evening movie. We take careful time to pick a choice everyone will enjoy. Obviously, the last few years the movie choice has been dictated by our children, so this year we saw The Good Dinosaur. It was entertaining, but my favorite part was during the emotional ending, I turned around to see tears streaming down Penny's face.<br />
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D. The Pie. After we get back from the movie, we break out the pie! No need to explain the wonderfulness of this variable.<br />
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Oh, how I love Thanksgiving.<br />
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-40886343411806775312015-12-12T19:06:00.001-08:002015-12-12T19:06:41.416-08:00Halloween 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Halloween was hauntingly wonderful. This year's Halloween fell on a Saturday, which is one of the most ideal days for Halloween to fall upon, wouldn't ya say? </div>
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In fact, this particular Saturday was filled with more events than just Halloween. Both Ryder and Penny had their final soccer game until the season starts back up in the spring. AND we got to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday, which is a pretty, stinkin' big deal.<br />
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First were the soccer games...<br />
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Next, was the 60th birthday celebration where my dad was an extra good sport with that hat I made him wear...</div>
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And speaking of my dad, aren't my parents the cutest people in the world?</div>
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And last, but not least, our little characters ready to trick-or-treat!</div>
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Ryder was a vicious vampire...<br />
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Penelope was a dazzling witch...</div>
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And Hazel...well, she was a really, really cute Pikachu...<br />
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The good dads took this group around the neighborhood to collect candy...<br />
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And afterward, our little goblins enjoyed their spoils during our traditional viewing of Incabod and the Headless Horseman.<br />
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***As a side note, the Headless Horseman rode through Autumn's neighborhood once again! Although a little too amiable for my taste, he was the spooky cherry on top to our wonderful Halloween sundae!</div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-458303910376224472015-11-01T21:37:00.001-08:002015-11-01T21:37:22.097-08:00An Autumn BreakI remember summer coming to an end. I remember thinking a change will be good. Getting back to a schedule will be good. Structure, will be good.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Has it been good? I don't know because getting "back into the swing of things" is still too busy slapping me in the face.</span><br />
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Which is why Fall Break was so nice. A little time to breath and recognize that your kids have actually been in school for two-and-a-half months, even though it's only felt like two-and-a-half weeks.<br />
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I'm a gal who enjoys using the occassional "break" to catch up on life. Do a little "fall" cleaning, perhaps. Or maybe get a jump start on the holidays. Not this time. This time, my main prerogative was to veg.<br />
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And I--I mean--we, were victorious in this pursuit.<br />
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We got in our car and zoomed over to my parents house as quickly as we could. My parents house, for those of you who haven't been, is a like a magical cozy retreat. If I had to describe it with a feeling, it would be "pumpkin spice".<br />
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The next day we went to visit my Grandpa in Downey. A pefect way to spend a day if you ask me.<br />
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Saturday we headed back home but not without a couple of pit-stops--one, at Grandpa Phil's and the other at my dear friend Brittney's house (who just moved to Utah, wahoo!). Another day well spent. </div>
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Monday, we made our annual Fall visit to Cornbelly's. The weather stayed nice even though it had been raining that morning and the crowds remained totally managable. It was just all so very enjoyable. And exactly the sort of break I needed.<br />
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Now bring on the holidays!<br />
<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-25408341908454737412015-10-18T18:02:00.000-07:002015-10-18T18:02:12.507-07:00Hazel is 3!(Written sometime in July:)<br />
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Our little Hazel Ane keeps growing and growing and we were so excited for her to turn three! This last year has been pretty monumental when it comes to positive lifestyle changes in the life a toddler. Within this last year, Hazel got potty trained (no more diapers), moved from her crib to a big girl bed (and after weeks and weeks, does a pretty good job staying in that bed after we tell her good night), finally, FINALLY learned to entertain herself and fall asleep in her carseat (this one makes me tear up with joy a little bit), figured out how to buckle the top buckle of her carseat (such a time saver!) and can speak three different languages! No, but she does know enough English to communicate her needs to us. (Again, such a time saver when it comes to diagnosing problems.)<br />
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Yuuuup, life is easy breezy, folks.<br />
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Now, for year number three, we just have to deal with that whole "testing boundaries" situation. And it may be a bit of a situation.<br />
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For her actual day, we celebrated with our typical pizza party, doughnut cake and fabulous family guests. And in the evening we went to see the Minion movie with cousins. A pretty fun day, if I do say so myself!</div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-80672562632441038332015-07-27T23:00:00.000-07:002015-07-27T23:00:03.725-07:00To Seattle, Oregon and Back Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Our main vacation for the year entailed a car voyage up to the Pacific North West. Easily one of my favorite places on earth. Our first destination was Seattle where we were able to visit Phil's family and enjoy all that the Emerald City has to offer and then we drove south down to Lincoln City, Oregon where we met my family for a little Fourth of July on the coast. </div>
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<b><u>Seattle</u></b></div>
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We were fortunate to see both of Phil's sisters while we were there. Jaimie was there the whole time we were and we overlapped with Carly just a couple of days, so we made sure pack in lots of fun! The whole day we were all together, we went to Lake Sammamish to go tubing, waterskiing and picnicing.</div>
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Hazel happily strutted her stuff while playing in the sand. Ryder, Penny and Hazel had a blast with their cousins Elsie and Owen. There is something so fun about seeing your kids play with their cousins. </div>
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Oh, and Ryder experienced a couple of firsts. He attempted his first time waterskiing, where he did great. He got up on his third try--albeit, only for a second or two--but I say it totally counts! He also fell off the tube for the first time and even though both events almost gave my mommy heart a heart attack, Ryder on the other hand kept his cool and had fun.</div>
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And what's a trip to Seattle without a friend visit? It is always a pleasure see these wonderful people and see how all our families are growing. And thanks to Grandpa Steve and Grandma Laurie, we even got away one night with the adults for a little dinner date. Which was pretty, stinkin' wonderful. </div>
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We also took our sweet time lying around and relaxing in the humid heat. :) And we all made sure to take advantage of our time with Aunt Jaimie.<br />
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It had been awhile since we'd been downtown, so we decided to hit the big city for another one of our big outings. We checked out the Space Needle, ate lunch at Dick's, rode the monorail and hung out at Pike Place Market where we watched fish being thrown, ate fresh, hot doughnuts for dessert and danced to the street performers. We also visited Seattle's iconic gum wall, which I must admit on a 90 degree day is more gross than cool. A couple of us got literally stuck to the ground. Ew. But it was a cool 'ew', right? And we may have added our own ABC gum to the mix. I mean, how can you not? So there you have it, the cliche stops that are necessary to impart on the younger generation.</div>
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The last day we were there, Phil along with his parents took the kids on a hike to Rattlesnake Ridge, while I stayed back to do laundry and pack. They all had quite a bit of fun. Hazel may have charmed her way into Grandpa Steve's arms so she got carried AND full and complete access to his Camelback. A perfect way to end this portion of our trip. Quality time, while getting them nice and worn out for the long car ride the next day. </div>
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<b><u>Oregon</u></b></div>
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Oregon was breezy and beautiful. We met my parents and my sister's family there on a Thursday afternoon and after checking out our hotel room, ran right over to the beach. We told all of them to not wear their swimsuits because the water was too cold, but luckily, they didn't listen to us because they were stripping down to their suits faster than I could say, "Look, there are seals over there!" We then headed over to Mo's for some fish and chips for dinner. I mean, Mo's + plus the Oregon beach? I mean, it's just so apropos.</div>
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The next day, we (along with everyone else in the state of Oregon) took a little field trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Where I totally ate my weight in dairy. And enjoyed every second. We ate at their restaurant that served a variety of grilled cheese, and then of course, got some ice cream. Delish. And I may have had a bit of a tummy ache later. But hey, go big or go home, is what I always say. Actually, I don't say that. Hardly, ever.... unless it has to do with dairy.<br />
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The next day was the Fourth of July. We bought some sandwiches and headed to a place down the coast a few miles to look for whales. You guys. You'd think we were watching the World Cup finals or something. We saw the whale watching expedition boats and using them for a point of reference, spotted a few spouts a ways out. Which in itself was pretty fun. But we kept watching and felt we had two behemoth friends on the radar, one of which kept inching it's way closer to us. And the closer the spouts got, the louder our cheers got. There was one point we got incredibly bashful because we were beginning to cause a scene. Don't worry, we got over it quickly. And then--I mean it's hard to describe because were overlooking a cliff, but I'm pretty sure that whale couldn't have gotten more closely if it had tried. One of two things happened. It heard our cheers and wanted to give us a show, or Heavenly Father blessed us in our over-eagar, pathetic state with a really awesome memory. It was pretty amazing. He came out of the water in waves because he was so huge. Or "she", excuse me. Of course, when this happened we were yelling and cheering. Honestly, whoever was there that day did not leave wanting for entertainment. Sadly, we have not one picture to document our outing that day. Because we were tos busy peeling our eyes, dang it!</div>
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That night we grilled hot dogs, walked the beach long enough to see how insanely crowed it was and walked straight back to the hotel room to put our kids in their jammies and watched all the crazy people while we waited for the fireworks to start. Which we did, from our window, all snuggled up so our kids were able to crawl into bed right after the last boom. The most perfect way to do fireworks with small children, if you ask me. </div>
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The next day, we decided to forgo our usual bee line home to take a stop in Boise to see my Aunt Lancy, my cousin Bethany and her cute family. It was such a wonderful treat to spend time with them and eat the yummy dinner they made for us. Another thing I wish I had taken a picture of! It was surely the cherry on top to a wonderful vacation!</div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-14735289536478984872015-05-20T22:20:00.001-07:002015-05-20T22:21:22.979-07:00Penny's (Final) Preschool Graduation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh my sweet Penelope is growing up. She finished her second and final year of preschool last week and she couldn't be more excited to start Kindergarten. We talk about it every day right before I remind her she still has about three months until it starts.<br />
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There isn't too much more different with this preschool graduation than there is from last year's. She has the same wonderful teacher, Mrs. Barb and many of her same great friends. However, I did manage to spice things up by putting her hair in a top knot. Unfortunately, this was not accounting for the traditional cap that is worn...but like most things, she worked it. <br />
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Penny Rae--we are so proud of you! You are so easy to love and being your parent is one of the funnest things your dad and I have ever done, and we adore you in every way possible! I have no doubt you're going to take Kindergarten by storm!</div>
Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-13822277664804989982015-04-09T21:15:00.000-07:002015-04-09T21:15:26.272-07:00Easter 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year Spring rolls around I seriously contemplate whether or not what I've know to be true is, actually, really true.<i> Is</i> fall really my favorite season? Because Spring feels so nice. I mean, I've always known my favorite season to be fall. I know once fall's bronze winds come knocking at my door, that truth will ring true once more...but....am I really, truly sure Spring isn't my favorite? Its an inner debate I face every year.</div>
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This year, Easter fell on General Conference. It's something that happens rarely enough that there should be a special name for it like, Easter Plus or Weekend of Joy, because joyful is what this last weekend was.<br />
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Saturday my sister did BBQ lunch and Phil and I did the Easter egg hunt for the kiddos. I tried to mix it up a little this year with some camoflauge eggs that looked like rocks and grass as well as a silver and gold egg that had some mula inside. It was preeety, stinkin' exciting, if I do say so myself. <br />
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Sunday was bliss. We learned from Christmas and told the kids that they couldn't come out of their rooms until 7 am. We all leisurely woke up, enjoyed Easter baskets, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and watch General Conference in our jammies. I mean, does life get any better than that? I'm really not sure it does. </div>
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-90369279445747494872015-02-15T21:52:00.003-08:002015-02-15T21:52:48.389-08:00The Two Week Contrast<br />
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<i>(These two were first to bite the dust. Thankfully, thankfully, I spent this day cleaning and grocery shopping for anything that could be loosely counted as the BRAT diet)</i> </div>
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February (and my life for that matter) are going by like a whip. I remember toward the end of January looking at the calendar thinking how crazy this month was going to be and then it got here and we ALL got some sort of stomach flu. We all just laid there like slugs. All meetings, lessons and obligations were cancelled, our house was under strick quarantine and that first week of February disappeared into a black hole somewhere. </div>
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Thankfully, by the Monday of the second week, we all had retained our health and were ready to get back to our normal lives--which was good because our schedule wasn't throwing us any softballs. In fact, after reflecting on a week of our usual stuff plus doctor appointments, additional church meetings, hair cuts and Valentines Day--I'm beginning to feel like that first week of sickness was a distant memory.</div>
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However, I must state here and know, that out of the two, I prefer the latter. We had been on a good run of health and during such you sometimes foolishly fall into the trap of thinking it might be kind of nice to snuggle sick kiddos, let them watch obscene amounts of TV while having an excellent excuse to bow out of your usual obligations. Complete foolishness, I tell you! Complete and utter foolishness. </div>
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<i>(One evening they were all feeling so rotten, the only thing I could think to do to cheer them up and kill time before bed was a bubble bath. At one point Ryder said, "Ahhh, this is the life." And Penny replied, "You said it, Brotha!"</i></div>
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And just to bring my message home, here are a few things that I would like to remind myself when I'm basking in a long, wonderful phase of great health and the lines of pain vs enjoyment get blurry, and I begin losing my good, common sense: </div>
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-Despite your state and the kindness and understanding of others, you feel like a flake for cancelling everything and having to call the school morning after morning to tell them yet again your child won't be coming in that day. </div>
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-Food. Wonderful, delicious food no longer holds any joy. </div>
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-You also have to cancel on the fun stuff. Like playing with cousins and book club. (Luckily, book club was the week before...phew!)</div>
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-Shockingly, it's not doing the work that's hard--it's the lack of motivation to do the work and then still having to do it, that's hard. And who has motivation when they're sick? So you sit there in pain, like a sloth while watching your house take on new layers of dirty dishes and dust. </div>
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-Finally, not that I'm going to go to the extreme of saying I miss working out, but I do miss the option of working out--ya know if I wanted to. Or to go outside... breathe some fresh air! Feel the sunlight on my face! Okay, I'll stop now. </div>
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So, just to be clear to my grade-school self: it is not fun or relaxing in any way to be sick. The end. </div>
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-91610834256400980992015-02-05T15:50:00.000-08:002015-02-06T08:49:41.795-08:00Rewind: August VacationBefore I wrap up the twenty-fourteen year, I need to blog about our August road trip. I was going through what you could a say a bit of a mid-blogging crisis this summer and was seriously contemplating whether or not I wanted to keep my blog. I gave a lot of thought to the purpose of why I blog, what I hope to accomplish with it, blah, blah, blah. As you may have noticed Instagram and Chatbooks have made it super easy to document life, so I was like-well, what's the point of this thing (my blog) then? And I was like...I dunno. And then, I was like, oh yes--it's because I like doing it. More so than the picture part, I like the writing. And therefore, the blog stays...at least for now.<br />
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But it did take me pretty much all of summer to come to this conclusion, so as you may have noticed I've been going back to a few summer events to make sure all the important stuff is documented and our final summer trip was one of them. And it was also the biggest. So here we go.<br />
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We spent the first two weeks of August spending time with Phil's extended family at a reunion in Albion, Idaho. Afterwhich, we drove up to Seattle, where we spent a week with Phil's parents and then spent the last few days of our trip waterskiing at Lake Chelan. So let's break the photo overload up into parts:<br />
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Part I: Pugmire Family Reunion, Albion, ID<br />
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I really, really enjoyed our time here. Phil's mom is one of ten siblings and they're so great to plan reunions so a family of that size has the opporunity to spend quality time together. Obviously, not everyone can make each one, in fact, his has been the first one we've been able to attend since I was pregnant with Ryder, so it was great to hang out and get to know better some pretty wonderful people.<br />
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Albion, Idaho is a quiet, well-maintained town, that I found rather charming. We stayed in an old dorm building from what was once a college campus. The family that owns it, renovated the building for the purpose of hosting family runions and other large gatherings. Ironically, they turned the rest of the buildings on the small campus into the Albion Haunted Mansions that they run for two months out of the year. They were getting it ready while we were there and they even gave us our own haunted tour...yeah, it was creepy. We also took a day outing to the City of Rocks National Park where we explored really large, crazy-shaped rocks. The rest of our time was spent playing games, riding banana bikes and running back and forth between the pool and the hot tub. Oh, and of course, what sort of family reunion is complete without a bouncy slide?<br />
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Also, because I like food--as you can imagine feeding a group this size was no small feet, but Phil's mom and aunts have this down to a fine art and every meal was plentiful and delicious. I just wish I got a picture of the fruit bowl (think: the size of an exercise ball cut in half).<br />
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(All of the really good pictures below were taken by Phil's uncle, Jon Pugmire--who generously let me use them on my blog. :)<br />
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Part II: Seattle<br />
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Seattle is always a good time. Phil and I actually spent our anniversary of nine years in a car all day with three small children to get there. That's how much we like Seattle. We spent our time here mostly chilling with Phil's parents, sneaking in a trip to go swimming, meeting up with good friends, going to the beach or hiking when the menfolk weren't busy working. A highlight for sure, was our anniversary date night where Phil and I attempted to be slightly more adventerous than usual and went canoing on Lake Union and ate dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant in U Village. So fun! Knowing lillies are my favorite flower, Phil even (perhaps illegally) picked one for me on the lake. He's so romantic.<br />
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Part III: Lake Chelan<br />
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Before heading back to Utah, we took a detour to beautiful Lake Chelan. Truth be told, we boated on the Columbia next to Lake Chelan, which left the river to ourselves for most of the time. Skiing, wakeboarding was had by the adults and the tubing was for the kiddos...and myself. It was a beautiful area to see and a great way to end not only our vacation but our summer vacation!<br />
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-3584450383149545462015-01-27T13:12:00.001-08:002015-01-27T13:12:58.704-08:00<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13551999/?claim=6snbv5zgtak">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-71322215125405658132015-01-24T20:17:00.000-08:002015-01-24T20:22:31.965-08:00Penelope's Birthday!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Excuse me while I play catch up a little bit. In December, we celebrated this little bundle of joy turning five. Oh, how we love our Penny Rae.<br />
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She LOVES her siblings. She is still trying to work out in her mind why she can't marry Ryder and is super patient with her little sister. She has a sensitivity streak a mile wide and gratitude comes natuarally to her. She also might be just a hair dramatic. That mixed with her sensitivity do make moments where we're quite certain the world is going to end, but most of the time she is a delight to be around. I adore her so very much. Happy Birthday, my sweet girl.</div>
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You may have noticed I have had a bit of a formula for my kids' birthdays for the past year. Pizza, a doughnut cake, invite my sister's family and my parents, throw in a few balloons and bam! A party that makes them pretty happy, from what I can tell.<br />
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One day... maybe one day. I'm may have to throw an actual party where we invite their friends...we'll see.<br />
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-14192541510325668802015-01-01T08:44:00.000-08:002015-01-01T08:44:41.193-08:00Thanksgiving 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thanksgiving this year was a quiet one. It turned out to be just our family with my parents. And I masterfully cornered them in to doing it at their new, beautiful home. It was our first time staying there and we gave the accomodations a five star-plus review. It's so fun seeing my parents enjoy this phase of life--and we can't help but enjoy it as well!<br />
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My dad took the reigns on dinner this year (I <i>did</i> do the relish tray) and we took care of the pies. And by that I mean I purchased some lovely specimans from Kneaders and Phil baked his traditional apple.</div>
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Is there really anything better than hanging out on Thanksgiving morning as the house floods with the amazing smells of turkey and stuffing? I'm really not sure if there is...</div>
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We dined in the afternoon and then, headed over to see Big Hero 6 for our traditional Thanksgiving movie run. We may or may have had a Black Friday run-in with Wal-Mart on our way home, which I'm pretty sure we deemed "not worth it". <br />
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But other than that it was pretty perfect and delightful.<br />
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Ya know, I think the older I get the more Thanksgiving is making its way to the top of "My Favorite Holiday" list. (Not that it had much to climb in the first place). But I just love everything about it--and that all it's festivities are circled around gratitude--well, it's just a really good thing to celebrate.<br />
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-52054935003026244532014-12-28T13:46:00.000-08:002014-12-28T13:46:58.699-08:00Christmas 2014!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh sweet Christmastime, you've come and gone. This is our first year on record that we spent Christmas Eve and Morn at our own house. And it was calm, lazy and wonderful. Oh, and it was white. While Santa was making his deliveries, we got dumped on. It was rather perfect and magical.<br />
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Earlier that week we headed up to my parents' house for some family Christmas festivities. It was complete with treasure hunts, games and coloring, movies, cousins slumbering together, a nativity play, visiting with my Grandpa Salvesen and the opening of presents from Nana & Pompa. And we ate like kings! Homemade chicken noodle soup for one dinner one night and cheesy potatoes and ham for another. Hmmmm HMM! It was so good. On our way back home we made a stop at Phil's Grandpa Shorten's house and had lunch with him. What a blessing it is to be close enough to family to spend the holidays with them, yet spend it in the comfort of our own home too.<br />
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The next day was Christmas Eve and Autumn and her family joined us for dinner, jammies, and our traditional Christmas Eve viewing of the The Muppet's Christmas Carol. Before bed we read "The Other Wiseman" and the Christmas Story from the Bible. Then, for once, Santa was all ready to go, so Phil and I snuggled by the fire and watched Elf while visions of surgar plums danced in our kids' heads. I really, really liked that part.<br />
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And then Ryder and Penny woke up at 4 am.<br />
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We held them off with a movie until 6:30 (when Hazel woke up). Phenomonally, they both weren't huge wrecks the whole day. A Christmas miracle, I tell ya. We opened gifts and ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We stayed in our jammies until it was time to go to lunch at my sisters's where we ate some more delicious food and chilled out. I've decided I'm a big fan of "chilling out" on Christmas Day.<br />
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And there you have it, folks. Another great year for the books where we hopefully made our kiddos happy and taught them a little more about the light and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.<br />
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Now...a few notes to remember for next year:<br />
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-Do service-minded activities as a family throughout the year so I'm not feeling guilty that I (unlike everyone else on Instagram) isn't doing some awesome service project in the month of December.<br />
I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about this. And confused. Confused if I was feeling guilty because I wasn't doing more family-oriented service activities/projects...or guilty because I was comparing myself. The whole thing was on my nerves. I was on my own nerves. Which productivly resulted in me doing a big, fat nothing.<br />
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So along with everything else I've tacked onto January's to-do list, is my new resolve to work harder to help my kids experience service throughout the whole year. Sounds pretty easy, right?<br />
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-I was more prepared this year in some ways and less prepared in someways. All I know is that the more prepared I can be--the more I'm thanking myself in the end.<br />
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-I didn't do any handmade gifts this year. Or the last couple for that matter. I miss that. Not saying that I'll do them next year...just saying I miss that...:)<br />
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-I really loved the whole white Christmas thing. If we could just order another one of those for next year, that would be great--thanks.<br />
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-I would also like to remember to share my testimony of the Savior more. And my love and appreciation for all the loving, fantastic wonderful people in my life (which I'm fairly certain that if you're reading--that includes you!) I'm pretty sure that first thing stopped me from doing this thing, and I hate that. But again, thankfully, it's not something I have to wait a whole year to rectify.<br />
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-I think instead of trying to make EVERY day of December special I'm thinking of limiting it to just the week before or the twelve easy of Christmas or something. With my efforts this year I got burned out. What do you do in your homes to make December special, but simple?<br />
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-I need to remember to watch the Christmas movie classics a bit earlier next year. Select, then prioritze. This is important stuff people. A week is not enough time to fit in all the Christmas movie classics you wish you had been taking the whole month to enjoy because you were too busy getting pulled into the cheesy Hallmark movies (I mean, a couple <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(few)</span> of these are obviously totally acceptable) or perhaps took a brief stint binge-watching (before coming to your senses) a teenage drama on Netflix...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(dumb, dumb, dumb)</span><br />
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Ahhhh...you live and learn!<br />
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!<br />
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-5966679216193237482014-11-07T15:39:00.000-08:002014-11-07T15:39:23.149-08:002014 Halloween Decor Projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With all of our moving and living situations, I haven't had the opportunity to build up our holiday decor much. This was a year I had the time to work on getting our house a little more festive for Halloween.<br />
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In addition to my very few favorites that I've had for years now, I followed <a href="http://acuriouslychiclife.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/diy-pillowcase/">this</a> tutorial to make some pillow cases out of canvas and then stenciled in the words "boo!" and "eek!" with black fabric paint. This project wins the award for the most inexpensive. I used a $14 drop cloth from Home Depot (and there was tons of fabric left over).<br />
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I also made these yarn candycorns out of foam cones and yarn. This one takes the award for easiest project. Seriously, 40 minutes tops. I didn't even use glue. Just a few straight pins to hold the yarn in place.<br />
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And finally, this one wins the award for most time consuming. For a long time, I've always wanted to do some illustrated portraits of our family. With the intent of customizing them for each season or holiday. Since I wanted more holiday decor in our home, there was never a better time than the present.<br />
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Now it's important to note (actually, it' really boring to note): as someone who is trying to learn the ropes to graphic design, I have NO idea what I'm doing, so it's all by trial and error and trying to imitate what I see others do. I have no idea what my style is really, but I do know what I like, and like is a bit of an understatement to describe how I feel about <a href="http://www.babylit.com/shop-books/">Alison Oliver's Babylit Book Illustrations.</a> Yes, they are super cute baby books, but being the weirdo I am, I see little works of art on each page that I just stare at for embarassing amounts of time. It was her inspiration that gave me an idea of where I wanted to go with these. <br />
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Here is what ended up in the frames. But after seeing them on the wall, there were a few edits I went back to make, mostly in regards to scaling (and Hazel's hair), that you can see below and I'll reprint for next year. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Phil and myself got skewed when I saved them as a JPEG and for the life of me I don't know how to fix it...anyone out there know why?)</span><br />
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Now I just need to get going on our Thanksgiving version...pilgrims perhaps?Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-47198785978789971432014-11-02T15:32:00.001-08:002014-11-02T15:33:51.962-08:00Halloween 2014<br />
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This Halloween was a goodie. A little crazy, but a goodie. And just in case you didn't get the memo, Halloween is no longer a one day affair--it is more like a week-long affair. At the beginning of the week, pumpking carving, Halloween parties and preparations ensued. </div>
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Things started picking up seriously on Wednesday with our ward Halloween Party. As I patiently waited for Amazon to bring me my pirate costume I was to wear that night, I got a brilliant idea about how to decorate our car for the "trunk or treat". I was going all out people--all. out. The general idea being our ship in the waves, with a "sandy" beach that the kids had to dig through to find their "gold doubloons". I spent a good portion of the day working on this, making chili for the cook-off, getting the kids ready, burning said chili until I was in an appropriate holiday fluster right as it was time to leave for the party. </div>
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Luckily, the chili recovered and we had fun. We even won 3rd place for "Best Coordinating Costumes" and my Jack pumpkin won a prize for the "Scariest Pumpkin". So in the end the fruits of my labors were at last delivered! </div>
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Truly, I don't know if would've been everybody's first choice to be a pirate, but everyone kindly obliged to see my family theme through. All my children should be happy to know, now that I have that out of my system (it's a lot of work!), they can now be whatever they want for Hallween from now on. </div>
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The next evening, Phil and I attended a Halloween Party sans the kiddos. At this party I had somehow been talked into doing a flash mob dance to Thriller with some of my friends. Actually, there was only like eight of us, so what is that? Like a flash blob? Anyhow--Phil really wanted to dress up in these peanut butter and jelly costumes his parents had given us last year. But guys, there was NO way I was dancing in a jelly costume. Well, until the idea of getting dolled up as a pirate one more time made me fall asleep standing up--dancing in a Jelly costume sounded like a really nice idea. So PB and J we were and what do you know!? We won a costume award for "Court Jesters". Magic was on our side this year, I tell ya. </div>
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Although, here is a far cuter sandwich if you ask me.</div>
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Friday, of course, was Halloween and I was beat! But fun does not rest for the weary. I believe that morning, while scrambling to get everyone in their costumes for school, I remembered Ryder had his Halloween Parade first thing at school. Which meant, I needed to somehow find the time to get myself presentable in the mist of this mayhem. Which we did. And Hazel and I managed to cram ourselves onto a lunch table bench, squished between hords of parents, who most of which, are dressed up to the nines in THEIR Halloween costumes at 9 o'clock in the morning. All of us waiting for 30 minutes with the hope of catching a two-second glimpse of our child. <i>Sigh. </i>But I'd do more to see that boy's face.<br />
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And then it was on to even more fun. I mean, can you stand it?! My sister graciously hosted us at her house this year for Halloween. My parents came down and we feasted on ribs and potatoes (who cares about candy?), and pumpkin cake...and hot chocolate. Yuuummmmyyyy.....<br />
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We got the kiddos primped and out the door with their daddies to ask for tricks or treats (while we stay behind to hand out candy), when lo and behold, we see THE Headless Horseman come riding down the streets of my sister's neighborhood. </div>
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Considering this was one of my sister's and I's most favorite Halloween stories from our childhood, it only seemed appropriate that we started jumping up and down giggling like little school girls. I then, set out on a dead run to catch up with the kids, and then we all chased down the Headless Horseman to get a picture....or ten. The only photo op I did miss out on was Autumn running after him into the sunset. Really, a Halloween highlight. </div>
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We got those cute kiddos back, and ate our sweets while they counted their spoils and watched Ichabod, of course.<br />
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A Halloween for the books, that's for sure.<br />
<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-36097310459466638482014-10-29T22:03:00.000-07:002014-10-29T22:05:32.274-07:00Fall Break Fun!<div style="text-align: center;">
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Oh, I have a weakness for the lazy days! And so it was so very nice to have a 5-day weekend this month for Fall Break. We spent one day at Cornbelly's, my kids tolerated one day of cleaning and organizing, I'm pretty sure we spent at least one day doing absolutely nothing, and then we spent the last day taking a daycation to Tremonton to see my parents and their beautiful new home.<br />
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Obvi, the two events worth talking about was Cornbelly's and our mini day trip. Both of which were pretty wonderful.<br />
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Expecting crowds at Cornbelly's we got there right when it opened. And we were able to enjoy a couple of hours of fun fall festivities in perfect weather and no lines. We hung around for a little while longer after the swarms came and weather got too hot for my boots and sweater.<br />
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On Monday, we packed up my sister's van with all six of our baby chicks and drove them to Tremonton. My parents started building a new home at the beginning of this last summer and after seeing it in different stages we finally got to see the finished product.<br />
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I couldn't be a bigger fan of my mom's interior style, so it was pretty stinkin' fun watching her and my dad put their house together. And the end result was fantastic and so fun to see. One perk to their new digs is their amazing view accompanied with spacious alfalfa field that our kids found rather enchanting.<br />
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When the big kids got too hard to keep up with, Hazel and Rory thought it was totally awesome Nana and Pompa had made a room with two Lazy Boys and a TV--just for them. <br />
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On a quick soccer note, Ryder and Penny finished out their fall season last week. Knowing it was their last came, I was intent on styling their hair (and by "their" I mean Penny) and taking lots of pictures of them playing (and by "them" again, I mean Penny). I don't know what my problem was, but Pen's game was first and I was totally on the ball--but I got to Ryder's game and I was watching.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">..or chatting</span> and well, pictures never got taken. But I can note, Ryder got a goal for his last game <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">and all my friends are doing great. :)</span></div>
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-19039041443954604262014-10-13T22:10:00.001-07:002014-10-13T22:10:59.104-07:00Family PicturesGetting family pictures taken is not my strong point. Originally, I had the plan to have family pictures taken in every location that we've lived at--but that didn't happen. Then, I thought I'd just aim for getting them done each time I had a baby turn one...which we almost did (except this last one, Hazel is almost two).<br />
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Speaking of which, these photos were taken toward the end of July. Why it has taken me so long to get them printed (this weeks project), I have no idea. It was the same story with my other ones too! Sigh.<br />
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But alas, here they are:<br />
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<i> Probably my favorite</i></div>
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<i>Cutie Pies. But please don't ask me why Hazel has only two buttons done up on her cardy or why Penny's bow is centered a top her head, because the answer is--I don't know. Okay.</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDZ72hEPVdc/VDysT-DeP3I/AAAAAAAAFyE/LxpSeoZwQRA/s1600/IMG_3824-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDZ72hEPVdc/VDysT-DeP3I/AAAAAAAAFyE/LxpSeoZwQRA/s1600/IMG_3824-Edit.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<i>This one gets the award for "Keepin' it real". Seriously. I swear we all look like ourselves in this picture at least 10x a day.</i></div>
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<i>Oh, hello there. </i></div>
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Knowing I was looking for someone to take our pictures, my sweet friend, Lisa (whom I adore) offered to take them for us. We decided to take them up American Fork Canyon, but after finally finding a day we could all get together, it was spotty rain storms all day. We chatted and since we were all dolled up and ready to go--we decided to take our chances.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MPf7dPZRP-M/VDyqXS4SyNI/AAAAAAAAFw0/ThjS_3Hb-nU/s1600/IMG_3887-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MPf7dPZRP-M/VDyqXS4SyNI/AAAAAAAAFw0/ThjS_3Hb-nU/s1600/IMG_3887-Edit.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<i>I love them when they are like this.</i></div>
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<i>Hazel only had eyes for her daddy that day. It's a good thing he was there or she would have never cracked a smile. Whaaatever...</i></div>
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<i>Something's missing...;)</i> </div>
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<i>A little 'tude</i> </div>
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<i>Again, only got this because she is being held by her favorite guy. </i></div>
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It was pretty much drizzling the whole time we were there and if you notice Penny's and my hair throughout the progression of the photos, it just keeps getting flatter and straighter. Hazel's hair on the other hand just keeps getting curlier and curlier the longer we were out there. What I do love about having them in the rain is the coloring and the fact you can see little drops in the background.<br />
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And I'm so happy to finally have great shots of our little family!<br />
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<i>Apparently, I didn't get the memo.</i></div>
Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-56584811255851262192014-09-21T21:18:00.000-07:002016-01-16T15:18:59.170-08:00Pray Always<div>
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<i>"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me." --C. S. Lewis</i></div>
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Along with the thousand other things I'd like to do--sharing my testimony in bits and pieces here and there on this blog is one of them.<br />
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I decided to start with one of the first principles I came to truly understand very early on in my life. And that is prayer. </div>
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I was taught to pray as a little girl. And now that I think about it--it's one of the best gifts my parents could've given me. They taught me to get on my knees to pray before I went to sleep every night. And so I did. You might say this was also the beginning of my testimony of obedience as well. </div>
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Being so young, it began as something to check off my to-do list: brush teeth, go potty, get a drink of water, and say your prayers. But it wasn't until sometime in gradeschool I started to see the blessings that came from answered prayers and the undeniable benefits that came from consulting with my Father each night before I went to sleep.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DzQkJPQCDU/VB5Jrpp1PkI/AAAAAAAAFvw/PfyIDeoDQso/s1600/8x10%2BChristofferson%2BPrayer%2BQuote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DzQkJPQCDU/VB5Jrpp1PkI/AAAAAAAAFvw/PfyIDeoDQso/s1600/8x10%2BChristofferson%2BPrayer%2BQuote.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I loved this quote so much I had to make it into a little print. Download quote<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8d-euUsUUQ1Y1dCRGJnYTl1Yms/edit?usp=sharing"> here</a>, if you'd like.</i></span></div>
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I remember praying for years that my dad wouldn't have to work on Sundays anymore. A great blessing that was eventually given to our family. I remember fervently praying I would do well in my geography bee in 5th grade--or later when I'd tryout for something in highschool or had some sort of performance. And oh how I'd pray to drive safely. Which sounds so cliche, but after being a small 9 year-old slightly traumatized after our family was in an awful car accident, it was anything but. And then, there were always those moments of spontaneous desparation, such as killing my truck, losing my wallet, forgetting about a test--I prayed then too. Point is: I prayed about everything from the big stuff to the small stuff. The answers that came weren't always what I wanted, but the answers that came never ceased to prove to me that I had someone greater than me advocating my cause and if it mattered to me then it mattered to Him. </div>
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In the middle of all of this, I began developing an anxiety disorder around 10 years old. My parents and I didn't know what to do, and so I did what I always do--I prayed, we prayed. I'm pretty sure everyone in my family was praying for me. Heavenly Father didn't take it away (like I asked Him to hundreds of times), but He slowly provided me the understanding and mind exercises I needed for me to keep myself in control of my thoughts. I can't imagine where I'd be today had prayer not been a major part of my arsenal used to conquer this trial of mine. This was when I first found my Savior, and experienced the blessings of the Atonement. I discovered the scriptures--although I was too young to understand a lot of them, I knew they fortified me and increased my ability to feel the Spirit. </div>
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Prayer made me love and trust my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and therefore made accepting the truthfulness of the <a href="https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng">Gospel</a> one of the easiest things I've ever done.<br />
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And I pray still. However, it seems now my prayers are about much weightier matters. I hate to admit there are times I find the more I need to pray about the more daunting the task. And there are times I can't get on my knees fast enough. The word safety takes on about twenty different meaning as does the word pain. Thankfully, I always get to start out with gratitude. There are few things as therapeutic for me as telling my Father in Heaven everything I'm grateful for. It grants peace, perspective and ability to sort through the rest of my thoughts.<br />
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It's funny how writing this has made me realize how huge prayer has been to me in my life. I've always known of its importance to me, but writing about it has made me see how prayer has been the gateway to many, if not all, of the blessings I have today. Another thing I love about it--everyone can do it. No matter who, when, where or how. Everyone can pray.</div>
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One of my most favorite talks on the subject is by Elder David E Bednar in the 2008 General Conference titled: Pray Always. I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard this talk because it was such an "Ah-ha!" moment for me. If you're interested in learning more about the subject you can read it <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/pray-always?lang=eng">here</a>.<br />
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-7698281630571915482014-09-15T22:46:00.001-07:002014-09-15T22:46:50.263-07:00One of the Stupidest Things I've Ever Done<div style="text-align: center;">
***Now before you read this--I'm not saying you shouldn't do fun things with your kids--I'm just saying, be careful with what fun things you choose to do with your kids.***</div>
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<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjpfnKxMvu0/VBfJ0B-PJkI/AAAAAAAAFvA/V2oEHnvYlYE/s1600/Iphone_08312014_1635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjpfnKxMvu0/VBfJ0B-PJkI/AAAAAAAAFvA/V2oEHnvYlYE/s1600/Iphone_08312014_1635.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></i></a></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(These photos are from a couple of Sunday ago, where our afternoon activities were chosen a bit more wisely</span></i>)</div>
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After a wonderful weekend that included a date with Phil and uplifting Stake Conference meetings, we found ourselves in our usual spot on Sunday afternoons: the couch.</div>
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We figured after our kids' twentieth plea to go play we thought we should make an effort to be decent parents and, I dunno, take them outside or something.<br />
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So we decided to go to the park. An easy fun-loving activity perfect for a late summer day. We even walked the block and a half to get there because we're just so spontaneous like that.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StJvdTnqoGg/VBfJ0NeXWUI/AAAAAAAAFvE/raYXHuwVgek/s1600/Iphone_08312014_1633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-StJvdTnqoGg/VBfJ0NeXWUI/AAAAAAAAFvE/raYXHuwVgek/s1600/Iphone_08312014_1633.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And apparently the spontaneity was catching because the park we were at has a lot of hills and Hazel and I found ourselves atop one of these said hills. Hazel began squeaking out some sounds of apphrehension about walking down the steep terrain so being the adventerous mother I am, instead of picking her up or taking her hand, I told her:<br />
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<i>Lets roll down the hill! </i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(stupid, stupid, stupid)</span><br />
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And then I proceeded to lay in the grass perpendicular to the slope to perform what in my head was going to be a very simple demonstration.<br />
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Now, it's important to note here, that even though it had probably been a decade (maybe even more) since I had done such a shenanigan--I don't know if it was that the hills I used to roll on just weren't that steep, I don't know--but I had this vision of me doing two or three rolls then, happily sitting up to show my baby girl how fun it was and then see if she wanted to try it. It was one of those rare moments in life, I threw caution to the wind and embraced that fun-loving, carefree mom who spends her days running in fields of wildflowers with her children.<br />
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So I went for it.<br />
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By the third roll, it was clear I wasn't going anywhere but down that hill. I tried to stop, to sit up (ya know so I could show Hazel how much fun I was having), but I'm pretty sure at this point I was measuring about 8 G's down what felt like to be a never-ending cliff. Everything inside me was churning. All of the parts outside me (that didn't used to be there a decade ago) were being whipped around me in an abusive manner.<br />
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And yet in the faint distance, I hear Hazel. Concerned. <i>Schtop! Mommy! Schtop!</i><br />
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Oh, sweet girl...if only I could--if only. I. Could.<br />
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What was in reality only 5 seconds, felt like 5 minutes. Why am I not slowing down? I've got to be about two shakes away from hitting the church about a block down the road....<br />
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It was was about this time that I felt a noticable decrease in speed. Finally! And so I tried to sit up again. My head was spinning so....hard, I felt like I was going to pass out. Wait. No, no--I <i>wanted</i> to pass out. If there was anyone out there who ever wanted to torture me, it would be to put me in a barrel and roll me around. I would tell you ANYTHING you wanted to know.<br />
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I did stop. And after laying there in spread-eagle position for who nows how long, I made it up onto all fours and hoarsly called out "Phil...? Phil...!" I hear a voice fighting the urge not to laugh reply, <i>Are you okay?</i><br />
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<i>No. No, I am not okay</i>.<br />
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I later told him that was easily one of the top ten most stupidest things I've done (at least this year anyway). He told me that he was surprised I did it, but that I looked whimsical and in complete control while doing so.<br />
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So even though it almost killed me. At least I looked totes awesome while doing it. So, ya know, I've got that.<br />
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And then, a few minutes later we were rounding up the kiddos to walk back home, Phil sprained his ankle.<br />
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We totally just should've stayed on the couch.<br />
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-69046560842506095572014-09-11T21:53:00.002-07:002014-09-11T21:55:32.507-07:00Rewind: Hazel's Birthday!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MBuSN1lPEKM/VBJ2lbqFqPI/AAAAAAAAFt0/FK4F0yfRAWU/s1600/Hazel's_Birthday_07232014_6588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MBuSN1lPEKM/VBJ2lbqFqPI/AAAAAAAAFt0/FK4F0yfRAWU/s1600/Hazel's_Birthday_07232014_6588.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another major happening this summer was Hazel's birthday. She turned 2! And really, what can I say about our curly, blonde-haired, left-handed, baby doll, other than we adore her and think she's the cutest wittle cutie-patootie-woo-woo we've ever known. And listening to her talk with her low, matter-of-fact voice, laced with a sassy tone, pretty much gets her whatever she wants...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">and then she turns into cranky, demanding, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">spoiled Hazel, but we won't talk about that right now. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jBrLG21q3Fk/VBJ7u7j2LII/AAAAAAAAFuU/nqDjW7nvZOE/s1600/At_Home_07262014_6604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jBrLG21q3Fk/VBJ7u7j2LII/AAAAAAAAFuU/nqDjW7nvZOE/s1600/At_Home_07262014_6604.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YL4wY3D5dTM/VBJ7uxZ2BnI/AAAAAAAAFuY/y2TqpJqFH4Q/s1600/Hazels%2BBirthday_Collage%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YL4wY3D5dTM/VBJ7uxZ2BnI/AAAAAAAAFuY/y2TqpJqFH4Q/s1600/Hazels%2BBirthday_Collage%2B1.jpg" height="512" width="640" /></a></div>
Also, I think it's worth mentioning at her two-year check-up, she measured in at 30 lbs and is in the 99th per centile for her height. We dunno, but we think she might be on the taller side.<br />
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Hazel LOVED her party. We spent the morning making all the preparations, but it wasn't until she woke up from her nap and everyone came over that you could see her slowly putting together that they were here for her. The cake was for her. They were all singing for her! THE PRESENTS WERE FOR HER! She talked about it for days. And for weeks afterward, the Happy Birthday song made #1 on her top requested song list for naptime and bedtime.<br />
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And deservedly so! We love you, Hazel Ane!<br />
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Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343057.post-16362510533182078652014-09-11T20:16:00.000-07:002014-09-11T20:16:35.824-07:00Rewind: Fourth of July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Gosh, I love this time of year so much I could burst. Every time summer rolls around I am so grateful for the break and warm weather I think to myself maybe summer is my favorite season. But then fall comes rolling back in along with that giddy feeling I get, and I remember there is no comparison. Autumn is my favorite. But I will say Summer is a close second. And why I need to make sure I need to get our summer memories recorded--even if it be in retrospect.<br />
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So here we are at the Fourth of July. It was totes fun. Phil's cousin Stephanie and her husband, Gideon were here visiting, which only added to the enjoyment.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUbNfcObX5o/VBJcVlI6ztI/AAAAAAAAFrw/-FkxX2EKMLo/s1600/Fourth%2Bof%2BJuly_07042014_6467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUbNfcObX5o/VBJcVlI6ztI/AAAAAAAAFrw/-FkxX2EKMLo/s1600/Fourth%2Bof%2BJuly_07042014_6467.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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We started the day at the neightborhood parade--one of my favorite parts of the day--which was followed by a little chalk fight. Then, we had a BBQ with some neighbors for lunch. We vegged for awhile and then made our way to the park for the Traverse Mountain dinner and festivities (which consisted of a lot of blow-up slides and a mariachi band)--we didn't stay long.<br />
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We finished up the day at my sister's house. We lit sparklers. I wore a fesitve scarf on my head. We ate popsicles. And we later joined her neighbors for fireworks. Which aside from their neighbor's collection, the location we were in lent a view of fireworks going off all around the valley. The pefect way to end a wonderful Fourth of July.<br />
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<br />Jazzyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13252219783307983583noreply@blogger.com1