"I got a new job in the city...

Workin for my men every night and day...

I decided to transform my old "newlywed" blog into our new family blog. So much has changed since I last posted here. My new job is a stay at home mother- which funny enough has a wide range of job duties and has given me lots of experiences I never thought I'd have. I think I could just about apply anywhere for an "outside" job and say "Yes I have experience in that field". I love my new job- "working for my men"

is such satisfying work. I feel like a new woman. Though not every day is a fairy tale, sometimes I feel as though my constant response should be "Your Wish is my command!"- straight out of a book. I have a lot of responsibilities, but my reward is so much better than anything I could ever have dreamed of. Since being a mother I have realized that the story tellers of old have missed out on a whole slew of stories they could have told. - The stories of mothers and their families. I want to share my stories, and so that is why I'm back to blogging. My men are as follows, my husband, my baby boy, and my puppy. That makes for a lot of farts, pop, burps, constant running around, but best of all lots of love and laughter. I love my life. I feel so blessed to have my men. I couldn't have more love for my men and my life.

Taking home the Emmy for the WORST SISTER EVER!

So happy birthday to my sisters!

Jenny's birthday was yesterday and I completely forgot... until today. I miss her birthday by one day EVERY YEAR!! I am SO sorry Jen!
Holly's birthday was in April, I did remember to call her, but I totally forgot to post about her!
Natalie's birthday was in February, we did celebrate her bday but I didnt post about her either.

So... This one's for my Girls!!

Growing up with 2 older, and very strong willed sisters, was a blast for me. Yes there were the times that Jenny demanded we should "try harder"; or the times where Holly's voice seemed much louder than necessary... I loved my sisters albeit their fall backs!! :) Just kidding, they really were wonderful sisters, always teaching and loving me. Some of my favorite memories growing up involve them.

To me.. as the younger sister.. they seemed inseparable. In my eyes they were very much the same person, just with multiple personality disorder!! They both loved to dance, sing, and laugh... all until 3:00 in the morning!! I can't count how many stories we have heard about how annoyed Jake would be with their laughter at night. (Jenny and Holly shared a room, and also shared a common wall with Jake) Apparently the constant laughter often urged Jake to throw shoes at the wall and exclaim.. SHUT UP! :) Ah, those were the days. I also remember the frequent road trips and the singing at the top of our lungs (again to Jakes discomfort, oh he loved his sisters!). One specific song comes to mind... sing it with me now... "We are family, I got all my sisters with me.." that was a favorite, also pretty popular in our suburban was the medley from Sister Act 1 "Oh I've got, nowhere to run to baby, no where to hide... Until Halleluiah". While we are strolling down memory lane another funny memory comes to mind. While everyone knows that Sacrament meeting is very important, and is a wonderful meeting.. sometimes people do get bored... Jenny and Holly's remedy to this... drawing cartoon pictures of each other! I really wish I had a copy of these cartoons because I so would post them! Words cannot do them justice, but try to picture 2 loving, yet very ruthless sisters in their teen years drawing very unflattering pictures of each other. Zits, fat, hairy legs, and bad outfits all brought out in one picture, PRICELESS! Jenny and Holly always knew how to have fun with out going to far! (and if they did, there was always an "I'm Sorry" note slipped under your door that night) I love my sisters, they were a blast to grow up with. I love looking at my sisters now, all grown up with Families of their own. Wonderful Mothers and Wives, they are still teaching and loving me! I am so thankful to have such good friends, and sisters!

Growing up Natalie and I were often at odds and Natalie, being the loving person that she is, was usually the first one to say "I'm Sorry" (also because it was usually her fault anyway :) ) Natalie was also included in the frequent singing, and even acquired a nickname of "lungs" for her infamous musical instrument! When Natalie was little one of her most favorite things was to sing to the sun.. yes, I said the sun. Natalie would roll down the window, stick her head out the window, and sing her favorite song.... "Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to" yes, TLC was a favorite of hers! Also a fun memory is the incessant teasing Natalie endured when she was a toddler. We have some great home movies of us torturing the poor girl!! No wonder she sill commands attention in a room! We taught her well at a young age!! All grown up now, Natalie is a beautiful and loving sister! And I love having her as one of my best friends!!

I am so thankful to have such good friends, and sisters! Love you guys!!
*Also included in the picture is my beautiful Sister Neena, because her birthday is coming up I will wait to brag about her until then!!

Annual Marriage Retreat

Last year my parents started a great tradition. They decided that once a year all of the married couples in our family, along with my parents and my grandparents on each side, will get together to have discussions. Mostly the discussions are about marital topics, but every time it is a great experience. My parents are so giving! I can't believe how much they do for us! They allow us to get together to enjoy each others company and create memories. Last year Jonathan and I were not married yet, so we were not "allowed" to stay the night for obvious reasons! :) But this year we did get to spend the night and it was so great! Although I have to admit, it really could have fallen on a better night because Jonathan was SO SO SO SO sick!! I felt so bad for him! He had a terrible sinus infection (which I unfortunately gave to him, sorry babe!) So he missed out on most of the discussions and the games that night, but we still had a great time. Last year it took place at the Homestead in Midway. This year we went up to Snowbird and we stayed at " The Cliff" the view's at that place were unthinkable! The mountains jet up right behind the hotel! It was so gorgeous in the morning with the sun coming up behind them! Oh I loved it! Thanks Mom and Dad for all that you do! You guys are the best!
The room, Jonathan didnt get to leave this place much at all! :( View on the way out of the canyon
View from our bedroom window

Family support

So a few weeks back Taylorsville had their annual Drill Showcase, (Natalie is a part of the team) and our family came out to support! I have seen all of the dances already, but I haven't ever seen her perform the National Anthem. Natalie was asked to sing it to start off the night. She sounded great! Then they did all of their dances, which were also great! It is fun to see them perform them with no pressure (no competition) because they did awesome, as they always do, but you could tell that they were really enjoying it! It was so fun! We are so proud of you Natalie, you did great the whole night!



Also, as tradition, the "Chir-Mom's" do a dance for the showcase. That was great to see my mom out there shaking her bootie! Not like I haven't seen it before, she has some great moves! :) But never have I seen her do it in public! So fun to watch! Mom you did great too!!! She even pulled off an extension! Go mom! They danced to "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen. Great song for a bunch of middle age women to dance to!! They were fun with it and they all stuffed their butts so they had "fat bottoms", it was really cute! :) Anyway my cute family all came out to support Natalie and my Mom! It was a fun night!

My mother, My best friend

Some may say that they love there mom, some may say their mom loves them. I can say both, and even more, that she is one of my best friends!! My mom has been there through thick and thin. She was there to clean up my messes, bring me my homework when I would forget it at home. She was there when I didn't have a friend to turn to. She was there to take me to practice, church activities, sleep overs. My mom was always there to support me. She is a rock in the gospel and in all principles good. My mother is an example to me, I hope to live up to the kindness she has bestowed upon all people in her life. I love my mom for the tough cookie she was on Jonathan when we were dating. I love her for her amazing cooking!! I love her for putting up with the slamming doors. I love her for the great tips on how to give someone a really good toilet paper job!! I love her for asking every friend what there name was, just to make sure she can be in the loop! I love her for her discipline (I guess I can say that now that I am out). I love her for the example of marriage and love that she has given me all of my life. But out of all of these things that I am grateful for, and I love about my mom. I am most grateful for the time she gave up in her life for me. Not only was she there day in and day out while I was going through cancer, but every other day of my life. I know she has given up much for me and I am so grateful for her in my life!! My mother is a great example to me!! THANKS MOM, I LOVE YOU!!!!

Flash Back

So I was doing some organizing the other day and I came across a few "flash back" pictures that I thought were funny. Jonathan was a hilarious child, or so I hear, and super fun to be around. Clearly that is the case in these pictures!!

A Tribute for Opa

I never had the opportunity to meet Jonathan's Grandpa Day (Opa), but I hear he was a wonderful man!! I would have loved to meet the man who stole the heart of Arlette Hart, a fearsome man he must have been! To gain the heart of that wonderful woman, I imagine he must have been handsome, kind, giving, thoughtful, intelligent, and I am sure he had a good sense of humor!! Now I do know that infact he was handsome, and from the stories Oma tells me I gather that indeed he was every bit of what I imagined him to be. I love hearing her fond memories of him and I can't wait for the day I get to meet him!

This is a picture of Opa riding his bike backwards, he was famous for being very proud that he could ride backwards. Jonathan loved the fact that Opa was so proud of this, and he wanted to make Opa proud by learning to do it himself! Sure enough Jonathan became a master at riding the bike backwards just like his Opa!

Game Night

Friday night Jonathan and I drove down to Orem to have dinner and a game night with my Grandparents, Babe and Art!! They are the best! It is possible that I have the funniest, cuttest Grandparents ever! I love playing games with them!! There is always a guarantee that Babe will say "Arthur! Quit cheating!" or "If he loved me, he would let me win"... haha, nothing better than games with Art and Babe!! We had so much fun and we are so glad that Grandpa was healthy enough to have us over and play a mean game of Skipbo! We make a great team Grandpa! Jonathan and Grandma have nothing on us!!! Thanks for everything, we love you and we had a blast!!

Texas

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to accompany my mom and my lil sister to TExas!! Natalie is on the Drill Team at Taylorsville and they had National Competition down there. They did exceptionally well, and they had very good competition!! They looked great and they seemed like they had a good time, and over all were very happy with all of their dances!! It was fun to do some site seeing in between all the dances!! We were staying in down town Fort Worth, for anyone who has been there, you know that it is a very charming little town!! There were many old original buildings and qauaint restuarants!! I loved it!! It was so much fun to walk around and see all of the character the town had!! We also went to church there so we had to drive out side of the city to find a church and as we were driving around (for half an hour mind you! Wow Brigham Young knew what he was doing eh?) Anyway, so it was beautiful! Not beautiful in a Oh my gosh Paris is beautiful, but more of a raw beauty! The old homes, and wonderful architecture was so lovely!! I really enjoyed trying to find that church! So anyway it was a great weekend! Here are some pics from the trip!

Glamorous

Last week was Taylorsville's homecoming, and Jonathan and I being the proud alumni that we are, decided it was a must to attend the homecoming activities! Just kidding, I always loved those couples who would come back for homecoming activities like the dance. In all seriousness though it really was homecoming week for the 'ol Ville, and we did attend some activities. Natalie, my younger sister, called me on the Thursday before the week of homecoming and said she was nominated to be in the Homecoming pageant, meaning she was up for royalty!! I was excited for her and asked why she sounded upset, and she replied that it was because she had to have a talent by Tuesday! Luckily she has many talents and was able to bust out a song that she sang back in 6th grade! She decided to sing the Celine Dion version of "God Bless America". She rocked the house! She sounded so amazing! I was very proud of her!! It was a wonderful big sister moment! Also that weekend we found a great dress for her. She looked like a "queen". She also answered her question very well, which we were all glad for, she was really nervous for that part. Although I wasn't very impressed with the questions that were asked, it was obvious that each question was tailored to each person, I didn't think that was fair. But whatever, its over now, and she did in fact WIN!!! We were SO excited for her!!! I was very proud of her, so thank you for indulging me as I use this blog as my bragging moment for my wonderful baby sister!