Pictures of my girls

Well these pictures are already on Facebook and my family website, but here they are for those of you who don't see them there (mostly Mitch's family). Thanks so much Heather for taking them. You are amazing! These are pictures I'm pretty sure will always be framed in my house, even when these 2 little rascals have grown up.

Beautiful Vail

Mitch had some training in Denver so we decided to make a trip out of it. While Mitch worked in Denver, the girls and I stayed at his sister EmRee's house in Vail. We had a blast! His other sister CaMee's family came for the weekend too. Marin loves her cousins! Here are some pictures of our fun week:

Oh yeah, and 1 more thing...

My good friend Karissa reminded me of a dang hilarious story that happened back before I had any kids...I can't blame it on the kids, dang it!

So as a dietetics student one of my classes involved preparing this formal dinner for a bunch of college of Ag faculty. A few of us wanted to practice our menu before the actual event and the main course was pesto stuffed roast. So we went to USU's meat lab and ordered a deluxe roast from Dick Whittier (the world's premiere expert on all things beef...ahhh, the perks of attending an agricultural university). Well I was driving and as we were all getting in my car, I set the roast on the roof. Of course, I accidentally left it there and drove away. Well we headed down a hill about a mile or so and then I came to a 4 way stop. As soon as I stopped the car, this huge roast comes sliding down my windshield and slams onto the hood of my car! I about died! I put the car in park and hurried and grabbed the roast off my hood while the occupants of the other cars at the intersection looked on in amazement. The roast was perfectly fine...probably the most exciting moment of that poor hunk of meat's short life! So yes Karissa, you are right... I lost my mind a long time ago! Thanks for reminding me, I'd completely forgotten about that...

It's official.

I am losing my mind. Here is why I have come to that conclusion:

1. I ran around the house a few days ago looking for Kate's binky for at least 5 minutes and then realized it was on my finger.

2. I called someone the other day and forgot who I had called. When they answered I had to ask them who they were.

3. (this relates to #1) I ran around the house looking for my sunglasses this morning-- turns out they were on my head.

4. I found the brown sugar in the fridge yesterday.

5. I found the ice cream in the fridge as well (different day, don't worry I found it before it all melted).

6. I rented a Redbox movie for Mitch and me and forgot to take it back for FOUR days. It was a dumb movie, not worth $1, let alone $4.

7. This one is long. It happened just 2 days ago. This is why I have decided I really am officially losing my mind:

It all started out with Kate's 6 month Dr. appointment. I put my wallet and cell phone in her diaper bag so I wouldn't have to take in my purse. I can only hold so many items you know. Since I am losing my mind, I didn't put those things back into my purse after the appointment. Fast forward to the evening. Mitch was working a little late (apparently Sept 15 is some type of tax deadline). For Family Night we were putting together a little care package for my nephew who just got a bone marrow transplant. Mitch met us at the store and luckily, when I went to pay for my item and realized I had no wallet, he had his (Mitch is not losing his mind, he never loses things, he never forgets things). At this point, someone who is not losing their mind would put their wallet into their purse. Not me! I had to go to Walmart next, but we decided Mitch would take the girls home and put them to bed and I would continue on to Walmart. Woo hoo! No kids in Walmart, I felt so FREE... that is until I got to the check-out with no wallet. But happy day! I had my checkbook... that is, until they wouldn't take my check without ID which was in my wallet, in my diaper bag, in my car that Mitch took home. So they voided my items, sent me to customer service where I proceeded to call Mitch on their phone (remember, my cell phone was also in my diaper bag?). Mitch happened to be putting Kate to bed and didn't hear me call multiple times, pleading with him on our answering machine to pick up the phone please please please. Well, ice cream was included in my purchases at Walmart... so were several items destined for my darling little nephew. So I ran to the opposite end of the store to put the ice cream back. Then I left all my stuff, ran home and got my wallet, then returned to Walmart. I was not about to let this keep me from my ice cream, so I ran back to the other end of the store, got my ice cream, and returned to customer service. They had this nifty little receipt that they had kept earlier, so they scanned it and didn't have to scan all my items again! Problem is, they forgot to bag my ice cream. When I got home (the 2nd time) I was pleased that both of my girls were asleep (best husband ever) and sat down to have myself a nice bowl of ice cream. Oops, no ice cream. I left the dang ice cream at Walmart!

So you see, I really am losing my mind. When it is completely lost, will you all come help Mitch take care of my children???

My Girls

These are some pictures my mom's friend took of Marin and Kate at my brother's wedding reception in St. George. Her name is Juanita, hence the "photos by Juanita" signature over the pictures. She gave my mom a CD of these pictures that I don't have yet, but here are two she posted on her blog. Isn't Marin's red hair so dang gorgeous? I hope she always loves it. As of now she likes her freckles too and counts them in the mirror. The other day Marin had some dirt on her face and her friends kept teasing her and saying she had something on her face. After they said it a few times she looked at them and said (in her sassy little voice), "I am a cutie-patootie!" I wish she could always have that attitude.


And here is my sweet little Kate. She was just totally tuckered out during this little photo shoot. This was about the best smile she could muster up. Ninety percent of the time she is grinning so big her eyes scrunch up and her mouth opens up really wide. This picture captures what I think about this little sweetheart better than words can!

I did not know...

Well, I learned something new in the past week. CATERPILLARS POOP. A LOT. My good friend Heather rounded up a few caterpillars for her kids and she let us have 2 of our own. So I gave them some leaves, poked a few holes in the lid of a mason jar, and explained to Marin how wonderful it would be when they made cocoons and turned into butterflies (although I apparently didn't explain it as well as I thought I had, because later that day Marin came running in with 2 of her friends, brought them over to the jar and said, "Okay mom, we're ready to watch them turn into caterpillars!") . Well, who knew that caterpillars ate so much so fast. I certainly did not. Mitch came home from work and Marin went to show him our new fuzzy friends and the first thing he said was, "What the heck? Caterpillars poop?" Sure enough, they'd pooped the whole place up. I read on Heather's blog that caterpillars eat 5 times their weight in leaves every day. Well, it has to go somewhere. I guess they don't just eat and eat until they get huge and explode. Everything poops I guess. But dang! I finally roped Mitch into cleaning out the jar and literally seconds after he did it, they had both pooped again. I'll spare you a picture, it's rather gross. Aren't you glad I'm sharing my new-found knowledge with you? I just want you all to be aware of this in case you ever agree to take on a pet caterpillar!

Jaren and Callie's Wedding

Well, here are a few pictures of my brother's wedding. I will post more professional ones if they become available to me. Actually, I know the photographer took some pictures of our family, and my mom's good friend took more of my girls at the St. George open house. They looked so cute in their little dresses so I can't wait to see the pictures. Why oh why do I always forget my camera at super important events?? Anyway, here is a picture I stole off of my brother's Facebook page. The Salt Lake Temple is so amazing. I stood there under the big granite slabs by those stairs and couldn't help but wonder how they could build something so beautiful so many years ago without the heavy equipment we have today.




These are all of the babies at the reception (although does Spencer qualify as a baby??). It was at Callie's house and it was so fun and looked so pretty! Marin loved looking at Callie in her dress. She was quite into the whole event. She informed me she is marrying her daddy when she grows up.


This is Kate and her second cousin Amanda. They're just a month apart. Amanda has Kate beat in the hair department though. Check out Kate's luscious locks hanging over her headband on the side. That's the only place her hair is growing!!


My sis Avree and me at the St. George Open House. This was Matt's idea and he specifically said we had to get a picture for our blogs. We made Matt take several until we were sure we had a blog-worthy one!


And finally, I couldn't resist... This looks like a regular reception-line picture, but let's zoom in a bit...

Ha ha! Matt caught Jaren making a great face. He and I were not blessed with the photogenic gene Avree and Blake seemed to have gotten. Although he and Callie have some great pictures! What a handsome dude in his tux, and Callie looked gorgeous in her dress. I LOVED the dress! It was a fun, happy day! We're so excited to have a new member of our family!