Brittany Hooper

January 2012

2012-01-15T17:38:00.000-08:00

The new year!!

Well the last few months have been pretty crazy!

We finally got some family pictures and I am grateful for a friend who was so kind to take some pictures last minute. Our little family of Three will be as Happy as We can be!

My crazy week

2011-11-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

For those who are not in the loop this was my week
Monday oct 31 Halloween-- the usual get ready for the crazy trick or treating, get a text that my mother-in-law is having a brain tumor removed on Saturday!
Tuesday- take care of Haley (9-1 every tues and thurs) Paparazzi show2-6 7:30-9 conference call to help my business grow
Wednesday--Marshall leaves to go to Cincinnati, the power goes out all morning, paparazzi show 3-9
Thursday- My sister-in-law has a brain tumor removed (yes it is the same tumor my mother-in-law has)Take care of Haley, make 10 freezer meals for freezer exchange
Friday- leave at 8 to pick up mar shall from the airport, stop at the hospital to visit, lunch together(me, Marshall and Libby) home at 3:00 eat dinner and then head to Marshall's company movie day, then to my in laws for a last hurrah before her surgery.
Saturday--4:45 meet at ALA for bountiful baskets, home at 8am, cut and put away my basket until 10 (yes I cook and freeze lots of food) all the while waiting for my mother in law to come out of surgery. make more freezer meals to finish up. lunch and then to the hospital to check on my mother in law, home and load up my vehicle for another Paparazzi show and then home in bed by 11.

if being a caregiver and helping my mom care for my sister doesn't cause enough feelings of helplessness then having her in and out of the hospital every few weeks makes me sad. But add brain tumors on 2 family members that you love makes the stress even more unbearable.

so for those of you that want to know how I do it... I don't. I spend days crying because of my inability to take care of my daughter, husband, home and family. I finally have exhausted all my everything. So on Monday when I wondered how I was going to deal with this week all alone I knelt down and prayed harder than I have prayed in a while. I prayed because I had no where else to turn. no help and no relief from the rigors of life. and just asked my Father in Heaven to give me the strength that I needed to be able to make it one more day! I know that he answers prayers but in that moment I had an immediate relief of my pain, frustrations, sorrows, feelings of inadequacy. I was calmed down enough to move forward with my day.

I still feel like I am not doing all I can or even enough to keep a float but I know on those days that I cant do it alone that the savior steps in and makes my burdens light and bearable.

I know that answers to prays don't always come fast and are not always what we want but he does bless us with small miracles. We may all be looking for large miracles but if we step back and look we will see the Lords hand in our life. Look for the small blessings and you will be amazed at how often the Lord answers prayers.

ps. Both brain tumors were successfully removed. My sister in law is home and doing well. My mother in law was lucky at the timing of her surgery. So we are feeling blessed that the lord prompted the surgeon to do the surgery so quick.

Today, yesterday, and the month before!

2011-10-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well if you hadn't noticed ALL of my blogs have been lacking in the love department.

I am putting a blame in a few areas.

First-- I went back to work Part time for the summer. July aug and sept.
second--Haley has gotten worse. She is needing more care than before.
third--marshall has gotten a new position at work and spending a bunch of time working
Forth-- Libby is feeling like I don't pay enough attention to her and she is starting to give up ...nap time... I think every mothers worst nightmare.
fifth--I started selling paparazzi jewelry and that is taking up all my extra free time.
sixth-- libby has been on and off sick the past 3 weeks and so have I.

I hope those are enough reasons that you all feel sorry for me and forgive my absence in the blogging world.

So that was the short of it I will give some tidbits to make it all worth while.

Libby Turned 3 yeah and we had a party. we were going to take her to the zoo but I didn't give us enough time in my planning to figure in rush hour traffic. so instead we went to thanksgiving point and road the pony and saw lots of fun animals.

She choose dinner at wingers because she loves the popcorn!

We had a friend make a repunzal cake and it turned out great.

Libby was super excited about it! it tasted great and really made her day!

She got a special birthday hat at preschool!! she loves preschool and I am

glad she has somewhere fun to go meet new people!

When I turned 3 they found my Heart block. I have been nervously and impatiently waiting for her to turn 3 so that we can check her heart to see if what I have is hereditary.

She reluctantly let us put stickers on her (she whined and cried the entire time). but when all is said and done she is perfectly healthy and does not I repeat enthusiastically she DOES NOT have a heart problem!!!!!!!!!!!

one of her many wonderful gifts was a princess dress she wears all the time she is my little princess through and through!!

towards the end of september Haleys illness took a turn for the worse and she was in a lot of pain. so they decide that it would help her if they put in a GJ tube (it is one that goes though her stomach into her intestines) so they took the nose feeding tube out and now she has hole into her stomach. for the most part is has been a hard transition but what major surgery doesn't require a bit of healing. We hope that after the 6 weeks of recovery she will be feeling up to par. for now she is looking better and in a bit better spirits. This was a picture of one of the days of her week long stay at primary children's.

We took libby down as part of her birthday and just because we could. to go see the little mermaid at the tuacahn in st george! it was amazing she loved it. she loved the songs and the whole experience. We are excited to take her next year to go see Aladdin. But for now she is singing ariels songs still. and mermaids are her favorite thing to talk about.

this was her look through out the entire movie she sat on the edge of her seat and watched. with intermittent smiles and laughing with glee.

Hope that filled the long and short of our september Maybe next week I will blog about oct.

Life is crazy

2011-08-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Some days I wonder when is my life going to slow down.

I have been really busy and have not had the time that I want to get the things done I need too.

I have been working Part time at Larry Miller Chevy in prov since the beginning of July since my Good friend Got ill. I fill in 3-4 hours 3 times a week. I forgot how difficult it is to get stuff done when you are constantly on the run. I will be done working at the end of Sept. after the inventory is through. I cant wait.

I also started selling Paparazzi Jewelry!!! its $5 anything and everything is $5. the little girl stuff is usually $1 so a really great deal.

I just got my first shipment of product and already sold 10% of it and have put in another order today. I am really excited to start selling.

The reason I decided to sell Jewelry is because I needed a hobby. Marshall is going to be really busy with school for the next 6 months and if I have something I can do to keep me busy while he is studying I can not be bothered by his not being around as much.

Libby is starting Preschool next week. I cant believe how gown up she is getting. She keeps asking if she can have a cherry for her birthday. I just laugh and say sure.

Marshall and I went to st George a couple of weeks ago and Had a nice getaway with our friends. We went an saw Grease at the tuachan. We decided while we were there that we are going to bring Libby back in September to see the little mermaid. We hope she really likes it.

I started taking the financial peace university classes from a women that is in my ward. I really Love how inspiring Dave Ramsey can be. I hope this helps me plan make My 5 year plan more concrete. Mine always fall through where Marshall's always work.

so that's the long and the short of the past few months. So if anyone is interested in great jewelry or jewelry holders please give me a call and I can hook you up.

I love how happ marshall Looks in this picture!!!

For Sale

2011-08-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Does your jewelry box look like mine??

Well I have found a way to fix my problem

Earring and Necklace Holder

5x7 sell for $5

10x13 Black is $15

12x12 Ocean Breeze Blue is $15

26x10 Green Apple is $20

26x10 Rich Plum is $20

Sizes Available

26x10 $20

16x12 $20

17x13 $20

12x24 $25

26x12 $25

18x24 $25

8x10 $10

5x7 $5

Colors Available

Fire Red

Rich Plum

Black

Blue ocean Breeze

Green Apple

Real Orange

Watermelon Pink

Cream

If you would like to pick your own color you can.

If you are interested in purchasing a Jewelry holder please Drop me a line at

marshallandbrittany@yahoo.com let me know what color you would

like and the size you want. I have lots ready to go!!!

Grandma camp 2011

2011-08-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

http://grandmacamp.blogspot.com/

Lots of really cute pictures on the grandma camp blog. check it out!!! she also has a book with lots of ideas to help you get started with your own grandma camp.

WHAT GRANDMAS AROUND THE WORLD SHOULD TRY

this year was space themed. What an awesome job grandma did!!!

All the kids had a great time and she was well prepared.

the long end of the shuttle "rescue"

"Space Saucers" donuts

Little kids space shuttle

space shuttle race

Space goop

Libby meeting the Space alien(grandpa)

Libby in her space suit getting ready to leave for her mission

Brittanys Birthday

2011-08-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

I had a fantastic birthday. We went and ate our hearts out. Here are some pictures of Libby eating her heart out.

We ate at brick oven on Monday and they bring out a nice piece of chocolate pie and we shared...until Libby realized Marshall had taken a large last bite and left only a small bit and she said hey and slowly pulled the plate to her and wouldn't share anymore. We just died laughing.

On Tuesday My mom had Libby help frost the birthday cake she made me. Needless to say this was Libby's idea of helping to frost the cake.

We had a big family get together this weekend and here is a cute picture of My brothers Little boy Izaiah and Libby Playing the Ipad with Haley.

Now we had to run errands. So she said wait mom I need to close the door (to the tv) and then she ran to her room and told me she needed to lock the doors so no one watched tv but her. I laughed because its just me and her and apparently she is worried I will watch the tv without her.

I need to put my contact in

Keep an eye out for upcoming grandma camp pictures. They are pretty cute.

Brittanys Birthday

2011-08-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Today is My birthday YEAH!!!!! I am a bit older than yesterday.

Because 29 is a universal age for "I don't want to get older so I am going to lie" I have already had 1 person not believe my age. I sure had a good laugh trying to convince her otherwise.

We celebrated by eating Monday night dinner at "Brick Oven" my favorite restaurant. and Marshall made me breakfast. for lunch we are headed to Tucanos. after that who knows what my day holds.

Libby However is sad Because "whens is it my Birthday" with a sad pout face. we will be making a paper chain or sticker chart I'm not sure which one will be more fun.

Vacation Tally

2011-07-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

So I tallied up how much time we spent in the car

76 hours and 30 Min

So crazy!!!!! and the worst part was Libby slept an whole 3 hours of the trip

Trip Talley:

Utah-Butte 1:00-9:50 pm -9 hours because of our detour its not the same as the trip home
Butte-Lethbridge 11-4:30- 5.5 hours
Lethbridge-Cardston 45-45 – 1.5 hours
Lethbridge to cherry grove- 8:00am- 4:45pm 8.75 hours

Cherry grove to Esso (Marshall only) 2 hour trip

Cherry grove to cold Lake- 15 min to the dock

Cherry grove to Edmonton- 9-12:45 - 3.75

Marshall had 2 extra hours

Fort Edmonton Park to Fort Saskatchewan 50 min

Fort Saskatchewan to West Edmonton mall 50 min
West Edmonton mall to Okotoks 3 hours 44 min
Okotoks to Lake Louise 2 hours 53 min
Lake Louise to Lethbridge 4 hours 47 min
Lethbridge to Butte 5 hours 35 min
Butte to home 7 hours 26 min

3550 miles (about) We hope not to have to make that trip for a long time!!

Vacation part 5

2011-07-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

When we got to the Okotoks on Thursday evening it was late and Marshall had just received a text that His phone had used to much international usage. This was not good. That meant we had no phone use, no internet use, to GPS, use and we had planned to take a trip out to the mountains and had no idea where we were going. Marshall was not too happy and I was a bit worried. So far my just guessing if we were going in the right direction had not gone very well.

That night was the best night sleep we had the entire trip. Libby Slept from 9:30 until 8am. I was so glad because that meant that both Marshall and I got to sleep well.

So on Friday morning we got up and pulled a map out and started to try to figure out where we were going and then headed out. When we stopped to get fuel we found that the phone had been turned on and we had GPS again. I can’t tell you how glad I was that we no longer were just going to wing it.

We hoped that Libby would travel well after sleeping well…NOT. She cried and screamed and didn’t want to watch a movie. She was not very fun. So our nice 3 hour drive to Lake Louise was not so enjoyable. We came to the parks entrance and told Libby that the park only lets people in who are happy and not crying. And that if she was crying we would have to leave her with the park people. This worked really well in getting her to stop crying.

At the lodge we bought a ride and eat pass. So we could ride the gondola and eat lunch too. They had a nice little buffet and Libby ate ½ a roll, 2 bites of chicken and ohh yeah Celery. Don’t forget the nice piece of chocolate cake. After lunch we took the gondola up the mountain to see the beautiful scenery. We decided that it would be wise for us to take and enclosed gondola up the mountain rather than the ski lift benches. We have a two year old. Well we got in and sat down. Libby had a blast. She loved looking out the window. Poor Marshall was white knuckled and didn’t want to move a muscle. And I got motion sick.

While we were talking all the sudden we stopped. Marshall and I were quite unnerved and scared the benches swing just a bit, the gondola boxes feel like they are coming off the line and keep swinging for a bit. Both of us could have died and it was scary (or we are just both too scared of heights to make something like this worth it). It was a beautiful view and a bit chilly but I really enjoyed seeing it.

On the way down, she wanted to get out of the gondola, and told her the doors are locked. She looked at them and waved her arms and said “bippity boppity boo” and waited for them to open. We had a good laugh. She kept pretending to see a moose and a bear. She is getting to be quite creative. We left mid afternoon and headed back to Lethbridge to take the last leg of our trip home. It was nice to get to Greg and erins. We relaxed and watched a movie and Marshall and Libby slept long and hard. I loved that we could be ourselves and not worry. We got up the next day and I went shopping with Erin. To a little bakery and then to Costco to get perogies. They are so much better in Canada than here. Got home and packed up and left at noon-ish, to make it to butte by dinner time.

Butte has no franchise restaurants in the town, the McDonalds was burned down recently, the dairy queen might have been the same, and all we wanted was an Applebee’s. Instead we paid $21 for burned food, which took 45 min to make from the hotel restaurant. We went for ice cream because the nasty taste needed to be replaced. We all went to bed nice and early like 8:30 and then got up and headed home by 8am.

The last drive home had to be the hardest. 2 weeks of little to no sleep, no naps, enclosed in a small space together, No breaks, not eating well. We were not a happy family. We stopped for lunch in Pocatello and had Applebee’s, and then got in the car and drove. We just wanted to get home. We hit the Utah border and Libby had been crying for about 20 min. And she kept crying another 20 Both Marshall and I hoped she would sleep soon. And she did her only nap the entire trip and it wasn’t long enough.

We got home and unpacked the car quickly. And just sat on the couch and crashed. Libby went to bed on time. And slept well. I love my bed and am glad to be home.

Trip tally:
Okotoks to Lake Louise 2 hours 53 min
Lake Louise to Lethbridge 4 hours 47 min
Lethbridge to Butte 5 hours 35 min
Butte to home 7 hours 26 min

vacation part 4

2011-07-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

So we headed out to Fort Saskatchewan Where my cousin Lindsey and her husband tilton live and we stayed the night with them. We had a blast. It was fin to re-connect with Lindsey. It has been a few years since I had seen her little family and it has grown a bunch. Libby had fun playing with her oldest Brooklyn and following the boys around. After putting the kids in bed and then finishing Marshall’s class (online so he can take it anywhere). We ate lots of yummy treats and played a bunch of fun games. We stayed up late but really enjoyed ourselves. The next morning we ate breakfast and ho hummed around the house until the mall opened. It was nice to just sit and have fun with tilton and Lindsey.

We packed the car and headed to West Edmonton Mall. If you have never heard of this mall it has a theme park, water park, indoor lake, sea cavern, a sea lion exhibit, 2 mini gold courses, ice skating arena, bowling ally, bourbon street, Chinatown, eropa Blvd,Regular mall. It is large.

Are plan was to just go to the galexyland theme park. It ended up that Libby was free and 1 adult rider was free too. So Libby got to ride 8 different rides with an adult for free. We had a lot of fun. She rode the same ride 3 or 4 times and loved the little train ride. But had a lot of fun watching the big roller coasters she screamed with all the riders it was fun to watch.

We also took her to see the aquarium; she loved the penguins and the fishes. She saw sharks (which she is fascinated with currently). We watched some ice skaters and she loved to see how they can go in circles and wanted to sit and watch them for a while.

She only had like 3-4 melt downs in the few hours we were there. Her sleep was really off and she did not want to eat food. So a not so fun Libby went to play.

We went to lunch and she ended up only eating celery sticks for lunch.

After lunch and then the galaxy land we thought what the heck we will get ice cream (it was 25$) Libby got a milk shake and Marshall and I got flavored bowls. Not worth that much money next time we won’t get some inside the mall.

Libby didn’t touch hers and only wanted Marshalls I love the 2 fisting it into her mouth.

We left Edmonton and headed south. To the Okotoks to stay with Mitch and Marcie.

We stopped at some place in innisfail, at some family dinner. Ordered chicken and fries and still she wouldn’t eat.

So her intake for the day was: 2 pancakes, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 1 celery stick, 1 bowl of ice cream, ½ a piece of garlic bread, and a bite of chicken.

Still no naps and sleeping on average 5 hours a night. We were having a ton of fun. We got into the Okotoks at about 9 pm and Libby went right to sleep. We didn’t make it much later than 10 and slept really well. I am glad we were able to see Marcie and Mitch Libby loved the little girls at there house.

Things we learned : Marshall And Brittany cant ride rides because we get so sick!!! so Disney land will be interesting. Libby loves trains,planes and automobiles. Sharing ice creams is not so fun especially if you got even get to try one.

Trip Tally: this includes the last post (to many pictures to make 1 post)

Fort Saskatchewan to West Edmonton mall 50 min
West Edmonton mall to Okotoks 3 hours 44 min
Total Hours 5 hours 20 min in the car not to mention eating time

Vacation part 3

2011-06-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

So we left my grandmas house and headed to Fort Edmonton Park which is in the heart of Edmonton. I figured we would do all the stuff that visitors should do. Fort Edmonton park has different areas from different Eras We started by heading to the 1920’s midway (the carnival type rides) Libby rode the carousel and loved it. I am glad Marshall took the turn with her I got sick trying to get pictures.

We then took the train to the “fort” area of the park. And she walked around and saw all the different buildings in the fort (it was pretty boring).

So we headed to the 1885 street. We didn’t get very far and she saw the little pony ride. And she wanted to ride. So we got her tickets and she rode the pony. She looked so big. The last time we tried to ride them she got freaked out and this time she had a blast. We then took a ride in the stage coach (I got motion sickness) but she had a lot of fun riding.

We headed to the 1905 street where we had an old fashion picture taken. It was a joke to try and get her into the shop. But once there she was super excited to put on a Princess dress for the pictures but boy we had a good taking it off.

We didn’t carry cash around (I know so not like me) but none of the shops took visa it was either cash or MasterCard. And the one place that took visa (the photo shop) had a broken machine so I wasted a ton of time trying to find money to pay for the stupid picture. But we finally figured it out.

We tried to buy an ice-cream and drink but the only took cash so we had a not so happy child because we told her we were going to get a treat and had to walk out of 3 different shops because we had no cash.

We took the street car from the 1905 street to the 1920 street and then headed out of the park because it was closing. By the end of the day we had worn out our toddler and done more walking than I am used to and was ready to find a nice couch and just relax.

Trip tally:

Fort Edmonton Park to Fort Saskatchewan 50 min

Hooper Family Canada Vacation Part 2

2011-06-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Monday may 30th: We got up nice and early (thanks to the sun), and headed out on our long journey to Cherry Grove Alberta Canada

We took the less driven highway. There was literally nothing there. Not really any towns and if there was a town there was no place to stop and eat or go to the bathroom. It was a vast wilderness of nothing. We drove that for hours and hours and hours. Libby did not sleep at all that day.

Libby didn’t make a peep except when her movie was over. I do think that she watched Mary Poppins, two times that day.

This sign made us laugh. Marshalls quote "they aren't sure what else is at this rest area, Hence the question mark"

We stopped at the only place to eat on highway 36 and used their restrooms. Libby went into the stall and saw the women’s feet in the stall next to us. She said “oh no mom, it’s a monster” I quickly tried to explain that they were just someone’s feet and shoes. So she finished using the potty and we were leaving the stall at the same time the women next to us was. Libby looked at her and then turned to me and said” it’ not a monster it’s Grandma”. The 40 year old women walked out very quickly. I hope she wasn’t upset but I couldn’t stop laughing.

We picked a nice unoccupied area to eat in the restaurant. She ran around and played. Still not eating more than a couple of bites of my garlic toast.

These are pictures of the vast nothingness that we drove. no trees, people, farms animals. But lots of little pump jacks.

Then we got back in our bug stained car and drove.

I wish that we had taken a picture of the colony of bugs that we destroyed on our front bumper and windshield. I hope that it was helpful to all those living in the area, anything we can do to help decrease the mosquito population we were glad to do.

The closer we got to cherry grove the more excited I got. I felt like a little kid again and saw the tree line in my memory and just wanted to be there. When we came around the bend in cherry grove and turned down Grandmas Street….It was calming to finally be there.

The house sits at the base of a nice hill. It’s quiet and was surrounded at one time with just empty fields. Now houses are there. It’s still quiet. It was the calming I had been looking for. I remember growing up having cousins all there to greet you. The smell of bread or hot buns baking. It was always a pleasant place to be. I knew going, that it would be lacking these things. But to my surprise I was greeted by all of them. Tiffany was there visiting grandma. She was the first face I saw, next was grandma and then the smell of hot baked bread. AHHHHHHHHH I love memories.

Time seems to change the things we remember. People grow up, get older and so do homes. Everything has to change life continues. Grandmas’ never changing home has had a nice well deserved “facelift” new floors, new walls, new paint, new appliances, and new closets. But the same love and feeling of home is still there.

We ate dinner with tiffany and grandma, Ron and Diane. We saw Tim and carol. It was nice to just have time to chat with everyone. We put Libby to bed at 8:00pm because I knew she needed it. The Sun up at grandmas didn’t set until 11pm and was up at 4am so 8 were pretty light. She cried a bit and I went in to talk to her. She said “mommy turn off the lights I can’t sleep”

The next day we got up and fixed breakfast and headed on a walk to the nearby park.

After park time we took Libby into town to see the boats. The 15 min drive made for a nice 10 min nap for Libby. The lake we saw is called “Cold Lake” it is aptly named Ron says because about the first 3-4 feet are ok in temp. But anything below that 4 feet mark gets to be pretty cold. We ate lunch at a pizza place and then did some grocery shopping. We made it home for Libby’s First Nap of the trip. She slept well from 1:10-4:45 when I woke her up. This gave grandma and I time to sit and relax together.

Rosa Lavern Stonehockers is an amazing women born 91 years ago (I think) she walk over 600 miles with a wagon as a child to where she lives now. She bore and raised 9 children. She was a hard working woman. She amazes me evey time I hear stories about her life. But like time has a habit of doing she is growing old and tired. She has been ill the past few weeks. She is a fighting woman. And has come a great way since she first became ill. Her communication is not well and she had a difficult time remember things and speaking. She gets frustrated and unhappy that she can’t speak. But she is still there and still fighting. I know that each day is a bit better.

So the time that I got to spend with her meant the world to me. When Libby woke up we sat next to grandma and read her a book colored her pictures and little just played next to her. I don’t know when the next time will be that I get to see my grandma. But the time I got to spend with her was well worth the hours or driving, screaming child, sleepless nights. I love you Grandma and Pray each day that your voice comes back.

Libby Picked dandelions for Grandma and Aunt Diane. It was fun to see her just roam in the yard like I did years ago. She would come in the house and say “where’s everybody” the best part was that we were all sitting right in front of her.

That night we put her to bed but didn’t realize that she didn’t go to sleep. She found a pen and paper on the desk and drew all over it she colored it completely and when there was nowhere else to draw she made dots all over her knees (she was in footie PJ, so they were nice and blue). She then colored her a mustache and drew on her blow up bed. When we got her up the next morning she said “look I made a mustache”. The pen and paper were neatly placed where she had found them.

We tried to give her a shower for the first time. I think it must have sounded like WW3 by the screams coming from the bathroom.

We got up early the next morning to make the trip to Edmonton by lunch time. We got to say our “goodbyes” and “Love you’s”. That was the hardest part of my trip. I don’t know when I will see my grandma again. Having to say goodbye was heart wrenching. I cried all the way to Bonneville.

Trip Tally

Lethbridge to cherry grove- 8:00am- 4:45pm 8.75 hours

Cherry grove to Esso (Marshall only) 2 hour trip

Cherry grove to cold Lake- 15 min to the dock

Cherry grove to Edmonton- 9-12:45 - 3.75

12.75 hours ---marshall had 2 extra hours making his total 14.5 hours

Hooper Family Canada Vacation Part 1

2011-06-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

I decided that I need to do our vacation in parts because we did so much and I took notes this time so I could remember. So here it is

Friday may 27th: We got up and going Friday morning a bit early so we could do a few things without Libby’s help. I had her packed on Wednesday. I was half packed and Marshall had nothing packed. I thought it would be a good idea to pack a small overnight bag for the 1 night stays in the hotel. I should have looked better at my vacation plan. We would be staying at everyone’s house 1 night. So my pack light ended up being packed an extra bag for no reason. Marshall had to mow the lawn and pack the car I cleaned the house.

The plan was to leave at 12 noon. We pulled out of the garage at 12 noon and then fueled up, ate lunch and got Marshalls mug filled. While sitting the sonic parking lot Libby says to us “Ok, I’m ready to go home” Not even 2 miles from home if only she understood that it would be another 3200 miles before she would see home again.

We got her a nice chicken strip meal and we had onion rings she wanted one and to make her happy I obliged she took a bite and said “I love my cheese sticks” she was eating an onion ring and we just laughed at her.

Marshall and I sat in the front and opted to see how far we could get before having to turn on the DVD player for her. We spent the next 2 hours watching her baby “Blast off” and fly into the air. I was glad she was being creative.

We were glad to be on our way the plan was to be to butte MT at about7:30-8:00 I was sure that we would be just fine. As we came to Tremonton Marshall asked me if we were supposed to exit. We didn’t remember that if we wanted to stay on I-15 we exited toward Pocatello. So we stayed on the freeway…. And hour later I looked at the GPS and realized that we were way off course. We were headed west toward twin falls and we were not happy campers because now we had to find a road to get us back to I-15 After driving for 15 more min we found an exit….It was closed so we drove another 5 miles and found a place to turn around. Marshall was mad I was frustrated because I was navigating, and it was getting close to dinner time and we were an hour from Pocatello (where there was food). So when we reached Pocatello we decided that we were going to eat at Texas Roadhouse because we deserved it. My question is why is it men don’t worry what they look like but it is always when I look like crap that they want to eat at a nice place. So I went in looking like a scrounge. Good thing I fit in.

So to the story of our vacation experiences, we can’t go anywhere without getting lost!!!

We took a nice car break and ran around Lowes; they tried to sell us a bathroom sink that was crystal blue. It was only $400 it was discounted from $3200. To bad ;-)

When we finally made it to butte, it was 10:00 Libby had yet to nap and she didn’t want to settle down. So our long day ended with a whining child and us playing words with friends until we fell asleep.

Saturday may 28th: We got up and Libby went to breakfast in her PJ, all the patrons of the breakfast café said she looked cute. We tried to swim in the indoor pool but it was freezing and the hot tub wasn’t that warm. She was scared of the bubbles. So we hopped in the car and drove out of town. We left at about 10:30-11. We stopped for lunch in Helena. I had no clue where we were and while sitting in a subway asked a couple what town we were in. They looked irritated and disgusted that we didn’t know where we were. OHHHHH WELL. So then we drove and drove some more. And made it to the boarder at about 4:00 our drive should have been 737 miles we made it in 827 only 100 miles out of the way the night before.

We planned to spend the evening with Greg Erin, nelson, Joanne, Andrea, John and were so glad when we finally made it to Lethbridge. What a nice time we hade. My vacation plan was to see my extended family and then do some fun activities for Libby. Their home did both of those things. We stayed the first 2 nights in Lethbridge with my cousin Greg and his wife Erin. They had a nice BBQ with all our family in the area. So Nelson and Joanne, Andrea and John came and we all enjoyed seeing each other and talking. The kids ran around and played. there were 5 little girls under 5 running around.

It was really glad that we got to see my family. Some days I wish that we could have more opportunities to spend time with them. It makes me a bit sad to say that we don’t know when we will be able to go up again. But I am grateful for the time we got to spend with each of them.

That night we stayed up way to late talking with Greg and Erin after everyone left. I always like my conversations with Erin she always says it the way I wish I could. I never know how to say things just right and Erin always does and I am grateful.

When we went to bed we found that our little munchkin was still awake…..OHHHHHHH that was the start of our not sleeping 10 day trip.

Sunday May 29th: We woke up nice and early thanks to the sun coming up at about 5:00am and it went down after 10:00pm. We had a nice breakfast with Greg and Erin. They have a whipped cream maker (a cool kitchen toy). The kids all got whipped cream sprayed in their mouths. All except our little chicken, Libby.

After Breakfast we headed to cardston to see Loya and Andrea.

We went to Andrea’s ward for sacrament meeting. Ever tried taking a 2 ½ year old, who has been sitting in a car for 2 days, and try to get them to be reverent for 1 hour? I don’t suggest trying. After pretending like we got anything out of that meeting we headed to see Loya across town.

Loya is wheeler chair bound and we haven’t seen her in a while. It was nice to see her. The last time Libby saw Loya was 2 years ago. It does however make me a bit sad for my dad because he has something similar and I know we pray often that it will go away. And that he won’t get as bad as Loya.

She gave Libby a little stuffed animal named Millie the Moose. She also let us play with the laughing dog.

(if i can get the video to upload I will put it here)

After spending time with Loya we headed to Andrea's for lunch. She has a beautiful home that her husband has done a great job renovating. I want her Kitchen BAD. It was large and wonderful. Lunch was great and having a great conversation with Andrea was nice. Andrea has 3 little girls and Libby is between the 2 older girls. It was nice to have little friends that Libby could play with. Andrea is also a great photographer. She took some wonderful pictures of Libby as soon as Libby started smiling.

After lunch we headed back to Lethbridge and had dinner with Erin’s family. After dinner Nelsons daughter and her husband stopped in from Rexburg. So we had unexpected family, that is always nice.

While driving between Lethbridge and Cardston there was a calf (baby cow) walking on the wrong side of the fence and down the road. Libby Saw it a ways off and said in a growly voice “Cows Get out” she was not happy to see it wasn’t where it should be.

Libby did take a nap in these 3 days she fell aslep at 10am sunday morning 15 min from Cardston. so yes in the 16 hours of driving she took a 15 min nap on the shortest drive we had.

Trip (hour) Talley:

Utah-Butte 1:00-9:50 pm -9 hours

Butte-Lethbridge 11-4:30- 5.5 hours

Lethbridge-Cardston 45-45 – 1.5 hours

dont worry this was only the first 3 days of our trip You will get to see lots more!!

Sorry Busy week

2011-05-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Life is busy and Libby was sick on Thursday and all she wanted was for mom to hold her. so I did not get to blog then Friday was spent running errands. so here is a single picture I took today of Libby getting ready to help dad in the yard. she really is funny.

I sure do love her Most of the time. there are those random moments when you wonder why God would punish you with a two year old. Then they look at you and say "I love you Mom, Your my best friend". and your heart melts.

She really is my special little girl!!

Graduation, Anniversary,

2011-05-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

Our Home study went well. We still like each other (Marshall and I). We live close to things that kids might like. We have sufficient space to house another child (all our crap, who knows where it will go). And we have the necessary fire extinguisher that is required, so all you good parents better have one too because I have to have one. When all is said and done I am glad I don’t have to worry for another year.

Friday we took off and left our daughter with family so we could enjoy a weekend away for our anniversary, oh wait we spent it at graduation silly me. We had a wonderful plan and it was thwarted by stupid traffic. We dropped Libby off 20 min later than planned and then we got stuck. Or plan was to go to the cheesecake factory for dinner. They need call ahead seating. So when the wait would be 1 ½ hours we opted for Texas road House and let me tell you FABULOUS!!! We got the royal treatment. I was stuffed before my plate had arrived. Then we were headed to a Brigham City hotel (to be closer to USU for my brother’s graduation ceremony). It was a pile but cheap. We were glad that we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive up there instead we got in late and got up at the usual time. To make our story even more exciting we stayed at the same hotel as my family who would be going to the graduation with us. (Anniversary, trip, awkwardness).

Saturday we spent the day at Joe and Lance’s Graduation ceremony. Marshall did regret that he didn’t walk, because none of his family will get to see him make that big achievement. I am proud of him. Afterwards when we were taking pictures Joe was nice and let Marshall Put on his cap and gown and we took pictures. We cheated a bit but does anyone really care how I got his graduation pictures.

It was nice to be able to be with all my family minus the grandkids (glad that we didn’t have to deal with ornery and noisy kids all day). What a great time. It is always nice to spend time with people you love and respect. I have fun seeing how everyone has grown and developed and that we all get along is really nice.

Mother’s day came and went and I have no really strong emotions about it and I am glad it is over.

I love when Bunco comes around. Once a month, I get to enjoy time with some wonderful women, and play a game and eat really great food. I don’t often take time for just me but this is always a must. I like having people my age and some that have the same struggles as I do. I love being able to talk and work through children’s issues with people who have been there and done that. Thanks to the wonderful women at Bunco.

Our Actual Anniversary. We have officially made it 6 years. Some days it seems like forever then others it seems like yesterday. Marshall surprised me with dinner and movie out on the town. We ate at my favorite restaurant brick oven and we went to a movie something borrowed. We laughed and talked and enjoyed our night out. I love Marshall more today than yesterday but not as much as tomorrow. I am grateful for the time we have together and for all he does for me. He truly is drives me each day to be a better person.

Then there is the news about Bountiful baskets. I have been working hard and bugging a ton of people to try and open up a distributing site here in Spanish fork. Well as of Tuesday I have permission to use ALA a school near my home. I am very excited and glad to have that out of the way now come the hard part. Starting Saturday may 21 we will be open and ready to go. I am a bit nervous and a bit excited. So if you want to know more (Marshall says your crazy and don’t get me started) let me know.

dont forget to check out my recipe page. PS pictures are to come. I am requesting them from the family since they remembered their cameras and I forgot.

Bountiful baskets

2011-05-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just a make my day thought.

On Monday after my day had been shot. the people who run the facebook page posted a link to my bountiful baskets blog. In 1 hour I had 1000 views and 20 new followers. I do post once a week either Saturday, Sunday or Monday after I got my basket.

I am now up over 2100 views and I just wanted to let you all know how happy that made me. the cool part was that from all those views our adoption site had more hits from people off my food blog. YEAH!!!

that's all

My week

2011-05-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

I have had the week from heck. I knew coming into the week that it might become difficult, had I known how bad I might not have gotten up some days this past week.

Friday- My counter top arrived. YEAH!!!! They look wonderful and I absolutely love them. I can’t believe that we waited this long. Marshall surprised me on Easter Sunday and told me that it was a happy mother’s day/ anniversary/ Easter gift. I hope I get a card or something on mother’s day too (hint, hint). Because they use smelly glue and it has to sit for 24 hours we had a go out to eat 24 hours. We had lunch picnic style in the living room with Libby and she loved that. And she got to have a sleep over with Haley. She was really excited about it. And we learned that Libby is a big sleep talker. Now I know why I can’t sleep listening to the monitor.

My beautiful Princess with her dress, crown,
shoes, braclets and Your Majesty curtsy!
Memorable

Wed had a nice dinner out at the Art City Trolley. We love their salads they are to die for. And then of to play games with Marshalls boss. What a nice experience for us. It gave us the push we needed to make our new goals. I am glad that we did that. Other than it was a late night getting home (2am) I am not a late night person. Then add to that, we were needed in bountiful the next morning to help my brother and his wife move. UGH

But it was nice to see the family. And I was glad for the ride with Marshall (I slept the way up and we got to talk the way back).

Once we got back we had to put the kitchen back together. Easy, Simple, Fast, NO WAY. Not only did the installers scratch my wall they pinched the hose between the top of the base cabinet and the granite. And we couldn’t move the hose to pull the dishwasher out, oh and the hose was leaking a bit too. So 6 hours later. We took Marshalls parents to dinner for taking their entire Saturday away for our project.

Thanks to my parents on Sunday we called it a "relax away from family day". Marshall had to do the final for his class and Libby enjoyed the family time we got to have.

On Monday I made the calls. Fence problems and the countertop install problems. The fence people want to talk with Marshall and I think he doesn’t want to deal with them (non confrontational). The countertop guys, they came back to see the problem, and broke my cabinet door. I don’t know what to say other than don’t expect a referral from us. I don’t even want them to come back so I did not bother to call and complain.

On Tuesday Libby was invited to her first birthday party. Thanks Tyler. She had so much fun playing at the park. Some teenagers went to the swing set she had been playing on and she had no problem going over there and asking them to help her swing after she told them they were her swings first. But pizza cupcakes and fruit were a big birthday hit. She got a gift bag to take home and loved the little eatable necklace and Dora towel that she got.

We have been Relaxing (right) since the party and have been preparing for our annual home study from our case worker. So I decided to take a min and update my blogs before she gets here this afternoon.

So that’s my week glad it is almost over.

OHHH I forgot the best part.

We ate corn on the cob it was fantastic!!! Like mother like daughter!

I sat and watched the Royal Wedding. AHHH I love a fairytale story. And loved watching and seeing all the wonderful wedding stuff. It was wonderful. If you like to talk amazing call me no one other than my mom and sister have said they watched it.

PS. Dont forget to look at my recipe page

Easter and stuff

2011-04-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

First off. Marshall and I had a nice long weekend together. He had Friday off and then took Monday off too. I always enjoy time that we get to spend as a family.

Bountiful baskets has been am ongoing blessing in my life and I am glad at how much money I save buy using it each week. Although some weeks it makes for a long Saturday morning.

We had the opportunity to spend Saturday evening with my family for Easter. Both my brothers come down to my moms and we had a really nice turkey dinner. Thanks mom for all your hard work in putting together the Easter hunt and the wonderful dinner.

On Sunday we had a very full day.

We had nursery which can be a handful on holidays, then off to our friends baby blessing, then to the Hooper's for the Easter egg hunt.

Denise had a nice ham dinner and Marshall who is not a big ham person liked the ham a lot. Thanks Denise for your hard work in putting it all together.

I know that last week I forgot to mention our “broken closet” the shelf where Marshall’s clothes are at pulled out of the wall. On Thursday night Marshall fixed it or so he thought. Well he tried to put his clothes back on the new rod he put in and it broke again. So he was not a happy camper and I just laughed (humor fixes all bad situations). Well he went down stairs to get the electric drill and called me it was like 9pm so Libby was asleep. And this is what we found.

Yes the salt and pepper shakers in Marshall’s shoes. In the past we have found apples, her shoes, money, and toys. But I still don’t know how she got her hands on the salt and pepper.

Well Libby got a nice Easter dress, shoes, bows, a book, some chalk, and a water and sand play table for Easter. I stayed way under budget. So that made me happy. She really did make it a lot of fun. We had an Easter hunt at home for her to get her gifts before church. She had a ton of fun and kept telling us “come on dad I know where we going.” It is fun to see her excited and happy. She did fairly well for little sleep. And when we woke her up on Sunday morning and from nap she told us both time “go away I sleeping”.

For more Easter pictures check out the adoption blog.

And don’t forget my recipe page to get a new recipe this week.

2011-04-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had a very productive week

Friday I did yard work. I enjoy helping in the yard during not hot weather. So this past weekend proved to be just right. I prund the green bushes and tried to make them sort of square. I also pruned 5 rose bushes. My grabage can was full at the end of the day from marshall mowing the lawn and me pruning the plants. I am supposed to let everyone know that the can was completely empy before we started no one trash bag and it was a good thing we could not fit anything else in the garbage.

On Saturday we went and saw the Hale center theaters production of “Hairspray”. Marshall is always a good sport and pretends that he had a nice time just to make me happy. But this was very good and I was glad that I got to see it. It is always nice to go on a date with your spouse it helps to make your relationship better.

On Monday I helped my mom in her art class she is working on an awesome project (I will post a picture of it tomorrow). She needed and extra set of hands and I needed a Libby break, thanks Haley for the help.

Tuesday was the best day for me. I got a lot done. I organized my laundry shelf because it was driving me nuts. I made room on the shelf for the laundry basket and everything else that is supposed to be there.

all the jeans and pants that I mended

After that I pulled out my sewing machine and mended all the pants but 2 that I needed to. I had 3 Capri’s that I turned into shorts and Marshall had 3 pants that needed mending. It felt so nice to accomplish a task. I have not done something that big in a while.

Then that evening We had a girls night out at the taste of homes cooking school.

If you go to www.heraldextra.com, scroll down to the middle of the page and you will see "Local News Videos". Off to the right side, you will see video stories. Click on "Taste of Home" for the 2:40 minutes of video in which they quote us a bunch!

My Grandma Cindy Lou, Mom Cynthia, Aunt Rebecca, Sister in law Lindsay, and Myself. We have been going for several years. It was so much fun to have that time away. I love learning new tips and tricks to make meal time much easier. And we always hope to win prizes. Ohh well, better luck next time.

On Wednesday Libby and I had play group. I am working on getting her to play with other children. She is a watcher like her dad. She spent the majority of the time standing close to me or far from the other children. But when one of the moms brought in her 3 month old baby, Libby found herself a new mom with accessories i.e. baby, bottle, and burp rag. When this mom got up to leave Libby said “I go home with you” it was a fight to keep her with me.

Today has just been a relaxing day at home. I have not done much other than laundry. I did go through all of Libby’s clothes and pull the one that no longer fit out. I also went through the hand me downs and found I only need a few items to make her wardrobe complete. YEAH I saved money. I do need to hem the bottom of all the Capri’s she has little short legs. So that will be next week’s project.

Marshall took libby for a bike ride and they had a blast she looks so cute with her sunglasses on.

"I take care of Haley" Says Libby

2011-04-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

My week should officially be over. I decided today I am staring my weekend tomorrow. Funny thing is that statement means nothing when you are a stay at home mom. OOOHHHH well.

We had a very busy week.

Last weekend we had dinner with 2 sets of friends. It was so nice to get together meet new people and have great food. As well as be able to clean the house top to bottom.

I can say that I have had 0 motivations to deep clean my house. I have a wonderful schedule that I made for myself, but I don’t follow it. So only the have to clean stuff gets taken care of. But because we had friends over it gave Marshall and I a very good reason to clean and clean well. We also rearranged a room or two. I am always glad for his help. An extra pair of cleaning hands makes the difference. Also I was again banned from using the vacuum when I accidentally sucked the bathroom shower curtain into the hose and then dropped the vacuum on my foot in surprise. The nice thing about cleaning day was that Libby helped clean the entire house she didn’t play with any on the toys but she helped put everything away. It was really a nice thing to see that she is growing up.

Well the rest of my week was spent at my mom’s house. My dad won top salesman for his company and they sent them to an award presentation in California and so I took care of Haley, TEEHEE. I was there to make sure Ian made it to and from practice and to be the adult making important decisions like what to eat for dinner.

Libby was very excited to be able to see Ian and Haley everyday. I forgot what a big job it is to be somewhere dressed, prepped, and already fed for the day and have a 2 year old functioning. But we managed to stay functioning and Libby loved being with Haley. I hope Haley loved being with Libby.

We were able to make it to the temple this week. I am really glad we did. It is always nice to find the time to have spiritual moments. Try to make time before the month is through to make it to the temple you really do benefit from going.

So some of the funny things that were said this week.

As we drove past the cow pastures home Libby says “ eewwee mom the cows have a poopy diaper”

Libby got a book bag from the Springville library and it was about snakes she absolutely loved this book bag. They had fabric snakes that Haley tied together and she played “jumping rope”. And it entertained her for hours.

As we walked to church she says “We need to find 3 blues clues mom” and we couldn’t keep walking until we had pointed to the invisible blues clues. It was pretty funny to watch her.

“Mom this chocolate milk is yucky” and then sniffs it and continues to down the cup until it’s all gone. Silly Libby.

She has spent the week coloring with Haley and has brought home some wonderful pictures for dad. I have to see her imagination going. She got Haley to play the piano. She ran around a bag in the living room singing and dancing and would ask Haley to play the piano “PLEASE”.

I am glad that I have my sewing machine back I have several projects that I have wanted to work on and couldn’t but it is better now and I am glad to have it back.

I promise that I do try to do Libby's hair every day. She would rather have it in her face and down then in a ponytail. So not my child.

I have done really well this week when I spend time with Libby I am making it more quality time and I am focusing more of my undivided attention to her. I have noticed that it makes her act really sweet. I love seeing her happy and it has been a really good learning experience for me.

Check out my recipes page for my Russian chicken recipe. Also check out on Mondays my bountiful baskets meal plan page.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

2011-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well where to start for my week. I am so glad that it is Thursday. I have just felt draggy for awhile and I hope that the warm weather will help me perk up a bit.

I will start with Friday night. We have good friends that are letting us borrow their bike trailer to see how Libby likes it. Well needless to say it was a big hit. I don’t know if it is the wind in her hair or the time spent with dad, or just being away from mom, or just getting to be outside. Maybe it’s all the above. I think that is on Marshall’s list of Have-to-haves. Good thing he has a bike.

I think that Libby is having a hard time focusing her anger on the correct thing. She was in her bed the other morning at 6:30am and I think she was cold but on the monitor all I hear is crying and then she starts to yell at me. “MOM, MOM, MOM… I HATE MY HOUSE” she says this several time before I can get to her and when I open the door her blankets are all twisted up and she was cold. For about a week and a half she is using “I hate…” when she is upset. She hates her mom when she wants to stay and spend time with dad, she hates Haley when we leave the stonehockers because she misses Haley, I hate my house, when she is cold. You get the idea, so I have been working on asking questions to get her to see she still loves those people she just misses them, doesn’t want them to leave. So much fun!?!?!

Mine! Mine! Mine!

2 of our close friends had babies this week. So congrats to them I am glad they are doing well!

both babies are just adorable

Baby Girl Haisley was 7lbs 6 oz born at 12:04 am on April 2, 2011

Baby Boy Taimalie Jimmer 7 lbs 8 oz April 6, 2011 9:01am

Taimalie (Ty-ma-lee-ay)

It means good fortune in Samoan.

We are so glad that both our friends are doing great. They are settling in to being moms of 2. I know are prayers go out to them. I am betting 2 is a big job and I know that they need Libby’s and my prayers because one is a big enough job.

We did take Libby to see baby Jimmer on Wednesday night (thanks for letting us come to the hospital, and bring our munchkin). I have not seen her around a baby in almost a year. She was so sweet. She kept telling me that this was her baby. He was however very much a little brother for someone else. She is just going to have to wait. I held the sleeping baby and Marshall held my little baby and she kept looking at him and saying “I want to be a baby too”. So ever so cutely he held her like an infant and she played like she was a sleeping baby for a good 5 min. It was totally picture worthy and like all the other times I forgot my camera. She did the same game at bedtime and we prayed and kissed her and pretended that she was our little baby and she was pretty cute about it too. And like most little babies she went right to sleep.

Today we went to see baby haisley at their house. They have a daughter that Libby plays with too. So the baby wasn’t as much of a novelty as last night but she still wanted to give the baby lots of kisses. For me it was nice, my child ran around someone else’s house and I got to hold a beautiful baby who did not make a peep the entire time I was there and was awake for 95% of my visit. I am glad that Libby entertained marenn, and moms could talk.

I am always glad when conference comes around. Being in nursery I only get a lesson when I listen to conference. So hearing something that makes you feel good inside is always a great thing. I got to listen to most of conference with a toddler the Lord perks your ears when it is especially for you and your family. I know several talks were made for me or my family members, so (hint, hint, hint) I hope you were listening. We got a call on Sunday morning after the 4-6 inches of snow we had that Marshalls sister had a broken tree in their front yard and they needed help clearing it out. When we got there it was a big job and I felt bad for Bristy. But it put our “work together and serve” into practice. It is always a good feeling to see that your family will always be there to help you out no matter what. And I am glad that Marshall’s family is that way.

My plan is to still open a Spanish fork Bountiful basket site. We are working on ALA but it will be a few more weeks so we are looking at May for 2 possible Spanish fork sites so keep your ears open and I will let you know.

Our adoption plan. It feels like life is something that I can’t have a plan for. Marshall can plan, my parents can plan, Marshall’s parents can plan, but if I plan it all goes awry. So I was planning on trying to go through a private agency to make our situation go a bit faster than it is now but once we saw how much it was going to be. I was sick. There is no way I could come up with another $30,000 to pay the adoption fees. So we are sticking with LDSFS adoption plan. It feels like life is something that I can’t have a plan for. Marshall can plan, my parents can plan, Marshall’s parents can plan, but if I plan it all goes awry. So I was planning on trying to go through a private agency to make our situation go a bit faster than it is now but once we saw how much it was going to be. I was sick. There is no way I could come up with another $30,000 to pay the adoption fees. So we are sticking with LDSFS. It may take a while but we can have family experiences (using money) now rather than wait 6 years before we can afford it.

There is the long and the short of it all.

Hope you have a great week and don’t forget to check out our :

Adoption blog

Recipes page for this weeks great meal idea

And every Monday my new bountiful baskets meal plan blog http://bbmealplan.blogspot.com/

New Blog

2011-04-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

http://bbmealplan.blogspot.com/

I started a new blog based on bountiful baskets. I have put together my Menu based on what came in my basket.

check it out

Food Food Food Glorious food

2011-03-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

Some days I have a hard time moving from one blog to the other. I get emotional and I hate emotions I would rather they sometimes would take a very long vacation and bug someone else.

This week I have been pretty lazy. I didn’t make it to the temple, because graveyard shift doesn’t make it really easy to make it to a session when the week from Wednesday until Saturday your unavailable and dare I say ornery and tired.

We did however try out our new card table and gaming room thanks to Marshalls mom and dad. I also played cards that night before that so Marshall was hoping I got my fill of cards, which I did now I just need someone to want to play ticket to ride :-)

Marshall played in a city basketball league. They made it to the final championship. If they won the first game they won the championship tournament if they lost the other team had to win twice to win the championship. They lost the first game but they did win the second game. But Marshall was pretty tired by the end because the games were back to back. They laughed after the game at how small the word "champions" was on the shirt they won.

My fun info for the week is that I, with 2 ladies from my ward are going to open a bountiful baskets site here in Spanish fork. I have spoken with one of the schools nearby and am waiting on approval from them so I can go ahead and get us up and running in mid April. If not and we have to find a new site it will be mid may instead. I am excited to be doing something. I have been wanting to do some sort of activity that makes me feel good about my life. Everything seems to be on hold and I am tired of holding I wasn’t to get moving. So what better way than volunteering in my community, since nursery doesn’t count as something productive its just free babysitting. So that will be exciting I will let you know when it is a for sure thing I am crossing my fingers I get a call tomorrow.

I also signed Libby up for preschool. Because her birthday falls in September she gets to hang out with mom for another year. Do we are opting for a music preschool this year and then off to Aunt Andy’s learning preschool. She is so excited to be going to go she starts in September and I know with her love of music she will fall in love with her class and teacher.

So on to better things like FOOD!!!

not my picture and not this weeks produce

Some one suggested I blog about my bountiful baskets (BB) and how I use for the 3 of us an entire basket in 1 week. How to incorporate it into my freezer meal menus as well.

Let me start with my BB produce. This last week I received: apples, cutie oranges, bananas, mangos, pineapple, grapefruit, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, asparagus, zucchini type squash, carrots, yams. First I come home and put away things that are already ready to eat such as I put the apples and oranges in the drawer; the lettuce gets bagged and is ready for salads at anytime. I then take all the food that need to be cut to be used and cut it up. I put them in easy to access places like Tupperware towards the front of the fridge (i.e. pineapples, mangos) I also freeze any fruits that are not going to be eaten to be used in smoothies. Who doesn’t want a healthy snack for their kids? I then decide what veggies are acceptable to be frozen; Items that I can use in stir fry, casseroles, and freezer meals. I try to make my prep time for other meals quicker by having frozen food items available if we don’t have fresh. I leave alone the items that need to be used, because we use them quickly or because they aren’t good frozen or cant be frozen (i.e. yams, asparagus, banana-can also be frozen-grapefruit). Now some weeks I use every last item in my baskets either freezer worthy or we eat it quickly. If I however get items I am not so fond of such as grapefruits I give them to less fortunate like my family who will usually eat the things I don’t like. Thanks everyone for making me feel like I have donated to a good cause. Teehee I don’t want to waste so I try to take things to family gatherings that I know I won’t use quick enough or items I get regularly. For example the last 5 weeks we have received asparagus in our baskets (sometimes I get 2) well I can eat asparagus but Marshall is not a fan, and Libby will eat it every other time I make it. So I take it with me on Sundays to share my abundance with those that will eat.

I try not to plan my menu until after I have picked up my BB because I never know what I am going to get. So using this week’s basket I will tell you what my menu was.

Sunday- Potato soup. I used the extra baked potatoes my mom gave me added my frozen broccoli and cauliflower from last weeks baskets. It holds up well in the fridge for several days I still need to try the freezer to see how it does.

Monday- sweet and sour chicken (a freezer meal recipe) and stir fried veggies with rice. I had carrots, zucchini, and asparagus and from last weeks I had broccoli that I froze. I julienned the veggies and stir fried them I saved money because I didn’t have to by a bag of stir fry veggies to make my dish.

Tuesday-breakfast- Marshall Libby and I all have a fruit smoothie. Strawberries (frozen), banana, mangos and fuse add flavor and liquid( i use whatever juice is avaliable. This makes a very delicious drink that on my part does not need to have sugar added to make it taste better.

Wednesday- Spaghetti (a freezer meal) I took and added some zucchini to the sauce to add a bit more to it. And a salad on the side, using carrots, lettuce, and cheese.

Thursday- BBQ Beef sandwiches (a freezer meal) served with sweet potato fries. You cut them into wedges, olive oil and salt them bake at 350 for 15 min (these are great on the grille to). What a yummy dinner.

I have taken apples for this week and turned them into apple pie mixes that are great for a quick on the go pie. You can make your own crust or have a premade one like I do for those days that you forget you need a dessert.

I can take and use my fruits for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack and add a healthy side. We try to make the most out of what we have. I have a small budget (because I made it, not Marshall, he would like the entire blame to go to me) I want to make the most of what I get every week in my BB. SO I plan my meals around what I already have. I try to make my basket go for more than just that week I freeze or can the items I know I can use later. It keeps the budget where I want it and my family eats much healthier and we are constantly trying new foods. Who knew I would love pineapple, or mangos, or asparagus, I still don’t like grapefruits.

So to those wondering how I use my entire basket. I make every last item go as long as it can. That’s how you save money. And make good food.

A little FYI: I have been adding all my blog worthy recipes to my recipes page I have mentioned a few above that others have made for me. I am working on getting those recipes so I can share. I only put the BEST meals on my blog as Marshalls says to keep my cooking reputation. I am looking at helping Haley find organic and easy to digest meals so will post about what we find in the future so keep an eye out for that.

PPS: Private adoption agencies charge ridicules amounts of money to adopt. I can’t decide if the wait of possibly 2 months to get a baby is worth $30,500. What do you think?

Shopping, Shopping and more Shopping!

2011-03-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Life comes pretty quick when nothing really happens. Some days you think the end of the week will never come then others, the month is already over and who know what happened to the time.

Life seems to be busy and I don’t know that I did anything really productive.

Marshall has been playing basketball in a league with some guys from his work. He really does love to play and stay active. His team has made it to the championship game tonight. Libby is so excited to go watch him play.

He also has made it 5 years at USSynthetic!!! YEAH for him! That means he gets a five year gift from the company. He had been debating over a few things the last year but finally decided on a Mountain bike. It has had him all excited for the past week since he picked it up. The problem has been the weather has not been nice enough for him to go take it for a real ride.

We also splurged this week. Since we are really frugal with our money, taxes and bonus all have purposes well before we ever see them (baby, they can be so expensive :-) ) we bought something for the house. Our house sometimes bothers us with how not functioning it can be. We have a lot of wasted space that we wish we could use. So while browsing at Ikea (new favorite store for household items) we found a cheap table top, and bar stool chairs. No we did not change our kitchen table again ( some days I wish). We made ourselves an entertainment area upstairs in our loft. We put the table top over the stairs. There is now a place to play games, do homework, eat food, or house all sorts of stuff that we are to lazy to put away (hehe). We are really excited to be able to use this new table for cards and not be keeping Libby awake while doing it. Sorry I went to take a picture,and it looks really odd...but it is not... you will have to come see for your self.

I went shopping the past week. I hate shopping and I hate it even worse when I have to take Libby with me. I hate not being able to have her attached to me. I don’t want to lose her, and she loves to wander. But the best part of shopping with her is seeing what things she is drawn too. I would have thought scarves or pretty dresses? But she loves the bracelets. It does not matter which little shop we go to she finds and wears one the entire time. A bracelet on each arm and she looks cute in them too.

She has also found a new love, the tool skirt she got for Christmas 2 years ago. She has worn that thing everywhere. Sorry to all those who have seen her crazy wardrobe she wont change not even with a bribe. When that skirt is unavailable she has a purple dress my mom got her and it looks like a flower girl dress (with tool and all) and she loves to dance around the house in it.

Just so you know I did purchase a beautiful dress but once I got home I realized that it was a linen dress and I am in nursery and have a toddler. I took it back and bought a couple of cardigans instead. I am trying to add to my wardrobe one piece at a time.

Oh and I did a bracket for the March madness, my first one ever. Marshall laughed when I picked my teams I went by name, mascot, color and rank (which ever one Marshall knew) and I did pretty good considering I know nothing about college basketball. I don’t think he will ever ask me to do a bracket again. But you just wait and see how well I do. This morning I was 28^th and one of Marshall’s is coming in at 12^th. So I think I am doing pretty well.

Marshall informed me that I have not written anything about Haley here at all. Haley is my 17 year old sister who, runs track (and was in state championships the last year). Played piano and taught it. She had a job she worked at when she did not have track training every day after school. She was taking several AP classes trying to get as far ahead in college as she could. She never stopped going. At the beginning of January she got sick and has not gotten better. After being in and out of the hospital and emergency room and seeing numerous doctors they …think… she has a paralysis of her digestive track.

In her words “

My stomach is not digesting food very well. So my diet is extremely limited. (here is just a comparison, a regular person digests food in about 103 minutes, mine is taking 430 minutes before it really is digesting much) is not fun and very painful. And since my stomach is having all these issues, it has caused my joints to swell up and become arthritic and so I walk like I am 90. It’s great. But we are trying holistic doctors and hopefully they will find something. We think it might be an auto immune disease or auto immune sickness we just don't know what yet. So hopefully they start finding things. I’ve pretty much dropped out of school and am doing my work slowly. That’s just a quick brief overview. But I am not feeling any improvement in the joints or the stomach and that’s been there for about a month and a half. But my attitude has been better. I just try to be positive :) cuz that’s about all I can do!!”

I stole it off face book hehe. She really is looking a lot better the last 2 weeks. I know that it has nothing to do with her feeling better it just means she is learning how to deal with it. She is a real trooper and I know I could never handle the pain and loneliness she has been dealing with. I am proud of her for her change in attitude and thinking. It has been a testimony to me and a faith builder to see her struggle and rise above and make the best of what she has been given. We pray every day that they can find something to help her feel better and get rid of the pain. But she says she just goes 1 day at a time.

Also check out my recipe page for a great easy and cheap dessert. Also I updated my menus page.

Children know how to try your patience

2011-03-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Last week I was beyond help and when I wrote. This week I have my wits about me. However that does not mean that being a mom is any easier than last week its just that I am working on my patience this week.

Marshall and I took Libby on Saturday to the zoo. I choose not to go without him because there is no way on this earth that I have the strength to push her around those hills. I do my bountiful baskets and then spend the rest of the day exhausted on the couch so sorry for all those who want to do stuff on Saturdays I just am not usually up to any more physical exertion. But on to the zoo. Libby Loved it. We called my brother Joe and his wife and asked if they wanted to join us. Cousin time YEAH!!! The kids had a blast and loved to see each other. We rode the train together and Marshall said “the look on her face was worth the drive up here” she loved the train ride. She loved all the animals.

We hit up Ikea to get a few things of necessity like their cinnamon rolls. And some other stuff. Yes we love the cinnamon rolls they make us smile, but not our waists. We headed home to finish writing our talks for Sunday.

Talks … well next time we give our talks I hope it is not on daylight savings time again that made it a bit more difficult to plan our sleep and get ready schedule. Marshall slept in not on purpose. And his talk was not done I felt bad. Libby did not want to get out of bed. I was all ready and prepared for the talk ahead of me. Looking back at it now, something usually goes wrong when you need everything to go right. Well we got to church and both our parents came to watch us speak. Libby walked in and saw my dad first. She got really excited and went running to where he was sitting. When she got there Marshall’s dad was on the end by the isle and she stopped and looked so excited surprised, happy and didn’t know what to do because she did not want anyone to move because she wanted all her grandparents all at the same time. Well we got seated on the stand and set to be a nervous nelly until it was my turn to speak (I was first). Well the meeting went as it usually does and then the sacrament came around. I guess I grabbed 2 pieces of the bread well one fell…right down my shirt! I was already so nervous I just started laughing. It was almost uncontrollable laughing. Marshall leaned over and I told him what I had done and he just about died laughing. So I waited until the prayer and went digging for bread…yes down my shirt…I sure hope that only a couple of people saw what I did because I was sure embarrassed. But it made for a great laugh at bunco on Monday night.

Marshall started school last week on Tuesday night from 6:30-8:30. It is an online class and he does class upstairs. I know it is nice because he is home, but Libby does not quite understand that dad is in class and can’t be bothered. She will get used to it though repetition does that.

Some days being a mom can be really trying such as when you notice that your child has drawn all over your walls with crayon. I tried really hard not to yell at her but I made her scrub the walls clean with the magic eraser. I hope that she learned not to color on the walls. I am sure that it will happen more times… but I will be ready…because children really like to push parent’s buttons. Libby is cleaning the walls in both pictures.

don't forget to check my recipe page.

week of thoughts

2011-03-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Most days I don’t think about the fact that I can’t have another baby. Most days it doesn’t bother me much. I remember a long time ago that the doctor had told me that the chances of me having children were not great. I was like 14 and who wants kids at 14. Well life went on and I grew up. I always knew in the back part of my mind that I probably wasn’t going to have kids the way everyone else did. But that never bothered me. Like I said most days it doesn’t. I guess this week was one of those that it just did. I was reading the twilight series for like the 4th time. I like reading it because none of the things she goes through are things I go through. A different life story…until it hit me I was in the 3rd book and one of the characters was saying that all she wanted was a baby, something she could never have. It hit hard, something that should not bother me but every once in a blue moon it does. So I put the book down mad, that it bothered me and went to my iPod hoping that someone had face booked something to change my thoughts for the moment. My wonderful cousin had posted beautiful pictures of her new baby. She really is beautiful. Her beautiful baby reminded me of Libby and she has the same black hair the same little cheeks. I guess I just got jealous. Some days I am glad that it is just Libby, Marshall and I, Some days I wish I could have another baby, most days I am glad that I cant (for health reasons only). But those moments that I am jealous make me sad I hate feeling that way. I love to see how happy families are. I love to see the joy that a child brings into the lives of mother’s, fathers, brothers and sisters. And I just pray even harder that the Lord will one day answer my prayers. But I am not sad! I am Happy that I have Libby she may have the 2 year old horribleness some days, but its when I need it most that she says I love you mom you’re my best friend… then all the sadness I have melts away into gratitude that the Lord blessed me with One wonderful little girl. And I know I am lucky to have that.

Libby has been trying to decide if she still needs naps. I think she does and some days she thinks she doesn’t. But on Monday morning she woke up at like 4 am (Marshall heard her before he left for work). This is how I found her at 8 am. All her books every last one. All her puzzles, cards, magnets, puzzle pieces. Everything that was on her book shelf was now on her bed. She had been reading all night. Nap times have the same feel and look to them that monday morning did. Marshall laughed, I just signed…ohhh no... she is growing out of naps. I hope not, I still need that 2 ½ hours of quiet time for my sanity’s sake.

I got a hair cut. I love it

Also check out my recipe page. I put on a great chicken recipe!

Libby answers all my questions with an "UUMMMMM"

2011-03-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

I had a suggestion to ask Libby Questions and get her answers so here it goes

What is your name? I wibby

When is your birthday? It’s daddys birthday yeah!

How old are you? I two

Who is your mommy? britty

What does your mommy do? Play toys

Who is your daddy? He marshall

What does your daddy do? UUUMMM I don’t know He play his friends

What is your favorite color? blue

What is your favorite food? waffles

What is your favorite animal? Little bear

Where do you live? I live in Spanish fork

What do mommy and daddy do after you go to bed? Go to sleep!!!

What does daddy say? Your my best friend

What does mommy say? Go ni-night

What is your favorite song? Twinkle little stars

What is your favorite movie? Dip me (despicable me) just shake booty

Who is your favorite person? Emily her babysitter

Who is your best friend? I am (she says she is her own best friend)

What is your favorite book? Jonah and the whale

What is your favorite thing to do? I know…read book and play sea shells

don't forget to check out my recipes page for the recipe of the week!

Stuff our faces

2011-02-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

Our week has been very eventful.

We started out having lunch on Saturday with lance. He came down to redeem his birthday gift, Lunch at Tucanos with us... YEAH!!!! We always enjoy a good lunch especially Tucanos.

We got a call from our bishop on Monday and boy were we hopeful. I thought it was either about our adoption, or Marshall would be getting a calling. So I was hoping for the adoption one. Well we headed to the church and when we sat down the bishop said he would like us to speak in church. I don’t know if it was relief or sadness but after he asked us to speak he asked how the adoption was going. I told him about how his called had given us some hopes. He promised never to call us in without telling us what the reason is.

We got out to the temple this week too. YEAH for us!

I am really ready for my little sister to get better I know she wishes that she could be better but I am sure tired of hearing 40 times a day "Haley sick mom, Haley sick" I know she really is worried about Haley and we all want her to get better.

Libby and I went and had Lunch with my grandma at the Hospital that she works at. Gigi bought her a donut with sprinkles. She picked every last sprinkle off the dessert and left the donut. It was pretty funny. Thanks grandma for the listening ear it is always nice to have one of those.

Libby loves a good movie, when we want to play dr mario we put
in Mama Mia and she sits like this for the entire movie.

Marshall had Monday off for president’s day. He really wanted to do something fun. So we took Libby to see Gnomeo and Juliet. Pretty cute and clever. Libby enjoyed it. And so did we.

Want to get a new recipe. I made Caribbean Pork over Rice as my freezer meal for my freezer meal group. Check out my recipe page to get it. It smelled amazing when I put it together last night.

The best I ever had

2011-02-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

I didn’t think that we had a busy week, but once I put it all down it was quite a long list.

We will start with Marshall’s birthday. Poor Marshall had a crazy birthday. He worked and then came home (to sleep). but was really not to happy with Jerry Sloan Quitting on his birthday so he didn’t sleep. After going to bed at 9pm, he headed to work at 1:30am on Friday morning. So we didn’t get to do much celebrating. He did get a helmet for the bike he is getting next month. Libby was so excited she wanted to tell him it was his birthday who knows how many times. One of Marshall’s old employees did a nacho dinner for his birthday. It was so good. They are the best nachos in the whole world. Oscar sent home the rest of the meat and some cheese and beans so I made very large Burritos (I froze them) so we can enjoy them later.

On Saturday morning I did my usual bountiful baskets (absolutely love it). Then home to prepare for the Hooper Bowling Tournament. Check out our adoption blog to see pictures and get the low down of how bad I did. Marshall’s mom made a cake for his birthday/ Valentines Day. It tasted really great. It had a heart shape in each slice, Very creative. Libby Loved to eat the cake and since our house is trying to eat healthy we didn’t make a huge cake for the 3 of us.

My Good news is that Libby is POTTY TRAINED YEAH!!!!!!!(Day time only and we are still working on nap time). It has been a breeze this time and I am glad I waited until after my brothers kids came. I had much more patience with her this time around (I have tried 3 times but with no success). She did well with the sticker chart and to the cookie butter cookie (a peanut butter cookie) that Marshall brought home both helped as great incentives. She only has had a couple of accidents mostly at nap time but one at church. I feel horrible for the poor nursery leader that had her sitting on her lap. She made it till the last 5 min of church and peed (she went home before nursery to use the potty). I was mortified, the leader was ok. Now we need to work on sitting on a regular potty seat and not the really nice squishy child seat. After she fell in the nursery’s small toilet she refused to go there ever since.

We are an old married couple. Valentines Day was really low key. We did however, thanks to my wonderful parents, got to go to dinner- minus a potty training child. We were going to take her with us but this made it a much quicker and a less stressful dinner. So thanks for the help. We went to Brick Oven thanks for the surprise Marshall, its my favorite place to eat in the whole world!(in the words of Libby)

So I did a couple of play dates this week already, I know so not like me. I guess spilling my guts on this blog is tons easier than spilling my guts to people I should know and don’t at church is another story. We talked about having kids (which I can’t) and then it was awkward silence. Before I could explain that I was adopting, someone changed the subject because of the awkwardness of the conversation. I need to learn how to quickly turn it into a positive conversation with ease.

Well my child not only has learned from Marshall how to stall, she is also anal. She was putting her magnets back on the fridge and this is how she left them. She spent 5 min arranging them to look just right. I laughed and then took a picture after she left so she wouldn’t be embarrassed.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day!
I put a new recipe on the recipes page also a new menu on the menu page

Marshall turns...

2011-02-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

If I could remember how old he is I would tell you. But he is another year older and much wiser too,

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

We have had a very busy and eventful week.

On Friday we went to dinner with Marshalls parents for his birthday. We were going to eat at Texas Road House but a 90 min wait with a toddler is not fun. So we went to Goodwood instead. It was great Libby learned from grandpa that you should ask the waitress every time she walks by “Where are my fries”. It was pretty funny to see her get all upset that they weren’t her short order cooks like mom is. She got over it and loved them when they came out. We had just finished eating and were talking to the waitress about the check when all the sudden the power went out. The floodlights came on and we now got to wait 30 min for our check, SO Frustrating. Libby was excellent she had some crayons and lights (thank goodness that Marshall thought to put the flashlight app on both our IPods). There was an accident that cut the power to half the mall and the surrounding businesses. Well we got in the car to leave and Libby was just upset (she loves to see people, especially grandparents) so we told her we would go see the temple the beautiful temple. Well she was excited and happy to see the temple. At night it is just so much more majestic. She also found out that night she has a new favorite song. It is from the group Never shout never she likes 2 of their songs one has a chorus that she can “ohohohoh” to and she always tells me its her favorite.

My brother Joe and his wife went on Vacation this week and left the kids for 3 days with my mom and me. So we had them Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Going from 1 to 3 ages 3½, 2 ½, 1 ½ was a big jump. Glad it is not my day to day. We took them on Monday to the bean museum and they had a blast they loved seeing in the bear exhibit a snake eating a frog.

So Sunday was the Big SUPERBOWL party! We were at my families this year for Sunday dinner so I thought I should make some super bowl food. I made some mini sliders (check the recipe page for the how too), homemade French fries (should have fried them not baked them, Homemade tortilla chips, Nachos, and potato bites. I was going to do apple pie but I didn’t want to make a crust. Everything was good but the potato bites won’t do those again. Our team won I think. I didn’t get to see any of the commercials, three kids are a handful. I was glad that Marshall got to enjoy the game.

These look similar to mine I forgot to take a picture,
story of my life.

Now on to Funnier stories. I always love to get phone calls and texts from Marshall when I am gone. Sometimes it’s nice to know that he runs into problems just like me. I was packing my brothers kids into the car to take them to their other grandma’s house when I got a call from Marshall. “Libby and I made it home just fine. But at this moment one of us is locked in and one of us is locked out. Guess which one I am”. I couldn’t believe it. I also didn’t have a key to help him out. Luckily my sister did, so off my mom ran to let Marshall into the house. At first he thought it was funny but after 30 min he started to get cold. Libby had given up on following directions to try to open the door and he said he could hear her sit down and say “I sorry daddy, I sorry”. She now knows that you don’t touch the door.

The last few days we have been working on potty training. Wednesday evening she did really great (we started after nap time). But today has been kind of not so great. We will sit on the potty 20 min (literally) and 2-5 min after getting off she comes to me wet. I remind her about going in the potty not her underwear. But I am less stressed and more patient this time around then the last few times. I am hoping that by the end of the weekend we are accident free during the day. That would be awesome.

Christmas cruise

Libby Loves Potato head

she loves playing with play dough, I dont.
At grandmas she gets to play all the time.
she is sitting in the bucket that holds the
playdough toys.

Playing wuth her baby and dads foot

Marshall was teaching her how to play
hide and seek she hid under the blankets
can you see her head poking up

Libby Working out with Marshalls stuff

Lions and tigers and bears OH MY!!

2011-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

We are please to announce that Marshall has officially been accepted to the Villanova Masters Program in Human Resources. He will begin class in March; he will be going through their online program. This means that 1 night a week he watches and participates in a class over the internet. He will graduate in the fall of 2012. This will be a much better schedule than what he has been doing for the past 2 years. 3-5 classes a week for 6 semester’s straight and working full time (we are glad to be done). We are grateful for the break and it won’t seem so bad when he starts in March. I know that he has been very excited about this since July and we are glad that it is finally here.

This past week has been a really lazy week. We did however get to go to the Temple. I know we are always grateful for the opportunity to go. We got to be involved with sealing’s (it makes adoption feel more real for our family). I would encourage all who can to attend the temple. I know that the Lord blesses our family when we make the time to go.

Marshall has been working really hard with his P90X and he has been eating much better. I am really proud of him, because I know how difficult it is to change habits.

This week Libby and I had the opportunity to babysit Marshall’s nephew Braddock. I was hoping that all would go well with Libby. She has a hard time sharing with little children but not big ones. She did great and Braddock was excellent. She helped me and brought him toys and talked with him. It made me hopeful for the future. Next week we will have my brother’s kids and it will be interesting to see how that all plays out. They are a year older and a year younger then her. I hope is will go smoothly.

I am excited that I am now part of a freezer recipe group. I am excited that I get to have more than just my usual in my freezer. I made Baked pesto ravioli with chicken, and chimichungas for my meals. My mom has been asking me to make her the Baked pesto ravioli with chicken because it tastes like something that you would get at a nice Italian restaurant. So check out my recipes page for the recipe.

FYI

2011-01-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

I made a page off to the left, between adoption fund and my blog list, it called menus. Check it out. I put all my menus for the last 3 months or so. I will also add some recipes that are great freezer meals too.

also check out my grandma camp page let me know what you think.

Adoption process going well and other stuff too!

2011-01-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

This week has been very productive, exciting, and full. We started out on Thursday at LDSFS with our case worker. She is wonderful. Well we are coming up on having to renew our profile. That means we have to have a new home study/case study, new background checks, new bishops letter, new tax form, new financial statement. Luckily we don’t have to do a ton of paperwork. Well after answering several questions, and filing out the background check paperwork we get to have a questioning session. I have been worried that I have not been doing enough to help in our finding process; here was my opportunity to see what I could do to make it better. Well all of our numbers look great. We have a lot of traffic on our profile. So thanks to all you who have given out a passalong card. Those make the world of difference. She suggests putting them in your bills that you mail out. So if you still have a couple of cards put one in your bill this month. Also if you know anyone who is going to school like Paul Mitchell of some sort of technical school I would love to send some cards with them to put on a counter there. She also said my adoption blog looks wonderful. YEAH! For all my hard work (this is my pat on the back). So all around, it made me feel really great, that all my efforts are not going to waste.

We got the opportunity to go to dinner with Marshall’s boss, several co-workers and their spouses. We ate at the Chef’s Table. I was excellent food and I had a blast. It was really the first time in 2 weeks since Libby got sick that I had left the house. It was really great to finally put a face with the names and stories. I can see why Marshall has so much fun at work. They Laugh all day long at each other. They are all story tellers, and they all know how to laugh. It was a wonderful dinner with great company, but late night.

My exercise of the week is always on Saturday mornings. I don’t function if I exercise in the mornings, my days are pretty shot. But who can pass up a wonderful basket of yummy food and a little socializing, and hard work. I buy a basket of food from Bountiful Baskets, I volunteer every week. I love eating the yummy variety of fruits and veggies that come each week. I get to try new things and stock up my freezer with good veggies. I canned and froze fruit for smoothies and snack time treats. You can buy extras like tortillas, bread, honey, granola, and many other things. I love the 9 grain wheat bread, and the fresh tortillas are amazing. If you have never tried it, you should. It helps to make my budget stretch and we are eating healthier. (picture of what came in my basket in 1 week)
http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

Marshall had a tragic horrible Monday evening. He went to the dermatologist about 3 weeks ago, they biopsied a mole on his arm. They call him back on Monday when he got there they put him in a surgical room, he did not know that they were going to remove it. Well 10 shots, a 2 inch cut, 11 stitches, and then waking up after passing out, he came home. Poor thing never had stitches before and I think the trauma of the situation made him a little queasy. Good thing for him Blood and gore doesn’t bother me.

I took Libby to the Monte L. Bean Museum on Wednesday. I thought she and I needed a day away from home. She has been feeling better and this was a great idea. She loved to see all the stuffed animals. the elephant was one of her favorites. the lion she got up close and almost personal. I was a little freaked

out looking it in the eye but it didn't bother her one bit.

Thoughts from Libby

I was making a batch of baby blankets for those of my friends that are having babies. Libby comes in and asks what I am doing. I tell her that I am making blankets for babies. She looks at me and says “for my baby bubbles?”(A doll given to her at Christmas from my grandma). I tell her no. She then thinks about it and says for my baby sister? I said that would be really nice but not yet. I remind her that we pray for our baby to come and she keeps telling me it’s for her baby sister. The best part is that the blanket is a nice blue and green. I think she might be color blind.

Libby was getting dressed. Her pants were looking a little on the short side, so I said “Man Libby your legs are getting long, where did you get your long legs?” She looked at me and says “the doctor”.

picture: Libby found Ian's bean bag chair and was relaxing.

Libby brought me the princess dress and asked if she could wear it. I told her that she could if she took off her clothes all by her self. she did a step closer to being potty trained she can take her pants on and off. so she put on her princess dress and wore it until nap time. she was really cute about it.

Marshall should do my blogs more often

2011-01-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

UHHH, well I have not been thinking this week about what to blog. I thought so hard about what I was going to do for the adoption blog (I had Marshall write it :-) ). And I have lots going on for the next week so next week should be insightful.

After a most frustrating last week this one has gotten a bit better. Libby no longer has a fever, it only took until Saturday afternoon. She still has a productive cough but can sleep though the night without any cough medication. Grandma and Grandpa Hooper stopped by to visit on Saturday evening. She was so excited to see someone that she was almost bouncing off the wall. They were only here for 30 min but as soon as they left she layed on my shoulders all wiped out. Poor thing was so excited she just used all her energy to be happy.

I was getting ready for stake conference on Sunday, and had to put lotion on my feet to put on my tights. Well Libby saw me putting on lotion ,so she needed to have lotion too. Marshall got a picture or her laying on the couch getting her feet rubbed. A girl after my own heart.

Thought of profoundness from a 2 year old

We are reading a book before bed. Libby points out the mommy cat, and the baby cat. She then says " ohhh NO the daddy is missing" We look at her and ask "where is he ?" she says " he's doing homework"we had to laugh.

So here are a few catch all photos that I just received and found!

Priesthood session Oct 2010. This is a picture of all the men in my family. Who knows when it will ever happen again. My dad was very glad that they got to go together. A once in a lifetime experience.

These are the Thanksgiving photos. Marshall's job is to cut, carve, leave enough for everyone else, the turkey. Since I have known him this is one of his favorite jobs. Thanks Andy for getting this coveted shot. he says he doesn't eat the turkey while carving it. Love you babe.

The Hooper family Thanksgiving dinner.
We all enjoyed a fantastic turkey dinner.

Life and Times

2011-01-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

While trying to decide what to put on both my blogs I had a hard time deciding. Our week thus far has been really crazy so here it goes for all that care to read.

Since last I wrote this has been our week.

I learned that I can’t exercise in the morning. If want to function at all for the rest of the day.

We have a new favorite game “A ticket to Ride” we also enjoy playing “Settlers of Catan”.

I tried a new recipe “Black bean quesadilla with chicken”: black beans, salsa Verde, shredded chicken and a little cheese in a tortilla. Very good.

Libby loves her new nursery class; they play with play dough, a play kitchen and lots of little friends.

I love my once a month girls night out, Bunco. I really love getting to socialize with other women. They are a great group and I am thankful for Ashley for inviting me. Oh and I won, yeah!

Tuesday we woke up and Libby was very warm and she had a nasty cough. After about 2 hours I decided that maybe we should go to the doctors. So I made her an appt for after her nap. When she woke up she was on fire. So we quickly went to the dr. appt early. She ended up with a fever of 106. They did chest X-rays, (really difficult with a screaming, unhappy 2 years old). Went back to the room and they had to catheterize her to get a urine sample (even more difficult with a screaming, unhappy 2 year old). Then they sent us back down stairs to get blood drawn (really not fun with a screaming, unhappy 2 year old). then back upstairs to get a shot of antibiotic. The entire time she is still 106 and stuck to me like glue. Needless to say she was warm, I was warm, and all the tests came back with showing nothing. So home we went. She was miserable and so was I. Well Marshall and I split the night up so I could get some sleep. I got 4 hours, the first 2 hours of the evening and the last 2 hours. She did not sleep because she was coughing and I couldn’t sleep because she was coughing. Well with a lot of Tylenol and Ibuprofen we finally got control of the fever. She still is running a temperature but can you do about that. Yesterday morning came and she was still miserable. We took her back on Wednesday night and they gave her another shot of antibiotics and then tonight I will find out how the cultures turn out. I am grateful that she is ok at this point, even if she is ornery. I really am glad for her Dr. He is a great Dr. And does a good job to put me at ease when I need it no matter how many times I called the office.

But to the funny. Here are a few things that she did do that were totally cute this week.

she said these with me
The doctor wants to listen to you breathe Libby, she looks at him and says “No Way”

After watching ‘Despicable Me’ 2 days in a row she wanted to dance at the end like every one in the show do. Gru gets up on stage and shakes his groove thing then does the splits Libby says “I want to do that”, so she does the exact move. Hands of butt and shakes it, A turn and down into the splits. I about fell of the chair laughing because I have never seen her do the splits before.

She died laughing when the last character of the last scene of “Despicable Me” says “ohhh poop” she decided that it is funny enough to copy.

We also spent the last 2 days with “Mary Poppins” Libby walks around the house singing “let’s go fly a kite” over and over again.

These were said to Marshall

"Libby guess what we forgot to give you this morning?"...... Libby: Uh....money!"
I was referring to her vitamin.

I get home, kiss Libby on her cheek and tell her she's my princess, she responds by saying, "daddy, you're my best friend".

Me: Libby what do you want for lunch? Libby: "yogurt". Me: You want yogurt for lunch? Libby: "yeah, that would be awesome!"

Sorry No pictures . My death warmed over child will not let me take one. I snuck a picture she was mad after the fact oh well.

New Bed

2011-01-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well we gave Libby her big girl bed for Christmas and the transition has gone fairly well except for a few things.

She loves her bed and loves the “butterflies on big girl bed”.

I woke up Tuesday morning I did not hear her on the monitor. So I got dressed, put in my contacts and headed down to get her out of bed. When I got to the bottom of the stairs she had found my purse (the one day in the last 4 months I did not hang it high on a hook) I had luckily taken out the bag of candy bars the night before but she had found the hand sanitizer and emptied the entire bottle. So I reminded her rules of the big girl bed and put her in time out for that and she gladly and happily sat in time out. Then at lunch I was sitting in the living room read my scriptures and all the sudden a door shuts I look up nad no libby comes my way. So I go look down the hall Her bedroom door is almost shut but my office door is closed. When I opened the door to my office the look on her face was like a deer caught in headlights. so needless to say I am working on ways to keep her in her room.

As a mom, some days, you just want to laugh, cry and scream all at the same time.

p.s. Christmas is on our other blog

Snow Time

2010-12-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Marshall gets to have to opportunity to play with libby in the Snow. Its a bigger Job than I can handle so I gladly let them have that fun together. She watched him shovel the snow and then put on her snow clothes and went out to have fun with her daddy. She talks about that snowman still and its been about a week.

I think she will love to go on a sled behind the 4-wheeler, with dad of course. I am glad the snow finally showed up for Christmas.

Family Pictures

2010-12-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

We took family pictures with the Hooper's. The last time we had pictures was 2 months after we were married so it has been a while and there have been 4 new additions to the family. So here is a peek at some of the pictures of our family.

this is our favorite picture!

Libby is a Silly Goose

2010-12-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

We like to tell Libby that she is a silly goose. Here are a few silly goose moments this week.

After being put to bed because I had bunco at my house. She sat calling my name "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom" for 20 min after everyone left she decided on a new tactic. "Mom, I have to talk to you!" So cute!

While dancing to no music but her own made up kind, and spinning in circles she would say
" I... (spin in a circle)... just want to spin around (spin in a circle)... I... (spin in a circle)... am a princess...(spin in a circle)." so funny to watch I wish I could have had my camera out to record it.

She comes running into the living room from her room and says
" Mom wheres MY ipod?"
I said "isn't it mommy's ipod"
She looks at me pauses and says "Ohhh Yeah" and runs off

she really is getting very clever she loves to carry around her Dora Backpack and her suitcase. she is my very big helper.

Other great news for the week!

I wish I had a picture of Marshall to show you how excited he was to be finished with school last night but...I am really great about taking pictures...oh well. I am so Proud of him. He has been working hard to finish his Bachelors degree in Psychology. He has been going to school non-stop, no breaks for 2 years. He is really looking forward to the Christmas break. For the first time in a long time he will be taking work off, has no school to prep for and gets to play with Libby and me.

He does have a plan to start his Masters Program in March. We (me and Libby) are grateful for his hard work and determination to succeed in his career goals.

Congratulations Marshall!!!

Christmas Trees

2010-12-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

First off Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Second, Sorry for the blurry pictures. Libby does not know that cameras are horrible on phones, and they don't work with moving children.

Well Christmas trees seems to be my theme of the day.

We put up our Christmas tree on the Saturday after thanksgiving. Marshall was coming up on finals and we knew that if we wanted it done before the 15th we had to do it over the break. We had hoped that Libby would love to participate in the setting up of the tree. I was wrong she wanted to watch...Marshall put up the big tree, Marshall put up the little tree, the movie Elf (our tree decorating tradition), and me putting up the household decorations.

The Little tree is downstairs in the main living room. It has all the ornaments that Marshall made growing up. It also has all the ornament's that Libby has made at the Hooper's house.

Libby and Brittany with the small tree

Marshall and Libby in the Jazz room with the Big tree

Family and the Christmas tree

Christmas Tree at Grandpa Stonehocker's House

We tried to get Libby to participate at our house and she did help a bit. But this week Marshall was pulling some long days at work and for school so Monday night we went to my parents. I get lonely some days for good conversations. When we got there we found out that they were putting up the Christmas tree. Lots of fun for Libby She wanted to help. She started out by singing "jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells," and ran on a large circle for about 15 min. I don't know where she got the energy but she only knew the 2 words and so that's what she sang.

Libby found grandmas Christmas stash

sorry for the blurriness.
She asked grandpa for help it was cute.

She had 1 ornament all night a handmade one
of Haley's from when she was five. She placed and replaced that item
so many times it was funny. She would ask grandpa to "help papa" and
they would put it on the tree and 2 min later she would move it and ask for help.

Thanks to my family I got to get pictures of Libby putting up the tree.

I am glad that we got to help.

It this time of year I thought a good thing to leave you all with is a Christmas thought.

there are lots of stories at Christmas time of people giving service. Maybe this year we might create our own story about how our family gave service. Christ said in Matt 25:40 " in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.". Lets Remember that this season is in remembrance of the gift given to us... the Christ... Let us give back to him.

Merry Christmas

Christmas projects

2010-12-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

This week I have devoted my time to not cleaning my house. I know that is sounds bad, but let me explain. I had all my Christmas shopping for the Hooper's done before thanksgiving, I had an Idea of what I was going to do for Libby, Marshall I still have no clue, and my parents are a mystery especially when their list is only like 6 items and there are 7 people buying for them. So instead of just thinking about what to get them I decided I didn't want to wait till the week of Christmas to finish Libby's bedspread I am glad I did. It took me an hour to put the frame up and attach the fabric then I have watched: the 6 hour pride and prejudice (my favorite), shrek, kung fu panda, backyardagains robots on a rampage, 6 1 hour recorded TV shows,and many 30 min nick jr shows in the morning. I only have 12 butterflies to stitch into the quilt. my pointer finger on my right hand hurts my back aches and I see butterflies everywhere. Every time she sees it she says they are beautiful and she loves butterflies. Those comments make it all worth it.

Libby the past few weeks had become the little talker. Marshall says that every Wednesday he comes home and realizes that she talks in more sentences than before. Yesterday while watching the backyardagains robot rampage one character does his evil laugh and she copied it and I about fell off the chair laughing. She is so polite saying thank you to everyone (I am glad that we have instilled good manners... if only I was part of the everyone group). she can repeat the alphabet when she says it with Marshall only not me. She wants to dance to every song that comes on and I wish that I had the energy to do it with her. She also has fun playing in her room. One morning I went to go get her out of bed when I opened the door this is what I saw

She smiled and said she wanted me to leave she was playing so I got my camera and took this picture. She really is getting to be very creative.

If you want to see Christmas pictures we have check out the adoption blog by clicking on the picture of our pass along card at the top of the page. We really would love to have the button on as many blogs as we can. this helps get our name and info out there and will help in my feeling productive and active in the slow moving process. Thanks to everyone for all your support. We Love you all.

Thanks Giving

2010-12-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

We are always glad when thanksgiving comes around. The Food , the Family time, Being off work, Black Friday shopping. Our family has had a lot to be thankful for this year. Let me name Just a few. We have been blessed by Marshall's job and being able to provide for our family so that I don't have to work anymore. Libby has been healthy, Marshall will be finishing his bachelor's degree in 2 weeks. We have all our family around us. We are thankful for all the support and the kind words of confidence they have all given us. We are grateful that we are able to get started on the adoption process.

Projects

2010-11-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

Play-do … so I am still pretty hesitant to pull out the play-do. It is a big undertaking but I tried. Here is Libby having a blast playing with the scissor that comes with the play-do.

Well after my canning experience last week I took on Fried chicken…its easy… but our house smelled like yams and fried chicken for several days, sorry Marshall but boy was it a great dinner thanks to Marshall's mom we have a great drenching mixture and I can make a chicken breast for all three of us go for 2 meals or more.

New bed. Well Libby will be getting a new bed at Christmas thanks to Bristy for the info. Deciding on a new bedspread was harder than I thought. I figured she would want a Dora set. NO Dora, No Princess, No woody, buzz. She did not want anything. So off to the fabric store we went to find some material to make one. At the store Again NO to everything. While I was walking down one of the isle she turns and says “mom look butterflies. I want butterflies” so I took it and ran. I have it all put together and waiting for the backing and to be quilted with butterflies in the blocks(next weeks project) but every time she sees it she says “look mom butterflies their beautiful” Yeah her big Christmas present is almost done and I am glad. Speaking of Christmas I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. All I have left is Marshall and Libby. The entire extended family is done. And I was under budget; I found the stuff I wanted on sale yeah!!!

Try, and if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!

2010-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

Libby was one of our "if at first you don't succeed try, try, again". She has been our little blessing. Some days I don't know if I always, have fun, but she says little things like "mom I love you!" and " Mom Your Beautiful" then your heart melts, except at bedtime when you know she just wants to play a bit longer.

Marshall is an avid Football player and watcher so here it to the second place team. They worked hard, played hard and had fun doing it I hope. Here is this years shirt.

Awwww now to my "if at first you don't succeed" . Well..... UMMM......You see......

My yams .......huuuuuhhhh......... So they exploded. The explosion was my fault. I did not put enough water in the bottom of the pressure cooker. When I realized that the water was gone I only had 30 min left to cook them. I opened up the cooker and thought "hum if i add more water I should still be able to finish this". So to my not thinking I added room temp water to the pot. It touched the jar and !!!BANG!!! glass everywhere and hours of hard work just at a stand still. Sooooooo needless to say, first time canning, ask for help don't just try. Next time I am going to get help. So if anyone knows what I can do to make the last 3 cans of yummy yams still usable, I could really use some advice.

2 years old! Wow!!!

2010-11-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well most people on their kids birthday spotlight them so... I'm a bit late like almost 2 months. so here is just a bit about our Libby Rose.

She still is our petite little girl she is 23 lbs with her clothes on
She loves Hot Dogs (she would eat them for every meal if I would let her.)
She loves Dora
She has baby that goes with us into every store. yes it is naked I cant keep clothes on her babies. To the women who was criticizing me at the store... at least it is a girl baby and not a boy(Marshall's great come back).
She loves to sing "ashes ashes we all fall down"
She loves to hop around the house
She loves to feed daddy her fake donut on a plate every chance she gets
She loves Olivia, backyardagains, Mrs spiders sunny patch friends, and Dora, sometimes even go Diego go.
She loves going to nursery
She loves puzzles
She loves smoothies
She loves baskets(or things that hold other things)
She Loves her grandpa (both are her favorite)

So there is a bit about our little silly goose.

Smoothies

2010-10-28T12:28:00.001-07:00

Marshall and Libby have a few special things that they do together. Things that mom either isn't allowed or does not want to participate in. Smoothie making is one of those special things. We came up with a way to get Libby to eat something other than peaches and apple sauce. The "Ninja" provided that. Libby loves to help and has to help when she sees the "Ninja". SO thanks for the gift mom it has been one of the best and most used.

Day of Creativity

2010-10-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

This day was our adventuresome day. I decided no TV all day. Which really is a great thing. But with a toddler I decided today that some TV is not bad. Having a routine is Great. So we have been trying out some new activities. So here was our Wednesday:

-Got up and ate breakfast

-got dressed and ready to go grocery shopping

-Went shopping (uuuggg I know its my favorite kind of shopping but only when there is money galore in your purse to pay for all the wonderful items. Budgeting can be a bummer sometimes)

-played on the swings and slide at the new park in town. (it was a blast I really like it.)

-Decided that we should do the park first and shopping second next time(bribe with the free cookies from the bakery)

-home for lunch.

-Made Homemade Pizzas! (which Libby refused to eat a bite. poor Brittany had to eat both pizzas)

-*****NAP TIME YEAH*****

-Did my chores

-Libby woke up and we made Fruit loop and pasta necklaces (thanks for the idea Ash)

-went for a walk (to those who don't know this really is a big thing for me )

-went to visit and have dinner with grandma Stonehocker(my parents had leftover stew yummy, Libby did not eat it, to bad.)

-off to watch my fantastic hubby play flag football(I don't know if he won or not?? they had some touchdowns but so did the other team...oh well, not my job to keep score luckily I am just the athletic supporter. HEHEHE )

-then home for bed at 8.

Jut a little FYI... this is not a typical day at the Hooper household. We usually read books listen to music, color pictures and sit on the couch all day. Don't think I will be this creative and busy again for a long while.

So here are a few of the pictures I took of our adventuresome day.

Necklace Making

she did the majority by herself.

She also ate a ton of fruit loops.

she tried to share with me. I am not a big fruit Loop fan.

She cheese it all the time

All Done with the necklace.

Already to devouring the yummy treat.

Pizza Pie

I showed her how to make the crust a

circle and she did her own crust.

She scooped her own sauce onto the crust

She had fun putting cheese on both pizzas.

All Finished and boy it tasted good. I am sad she did not like it

I think it was too hot and then she just was not in the mood for

pizza after all. Marshall says pizza could be eaten once a week

you could still be in the mood for pizza.

HEE HAWS

2010-10-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

My grandma Cindy Lou takes all of her grandchildren every fall to Hee Haws. This was our first year because Libby has been too little and susceptible to every bug. So we got to go as a family and have a fun date. Thanks Grandma.

Marshall and Libby Shooting the Corn Cannon.

any kind of animal is fun to look at

Libby loves to look at horses but this is as close as she will get to riding one

Don't worry Marshall had fun too.

Libby went with Brisa on the animal train ride she loved it

Peter Pan's " following the leader" comes to mind on this shot

she wanted to follow the big boys where ever they went it was cute.

Cheese

2010-10-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

Libby Loves to smile for the camera! Here are a few from the past week or so. Check out the cute Hair do. She is a Mini Me.

She was sitting watching Dora or Olivia and had her arm resting on the chair and her face in her hand. it was pretty cute I think it was almost nap time and she was winding down.

I did braids and she sat there the entire time without even moving

I was interrupting her Dora show to take this picture

This one is today's Look. the braided piggy tails, t
he "I heart dad" shirt and the mom smile.
cant beat that for her cheeses.

Moms Little Helper

2010-10-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to start young! Libby will be cooking sooner than you think. She Likes to help make pancakes already!

then there is any time that something is in the oven she has to get on her "gloves" because it is "HOT"

She is such a great helper...when she wants to be. She is a lot of fun to have around and I am glad that I get to spend my days being her buddy.

Chickens and Roosters

2010-09-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

We were at my parents house on Sunday night and Marshall and Libby went for a walk with Ian to the backyard. Libby sees the chickens and wants to feed them.

Marshall: Libby what do Roosters eat?
Libby: Eggs!

on the way home Marshall told me the story. So I asked.

Brittany: Libby what do roosters eat?
Libby: Rocks!

Marshall said she tried to push the rocks through the fence after he tried to explain that roosters dont eat eggs.

The Scare of the week

2010-09-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited that I get to stop working my part time job and be a full time mom. Sometimes experiences hit that thought home. Libby had been sick all week, Marshall stayed with her on Monday but I had to leave her on Thursday with the sitter. I kept trying to decide if I really wanted to take her sick but I had much to do at work, it being one of my last days of work ( I have 4 left). Well I took her to the sitters house. It was 4:00 in the afternoon when I thought to call Marshall to see how close to picking her up he was, when my phone rang. The sitter was upset and told me Libby had got into her purse and had eaten some tums and ibuprofen. She wanted to know what I wanted her to do with Libby. In a panic I told her I would call her right back. My plan was to have my parents pick her up and meet me at the hospital or the Dr office I could not decide. when they did not answer their phones and neither did Marshall I called the sitter back and had her meet me at the hospital ( a 2 min drive from my work and a 25 -40 min from mapleton, depending on traffic) I had my boss text Marshall because I couldn't do anything to save my life and then left for the hospital ER. When everyone showed up at the ER we took Libby right in and they let us know that because it was not Tylenol she was going to be just fine. We still had to wait 2 hours and then do some blood work just to make sure her liver and kidneys were good. Let me tell you, as a mom you get pretty anxious about the well being of your children. Knowing she might be my only child makes me that much more anxious when something is wrong. I was so grateful for all the prayers said on our behalf from all our friends and family.

SO for my words of wisdom... don't keep Tylenol in your home, Ibuprofen is a much safer medication if swallowed by children.
Libby is back to normal!

TWO!!!

2010-09-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

Libby Turned two on the fourteen of September. I wont get mushy like most moms do. I am grateful for Libby and how wonderful she is. She has been a blessing these past 2 years and would do it all over again to get our little angel (or hellian depending on the day). So here are a few pictures of our birthday adventures.

I will preface just a bit. Libby got sick 4 days before her birthday and ended up sick on her birthday (making it 2 years in a row) but she was so excited to "Open presents" she was singing happy birthday to herself when she would get into her highchair.

At the Hooper's she got candy land, play dough, a matching game, and play cooking utensils. She has been non stop playing with the cooking pots and pans and all the spoons to go with it. she loves them .

At the Stonehockers she got, tub fish, Dora doll with long hair, a Dora doll that talks and has a camera, wooden food set, and a 50 piece dish set. She carries a goblet and an orange together and calls them ice cream. Its pretty cute!

We gave her a tricycle, and a Dora backpack. Just like the rest of her life she wants to be big so she doesn't want to ride the bike she wants to push it. She is to short to peddle herself.

My thoughts about faith

2010-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Where to begin! I have to thank those who gave me good advice. I have been trying to figure out a way to stop working since I had to take Libby to a babysitter back in Feb of this year. Marshall's hours changed, and so we took her to a wonderful women's home to spend her Fridays. it has been a wonderful experience for Libby and she thinks it is great. BUT still I wanted to be home. so I started cutting back (budget wise). I started living on Marshall's checks and "trying" to save mine. But things just did not add up. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever be possible. I had a family friend stay with us for a few days and she gave me some advice. she said the lord gives you opportunities to use faith. he wants you to trust that he knows and is willing to help you. He has his hands outstretched just ready to give you all that he has but you have to take one small step, all by your self. My problem is, I am a chicken. I am scared to make bad decisions. I am afraid of change. I was miserably content to not make any choice. after many hours of prayers and crying and lot and lots of talking. I just did it. Marshall said the lord blesses you when you have faith. So at the end of September of 2010 I am JUST a Mom. I was still worried. Let me tell you I was still trying to cut my budget any way I could. trying to make it all work out because I had not figured it all out. Today was my answer. Today made me a strong believer in 1 nephi 7:12 . I had to exercise my faith in the lord. Marshall had applied, interviewed and was picked for a promotion without even telling me he had applied. I got a call to go to lunch with him and when I got in the car he told me he got a promotion. We both looked into each others eye glistened with tears and knew that the lord had answered our prayers. He let me take my step. I feel so blessed that We could experience this as a little family.

We ask a small favor of our friends and family. We ask that you will all pray and if you can fast for us this fast Sunday. Please help us in fasting for our little family that we might be able to "grow" our 3 to 4. We believe that the lord blesses those that do all they can. We just ask that you keep us in your prayers and fasting.

We love you all and most importantly the Lord and all he does in our lives.

Brittany

eating out is always fun!

2010-08-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

We went to lunch with some friends. After dinner was done we were waiting for our bill and libby decided to pack up all her food in a wet wipe it was so funny to watch her. afterwards we were out side and she wanted us to "sit" next to her while we looked at the water.

Libby who looks just like me at that age

2010-08-14T15:58:00.001-07:00

Grandma camp was the best

2010-08-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

they played a minute to fin it. She had to fish for her game. she loves fish and this was the perfect activity.

Our Family

2010-06-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

We want you all to know that we are happy and loving life. Marshall is half way through the summer semester and then fall is all that he has left of school. I am so proud of him and all his hard work. He misses out on a lot of "moments" but the memories he will get when he is all said and done will be well worth it. Here are a few pictures of my wonderful family (and yes I am in one, thanks to becca). I love them both so much and pray everyday to be blessed to have another added in a very special way.

Yard Sale

2010-06-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Our yard sale was a big hit! We sold a lot but still had a lot left over. But thanks to all you who donated to our yard sale. We made money and it is in our adoption fund. Thank you all for your support!

late night post

2010-06-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

I did not have a clue what to call this post. Boy we have had a busy week and it is only Thursday. Just a little FYI on our adoption status. We have been working long and hard to get it all finished and approved. We have had a few minor set backs, none which were created by us. But trying to remember that the lord knows all things and has a time for everything, I just have to pray that I can have the patients that I know I don't have. So I know we were supposed to be approved a week ago but it looks like it will be a few more.

now on to more happy thoughts. Well we were able to see my moms uncle bud and aunt Babs this last weekend. It was really nice to see them. the best part was when he took all the kids to ride in his sports car. Libby was really cute and let us take a bunch of great pictures.

this is a picture of Haley LOVING the car(she wants one)!

Sunday Morning Laugh

2010-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

So Marshall and Libby were in her bed room reading books (pulling every book she has out just to make sure they are all there.). I came to sit down and “read” with them and Marshall was scratching his foot. Libby automatically thinks that he has an “owie” so she comes and points it our and he says “yes dad needs to soak his foot in water” and she says something and walks away a minute later she comes back with a water bottle full of water and says “here dad” and goes back to reading her books. Marshall was a little puzzled and I was laughing because she got him water to soak his foot.

Our 5 year Anniversary

2010-05-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Five years to us. We can’t believe that it is already come. We celebrated by going to dinner at Rib City in American Fork. We really enjoyed it (thanks to Grandma Price, it was her Christmas gift to us). We had enough to get a nice size dinner for 2 and a dessert. Well Libby was sitting at the end of the booth and could see the waitress bringing the “chocolate, chocolate mania” it is about 5” high chocolate fudge and cookie and whipped cream delight. Well you can imagine when Libby set eyes on it she got a big huge smile her eyes light up and she said “OH YEAH” like they and bring that dessert for me I am so excited. Marshall and I spent the next 5 minutes feeding her the dessert and laughing.

P.S. Marshall and I are glad we still like each other after all these years! We are looking forward to the next 5.

Dress up

2010-05-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

My little dress up girl. She found some shoes in my closet (ones i dont wear anymore). she has been carrying around the purse that grandma hooper gave. She says BYE everytime she puts it on and walks away. She is a girl through and through.

Decorating

2010-05-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

I found some material today and made some covers for our existing pillows I still have 2 more to make. but here is a look at the couches and pillows yeah! was really easy. Every once in a while I need to do something that makes me feel like me and not only a mom. I also made (cooked and baked) several new items. I still have a few more to try but libby does not always let me do those little things I wanted.

Movie Watching

2010-05-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Libby Loves to watch movies! or anything with music in it.

We love to read books! Touchy feely books and interactive ones are our favorites. We love to watch movies especially ones that have lots of music. Libby’s favorites are Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, and Tarzan. Britt loves meet me in St. Louis and 7 brides for 7 brothers, and anything that is black and white. This week we watched a bunch of shows that were all Ginger Rogers. What an amazing women. I love her shows. We are going to try some more old movies maybe something of Doris Day (I have like 7 to choose from). If you don’t know who any of the previously named shows or people. That’s okay you don’t have to like them but know they were great performers and performances for their time.
P.S. Marshall wants to disclose that he never chooses to watch any of these shows. But has sat though at least, 1 Doris day movie and 7 brides for 7 brothers. He does not care for any on them. But loves his wife and since that is who is watching them, he will be nice and leave her alone to watch in peace.

the thing that says "ROAR"

2010-04-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Libby and are very grateful for her happy smiling face. we just wish that happy smiling face would stay clean and smiling all the time. but as everyone knows kids will be kids. She is grow up each day and what a learning experience it is.

what Libby knows:

*she has learned how to get past the child locks in the kitchen.

*she has figured out how to open water bottles and Ziploc baggies.

*she's learned lots of new words among those this week are " backpack, Dora, up, muffin, *strawberry, treat, bite, pancakes, breakfast".

*how to run in a track meet.

*that not all flowers in daddy's garden can be touched.(thorny rose bushes)

let me explain a few things.

-the child locked drawers kept all my cooking utensils and household junk. I have had to find new places for the junk (most in the garbage) and the cooking utensils are now animals that attack me saying "roar".

-the track meet running. well Marshall and I took her to watch Krista play a softball game on a Wednesday, then Thursday we went to Logan's soccer game. then Friday and Saturday we went to watch Haley in the track tournament. the theme to these are running. now Libby's favorite thing to do is run from one end of the house to the other with us cheering her on like at all the sporting events.

Memory Lane

2010-04-14T14:50:00.000-07:00