Woodbury Adventures

Our 'Adventure' to get out of debt:

2011-12-27T22:17:00.001-07:00

Here is the short version: We finally paid off our last CC account yesterday!

Here is the Long Version:

I want to write this in the long version because I think there might be somebody out there that this can help.

I will skip some of the details of the lead-in, but suffice it to say, that we were spending too much. Through choices of our own, We were spending way more than our income. (sound familiar? I hope not) At our peak, we had $27500 in Consumer debt. This was racked up from a car, and a few credit cards. Even though we knew better, we put a few Mortgage payments on our credit cards. Before we ever missed a payment on the house, we tried to negotiate with the bank. I won't get into the details of that. The short answer, is they didn't really want to help us out. (after 16 months of 'working' with us.)

In early 2010, I was thinking about starting my own business. We went to the temple to pray about it. When we were there both Sarah and I felt like we needed to have another baby (despite the whole 'not being able to afford it' excuse.) Sarah soon became pregnant with Tatum. I began my own business shortly thereafter as well. Sarah was working at Wells Fargo part time, with enough income to pay most of our 'needs' and also receiving benefits. This did take time out of my being able to work full time, though, as I stayed home with Walker and Parker. In late 2010, due to a mistake on Sarah's part, she was terminated after 6 years of working for W.F. At this point we spoke with the Bishop and started getting food at the Bishop's Storehouse. Soon thereafter, Sarah and the boys got on Medicaid (to pay for the baby etc.) to get the health, though, you also need to be on Food Stamps. Of course, we (well, I) didn't want people to know about it. I am a hard working person, and don't like being known as one of "those" people that lives off of government welfare for their entire life.
I had been thinking for months about foreclosing on the house, moving in with Mom and Dad, and getting back up on my feet. Mom's re-diagnosis of cancer shifted everything. I didn't want to talk to mom or dad (or the rest of the family either) and weigh any of them down with our personal problems. We had enough on our plate to worry about. It seemed that any time something would go our way, 3 things would jump in to pull us back in. (Like a week after I spent a bunch of money to get my car painted etc., I backed into it with our other car) Everything kept adding and piling up on top of us.

I begrudgingly took my car to a consignment lot (I won't post a picture, but it was a 2006 Infiniti G35).

As Christmas drew closer, my mom slowly slipped away.

One day, I decided to figure out how much we had paid in Interest throughout the year. It made me sick to my stomach. I don't remember the number exactly, but I think it was somewhere around $8000 in interest and bank fees of one kind or another. (late fee, overdraft fee, etc. etc.) I knew I couldn't do that any longer. My father-in-Law suggested a get a 'real' job, instead of working for myself. Even if I could come up with a decent paying job in this economy ($40,000), it would take me 30-35 years to pay off the debts I had incurred. That was assuming that there were no 'surprise' expenses for 30 years.
I decided that I wouldn't accept that. I would rather declare bankruptcy and lose everything I owned. It would be much easier to start over with nothing than to meagerly survive for my entire life. Tatum was born in January and spent 2 weeks in the NICU (Thank heavens for the medicaid). That same day, I went to the car consignment lot to pick up a check for $10,500. The guy that sold the car had known Sarah from WF, and didn't charge us the consignment fee. This may sound lame to you, but I almost started bawling at the car lot when he told me that. I know, I was an emotional wreck. He normally would have charged almost $1000 for the fee. (9% commission)

My little sister gave me a Dave Ramsey book for Christmas. I had time to read while Sarah stayed in the hospital with baby Tatum. I read most of it in 2 nights, and took it in to her to read. Just about the time I was ready to talk to my dad, and ask if we could move in with him, another emotional tragedy struck. My nephew Benjamin was born. (I won't get into it) He only lived for 2 weeks. Again, I didn't want to heap extra stress on others, so we didn't talk to my dad about it.
Finally, when the bank gave us the ultimatum of of paying everything we owed, or foreclosing (we had our tax 'return' in the bank so we could have paid what we owed) I convinced Sarah that I wanted to get out of the house. By getting out of the house we would be able to drop our budget by almost $2000 per month (mortgage, utilities, insurance, internet, etc. etc.) Assuming Dad would have us.

We decided to sell everything we possibly could. We sold our 2 year-old high efficiency Washer and Dryer. Our X-boxes. The Wii. The couch. Our Sleep Number Bed. A couple of kid's beds, car seats, lawn mower, etc. etc. We kept the piano (Sarah's mom gave to her), our table, and our 2 couches. We went from a walk-in 10' x 12' closet to a 2' x 3' closet. For both of us. We sold most of our kitchen stuff. We did get a storage unit for about $25 per month that does hold the little bit of stuff we didn't get rid of. (some kid's clothes, some camping stuff, food storage). Our bedroom was a gigantic master suite. (I don't remember, but close to 30' by 14') These purchases had been made when I was earning quite a bit more.
We were able to make several thousand off of selling our stuff. We had gotten behind on paying tithing, so most of it went to tithing, and the rest went to paying off debt.

After selling the car, selling most of our worldly possessions, and a big tax return, our debt was down to about $10,000.
During all this time, I was still running my business. I was no longer able to work from home. I was blessed to find somebody to sublease a small space in their office for $100 per month. (including internet and utilities) Dr. Karen Erickson, who is our naturopathic Physician.
I was blessed with some very good customers. (large jobs) One of them (my biggest job so far) saw me at a trade show, and 'felt good about me'. He wasn't in the market for the services that I offer, but for whatever reason 'felt like he should have me come out'. There were a couple other customers similar to this.

Kyle (my brother) and I talked several times about the possibility of my coming out to Washington D.C. to sell pest control. He obviously wants what is best for me, and was able to offer me some good incentive to go out for awhile. I was able to schedule many customers in June, and go out for about 5 weeks to sell. Sarah went with me for a week (free housing) and we spent most of that time on vacation. I did work in the evening some of those nights, but it was nice to be able to take some time off to enjoy ourselves. We needed it.

I was able to make about $10,000 in the month I was in D.C. (Due to the nature of pest control, it is not all paid up front. I waited until this month for a large part of my earnings, and will receive more of it in the next several months)

When I came back from D.C., I put my business back on the front burner. I put in a bunch of time, and built my own website. I was able to do some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to get on the front page of google. The past 2 months have been incredibly busy. Apparently nobody likes to be cold.

In the mean time, we have been able to discipline ourselves. What do we NEED? (vs how much do we WANT. For example, instead of using our tax return on an older van, we purchased 2 new car-seats, that would fit in our Nissan Sentra instead)

I finally had enough Cash in the bank, (deposited over the Christmas weekend) to pay off the remaining balance ($4832), but we REALLY wanted (borderline need) a van, as Walker's legs don't fit in the car right now. Too short to bend down, but too long to NOT kick my seat. (Or Sarah's) We decided we could survive a few more months without one.

The past few years have been a MAJOR learning and growing experience. We have WANTED to follow the prophets' counsel of getting out of debt. I found that it really is a form of bondage. What we want the most, we spend the most time on. If we really desire something, we will obtain it. The feeling of not owing any money to the BANK is very liberating. I am super excited to be able to own myself.
We have been very blessed along the way. From the car dealer, to my dad, to Kyle and Heather, and especially my wife Sarah, who has gone without more than anybody in our family.
This is not to say that we are 'independent' at all. We still owe our debt society (for the food stamps), and we are indebted to all those who have helped us. We are indebted to our Heavenly Father who has helped us humble ourselves, and blessed us with some wonderful people in our lives, and so much support from others.
I plan on renting a small home, and saving up to be able to purchase a home with cash in the next 2-3 years. (there are some homes selling for $25K right now that need lots of work.)

I know I probably rambled most of this out, so I apologize if it isn't my best literary 'work'. Feel free to leave your comments or question if you have any.

The Big K Word

2011-09-19T13:13:00.003-06:00

Every year, we hear about all the moms who send their children back to school. Some are happy as a lark that their days will now be filled with a quiet, perhaps clean, stress free home...while other mothers are kicking and screaming that they now have to deal with homework, teachers, PTA mothers, lunch money, bus routes, playing taxi, sports, school pictures and much, much more. I find myself in the situation this year as Walker goes to Kindergarten.

Quite a few people asked me if I cried as I sent him off to his first day of school. Well, there were tears...but they weren't mine.

Walker had lost his temper and I knew that someday I would miss these simple little tantrums that blow over in a few minutes. While the moment was not pleasant to deal with him, the picture is classic and I know he will laugh at it some day.

After the first bell for the students to go in rang, Walker lined up with his classmates along the fence by his class. Looking back at the picture I realize.....he's the shortest in his class. Is there really anyone who is surprised by that?

So all in all, what are my feelings about my l'il guy going into kindergarten? I am sad to have my helper gone some days. Walker is always such a big helper with Tatum: whenever I need a pacifier or a blanket, when Parker needs help with something and it's just as easy for Walker to help...it's just more convenient. My other self is happy he's there. While I love my boy, he does take a lot of energy to entertain. (Entertainment being arguing and refereeing fights). Walker loves learning new things and is becoming more confident in reading and writing and doesn't seem to be struggling in any way...but there's always the inner mom in me wanting to be the mouse in his pocket at school to make sure: is he nice to all the other kids, is he making good choices, does he make friends easily, does he eat all his lunch, is he happy?

I won't always know the answer to all these questions, but that's part of growing and learning. I know I have done my best to prepare him....it's up to him now.

Washington D.C.

2011-07-31T22:28:00.007-06:00

There are many who knew, and many more who did not know that Jason and I went to Washington DC this summer. Jason had the opportunity to go for the month of July to sell pest control for his brother, Kyle. Jason offerred me the chance to go with him for one of those weeks, which I quickly took. Arrangements were made for Walker and Parker to stay with Jason's Aunt Marsha, and Tatum, Jason and I left for DC on the 29th of June.

The flight was smooth sailing (except for the security guy at the Boise airport) He was rather rude to me while asking me about the two water bottles I wanted to take. Has this guy ever seen a mother nurse? Does he know how many calories that burns in a day? Does he know how much water we have to drink in a day to compensate for that? After explaining myself ( that I wasn't a criminal ) his co-worker looked at him and said, "Sounds like it's for the baby to me!" THANK YOU! Finally someone with some common sense. After that it was a much more pleasant experience.

We landed in DC at about 7pm and searched for the rental car company. After dilligently searching for about 40 minutes, we finally found it. As we were loading the car, I realized we left the car seat at baggage claim. I couldn't believe it. Tatum was conveniently hungry, so I fed him while Jason ran back and got it. We were now able to leave with our bright yellow Chevy Aveo that just screamed, "I'm a tourist!" Unfortunately, the traffic on the way to Centreville was so horrible that a 45 minute drive turned into a 2 1/2 hour drive. On the plus side, we had dinner and good company waiting for us.

As I planned out what I wanted to do for this week of blissful freedom, I knew I wanted to take a 'day of rest' for Tatum, so Thursday, Heather and I went to the grocery store and to look for a swimsuit bottom for me. Swimsuit bottom? Yes! In my frantic panic for last minute details in packing and thoughts of missing my two older boys already, I packed the top to my swimsuit, but not the bottoms. To save you all the details, Mission 'Cover the Cinnamon Buns' successful. It was a relief to have a full suit now because the pool was calling my name.

Friday, Heather and I got up and headed in to D.C. Our plan was to do the tour in the Holocaust museum, but we didn't get there early enough to get tickets for a time early enough to get Heather back to work in time. We went around to areas of the museum that we could and sauntered around the Washington Monument and walked back to the car. It might not sound like a lot, but we were parked a good mile or so away.

Saturday was, in a way, Jason's choice. Not to say I went kicking and screaming to the stadium; I was actually excited to go to a Nationals double header....that's baseball for all you unknowing women out there. I was worried about finding a decent parking spot (within a mile and not $20). It turns out we found a 'local' spot to park in an industrial area. When we asked the people behind us if we had to pay to park, they said, "in twenty years we've never had to."

Jason got in line for tickets while I waited with another person from the sales office at the side. While we were waiting, a couple of gals came up to us offering us free tickets.........(what?! free?!) They had purchased a whole bunch of $2 tickets and they couldn't use all of them, so they gave them to us. Our seats were in the blazing hot sun for the first game and then we seat hopped for the second game.

Parking: Free

Baseball game tickets: Free

Tatum's first baseball game: Priceless

Sunday we took a quick trip to church for an hour and then headed off to Mt. Vernon. This is one thing I would recommend for anyone. Our experience included a boat tour of the Potamic River, seeing George Washington's tomb, slave monument, the bowling green, slave quarters, the Mansion (this was my favorite), a nice lunch at the Inn, our traditional purchase of a Christmas ornament, the gristmill and distillery. There was so much to see, and I am a sucker for historical places.

Our day was far from over. Jason and I drove to the Battle of Iwo Jima Monument. The first time we were in DC together , this monument was one of the few things we wanted to see, but didn't get to. On our way to the monument, I heard on the radio, "a severe thunderstorm warning for Montgomery County". I asked Jason where that was. "I dunno." We both shrugged off the warning. We got to the monument and I had to feed Tatum while Jason took pictures. Not 10 minutes later, the wind started picking up. I saw the thunderstorm coming over the skyscrapers and thought, "I think we are in Montgomery County..." I told Jason I would meet him at the car. I had the stroller and Tatum to maneuver through the park. I was about 20 feet from the car when the WALL of rain came through. I was able to get Tatum in the car, but the stroller blew far enough away that I had to go out in the rain to fetch it. About 3 minutes later, Jason showed up....drenched. We were both soaked head to toe! We rode out the storm and enjoyed the monument some more, even discovering the 11th hand! Heather and David, who had caught up with us, mentioned hearing something about an extra foot or limb, so that got me counting. There are five men set in bronze so there should be 10 feet and 10 hands....but there are 11 hands! Mistake? Maybe. My own personal belief is that the artist may have wanted to represent the hand of God in things.

Monday was the 4th of July. What better place to spend the day of National Independence than that of the Nation's Capital? Again, when Jason and I were in DC six years ago, I told Jason not to even try to out do the experience we shared on that 4th of July, knowing it would never be outdone....but I never thought we would ever be there again.

Our day began at the National Air and Space Museum. It's a really cool museum with airplanes, spaceships, spacesuits, and well, just about anything that has left the earth just to come back.

We continued on to the Hirshhorn Art Museum. This place was a little more difficult to keep Tatum quiet in. And I'll be honest, while a lot of the art was pretty neat, a monkey in an ape costume could have produced the other little bit of what was there.....but it's still art.

At this point it was getting later in the day and we knew we had to get our blanket parked somewhere on the grass if we wanted to get a good spot. Jason headed back to the car to get the cooler of food (I'm sorry, I'm not about to pay $7 for a hot dog and $4 for a bottle of water) while I went to a couple other museums.

I wanted to see one of the newer additions to the Smithsonian family: Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz. My Grandma's name was Dorothy and one of her favorite songs was, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Anything Wizard of Oz-ish reminds me of her. I headed into the Museum of Natural History thinking they were there, but I soon realized they were at the Museum of American History. I was already in the 'Gem' area of the Natural History Museum, so I took a picture of the Hope Diamond in its limited edition setting. At the American History Museum, I was able to see the inauguration dresses of all the first ladies, and the Ruby Slippers. Unfortunately, the museum was closing early for the 4th and I had to head out among the crowds to find my Jason among the mass millions. I soon realized the city (district) had barricaded the block surrounding the Washington and Lincoln Monuments and added security checkpoints. After an hour of filing through that, I was finally able to make it over to Jason.

We were in a great spot to see the fireworks over the would-be reflection pool under construction- between the WWII memorial and the Washington Monument with a live Army Band playing at the side of us. The band announced that Jo Dee Messina would be playing. Even if you're not a huge fan, you've got to admit that a free concert is pretty cool. I went up close while Tatum stayed back with Jason, Uncle Kyle, Aunt Heather and Uncle David.

After the A-MAZING fireworks, we headed back to the car. We had to pay $20 for parking, but after not having to pay for the baseball game the night before and not having to look for 2hours for a parking spot and being able to park there all day...it was well worth it!

During my down time at the apartments by myself, I spent some time looking up touristy things to do in the area. Nothing online appealed to me-I had either already seen it, or it was too far away, too much outside time for Tatum, too much money to spend on, or just plain wasn't interested. I grabbed one of Heather's books that she bought while downtown and started thumbing through it. I came across a page for the Ford Theater and the light bulb in my head turned on. Oh yeah! I guess that is in DC! This soon became one of my "have to see" sights. Tuesday, by default became the day to go do this.

The theater is free to see, but you have to have tickets. Jason, Heather, and I went to the 9:30...(I want to say viewing-that morbidly makes me think of a funeral). The theatre itself was pretty interesting. They presented information about how John Wilkes Booth was an actor and that's how he had such easy access to "the box". I also learned that back in 1865, there was no official presidential seal, so they used a picture of George Washington to post where the President would be. The box is still presented the same way as the night President Lincoln was shot.

Due to construction, the Peterson House where President Lincoln died was closed, so I got a nice picture of the front of it : D

After going through the museum, the three of us headed to the Washington Monument. We had split up earlier in the morning to get tickets for both events. While inside waiting for our turn to go up in the elevator, I couldn't help but notice a lot of similarities of architecture and decor between the Monument and the Mansion at Mt. Vernon. The view was stunning and you can even see the DC temple from the north view point. I was a little disappointed with the tour on the way down, however. It felt rushed and I know there was a lot of information that I knew from coming before that wasn't even mentioned....Not to mention that the tour guide might as well have been from Timbuktu with how little of what he said being understood.

Wednesday was my final day in DC. Unfortunately, Jason was working and couldn't spend every waking moment with me before I left. I gave him a kiss as he left out the door for work and did my usual home routine: dishes, laundry, shower. I knew he would be moving into another apartment, so I packed his bags for him as I got my things ready to go. My flight didn't leave until 6:30 that night, but I didn't want to take any chances. Between traffic, construction, and my lack of knowledge of how to get around downtown, I certainly didn't want to miss my flight. I decided to leave the apartment around 2pm. I was thinking an hour for the drive, half hour for getting lost, an hour for walking from the rental car return to check in, (mind you, I had Tatum in his car seat, an umbrella stroller, a large purse, and a suitcase) another half hour to get through security, that would leave me about 40 minutes until boarding. Boy! Was I WRONG! Traffic? What traffic? There was none. Lost? Who me? I've done this drive a few times on the way to downtown...piece of cake. Walking to check in? No, no, not me. The rental company saw that I was a Tatum toting queen and told me to get in...they would drive me to where I needed to go. Security idiocracy? None here. They gladly took my water, tested it, and had it back to me before I even had my shoes back on. They folded up my stroller for me and took care of the left-over bin for me. My Gate? Ten miles away? Not this one. All in all, from apartment door to the gate took and hour and ten minutes....

....You can pick your jaw up off the floor now...

It was a fabulous trip and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to such a great place to make even more memories.

A little bit of excitement! Kyle and anyone else squimish should think twice about reading the first part.

2011-07-18T23:12:00.004-06:00

A house full of 3 young boys and the word, excitement, go hand in hand. Not a dull moment here. A few weeks ago, while nursing Tatum, I hear a big thud, Walker and Parker arguing and then Walker screaming. Rolling my eyes and thinking, "what can they still argue about that has yet to be argued about today?", I pick up Tatum (still nursing-I'm talented, I know) and go toward the noise. The glass door on the entertainment center had broken in half and came down on Walker. He met me about half way into the kitchen. All I see is blood on his face. He screamed, "Mama". I screamed, "Walker". I put Tatum down and went over to see that Walker's face had a deep gash next to his eye. Quickly, I got some paper towels and made him hold it on his face. I scooped up Tatum, put him in the car, got Walker buckled in the car, and got Parker in the car. I've heard that the most unpleasant sound is that of a child screaming....well how 'bout three? Walker, because of his face, Tatum because he's still hungry, and Parker because I was the one who put him in the car. (Mr. Independent- has to do everything himself). Off to the hospital we went. Jason came to the rescue and met me to pick up the other boys while Walker and I waited things out in the E.R. Four or five stitches later, we were outta there. Walker was unable to play in the water with his little bandages over the cut, so it's a good thing I took the boys to the splash park the day before...

Fee-vah

2011-06-17T21:28:00.002-06:00

I should be posting pictures of my kids here, but I, like most people, always feel like the person who 'never wins ANYTHING!' So today, I'm shouting it from the roof top. WE WON SOMETHING!!!

The call from my friend, JaNae, came at an unusual hour: 10:30 PM. Wondering if it was some dire situation she was in and needed my help I asked her what I could do for her. With the 'puppy dog' voice (the one I KNOW I use when I need a last minute babysitter) she asked what I was doing the next morning. With no plans as of yet, I offered my services for whatever she needed. She proceeded to tell me about how her husband, Steven, called in to a radio show and won the chance to win some concert tickets. The only problem was they needed two other people. They had called around to family and friends, but everyone was working and couldn't go on a Friday morning at 8:30. I asked JaNae what the competition entailed. I was excited to hear it was something as childish and playful as it was. We would be given an extra large roll of bubble wrap to wrap one teammate. The other three would have to roll that person through an out door course outside the radio studio. The fastest time wins the tickets. "We're in!"

Friday morning, Jason and the boys came in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6:30am. (They had done an early Father/son campout in the back yard.) We all got ready and down to the radio station by 8:15am. We decided to have JaNae be the one wrapped. We signed away our lives (our waivers) and waited to hear the order we would be going in. Going first would be a complete disadvantage, so we were ok with the decision to go third. The marked course was about 100 meters long on some slight hills and trees surrounding. As we watched the two teams before us, we calculated different things that would be to our benefit: put her head this way instead of that, use more bubble wrap for a tighter fit, wrap tighter so its easier to roll her, ways to roll, who rolls from where.

The first team struggled through the finish line in about 4 minutes. The second team was 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Being the guys of competitive sorts, Jason and Steven wanted to blow everyone out of the water with a time of 2 minutes. (This is us being totally pumped!). The timer starts when the air horn (which was just about out of air and sounded like a sad excuse for a fog horn) blows. Jason and Steven wrapped as fast as they could while I got JaNae's helmet on. We tipped her over and lay her down. (Lucky girl! Some of the other bubble-wrappees got slammed to the ground). Around the first curve was fairly easy and then rolling her along the hill while trying to keep her within the borders got a lot harder. My legs had already been sore from working out this week, so my legs were screaming at me. Jason and Steven were rolling JaNae so fast that I could hardly touch her, let alone roll her. I tried to pick up the slack when Jason got more tired. About 3/4 of the way through the race I hear JaNae moaning, " I need to vomit..." Yeah RIGHT! Like we're about to stop so she can spill her breakfast! All I could say was, " Hang in there, we're almost there!" Continuing down the home stretch I barely touched the roll. I figured I would just slow things down if I got in the way. We finally crossed the finish line at 3 minutes 5 seconds. The next team slid in there with a finish time of 3 minutes 6 seconds! One second slower than us! One more team to go. They started out really well and at the half way mark had the fastest time......until they fubbed something up. They finished in over 4 minutes.

We won the tickets by ONE second! So come August 11th, Jason and I are going to the Michael Buble' concert!

Looking in hind sight, Steven and JaNae are really glad they asked us to help them out. With both of us being so short, it was easier to roll JaNae so close to the ground. Also, Steven has been deployed for 2 of their anniversaries since they've been married-one of them was last year. The concert happens to fall the day before their anniversary. So Happy Anniversary Steven and JaNae!

Welcome...

2011-02-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Tatum Lavell Woodbury

After what seemed a very long wait (with Mary's passing, Christmas, New years, Parker's Birthday, and all the parties in between) we were blessed with another little baby boy on January 6, 2011. Born at 1:22 p.m. this tank was a whopping 8lbs 7oz. and 22 inches long.

We had a nice, easy going morning: showering, makeup, breakfast, bags ready. We got all nestled into our room and ready to start! They started my pitocin at about 8:30. I went through a few contractions before my water broke. Once the contractions got really bad, I asked for my epidural. The anesthesiologist came and tried to get my epidural in, but he was having a rough time because my spine was so compact. He decided to give me a spinal block before giving me my epidural. Bless his heart! That was the best! I was all numbed up and ready to sleep. I only got about an hour and a half before I was ready to start pushing. They called the doctor, and it wasn't long before Tatum came out. I was quite surprised when they lay him in my arms. He was the spitting image of Parker when he was born. Jason, my mom, and I all said at the same time that he looks like Parker. I was in for another shocker when they put him on the scale. 8lbs. 7oz. !!! "Come again? How heavy?" I couldn't believe he was a full pound heavier than what Walker was.

After a little while, and after I got my land legs back again, we were moved to another room. On our way there, our friend and neighbor who works at the hospital just happen to be coming in down the hallway to see us. Talk about good timing!

Later that night, Tatum and I were sleeping while Jason was playing on his phone. The nurse came in and told us she would just take Tatum into the nursery. Later she came back to tell us that he was turning a little blue and they were running some tests and x-rays to find out why. Tatum was admitted to the NICU for having pneumonia. He would be there for a week, receiving antibiotics. They put a pic. line through his arm to his heart, so they wouldn't have to keep poking him again and again.

A week later we were able to all come home.
The boys seem to be adjusting pretty well. Aside from Parker having an obsession to poke Tatum in the eyes, we haven't had any problems. Tatum is 5 weeks old today and sleeps like a champ. From day one of being home, Tatum sleeps 7-9 hours a night. I love this boy!

January 8, 1960-December 20, 2010

2011-02-11T13:00:00.004-07:00

This was a difficult time for Jason and I. The services were lovely and it was nice having all of Jason's family (and mine) here to visit for so long. I will forever have fond memories of Michelle (in crutches from having foot surgery), Kristin (7 months pregnant) and myself (8 1/2 months pregnant) store hopping from Bath and Body Works to Sportsman's Warehouse to the Dollar Store to Target and back home. We'll just say there were some good laughs while watching Kristen carrying a gun tote around the dollar store, Michelle 'playing hopscotch' hopping on one foot everywhere (she was quite good at this), Kristen holding up parking lot traffic in the motorized carts, taking them back to the store after Michelle had used them, and then ME having to wear my high heels to drive the car because my belly wouldn't let me reach the petals otherwise.
My mom and dad spent most of that week at my sister's house, letting Jason and I spend most of our time at the Woodbury's home. We wanted to spend as much time with Mary as possible. I felt so guilty when I had to bring the boys home to sleep at night, while Jason stayed there. Both Jason and I had tried to prepare ourselves, and the boys, for the inevitable. On Monday the 20th, I hurried and got the boys ready to go back to Grandma's house. We got there at about 10:30 am. The nurse came at about 11 to take Mary's vitals, and at 11:30 she slowly passed away. Jason, his brothers, sister and his dad were all surrounding Mary as she took her last breath. She will truly be missed.

Look who's talking NOW!

2010-11-10T19:38:00.002-07:00

Something we now hear Parker saying a lot around the house. He has quite the vocabulary now with words like: go, wash, I love you, help, out, in, on, off, bus and nice. We are teaching him the ABC's-with Walker's help of course.

How are YOU feeling?

2010-08-20T19:57:00.003-06:00

Alright! I've decided it's been WAY too long since I've said my peace on this page. It's 8pm. Both boys are asleep...kinda. Jason is on a camp out and I'm too restless to read quite yet.

Lately, it seems everyone (including those who don't know me) likes to ask me, "How are you feeling?" It wasn't until I heard how pregnancies went for my sis-in-law that I knew why people ask this. Little did I know that some women are sick for the duration of their pregnancy and can't function on a daily basis without some relief from a pill. For the past 2 1/2 pregnancies I've had the pleasure of not getting sick at all and being able to bend, lift, contort any which way until about month 8. Then, being so huge puts my body at such shock, it decides it doesn't like to let me walk, clean, do dishes or laundry, put on shoes or paint my toenails. So as of right now, I feel great. The answer might be different in a couple of months, but for now, things are just peachy.

Right now I am 20 weeks-half way through. Most of the people I see come in to my work ask me how CLOSE I am to having this baby! HA! I just giggle and tell them I am due in January. (Not making the mistake of telling them the BEGINNING of January, because then I just get lectured on the infamous tax break if I have him/her sooner) I have my ultrasound this coming Wednesday and we are not finding out the gender. That's the way that Jason likes things and he has convinced me that it's more exciting that way. Is your anticipation building yet?

Things have been a little bit of a roller coaster for me emotionally. My mother-in-law recently found out her breast cancer, thought to have been in remission, had spread to her lungs, liver, and brain. Going to work the next day was very difficult. I could only think about Mary and the fear I saw in her face when she told us the news. After the many doctor visits we were told the cancer is terminal and they gave her a time frame of 6 to 12 months. Jason seems to be doing ok with the news. I don't think the emotional part of the reality has hit him. Jason, getting his degree in biology, took a class on the biology of aging. One section was on cancer, so he understands the disease quite well. He hasn't had any real devastation in his life, so I think the logistics are overcoming his emotions right now. I have tried to teach Walker that Grandma will be getting more and more sick and that she will go back to our Heavenly Father soon, but he doesn't really understand how that can be. She looks so full of life right now and to him, she's just the same. I fear I will need to comfort him and teach him about death when it comes.

My mom is also having some trouble with a foot injury she got in running class. It could affect her performance grades in class if it doesn't get better.

Prayers are greatly appreciated for these two ladies.

On a much happier note, my newest niece was born on Wednesday. I can't wait to see little Ruby! Congratulations Kyle and Michelle!

The past few weeks at church have been interesting. Our ward got rearranged and we are now in the Meridian 6th ward. I helped out the first Sunday in our new ward acting as the Primary Chorister. Luckily someone already holds that calling. That is the one calling that scares me to death. Not that I'm not willing, but I would be afraid, very afraid. After helping out the one time, the primary presidency told me what a hit I was, and that the kids enjoyed every minute of it. I must say though, that it was quite fun having both the Jr. and Sr. Primaries signing the "Hello, Hello" song at the top of their lungs. I told them I wanted the bishop to be able to hear them from the other side of the building!

Like I said, An emotional roller coaster. WEEEEEEEEEEE!

So for all those who ask me how I'm feeling, watchout! You just might get the truth.

Mary Cancervive

2010-08-13T08:32:00.000-06:00

So I think most of you that read this probably already know, but my mom's cancer as metastasized to the liver, lungs, and brain. It may be in a few other areas, but we will find out today if it has moved to the larynx, trachea, and lymph nodes in the upper part of her chest. She will probably have more tests on her lower abdomen soon to find if it has gone to the kidney, as well as test to see if it has spread to her bone marrow. What was so surprising about it is that just last monday she had her "last test" and they cleared her for 1 full year. Then on Saturday she started having a pain in her midsection, so went to the ER sunday morning. That is when they found it had spread. (So yes, she was "cured" for about a whole 5 days) It is in Stage 4, which is the most advanced stage of Cancer. The way I see it, we could have found out about it now, and try to treat it, or we could have not known about it until it was too late. (Even with treatment, she is not expected to live much past a year.) I would much rather know its coming, so that all of us can prepare, and she can get the things done that are most important to her. So many of us go through life wasting away the time doing things that are not what is most important. It is a good time for us to reevaluate what we do, and prioritize what is most important.

Thanks to everybody for the prayers and the support. Many of you have offered to help, and I will let you know what we need when we need it. Right now, we would like to get a collection of favorite memories of my mom. What do you think of when you think of her? I know one friend talked about my mom getting pulled over on the way home from soccer practice. What is one of your favorite memories?

More Stuff

2010-07-26T01:21:00.000-06:00

I had a great idea of exactly how I wanted to word this post, but I totally ran out of time!

I have been SUPER busy, what with work, and getting ready for scout camp. I swear, being a Scoutmaster is a full-time job in and of itself! Especially when none of the Assistant Scoutmasters are going to Camp! (there are 3. It is just hard for them to help plan, when they aren't going to be around).

I had this great idea of how I was gonna talk about the physical I had to get to go to Scout Camp. I know, it is probably NOTHING compared to what I will go through later in life, and probably pales in comparison to what happens with pregnant women, but still. It was not great. First of all, it was done by a medical student. Nothing wrong with that. 1 exception to that, was that she wasn't nearly as Sensitive, in my sensitive area. I know, she was doing her job, but HOLY MOLEY. I think she got the point when my screams started shattering glass. I do have to admit, though, that the funniest part was that both of them thought I was 18. The med student totally treated me like a kid, until about 20 minutes in (you know, small talk during all the pokes and proddings) I was talking about how I had been married for 5 years, and have my 3rd baby on the way. It took her a while, but she finally got it. Then when the Doc came in, she just mostly watched for about 5 minutes. They left so I could get dressed, and I heard them talking. They left the door cracked open, and I heard her say "oh, he isn't 18?"

Now, let's watch the Camp Director's jaw drop tomorrow morning when I tell him I am in charge of 10 boys. (He won't believe me, I promise)

Time Flies

2010-06-17T12:51:00.003-06:00

Wow, it has been WAY too long since we have put up any meaningful posts. Sorry guys, this one is is not gonna have any good pictures or anything with it either.

Here in a VERY BRIEF list, I will give you the low-down on what is going on here.

1. I started my own business a few months ago. That has been keeping me VERY busy.

2. Sarah is Pregnant, due the beginning of January. (She is getting fatigued more easily, so it takes her longer to do all of the hundreds of things she does for our family.) That has kept her pretty busy.

3. I am now the Scoutmaster in my ward. I had been planning and getting ready for the High Adventure for the older boys, but I will now be going to Scout Camp at Camp Morrison. So the last month I have been trying to get Scout camp organized, as well as records updated on all of the scouts. With Boys missing some activities, and not bringing their books to others, it is hard to tell where they are at. (they say they did it, but I don't have a record of it, which means it needs to be done again) I am trying to get all 8 boys to 1st class before scout camp in 1 month. Oh, and that has kept me pretty busy too.

4. My 10 year reunion is this weekend. I was involved early on with the planning stages, but have not been involved at all with it in the last little bit. I am looking forward to seeing everybody that comes to it.

5. Regular old Family Life. (if there is such a thing) The nursery leaders have let Parker go in to nursery a few weeks early. He has been very good with it. He has finally started communicating with us in ways other than crying or screaming. He will shake his head yes, and he signs the following: milk, please, thank you, all done, more, and food. He used to say "Da-da" all the time, but over the past month, he has refused, and will only say "Ma-ma". He makes kissing sounds when he sees a puppy. He will Wave goodbye, and will give us kisses. He will also blow kisses, but we are working on the blowing part of it. Walker loves to play outside, help me with everything, and has learned that he can take toys away from Parker. He is pretty energetic. His favorite thing to do is to go over to Gramma Woodbury's House. I swear he asks to do that every day. I would love to do that, but I don't think Grandma could handle it that often. She did take Walker down to my cousin Bob's wedding. They stopped by aunt Delynne's house, and Walker got to play in the play house. Talk about a Dream come TRUE! For any of you that know it, it is perfect for kids.

Anyway, that is a little bit of an update on us. What have you been up to?

Wife Appreciation:

2010-04-17T01:34:00.002-06:00

Here is to my wonderful wife!

1. She cleans.
2. She cleans some more.
3. She supports me in everything that I do.
4. She excels at work.
5. She cleans. (yes, it is very repetetive)
6. She does my laundry.
7. She gets the kids to bed.
8. She cleans up after the kids (Yes, that includes me)
9. She mows the lawn.
10. She weeds the lawn.
11. She weeds the flower garden.
12. She cooks me dinner.
13. She does the dishes after dinner.
14. She deserves a break! (and a vacation)

Thanks sweetie for everything that you do for me!

Reservations

2010-02-15T19:05:00.003-07:00

That's right! My husband, the romantic, has already decided to make reservations for next year's Valentines Day. What on earth could possibly make a man do this? Well, this particular place brings back a lot of memories for us. It seems like 3 out of 5 years we've been married, we've spent a little bit of time here. The service is always great, and if I recall correctly, the last time I stayed there, it was about $600/night. By now, I probably have you on the edge of your seat wanting more details about this place, and how YOU could get a room there.
Well, don't get too excited. It's the hospital!

Walker had a cough all day Friday, which just got worse and worse the closer we got to bed time. We did a couple of Albuterol treatments between 11 and 1 am and tried to get him to sleep some more. By 3:30, he was up again needing another treatment. Walker didn't seem to be responding to the treatments, so Jason and I thought to check the expiration date...yep-expired! Since we had no friends up on Facebook to see if anyone had any albuterol, we decided to have Jason take Walker into the ER while I stayed home with Parker. They ended up staying at the hospital until about 10:30 when they came home. The timing could not have been more perfect. Parker was ready for his morning nap, Walker (having been awake half the night) was out like a light when they got home, and Jason and I took the opportunity to take a nap as well.
After giving the day some thought, Jason and I realized that when Walker was 10 months old, it was on Valentines Day that we first went to the hospital to treat bronchiolitis. Then last year, it was again on Valentine's Day that he got the same thing, and this year it is the same.
Jason has made the decision, to save time, we will simply make a reservation for next year at the ER, probably some time around Valentines Day!

Also, Parker has started walking!!!! His first few uncoaxed, unassisted steps were taken during the closing prayer of Relief Society last week. Monday through Thursday had three or four steps here and there, but Friday and Saturday have been filled with the new pitter-patter of Parker's feet. Parker's fascination with cupboards and drawers has also increased from just open/shut to "Oh my, what goody goodiness is in here?" Needless to say, Momma and Daddy busted out the safety latches this weekend.

I Think It's That Time of Winter....

2010-01-27T15:53:00.002-07:00

...when you just want summer to come. (And all the Popsicles that go along with it)

Merry Christmas, Happy Anniversary Happy New Year, Happy Birthday

2010-01-02T20:11:00.009-07:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was not stressful...and I made sure of that! I stocked up on groceries, diapers, formula, wipes and toiletries for at least the month of December. After being at work for hours on end seeing all the crazy grumpy-bum shoppers withdraw all their money (and when I say 'all' I really mean 'all' ) to go to the mall or Walmart, the last thing I wanted to do was go spend more time with them at any store. I apologize to those who were expecting a holiday card from us. This was also part of my "no-stress" plan. There were also no goody plates made from my kitchen. I'm sorry.... Eating right and baking goodies do not belong in the same sentence in my book.
Jason and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on the 28th. We went out to eat at an Argentine restaurant, Tango's. Our new tradition. And continued our date with an eye-reddening double feature at the theatre. It's been a while since I stayed up past 10:30, so I was quite pleased with myself that I was able to stay up so late. We saw "New Moon" and "Avatar". It was quite the night.
We rang in the New Year with a few good friends. I made a cake for Parker's first birthday.I just didn't want to trust another no-name cake froster to destroy the cake by misspelling Parker's name. (If you'll recall, Walker's First Birthday cake said, "Happy 1st Birthday Walkr"
Parker liked having cake..........on his head
I'm not sure what he liked more: eating cake, or eating the plate.

Parker loves walking with his new little gadget from Grandmother Clements. We also got him a little ...um, I forget what they are called, but Jason and I call it the abacus. It has the thick wires that wind around that have the little wooden beads on them.

We got the kids to bed, played games and in the middle of playing, 'Celebrity' discovered it was 11:59-just in time to get the Martinelli's out and toast to the New Year.
So here's my toast to you: Don't spend this year waiting for next year. Make it the best you can. Keep those who are close to you even closer.

Our Big Disappearing Act

2009-10-26T20:11:00.005-06:00

For everyone anxiously awaiting our return to blogging, here is our latest.

For the most part everything is same ol', same ol'. Jason and I are still working like crazy and the boys are growing up so fast. Parker is teething and chewing on everything from fingers and toes (anyone's he can get a hold of) to Walker's forehead. Sad but true. The two were playing on the floor together and Parker just went for it. He has been saying , "Ta-ta, Du-du, and Muh-muh". He's also been working on standing and cruising. Any bets as to when he'll walk?

We also had a wedding in the family. Jason's little sister, Heather just got married to David Turner. At the reception, Jason gave a speech. He did a little play on words that I thought was cute. He told them names that they could use for their future children. There's the obvious: Tina, Ike, and Paige. But I also like Ambi, Rebecca Elizabeth (initials would be R.E.-Turner) and Ursula (U-Turner). But we can also say now that Heather is the Head Turner.
Not many people know about my talent of doing flowers, but I have done them for weddings, prom, funerals, Valentines Day, and have made enough leis to cover the King Kamehameha statue in Hawaii by myself. Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

2009-10-17T20:04:00.004-06:00

So here we are mid through October playing catch-up on the blog again. In the past month Parker has gotten four new teeth and loves to chew on everything. He is a pro at crawling and sitting up. The first place he likes to go in the morning is Walker's room where all the toys are. He is becoming better at 'telling' me what he wants. Any of you other mothers know this to be the whining stage. Walker has been enjoying his preschool and loves to show me ALL of his papers from the beginning of the season. He is trying to get in all of his bike riding, sprinkler running and outside playing in before it really turns cold.

Walker and Parker have started to become fond of bath time together. We've spent two years teaching Walker to not splash the water outside the bathtub and now it's Parker who does the splashing. He LOVES being put in the bath. If these two faces don't say 'Double Trouble', I don't know what does.

Last week Sunday was a real eye-opener for me. I went to pick up Walker from nursery. I did my usual excited face and told Walker I was really glad to see him and told him it was time to go. As I waited for him by the door, his teacher came up to me and said, " So, uh, Walker said there's a baby girl in his mommy's tummy...." After giving her the 'deer in the headlights' look, choking on my gum and coming back from flashbacks of being GREAT with child, labor pains, 3 am feedings and no-shower days, I kindly shook my head and told her that was not the case.

If we rewind the Walker imagination train up a bit to about six months ago, we will see where this thought came from. Walker was getting into the car and wanted to sit next to Parker in the middle where there is no car seat. Jason came up with the logical solution, "Walker, when momma has another baby, then you can sit in the middle." End of problem-he got in his seat just fine. Walker then continued to tell our friends that when I have another baby that he gets to sit in the middle. Our friends thought it was the cutest.

I guess this is just his imagination spiraling dangerously out of control, but at least it gives me more incentive to exercise. So if you have been one of the lucky ones to find out this exciting news from Walker, just know if you don't hear it from my lips...double check the source.

Where were you?

2009-09-11T20:21:00.002-06:00

As I've been looking at the news, I've been seeing a lot of posts and blogs about the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, and thought I would make my mark for posterity.

The morning of September 11, 2009 started with a phone call from my Grandma in Utah. She told me that there had been an accident and that a plane crashed into the WTC in New York. (My parents had flown from Hawaii to Salt Lake to take my brother, Orlin, to the MTC) Mom and Dad were ok, but because flights had been grounded, they didn't know when they would be able to come back home. I didn't really think the 'accident' would be that bad, but I turned on the tv to see it for myself. I was flabbergasted at what I saw! The smoke, the sorrow, the chaos. I woke up my little brother, Matthew and told him to watch the news while I took a shower. After I got dressed I went out into the living room just in time to sit down and watch helplessly as the second airplane crashed into the second building. I remember the news playing the tape over and over again. As if seeing it once in my life wouldn't cement it to memory. The reporters were saying that the first crash had been an accident, but I knew the minute the second plane crashed that this was no accident.
I headed to seminary and to school where the current events were the only topic of the day. Lunch was more somber than I ever remember. My show choir class was even more distraught over the news. My friend had some family members living in New York and had cut class to try to call them to make sure they were ok.
We all know how the events unfolded that day...and the days following that have lead to years of rebuilding confidence, healing wounds that will never heal, and hearts that will never be whole.

May we never forget that day.

Toothless Joe no More!

2009-09-07T20:21:00.003-06:00

Parker is finally cutting a tooth! I know, I know...you're thinking, "what a momentous occasion-not!" But it really is, considering he has been chowing down on solids for about a month now. I'm not really excited for the fevers and fussing, but I am excited for him to look like a Toothless Joe! The real question is whether or not this guy could get his mouth any bigger!

The Peace and Quiet Days of an Immobile Baby Are Now Gone

2009-08-27T19:45:00.002-06:00

That's right folks. Parker is officially crawling! It's time to get on my hands and knees and crawl around my house to baby proof. My life?, nay, my insanity is coming to an end, I can feel it. He has been able to plank up on all fours for about a month, and the past couple of days he has been mastering how far he needs to crawl before plopping in front of an object. Today he is crawling, tomorrow, who knows, maybe he'll conquer climbing the dresser. And then the day after that he can be swinging on the shower curtain rod. And the day after that maybe he'll play Tarzan, swinging from window blind string to string. Okay, okay, I may be pushing it just a bit, but I might as well prepare myself for the worst. Right?

Fixing the Car

2009-08-14T19:58:00.002-06:00

I had been planning on writing a cool little Post about the Survival High Adventure from last week, but decided to tell another Tale.

This one is about fighting, I mean, FIXING the car. I will spare all the details, but will outline what I remember from the 2 week dilemma.

Step 1: Fix the brakes on Infiniti (yes, this did take a couple of days, because I did the brakes AND the Calipers.)
Step 2: Run to the grocery store one morning to get brake fluid to refill. What was that noise I heard on a 1 mile trip? That grinding sound is really weird. I should take a look at it.
Step 3: have 4 other 'experienced' car people take a look at my car.
Step 4: sit bewildered because nobody had ever heard that sound coming from a car before.
Step 5: guess that the sound is, indeed coming from the alternator, because that is something that I could do myself, whereas the whole A/C condensor I couldn't fix.
Step 6: spend several hours trying to look up how to take off my alternator. Nothing online? At All? What? Oh, I come to find out that a 2002 is just too new to have any type of DIY repair manuals. It should be out some time in the next year.
Step 7: I start the car again - wait, where did the noise go? I only loosed a couple of screws. Why would this noise disappear?
Step 8: Decide I need to quit second guessing myself, and take it to Satan. Wait, Dennis Dillon. Sorry - no harm intended, we have just had a terrible experience with them. However, taking it in so that can make a diagnostic only is not above me.
Step 9: They only take 45 minutes to come look at the car, but yes, they agree that it is definitely the bearing inside the alternator that is out. (good news I think)
Step 10: Go home and try to take it out. Spend a few more hours. Realize that the A/C condenser has to come off so I can get that last stupid bolt out. (just unbolt the A/C, don't remove any hoses, that would be bad)
Step 11: Yes, this gets a step in and of itself. Get the LAST bolt out. Most of you know I have pretty small hands. And if I can't reach a bolt, you know it is TOO SMALL OF A SPACE. This last bolt took approximately 1 hour. It was that hard to reach, and a small ratchet didn't fit. I'm shaking my head in disgust just thinking about it.
Step 12: Try to decide best course of action - have somebody fix it (supposedly I've heard that they can get fixed in 20-60 minutes if you have the right tools, and that it can be cheap)
Step 13: Get lied to by Huskey Electric. Don't ever go to them. They are scumbags. They "took it apart" and "it can't be fixed." And then they tried to charge us $40 after they told us it would be a free diagnositc. They didn't even take it apart, and we had already tested the bloody thing at 3 different places. We new that the alternator was doing what it should (recharge the battery) but the bearing was broken.
Step 14: Find a bearing. Call every parts/auto mechanic in town. Call the Bearings specialist. When I take it in, they say, "I've never even heard that part number before." Oh great. I could order 1000 bearing online if I want. Finally get ahold of Durabilt in Nampa. Yes, we have several of them in Stock. Come get it, its $24. (much better than spending $200 on a new one right?)
Step 15: Get the bearing back on. - wait I skipped a step. Somewhere previously I took it to a machine shop to help get it open. He accidentally cracked the casing - it was still good, just cracked. He also Cut off the previous bearing, no big deal as it was shattered and in a million pieces anyway.
Back to Step 15. Get the New bearing on. Not too difficult - just take a hammer and bang away at it.
Step 16: Put the casing back together, lock the brushes up so that the shaft can fit through. (brushes are on the opposite half as the bearing.) Wait, why did one of my brushes just fall off? Not just fall off, but it is broken in half. Hmm, I guess I need to replace that now too.
Step 17 : This is getting pretty long isn't it? Find that the brush assembly is just as hard to find as the bearing, but I can try calling around tomorrow. For now I will just try to get it off.
Again, using the hammer, screwdriver etc. I guess the brush assembly is only meant to be taken off by a pro, cause I spent about an hour on that, and the only progress I made was a few Hammer-in screws that came out and a whole bunch of broken plastic. Well, I guess I gotta get a new one anyway, so I may as well tear the crap out of this one, so next time I will KNOW what I am doing. Nope, it never did come off. It had a bracket, and I could never get it off.
Step 18: Call B & W auto salvage. Go pick up the used alternator. It had been there for 988 days. $65 for the little guy. Doesn't look pretty (at all). In fact it looked as bad as mine did, and mine was smashed into pieces mostly)
Step 19: Put alternator back in. Walker decides to play "52 card pickup" with my tools and bolts/nuts. While I am under the car. So several things get stuck under the hood in different cracks. Some of them hiding behind/underneath things in the garage.
Step 20: Find all the parts/pieces. Why won't this bolt go back in? there are only 5 left, 1 of them has to go in! Walker decides to quietly spill a bucket of paint in the little nook behind the water heater. Why is he being so quiet? Oh, because there is a HUGE pool of paint, and he is quietly brushing it on the walls/fertilizer machine, everything else he can reach. (I just left it there, it will dry up right? Then I can peel it off the concrete in a couple of weeks)
Step 21: Get the belt back on. This goes around the alternator, A/C condensor, Engine, and another pulley (I forget what it is called) Would it surprise you if I said that was the Easiest part of the whole project? That is usually one of the most difficult parts is getting belts back on.
Step 22: Tighten all the bolt. A bit of WD-40 does miracles on bolts. They went on 10 times easier than they came off. Only 30 minutes to get all of the bolts back on, and that is because of the allignment portion. Meaning getting the whole and the bolt lined up.
Step 23: Hook up all the cables. Again, pretty easy. Hook up the battery to the alternator etc.
Step 24: Take it to Schuck's to make sure the alternator is working right. They run a test, and say everything is fine. They check the tension on the belt. Say its good. How did I manage that?
Step 25: Hope that is doesn't happen again!

Total spent: Hours ?? No clue. $$ - $65 got used alternator, $24 on a bearing (can't return it)
$50 on some Angle-adjustable Ratcheting Box wrenches. Those do come in pretty handy.

Milestones

2009-08-09T20:29:00.004-06:00

It's official! Randy and Kristen are finally married! Yay!!! Randy, we couldn't be happier for you and Kristen, you look just beautiful. I especially love this picture.

Walker was being a little cranky due to lack of food by picture time, but considering he's in some of the pictures we got, he did OK.

Amazing what some bread and some one on one time with Daddy will do. Walker requested a photo shoot with just Jason. I am shocked at the result of such good pictures! This one is my favorite!

or maybe this one....

Nope! THIS ONE!!! Does this one look like "Blue Steel" or "Magnum"? Come up with a name of your own and let me know.

Me and the boys.

Our 'Happy' Family. Parker didnt' like the reflection off of the other building.

Parker is so close to crawling! I thought for sure he would get it down before Jason got home from Denver, but alas, he is still doing this.

Me...Roadrage?

2009-07-15T19:26:00.002-06:00

The past couple of weeks Walker had started to use the word 'stupid'. I think he picked it up from neighborhood kids or other friends. I have told him this is a naughty word and he should use nice words instead. He gets time outs for using the word and has even told Jason that HE needs a time out for saying 'stupid'! Last Sunday, Jason forgot he has a hole in the pocket of his Sunday slacks and was dropping change left and right while getting out of the car. "I hate this stupid hole!"
"Daddy! Don't say 'dat word. 'Das a naughty word!"

(Twice, Jason did this! (hillarious))

So today while we were driving through traffic, I kept hearing Walker mumble to himself. Then he asked me if I heard what he said. Obviously not, so I asked.
"Walker, what did you say?"
"Mama, I said, "Rrr. Drive!.... Some People!" 'Das what I said."

So apparently I have a road rage problem. But I think I'm OK as long as I don't say, "Stupid Drivers!"

4th of July Festivities

2009-07-13T20:40:00.004-06:00

Only a week behind blogging schedule, but here are a few things we did on the 4th. Jason was doing a booth at the 'fairgrounds' in Melba as were Don and Mary, so the boys and I stuck it out. We had breakfast at a friend's house and headed out to Melba at about 9:30. We made it there just in time to find a parking spot and see the parade. Finding Jason wasn't hard at all. Walker had fun seeing all the vendors and games and PLAYGROUND!!!! Parker was chillaxin' most of the time in the stroller. In the past, I must say we have had much hotter summers, but it was pretty hot for the boys. One of Jason's friends was kind enough to let us crash at her place for the afternoon napping hours. Walker had tons of fun with all their toys.

Parker took, maybe, a two hour nap and stayed up the rest of the night. There was just so much to see and do. You can really see it in his eyes. Walking around, Walker was given a beanie baby toy that squeaks like a bird. I like it because it's not too incredibly annoying. Walker has liked making Parker laugh with it, so it has been passed down to him.
But my favorite, was amidst all the craziness of the day and all the fireworks and fun, Parker somehow ended up with what I like to call the "Born to Smile" tattoo on his leg...

Whirl-Wind Adventures

2009-07-02T21:10:00.007-06:00

While Jason is on the topic of how many pictures we have on our computer I thought I might as well post some. Here are the recent pictures for the month:

Parker is making new faces, and keeping some old ones. Here are some of my favorites:
Eating solids and sitting up a little bit have become some of his favorite activities.

He has also been playing with his toes which is an amazing feat considering how much of a chunky monkey he has become.

Walker got some new shades but wanted to share them with Parker. I love that they almost look like the Blues Brothers!

Walker has also taken to the hobby of photography. Most of it could be considered abstract, I mostly delete those, but he has taken some good ones:

These boys love to play together.

And Walker has started to help me do the dishes!!!!! I could not be happier about this one. No broken dishes yet. I know it will happen someday.

This past weekend, Walker, Parker and I went to Utah to attend the blessing of my neice, Eva. We were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and see lots of extended family. We stayed at some of my parents friends, the Bartons. Walker liked going for a ride on the 4-wheeler with Orlin and Rachel.

The Bartons have a toy stash where Walker found these glasses. He wouldn't take them off the whole first day.
The boys and I also went with Mom, Dad, Orlin, Rachel and Matt to Ogden for some skydiving. I'll see if I can get any pictures from Orlin. I went, but I didn't let Walker go. I think he would have been to scared.

And Jason through it all found that he goes crazy without the three of us in the house!(photography also care of Walker)

Part 2: Enough!

2009-07-01T20:59:00.003-06:00

Okay - so first things first - I understand that you can never have too many pictures. (That is arguable. I would say, however, that MOST of us do not take enough pictures. We usually go on spurts getting 1000 over a week, then nothing for another year or 2)

The correct answer lies somewhere in between. When I asked, it showed 9985. When I looked the next day, it showed "more than 10,000." I deleted one, and it showed 9999. So who does that make the grand winner? Yes. 10,000 is the correct answer. However, we have since uploaded pictures (about 150) and it shows that I currently have just under 13,000. About a thousand of those are different built-in clip-art pictures. So, total of around 12,000. But the Macintosh obviously feels that 10,000 is enough, to answer the question. Anything more than that is unimportant.

Let's evaluate all of our pictures: (this will not be a complete list, but a summary) 119 from our Wedding, 108 from our Wedding Reception, about 150 of April 2006 (when Walker was born, baby blessing newborn pics), 10 of my dead nasty toenail that fell off in Christmas time 2006, (disgusting, I know), 54 of Walker's 1 year birthday (or thereabouts), June and July of 2007 (Chicago Summer pics), 700 pictures taken in Costa Rica (the last class I took before graduation), 91 from our Hawaii Trip in December, and 109 of Christmas/Parker's Birth. There are also uncounted amounts of "untitled" sets of pictures that I didn't care to look through and count. That totals.......Wait, do the math. Yes, that is less than 1500. So what are the other pictures? I know, I already threw in the 10 of my toenail. We probably need to keep those for posterity's sake. Again, this is not a complete list - I did not include any from some of our other vacations, other Christmas pictures, or the all-important "MAN-TRIP" Sponsored by Woodbury's. (which, for those that aren't in the know, may be the 8th of September, correct me if I am wrong)

So, let me ask you this - How many pictures are on YOUR harddrive? How many important ones and how many could you get rid of?

When is Enough, Enough?

2009-06-28T17:15:00.003-06:00

Does anybody remember the inspirational "Enough is Enough" campaign? It was an anit-drug campaign (probably my freshman year).

That thought just popped into my mind as I was starting to write this blog. I am going to make this a 2-part MINI series. I want to get people's responses before I post the 2nd part. I will give you the reason behind the title in the next posting.

First things first - How many images are stored on the hard drive at this Woodbury Household? Any guesses? Respond in the comments section, and I will continue the posting in a couple of days. I will add 1 or 2 here, just for fun. These will be random - I am not looking at them before uploading. Just gonna throw a couple on. (I will try to make them recent pictures)

Teach them early.

2009-06-19T21:21:00.002-06:00

I know, I know, I know.....I haven't been on here for a while. (This is Jason, by-the-way) I've been super busy, but something funny happened today, and I just needed to put it out there for everybody. (those that have done sales can appreciate this more)

This summer I stayed in Boise, and have been running the Office out of my house. We have a goal board, white board, motivational posters....The Works. Of course we do trainings, etc every morning. This is where I teach people about how to knock doors i.e.: How/where to stand, non-verbals, what to say, tonality, etc. etc. Since we are at the house, I have all of my guys go outside and actually knock on the door, as opposed to imitating it inside. (seems more real, makes it more legit.) Apparently, Walker has taken notice. He has been going out he front door, locking it as he goes out, so we have to come open it when we ring the doorbell. This morning as Correlation was getting over, walker was doing his best "initial approach" when we opened the door to let him in. He wasn't saying anything word for word, but he was mumbling and imitating a bunch of the stuff that I have been teaching my guys.

Sarah thought it was pretty funny.

(Parker's first words are gonna be "super Cheap")

It's Me or the Xbox!!!

2009-05-31T21:10:00.003-06:00

My schedule last night:
8pm-kids are in bed
9pm-dishes are done, things are picked up. Go visit with friends before Jason's 'xbox' night begins.
10pm-read my book. It's taking me a little longer to get into it than I like.
10:01pm-It seems like it was only a minute that I could keep my eyes open.
About 3am-Roll over in bed. Jason is not there. Hmm...
5am-I'm not sure on the exact time, but it was light outside when I heard Jason coming into our room to go to bed. I can't believe this guy! We have church at 8:30 and YOU decide to stay up until the wee hours of morning?! Playing XBOX?!
7am-get up and get ready for church
8am-tell Jason it's time to get up
8:01am-"Jason. It's time to go."

As you can see, I totally thought Jason stayed up playing xbox. Hey! It's happened before...

Here's what really happened:
10pm- I go to bed while Jason stays up with some friends playing xbox.
12am- Jason's friends leave and he comes to bed.
2:30-Walker comes in, wakes Jason up and asks him for water. Jason gets up and stays up with Walker until he falls asleep. Falls asleep himself.
5am-Jason comes back into our bed.
8am- He wakes up to me being cranky at him for "playing xbox" all night.

We both got a pretty good laugh out of this one.

If Evolution works, then why don't moms have more hands?

2009-05-13T20:04:00.003-06:00

Parker had his first taste of rice cereal today! I did have help from the Bumbo chair (bless you Shae!) but with Walker eating lunch, Jason having a meeting in our living room, eating my own lunch and getting dishes done, it's no wonder I didn't get a picture of it!

No pics for this post....

2009-05-08T22:09:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I totally missed out on Parker's first time Rolling over! I don't know yet, but I don't think he has done it a second time yet - We will see if he will do it for Gramma Berry this weekend!

"Knoooooooow......" (Because I don't hear it enough during the day!)

2009-05-06T20:50:00.006-06:00

So I just spent the last two hours or so singing songs from 'Enchanted' and 'Mulan' with Walker...same songs. During dinner, Walker kept asking me to sing "love her". With hot dog bites in his mouth, he would hum along with me singing while I did the dishes. Amazingly enough, he is for the most part in tune. Way to go! Here's what he did during the movie:

I love how he applauds at the end! Priceless!

I also got a couple good pictures of the boys. Here is Parker. He hasn't rolled over yet, but with how strong his neck and back are, I don't think it will be too long. He coos like crazy and drools like a never ending fountain.

FINALLY! A normal picture of Walker! Usually he puts his hand in his mouth or squints his eyes, but I coaxed him to 'smile nice'.

Happy Birthday Jason!

2009-05-01T20:37:00.002-06:00

Just had to put a little blurb in here about how much I love Jason. He does SO much for our family and deserves the BEST of everything! I love you Sweetie! Happy Birthday!

A New Look

2009-04-24T16:49:00.004-06:00

Not quite what I wanted to see at 8pm on a Thursday night. On the 8th, Walker broke out in hives! This picture doesnt' begin to show how bad it got. They covered him head to toe-one even covered his back entirely. When I took him to the doctor the next day, I think it would be safe to say our doctor was absolutely stumped. She said it MIGHT be a reaction to a virus he MAY have gotten. Some Benedryl and cortizone cream cleared him up by the end of that weekend.

For lack of other posts, I am now playing catch up. It turns out that Birthday week turned into birthday month. Grandmother and Grandpa Clements made a quick trip for their anniversary this month. They weren't here for Walker's party, but they did bring him pineapple and a new book to oogle over. He hardly ever stops talking about pineapple. Every time I ask him what he wants for lunch or dinner..."Pie-apple".

I also (through no small miracle) got my piano delivered by my FAVORITE cousin, Danny. He totally saved the day by picking the piano up at the shipping company with one night notice. Not to mention the blizzard he had to go through to get it. (This is starting to sound like ye olde story of 'up hill in the snow both ways'.) Danny...deepest and warmest THANK YOU! Coming all the way from Hawaii and all the temperature changes I thought the piano would have to be tuned pretty desperately, but it actually doesn't sound that bad! Walker loves playing on it, but insists that there be a music book for him to look at in order for him to play. Hmmm...maybe I can teach him to read music soon.
Parker sleeps through the night and has for quite some time. The sleepless nights seem to have lasted much longer and seem to have been much less bearable with Walker than they have been with Parker. I don't know if that's because I got used to it, or if Parker turned out to be a natural sleeper. Either way I like it.

Parker loves to suck his bottom lip. No pacifier needed! He has started to 'chew' on his hands, but I think that's just part of learning coordination...and teething soon. He hasn't rolled over yet, but he's working on it. This is also the before shot of...

his haircut! Although his hair was cute and long and we had fun with different 'do's', it was time for his first haircut. It was past his collar, (totally out of standards) and the bald spot in the back wasnt' very becoming. I don't think his hair will come in quite as dark though. It was starting to lighten up a bit and his eye brows have never been dark. What do you think? Blonde, Red or Brown?

A Tribute to Randy!

2009-04-24T16:33:00.003-06:00

It must run in the family Randy! These are two different shots of Walker, and I'm in utter awe of how many times I can catch this face on camera. I thought I would give this post tribute to you for graduating. I mean, it's not everyday you can go into your counselor's office and have them say, "oh, by the way, you can graduate this semester". I'm happy for you and send our love!

(for those wondering about the pictures of Walker and how they it relate to Randy, I only wish I had a picture of him to compare. The Randy Woodbury traditional picture is 'eyes half shut and a goofy smile')

Birth-Day? Nope. Birthday Week? Nope! Try Birthday MONTH!

2009-04-06T22:09:00.007-06:00

My friend, Elaine, had her birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese last month, and ever since then Walker has asked us almost every day to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. We even had to make a paper chain that he could cut a link off each day. Each and every day we told him we would go for his birthday. I decided to do a little party for him and his friends. A couple of mornings I would catch Walker pretending to talk to his cousin, Savannah on the phone saying, "Nana, are you coming to my birthday?" With tons of excitement he would come and tell me she was in fact coming to the party. At night we usually sing our usual songs before we tuck him in to bed: Teach me to Walk in the Light of His Love, I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee, I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, 5 little monkeys. Somehow, the Happy Birthday song has made it into the mix. But instead of singing it to himself, he will choose either Cade or Savannah to sing it to.

We made invitations with Lightning McQueen, picked out a cake of Walker's choice, got party favors, and put everything together. Needless to say it was a HIT! Everyone loved being able to play and visit with eachother. Thank you, everyone, for the toys and clothes. They are life savers! It brings me joy to know that there are so many people who love our little boy!
Here are some pics for enjoyment:Daddy and Walker with his new friend, Chuck-E-Cheese

Andria and Sariah

Watch out Michelle, it won't be long before this is all too real!

PROOF! Yes Walker did hit Henry. It took me a few minutes, but I got him to apologize. Poor Henry!
Justice and his mom, Michelle on Skeet Ball
Justice

Happy 3rd Birthday Walker!

Does anyone know where 4 went?

2009-04-03T17:18:00.002-06:00

For the past year almost, Walker has been learning his numbers. At first, he didn't want to count in English, so Jason taught him 1-10 in Spanish. For anyone wondering, I think 'Ocho' is his favorite to say. He finally knew all his numbers and then these past couple of weeks, Walker stopped saying the number 4. Anytime we count to ten, he either doesn't say 4 with us or he just says 5 twice. Hopefully he will bypass this little glitch.

Walker has also been working on potty training. He has done really well! I'm stoked to not have to buy diapers or pull-ups for him. Those things are $20 buck a pop! No thank you! He is so proud of his big boy underwear and tells the whole house after he's done his business. We have had a few accidents. The other day I came home from work to find a trail of pooh from the top of the stairs to his bathroom. Judging from the 'ooziness' and liquifiable nastiness that it was, I could tell that he was doing everything he could to get to the bathroom but he just couldn't make it.

Anyone tracking our blog should be saying about now, "why hasn't Sarah posted in so long?" Well, on top of working, excercising and cleaning up pooh, I have hosted a baby shower for a friend, made all the announcements, made thank you cards for her, made Walker's birthday party announcements, and am mending part of our bed spread. It was only a 4 inch tear, but it very quickly turned into the whole length of the bed spread. I have been working on it almost every night for a week. One of the first days the comforter was downstairs for me to work on it, Walker was getting all snuggly in it. I told him it was dangerous because of all the pins in it. He said, "Ok mom." and stopped playing in it. That night I went to work on it again, and ALL the pins were out. I asked Walker where they went. "Mom, it's not dangerous anymore. I took all the pins out!"

I have definitely had my hands full with a lot of things, but hopefully it slows down a bit for me. Parker has been smiling and laughing the past two weeks. I will post pics and or video later.

Update on Blogger Tools

2009-03-18T10:30:00.003-06:00

As many of you know, I am into looking at numbers, finding trends, etc. That is one of the reasons I have Google Analytics on my blog. If you have not heard or read about it before, basically it tracks all sorts of information about who visits any given site. (Assuming it is embedded correctly on the page)
Since I mentioned the use of "Following" a blog, I think there have been interesting results. What is following? Basically it is a shortcut on the blogspot website. Instead of checking lots of different blogs on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, if you "follow" you go to just one site, and it tells you who has updated their blog, and how long it has been. That way instead of checking 5 to 10 or more blogs, just 1 site will save you lots of time.
Anyway, since I mentioned the option of Following in January, my visitor statistics have changed quite a bit. There are 3 bit of info that I think are interesting - The Blogger.com referral (people that link to our blog from "following" jumped from 9% up to 21% of our total visits. I think that is a pretty significant increase. (comparing the 9 weeks previous to the post, and the 9 weeks since) The keyword searches, meaning somebody types something into a google search engine (or yahoo or whatever) has changed dramatically. The keyword search "Jason and Sarah Woodbury" dropped from 57% of total visits, to just 26%.
I know I am a total nerd. Deal with it.

Now, the most interesting to me, and maybe to bring a little embarrassment to a friend of ours. The absolute most interesting fact of all. the Keywords "Brittany Moore Farts" has had 2 searches that linked to our site. Brittany, is there something that I don't know about you? Do you have an obscure reputation or funny story we all need to hear? Please, feel free to comment!

Official News

2009-03-17T09:58:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to put up a little post to let everybody know about our recent news. We have decided for the time being, that we will not be going out to Chicago this year. This is something I have been thinking a lot about for a little while, and Sarah and I just recently started discussing it. We had planned on Selling Pest Control forever, it seems. All good things must come to an end. I think that things have ended well between all parties. Well, I speak for myself anyway when saying I feel that I still have a good relationship with Pointe, Jared and Kyle (the owners). I do hope the best for them, and assume that business will continue to go well for them.
A few of the reasons, for those that are wondering. First of all, the work, selling, recruiting, managing, etc. is very hard. It is fun, exhausting, and has great rewards. I have always felt that me, and the people that I work with, dedicate ourselves and work as hard as we can for the entire summer. I think that I cannot commit myself to doing that again, putting my all into it every day. I feel that I cannot ask my sales reps to do something that I can't commit to do any longer. I have burnt out. A few other options have presented themselves to us as well, and we are looking at the other opportunities here in Boise. We want to be able to put some more time into service, and feel that by staying here and taking a job here, we may be able to help out more in our ward. We feel that we have been very blessed, and that we need to do more to help others, especially in this time of need.
Thanks to everybody for all your support, we appreciate it!

Does This Happen To Anyone Else?

2009-03-15T20:14:00.002-06:00

I will never know why it is that Walker likes to get up between 6:30 and 7 am during the weekdays, but when it comes to having 8:30 church...his body refuses to wake up naturally.

I can't complain too much. Friday night, Parker went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 8am. I know! Right?! My jaw dropped too!

I love sleep

Mundane?...I think not.

2009-03-07T20:11:00.002-07:00

So I have been at a loss as to what to write about lately. I work, come home, clean, do laundry(but never finish it), exercise, cook, think about what else needs to be cleaned, read, and spend time with Jason (which never feels like enough time). I've been thinking that my life is so mundane, but today I realized it really isn't.
Jason is away doing some recruiting and that makes me miss him that much more. I miss being able to drop anchor and just go with him for the weekend. I have to tell and re-tell myself that it is for business and not just hanging out with friends....Even though going to hockey games and four-wheeling and seeing old mission buddies.....sounds a LOT like hanging out with friends. While his business trips leave me home, I am able to spend some one on two time with the boys.

Last night I was cleaning out my purse and came across a gift card. The obvious response to this discovery? Tuck it back in the slot in hopes that I won't find it again until a rainy day...... Yeah right! I used it as an excuse to get out of the house! As many of you know, I have a little hobby of decorating my home v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. I think I just tried to think of the least decorated part of my house (the master bathroom) and just got a few things to spruce it up. Soon after I had cleaned and decorated the bathroom, Walker came in, looked around and said, "Mama, 'dat so NICE!" I went in to where he was and asked him "What's so nice?" "THIS" as he pointed to everything I had done. Goooooood Boy, Walker. Although he's young, I must say he does have good taste!
At the end of the day (which came an hour earlier due to my lack of wanting to wait until I go to bed to feel like I lost an hour of sleep) We had bath time. Walker got in with his ten cars. And Parker was looking drowzy, so I bathed him in the sink. Parker cried a little bit, just because he's not at the point in his life where baths are enjoyable...(mmmmm...bath....) Walker was so concerned that Parker didn't have any toys and insisted that I get his car that he set on the edge of the tub and give it to Parker to play with. Honestly, even if evolution worked and I did have a third arm that was ten feet long, there is no way a car was going to fit in the sink with Parker. But thanks for sharing Walker.
It's now 8:40...or 9:40-whichever you prefer, both boys are asleep, and I have a good book to snuggle up with. After I put away all those darn clothes!

Walker-ism

2009-03-04T11:17:00.004-07:00

I have hesitated to post any type of "Walker-isms," because I like to be original and unique. I do enjoy reading them from other people, I just didn't want ot jump on the band-wagon, so to speak. But here is one exception (I think this is just such his personality that I have to share):

We were at Walmart, and Sarah and I decided to get Walker his own special placemat for dinner. he likes to get our dirty, which means they all need washed about once a week. So we got this Diego one, which is more durable. Walker was obviously pretty excited about it, because he got to pick it out. When we got home, we let him carry it in. As I follow him into the kitchen I hear him "Bee beep Momma's, mine go down." He proceeded to move Sarah's area rug (the spongy one in front of the kitchen sink) to place his mat down instead. I thought it was funny. He was so proud, that he just stood there on top of it, waiting for Momma to come see that he put it where it goes, all by himself, without any help.
Needless to say, he wasn't too happy when we explained to him that it was to put his bowls/plates/food on. He wasn't having any of it then, but I think he's got it down now.

More Pics

2009-02-23T19:47:00.001-07:00

It seems like we like to post lots of pics all at once, and then nothing for several more months! Here are a few from Jason vs. the Boys, while Sarah was at work. It is hard enough to get pics anyway, but me trying to get them both to work together was quite a time! It was fun though, so here are a few of them:

This one was perfect timing! He was looking as normal as a baby can, and POOF, Right as I snap the button down, he starts spitting up! Of course, the little delay helps too.

This one needs no explanation. Okay, I spiked his hair up a little bit, just so everybody can see how much he has.

Here is one where Walker is doing his "Surprised" look. Click on this link if you want to see the rest of Walker's "faces" shoot.

Also, I found a program that I think is way super extremely cool. It is called "Double Take." It is made for Mac. Basically what it does, is you drag 2 or more photos, and it makes a panoramic view. It is for those of us without a panoramic lens. Follow this link, and you can see 4 examples of Double Take pictures that I did. (Justin and Maxwell, Russ, I don't know who else has a mac, but TOTALLY COOL!) you can tell that some of them are obviously blended together, but a couple are really good!

I Love The Men In My Life

2009-02-10T22:11:00.003-07:00

I love Parker's chin.

I love when this isn't the real thing.

I love when he's awake.

I love getting a good shot like this!

I love play time!

Fun at Play (I mean Work)

2009-02-08T13:38:00.002-07:00

This week was a pretty busy one - for all of us. I left town with Kyle on Wednesday, and came back late Saturday night. We met up with or interviewed about 9 people or so. That doesn't really sound like a lot to do in 3 days, but you would be wrong. That was the work part. I will highlight what I thought were the cool parts of the trip:

Staying the night at a mission buddies house - I hadn't seen him for about 7 years. We have talked maybe 2 or 3 times, but we made the most (or least) of it, and stayed up till 3 Wednesday night recounting mission stories, talking about business etc. (ended up being my average bedtime)

Took a Pit stop to deliver Heather's birthday gifts. I know, that doesn't sound exhilirating, but it was good to hand-deliver a few birthday wares for her. (flowers of course) Oh for those that don't know, Heather is my sister.

Comedy Sportz - This is pretty similar to Whose Line is it Anyways. It is basically an improv comedy show. As luck would have it, they let us in for free (was supposed to be $40). I told them we hadn't paid, and they told us to just go in anyway. Not only was it free, but it is pretty funny. The actors there were pretty good most of the time. If you live in the provo area, They are having a special Valentines Show, guys vs girls. I would recommend it for sure.

4-wheeling: We actually went 2 seperate times. The first was at midnight on Friday. It was a little cold, but not bad. There were 6 of us, wth 2 big 4-wheel drives, and 2 smaller faster ones. We could all fit on at the same time. That was a blast. Some of us got muddy, but some of us ended up pretty clean. Then we went again Saturday, early. This time there were just 3 of us, me, Kyle, and Justin Butler. It was a bit warmer and muddier. Check out Kyle's blog. Hopefully he will have a link up shortly for the pictures. Justin getting his SUV stuck in the mud before we even got started was a precursor to what would happen the rest of the day - mud just about everywhere.

Who says that work can't be fun?

Log:

2009-02-04T09:29:00.002-07:00

After doing a good job keeping everybody updated, I have slacked a little bit the past week or so on the blog. I know, it has only been a little bit, but here are some of the adventures that we have had the past little bit.

Most of you know I am a sucker when it comes to free stuff. So when I saw the sign outside of Buffalo Wild Wings, that they were giving away a year's worth of free wings to the first 100 customers on opening day, I knew I had to go. It wasn't quite worth staying out all night in the freezing cold, so I figured I would just go in the morning. I figured I would help Sarah out as much as possible, since Parker has been keeping her up at night, Walker not taking naps etc., so I tried to take care of him before I left. That means I helped him go to the bathroom, get a movie ready for him, etc before I left, so Sarah could try to sleep in. Doing the aforementioned things would normally take what, 10 minutes? Well, he must have known that I was abandoning him for some succulent buffalo wings, because he decided to fight me the whole time. When all was said and done, it took over half an hour, and I was customer number 102. Yes, that is right. Even 2 minutes earlier, and I would have had 6 wings every week for FREE. And the worst part is, is the guy behind me complained that he had shown up the previous day, (because it was listed that way on their website) so he ALSO got wings. I totally got hosed. The guy in front of me was with 2 coworkers, so they promised to share part of theirs with him. Yes I know, I am being bitter. I did receive the consolation prize of 6 free wings. If I could only find that coupon....
Next on the list is Walker's wonderful habit of changing. I swear, he could go through his entire wardrobe in a day if he could reach high enough to pull them off of his hangers. Oh, and an entire pack of diapers in 2 days if we let him. The good new is, is that he is well on his way to being potty-trained. He has been the last week, very good about going to the bathroom on his own. He will take off his pullup, sit down, do his thing, and get off. Sometimes he will poop and not tell us. That is the worst. Cause he isn't real proficient yet with the cleanup part of it. So he tries to go potty about 20 times a day, and won't reuse the "old" pull up. And he wants to put on new clothes every time too. I started throwing his used but clean pullups in the cupboard under the sink (where the clean pack is) so we could reuse them. I moved the clean pack somewhere that he hasn't found yet, and he has been reusing the clean ones. He is also very picky about which pictures are on the pullups. He has lightning McQueen, but sometimes he wants the ones with him alone, some with Mr. the King, and some with Guido. Also mixed in there are some Piston Cups, or finishing flags. He will sort through them all until he finds the one that he wants. Anybody else had such a fun experience with training?
I know this is long, but I gotta add one more. He has, besides changing his clothes and diaper constantly, decided that it is fun to clean. Alone. So he will find soap dispensers, lotion, whatever, and he thinks that anything he finds is soap. So he will climb up on top of _______ (fill in the blank) and start cleaning. So he lotions the bathroom mirrors, etc. And yesterday was the kicker. Sarah won't laugh, but I think it is kinda funny. While we were still asleep, Walker decided to take a bath, in his bathroom sink. And he splashed EVERYWHERE. (She said it was an inch deep in the whole bathroom, but I think she was exaggerating a little. Feel free to comment sweetie!) She of course woke up, and cleaned it all up. Besides the time-out, and whatnot, she also told him he is not allowed to go into the bathroom anymore without help. She didn't say he couldn't take a bath by himself. So he, being the Mischevious that he is, went downstairs and took a bath in the KITCHEN sink. Needless to say, I was the one who got to clean up the mess, and take care of Walker.
Now, let's see if Sarah can keep up with the kids the next 3 days while I am out of town! (feel free to come help her while I am gone, for those closeby)

A Slight Moment of 'Ahhhhh..."

2009-01-27T22:04:00.002-07:00

So, people left and right have been saying what a super trooper I am with my new baby, Parker.

What they see: me having Parker on a Thursday and coming to church that Sunday.
What they don't see: Jason telling me that he promised the sunbeams if they were good for the primary activity I would bring Parker to see them. Not wanting to make a liar out of Jason and not wanting to dissappoint 8 three year olds, I came for the last hour.

What they see: Doing my visiting teaching on NOT the last day of the month
What they don't see: My companion set up the appointments and picked me up. The spirit taught the lesson, I was just the means of making it verbal.

What they see: A refreshed, alert person in the afternoon.
What they don't see: Me almost taping my eyelids open at 3am and 6am to feed Parker and then sleeping in until 10am...somtimes 11am.

What they see: Two kids under control.
What they don't see: I have nothing to do with this control. It is all Jason's. It is by his good grace my hair hasn't gone gray already.

What they see: Jason home, helping with anything and everything.
What they don't see: Me getting the 'deer in the headlights' look thinking about how I will have two kids all to myself during the summer.

I must either be really good at hiding what my life is really like, or people just don't look very deeply into my life. Right now I feel like my life is so chaotic, but looking back at my days, I really don't get anything done. The dishes still pile up, but not as high as the laundry. There is a year and a half of scrapbooking to be done...it's high time I go digital. (This is CODE for "I need help" to anyone who has the knack for digital scrapbooking.) And the more organized I try to be, the more messy my house gets. Is there no end? I think not. For now, I can just take it day at a time. I try to live by the moment, knowing there will be a day when I wish I could come back to where I am now.

What you really see: A woman who loves all the men in her life. I love you Jason, Walker and Parker.

2 jokes

2009-01-25T21:57:00.007-07:00

I Stumbledupon a Biology jokes website - most of you will probably think they are dumb. Here are 2 jokes that I thought were pretty funny. (This is actually true, but still funny)

There's a story about an MIT student who spent an entire summer going to
the Harvard football field every day wearing a black and white striped
shirt, walking up and down the field for ten or fifteen minutes throwing
birdseed all over the field, blowing a whistle and then walking off the
field.  At the end of the summer, it came time for the first Harvard home
football team, the referee walked onto the field and blew the whistle, and
the game had to be delayed for a half hour to wait for the birds to get off
of the field.  The guy wrote his thesis on this, and graduated.

here is the Second one:

The Dangers of Bread

A recent Cincinnati Enquirer headline read, "SMELL OF BAKED BREAD MAY BE
HEALTH HAZARD." The article went on to describe the dangers of the smell of
baking bread. The main danger, apparently, is that the organic components
of this aroma may break down ozone (I'm not making this stuff up).

I was horrified. When are we going to do something about bread-induced
global warming? Sure, we attack tobacco companies, but when is the
government going to go after Big Bread?

Well, I've done a little research, and what I've discovered should make
anyone think twice ....

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread eaters.
2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households
score below average on standardized tests.
3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the
average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were
unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as
typhoid, yellow fever and influenza ravaged whole nations.
4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of
eating bread.
5. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that
as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The
average American eats more bread than that in one month!
6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low occurrence
of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis.
7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and
given only water to eat, actually begged for bread after only two days.
8. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to harder items
such as butter, jelly, peanut butter and even cold cuts.
9. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than
90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body
being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy,
gooey bread-pudding person.
10. Newborn babies can choke on bread.
11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That
kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.
12. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between
significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.

In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread
restrictions:

1. No sale of bread to minors.
2. No advertising of bread within 1000 feet of a school.
3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills
we might associate with bread.
4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to
children) may be used to promote bread usage.
5. A $4.2 zillion fine on the three biggest bread manufacturers.

Remember: Think globally, act idiotically.

These were both found at http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/index.html#9

Parker's Baby Blessing

2009-01-20T13:01:00.003-07:00

We will be blessing Parker at 8:30 on Sunday morning. Our Building is on Five mile, just north of Lake Hazel. Anybody who wants to come is invited. We will not be having any kind of celebration or big lunch afterwards. If you have any questions, leave a comment, or email me.

What a Day! And it isn't even nap-time yet!

2009-01-15T13:29:00.005-07:00

Or maybe I should call this fingerpainting 101!

What happens when a newborn keeps his parents up most of the night, and the 2 year old climbs into the cupboards? Well, here are some pictures!

Okay, so the day started off on the wrong foot - it took quite a while to clean up the food dye paintings that Walker had made in the front room and in our bedroom.
Not exactly how I wanted to be woken up, with Walker handing me a mostly empty green bottle, stains on his hands. ( I learned that the green stains mostly in the line that it drips down, but the orange doesn't. It smears all over. Which is worse? Smearing it or leaving darker stains?) Luckily I think we got it all off. "all purpose cleaner with bleach."

I wasn't really prepared for the next thing Walker started doing. I should have seen it coming. He quit calling me "Daddy" and started calling me "Jay," like Sarah does. Instead of saying "Daddy I want Crackers," it is now "Jay, I want crackers." (It sounds like Che, as in Che guevara, for those of you familiar with him) I can deal with that.
After that, we worked on some Business Tax stuff, (Unemployment Insurance), which as some of you know doing anything with taxes isn't fun.
Next we decided to do some stuff with the mortgage. I know, this doesn't sound fun either. Well, it started by us getting a notice saying that the bank didn't collect enough from us last year to put in escrow, so they would be charging us an extra $12 per month. Oh, and we would be paying another 40 or so per month because of tax increases. We didn't have a homeowners exemption last year, as the house was rented most of the year. I had to call Ada County Assessor's office, make sure the papers were filed correctly, get transferred to the Treasurer's office, and have them fax the Bank as well. Plus talk to the bank to find out more about biweekly payments. (Does any of this sound like fun yet?) After the hoopla, we will be paying about $80 less per month than they had planned for us. Nice. (of course, I still need to talk to the bank again later on to verify that it is all correct.)
What next.... Oh yes, calling the auto insurance. Anybody else have any good times with them? Well, I told them we were looking to change to another company, and they found some more discounts, which dropped our rates about 30%. (In our case about $60 per month.)

Just a few minutes ago, I thought to myself, "Not bad for a morning's work." I felt like I had accomplished quite a bit. I went over to Sarah, Parker and Walker, and played for a few minutes. Of course, If I hold Parker, Walker needs to be held too. I was laying down, and I had Parker on my tummy; and he had a little gas. Not to be out-done, Walker sat on my chest (mere centimeters from my face) and let a monster rip from inside. It wasn't one of those little cute toots either. It is one of those 12-year old sitting on his sister to make her mad farts. Sarah couldn't contain herself, and her inner devil laugh found its way out as well. After 5 minutes of her hysteria, she tried to make Walker apologize and say he's sorry. (Right, with tears of joy coming down her cheeks, you think he took her seriously?)

I can't wait to see what happens after the nap!

Blogging Tools

2009-01-13T20:05:00.004-07:00

Okay, so I know that not all of you that read this are gonna be nearly as excited about these things as I am, but I will let you all in on a couple of my favorite little blogging tools.

First of all, the little side bar, where you add links to your friends and family.... I know that the only reason that I put those there were so that I could follow those links, and not have to remember the address every time I wanted to go there. It isn't necessarily so that other people can follow it. The problem with the links that I have there, is that I don't know when somebody has updated there blog, or posted some pictures. So the new tool that Blogspot added, is on the dashboard menu. I always thought that this menu was dumb, until they recently added this little option.
There is a little tab that says "Blogs that I follow." At the bottom of this tab is a button that says "Add." Click on it, then, in another window, go to the blog that you want to 'follow.' you copy and past the address into the original place, and copy it in. Now, when you go to your "Dashboard" it tells you who has updated their blog, and you can click from there onto the new posts. It sure beats clicking on 48 different links! (I know that there are other ways to do something similar, but this is the one I know how to do, and it easy) Hopefully this helps somebody.
The second little tool that I use, doesn't actually help me do anything in particular. It is called Google Analytics. It basically tracks information about your blog site. It will tell you pretty much anything that you want to know about the people that come to your site. For example, I just looked at Traffic Sources (how did people get to my blog). It tells me that in the past month 41 visitors linked here from woodburysfour.blogspot, 38 typed the address directly in the web address bar, 26 came from a google query, and 25 came from monteandbrittany.blogspot. It even goes more in depth too. Of the google searches, 15 of them were from the keywords "Jason and Sarah Woodbury," 5 from "woodbury adventure blogspot," and 2 came from the search "adam and kristen cole." If I change the time from the past month to say, the past year, it shoes that 3 people did a google search on "shoes galore" and came to our website. The 25 links from monteandbrittany shoots up to 158.

Other info that I get from this crazy google analytics thing is that 65.7% of visitors to our blog use internet explorer, the average time per visit has been 1minute and 12 seconds, and that 45.19% of our visitors are using a cable internet connection. There is also a bunch of other cool stuff, but I am sure you are all getting bored of reading this. It may also be that I am the only person that finds any of this cool. Now, the way to do this, is to go to google.com/analytics. You also need to open up your blogspot, customize, and at the bottom, you can "Add a Widget." I am not a complete expert on this, and I added this over a year ago, so I don't remember exactly. I am sure there is some sort of copy and paste involved in this process as well.

So before next time, will the 1.26% of you still on dialup upgrade to something a little faster?

A post on Sarah's Labor

2009-01-09T12:31:00.005-07:00

For anybody that wishes they could have been here when the baby came, we kept a little photo journal of the whole process. Honestly, Sarah did very well, and was pretty happy throughout the whole thing. Here are a some pictures, along with a bit of commentary. Sorry if it is pretty long.

First of all, we had a few friends that were supposed to come over on New Year's Eve, but luckily, none of them were able to make it. Sick kids, etc. So, we were fortunately able to spend a little bit of quiet time together that night. Walker got up around 8:30, and decided by a out 8:45 that somebody needed to get up to get him some breakfast. That was when Sarah decided she would try to get up. Try is the operative word here. As she was getting up, she realized that her water broke. (Flash back to the night before, when we made sure to get a towel to sleep on, in case her water broke while she was in bed.) We did a pretty good job about not panicking, Sarah took a shower, I got Walker some food, etc. We had to finish packing all of the stuff we wanted to take with us to the hospital. Now comes the photo part, as I don't remember nearly as much about that part, and it is all a little bit jumbled.

This is the first picture from the hospital.

Again, when we first got there. It took an hour to get checked in, etc. It is about 11:15.

Here is a fake "Pushing" face. It is her best imitation. It is 3:08

This is Sarah laughing about her fake contraction face. It is 3:09. As you can tell, she was in pretty good spirits about the whole thing.

The baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, so he wasn't getting as much oxygen as he needed. So they put Mom on oxygen. This is 4:10.

This is about 5 or 10 minutes before she starts pushing. It is 8:05 p.m.

Though most of it went well, she did throw up a couple of times toward the end. This is the last contraction before birth. (Thanks to her mom for taking pics while I "helped" with the delivery.)
This is at 8:36 p.m.

Here is the first picture of Parker. The doctor kept getting in the way, so I couldn't tell the gender, and announce it to mom/both grandmas. This is at 8:36 p.m.

This is 8:38 p.m. Any explanation needed?

He weighed in at 7 pounds and 10 ounces. This is at 8:47 p.m., after a few shots/tests.

Like I said, the whole thing went over pretty well. Sarah did a great job, and seems to be handling everything nicely. It was definitely easier for her the Second time around. I don't know if that is the same for everybody or not. We have had several dinners brought over to us from the ward, and from some friends. Thanks to everybody for the support. If you haven't stopped by to see him, feel free to come on by. Just call us before so we will know what time to expect you!

BTW, Sarah, if you want to add or clarify anything, feel free to make a comment about it!

Tango's

2009-01-05T18:55:00.002-07:00

So I have to give Props to a new favorite restaurant of mine. This probably won't pertain to half of you that read it, but if you live in Boise, Listen Up!

This is a little place called Tango's. It is owned by a lady from Buenos Aires named Monica, and her husband Luis, from Mexico. They've been in business for about 2 years or so. I received the recommendation to go there from my brother-in-law, Rhett.

So, about the place. It has a mostly traditional Argentine food called Empanadas. Empanadas are made in many different ways. In Chile, they are made different than in Argentina. In Mendoza, they are different than in Buenos Aires. The ones that I ate here were kind of a mix between Buenos Aires and Chile style empanadas. I can't really explain what they are, but here is the homepage, which has some pictures on it.

I wasn't sure what to expect before I arrived. I had decided to take my wife to an informal place for our anniversary, what with having family in town, Sarah expecting in a week, etc. So I drove by the place, and wasn't too impressed from the look of it. It had a dining area with about 8 pub-size tables. It seemed okay, but I was just hoping that Sarah didn't get too upset about the atmosphere not matching with the celebration. I warned her that she shouldn't expect candles or anything like that. It has an order window, like fast-food. You go up, pay, and get your food from the counter. They do not have waiter service.

Like I said before, the food was mostly traditional. The empanadas they serve are about twice the size of the ones I am used to. Instead of having large chunks of green olive in the "Gaucho," she minced them up. (she said that people would just spit them out and throw them away. So she decided to mince them and nobody knows the difference.) The masa, or dough, was a little crispier and flakier than what I think of as traditional as well. I also tried the "cuzco" which monica said was traditional, but I never had tried any like it before. It was pretty good. Sarah had a new one that is not on the menu, and thought it was very good.

The part that I thought I was going to be critical of was the Dessert empanadas. I was pleasantly surprised. Luis asked me how I liked them. I couldn't wipe the stupid smile off of my face it was so delicious. If you are a fan of Bavarian Creme, this is _______ (fill in the blank. I.E. perfect, sensational, mana from heaven, etc.)
The Carmelo was good, basically an empanada filled with home-made dulce de leche. Better than I was expecting.
So my initial rating was an 8 out of 10, overall. The food was good, the atmosphere was average, but the prices were Exceptional. We paid a total of $15 for dinner.

As a side note, we went back, as we made friends with the owner (monica) to show her our brand new baby boy. The floor tile has been replaced, so they are working on improving the atmosphere. They do play tango and other latin music, which definately helps the mood.
Next time you are near the mall, stop by 701 N orchard, and order some empanadas! Do it early, as they close at 7 mon-Fri, and on 4 (I think) on saturdays.

Baby has a Name

2009-01-03T19:40:00.002-07:00

So we didn't really like either of theses names 2 weeks ago, but we decided that this name fit our baby boy. We named him "Parker Ammon Woodbury."

We told everybody we would give them an update as soon as we decided a name.

Baby Woodbury

2009-01-02T15:33:00.004-07:00

Baby Boy Woodbury was born on January 1st, 2009 at 8:36 p.m. He weighed in at a stocky 7 pounds 10 ounces. That is good to fight in the welterweight division. He has a wingspan of about 20," as well as his height of 20 inches.
Walker took a lot of good pictures as a baby, but unfortunately, this one got its photogenecity from ME, which means out of every 1000 pictures, we might be lucky and get a good one. He did open his eyes for a little bit when he was first born, but he hasn't been awake much since then. he hasn't been eating very well, and has mostly been pretty groggy the whole time.

I will attach a link HERE, to go to our pics. Let me know if you have problems getting to it. Also, we are taking suggestions for names, as we haven't come up with one yet.Okay, so I take back the comments about the pictures. They look a lot better on the computer than they do on the camera.

Timeless Love

2008-12-28T21:19:00.003-07:00

"So, what's the chance of a guy like you and a girl like me ending up together?"

"...Not....Good."

"Not good like...One in a hundred?

"Not good like...One in a million."

"So you're tellin; me there's a chance! Alright! I read ya..."

Four years and counting..............

Who would have thought...

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

When Things Settle Down a Bit...WAIT! THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE NOW!

2008-12-26T21:26:00.003-07:00

This is one quote that I found myself saying a lot this week! "I will find time for this or that when things settle down..." Well let me tell you sister...they won't! Now that the stress of Christmas is over, finals are done, homework is done, the house is in a-we'll say generally clean stage, visiting teaching is scheduled, laundry is going, dishes are done, Walker is in bed asleep and Jason is busy entertaining his brother, I can finally get some blogging going!
To start out where I should have: Hawaii was a blast! Many of you ask how is it that I was able to go in such a disheartening bikini body? Well, pregnant women are not supposed to fly after 36 weeks. The day we left Boise, I was 35 weeks and 36 when we came back. I had a doctor's note that said I could travel without restriction, but I was surprised that no one at the airline asked to see it.
I had no problem fitting into my bathing suit. It is a tankini that is usually a bit long to cover the midsection, and it did like to creep up my belly, but it wasn't anything a safety pin couldn't handle. Kauai really is beautiful! The whole island is like the North Shore of Oahu and made me feel right at home. The first day we were there, we tried taking a "stroll" down to the beach, but it ended up being a mosquito infested hike with mud and loose rocks. I managed to slip and scrape the top of my foot, but I was more concerned about the mosquitos. They LOVE to eat me alive. As far as I am concerned, they are one creation God could have done without.
The town of Hanalei was about a five minute drive from the timeshare and I love the feel of all the little local shops. Jason amused me by browsing in the Salvage Pearl Shop. They had an Australian pearl necklace priced at $35,000! These pearls were HUGE! Eat your hear out Betty Rubble-is all I have to say.
One of our days was spent beach hopping to all the 'gem' beaches. They are all pretty secluded and hard to get to, but they have good snorkeling and boogie boarding. Jason was proud of me for being a trooper on the hiking bit. To be honest, hiking is one thing that I would almost say I dispise, but I quite enjoyed hiking in and out of the beach areas. I must say, now that I think about it, I am really surprised I had the stamina to get through the day.
The biggest highlights of our trip I would have to say would be beach hopping, the hostel, Bubba's Burgers, driving up the Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific) and the helicopter ride....You heard me! Helicopter Ride! After all I did have that doctor's note that said I could fly! %80 of the island is only visable from the air, so I'll just say it was well worth it.
It was so good to come home to Walker. He was at Don and Mary's house for the week with his two cousins, Cade and Savannah. I think he liked staying there considering he barely made it two hours without asking to go back to Papa's house. Thank you so much Don and Mary for being so accommodating. I know Walker loves you guys.
Not even a full day back from Hawaii, my tests and vocal jurys caught up with me. I had a voice lesson that Sunday, Spanish test Monday after 8 hours of work, piano test and doctor appointment Tuesday, work Wednesday, vocal jury Thursday and work on Friday. Included in that was a take home final, 10 page essay and oh! jet lag to boot! Oddly enough my voice teacher said I appeared to be the most rested of her students. It's hard to think that all this was only a week ago.
For this week, we have had my family here for Christmas. Although Annie couldn't come, it was nice to be together. Christmas was a lot of fun. Walker finally figured it out this year, but we had to teach him that the presents under the tree weren't ALL for him. I really enjoyed watching his face light up over 'puppy' (a Scooby Doo stuffed animal Santa put in his stalking) and a Thomas Train.
Like I said, now that this is all past, I am thinking more and more about our little baby. Mostly how unprepared I feel. I have the nursurey all put together, but have yet to get the hospital bag and Walker's over night bag put together. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. My anxiousness is growing. I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl and I'm constantly running names through my head. Anyone have any last minute inputs for names? I've been moving slower and s-l-o-w-er and s--l--o--w--e--r, but mostly at night when I have overdone myself. I will most definitely be blogging more often (how could I do it less often, right?) and we will post soon about our new family member!

More pictures

2008-12-11T14:09:00.003-07:00

here is a view from the air

A picture in the hot tube at the resort.

HAAAAAAAALELUJAH!!!!!

2008-12-02T22:39:00.002-07:00

Jason has recently won the most points on the "Cool Husbandometer" Game. I couldn't be happier with him!
Last night he left the house the second I got home from school-really! He was waiting in his car, parked on the side of the road waiting for me to park my car in the garage and grab Walker out of his car. The hurry? He was picking up a few things from craigslist. He went and got Don's truck (thanks Don) and made his stops. My lovely sweetheart backed up into the driveway with a truck full of......Drum roll please........a dryer, a free queen bed, and the dining room table he bought on the day after Thanksgiving! Way to go, sweetie!
For those of you who weren't aware of the fact, These were all top items on my Christmas list. Usually I am a stingy one when it comes to opening Christmas presents early, but these are definitely the exception.
Thanks Jason! You win my heart. Thanks for playing the "Cool Husbandometer" Game.

Setting the Alarm

2008-11-29T12:45:00.002-07:00

So some of you know that I don't exactly like to set my alarm. Ever. It didn't use to be that big of a deal, but in the past couple of years, I have done almost anything in my power to NOT use an alarm clock. Hunting? yes, I enjoy it. But not if I have to set my alarm. Fishing? Yea, it is alright too. But only if I can do it say, after 9. The few exceptions in recent years have been these:
A. catching a flight to somewhere cool, i.e. Hawaii or Mexico

B. Day-after Thanksgiving Sale, of course!

I know that some of you aren't nearly as excited as I am about it. Who in their right mind gets up at 3 a.m. to go shopping? I guess I am one of them. I do like to save money. In years past, I have purchased, a laptop, a t.v., and various other items such as nice wool socks, etc. This year my big purchase was quite a bit different. Yes, I got my wife a kitchen table. I don't have pictures of it, so I guess you will just have to stop by the house if you want to see it. Among some of the other things I bought yesterday were BSU sweatshirts (the nice $50 ones for $15), Garmin Navigation system (Normally $350, on sale for 200) and various and sundry other things. To make things even more different this year, I didn't set my alarm. Like I said, I avoid it almost any cost. Instead, Randy, Scott and I just stayed up all night instead of going to bed. We were able to take a nap in the afternoon though, to make up for lack of sleep.

Now another thing that might surprise you, is that I have, in fact, been using my alarm clock. What's that you say? After talking so much about NOT using one, you say that you have been using one lately? Well I will let you in on my reasoning. Ready for it? Okay here goes:
I decided to start training for some MMA. For those of you that don't know what that is, I will give another hint. UFC. Still don't know what it is? Okay, Ultimate Fighting, does that help? If you still don't know what that is, follow this link.

It has been about 2 weeks since I started training. I have mostly been going to get in shape. The trainings I have been going to have been quite a bit like wrestling practice back in high school. We start off with about 45 minutes of conditioning, doing push-ups, jumping jacks, stretching out, etc. Then there is about 10 minutes of technique training, where we work on kicks, punches, grappling position, arm-bars, etc. The workouts are a little bit more intense than wrestling was. And instead of just normal old crunches and push-ups, we use weights and do "T" push-ups, and we use medicine balls for sit-ups, etc.

Sarah is cool with me going. She likes the fact that I have been trying to get into better shape. I keep telling her that I am not gonna have an actual fight, that I am just going to get in better shape. I guess when I come home some Thursday night with a big old black I, she will finally know the truth.

New Picture

2008-11-14T16:09:00.002-07:00

Okay, so since Sarah won't post a nice PROFILE picture, I am gonna have to do it myself. She likes her picture to be a little off of the profile shot, because she says it doesn't look as big. Anyway, so here is a better picture, in my opinion.

Better late than never Right?

2008-11-12T22:13:00.004-07:00

Okay! Better late than never right? I feel like blogging has been at the bottom of my 'to do' list now for way too long! I should have posted this little video almost two weeks ago. Anyway, for Halloween, Jason and Walker were both pirates. We spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out where Walker's old spider costume was. Lo and Behold, last week while I was...um....we'll say nesting, I found the costume in none other than the 'baby' boxes! Walker loved getting 'kacky" from everyone and the weather was so nice that I was able to take Walker trick-or-treating in my shorts! It has since gotten a little too cold for that now.

Out of many requests for updated pictures, here you go folks! This was taken last week at 31 weeks. Wanna take a guess on how many are there are? I still feeling wonderful and in my mind can still conquer all chores, but at the end of the day my body wins and gets to relax a little bit. I am still taking five classes and working at the bank. I am currently working on memorizing a few songs for my voice lessons. Here is a link to one of them being performed.

http://auv.blogspot.com/2006/07/as-promised.html

Thanks to Jason I have a lot of help with doing laundry, dishes, taking care of Walker, cleaning the house, and many other things. I couldn't do everything I do without him.

Awards Ceremony for the Woodburys

2008-10-23T10:35:00.003-06:00

So I was going through one of our many still unpacked boxes today, and came across something. I had been planning on posting something for several days now, but hadn't gotten around to it:

Most of you know that I went to BYU-Hawaii for a year. Most of you also know that Sarah and I met in Hawaii also. Here is a picture of what won her heart. If it wasn't for this, who knows what would have happened?

Yes, instead of laying out on the beach, learning how to surf, going snorkeling, etc. , I was busy being the "Employee of the Semester" at the Cafeteria. Of course, being 1 of 3 or 4 Native English speakers out of 60 employees, definitely helps with my customer service, right?

Okay, so that is more of a joke than anything. But here is the one that I wanted to post about Sarah.

And here is a better look at it.

They gave this out to the top 1 or 2 tellers with the most Sales, in the Division. (She has been in the top for pretty much 3 or 4 years now, but before she never really got any cool plaques or anything)

Congratulations Sarah for being so Amazing!!

You're Invited!

2008-10-15T23:18:00.002-06:00

We are having a house warming/open house party this Saturday from 5-7. Everyone is invited to come join the fun. If you need the address, give Jason a call or write an email. See you there...er uh...here!

My name is Sarah, and I have an addiction...

2008-10-05T21:53:00.006-06:00

to HGTV that is. One of my favorite tv shows is 'Designed to Sell". A professional realtor will come to someones house while they are absent and will go through the house with the cameras and tell them why their house isn't selling. Having looked through SO many houses this past year, I could apply for this position as 'Critique' and do just as good of a job. Every time Jason and I watch it together, he says, "you could do that!" Honestly...almost every episode is the same! Step #1: De clutter! #2 Hide the kids toys. #3 Add some color #4 De personalize
So one of my long term goals, now that we have a house, is to bring these steps into action.
Jason and I have spent the last week painting, painting, painting, and oh! did I mention painting? When I say we, I really mean HE. I only helped by doing the trim and putting up decorations. Jason did the rest. So here is the before picture:

We painted the mantle black to match the temple frame that we have, and Jason surprised me last Sunday by having painted three of the accent walls. He stayed up until about 4am working on it. The next morning when he told me he stayed up too late I thought it was because he was watching Sports Center or something stupid like that ; ) Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when I went downstairs.
Jason put up the curtain rod, and hung the temple picture above the mantle. I hung the drapes, spray painted the rod iron art piece, and did the rest of the decorations. Here is the finished product.

And after a long day of work, Jason finally gets to relax.

Things that we still need for the house

2008-10-01T09:39:00.002-06:00

I know, I know. You are right. Everybody kept telling us that when we got a house, we would soon realize all of the things that we need to go with it. So, here is a list of things in no particular order, that we still need. Okay, some of them are not so much needs, but wants.
1. lawn Mower
2. Weed eater (maybe a trimmer, what's the difference?)
3. ladder
4. Tape measure
5. level
6. Stud-finder
7. Paint (We, meaning I, started painting the living room, now Sarah gets to trim it up.)
8. Queen bed for guest bedroom
9. small table/desk for the computer nook in guest bedroom
10. computer desk for my Office (or as Sarah says it, "our study", but really MY office)
11. Bookcase - Probably 2 or 3, actually
12. Kitchen Table and chairs
13. Clothes dryer (we already got a washer, but I spent too much, so we have a drying rack.)
14. coffee table for the formal living room
15. Drill Set (and other tools)
16. gardening tools, i.e shovel, rake, trimming shears etc.
17. hose attachment/s for watering once the irrigation is shut off.

That seems like a pretty complete list for me. Sarah may think otherwise. Does anybody have any suggestions of things that we need that we don't know about yet?

Odds and Ends

2008-09-10T22:26:00.002-06:00

here are some of the things going through my head, but addressed to all of you out there:

Summer is over (Pest control Summer that is). It was a good summer. As always, it could have been better, but I am pleased with how things turned out. To everybody that was there with me, thanks for the good times that we had.

Buying our house is done!! At least I think. Thanks Chancey, for helping me pack all of our stuff into a trailer, so that it can be unloaded as soon as we hear back that everybody has received their money. Hopefully that happens tomorrow, and we can unload the trailer into our new garage, and can start unpacking the boxes. It will be great to sleep on MY bed. WITHOUT Walker in the same room. I think I am looking forward to that more than anything else. Thanks Mom and Dad, for letting us crash at your place, and take up WAY to much of your space. 2 bedrooms and half of the garage is probably enough. (oh yea, and the storage unit)

The ManCation was awesome. I have been wanting to go backpacking for a long time. It has been about 10 years. Seriously. Kyle, thanks for starting that tradition. I caught 11 fish. zzone of them was under 12 inches, and the rest were between 12 and 18. Check out Kyle's Blog and link to see the pictures. Why do I always look retarded in these pictures? Oh, and from now on, I am definitely taking my hammock with me. It took up quite a bit of pack space, but it was so comfortable. I would have to say swinging on the hammock watching the wind blow the waves in the perfect 65 degree weather was extremely relaxing. Laying in my sleeping bag on the ground was not as comfortable. (in 30 degree weather.) Needless to say, I am so looking forward to next years pack trip. I will have better shoes, a better pack, be in better shape, and have better fishing gear. The food was good, and the company was great. Thanks to all who went.

The Hunter family reunion was fun too. Seeing my wife and son after (what seemed like) forever was fun. Though Walker was suffering from some sort of sickness, which happens any time he travels, it was pretty pleasant. My one regret from the reunion was not swimming. Yea, I got in the water up to my knees, but I didn't actually go swimming. I wish I would have. it was nice to see all of you that I haven't seen for a couple of years, and to meet a few people that I hadn't met before.

I will have to admit, staying home and playing with Walker is pretty fun. He has been cranky, not sleeping enough (he is just too excited to see me every day to want to sleep) but I've had a blast. He loves looking at the pigs, Swinging on the tire swing, and seeing Puppy. Oh, and jumping on the trampoline. He loves that too. Another of his favorite things it see 'Pampa' (Grampa Woodbury)

I suppose that is all for now. We will keep you updated on the projects for the house.
Oh, and golf. I parred twice on Monday, and am going again on Friday.

The Itsy Bitsy Spwaaaaah!

2008-09-05T20:26:00.002-06:00

While Walker and I were at the family reunion, the last rainy night I was getting Walker to bed. Silly me, I forgot to bring any 'beeps' or books, so I was trying to sing a few songs to Walker. We did Popcorn Popping, and Row, Row, Row your Boat, and then he put his thumbs and first fingers together and said, "Mama, Ants!" At first I didn't understand, but then I remember that any 'bug' he sees is called an ant. Looking at his hands I realized he wanted to sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" His spider was ready and I got my spider ready and started to sing, "The Itsy Bitsy...." Right as the word Spider was about to come out of my mouth, out of the corner of my eye, I see a pretty good size spider sneaking across his pillow. Of course as I see it, the word that was working its way out of my mouth turned into something like, " Spwaaaah!" as I flicked it off the pillow. With no one else to laugh at me, I started to chuckle with Walker. He muttered something that I didn't understand so in response, all I could say was "yeah, Mama's silly, huh?"

To any "pest control" friends who might ask, "What kind of spider was it?"....Who cares?! When camping, a spider is a spider.

I should be packing and cleaning...

2008-08-20T12:58:00.002-06:00

I should be getting ready to drive back to Idaho, or taking a nap, but seeing as how it will be a little while before I post again, I decided to indulge myself in some ME time. Looking through everyone's blogs, I discovered I had been tagged! (sorry it took me so long Marcie.) So here we go:

3 Joys:
1. Spending time with Jason and Walker. It doesn't matter what we do as long as it's together.
2. Reading. This usually gets me tired, so I should say reading/sleeping.
3. Seeing the looks in peoples eyes after doing service for them.

3 Fears:
1. Feeling Alone. I always like to know I can call anyone, anytime.
2. Car Accidents.
3. I am afraid of not living up to my own expectations. I set my standards, and must meet them.

3 Obsessions:
1. Jason would shoot me if I didn't put down Laundry and Dishes. He is not allowed to fold laundry because I like it done a certain way and he always puts the dishes in the wrong place! Like one time, I went to make dinner and was looking and looking for my blue casserole dish. I could not for the life of me find it, until the last cupboard door opened and on the very top in the furthest corner, lay my best cooking buddy. Since Jason put it all the way up there, I called him into the kitchen (he now has the "what did I do" look on his face) and just pointed to it for him to fetch down.
2. Jason and I have moved so many times that I have packing down to an art. There is a magical way to make everything fit into so many suitcases.
3. I have to get ready in the same order every day: Shower, get dressed, breakfast, makeup, hair.
(I'm sure there are more obsessions, but I think these are the most obvious)

3 Surprising Facts:
1. Both Jason and I have had plastic surgery. He on his nose and me on my thumb.
2. We have moved 10 times in the less than four years we've been married.
3. Well, it's not a SUPRISING fact, but a fact nonetheless. I love my family very much!

Passing the torch:
Star Wiley
Jodie Borg
Jentri King

I am turning into my Mother...

2008-08-07T12:25:00.002-06:00

For those of you who don't know my mother, Andrea, I will let you in on what I am becoming. My Mom has her Associates Degree in Accounting/Bookkeeping, but also has always been very proficient in grammar and proof-reading. While living at home as a teenager I would always hear her correct my brother, "Mike and I", instead of "me and Mike". Or if I answered the phone, "this is her", she would quietly correct me, "this is she". I could go on and on for hours on proper grammar, but I know I would lose your interest.
For the past three and a half months we have been living with the Standlee family. Their daughter, Sariah, is only five years old and has the grammar of...well...a five year old. I constantly find myself correcting her. Hearing phrases like, " he takded that away", "her brought this for me" and "I gotted a new toy" are making me cringe. Of course her mom and I correct her as much as possible, but there are just too many hours in the day to do that. It makes me realize how much I appreciate the (for lack of a better word) Nagging my Mom did in order to save her ears and to help me at least sound more intelligent.

Thanks Mom!

The Scores...

2008-07-25T14:32:00.004-06:00

Walker-2 Sarah-0
Haven't we seen this before? Let me think...Ahh! Yes!

I believe it was when Walker was eight months old! Now I understand why sometimes I can't get him to listen....He has so many Q-tips shoved into his ears!

A New Stage....

2008-07-21T19:23:00.002-06:00

Different parts of our family are at different stages in their lives...

Jason has been waiting and waiting for that first flutter that he can feel in my belly. He can't feel it yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before he wishes he couldn't feel those kicks to his back in the middle of the night. He is so happy and is working so hard for our family.

I am anxiously awaiting the end of summer. I have little activities spaced throughout the summer that I use as mile stones. One of those events was seeing my sister, Annie, last week. About a month ago she found out she would be coming to Chicago for a Pampered Chef convention and asked if I wanted to do something. Last year I missed the opportunity to go see the play, "Wicked", and did not want to make the same mistake this year! Her hotel was about a mile from the theatre, so I couldn't miss the chance. My friend, Andria, and I rode the tram into town. (I mean, we almost MISSED the tram into town). Her husband and Jason met the three of us gals at the hotel and we all walked to Navy Pier for dinner. Earlier, I had chosen Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. to eat, knowing it was close...and that's what I started craving. MY BAD! Note to self: Do not plan on a fast meal at a restaurant that sits at the front of the line of the "Batman" Imax Premiere event!

There was plenty of walking after dinner. It is a good mile or so from the pier to the theatre. I was pooped! The play was amazing! I love musical theatre and I am so glad I could share something special with Annie. She and I both played the cello in high school, and I have deepened my love for music in singing. This was the perfect play to take her to. My only regret is not being able to sit closer. I recommend it to anyone with a young heart.

During Intermission is when I learned of Walker's new stage. I sent a text to my babysitter asking how things were going. This is what I got back...
"Ha, yeah great! Your son has officially learned to crawl out of his crib."
Greeeeeeaaaaaat! I felt so bad for her. She said it only took him four trips back to the crib to figure out that she wasn't playing. So this is our new stage: Walker is ready for a toddler bed and we leave back to Idaho in a few weeks. This should be fun....

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

2008-07-09T20:20:00.005-06:00

Our 4th of July was a BLAST! Spending most of the afternoon at Taste of Chicago was exactly what made the whole family happy. The majority of the time was spent standing in line, but after ice cream cones, it was well worth it. We only bought two ice cream cones, and I was unfortunate enough that mine was the only cone Walker wanted.
After most of our food ventures, we spent some time letting Walker run around in the 'Stadium' at Millennium Park. That was his favorite part-running AWAY from me. Another lady who was watching said, "That's one fast boy!" I asked her if that meant I was a fast mom...she laughed and said, "absolutely".
At first sight of the fireworks, Walker was scared to death. Jason tried to get him to watch, but as you can see, that didn't work really well. Walker stayed hidden for the whole ten minute show. For some strange reason, on the way home, he wanted 'more' (fireworks that is). With eyes shut tight, head against his car seat, he said, "Momma". As I reply, I look over at him only to see his two little hands signing for 'more'. He did that quite a few times on the way home, and still, a few days later when we drive in the car, asks for more fireworks!

Our Wacky Week of Fun!

2008-07-03T19:24:00.004-06:00

Well, this little outing was the week before last, but I thought I would include it. All the salesman and their wives got together in Lisle for the weekly Saturday night dinner. We had a really yummy barbeque by the pool, swimming, and games.
Last Saturday, 'the office' (as we wives like to put it) did not go out all together as we usually do. The family that we live with, the Standlees had already planned to go to Chuck E Cheese. Lately, Walker has gotten so used to having the other family around that when they leave without him he cries like he is going to die. "Auntie, Eeeee, Sissy!" Short for Andria, Eli, and Sariah. To avoid all this drama, I decided that we would go with them. ( Which is usually the case). Much to my pleasant surprise, the play area at Chuck E Cheese is FREE! Walker occupied himself (well, Jason did play with him a lot) for a good two hours! How Awesome is THAT!?
Later that evening Jason and I went to see Wall-E, and we both loved it. It appeals to such a large audience and has a lot of simple humor.

Sunday after church, Jason secretly planned an all day 'stroll' to Burr Ridge. Our strolls have always consisted of looking at houses. The one he showed me blows all of them out of the water! I couldn't even fit the whole house in one camera shot.

I had no word when I saw this!

So the rest of the week has been spent at the Splash Park, taking Walker to see Alvin and the Chipmunks for the dollar special at the theatre, going to the zoo for FREE and having a wonderful time!

So this is for my husband (or anyone else reading this) I DO NOT sit on the couch at home all day eating Bon-Bons!

Things I Love about my Wife.

2008-06-22T20:04:00.003-06:00

As life blows past me, I often get caught up in the little things that aren't that important. I realized a couple of days ago, I have been so busy in the daily grind, that I haven't expressed my love and appreciation to Sarah very well. So here is a list of things that I love and appreciate about my beautiful bride.

She is a great cook. - she follows the example of her dad (or so she says) about using 'some of this and some of that' in her recipes. She likes to make stuff up, and she does a great job with it. Or she will find some sort of recipe and modify it to my liking. Oh, and I am fairly picky about stuff like that.

She is patient. Ok, so most of the time she is patient. She is great with Walker. She takes him on walks, plays with him, etc.

She's crafty. (Not the Beastie Boys style of craft.) She makes all kinds of decorations for our home. She made a clock that looks great, many pictures, etc. She is also good with doing flowers for weddings, hair or prom. How many of you have been on the receiving end of one of her crafts or flower arrangements?

She is a loyal friend. I don't have any stories or anything for this one. She just is.

She is quick to forgive. Like when I slip up and tell people that she is pregnant before I am supposed to. Or when I say something to offend her. When I do or say something that I shouldn't, she doesn't hold a grudge against me.

She is clean. Walker and I can tear a house apart in 2 minutes flat. Enough said.

She doesn't let me do the dishes. Apparently I put them in the wrong place. So I am no longer aloud to do them. Darn it.

She likes to vacuum. (ok, that is a joke. We have a roomba that does all of the vacuuming for us.)

She is very musically talented. She is a great singer.

I could probably go on, but you get the idea. Sweetie, when you read this, Just remember how much I love you. Thanks for choo-choo-choosing me!
Jason

Consider this the official announcement!! Part II

2008-06-15T19:48:00.003-06:00

We are having another baby!!

Yes, I know that a lot of you that are reading this already know. I don't have a whole bunch to write about this, but we are pretty excited about it. For Mother's Day, all I got for Sarah was an EPT test. We were pretty sure that she was pregnant even before the test. I didn't want her to be tempted to tell anyone yet, soI told her that she had to wait until after her brother's wedding before we could find out. (I caved in early, I know.) So, We have already told a few people, some on accident, others on purpose, but this is the OFFICIAL Announcement. This is Sarah's present to ME for Father's Day. I get to tell everybody, instead of her spreading the news. Cool gift, eh?

Of course, there are questions that I am sure most of you will ask, so I will clear them up early. She is 10 weeks along. For the most part, she has not had any sickness-just a lot of being tired. She is hoping for a girl, of course. I ordered a boy, so that is what we are gonna have. (it's like burger king, you can order it your way.) Besides, we need another boy to wrestle around with Walker, right?
Any questions?

I know my husband procrastinates when...

2008-06-14T12:28:00.003-06:00

I get my Mother's Day present two days before Father's Day! Ha! Ok. Ok. I can't put this all on Jason. He is such a hard worker and does so much for Walker and Me. Thinking back on it, this present was WELL worth the wait!
There are only two pedicures a year that I look forward to. One is in January for my birthday and the other is during the summer when all the stay at home wives of sales reps combine babysitting strength to take turns to go get pedicures. Jason told me this would be my Mother's Day present, but between lots of people planning it and time constraints for work, it just didn't get done until yesterday. Thank you Jason and Kyle for all you do. I know my feet appreciate it!

Consider this my official Graduation Announcement

2008-06-01T11:52:00.005-06:00

I am now officially smart!
I will impart of my new-found wisdom and intelligence to those of you that are not on the same very high pedestal I have now put myself on. Feel free to shower me with praise, oh yea and lots of gifts. (That's a joke, in case you can't tell.)

Here is a list of observations taken from the 6 years of University Learning:

1. Nobody actually knows what they want to do "when they grow up." If they do, it changes.
2. Nobody really "grows up."
3. Does anybody actually use their degree anymore?
4. Universities are in the business of making money, not of educating students.
5. Good teachers make a huge difference in the classroom. (and in G.P.A.)
6. Some teachers like to make class as hard as possible.
7. Some teachers like to simplify the class as much as possible. (Thank you)
8. Some of the best lectures have nothing to do with the class.
9. You can watch movies for 2 days and get an upper division credit.
10. You can go to Costa Rica for a week for 3 upper division credits.
11. Teachers are people too. Sometimes they even understand when your son throws up all over your take-home test.
12. Credits don't transfer all the time. Then you retake the class and it is the same thing.
13. English 102 was easier than any english class I had in high school.
14. Some friends come, some friends go. Some friends are friends for life.
15. People make a lot of stupid decisions.
16. Study groups are awesome, if you get a few good people to study with. (not too many)
17. I don't do morning classes.
18. Try something new.
19. I like art and music. I wish I had any talent in those areas.
20. No matter what happens, your family will be there.

So there is a little bit of what I learned from school. Not to mention developmental biology, biochemisty, comparative anatomy, muscles, bones, alcohol dehydrogenase, hemoglobin, acetyl co A, credits and debits, birds, physiology, enzymes, magnetism and light, electricity, evolution, genetics, etc.

From those of you that are fellow grads, add any comments (lessons that you learned that I haven't put up yet.)

One Busy Weekend

2008-05-21T20:57:00.004-06:00

For those of our family friends who aren't aware yet, my brother, Orlin was just married this past weekend to the sweetest gal, Rachel! They were married in the Bountiful Temple on May 17th. It was a wonderful ceremony, reception, and family get-together. Jason and I were able to fly from Chicago to Salt Lake to attend.
The night before the wedding, some of our extended family went together to the temple with some family names to do sealings. (Before her death, Grandmother Clements had done MOUNTAINS upon MOUNTAINS of geneology and left the names to be done by family). We were even able to seal a family of 8 all at one time. It was a short little vacation. I left Thursday, Jason left Friday, the Wedding was Saturday, we left shortly after the reception that night to drive my car back to Chicago and we arrived back in Chicago Sunday night. Here are a few pictures.

I was also able to do the flowers for Orlin and Rachel:

Many Thanks!

2008-05-08T22:07:00.002-06:00

Well, we've finally reached our destination...Chicagoland! We certainly wouln't have made it here without the help of many of our friends.
Thank you all (you know who you are) for the dinners be it leftovers or not, free babysitting, packing help, moving help, social brakes to keep our sanity, soccer games...have I mentioned free babysitting? Everything on this list and so much more helped us out during our move. Thank you all.
We are loving it here in our new area. We are sharing an apartment with a great family which has two kids, 3 and 5. We are living in downtown Geneva close to all the shops, malls, library, parks, and river. There is so much to do. I love all the old architecture in our neighborhood, it has so much character.
Our ward is amazing. We are already becoming active in any service opportunity available. All our friends from last year remember us and are so excited for us to be there.
All in all this is a great place to be right now, but we miss all our friends. Keep in touch!

I just thought this was funny

2008-04-20T21:17:00.003-06:00

Walker thinks he is just SOOOOOO funny sometimes. Sometimes he is right. (as those of you with children already know, kids will be cute, funny, or smart, until you bring out the camera/camcorder.
Oh, and I saw the "picture face, double picture face" from somebody else's video. I don't remember who it was. maybe somebody remembers?

Happy Birthday Walker!!

2008-04-06T22:11:00.003-06:00

My Little Boy is all grown up! We celebrated his 2nd birthday today!
We had a lovely time listening to General Conference both here and over at Jason's parents' house. During the morning session of conference, Walker lead the music for each song. Every week he watches me lead the music in sacrament meeting and likes to imitate. I caught a glimpse of it on video:

He knows that when the song is done that it's prayer time. I think that's why he folded his arms when he knew I was watching. After the first session, we headed over to Gramma and Pumpa's house to have a barbeque and to watch the second session. Walker slept through the majority of the session and was ready to play the second he got up. He loved the "Diego" tricycle Gramma got him, and squeeled like a pig with laughter while on the trampoline.
We sang "Happy Birthday" with most of Jason's extended family there, and as you can tell, he really liked the balloons made out of frosting! After coming home and sitting down to write this, I realize that I haven't even given him OUR presents to him! Aaaah! Aren't I such a horrible Mom? Well, tomorrow he will have an activity book with crayons and also a Cars Magic coloring book.

Sshockxs!

2008-03-24T19:26:00.002-06:00

For a while now, Walker has known his letters, and has been using more words lately. Once he finds out the connection of a word to what it is, he uses that word to no end. One thing I don't get though, is the way he says "socks".
"Walker what does the 's' say?"
"Ssssss"
"What does the 'o' say?
"Aaah" (for those of you who don't have 'Letter Factory' memorized, they use an open O.)
"Walker what does the 'k' say?"
"K"
"Walker, say 'socks'."
"Sshockxs"

To follow up on the previous blog, my other surprises have been: a picture frame, cookies galore, an Easter balloon, strawberries with a can of whip cream, a bottle of lotion with a coupon to the Jasonbury Spa that entitles me to 3 hours of massage, fresh tulips, and an Easter basket full of goodies. My sweetie gets home tonight and I am sooo excited to see him! We've done the week or so without each other before, but not with no communication. (Remember, Jason was in the middle of the Costa Rican wilderness.)
So our next step this week is to sit anxiously by the phone and wait to hear about the house. No news yet, but hopefully this week we will have word.

Is it Birthday Week Again?

2008-03-17T13:52:00.004-06:00

No. But it sure feels like it. Jason, as you all must know by now is in Costa Rica, but before he left I think he arranged to have some friends, on different days, bring me a surprise of some kind. So the other night, Shae and Wes brought over some teeny Ben & Jerry's ice cream. They had turned over all the top labels to wright out a message that said " I - Miss- You". On Saturday, Shae, Wes, Brady and Katie show up with a symphony candy bar, chocolate coins and gerber daisies. They kept me company for the evening.......THE FRIENDS, not the chocolates. And yesterday, I went out to Jason's parents house for dinner. Heather just got back from Ecuador and brought back a few things for our family. Here is where Jason doesn't find out what she got for him until he gets back! Mua ha ha! So on my way back home I was parking the car in the parking lot and I noticed my friend, Kristin, waiting for me. She had brought for me a yummy pear green candle wrapped in tissue paper and raffia. I love it! No surprises yet today, but I do have dinner at a friends, card making on Tuesday, and Enrichment on Thursday to keep me busy. I guess life does drudge on without the ones we love.
I couldn't let the week go by without posting Walker's "cute thing" he just learned. The story goes way back when we got our Roomba. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is my slave. It is our robot vacuum, and I love using it. With Walker afraid of the loud vacuum, it is so much easier to clean up and not have to hold Walker while I use it. At first the Roomba startled him, but we tried to show him that it couldn't hurt Walker. As we moved the Roomba toward us with the remote, we would pat our legs and say "here Roomba". (Like a dog). So the other day, I was sitting on the floor and Walker wanted to go outside. He grabbed my hand and dropped it a couple times but then he looked at me bent half way over and started patting his legs! I could just imagine him saying, "here Mama, come here!"

Little news lately

2008-03-12T18:54:00.003-06:00

So there has been very little to update on the past couple of weeks. Just more of Sarah going to work, me playing with Walker, etc. etc. However, I decided that since I will be gone for the next couple weeks, I would write a little something on here. I will be in Costa Rica for a Biology class, counting and identifying migratory raptors. (hawks, eagles, turkey vultures, etc.) Didn't know that raptors migrated did you? So, to top it off, I will leave little picture for you.
I will be on the southeast side, near bribr'i. It is called the kekoldi watchsite.
Anyway, Sarah may be updating you all on her little surprise that I have waiting for her while she is gone - you all should call or email her, to say hi. (Heaven knows she won't know what to do with her time, since she won't be cleaning up after me.)

Tag! You're it!

2008-02-20T23:05:00.002-07:00

One of my good friends, Suzie posted her answers to the tag on her blog, and has now passed on the torch to me. So it is with great honor that I graciously accept this challenge and let you all know a little bit more about me.

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? Married 3 years known each other about 4
2. Who eats more? With seemingly constant dieting I am enduring, I would have to say Jason
3. Who said I love you first? Jason
4. Who is taller? You mean, who is shorter? Tall does not exist in this family. I am shorter by 7 inches
6.Who does laundry? Sarah. Jason is not allowed. He hasn't learned how to do this chore the way I like.
7. Who does dishes? (See #6) He washes them pretty well, but has no clue about kitchen organization
8.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Sarah. I claim the middle too...
9. Who pay's the bills? We share different ones
10. Who mows the lawn? I am allergic to grass so it's not me. And by the time we have a lawn, I will assume Walker will be of age to mow it.
11. Who cooks dinner? Me, me and me!
12.Who drives when you are together? Jason.
13. Who is stubborn? It's certainly not me and if you say it is me, you're wrong!
14.Who is the first to admit they are wrong? That will always be Jason. He would rather be happy than be right.
15.Who's parent's do you see the most? Jason's
16. Who kissed who first? Jason kissed me first, but the feeling was mutual. He just acted faster.
17.Who proposed? Jason proposed to me at Initial Point in Kuna on the coldest day that fall.
18.Who is more sensitive? definitely me!
19.Who has more friends? We have about the same amount of friends and seem to find someone we know, no matter where we go.
20. Who has more siblings? We have the same. Jason has 3 brothers and 1 sister and I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters
21. Who wears the pants? Jason wears the pants in the family ...I just tell him which pair to wear.

And a special note for Jentri, Star, and Sheila...Tag! You're it!

Sarah's newest love

2008-02-20T01:46:00.002-07:00

So for those of you that don't already know, we have been house hunting for a while. I think we've looked at half of the homes in the treasure valley, but maybe I am exaggerating a little bit.
We saw a house listed for a pretty good price, and thought we would check it out. Click HERE if you want to check out the pics.
It seemed to good to be true - and it seems like maybe it is. It was listed for $10000 less than others that were built at the same time, with lots of upgrades that the others didn't have. It also has never been lived in, but is a short-sale (close to being foreclosed on). The problem is that it is priced way below what the bank will accept for it, I assume. The bank and the owner will not tell the listing agent how much is owed, so the price was just an arbitrary number that she listed it for. We are planning on making an offer, but more likely than not, it won't go as we hope it will. We will keep you updated!!

Come Play With Us!

2008-02-09T22:57:00.001-07:00

This picture says it all! This kid is ready for some serious snow playing! We have had a fairly good snow year so far this winter, and it has seemed never ending. ( I LOVE IT! ) A few inches here and there and all of a sudden we had about six inches to play in. Of course I didn't want Walker going outside with it being too cold, but Thursday it warmed up enough to let us all go outside and play. Walker doesn't know what to think about his new gloves. They completely swallow his hands and don't allow any escape. The snow pants are the best thing ever invented, and his hat?...well, let's just say that by the time I finish crocheting the hat I started, it will be summer time, so we compromise with one of Jason's.
With Jason's help Walker knows how to throw snowballs. (With pretty good aim I might say). And with my help, Walker know how to get hit by snowballs. Yep, that's right. I was aiming for his feet, and kinda hit him right on his chest. It was a soft snowball, so the second it hit it splashed up into his face. Poor kid! He didn't know what we were laughing at.
There really is no other way to describe our day so here are some pictures:

Adaptation to Birthday Week

2008-01-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I again decided to take after Kyle, and started birthday week this year. I guess the real reason I did, is because I couldn't think of a single good gift to give Sarah for her birthday. All I could think of was several smaller gifts, stuff that I know she has wanted for a while. So with no further ado, Here is the list:
Day one: bombay jewelry box, to replace the 10 miniature jewelry boxes that she already had.
Day two: a paraffin wax foot spa, and a hand-held vibrating back massager. You know that one is her favorite!!
Day three: a set of matching glass-ware for dinner. the set of 6 we got for our wedding is down to 1 glass. So yea, we needed it. I also got her a 3-pack of dvd games: Who wants to be a Millionaire, Family Feud, and Deal or No Deal.
Day four: I got her the ever-coveted salt and pepper grinder. She's wanted one of those for EVER. I also got her a nice cutting board, that has the little indention in it to keep the juices from spilling.
Sorry that I don't have any pictures. I guess if you want to see any of them, you will have to come visit!!

New computer, fun with Walker.

2008-01-10T13:50:00.001-07:00

We got a new computer, with a built-in camera. I have been playing with it a little bit, and figured I could try and show you a little bit of Walker and I. I did of course edit out some stuff, but I think I got most of the good stuff. For some reason, it cut off the bottom of the video a little bit, and doesn't show all of Walker's face.
anyway, here are the videos. If you can't tell, he likes to see himself on the screen, and gets distracted easily.

P.S. As a little side note, I would like to offer some advice: We followed Kyle and Michelle's example (the ever-so-brilliant parents) and got a portable DVD player. Walker absolutely LOVES it. I haven't had so much peace since before he could crawl. Seiously, he watches "the letter factory" about 10 times a day. We used it at dinner the other night, and he was an Angel. The Miracle of Technology. I would recommend it to any parent - get one about the time they are 18 months, and then just wait until they are ready for it.

P.P.S. random little side note** I just cleaned the blankets out of Walker's Crib - all 6 of them. He likes to clean his room by putting everything in the crib, and we are fine with that. But 6 blankets? Holy Cow!!

Aren't you glad you got a little glimpse of our life?

A Look Back on Christmas

2008-01-04T14:29:00.001-07:00

There was no mistletoe with us, but I guess Shae was in the Holiday Spirit. Jason and I along with Wes and Shae took an evening and went around the valley looking at Christmas lights.

Christmas morning, Walker woke up and went to the tree. Not to unwrap every present in sight, but to climb the mountain of boxes and see if he could get high enough to reach the forbidden candy canes!

The excitement is killing me!Jason got me a really nice robe that is SO cozy. This is the smile I give him that says, "you know how to treat a lady."

Jason 's Mom surprised us with this painting. It is absolutely gorgeous. I never would have gotten it myself. I thought it was too expensive, but Mary is the bargain hunter and can find a sale anywhere!
Christmas afternoon Walker got sick. This is what he did all day. Poor guy! He had no energy to play at all.

I think this picture describes how everyone feels after the holidays. Pooped! Oh wait...that's a different picture.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and make this New Year a good one!

My Art Project

2007-12-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

ADVISORY: there are a couple GRAPHIC pictures. If you are squeamish, don't blame me for getting queasy. (there are only 2 or 3)

I know that some of you have been dying to see this, so I figured I would post it. We had a final art project to do for my class, and I worked on it (i.e. took pictures) while we were on the cruise. I know that Julia has been on the edge of her seat waiting to see it.
The message that I was trying to get across was that art and beauty can be found in everyday things. We just need to take the time to look for them. Which pictures and song do you like the best?
(Jason)

The new G

2007-12-08T16:36:00.001-07:00

So, after such a long wait, I finally have the new car that I bought. It has taken me about a week to get some pictures, but I finally did. Now, many of you may not care, but I will give you some of the specs on it. If you wish to read, go ahead. If you don't care, just skip the rest of this post!! I will have a few pics at the bottom.

It is a 2006 Infiniti G35, with the sport package. That means it has a modified suspension to corner faster and increase control. It also includes the spoiler. I have upgraded 18 inch tires wheels, and the previous owner must have really liked going fast, because he has upgraded performance tires. (Rated to go up to 150, as opposed to the normal, rated up to 85 MPH) The top end speed, from what I hear, is 154. I have yet to test that out. I will let you know when I do.
It goes from 0-60 in 6.1 seconds, which is pretty fast. That beats all but 1 mustang off the line. (Take that Justin) There are just under 300 hp.
Now, I should also tell you that Sarah has a few things that she really likes about the new car as well. It has heated seats, for those really cold mornings, and it has a sunroof, for warm sunny days.
The best part about it, is that Pointe is making the payments for me!! That's right. All of this wonderful, and I don't even pay for it. Pretty sweet deal, huh?
That is all that I can think of for now. If you want to see more pics, or want to know anything else about it, just let me know.

2007-12-02T22:44:00.001-07:00

"Uuuuugh, uuuugh!" These are the sounds I hear from Walker as he pulls my hand to walk me to what he wants. In this case it was the stroller. It was close enough to Walker's nap time on Thursday, but still too early to put him down. So, Walker and I went for a walk in the late morning. The weather was FREEZING cold and since Jason has recently taught Walker to say "BRRR" every time he goes outside, that was the first thing he said as we stepped out. I was only able to stand the cold for so long and Walker can only stand being bundled up for so long, we went around the complex twice. (That's not very far). Coming in the door to our building, I see the sign welcoming all residents to the 2nd floor for a nice quiet study area and some hot chocolate. "Sounds good to me! Walker do you want to get some cocoa?" We headed up the elevator and Walker was excited to round the corner where the microwave, jug of water and hot chocolate mixes were. He started pointing excitedly and said the magic word. "COCOA", as he did the sign language for 'pretty please'. One hand across his chest is just 'please', but two hands going out across his chest is 'pretty please'. He was such a good little boy waiting patiently while I warmed up the water. We enjoyed our cocoa and headed back home for a nap.
As you mothers know there is an 'unloading' that happens the second you walk in the door. While I was unloading, Walker was trying to put away the stroller chanting, "cocoa, cocoa". What else was I supposed to do but grab the camera!

2007-11-15T12:32:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would share our family pictures.

Things to Remember On Our Cruise

2007-11-04T22:34:00.001-07:00

No work for a week. Sleeping in. Flying without a stroller, seven pieces of luggage and a baby. Old friends having layovers as the same time as us. Ship safety drills. Running into the couple from Boise who sold us our love seat, during the safety drill. Ventriloquist act. Sparkling lights on the ceiling of the Vista Lounge. A Five course meal with dessert. Being sea sick the rest of the night. Having absolutely no light creep into our bedroom at night. Breakfast in bed. Viewing art to be auctioned off for thousands of dollars. Sunbathing while reading on the Sun Deck. Looking at older people in their bathing suits thinking, "This makes me feel so much better about my body." Gazing at Dolphins jumping out of the water at the side of the ship. Dressing up. Another five course meal with dessert. Singing karaoke and losing to a 40 year old woman singing "Jump, Jump" by Kriss Kross. (I should have sang "Baby Got Back"!). Sleeping in. Breakfast in Bed. Exercising with a view to the ocean. Lunch Buffet. Swimming in one of four swimming pools. Hot tubbing. Making Hibiscus flowers out of crape paper. Painting ceramics. Comedian Act. The Newlywed, Not so Newlywed game. Seeing Byron and Brett sing Karaoke in blonde wigs. Breakfast in bed again. Visiting Puerto Vallarta. Bartering down a tour guide to $50 a van for 10 people for all day. Seeing where "Predator" was filmed. Riding zip-lines one hundred feet above the canopy. Bumpy cobblestone streets. A small drug bust at the side of the road. Papantla Flyers. Statues on the beach. Vendors following you around. "How much you want to Pay". Blue sunglasses. Another five course meal with dessert. Breakfast in bed again. Visiting Mazatlan. Taxi go-carts. Scooters. El Cid Hotel. Lounging at the pool. "Cliff" jumping. Eli breaking his foot on the kiddie slide. Eli parasailing not knowing his foot was broken. A hole-in-the-wall resturaunt with GREAT carne asado tostadas. An hour long massage for $30. Endless night events. Another five course meal with dessert. Breakfast in bed again. Visiting Cabo San Lucas. Walking down busy streets. CaboWabo. Walking on the beach. Finding the perfect red shawl. Eating next to the beach. Water Taxis. Bartering for fair prices. (this is harder when it's done in English instead of Spanish). Getting Roses delivered to the room. Manicure and Pedicure at the Lotus Spa. Dressing up. Wearing that perfect red shawl. Another five course meal with dessert. Breakfast Buffet. Wearing a swimsuit all day. Having a cold last day. Reading inside...all day. Another five course meal...not with just any dessert. An Alaskan style, vanilla merengue cake. Mmmmm. Another Comedy Act. Midnight room service. Getting off the ship. Customs. Flying back home without a stroller, seven pieces of luggage and a baby. Having luggage not arrive with us.(It wasn't just ours. The whole plane was missing luggage. It all got sent to Reno because someone forgot that our gate changed. I'm just glad it happened at the end of our trip.) Coming back home to a reality where dishes have to be done, laundry is piling up, and there certainly won't be any more five course meals with dessert. We had a great time!

An Event worth going to

2007-10-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

Ladies!? How many of you wouldn't just LOVE this bag? Michelle, this is what you have to look forward to when Kyle gets home.

Every year, Eclipse does an end of the year banquet for all the sales reps. They give awards, trophies and gifts out. These bags were given to the wives of managers for their devotedness to their honeys who are so dedicated to this company. They also do the "cash cannon", shooting droves of $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills into the air for all in attendance to frantically run around, push and shove people out of the way to get as much money as they can. In years past, (being either way to pregnant to mention or baby in arm) I have been able to scrounge up $3-$5. I only got $1 this year, but I really wasn't trying. This one just fell onto the table next to me. So I snatched it up before five other people could dive across the table only to realize that all they could get was a napkin or tablecloth.
There are also lots of prizes for raffle. It is rumored that the raffles are somewhat 'fixed'. Some people get more raffle tickets than others, but this night changed my mind about that. The prize being raffled was an Elliptical Excercise machine. The m.c. started reading the numbers: "6-9-8..."
"Oh good! We still have a chance"
"7-4..."
"I know it's here somewhere"(having previously arranged our tickets, I knew we had some numbers that were close)
"0..."
"Looking, looking"
"Going once! Going twice"
"We have it, we have it! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Of the hundred something people there, probably only 4 would really appreciate this prize. I was one of them.
Walking up to take a picture with my new best friend, I realized "This box is almost as tall as I am...Is it even going to fit in the car?" Nope. Thank goodness for friends with big cars! Justin lugged the HUGE BOHEIMOTH of a box into his Mountaineer and is bringing it up with him when he comes for Thanksgiving. Such suspense!
Pictures to come

Little things that tell you, "You're doing a great job"

2007-10-10T14:58:00.000-06:00

Walker has recently been folding his arms for "prayer time". It took me a while to get it transferred from the camera, but it's better late than never.

Shoes Galore!!!!

2007-10-10T14:37:00.002-06:00

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The month long endurance challenge for the Hunter Family Biggest Loser Competition was to walk or run 50 miles in the month. The prize? $50 for new shoes! No entries for drawings, no raffles…if you did it, you got $50! Both Jason and I made it. Jason ended up jogging a few miles on the night of the 30th, but he made it! We promised Grandma and Grandpa we would show them the shoes we bought, so here you go!

We didn’t want to pay full price at the mall. We expected more so we went to Payless. Walker had LOADS of fun! At home he usually likes to go to the shoe rack and bring mommy her high heels to put on, so seeing how many shoes he could pull down and bring to me put him into a laughing fit. Jason found his shoes first. Some Airwalks were his first choice. They have a rugged corduroy top. He was so ecstatic they were on sale, the “Scrooge” in him subsided and he said, “I’m gonna get another pair of shoes!” This next pair is the coolest pair of shoes EVER! The only way I can describe them is brown with an elastic strap that goes side to side on the top and velcros to the side.

As I was looking around, my eyes wandered toward the children’s section and stumbled upon a $2 pricetag. When I looked at the shoes in the box, I was delighted to see they were a size 4. PERFECT! Compared to the $1 Garage sale shoes we got in Chicago these ones seemed a bit pricey, but who could pass these up?

As for mine, I didn't have much of a selection to choose from. Aparently the only people who buy tennis shoes are the ones who have the same size of feet as me. I wouldn't say I "settled" for these. They are quite comfortable and I'm sure they'll match any workout clothes I can conjure up. The heels? Ah yes! Seeing as how my other pair of "wedges" broke just recently, I did in fact NEED them. It seems so much more satisfying to justify that, knowing that they were only $3! What a steal!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!