10 years later

Well we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary. Who could have imagined it would have come so fast. This is the only picture I have on my computer of our wedding. This is my grandma and grandpa Girardo. The rest of my pictures are in storage so that is why I put this picture on here. Everyone tells you how fast it goes but now that I'm here I can say they are right. It all seems to have gone by in a blur. I feel like at 10 years we are starting over somehow too. Chelton is starting a new career as a police officer and we are starting a new life in Fillmore, Utah. If you haven't heard yet he got a job in Fillmore and we will be moving very quickly down there. We sure have been through a lot in these last 10 years and it has been quite a journey. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring. I have learned a lot in life these past 10 years and I can't wait to bring that knowledge to good use. I definitely love Chelton more than ever too!!!

A princess turning three

KYLIE



Well my baby just turned three. My oh my...where in the world does time go. Kylie is getting so big (well not so much big as she is getting older). She is all girl and all that it implies. She is such a princess and a diva and a sweetheart all rolled into one. She likes to be the boss of everything. She loves her brothers and calls them "my boys." She loves to play with anything pink. She likes to wear anything pink and anything that has a skirt on it but at the same time will get down and play anything boyish the boys are playing too. She likes to boss around the boys a lot. She has absolutely no problem telling the boys (or me and Chelton what to do). She definitely likes to get her way. She is very emotional (hence the diva statement). Yet she is such a sweetheart. She is always running in our room telling us she has a secret to tell and when she comes over she will tell me that "mommy is so cute." She will not go to bed unless she has given mommy and daddy a big hug and kiss. She is into music big time. We got her a Tinkerbell CD player for her birthday with a bunch of CDs to play in them and she has listened to them nonstop. She loves anything from princess music to Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Leona Lewis, loves Kris Allen (like her Mom) and just loves all music.



This year all she wanted was to have was a tea party and to have cupcakes. We went to dinner with my mom and dad on her actual birthday and I asked her where she wanted to go and she just told me she wanted to eat cupcakes. We ended up going to Moore's (mostly because Connor wanted to have breakfast food). The next night was her Aunt Meridee's birthday so we had a combined party and had Kylie's favorite food hot dogs and we also had hamburgers and then Kylie's Grandma Spendlove made her pink cupcakes...she was so excited. She was happy to play with her cousins and she had a great birthday turning 3.

Vacation (well kind of)

Well this week my parents went on vacation to St. George and they couldn't take their chihuahua Diego so they asked to come house sit for them for the week...we were excited to come and stay the week and be on our own for the week. It has been like a vacation for us too. We have got to watch TV for a week (real TV)...we have been watching movies at my in-laws an it is kind of fun to watch TV again and the kids have been running around being loud (which they do anyway but I don't have to keep them quiet all the time so they don't bug everyone) so they have been loving that. It has been a fun vacation for all of us. I bet my in-laws are loving the peace and quiet at their house too. I'm sure a week away from us is heavenly :) It makes me excited for Chelton to get a job and finally get back to having a house of our own.

Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.....Just finished the book (I have read them before...just wanted to read it again before the movie came out) and now I can't wait to see the last movies....they are going to be sooo good. We are a Harry Potter family. We watch a Harry Potter movie at our house at least once a week, totally out of order and totally random. I wonder how close they will stick to the book. We plan to see it the weekend of Thanksgiving. I have been saving Coke Rewards Points (well actually mostly my Mom has been saving them for me) and with that I got two movie tickets so that will pay for half of my family to see it and the boys want to see it with us so we are taking them with us. Hopefully it is not too scary but they watch all the other Potter movies with us all the time so I think they will be okay. I just am so excited and can't wait. I think the last one will be the best.

Now I just have to find a new book to read....have been thinking about reading the Work and the Glory. I just got done rewatching the three movies. I read the first three and never finished them. That might be my next conquest...or I have heard good things about the Outlander series....who knows. Any ideas. I am really a series kind of girl.

I really need to post about Halloween but my only pictures came from my Mom and she is out of town so I can't get the pictures until she gets back.

Passing along easily

I want to first give a shout out to my wonderful husband. He is doing well in his police acadamy and we are very proud of him.

The rest of us are still plugging along. Connor is loving kindegarten and all that comes with it. He is a math genius and is doing Garrett's math homework right along with him. He is learning his multiplication tables with him. Garrett is loving being in scouts and loving the 3rd grade. Kylie is 2 and all that comes with it and getting closer to 3 every day and all that comes with that (I'm sure you know what that means if you have a 2--almost 3 year old)....she loves princess stuff and being in charge. She loves her boys and has to do what they do.

I can't really post any pictures now because I haven't got a battery for my camera but need to soon because Halloween is coming up. Hopefully I will get some pics up for that!!!

Christmas shopping

Okay so I'm not one to try to talk people into signing up for stuff but this website is one that I already use and I love so I thought I would share it with others too. I did a lot of online shopping last year for Christmas and throughout the year (no stores, free shipping, good deals) and I earned a check delivered right to my door for over $40 just for doing so. There is a website called ebates.com where if you go there first, find the website you want first and from there go to the store you want and buy something, you get cash back and mailed directly to you. They add up from the cash back from all the stores you buy and mail you a check three to four times a year and you get paid for doing what you were already going to do anyway. Anywere from 4% up to 12% and sometimes double rewards on special days. It works and there is no catch and virtually every store is on their site (minus amazon.com bummer). I got a hefty check in February last year for $40 after buying my Christmas. Also every time I order my pictures through Walgreen's or Shutterfly or Snapfish I always go to Ebates first and then click on their link to those sites and then get cash back for ordering my pictures. Anyway...they have a refer a friend link so if you are interested and if you order online please use this link and try it out. You might have to copy and paste the link in your browser as I couldn't get it to just click to go to their website. They also give away a $10 giftcard just for signing up. I would appreciate it much.


http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=qB5JQK0Zwas3Bgh9m8D%2BYg%3D%3D

Back to North Ogden

Well we are moving AGAIN (yes we just moved two months ago). We will be moving this weekend back to North Ogden to live with Chelton's parents until he gets done with the police academy and gets a job (hopefully until February at the latest). Hopefully he gets a job up north and we can try to find a house back in Plain City as we loved it here. We made such good friends and had THE BEST neighbors and ward. Hopefully also my kids don't bug my inlaws too much. Thanks to them for letting us house crash for a while. Now I have to focus on moving again this weekend (I am so sick of moving) and just to think I have to do it again around February. You'd think I was a pro by now. I am glad at least that Garrett gets to go back to his old school with his old friends and doesn't have to try to make all new ones.

What a trial!!!

Well we just got back this weekend from our first camping trip up to Trial Lake in the Uintahs. We actually got my whole family to go with all the siblings and cousins and everything. I'm surprised we found a weekend where everyone could go. Sorry I didn't bring my camera so there are no pictures. Pictures of me and camping don't mix but it would have been fun to get some of the kids. We had a really fun time (especially the kids). The kids got to do a little fishing, shoot some BB guns and we did some 4 wheeling. They had an absolute ball just running around with all of their cousins. We have 11 cousins in all ranging from 2 to 12. There were a lot of mosquitos but that is part of the fun right? We slept on a hill so by time the morning came all of us were crammed down at the bottom of the tent in one little ball. I have to tell you I really do miss my trailer but it wasn't so bad sleeping in a tent. It was fun catching up on old times with my brothers and sisters. We used to go camping a lot when I was younger. We are going for 9 days in a week and a half so the kids are excited to be camping again soon.

Summer of countdowns

Well lots of things are happening to us this summer. It's the summer of excitement, change and anticipation. We had the baptism and the stress and excitement of that. We had the yard sale and the stress and success of that and the messy house that follows with that and now we get to look forward to the change of moving. Yes we are moving again. Been married almost 10 years and this will be around the 13 or 14 place we have lived in. Chelton is going in the police academy at the end of August and we have sold our house and will be renting and down-sizing while he undergoes this full-time school. Luckily the police academy only goes until the end of December so hopefully he can find a job quickly once January comes and we can be back on our feet again soon once the new year comes. The good news is we are getting to stay in Plain City and are only moving like two blocks away so the kids will stay in the same school and we are even getting to stay in the same ward as we will only be renting this house for 6-8 months and then yes another move after that again depending upon where he gets a job (hopefully somewhere close so we can continue to stay in Plain City where we love). We will be moving next Saturday all our big stuff and then moving officially by July 4.

So another summer of countdowns I am looking forward to...let's see well Eclipse comes out in 9 days....yes you see the widget above this post...I'm a nerd and am excited for that. We are planning on some vacation in August. We don't know where yet...probably camping but for a family who likes to vacation and hasn't gotten the chance to this year...it has been killing me...so that is about the only hope getting me through all this....the stress reducer of that week without work and the stress of life and the fact that I can sit there for a week and let it all stay at home. We also plan to take the kids to Lagoon this summer because Connor keep BEGGING me to take him to Disneyland and well you know that won't be happening so I compromised and decided to do Lagoon and so that will be a big deal for them and all of us as I haven't been in 10 years and Chelton more like 15 and the kids never so they are really looking forward to it. Hopefully we can find a time to actually go. I do feel bad because I told the kids at the beginning of summer we were going to have Funday Monday and go somewhere every Monday and well with my busy work and moving and just life that tanked...poor kids!!!!

We have this summer of things to look forward to...hopefully they all happen and we actually get to do the fun stuff and not just the stressful stuff. The kids sure deserve it seeing what they have been through in the last year. They sure are troopers!!!!

Yard Sale June 19th 9:00 to 2:00

For all two of you who read my blog (hahaha) just wanted to pass the word that we are having a yard sale tomorrow at our house in plain city. Anyone in the vicinity that wants to stop by (especially if you are in need of a good tool) feel free to do so. Also spread the word. Below is the listing we put out on KSL:


Multi-family yard sale June 19th in Plain City 9:00-2:00 with large assortment of items. 1588 N. 4400 W.

Construction company selling business and liquidating many tools, perfect right in time for Father's Day. Selling surplus drills, nail guns, skill saws, planer and jointer, oil heater, propane heater, many smaller tools, etc.

Baby items, crib and matching changing table. Baby and kid clothes different sizes. Lots of toys.

Bigger items such as desks, poker table, clothes.

Soft tonnneau cover fits Chevy long bed 2003-2007

List of tools for sale:
Porter cable 15g angle finish naler
Dewalt 18v angle drill cordless
Paslode cordless framing gun
Rigid 16g finish gun
Dewalt 16g cordless finish angle nailer
Bosch Jam saw
Bosch worm drive skill saw
Hitachi 1/2 in corded drill
Bosch 18V cordless impactor
Dewalt 18V cordless drill xrp
Hitachi NR83A framing gun
Box of Vycor plus window wrap 6 rolls
Dwalt laser level with tripod
Max Air 48" High velocity fan
Rigid jointer
Dust collector system
Bosch router table (table only)
Craftsman radial arm saw
Dremel Scroll saw



Too many other items to list.

1588 N. 4400 W. Plain City (close to Fremont High School)

It's great to be 8

Well my oldest baby turned 8 today. I can't believe how fast time flies by. I can't believe how grown up Garrett is. He is getting into that old stage where he starts to like older things and is just getting to old for me!!!! Next week he will be getting baptized. I just can't keep my head from spinning. My friend and neighbor Erin made this cute invitation (who I can't thank enough):



Instead of having a big birthday party Garrett chose the option of choosing three friends to take to Toads. He chose his cousin Jayden, his friend Carter and his friend Mason and of course his little brother Connor. They had a great time. They first played laser tag. It was Chelton and Connor against the boys. Garrett absolutely has a new love of laser tag and always begs us to go so he loved this. This was Connor's first time as it was for Carter and Jayden too. Mason followed Chelton around and was proud to have shot Chelton like eight times. Connor had Chelton's back and got Mason a few times too. They all had fun telling me all the stories about it but in the end it turned out that team Connor and Chelton won the game. Then Garrett, Carter, Jayden and Mason went out and did outdoor mini-golf. I snuck outside and took some pictures of that and they had a good time with that. They all got to spend $10 playing video games and earning tickets to buy prizes. Garrett kept playing some game that he kept winning the jackpot on. You could hear him no matter where you were because he kept yelling as loud as he could and he won it like 5 times. He ended up with a lot of tickets. They all ended up with a lot of prizes. They opened up presents and Garrett loved everything he got. Mom and Dad got him a video game he has been dying to get and he has been playing it ever since. Tonight we will probably take him to dinner as it is his real birthday and celebrate.

Now we are excited to celebrate his choice in getting baptized. I am so proud of him. He has been receiving discussions from our ward missionaries and I am so proud of how much he has learned on his own and retained on his own about the Gospel. He is such a blessing in my life and I love him so much.



The boys at Toads



Garrett, Jayden, Carter and Mason mini-golfing



Garrett mini-golfing



Mason mini-golfing



Garrett opening his Pokemon Guess Who game that Connor was so excited to give him (and I think more excited to play)



Garrett winning his jackpot and dancing around

Happy Birthday Chelton

So I just wanted to make a quick shout out to my husband as today is his 31st birthday. As we didn't have a lot of money this year for birthday gifts I had the kids make dad coupon vouchers. I let them come up with their coupons all on their own (even Kylie). Their coupons were so cute I thought I would share what they came up with as a present to give their Dad. I think it will mean more to him than any present they could have bought. I also had to think of something I could give Chelton that didn't mean spending any money. Well I have never mowed the lawn since we have been married so yesterday I thought I would give it a try since he is so busy working two jobs right now. So I tried to do it as a surprise but he came home when I was only like a quarter of the way through but I was adament that I would get the whole thing done for him and he was patient enough to let me finish. It was hard work too. My hands killed by the time I was done. I have the wimpiest hands in the world but I think it meant a lot to him. He did the weedwhacking while I mowed. I'm not ready to do it again for a long time but I think it was the thought that counts. I also made him some homemade coupons but I won't list mine on here because I don't think anyone will want to read those :)

But here are the cute ones the kids came up with all on their own:

Garrett:
*Good for doing what you say
*Good for cleaning my room
*Good for watching a movie with me
*Good for pulling weeds
*Good for playing catch with me

Connor:
*Good for getting you a drink of water
*Good for playing catch with me
*Good for cleaning the family room
*Good for watching a disney movie on Sunday
*Good for staying in my bed

Kylie:
*Good for going in the froggy potty
*Good for one Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song
*Good for watching one disney movie with me
*Good for give one daddy a dance.
*Good for one big kiss and a hug.
*Good for give daddy lotion on his feet.

Well tonight we are making Chelton his favorite meal Gyoza and strawberry pie for dessert after Garrett's baseball game so hopefully he has an okay birthday. We love you daddy!!!!

Preschool graduation

Well Connor recently graduated from Frog Pond Preschool. He had such a great time this year in preschool and grew so much learning-wise and socially. He made some really good friends. His teacher (teacher Julie) said that at the beginning of the year he pretty much would play by himself but by the end of the year he was everyone's friend and everyone wanted to play with Connor. One thing I've recently learned about Connor is that he is starting to worry about what people think about him. At his graduation each kid had to dress up to represent a certain field trip they took and talk about it. Connor dressed up as a dentist and had to talk about their field trip to the dentist. While we were talking about what to say he went off about a story of two little kids in their class that dressed up in pillow cases pretending to be teeth demonstrating how to floss. I told him that would be a good story to tell and he told me no that kids would laugh at him and that would be too emberassing. Also on graduation night I got him all dressed up and put gel in his hair and kind of spiked it up (which I never do) to make him look all handsome and he got all mad and told me that everyone was going to laugh at him. Well he is definitely starting to get the social awareness part down!!! He is a brilliant kid. He will do Garrett (who is in second grade) math's homework with him sometimes. At the end of graduation the teacher gave out awards to a handful of students who could read all the site words (a super reader award) and Connor was among those handful of students who recieved the award. And to top it off Connor was honored with a Math award. He was the only student in his class to get two awards. He is an excellent counter. Before he even entered preschool he counted up to 1200 on a vacation we took and that was back a year ago. His teacher thought he should be honored with this special award to show how brilliant he is in his math abilities. He will ask me all the time to quiz him on math questions and problems that I will quiz my 8 year old on. I hope the skill will continue on with him and not catch up to him. I am so proud of him and can't believe he will be in Kindegarten. He has made some really good buddies in preschool and he keeps hoping that teacher Julie will be his kindegarten teacher and I keep explaining to him that she won't be. What a difference a good teacher makes. Below are a few pictures but as usual we get there and my battery is dead. My friend took some pictures with him in his graduation hat and some more great ones but I haven't got those yet so here are the very few that I got before my camera died.



Connor with teacher Julie saying his part about the dentist field trip



Connor on stage next to his buddy Cooper dressed as a dog.

The Hunger Games (finished)

Well it didn't take me long to finish this book. After reading the first five chapters the first night I knew I would finish this book in a matter of days (which is fast for me as I don't get very much time to read). I absolutely loved this book. It was definitely a page turner and so intense to read. I had a lot of people tell me that they loved it but after having them explain a little about it to me it didn't sound like the type of book I usually like. People trying to kill each other, slaved and oppressed? I'm more of a lovey-dovey type but when even Erin said she loved it (who doesn't read anything)---I had to give it a try and had to get my hands on it fast. The whole time I read the book I kept thinking of what a great movie this would be. I could just picture the movie in my mind. I can't wait to see this on the big screen (and hopefully they keep it rated PG-13 so I can). I would recommend this one to all and I can't wait to see what the next one brings as the Games are over so what could the next one have in store????

Eclipse Music Video (A Must See)

Muse - New Music - More Music Videos

47 days and counting...

I just bought my tickets to see Eclipse at the Junction on June 30 (of course I'm making Chelton go with me). Now I just have to wait for it to get here...47 days and counting.

Shout out to my mom

Well I am a day late (as I didn't want to get near my computer on the weekend). If you know me I am a medical transcriptionist so I make my living on my computer so my mother's day present to myself was not working on my computer. So I wanted to shout out to my mom a day late!!! If you know my mom a present to her is not putting a picture of her on here because she would not appreciate that...she hates seeing pictures of herself. I absolutely positively love my mom in every way possible. She is my best friend and has always been so. I can remember from the earliest memory I have telling my mom every detail of my life I have. If something happens in my life after telling my husband, of course, my mom if the first person I go to. It's almost like it doesn't happen if I don't tell her. I'm very blessed to be able to spend so much time with my mom and dad. They definitely are my "friends." On a Friday or Saturday night when we have nothing to do we always go hang out with them and they never get sick of us. It is not unusual to call my mom 5 times a day. She is such a good grandma too. My kids adore her. Thanks for being such a wonderful mom.

I also want to tell my mother-in-law that she a great mother and grandma as well. We appreciate all she does for us.

And to my wonderful children....thanks for letting me be the kind of mom I always wanted to be. I have such sweet children who are definitely my sweethearts. Garrett is so strong and independent and kind spirited. Connor is my sweetheart who has such a soft spot in my heart. He definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. Kylie is definitely my princess who is silly and playful. I hope I can be the kind of mother that my mom was.

The Last Song

Well I just finished The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks...I was a little hesitant to read this as I know the typical Nicholas Sparks books are pretty sad and I have heard from people that have seen the movie that it was sad so I didn't know if I wanted to read it or not but I was actually pretty suprised. I put myself on the waiting list at the library to get this book and they emailed me that it was in so I ran to pick it up. I read it in just a few days and I really liked this one. I went in knowing it was a Nicholas Sparks book (as having read most of his books) and it was a really good book. Having seen the previews for the movie I could clearly picture Miley Cyrus as the lead character and Greg Kinnear as her dad. Yes the book was a tear jerker but it ends on a happy note and the lead character (played by Miley Cyrus in the movie) really grows in the book and she ends up happy at the end which usually doesn't happen in his books. So without giving away what happens and spoiling the book, I just want to say that I really liked it and would recommend it. I want to see the movie now and see how it compares with the book. Now it is on to the next book. My sister-in-law gave me Pride and Prejudice but she is also getting me the Hunger Games which I have been dying to read and heard is really good so I will have to decide what is next....

Not the itsy-bitsy spider

So Kylie thought she saw a bug and sad to say she is becoming her mother when it comes to bugs....she hates them. She didn't want that bug to be in her house so instead of coming to me or her dad like she usually would, she went to her big brother Connor. She ordered her brother (because she is the boss around here) to get his shoes on and squash the bug and then ran and got his shoes for him. Well superhero Connor was brave and got his shoes and then proceeded to squash the bug for her. Well in Connor's defense he only did this because in reality there was no bug. It was just a product of a dirty floor that hadn't been swept. If it had been a real live bug I wonder if Connor would have been brave enough to capture the itsy bitsy spider for her. Kylie has superhero spider eyesight like her mother and can spot a spider from anywhere. It was the cutest thing to watch Connor try to be so brave for her and try to catch the invisible nonexistant bug. I told Connor he must really love her because if it had been my brother he would have picked up the piece of dirt and ran around pretending it was a bug and tried to scare me to death with it. They do have a love/hate relationship. They can be so cute and fight with the best of them.

Garrett's new school picture

Here is Garrett's new school picture. I can't believe he is going to be eight in two months. How did I get so old? We found out yesterday that his baptism is going to be on Saturday June 12th. He is such a good kid. He loves to play sports, mostly soccer, basketball and baseball. He really loves video games and I tell him all the time if they had a sport in video games he would get enough practice in it. He recently has found a new love of laser tag and borrowed some laser tag guns from his uncle Khayden and plays with his dad and loves that. He begs me all the time to go to Toad's so he can play laser tag. He is such a good older brother and although he fights enough with Connor, they are best friends and play great together and have the same interests (mainly Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, Avatar and sports). They really look out for each other. When he gets home from school every day Kylie runs to him and gives him a hug. It is so cute. He is such a great son, brother and friend.

Easter Fun

Well since Easter Sunday falls on General Conference we dressed the kids in their easter clothes (well really just Kylie is the only one who got new easter clothes) this last Sunday so I had to get a picture of it and put it on here. It is so fun on Easter to finally have a girl. Both Grandma's have got her some cute dresses the last couple of weeks and she has actually worn new dresses the last couple of Sundays but this one happened to be her "Easter" dress.



Kylie with her boys



On Monday Connor had an Easter party at the park with his preschool and me and Kylie went. They played at the playground and did an easter egg hunt so we snapped a few pictures of that.




Connor finally brave enough to go on this.



The first of a bajillion easter egg hunts



They let the siblings do the easter egg hunt too and Kylie loved that.

I'm such a loser (but I love it)

So a few posts back I wrote about my family doing a biggest loser competition. Well we are going month to month so each month we start over. The first month nothing happened. I just sat there week after week with nothing happening and this month....well..tada tada....this month I lost 9 pounds....that is a HUGE HUGE HUGE accomplishment for me and I officially am the biggest loser for this month. That means not only do I get to feel wonderful for losing 9 pounds this month...I also won like $100 dollars. I have to partly congratulate the new medication I'm on for my fibromyalgia because one of the side effects is weight loss (ya ya) and the fact that I haven't had any carbonation in two months (another side effect is that it makes carbonation taste disgusting)....so anyway I'm just glad that even though I've had a few moments of bad self esteem (like going to the temple and having my temple dress not fit and having to have the temple workers rent me a new dress and trying not to cry in the changing room and having my 5 year old son randomly tell me I'm fat while we are eating dinner---thank's Connor that's a motivation right there)....I'm still happy that I am a big loser and I hope that I continue to be a big loser for many more months to come because I know that I have many more pounds to go!!!

Books...books and more books

Okay so some of you know that recently I've become a reader. I've always wanted to become a reader and I've listened to all you readers talk about books you been reading but I've always said that I never had time to read...well recently I've found my time to read. I found that special hour right before bedtime that is my time to read. It has been something that I've really enjoyed to do and something that I can do that is for myself and I look forward to that hour (sometimes less) every night (and sometimes not everynight) that I get to escape in a book. So I've decided to list on my blog on the right hand side the current book that I am working on and then when I'm done with that book give a little rating of whether I liked it or not and whether I would recommend it. A few of the books that I have already read are: Twilight Saga (of course), Harry Potter series (of course), Percy Jackson Books 1-3 (currently on book 4), The Undaunted and a few little love story books my mom gave me but honestly couldn't tell you the name of the author now. My sister-in-law Alyssa has a whole list of books she is going to give me so I'm going to get reading. It works out great for Chelton because he can watch his sports or Modern Marvels show and I don't complain because I can read and not be bothered by it a bit.

A new deadline

Well now that March 20th came and went and I got my New Moon DVD (my early birthday present) I now have to wait for June 30th when Eclipse comes out. I watched my New Moon DVD last night and today I watched all the extra features. The features were okay I was just a little disappointed because on the discs I got there weren't any deleted scenes and those are really the only special features I really usually like watching more than once. I'm excited for Eclipse to come out. I hope it is as good as New Moon. I think New Moon was definitely better and truer to the book than Twilight and I hope it continues with the rest.

A wonderful grandma

Yesterday morning my Grandma Girardo passed away. She was a wonderful woman who I really loved. She will be greatly missed.

This is a picture of her and my Grandpa Girardo on the day of my wedding.

Sick, sick and more sick

Well we have had two weeks of sickness, sickness and more sickness. It has not been fun. It all started with taking the kids for their well child checks. Of course you go the doctor well and a few days later you get sick. Connor and Chelton started getting a cough and then I kind of got a little cold and then we all stayed home two weekends ago and didn't get anything done. Once the weekend was over I remember thinking that we got by okay and I was glad that was over....but that was just the beginning (but thankfully it was over for kids). Well this last week has been horrible. Last Tuesday Chelton woke up and he went to work and he called me and told me that something was wrong. He came home and laid on the couch and told me he needed me to take him to the hospital---this coming from a guy who doesn't like to go to the doctor or even take medicine. I quickly called his doctor and got him in to see him a couple of hours later. Well after the longest trip at the doctor's office we have ever experienced and a few tests and x-rays later we found out that Chelton had an extreme case of Strep and a bad case of pneumonia and some other crud on top of that. He has literally been bed-ridden for a week (and yes he is still in bed one week later as I am writing this post). I got the crud on top of the pneumonia and Strep that he has and it too has lasted this whole week with me. But sadly I have not gotten to lie in bed for a week. I get to work and take care of kids and the house and all that fun stuff. Anyway....any other news besides sickness----as it seems that has been our life for the last two weeks----Kylie has lost more weight after we took her to her well child check. She dropped from 20 pounds down closer to 19 pounds so her doctor is worried about her. She has not been feeling great this week as well and has not been eating so of course I have been worried about that. She has slowly been filling into her role of the terrible two's. That is not fun. But she is still a cutie and we love her dearly. Connor has been slowly learning to read and will have nothing to do in Kindegarten next year. I keep joking with him that they are going to send him to Garrett's grade when he goes because he knows too much. Garrett is getting excited to start soccer soon and is excited that his baptism is coming up. I am excited also that spring weather is slowly around the corner. So that's our life in a nutshell in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we are on the mend of sickness and some good stuff starts coming our way.....

Connor's field trip to the pet shop

Well Connor has had a few field trips lately with his Frog Pond preschool. He went to the dentist which I didn't go with him so I didn't get any pictures of that and he also went to the pet store which I did get pictures of. He liked the pet store but he wouldn't touch any of the animals or get within a foot of any of them. Kylie wouldn't either. She thought about petting the cat but once she stuck out her hand she had second thoughts and decided not to. Here are a few pictures from the fun they had from the pet store.

Connor with his best buddy Cooper by the fish.



Connor watching the lady show them the birds.



Connor by the fish.



Kylie getting ready to leave for the field trip.

Garrett's basketball endeavers

Well Garrett has started basketball this year. His team is the Jazz. He has really enjoyed it. They practice twice a week and it has really shown. He has definitely improved since the beginning of the year. He loves to go to practices and games and it is fun to go with his dad.

Posing for mom during half time



Going up for the layup



During the game

Valentines Day

Well Valentines Day came and went and we had a really fun one this year. On Saturday we went over to our neighbor's house across the street, Dan and Teresa Maisey along with around 12 or so other couples. We had lasagna and other potluck dinner and we had some great conversation and played some fun games and had a wonderful time. We absolutely love our neighbors. We played a newlywed type game which me and Chelton rocked at and a mad gab game which I was terrible at. There was also a game played which if you lost you literally got shocked but I didn't play that one. Thanks to my mom who watched my kids for me so we could go out and enjoy some really good company. It was nice not to have to go out with the crowds and get to enjoy some really good friends. I think I have the best neighbors in the whole world. We got to get to know a lot of people a whole lot better and I got to spend my Valentines Day with the best guy in the whole world.

Check out this site to win some cute stuff

My friend Beckie is giving away a darling pendant and a set of "Luck" blocks on her website. Go to beckieandbrad.blogspot.com to enter to win (before February 7th).

Biggest Loser Challenge

So my family (there are actually 11 of us participating) are starting a biggest loser competition. We each put in $10 a month and the one who loses the biggest percentage that month gets the pot. So you can potentially win $100 a month for being the biggest loser. Today is the first "weigh in" and then we start reporting our numbers next Monday. Wish me luck....I need this motivation.

Help to Haiti

My friend Beckie just posted on her blog about how much Haiti is in need of our help and if we all could donate even $1 how much help that would add up to. After looking over the red cross' website I learned that if you text "Haiti" to 90999 (confirmed by snopes) you will donate $10 to help and it is charged to your cell phone bill. We can all afford $10 and you don't have to even give anyone any credit card information. Hopefully my little bit counts towards helping someone in this terrible disaster. If the situations were reversed I would hope we had some help too. Also a wake up to all (as Beckie listed on her site), that we need to make sure we are prepared for our own disasters, food storage, emergency kits, etc. I know I could definitely use some help in this regard. My prayers are with the people devastated in Haiti.

Christmas and 5 year old birthday

Below are some pictures of our Christmas and Connor's 5th birthday. Christmas was a lot of fun. We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house. The kids enjoyed every minute of it and we had a great day. Connor also had a great birthday. On Saturday we went to Fat Cat's and played some games and then took him to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. On Sunday he had cake and ice cream and opened his presents. He was excited to finally get Spike the Ultra dinosaur that he has wanted for two years. On Monday (his actual b-day) we took him to lunch at Moore's. He got breakfast food and loved it and ate more than I have ever seen him eat. I can't believe he is 5 now. He is such a smartie and is truly my sweetheart.