Immortal

Michael Jackson died in 2009. That was a sad day for me because I was excited to see if there was anything more in store for him as far as music went. I have always loved his music, and his performances! Second to none. So when I heard that Cirque Du Soliel was going to do a tour called 'Michael Jackson Immortal' I was thrilled to say the least! I bought tickets for this thing back in March! Come to find out, my 10 year reunion was on the same night. But I didn't want to miss out on this, so I skipped the reunion!

These are just some photos took on our phones from that evening.  We went with our friends the Oberlys and the Fergusons! LOVE THEM!

The show was amazing! I laughed and cried and got goosebumps and danced and sang!

 The show was spectacular! I wish I could go and see it again. 

Glimpses of my littles

Well Christmas is a coming! Whether we like it or NOT!

 Ethan got the idea to mark the Target Magazine with check marks to let Santa know what he wants for Christmas. :) Genius! 

This kid just makes me laugh with his scary faces that he pulls all the time. 

 Ethan and Ivy like to go to Costco with me so that they can sit next to each other in their extra large shopping carts. It's good and bad for them in that close proximity. 

 Little moments like this make it all worthwhile though. :)

 These little piggy tails make my heart smile. I just love styling my little dolly every morning. :)

 All gussied up and ready to go shopping at 'Walmart' which just happens to be our toy room. :) She LOVES my shoes.

Here she is again wearing mommy's new buckle shoes. She walks better than me in them...uh oh!

More posts to come about Thanksgiving and Ethan's birthday party!!

Thanksgiving

It's become a fun tradition of our little family to stay in a luxury hotel on Thanksgiving! All the hassle of traveling to family and cooking got too be too much! We lounge by the pool, cook smores by the firepits, soak in the hot tub, and explore the hotel grounds. For our Thanksgiving meal, we go to Mimi's cafe and eat their yummy plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, and other Thanksgiving goodies. They give you Pumpkim pie to top it all off! This year we went and saw a Christmas Movie with the kids after that! It was so nice and relaxing that none of us wanted to leave!!

I'm already looking forward to this again next year!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Word Art

I LOVE making word art. I'll upload these to my site soon, but I wanna pin them so bad that I'll start with the blog...

Ethan Turns 5!

Ethan has been excited to turn 5 ever since he turned 2! We have talked about riding the yellow school bus when he turned 5 years old! He is still in his 3rd year of preschool, but come next Fall, he will start Kindergarten and ride the yellow school bus! I'm shocked that Ethan is now older than Calliou is, the 4 year old from one of Ethan's favorite TV shows on PBS.

5 years old seems like a huge milestone to me! The stepping stone to a coming of age. I never thought the day would come. We haven't had a friend birthday party for Ethan yet because it seemed weird to have one when he was so young. I knew it was time to have a friend party when he turned 5. He has a 'girl-phobia' right now. So this was to be a strictly BOYS ONLY party. :)

 First we turned on some of Ethan's favorite music, and had playtime and pizza.

 Next, we opened presents. 

Then, the boys got to run around and play in the backyard. These boys are so cute! 

Last, we went to the Bounz House and let them burn of all of their energy jumping around to their heart's content. Ethan has such a good time! He doesn't have any brothers, so he's always begging for play dates with his friends. He felt like a King as the boys all wanted to play with and sit by him!

This little guy melts my heart. He is kind, loving, and funny! He always recognizes the good in others. He loves all things Halloween, and Hot Wheels! What a gift he is to us!

Happy 5 Ethan!

Halloween Party

I love Halloween just as much as the kids do! We go to a party every year at the Ferguson's home just down the street from us. Joe and I decided to go as the leg lamp and box from the Christmas story! Awesome!

This is us last year...we found pics of Brett and Jacque (the party hosts) and made masks out of them. The best was that Joe got a RainDeck shirt from Brett and wore it. That's what Brett always wears!

Happy Halloween!

Toy Town!

We went to a fun place with our friends the Judys recently. It's called Toy Town and it's in Phoenix. Long drive, but totally worth it! It's a little place where they have kid sized buildings set up with different themes on them. Some for boys and some for girls. There are toys in every house and all over the place. The kids can also dress up.

Ethan as Buzz Lightyear/Spider Man! Ha!

Now Ethan wanted to be a fireman!!

Ethan never let this hot piece of machinery out of his sight! He drove it all around making sure the other kids weren't 'speeding' and giving them tickets if they were. :)

Ivy enjoyed playing house with the locals!

Pushing her baby in her princess gown. She was so preoccupied, I couldn't even get her to smile at me to take a photo!!

They would have stayed here all day if we could, but I had to run to IKEA so we had to bribe them with candy to get them to leave. I swear I only bribe with candy in dyer situations like this! I will definitely be returning here very soon! They get an A+ for being clean, and indoor so my kids can play on a hot day.

I know.

I'm in a good place.

Looking back, I realize that I was caught between a rock and a hard place without even knowing it! I ask myself every day why I am happier. I wonder where this new-found joy came from.

BUT I KNOW.

How could I be so ungrateful. I am blessed.

Perhaps it's that I have seen so many families be ripped apart lately because infidelity, or some other grievance. Perhaps it's that I experienced a couple of days recently keeping watch over more children than just my own. It's having my eyes opened to these other realities, that makes me look at my own life with a smile. There's a beam of light shining down on my days that wasn't there before. Life experience is giving me the maturity to take a step back and look at my life through God's eyes. Life. is. good.

I find that my favorite day of the week is Sunday again! This fills me to the brim with happiness! I can't wait to grab my scripture bag and head out the door. I can't wait to pull out my pen and my highlighter and ponder on the words of the Lord. What was but a tiny flicker of fire in my heart for a couple of years, has now become a growing flame.

My husband loves my children, he's patient with them, he knows when I need a break and he takes initiative. He engages in their life's and wants to be a part of them. They trust him, they love him, I love him.

I love him, and I feel peace when I'm with him. We laugh. We're silly. We talk about life's challenges and life's  happiness. He knows I have so many weaknesses. He knows the laundry situation is so-so. He knows I lose my patience and get lost when I'm driving. He knows I'm a terrible cook. He knows all of this and more. BUT he loves me. He listens to me. He knows the right things to say.

Life. Is. Good.

My testimony is growing again, and I'm not doing anything to stop it.

I'm grateful to my Savior for never giving up on me. For staying the course with me for the last few years while I was merely going through the motions of what I knew was right, hoping it would all start to make sense again. AND it does!

It's said that peace is an inner calm and comfort born of the spirit that God gives to His faithful saints. If being faithful awards me with a life of peace and calm, then faithful is what I'll be.

Life. Is. Good.

Family pics

Oh, just a little mid-summer photo shoot with my family!I had fun doodling these frames. I sure love my family!!

Headline News: Hunt Family rescues bird family from fart fan...

It all began when Joe was using our downstairs restroom the other night. All of the sudden he thought he heard birdies chirping. Not the 'I just got hit over the head with a bat' type birdies, but the REAL type birdies. So the next day, we discover that some birdies have built a nest inside the vent that leads to our bathroom 'fart fan' (aptly named by Joe). We welcomed the little family at first, but as days passed, we realized it's not so very fun to have birds clamor in loud chirping every time you flush the toilet.

D-day happened this evening when Joe wanted to drown out the sound of the birdies by turning on the fart fan. Turns out that wasn't a good idea because the fan sucked the mommy birdie and her two baby birdies dangerously close the motor, almost chopping them to pieces! Feathers were floating everywhere when Joe went into the bathroom and we thought we were going to to find a pretty ugly situation when we opened the vent. We were surprised to find the mommy bird fluttering around in there and as soon as Joe went to grab her, she flew around the house like mad! You can imagine Ethan was in stitches!

After scaling the roof after dark, Joe found no sign of the nest. After all that climbing, he discovered that the nest was closer to the ground around the side of the house. He put momma birdie in the nest, but there where no babies to be found.

Joe was a champ and went back to search the fart fan for the babies. My only contribution to the whole situation was to bring Joe a mirror so he could see further into the fan. After a few minutes of searching, two little hatch-lings were rescued. SO TINY and cute!

Joe reunited the family at their nest. Here's to hoping the mommy bird doesn't reject her little babies now that they've been contaminated by humans!

That third little photo in the collage is my Ivy Bird. I love her little leggies in that photo and just had to post it. :)

Ashley

Backyard fun!

Ethan, Ivy and I love exploring in the backyard! Well I shot this adorable little photo of Ivy while she was picking some beautiful weeds! Ha! This photo brightens my day when I see it!

Let Them Keep Their Innocence...

For quite some time I have felt so much sorrow every time I hear about children being abused, or neglected. My heart hurts so bad for these innocent beings. I cry and cry and my husband does his best to console me. I haven't been able to look beyond this earth, to the bigger picture if things. In my heart, I feel their pain. I feel like it's so unfair!

We happened upon a scripture this morning as my family was reading the Book of Mormon that has eased my mind and my heart. I know I will call upon these verses of scripture whenever I feel my heart start to break again. 

Alma 14; verses 10 &11:

10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

 11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

So what I gather from those verses is that all of us have our freedom of choice and action and the Lord gave us that gift when we came to earth. Therefore He will not always interject and save those who are suffering at the hand of someone else, because they have glory waiting for them at death's hand, and their suffering will be minimal. Those who choose to harm another on this earth will receive their just judgment at the last day. 

More Facebook Updates

What did you have for lunch today?

January 3

 

This was a cool article about celebs who change dramatically for a movie role. Christiane Bale and 50 cent look emaciated. Would you put your body through something like this?

Actors and Actresses - Hollywood Stars Who Transformed for Movie Roles at WomansDay.com

www.womansday.com

Actors, actresses and Hollywood stars who dramatically transformed for a role at WomansDay.com

January 6

 

Have you ever found more than three cherries in your fruit cocktail?

January 10

Sweatin' my bunz off in the sauna.

January 12 

 

Spent the morning cleaning the church, then to soccer practice, next the aquarium! Life hasn't been this eventful in a while!

January 15

 

My weird habit of drinking a cup of warm water every morning was deemed a 'healthy habit' on Ellen today. I think I will celebrate with another cuppa warm water right now!

January 15

 

I'm regretting introducing this movie to Ethan. It's very predictable and the animation isn't so great. Now it's one of his favorites...

January 18

 

You know your meal is TOO healthy if your dog won't even eat a scrap that falls on the floor...

January 19

What do you think? Is American Idol gonna be better with the new judges?

January 20

 

I'm in LOVE with our new blog design for 2 moms talk! Click here to see it for real: http://2momstalk.blogspot.com/

January 21

 

 

My one year old is throwing MAJOR tantrums. Any suggestions?

January 21

 

Just updated my iPhone facebook app. I should have done that a long time ago! Sone great new features, and it runs way faster!

January 22

 

Girls: This Midol is NOT working for my 'lady cramps'. :) Should I be taking something different?

January 24

By some unknown twist of fate, I just got out of paying $8000 in bandwidth overage.

January 26

 

Whooo do I love? This adorable owl! He blinks, moves up and down on his branch, and shakes hearts down on your blog!

Valentines Day

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January 26 

 

Trying to clean my toy room while the kids play in it is like trying to stop a waterfall with a cup. Impossible! :)

January 28

 

Watching the kids play. — at San Tan Village.

January 29 

 

My breath smells like water and pancakes, do you want to smell it? <----said my 4 year old.

January 31

 

Building a blanket house in my living room.

February 1

 

The password to get in the the blanket house is: choogabatooga.

February 1

 

I just added 56 new blinkies and buttons to the site! Go grab one for your blog.

‎2 MOMS TALK: 56 New Free Blogger Buttons/Blinkies

‎2momstalk.blogspot.com

February 1

 

41 degrees? No jacket can warm me enough to make that comfortable! As far as I'm concerned it's snowing. I'll be indoors if you need me.

February 2

 

I'm laughing at all of the Arizona folks who are whining about the 'cold' weather. (me being one of them). Everyone else is in the negatives, but we throw a fit when we have to put on a jacket. ;)

Thursday at 12:17pm

 

An official ponytail...squeal!!!

Friday at 9:18am

 

Sick sick sick...boo!

Friday at 9:08pm

 

Watching a chick flick tonight. Any suggestions? Classics?

13 hours ago