The Hunts

Some great photos!

2012-01-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

We planned on having my angel mother take our family photos this year to save money. So we got all dolled up and met her on Main Street in Mesa. We took a BUNCH of photos and then at the end of our little 'session' we were walking back to the car and saw a photographer standing there taking photos of someone. He looked at us walking down the street and could tell we were also taking family photos. I said, 'ya but we don't have a cool camera like yours!' It was the truth, we were using a simple digital camera, and his was awesome! I definitely had camera envy. He offered to shoot a few photos for us and I offered to design his Christmas Card for his family this year. So these were the few shots he took of us in about 5 minutes time:

This is actually a photo I took with my phone a few weeks back at Costco. I edited it a bit and LOOK HOW CUTE these little loves are!

Goodness was I grateful for Troy Brinkerhoff's help! I designed his Christmas card for him a few weeks later.

front

Back

Cute HUH!

I love my little family!

Christmas Card n more...

2012-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

I always love Christmas Card TIME!! I feel like it's my time to shine. I love designing my Christmas card because I can do whatever I want and get REALLY creative without anyone telling me how it should look! And the best part is, I get to print the card. I LOVE printing things! I love the idea of something I design, going into print! I love the smell of freshly printed things too! Anyway, without further babbling...here's the design of this year!

Front (The ride side was cropped about a half inch leaving the ornate shape there at printing)

Inside Spread

Back

Cute huh!

Christmas is awesome! This year the kids were 5 and 2. Perfect ages to understand presents and Santa and the whole thing! They got so many toys and had a FUN time!

We also went for a ride on the Polar Express!

This was such a Magical experience for us all! You get to take a ride on this adorable train that looks a lot like the one from the story book. You have a host that narrates the whole experience for you. You get hot chocolate and a HUGE cookie on the ride. They play music from the animated movie over the speakers as you wide. Ethan was so excited he couldn't even sit up straight! He just kept fainting onto daddy! Ivy was literally bouncing off the walls. At one point you drive by the 'north pole' and it's beautiful! I had a few tears! All of a sudden, Santa appears on the train and he talks to every child and takes photos. We had seen Santa already 3 times this year, and it's so funny because Santa keeps asking Ethan what he would like for Christmas, and Ethan assumes Santa should just know because he's already told him so many times, so he says, "I already TOLD you!" Hilarious!!

When the ride was over, the best part of all was the puffy white soft falling snow!! I hate snow. Mind you. BUT this wasn't snow, it was magic fairy dust! I felt like a kid again as we played and threw snowballs and just listened to the quiet and the giggling from everyone who was there. Surreal!

We stayed in a cute hotel that evening to cap the experience off well.

Merry Christmas!

Potty Training IVY!

2012-01-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

It's time! Ethan was potty trained at 2 and now it's Ivy's turn! I know this is usually a really difficult thing between a parent and child, but Ivy is ready, and I'm ready to be done buying diapers!

Update: Ivy did really well potty training! She's a pro with the pee and doing really well with the poo! Thank goodness for HoHos! Ivy loves those things! They are a great reward!

Immortal

2011-12-31T06:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-02T15:17:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-12T21:53:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-11-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-08-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-05-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-02-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

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/

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

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

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

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

blogamation.com

Animate your blog with Blogamation! Use these blogamations with your free blog background to make your blog the best on the block! You will find the best free animations out there!! So cute and unique!

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

More Facebook Updates

2011-02-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Just watched Inception again. Now I have all sorts of crazy theories in my mind and I can't fall asleep. Do you know for sure if the end is a dream or reality?

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at Oberly's

Ugly Christmas Sweater

December 12, 2010

If I had a dollar for every snot nose I've wiped this season...

December 13, 2010

I could swear I hear more about hanukkah and kwanza this time of year than Christmas since everyone is trying to be so politically correct. Ethan asked me why we don't light a candle each day...?!? Thanks to the Disney channel we are confusing holiday traditions now.

December 14, 2010

Do I wAnt my milk in a bag! I don't know!

December 15, 2010

Licking 100 envelopes! Yuck!

December 15, 2010

In heaven...be back later...

December 16, 2010

What child is this?...but seriously who took my sweet little three year old and turned him into a mood swinging, tantrum throwing four year old?

December 17, 2010

Feeling a sense of joy and relief that the Christmas program went so well today. I never knew directing a choir would so rewarding! I think I need to go put my arm on ice though... :)

December 19, 2010

This year's card. It's only fitting that the facebook design went on facebook! :)

Christmas Card 2010

December 21, 2010

Both of my children are STILL napping...what to do...?

December 21, 2010 at 4:11pm

Emergency!: Does anyone know where I can get me some of these white fudge oreos? Walmart in QC is all out...

December 23, 2010

Family Photos 2010

19 new photos

December 23, 2010

Long winter's nap...

December 25, 2010

Can I be honest? I don't understand the difference between an elf and a slave.

December 27, 2010

I wish there was a was a 'girls only' feed. Oh the things I would say!

December 30, 2010

Friday night lights marathon with the hubby. Can't think of a better way to welcome the new year!

December 31, 2010

Facebook Update:

2011-02-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

Ethan thinks the breast pumps on display at target are horns. I guess it's better that way!

Rad! Two of my most favorite things mashed together to create a show: Michael Jackson and Cirque Du Soliel! I think the world is going to explode.

November 5, 2010

Just read that burglars use Facebook to see when people aren't home. So from now on, I'm at home. With a shot gun. And a hungry shark pet.

November 7, 2010

I just caught myself screaming, "NO MORE SCREAMING!" now how's that gonna help anything...?

November 8, 2010

My Buddy and Kid Sister (Ethan and Ivy NOV 2010)

4 new photos

November 8, 2010

Just want to let ALL of the people in my ward know how much I appreciate all of you. If we do find out were splitting this weekend I'll cry.

November 8, 2010

tries to avoid embarrassment at all costs. That is until my neighbor/home teacher drives by when I'm sneaking around my front yard in my robe. Brett, hope you're happy!

November 11, 2010

On our way to take family pictures. Fingers crossed...!

November 12, 2010

I'm headed to the 'so you think you can dance' live show this wednesday! We'll be riding in limousine style! I love the friends who are going too. Just might have to rock some of my own moves... On second thought...that would be scary.

November 15, 2010

I'm in a limo! On my way to SYTYCD! Woo hoo!

November 17, 2010

Happy Birthday Joe! 30!

Joe's 30th Birthday Party

November 20, 2010

I feel like I'm looking at my life in the past, present, future when I watch the movie "Marley and Me." You can't get more real than the dog barking at the loud truck outside and waking the children up from nap time! Perfect movie. :) Two thumbs up.

November 20, 2010

When you're sick it feels like the world is passing you by...

November 22, 2010

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Okay I feel better now. Bring it on!

November 23, 2010

Aunt 'Mimi' cooks a fabulous thAnksgiving dinner. She even saved all the dark meat for me!

November 25, 2010

The bottom third of my Christmas tree is bare already. All the ornaments are squished up at the top so Ivy can't reach them...

November 29, 2010

Why do I always get choked up when I listen to, "baby it's cold outside?" :)

November 29, 2010

Yay! I'm so glad Ann won America's Next Top model!

December 1, 2010

I hear there's a totally rad website called blogamation.com that just launched... :)

December 1, 2010

I need to build up a Christmas music library. What are your favorite Christmas albums of all time?

December 3, 2010

Crew's Party

2011-01-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Allens are now back in AZ where they belong! :) As soon as they got into town, they had Crew's 4th birthday party!

This is a photo of Ethan lookin' 'mighty fine' at Crew's adorable Cowboy theme birthday party! There were squirt guns, crafts, yummy foods, and a pony ride to cap it all off! Ethan had so much fun! It was fun for the adults to catch up too!

Ivy wanted Daddy's sucker the whole time Crew was opening his gifts! She kept saying, "more, more, more!"

Lots of fun!

Digi and Dodgi

2011-01-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

Okay so before these little friends are gone for good, I wanted to make sure I wrote about Digi and Dodgi. These are Ethan's imaginary friends. They are very small, and they live in the light over by the Queen Creek Shopping center. The light looks like a tiny house so, thus, that's where they live. They come over to our house a lot and play with Ethan. Sometimes they get into some trouble and provoke Ethan to be naughty, but for the most part, they give Ethan someone to play with! They go with him in the car and during rest time.

My mom had a great idea, to have him describe what they look like and I draw a picture of them, so I will be doing that and upload it to this post as well.

I sure love my little Ethan and his HUGE imagination! I hope he never loses his creativity!

Iphone shots

2010-12-28T14:07:00.000-08:00

Kali and Pebo came and stayed at our house last week for a couple of nights and we had so much fun with them! Kali especially bonded with Ivy and she was a good little mommy to her. :)

We took Ethan to see Tangled recently. He felt so special to have a night alone with just mommy and daddy. He liked the 3d glasses!

Ivy is loving Ethan's old tractor! Here she is playing peekaboo!

She looks like a tractor pro here! Posing for the camera and all!

Joe Turns OLD (ha ha 30!)

2010-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Joe turned 30!! I wanted to make a big deal of it, so I invited his closest buddies and they went and played video games at this cool place I found. Us girls went to see a movie. It was lots of fun though. I'm approaching 30 very soon. Ahhh!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Ethan made his own witches brew for Halloween! Yuck!

Our Summer in random order:

2010-10-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

All aboard the Choo choo train!!

This train toots all around the mall and it's so fun to watch it so we thought we'd let Ethan take a ride. He had such a blast with Daddy!

This was back in July at the Chandler mall play place.

They have a little baby area sectioned off there where the big kids don't get in the way. Ivy had fun exploring!

Ethan hiding under the bus. :)

Happy July fourth! We watched the fireworks from our back yard this year again.

Ethan loved the glowy things we bought at the dollar store to share with all of the kids!

This is right before Ivy started crawling. I guess you could say she was revving up for it!

My little sweetie!

Ethan's Graduation in August 2010.

They did lots of songs with hand movements!

He was so outgoing. Not shy at all. :)

He did such a good job walking in and standing still. :)

The teacher is teaching them how to stand in a line, so they showed that off at Graduation. So cute!!

Ethan in his underwear with daddy on the crane lift thing.

Joe was fixing our golf nets and took Ethan on a ride!

Ethan is in Super hero mode now! He has a Batman and Superman shirt!

I Remember...

2010-09-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

What an event it was to visit the September 11th Memorial at Tempe Town Lakes this past Saturday. I got choked up as we walked over the hill and took in the patriotic site. Each flag represented a fallen citizen from that day. And further symbolism hit me as I noticed that each flag waved individually from the other, just as each person who gave their life that day had a unique story to tell. Joe sat down with Ethan and recounted the events from that day. Planes flew over us every minute or so. Taps was played a couple of times each hour. And the tears just kept streaming down my face. (I'm so glad I wore those sunglasses to cover the evidence.) The world has seemed to go back to it's 'I don't care about anything' mentality. BUT for this moment I was able to stop, and hit the rewind button, and remember...

What's Up This month?

2010-08-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems the closest thing to me that's a camera these days is my phone, so I snap shots from there more often than my higher resolution camera, but at least it's something right?

I just got a new calling as young women secretary and it seems to be perfect for me! Look at these crazy miamaids! They performed a Mormon rap and it was hilarious! I so remember those days of being fancy free!

This is Ethan's way of finding things to do around the house. He loves to get creative with the baby contraptions that litter our floor.

We sat outside and watched the rain storm last week. It was so nice to smell the damp and feel the cool breeze! I would have stayed out all evening if we didn't start getting soaked!

First day of preschool! I took more photos that I'll be uploading soon! Ethan was such a big boy walking into class this year! much different than last year. He's becoming such a big boy! Daddy gave him a sweet blessing the night before and he felt so important!!!

Look at this little princess! This is the dress she wore to church last Sunday and it was precious on her. She kept tripping on it though because it's so long. All of the young women argue over who gets to hold her and Ivy is so good when she sits on their laps. I LOVE this little lady!

Happy Bday Celebrations

2010-08-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

This month is always one of my favorites because it's Aimee and Mom's Bdays. And to our surprise, last weekend was a BIG party! Friday night, Aimee planned a BASH for my mom and all the girls went to see 'Annie get your gun' at Hale Theater. The show was so cute and I LOVED the music. After that we went for ice cream and chatted about shaving our legs. :) Nothing Better!

Then, we got a 'secret' invitation in the mail from Ray (Aimee's hubby) about a surprise party for her. The invite was SO sweet, and we were all to meet at Dave and Busters on Saturday night and rock the night away. Well OF COURSE Aimee found out about it early, but the event was still a HUGE hit! There was shuffle ball, pool, and games till the morning light! Ray did a fabulous job and we had such a great time!

Happy B-day ladies!! Love you!

Random iPhone Cuteness

2010-07-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

We love this little expression on Ivy's face!

Ethan looks so naturally happy here. So sweet!

Daddy and his brood in St. George. He is so proud of them!

Upside down boy!!

Mommy is getting a little better with the piggy tails. :)

Ivy is crawling!!

2010-07-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

This rudamentary post is from my iPhone but I wanted mark this last couple of days with Ivy officially crawling! My little girl looks so cute/funny making her way around the floor to get something she wants. I can attribute it to never laying her on the couch or any other contained space. Just on the floor. That's where I feel safest letting her explore. :) yay!

Seven.

2010-06-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, looking at this photo makes me remember that crisp cool perfect day in Sedona with my new hubby when all there was to think about was....us.

There's so much to love about Joe and about and about us. It's funny, the thing that attracted me the most about Joe when I met him is still the same thing that attracts me today. To sum it up in just a few words might confuse an outsider but it means everything to me...he's just Joe! Seven years later, he's got his degree, father of two children, works at a great job, but he's still just Joe.

He came into my life at the perfect time.

Happy seven years!!!

Dear Ethan

2010-06-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Ethan,

I just read you a story, said a prayer with you, and kissed you goodnight. You are such a treasure to me. Each day I see you grow and change a little bit. I love how you say things like 'wented' and 'jumpded'. I just giggle inside. I love all the creative things you come up with. Today you walked around the house 'mopping' and holding my old cell phone up to your ear 'talking' to Grandma about the days events. Thank you for letting me enter your world just for a moment. I can say my cup is filled with joy every day because of you. You are my little buddy and such a great big brother to Ivy. You learned how all by yourself and I feel happy knowing that she has you to grow up with. She's a lucky girl.

Last Friday you got hit by a golf ball in our back yard. I feel so grateful that you were not hit in the head. What a terrible thing that would have been! You were such a brave boy!

You've already lived so much life in your short 3 1/2 years on this earth. You've made me such a proud mommy so many times over. I count you as one of my greatest blessings every day!

I love you so much!

Mommy

St. George!

2010-06-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

We went to St. George this month. We always love our getaways to St. George because there are SO many people we LOVE so much waiting for us there! This time Steve (Joe's Dad) was gracious enough to rent a condo for Laura's Family, Sara's Family, and Our Family to stay in. How fun! It sure saved us some money! It was nice to be able to talk with them every morning and every evening. Joe also has some great friends from high school there who never fail to get together every time we come! So hilarious! I just get happy thinking about it! Here are a few photos that we took whilst we were there. Thank goodness Aunt Jill sent some to me...THANKS JILL!

A couple of other fun events were that Joe and I went to a beautiful session in the St. George temple, and we visited Grandma great's house. (She got hit in the nose by a ball) whilst the kids were playing around her and we all just felt terrible! Ethan called her his 'OLD OLD grandma'. Talk about a downer of a day for her! But she took it all really well! I'm just happy that my children get to meet some of their great grandparents !

This Morning

2010-06-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

This morning Ivy decided to sleep in longer this morning which meant that Ethan woke up first. I took the opportunity to crawl into his bed with him and just talk. What a special morning it was to talk and snuggle with my happy, creative, silly three year old. We talked about the glowing stars on his ceiling, and about how toilets work. I wished I could hold onto that moment forever. :)

Glee Live!

2010-06-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Mom and I went to Glee Live 2010!

I've never had more fun at a concert before! I had watch the show all the way up to this point and so seeing the cast live onstage was surreal! Mom and I were rocking out to say the least! I was so pumped when they started the show out with 'don't stop believin' and then I loved 'defying grafity' as well as Lady Gaga's 'bad
romance.' The openers of the show were a dance group called Legion of Extaordinary Dancers (LXD) and they were FABULOUS!

Throughout the show I cried several times because I was just so happy to be there! Leah Michelle is my favorite singer right now:

I loved this season finale of glee. Jesse St. James did Somebody to love while quin had her baby and he did a fabulous job!

Wow! Maybe I'm a Gleek! But I can't wait for next season!

Facebook Update!!

2010-06-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

June 3rd: Happy 6 months old to my little blondie ivy! She's got her first tooth and she's getting ready to crawl. It feels like yesterday that she was born!

June 1st: I cannot believe I actually made it through a trip to Walmart without seeing someone I know! Good thing! It was a gray tshirt on gray shorts day with no makeup...

May 31st: Wow...this 7 hour road trip with ivy is great...only a half hour more of screaming and thank goodness for that because I just might have to commit myself. On a side note, Joe peed in a cup.

May 28th: I'm always pleasantly surprised when i shop at the DressBARN considering the name of the store makes me think I'm hearing cows mooing and smelling dung. Isn't the stitching on these capris fabulous?

May 27th: World's most disgusting event. Ethan's grossest act ever. He dropped his gum near a gas station urinal and I'll let you guess what happened next...

May 24th: I was so proud of myself for not eating the krispy Kreme last night that I 'rewarded' myself with one this morning...what gives?!?

May 19th: Am I so redneck for seeing Tupperware and thinking 'makeshift swimming pool' ?

May 17th: I'm debating on whether or not to go outside and kick the person who kept turning on and off their trimmer and woke up my baby!!! Ahhhh!

May 7th: Me: "Ethan come down from there, the sign says NO CLIMBING." Ethan: "Signs don't talk!"

May 7th: Ethan spilled applesauce all over the carpet, but rather than freak out, I just yell for the built in dustbuster: "Barbie!" She sure keeps the carpets clean! Now I just need to teach her to scoop her own poop!

May 1st: It's beautiful days like today at 78 degrees in the shade that help me survive those boiling summer days to come. Love u az!

April 30th: U can't force creativity! But in my line of work sometimes u have to. Maybe a good night's sleep will do the trick.(with the occasional interruptions from my 5 month old...)

April 21st: This is it! So glad Ethan appreciates MJ's beats as much as his mommy.

Where are we now?

2010-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well the last few weeks have been a tad crazy and stressful. I got one of those fun cold-sores that only surface when I don't wear SPF lip-gloss, or I'm stressed! And I never forget the lip-gloss anymore.

1. I hosted a baby shower at my house for my great and partner Becky. More fun than stressful!

2. I sang a solo at a Relief Society, which didn't use to freak me out, but now it does! My confidence must have went out the window when the children came!

3. I am working on updating my website, and simultaneously launching a new boutique which comes SO many other stresses I can't even begin!

4. I've had an influx of custom website designs which come with deadlines to be met.

5. One of the most crazy of all is making sure that the loves of my lives all get their needed attention throughout each day. I love that genuine alone time I can steal with each one of my children and my spouse and I'll drop just about anything to get it.

What have I done to unwind? Put the kids to bed at 5 and 7, then WORK, then watch MY SHOWS! For some reason I am now going to list the shows I have been watching and on which days:

Monday: Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood - They're marriage is on the rocks right now because of dean's motorcycle racing so they are working on reconnecting again.

Tuesday: Glee - I'm so obssessed with the lead singers on that show that I Youtube them constantly!

Wednesday: America's Next Top Model - Season Finale last night was fabulous watching them stomp to the death on the Runway!! Love the hair and makeup! I secretly think I would be a very fierce runway model.

Reel Talk - I LOVE hearing movie critics review the movies coming to theatres. I still see the movies regardless of what they say, but I can't help but wonder what they think...

Thursday: Vampire Diaries - Elayna can't choose between Stephen and Damon (I think she should choose Damon) But there's a twist at the season Finale tonight where Catherine comes back pretending to be Elayna and kisses DAMON and then cuts off John's finger with the ring on it. VERY excited for next season!

Friday: Ghost Whisperer: Every week is a new thrill and chill!

Saturday: Dr. Who on BBC - This is a fabulous sci fi thriller comedy that is quickly becoming one of my favs. The Dr flies around in a phone booth to crazy worlds saving them from freaky things!! Very cool!

And everyday I still watch Oprah who I hear has had lower ratings than Judge Judy lately! I find it funny! I know her political and life view differ than mine but I watch it anyway and sometimes I learn stuff and have "Oh!" moments...

Shows I don't watch anymore because they're over rated: American Idol, Dancing With the Stars...

(Wow! Reading that list through over again makes me realize how nerdy I am!)

Okay so the newest with the kiddoes:

Ethan has preschool Graduation coming up next Thursday and he has a special part in the program. He gets to recite "little Miss Muffett" so we've been practicing several times a day and he's learned it! His imagination grows bigger everyday I just love to asking him questions to probe him to say something interesting!

Ivy is doing so many new things: rolling over both ways, holding her own bottle, and pulling up into crawl position where she smiles and wrinkles up her nose because she just so proud! She is such a peanut!

Joe is so awesome! He's my hubby so I feel proud to say that! He works so hard! Lately he's been making sure we do family scriptures every morning which I think is fabulous! Love him!

This little piggy (tail)

2010-04-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ivy had her first piggy tail the other day thanks to Jacque Ferguson. :) I was afraid to do it. She sure looked like a little peanut!

Last weekend the fam went to dinner and a movie. What a funny night it was. It really was one of the funnest nights I've had in a long time. :)

End of March Update

2010-03-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

My Fabulous little lady would rather be in her bumbo than lay down anymore. She can hold her head up high and scans the room for Barbie who she'll just stare at forever!!

I thought this ruffle bum onesie deserved a post in itself. It's so darling and it just makes me want to squeeze my little sweetie!

Angie's boy Preston turned 9 years old! We had a great party at Falcon Field with him. He loves all things aviation right now so most of his gifts were things that fly! He is such a special nephew. Ethan shared the tire swing with a girl. I love this last photo of Aimee and Heath. He has such beautiful brown eyes!

Smiles

2010-03-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ivy laughed for the first time today. Ethan ran around the corner of the couch shaking a mighty bean and Barbie was following after him. I'm not quite sure what did it, or if it was a combination of it all, but Ivy just giggled for a few seconds. I was ecstatic! We kept trying to recreate the moment again for her, but I guess the moment will just have to be spontaneous!

After I put Ivy down for the night, Ethan and I flew airplanes around the house and jumped over pillows as we ran. Ethan laughs so hard when Barbie chases us and jumps up. Love my kids!

The Ladies who Lunch

2010-03-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

For years I've wanted to host a Legends Ball of sorts where all of the ladies who I grew up admiring and learning from would come and we would treat them like queens and tell them how much they changed our lifes and really thank them for being so fantastic. Well I hope to still do that one day, but as it would be a HUGE undertaking I was happy to see that Sidney Madsen decided to throw and mommy daughter luncheon to honor all of the mommies and daughters from the '6th ward' as I call it. The name has since changed. Here are some of the photos:

It was such a fun time. We had yummy food and everyone who was present got the opportunity to talk about their current station in life and also share a memory they had from the ward. Finally, I had my chance to thank Sister Poulsen for being such an amazing influence in my life as she was my leader most of childhood. The memories were hilarious and there was so much laughter. So I know it's never too late for me to plan the Legends Ball, so that will have to wait, and for now, this made me happy knowing I could reconnect with my childhood heroes and friends.

I snapped this photo of my old house while I was driving home from the luncheon. It's massive and there's so many memories for me inside that house! The balcony was so fun to have sleepovers on! The front yard was so fun to hide in. And millions more...

He's catching on quick...

2010-03-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

Me: "Hey Ethan, let's clean up our toys..."

Ethan: "Why, is someone coming over?"

'nuff said.

Lazer tag

2010-02-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

We got some friends together last weekend to have dinner and play lazer tag! We met at the Salty seniorita which the atmosphere was like drift wood meets glam, very cool. The food was so-so. But the conversation was great.

Then we went over the stratum to play lazer tag. We played two crazy games. I realized how out of shape I am as I was sweating and sore by the end. It's good fun though, they pumped loud music in there and the glow of the black lights are everywhere. You can't help but feel hyper and totally 'cool' running around shooting people with your phazer. I love that word "phazer". We all agreed that we'll have to go back very soon!

Stealing Time

2010-02-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

Lately I feel like I'm trying to steal time to do everything.

But at the same time, at the end of a day of doing everything,

I can't remember what I did...

take care of the children
work
clean
cook
Sleep
Have a social life
worship
spend quality time with hubby

Those are all things that need to get done at some point in the day.

I wish I could just stop time, just for a minute so I could take it all in, really be in the moment. I want to look at my as it is now and just be..................

I see the elderly at church and know that I'll be there soon. All they can do is talk about the past because that's all they have, and that's what I'm living right now, the life they wish they could go back to. It's a funny paradigm.

Ivy's Blessing day

2010-02-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful day when all of the family came to visit for Ivy's baby blessing. Church was at 9am so we were especially grateful to see everyone so early! Ivy's dress was absolutely fabulous. I wish they had it in my size! She was the bell of the ball and Daddy's blessing was so sweet!

After church we all came to our house for subs and mom's famous bowtie salad. Oh yah and yummy lofthouse cookies too! The family talked and laughed and the kids played and played.

After all the fun had ended, Ivy was zonked out. She needed some beauty sleep.

Home Sweet Home

2010-02-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, being a new mommy again, I stay at home a lot more that I used to! It's just more difficult to get out of the house! So we find fun things to do around the house like play with Ethan's big legos! He loves to stack and stack over again, so we decided to use ALL of his blocks and build a castle. It was lots o' fun! And then of course the giant robot lived in the castle. Ethan keeps me on my toes all day long, but is a big helper too. Thank goodness for naps.

Ivy gets to play dress up at her mommy's request. I am living vicariously through her when it comes to pink and tutus because when I was little I could never get enough of that stuff! Anything sparkly or girly always caught my eye! She'll be blessed this Sunday. I can't wait to take photos of her in her blessing dress, it's fabulous!

Joe told me he's ready to get started on his master degree next year so we're gearing up for that!

I'm an Etsy Freak Lately, I love all things boutique on there. Also, we've seen AVATAR twice now, and I'm definately wanting to see it again before it leaves theatres. I LOVE that movie. I got the soundtrack to it and listen to it when I do my graphic design. It makes me happy! I tell Joe I wish he and I could travel to a bioluminescent world and be mated in front of the spirit tree... was that TMI? Well this is MY journal!

My kiddies / The newest...

2010-01-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

Aren't they cute?

So the newest with Ivy: She's such a good sleeper! A couple of nights this week, she 's only woken up 1 time to feed. She got sick again a couple of weeks ago and couldn't breathe, but now that she's breathing better, she's such a happier baby. She smiles so much and loves to squeek and squak about everything. She loves to crawl up things when you push up her little feetsies, she'll make a little grunting noise and rocket forward. You gotta gaurd your noise or she'll bonk right into you! She's got such a strong neck.

The newest with Ethan: This boy is hilarious! The other day Joe said, "Ethan, did you make any new friends at the playplace?" Ethan said, "No, Heavenly Father made them." He's been asking us who made everything, and most of the time it's Heavenly Father who makes things so he just assumed Heavenly Father made the friends. :) He also loves to remind us to turn off the water when we brush our teeth. :) He's adjusting well to Ivy. He loves to call her a "little fella" for some reason. And he loves it when she "talks" to us. He tells her silly stories and sings her songs when she cries. He LOVES family night. That is so precious to me because I know he values the time we spend together. He's my little buddy.

The newest with Joe: we are planning a Valentines Day getaway, one night stay at a hotel somewhere. Not on Valentines Day because Grandma will be busy, but sometime around then. We are both chomping at the bit to get some alone time and relax. He LOVES his calling with the young men. He goes to game night every week from 9pm to sometimes midnight where he hangs with the boys.

Newest with me: Design to the 3rd power. I guess I feel the need to make up for lost time when I was pregnant, but I'm a graphic making fool. I forgot how much I love it! I love to lay Ivy on my lap and talk with her and smile with her. I love to give her baths. I love to cuddle with Ethan on the couch, and I love to sit at the breakfast table and plan out my day with him. Joe and I put Ethan in the movie daycare and brought Ivy with is to see Sherlock Holmes. It was a good time, and it was nice to spend time with my hubby. :)

Welcome Ivy

2009-12-09T06:28:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to welcome baby ivy into our family. She's an angel. Ethan loves her so much already and wants to touch and kiss her any chance he gets! There's more details to come, but here are some photos to start. She's such a big girl! These pictures look like she's already one month old, but she's only 4 days old in these photos!

The Wheel of Responsibility

2009-11-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

During this pregnancy, Joe and I have been spinning the wheel of responsibility to determine who does the daily duties around the house. It sure makes life easy for me.

Okay so we really haven't been using it, but I thought the idea was funny. I mean, I'm the one who 'gets' to be pregnant for nine months. Joe always tells me he would gladly be pregnant for me if he could. BUT knowing all that comes along with pregnancy, I'm not so sure he would stick with that agreement for very long.

But seriously, my due date is in 3 days. If Ivy doesn't come by then, there's a scheduled enducing Thursday. Thank goodness. I can't wait to get on with life with a new baby. I'm sure she can't wait to come out too because she does the hippie hippie shake on top of my bladder any time she gets the chance!

Here's to an exciting week!

My baby brunch

2009-11-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

I had fun designing this invitation for my brunch, so I had to show it off!

Thanks to my sister Aimee for taking these pictures, I have felt horrible for forgetting to take any pictures at her shower the beginning of this year, and yet, out of the kindness of her heart, she took pictures at mine!

Mommy and me.

Me at the breakfast table. There was lots of yummy treats.

The party went really well! Many of the ladies brought their kids and let them play at the park while they snacked and socialized. There was so many adorable handmade gifts, I can't believe the creativity of the people around me! Baby Ivy is going to have a headband to wear for every day of her bald headed life. :)

The weather was great too, a little warm, but nothing to complain about. The problem was the bees. We sprayed them with poison, but they kept coming back for the fruit! Thank goodness no one was stung!

Thanks to Mom and Aimee for throwing the shower, and thank you to everyone who came. What a treat!

Halloween Party at The Ferguson's

2009-10-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Joe and I got dressed up for an evening of fun this month at our friend's house just down the street. He's the Milkman and I'm the knocked up house wife. It was cool to really be knocked up!

Meet Jacque Ferguson. She decorated her house to the T for this spooky Halloween party. She's a professional painter, and crafter, so you can see why it looks so cool! This was the treat table.

This was the table where we all ate steaks and chicken and a bunch of other Halloween themed food. Look at the close attention to detail!

This was the photo backdrop. Such a cute and creepy idea to have it a chop shop theme.

The flapper couple and the old geezers. (Brett, sorry to say you looked like a child molester!)
The 3 blind mice (they brought their adorable baby that I almost sat on) and the boy/girl swapped couple.
The 80's couple and Dog the bounty hunter and his wife. (Those Jubblies on Leslie were show stoppers to say the least!)

We played some really fun games and laughed a lot. It's so fun to have such cool friends that live nearby.

Boo!

Anniversary party for mom and dad!

2009-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had a secret party for my moms and dad's anniversary this year. Aimee decorated her house so cute for the event. She also blogged it a lot better than I would have, so I'm posting her blog on here so I can remember all the details later:

"My family has always been slightly unconventional. Ask anyone we were raised with. If there was ever any fireworks going off in the neighborhood, or random events, it was usually my family behind it. But we have never fallen short in the "good times" category. 32 years of marriage, is a really big deal, by any standard. But it seems the stresses in life, have always presented themselves around the fall, these last few years, so we haven't thrown my parents a timely anniversary party. You know, for the big, monumental years. And regardless of the amount of decades, it was time for us kids, to honor my parents, and make THEM the center of attention.So we kept this party secret. Invited Mom and Dad over a few times for dinner with my little family, trying to keep it casual. They had to reschedule, and then at one point my sister had to reschedule, and we had to move it around again! I was telling little lies all over the place, to keep it under wraps. We had babysitters lined up for the kids, and had to coordinate every one's schedules to pull it off. But finally the night came, and every one was in. All the Cutright kids and our spouses were pacing around, waiting for the happy couple to arrive. Running around, and peeking out dark windows. And finally they did. We hid, and then hit them with a bunch of shiny confetti and screamed "Happy Anniversary!" They were so shocked!And in true Aimee Teerlink fashion, I had our camera all prepared, and ended up getting 4 shots of the whole night. I am sooooooo disappointed! But I am lucky, that the food wasn't disappointing! We had stuffed puff pastry hors d'oeuvres, pesto tortellini, salad and french bread, roasted baby carrots, and cheese cake. All completely health conscious foods, and low in fat...

We asked Mom and dad a bunch of questions about their dating and newly wed experience. It was a riot. Dad told us about how poor he was as a kid, so he and his friends (the Rosedale Ruffians, as the neighborhood called them) would go down to the cemetery and wait for the funerals to finish, and they would go and steal the roses off the grave arrangements, to give to their dates! I mean, we laughed so hard! But it comes from knowing the destitute situation my Father was raised in. How mom thought that Dad was a snob when she was first introduced to him at Skags (a grocery store), because he wouldn't look her in the eye. Come to find out he was petrified of girls, and was just afraid of her. How dad told mom their first date that he was interested in finding a wife, and that if she wasn't looking for a husband, that he would probably not ask her out again. And that conversation led to their first make out... on their first date! And we learned that Dad had been engaged 2 times in his life!! Never before revealed. And about what a schemer my mom was. She really played the game well. How my Dad's best friend Rod, called at 6 am, the morning after their wedding, to ask if he and his wife could live in the basement of my parents new home. A lot of priceless memories.

Then we each prepared gifts for them. Angie went first, with an amazing short story she composed, full of analogies, and memories of my parents marriage, and their effect on her. It made us laugh and cry. She is a very talented, and passionate writer, and we LOVED it! Jordan and Brittany made a slide show DVD for mom and dad including all their bloopers. They sang songs, and hosted through out the slide show, and had us rolling on the floor with laughter. Ashley found Tim Tams for mom and dad, as her special memory of them, when we all lived overseas. And I bought them a Zim Zam. A game we all used to play years ago, together as a family. All gifts that they could enjoy together, or would be something meaningful to them.I am just so proud today, of my siblings, and their spouses. I could not have imagined a better outcome for this weekends party, after all the work it took to get us all together! I love my family so much, and am THANKFUL, for this experience."

Ethan's Pledge :)

2009-10-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

This is so fun for me to watch. My little boy goes to preschool 2 days a week, and they have an American Flag in there and the kids say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Well one day he started pointing out American Flags wherever he would go and just start spouting off the words to the pledge. We helped him a couple of times, but he really memorized it at school. So cute!

Car Bed Magic and Musical Chairs!!!

2009-08-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ethan's almost three years old and we've have had him in a crib since he was a baby. Being the careful boy that he is, he's never once tried to crawl out so I figured it was best to keep him behind bars as long as he would stay there! With the baby sister coming end of November/beginning of December, I knew some changes needed to happen with Ethan's sleeping habits. So I started looking for a new 'fart sack' for Ethan (as Daddy calls it).

I happened upon this Little Tikes car bed on craigslist. Gently used, complete with Cars Movie bedding, and matress for $65. What a steal it has turned out to be! Ethan tells anyone who will listen about his cool car bed. Not only does he sleep in it, but he also uses it as a trampoline/jungle gym. It has proven to be a hit!

On a side note, we've been playing musical chairs with the rooms in our house these past few weeks. All rooms/closets have been gutted. We sold a couch, treadmill, and dining room set on craiglist (what a gem). So now the baby will be in Ethan's room, Ethan is in the office, the office is in the dining room, and the dining room is obsolete since we NEVER used it anyway! So with the extra money we have from selling things, we are finally going to fix our golf ball hole masacred windows. Yay! I have to give a shout out to my mommy for coming over yestderday and spending 5 hours with me decluttering and organizing. She's such a trooper.

In other news, Barbie escaped this evening for a few hours to romp the neighborhood/golfcourse. I came home to our front door ajar and we drove the streets yelling her name and whistling. Ethan had fun 'pretent whistling' to try and help. We were sad to come home dogless. Then I parked my chair in the front yard for a few minutes and out of the corner of my eye I saw her mosying up the sidewalk. She'd been doing who knows what on the golf course for a few hours. She came home looking a little roughed up and was missing her collar. It was a happy reunion! I missed her more than I thought I would if something like that happened. She's very tired now. If it weren't for her breathing, I'd think she was dead.

I woke up this morning feeling like 'All is good" and I think that's how the day will end. :)

Leaving public access behind... (going private)

2009-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I'm going private soon. I've sent an email to those of you whom I have your email addresses. Otherwise, please send me an email to huntsnlove at hotmail dot com if you'd like to be added to my blog.

After reading this blog post: http://www.brookemartin.blogspot.com/ I feel that, if nothing else, I can do my part to stop the pervs from taking my own innocent photos and turning them into something gross!

Thanks all, for your cooperation!

Ashley

First of many firsts!

2009-08-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know Ethan has already had several other firsts! The first time he walked, talked, ate solid foods, pooped on the potty, ect! BUT today seemed like one of those big time 'firsts'! One of the first 'firsts' of his journey to being a big boy!

We've been talking about it with him a lot. We even picked out the coolest backpack ever with Lightning McQueen on it! I've known it was time for a few months now since he's been so interested in learning his letters and numbers. We spent the morning getting 'dapper' for the big day. Then when I dropped him off, he had tears, and so did I. I didn't expect that for preschool.

He had a great day! When I went to pick him up he was learning a new song and I felt so much joy! He's a big boy now. I hope the moments don't pass too quickly!!

You've got to giggle!

2009-08-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

These are a few things that Ethan's imagination has cooked up over the past few months. There's so many more of these little gems, so as I think I them I will try to record them. Some day, when Ethan is big boy, I hope we can get a kick out of thinking back on these days!

Kitty Shaver: This creature has long feet, long tail, long beak, long sharp teeth, it has dots on it, and it comes in your room and shaves your back when it gets hairy. Ethan came up with this one day, we have no idea where it came from, but even during his turn to say prayers he often whispers, 'bless the kitty shaver."

The Duck: One morning Ethan wakes up hysterically crying. I run in there and ask him what's wrong, once he composes himself he tells me there's a ducky in his room and it's making the sound, "raaaaaaaaar, reeeeeeeer, raaaaaaaaar, reeeeeeeeer." So I sat in there, comforting him, listening for the sound, nothing. I tried to calm him down telling him "there's no ducky." He just kept insisting that there was a ducky gonna get him. So I brought him in to see daddy and went back into his room. Finally I heard it. His fan that we have had in there since his birth was on it's last leg and randomly made the 'ducky' sound. I showed Ethan the fan and tried to explain to him that the fan is broken and that's where the sound was coming from. Ethan still had a hard time believing that there was no ducky. A few hours later Joe took him to Target to get a new fan, and we threw the old one in the garbage can and that seemed to help ease Ethan. Weeks later, he still loves to tell the story of the ducky in his room. He always starts with, "Once upon a time..."

Hows your 'birth'day goin? Well we're definately into the question stage at 2 1/2 years old. For a long time the broken record question that Ethan would ask is, "what are you doing?" Well that got old after a while so then one day he started asking, "how's you're birthday going?" For I while I went a long with it, but finally Joe and I had to tell him to ask, 'How's your day going?" because it wasn't anyone's birthday that day. So now the repeated question is, "How's your day going?" He asks all day long. He asks strangers while we're out and about too. It's so fun to know he cares!

Stomping Alligator: This one remains a mystery. I was having a shower while Ethan watched cartoons in our bedroom, and when I got out he insisted that there was an alligator in our house. I asked him where it was and he pointed outside of the closed door. I asked him if he saw the alligator and he proceeded to show me how he heard stomping on the floor, and it was an alligator stomping. He wanted me carry him around the house for the next hour or so...

Owl down the street: Our neighbors down the street have placed a plastic owl on their window's ledge to scare away the birds from pooping on their house. One day, while Ethan and I were on a walk, I pointed it out to Ethan and told him why that owl is that their house. He insists it's a real owl though. Well knowing Ethan's past, he has a real fear of owls ever since he saw one in a cave on his favorite show, "Go Diego Go". But as he's gotten older, he has more of an admiration for them. He's even perfected the sound they make by rolling his tongue. So now, when we drive by the owl, we have to slow to a stop and let Ethan tell us why the owl is there. He feels so proud of himself!

Monkey Brushes: One of Ethan's most memorable experiences was the first time he went to the carwash with daddy. He was absolutely terrified and talked about it for weeks. After freaking the child out many times following that, Joe decided to take Ethan to the "blue" car wash instead of the 'red' one. What a difference that made! Ethan came home and told me that there we're silly 'monkey brushes' at the 'blue' car wash, and that they go round and round, and he giggled while he talked about it. For weeks he couldn't resist telling everyone he ran into about the 'monkey brushes'. Now he likes to have deep conversations with Joe and I about how he likes the 'blue' car wash better than the 'red' carwash. He begs daddy to take him every day, and Joe looks forward to taking him on the weekends.

Preggers and other things

2009-07-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

These next few months are going to be bitter-sweet for me, mostly because I have the best little 2 year old a mom could ask for and spending time with him has been such a joy for me. Just the two of us, while daddy is at work, and then when daddy comes home, we have even more fun. It's really starting to feel like a family unit. I keep feeling like I'll be a little sad to add another addition to the mix. I feel like the family dynamic will change. Ethan's roll will change from being the only child, and sole receiver of all attention, to being big brother. He's already so helpful, he wants to do everything he can to gain more independence, so I know he'll be a big help. It's just going to be difficult for me not to look at him as my little baby boy anymore! I'm sure I'll immediately snap out of it when the new baby comes because of the joy and love I'll feel with both. I'm sure I won't be able to picture my life any other way. So I really can't wait for that day. :)

I'm so happy to finally feel less sick these last few weeks! Besides a little bout of the flu I had this week, things are getting back to normal! It's such a blessing that the things of pain in the life are for but a moment when you look back on them.

In the meantime, we've had lots to do and time marches on!

Joe has been spending lots of one on one time with Ethan lately since I've been laying around the house with nausea. He took him to a Dbacks game recently and Ethan had such a fun time dancing to the music and watching the game.

Joe and Ethan had a blast at father and sons together. Funny story, the two of them were sleeping in the tent together and of a sudden Joe gets woken up by Ethan saying, 'Daddy, stop making the trimmer noise!" Joe realizes he's been snoring and Ethan thought it sounded like a trimmer so that's the only way he could describe it! They did all of the fin camping things like roast marshmellows and throw rocks in the river. Too fun! Oh I failed to mention I had a fun girl's night that evening!

We spent some time at Lehi Days with the Allen family after a LONG dry spell of missing them. They are so fun and so easy going to be with. Crew and Ethan enjoyed each other's company too! I'm always sad when the Allen's leave town because I know it will be a long time until we see eachother again!

The greatest performer!

2009-06-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well I'm very sad know that Michael Jackson passed away this past Thursday. What an amazing man and performer. I remember watching this superbowl performance when I was 10 years old. There's never been a better half-time show since! I think this is the way I want to always remember him. :)

Baby on the way...

2009-05-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I've said goodbye to my Michael Jackson blog facelift. ::sheds a tear:: But on to bigger and better things! We have been blessed recently to find out we're expecting again! I would do a happy dance but then the nausea would kick in stronger and make me do things I don't want to do. Despite the all of the fun pregnancy symtoms (nausea, heightened sense of smell, weird cravings, sleepiness, lazyness, gas??) we are all very happy! Ethan can't wait for a little brother or sister. I would love to find out the baby is a girl, but I know I'll be happy either way!

I've got plenty of other things to share, but seeing as how sitting at the computer makes me feel sick, we'll see how well I do at posting over the next few weeks.

If I had to...

2009-03-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

If I had to choose one artist that I could only listen to their music for the rest of my life, it would be easy for me! The King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. I used to go to my room, close the door, flip on 'They don't care about us' and rock out!

Last night, American Idol had 'Michael Jackson' night and it seemed to stir up all my memories of dancing in the living room to 'Thriller' and 'Man in the Mirror' with my sisters.

You can say what you want about his personal life, but when it comes to performing, he's number one! Dance, song beat, energy, he has it all! He always does something crazy when he performs live on stage. One of my favs was when he came together with Britney Spears in '02 for 'the way you make me feel'. Two of my favorite artists!

And who can forget Captain EO the 3d movie at disney land for all those years! So awesome! I hope he never stops making music and performing. I would die to go to one of his live concerts! Anyone hear about one coming anywhere near AZ, you must inform me!

Thanks MJ!

I hear wedding bells!

2009-02-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

Yay! My little brother just got back from his mission is Novemember and his sweet peach girlfriend Brittany waited for him. When he came home, they started off right where they left off, and now they're getting married in March. Jordan and Brit are such a perfect couple. You can't be in the same room with them without feelin' the love! She's amazing and we'll be so happy to call her sister!

Yay!

2009-01-31T19:06:00.001-08:00

So I recently designed some ads for one of my favorite clients. Lora Jenson, little did I know, she's a genius, so here's what one of the ads looks like:

Well I designed the ads, and chose the slogan "Easy, fun, you're done." and went about my daily life again putting Ethan in diapers just fine. Well then Lora so graceously sent me the Ebook. So I thought I would try it! WOW! A week later Ethan has gone a whole day without having any accidents! Was it easy or fun? No! Did it happen in just three days? No! But am I done potty training Ethan, YES! I am so happy that I did it. And I'm so grateful for my husband who didn't let me quit when I tried like 10 times! He just kept telling me it would be worth it. And the relief I feel right now is amazing!

I'm a busy mom, like most, and I think in the beginning I did not put as much focus into my child as he needed in order to complete the task in 3 days. Now I know for my next child what needs to be done. I wish I could send the Ebook to all of you out there, but I need to give credit where credit is due, so go to here site and purchase the Ebook: http://www.3daypottytraining.com/. You'll be happy you did!

On a side note, Joe and I played twister last sunday while Joe's brother Jeff called out the next move for us, I think he had it in for us, however because look at this horrendous pose we were forced in to:

We laughed until we cried, and then fell down. (I love how one of Ethan's cars is in any photo I take inside my house anymore, they're everywhere!)

Christmas Through your eyes

2009-01-15T06:21:00.001-08:00

I had fun designing this year's Christmas Card. Here's the final front.

Inside Spread.

Back. The paper was a glossy cardstock. So cute!

This year, Joe and I decided to take the lights off of our old pre-lit tree so we could put new ones on. Hours and several severs to the hands later, we vowed never to do that again. I think we'll try a 'real' tree next year. It was a great bonding experience though. :)

We did the luminaries down our street and through part of the neighborhood this year. It's such a fun activity for Christmas eve! All of the neighborhood kids look forward to helping me fold the sacks and put the sand and candle in.

This is the beautiful Christmas lights Joe put on the house this year. I just love them! Ethan took one look at Daddy's Christmas light extravaganza and said, "It's so beautiful!" He could have stared at them all day long.

This is our Christmas lights on drugs! Much cooler!

Ethan on Christmas morning! When we went to visit Santa at the mall, he told him he wanted toys for Christmas, but I don't think he really expected to wake up one random morning and see all sorts of fun toys and gifts. I woke up Chistmas morning feeling SO SICK! So I got to be the photographer. :)

Ethan and his Christmas spoil of sorts!Barbie apparently has something against Santa Claus.

What's left of Santa!!

Ethan turns two!

2008-12-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

Yes I've got a two year old on my hands. It's seems the day he turned two, I started noticing that two year old mentality come out! Picky eater, fits, loves to say 'no', doesn't like naps...so lets celebrate this new stage of life shall we?

This was one of the funnest parties I've been to in a long time! It required all of us to become two years old again, because Mommy (me) made sure that we did all of Ethan's favorite activities!

Agenda:

-play with clay

-snacks

-bubbles

-open presents

-cake time

-dance party!!!

Ethan turns into a crazy nut when we we blow bubbles! Angie made a comment about eating the bubbles, so Ethan started crawling all over the grass in search tasty bubble treats!

We did the HOKEY POKEY! I purchased a cd from the party store with all kinds of fun party songs, Ethan ran around in circles while all of the rest of us made fools of ourselfs doing the hokey pokey and the chicken dance! It reminded me of those fun days at Skateland!

That's what it's all about...yeehaw!

My Favorite Twilight Quote

2008-11-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY read these books in like a couple of weeks. It took me like a whole year to read a Harry Potter book so I thought I was a slow reader, but APARENTLY I was reading the wrong books!



I hate it to jump on any bandwagon, but I have to admit, I have created my own little obsession with this story and the fact that there's a movie opening this week, is just too much to handle!



Here's one of my favorite quotes from the story:



“Bella, I’ve already expended a great deal of personal effort to keep you alive. I’m not about to let you behind the wheel of a vehicle when you can’t even walk straight. Besides, friends don’t let friends drive drunk,”“Drunk?”“You’re intoxicated by my very presence.”



Edward is so confident, and as I was reading the books I had to snicker every time he made a remark like this to Bella. :)



(I'm going to this movie Friday, if you'd like to come, call me!!)

Our last few weeks:

2008-11-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Halloween party at Grandma and Grandpa's house! We showed off our costumes, bobbed for apples, pinned the nose on the pumpkin (which was very dizziying I must say) and ate so many fun foods! Lots of fun and scares for everyone!

Barbie Dress up like a cheerleader. She was a little immodest in her short skirt, but as long as she kept her tail down, she looked great! Also, you can see Joe tried his luck at bobbing for apples, he got a little but wet! That dissoriented looking woman spinning around on the bat is me. I was the laughing stalk of the family as I hobbled around trying to pin the nose on the pumpkin.

My neighbor Tonya let me borrow this adorable Yoda costume for Ethan and it looked perfect on him. Joe and I taught him how to say, "Yoda, I am" in a low scratchy voice.

Trick or treating was SO MUCH FUN! I had way more fun that Ethan did, and that says a lot because he couldn't contain himself, he was having so much fun! He ran into someone's home because he saw their pet kitty cat and he chased after it yelling, 'meeeeeeeeooooowww!' There were several cat chasing experiences. Now he wants to Trick or treat every day. I taught him the 'funny' trick or treat song. "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat."

We went to an air show/ all things boy this Saturday. There were planes, tranes, fire trucks, helicopters, blimps and automobiles up close and personal. He and daddy were in wonderland, and I had the camera rolling.

We all got to ride in the fire truck together. It had a bell on it that went, 'ding ding ding' and that's all Ethan can talk about anymore is how he road on the fire truck, and daddy was holding him, and it went 'ding ding ding!'
It was such a fun day, and the admission was free!

Afternoon Delight

2008-09-22T09:49:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning around 6:20am, went outside, and I actually felt a cool breeze blow over me! I looked at the temperature and it was 78 degrees. I had to smile knowing that cool weather is soon approaching for us here in Arizona.

Of course along with the cool weather is always college football season! Those who know me know that I really don't like football, at all, I'm not a fan. BUT since Joe bought The Mountain TV network, we're the only ones in the family that have the BYU games to watch. This Saturday, we hosted the game at our house. I have to admit, I made a touchdown of a dip! Here's the recipe.

FOOTBALL DIP

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Frito Lay bean dip
Small jar of taco sauce, medium or hot
2 c. shredded cheese
Nacho chips

Brown ground beef, drain. Put into 13 x 9 baking dish. Stir in bean dip and taco sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until mixture is hot and cheese is melted. Serve with nacho chips.

All of it goes in the cute football bowl.
J

Twilight Zone Ashley

Okay, so I did a Twilight Zone theme to this photo, only because the look on my face says, "The world is going to be abducted by a giant alien and I'm in on it."

We decided to bring a blanket out in the backyard and relax on the grass for a while. These are some photos I took of my boys. Priceless. Then the ants started to come out crawl all over the blanket so we decided to call it a day.

This is where you'll find me on your typical day. I like to hang out on the floor with Ethan while we build forts or plays with cars. Barbie seems to find a way to wiggle herself into any nook or cranny that she can find on me. Silly girl.

We should have named her "Cinnabon" because she can curl up in the smallest little coils you've ever seen! Wow, that cinnabon makes me HUNGRY!

Pay Attention

2008-09-16T19:51:00.001-07:00

Maybe I should wait until I cool down before posting this, but I am so angry right now at people who choose to hurt innocent babies, because they are just that, innocent. After having a child of my own, I become emotional anytime I hear about these things happening!

Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate who supported killing of babies who survived abortion. It's called infanticide and a woman can make the decision to be induced into labor, have the baby, and then the baby is left to die. These babies can survive for minutes or hours.

Below is a video that you can watch, if you are emotionally stable. The fact that this is real and is happening is reason enough for me to become educated.

We can stop this from continuing by voting 'no' to Barack Obama and 'yes' to life.

You can register to vote here: http://www.rockthevote.com/

And on another note 'Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.'

This was taken from oprah.com where you can take a stand on child predators that are trafficking pornographic photos and videos over the internet. This is becoming more and more wide-spread, and we can do something about it if we can urge our senators to vote
yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act."

The PROTECT Our Children Act will:

Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.

Go here: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators for more information and remember that we only have a couple of days before it goes before congress.

Sometimes it's difficult to live and pursue happiness in a world where these types of things are allowed to happen. The only thing that appeases me, is to know that there's something that I can do about it, from my own little corner of the world.

Thanks for listening.

God Bless America

2008-09-11T09:36:00.001-07:00

I remember where I was on this day in 2001 when I heard about the plane crashing in to the first tower of the world trade center.

I was living at my Mom and Dad's house in Mesa, just getting ready to leave for college, I was happy to spend a few more weeks with my family before I left. I was asleep when I was startled by my sister Aimee, who came in my room and told me that a plane had just hit the world trade center. I was very groggy and I didn't know what to think of it all, but I stumbled in to the living room and saw one of the memorable sites I'd ever seen. It was the smoke billowing out of the first tower.

My Dad is so smart and he was sort of narrating the whole thing for us all, explaining to us what may have happened and how this is going to affect the future of America. We all sat stunned in front of the television for quite some time, and then we watched again and again as they showed footage of the second plane hitting the second tower. I remember feeling like my stomach was aching and there was no way to fix it!

Then when stories of the plane hitting the pentagon and flight 93 came out later on that day we were so confused as to who would plan and carry out such an atrocity! So many people became heroes on that day, and so many people suffered great pain! All the while I sat in the comfort of my home with my loved ones.

Recently Joe and I watched flight 93 for the second time. (The first time I saw it, I was pregnant with Ethan and he literally turned in my stomach at the end) Well the second time we watched it, we were in the living room so we had time to discuss things as they progressed through the movie. And one thing Joe mentioned was, "The Islams have another thing coming to them if they think that they have virgins and riches waiting for them when they die." As true as that is, I feel that because they were taught these things from childhood, they had no choice but to follow through with them!

It makes me grateful for what I have and what I know. I know that the Lord wants me to be happy, and wants good things for me, and the tragic act against America by those men on September 11^th was anything but happy and good.

I just wanted to take the chance to say that I remember what happened on that day, I'm proud to be an American, and God Bless America.

2008-08-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sheesh! There’s so many things I could blog about right now, and they always pop in my head at the most inopportune times, and then I don’t blog at all, because I can’t think of anything. But just sitting here typing feels so great, that I’m sure I’ll come up with something!

One thing I have learned is that whenever I’m around anyone who is remotely famous, I get the urge to go say hi and have a picture taken. I tried out for Arizona Idol this year (I’m to chicken to do the REAL one) and so anyway, Corey from FOX 10 news, the weather man, was hovering around my little group of people and I just had to say hi and strike up some cheesy conversation with him like, “so do you like your job?” Wow! Is that the most creative question I could come up with? I mean come on! Why couldn’t I have said, “So where are you from?” or something more personal? So he gave me some generic answer and started talking to the lady next to me who had more creative questions than I did.

Then we went and saw the play 1856 again this year and I just am in awe of Joseph Paur who's most famously known for the part he played in the movie Rigoletto! This man is SO talented and every note that comes out of him is genius! So I got to meet him last time I saw the play too and I couldn’t think of anything to say except, “You sing so well!” Wow, apparently I’m good at stating the obvious. Anyway, he is sort of a shy person to start with so it was awkward to say the least. So this year was going to be different, I had planned out in my head that I was going ask him where he studied music, but NO I said the same dumb thing I said last year followed by, “ You really should make a CD.” OH MY!! He just laughed and then we took yet another awkward photo.
During Ethan’s waking hours he runs all around the house, singing, dancing, playing, throwing, hitting, kicking, hugging, and jumping. During MY waking hours I sit in front of this computer screen, and clean here and there, but mostly my body wants me to just sit. I went to the gym two weeks ago for the first time in a WHILE and by the end of it all my body was SCREAMING at me! I’m getting wrinkles, and all that wonderful time in the sun, charring my skin while I was in high school is definitely catching up to me! It’s a little bit scary, I have to say! BUT thank goodness there are products on the market today that promise youth; a little poke here, a little Botox there, and you’re good. It’s makes me think though, if I had the energy Ethan had, and the mental capacity that I have, who knows what things I would be accomplishing up until now!
I have hoped for this stage in Ethan’s life ever since he was born. I have just wanted to be able to talk with him, not just to him! He’s finally starting to put 2 to 3 word phrases together and say things like “Barbie Go Potty!” and “My Turn” and “I Love you daddy” and my most favorite word of his, this is so cute, Instead of saying Marshmallow, he says Pompillow, and Joe and I think it’s so cute, we’ve been starting to call it that too. So hopefully he never learns it the right way!

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now, and I’m ready to be a better blogger. I found this quote and I think it fits perfectly with my theme for today:

Wiggly Wiggly World

2008-06-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

New wiggles debut:

So I made the mistake of letting Ethan watch this show ONE TIME and now it's all I hear about! The sad thing is, I'm starting to like it too! The songs are so catchy, in fact, Joe and I find ourselves walking around the house singing toot toot chugga chugga big red car more often then we probably should. Every time I ask Ethan "What show do you wanna watch?" Among all of the other kids shows out there,I'm hoping he will say "The Wiggles!" And 99 perect of the time he does. Of course we can't ignore the stigma that comes with The Wiggles about them all being feminine, but I have to say, as many times as I have sat through the show I've noticed that 3 of them are wearing wedding rings, and one if them has a baby. The purple one, Jeff, does not wear a wedding ring, BUT he's purple, and it seems to be a theme through many of the children shows that whatever is purple; Barney the dinosaur, and Tinky Winky from the teletubbies is thought to be, well, gay.

Well I don't know either way if the characters themselves, in their personal lives have these problems, but I do know that these shows help me, as a busy mom, to be sane! If I can get something done here and there, then I'm all for it.

TTFN, ta ta for now!

Officialy Launched! Thecutestblogontheblock.com

2008-06-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to this point but it's really happened. The Cutest Blog on the Block is now open and ready for business. :) So take a look around and let me know what ya think!

Oh yah, by the way, all of the new backgrounds now stretch the entirety of your monitor! Very cool!

Thanks!

I'm going to take one large sleeping pill and go to bed for the next week!

Slide.com, you got nothin'!

2008-05-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

I love Slide.com, don't get me wrong, but I jumped at the opportunity to figure how to animate my own stuff on photoshop because now I can add just a little bit more personalization to my slideshows, kinda fun! Don't ask me how I know this weird stuff because, honestly, I couldn't tell you how I got from point A to point Z on all this, and I'm really still scratching the surface, but...like...totally cool!

ANYWAY! I thought our family should take some photos mid-year, because, why does it always have to be Christmas when we decide to take a family photo? Why not when you're rockin' your summer tan?

Beautiful Boy

2008-04-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have a little talker on my hands! This child can say almost any word you throw at him. His newest is Helecopter. He's really not just a baby anymore. And I'm loving it! He's become my little buddy! He's helping me around the house, he's learning 'cleaning up.' And he laughs and smiles constantly. Honestly, it's such a pleasure being his mommy!

I'm starting a website for my Cutest Blog on the Block designs soon. This has been keeping me so busy! I've got so many facelift/card requests that I've hired on my sweet friend Becky as a partner. Poor girl had to learn Photoshop in a week! But she's been a real trooper, and now I have an office with two computers set up in my house, and when we're not chasing our children, we're feverishly designing things! It's a lot of fun!

Joe is loving his work with Ecolab, I'm so grateful he's found something that he loves to do!

I'm still in the Primary Presidency, loving it, and Joe is now Secretary in the Young Mens Presidency. We have started reading our scriptures together, and separately, and it has blessed our lives tremendously. I'm so grateful for the Brother from Elders Chorum who came into our home and reminded us how important it is!

:)

Wish Upon A Star

2008-03-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Oh my heck! I went to Disneyland! It really was a dream come true! My good friend BriAnne called me one day in January and asked if I wanted to go, and of course I jumped at the offer! So after roping my sweet mommy into babysitting, and my sweet sister into dogsitting, off we went! We had some problems finding the happiest place on earth (I hate navigation!!) but once we got there, we were like little kids again!!!

This is me outside my trailer! Okay, it's actually Cruella's!
This is Brianne and I the morning of the happiest day!!! We really were glowing with excitement!!!
We had so much fun riding Monster's inc!!
Okay so I didn't spend the $20 to buy the photo, but I took a picture of it with my camera. This is a picture of me in pure horror on the Tower of Terror ride, this is a picture of BriAnne in pure bliss, after having forced me to go on the ride!! I loved it after the 3rd time around. :)
Bri, thanks for the AMAZING trip!! I loved every second, even though we got lost on the way home too. I'd do it again in a second. Thanks for helping this mommy become a kid again for a few days! :)

The Hunts

Some great photos!

Christmas Card n more...

Potty Training IVY!

Immortal

Glimpses of my littles

Thanksgiving

Word Art

Ethan Turns 5!

Halloween Party

Toy Town!

I know.

Family pics

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

Backyard fun!

Let Them Keep Their Innocence...

More Facebook Updates

What did you have for lunch today?

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?

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

Sweatin' my bunz off in the sauna.

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

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!

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watching the kids play. — at San Tan Village.

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

Building a blanket house in my living room.

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

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

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.

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. ;)

An official ponytail...squeal!!!

Sick sick sick...boo!

Watching a chick flick tonight. Any suggestions? Classics?

More Facebook Updates

Just watched Inception again. Now I have all sorts of crazy theories in my mind and I can't fall asleep. Do you know for sure if the end is a dream or reality?

Hey dude selling stuff: what is it about my NO SOLICITING sign that you don't understand!

Ivy got a dolly with a tag that reads, "press my tummy and my face light up." hmmm...

Today feels like a visit Santa kind of day!

Cruisin' in joe's new car listening to glee Christmas. Beep beep...

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at Oberly's

If I had a dollar for every snot nose I've wiped this season...

I could swear I hear more about hanukkah and kwanza this time of year than Christmas since everyone is trying to be so politically correct. Ethan asked me why we don't light a candle each day...?!? Thanks to the Disney channel we are confusing holiday traditions now.

Do I wAnt my milk in a bag! I don't know!

Licking 100 envelopes! Yuck!

In heaven...be back later...

What child is this?...but seriously who took my sweet little three year old and turned him into a mood swinging, tantrum throwing four year old?

Feeling a sense of joy and relief that the Christmas program went so well today. I never knew directing a choir would so rewarding! I think I need to go put my arm on ice though... :)

This year's card. It's only fitting that the facebook design went on facebook! :)

Both of my children are STILL napping...what to do...?

Emergency!: Does anyone know where I can get me some of these white fudge oreos? Walmart in QC is all out...

Long winter's nap...

Can I be honest? I don't understand the difference between an elf and a slave.

I wish there was a was a 'girls only' feed. Oh the things I would say!

Friday night lights marathon with the hubby. Can't think of a better way to welcome the new year!

Facebook Update:

Ethan thinks the breast pumps on display at target are horns. I guess it's better that way!

Me: "Ethan, where did your teeth come from?" Ethan: "you planted them with water, and then they grew!"

Is wondering why all Walmart shopping carts always veer one way or the other...

Last night for dinner: yummy tacos and fabulous lemon bars. My husband felt like cooking.

Ethan made his own witches brew for Halloween...

Curse you football!

What is this 90 degree weather? It's confusing to see Christmas commercials while running my ac...

Rad! Two of my most favorite things mashed together to create a show: Michael Jackson and Cirque Du Soliel! I think the world is going to explode.

Just read that burglars use Facebook to see when people aren't home. So from now on, I'm at home. With a shot gun. And a hungry shark pet.

I just caught myself screaming, "NO MORE SCREAMING!" now how's that gonna help anything...?

Just want to let ALL of the people in my ward know how much I appreciate all of you. If we do find out were splitting this weekend I'll cry.

tries to avoid embarrassment at all costs. That is until my neighbor/home teacher drives by when I'm sneaking around my front yard in my robe. Brett, hope you're happy!

On our way to take family pictures. Fingers crossed...!

I'm headed to the 'so you think you can dance' live show this wednesday! We'll be riding in limousine style! I love the friends who are going too. Just might have to rock some of my own moves... On second thought...that would be scary.

I'm in a limo! On my way to SYTYCD! Woo hoo!