Give Thanks...

Last night's family home evening consisted of a story from the Friend magazine telling of a boy who did secret santa projects each year for families in need. We talked of our own gratitude for what we have and how blessed we are. Zack thought for a moment and said, "mom- on Thanksgiving I was thankful for Jesus.... and pie." Could he be any more like his mother??

it's official...

We are officially moved to Utah. All of our stuff made it safely and we are settled for the most part. The only thing we lost along the way was our computer- it has died each time we have moved and I think that its chance of revival this time is slim. I am bummed because I am only able to use Ryan's computer when he is not flying...
We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. My mom and dad came along with Kricket, Tom and Annie. They helped us to break in the new house... It was so nice to cook in a new kitchen.
I will update soon with pictures and stories, but for now, I am off to put up the Christmas tree. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Saucy new creation

My sister Amy has just launched her saucy new website that you can see here. They are also having an awesome give away that you can sign up for here . She has the greatest stuff for babies and kids- I have gotten all of my baby gifts from her, gifts for my kids for Christmas (Melissa and Doug toys are AWESOME!) and also my kids bedding (which is now under the "sale" section). LOVE IT! As an ADDED bonus, mention my name in the comment section when you purchase something and you will get TEN more entries in the drawing!
And if that doesn't make you want to check it out, do it just to see the pictures of my niece Annie modeling for the new site- such a cutie!

Family pictures...

The first picture was taken in my back yard. The last picture was taken in the gardens at BYU-Idaho. Thanks to my Dad and Kricket for helping us get these done!

shout out...

This is an shout out to my friend Carrie. Anyone who would wear this costume out in public has got to be one awesome chica...
You have no idea how much I am going to miss you!

Happy Halloween!

The toughest Sheriff in town

The jailbird

And a cute little chicken

The cutest boys in Idaho

Ready or not...

my kitchen- love it!

dining room- I wish this area was a little bigger...

Ryan in my big closet- love it!

Master bedroom

Here we come. Closing date: November 10th Moving date: November 11th.
I have so much to do!

Allergy testing

Zack had his allergy tests done to see how allergic he is to bees/hornets. It came back that he is allergic, but not too bad. We will need to carry an epi pen and benadryl, but it is not as bad as it could be. We were in the doctor's office for six hours and he was such a trooper. They poked him five times on one arm and then gave him four shots up the other arm. We tried to entertain ourselves the best we could- hence the dressing up like a pirates. I was so proud of my brave little man.

more than you will ever know....

Dear Josh-
I heart you too.
Love Mom

Four letter word...

My favorite four letter word.... FREE! Thank you Rite Aid rebates for allowing me to receive this $233 in absolutely 100% FREE merchandise. I will be coming back for more next month...
You should all run out and gets yours now!!
Do you have your shoes on yet.....?

potato harvest...

Such young looking pilots these days.....

Zack went to Preschool with Ricky. He had such a great time!

The boys (minus baby Dallin) all lined up at the bar having breakfast...

Each year in Rexburg, the kids get out of school for a week or two to work in the potatoes. For us, it is a chance to visit somewhere nice and warm while Josh is out of school. This years choices were: Florida, Texas and Phoenix. The flights to Florida were oversold- so that was out. Ryan wanted to go to Texas with us, so we decided to wait on that one- leaving us going to Phoenix to visit my sister Amy, her husband Bret and their four boys. It was hot- and we had a great time baking in the sun. There were seven young boys which equated to never having a dull moment.

Thoughts of a four year old...

Last night at dinner- eating tacos:
Ryan: Where were tacos invented?
Zack: Taco Bell!

Today after lunch- I had just taken the lid off the ice cream as Zack walked in. He looked over the edge of the carton at the ice cream and said very lovingly, "Helllllooooo Gorgeous!"

Diggin spuds...

We talked Uncle Greg into taking the boys for rides in his tractor.

Josh and Zack got to ride first.

Bradley was not very impressed that he did not get to ride with Josh and Zack.

He was sure happy to finally get his turn.

There are miles and miles of potato fields- it is so pretty there.

My country boys- for at least another month...

how to get kittens...

The conversation with Josh outside this afternoon:
Josh: Cindy (our kitten) is a mommy cat.
Me: No, she doesn't have babies so she is not a mommy yet.
Josh: She needs to get married so she can have kittens.
Me: Is Popcicle (our mother cat) married?
Josh: Yes- how do you think we got these kittens???

Ya doin okay?

I had a filling and a crown scheduled at the dentist last week. The crown kept falling off and having to be re-done and the filling ended up being a root canal. The dentist had a hard time getting to the nerve because it had shrunk down. I was in the chair for over 3 hours- I still feel like I was hit in the side of the head by a baseball bat. And just as the dentist was about to finish, he says,
"ya doin okay?"
SERIOUSLY??!!??

note to self....

This is the note that my 90 year old Grandpa has next to his back door that goes into the garage to remind him what he needs when he leaves the house. He even hung it with a nail...
It says:
TEETH
MONEY
WALLET
GLASSES
GLASS (not sure on that one)
CAMERA
BINOCULARS
MEDICINE
It is one of my favorite things, and i have yet to be able to take it down. There isn't much left in the house. Progress has been pretty fast, and I think there is only one, maybe two, days left...
I am grateful for the experience.

It's time....

I miss my husband...

I need some sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Though my kids are getting older, I still feel like this!

My favorite four year old.....

This mornings conversation with Zack:
Zack: Mom, we need a girl sister.
Me: Oh really- what if it comes out another boy?
Zack: Then we can just give it to another family....

I believe I can fly....

As we got home tonight, Zack raced to the costume box that we just got out of storage yesterday. He had been waiting all day to get home and dress up in his Buzz Light year costume. I zipped him in it and we did our best Buzz and Woody impressions- running around the house- him with his (very loud and annoying) zapper guns, and me with my finger pistols. Of course he shot me dead- which he loved and he moved on to annoy Bradley with the whole "hands up" game. I started to get dinner ready and noticed things were quiet... Never good. I peaked into the front room and Zack sat very quiet and still- and whimpering a bit. I asked if he was okay and he looked up at me with his big baby blues and began to sob! I asked him if he was hurt- and he began to rub his bum and nod... I asked him what happened and he oh so quietly answered back, "I tried to fly..."
He really IS my favorite four year old!

Tin man...

Last month I sold Josh's horse- it was the spring kind that you bounce on. He was absolutely beside himself with grief- cried for hours and moaned around the house like I had told him Christmas was canceled this year. I sell everything, and if it isn't worth selling, I take it to Goodwill. Sometimes I buy toys and get rid of them a month or so later- I HATE clutter and get a high from keeping it out of my house. I am weird- but clean... Ryan is sentimental, it drives me crazy because he keeps things. Most days I have to warn him when I am in the mood to throw things away and he hides things from me. When we told Zack that we were selling the horse, he leaned over, took a good look at it, slapped it on the butt and said, "it's just a stupid girl horse anyway." I smiled, turned to Ryan and said, "He's just like me..." To which Ryan replied, "Heartless??"
Now fast-forward to yesterday. My Grandpa Gunderson was in the hospital. He had strained his old heart (the man is 90) carrying large boxes of stuff from his downstairs to his garage trying to clean out the basement. While in the hospital everyone agreed that it was time that he moved out of his house and in with my Uncle and Aunt. I went over last night and started helping Grandpa clean his house to get it ready to sell. It was meant to be easy- this is my "thing".
One of the first things we came across was Grandma's magnifying glass- she passed away in 2001. I turned it around and around in my hands remembering it always being on the kitchen counter where she could easily find it with her bad eyes. I could not throw it away- I sat it on the end of the counter where it belonged and moved on. Most things were easy to find pile for, we worked hard. Then today, I went to clean out the bathroom and there were Grandma's curlers and combs. The saturday evenings and Sunday morning memories spent with Grandma in her curlers for church while my dad was outside farming flooded back to me. Along with the memories came the tears- I stood in the bathroom, covered in dust as the tears streamed down my face- there was no way I could throw away Grandma's curlers.
So here's to you my husband- I have found my heart- at least a piece of it. It is curlers and magnifying glasses. It is early morning milking time which I spent eating toast and watching price of right with my Grandma- it is the evening milking time that I spent eating cheese and crackers watching wheel of fortune- it is always knowing that if Grandma was not in the house I could find her bent at the waist picking weeds in her garden and help her pick peas. It is reading "Are you my Mother" for the 1000th time- which by that time Grandma's eyes were so bad that she could only read it to us because she had it memorized.
That is where a large part of my sentimental heart is- with my Grandma- where it will stay forever.

Happy Birthday Mr Z

Zachary Grant Willard was born in Sanford, Florida on the afternoon of September 15th, 2004.

He weighed 8lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long.
Happy birthday my favorite FOUR year old!!!

For his birthday, Zack got a new bike. He will be speedy like Josh now!

Mom made him pretty much the coolest cake ever- she must love him!!

Zack wants to go to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner. Rock on!

For Sale....

"The hot hot day"
"I'll take $10 for that one"

"The blue sky"
$20

"After the Rain"
$50

"Harvesting"
"$65

"Raining"
""$80- That was a hard one"

"Tractor in the field"
"This one is $90, cause it's really nice"

If I were a member of the blogging family six and a half years ago, there would have been quite the post. The first picture would have shown my Dear Husband sitting in a hospital Emergency room in Arizona on Christmas eve. He was waiting to be seen for what we were about to find out was a broken collar bone.
Then there would be the picture of me, his lovely wife, hands in the air yelling at him in front of everyone about first, his stupidity in wanting to ride motorcycles And second,
"Did he not care about me and his unborn child enough to wear his helmet on that last run?"
At that moment I swore to him that he and all of our children to come would NEVER own a motorcycle. Yes, I was just a few weeks pregnant, and possibly, maybe slightly a bit hormonal at that moment.
Today, nearly seven years later, that very child that I was pregnant with comes to me and says he wants to race, yes RACE, four-wheelers. I of course tell him what every mom says- that we could never afford a $600 four-wheeler. He sat at the kitchen table and began to paint. He then informed me that he is going to sell his paintings on the computer and get money for his four-wheeler.
So, my fellow bloggers- here you have it- my son's entrepreneur skills have begun. He painted, dried, took pictures of the pictures and priced (if you couldn't tell) them with absolutely ZERO help from this mama.
If you want to make a six year old's dreams come true- feel free to purchase =) You never know, maybe someday he will be a famous racer and you can say you got him there.. If you don't want to see him with broken bones and cuts from such a machine, please let him know next time you see him what a great artist he is!

Where were you.... 9-11-2001

Please... Never forget...

American Flight 11
(North Tower of the World Trade Center ( 8:46AM)
Captain John Ogonowski
First Officer Thomas McGuinness
F/A Barbara Arestegui
F/A Jeffrey Collman
F/A Sara Low
F/A Karen Martin
F/A Kathleen Nicosia
F/A Betty Ong
F/A Jean Roger
F/A Dianne Snyder
F/A Madeline Sweeney

United Flight 175
(South Tower of the World Trade Center ( 9:03AM)
Captain Victor Saracini
First Officer Michael Horrocks
F/A Robert J Fangman
F/A Amy N Jarret
F/A Amy R King
F/A Kathryn L Laborie
F/A Alfred G Marchand
F/A Michael C Tarrou
F/A Alicia N Titus

American Flight 77 (The Pentagon (9:37AM)
Captain Charles Burlingame
First Officer David Charlebois
F/A Michele Heidenberger
F/A Jennifer Lewis
F/A Kenneth Lewis
F/A Renee May

United Flight 93 (Newark-San Francisco)
A field near Shanksville, PA (10:03AM)
Captain Jason Dahl
First Officer Leroy Homer
F/A Lorraine G Bay
F/A Sandra W Bradshaw
F/A Wanda A Green
F/A Ceecee Lyles
F/A Deborah A Welsh

Watch out Utah...

Here we come!

Bradley enters the garage through the pantry in the kitchen.

The view from Zack and Bradley's bedroom.

Where else can you see the best udder around?

This is what kids look like after a long day at the fair. Josh had whined for at least 30 minutes that his feet hurt and he could not walk another foot. They all had their Culligan hats with feathers like we got at the fair when I was their age. They were so exhausted- but still smiley (except for Josh) who thought he was picked on for not getting to ride in the stroller.

This is why every person young and old should go to the fair.
Tiger Ears are simply one of the best things ever.

This is the reason that I would be happy to never go to another fair again.
I hate (hate hate hate) clowns! They creep me out- no matter how nice they are. This guy for instance, very sweet-still creepy!!

The food was good- the giant turkey leg left a LOT to be desired, but Josh and Bradley liked it.

We paused for a moment to watch the goats "best udder" being judged and awarded.
Thought of you mom...

Bradley was sure we had a celebrity in our midst when he saw this llama (aka TINA from Napoleon Dynamite). He kept yelling "Tina, eat the food!!"

Ryan took the boys on two rides- unbelievably expensive!! But they had fun. They went on a haunted house ride and a catapillar roller coaster. I was happy people watching from the side. The fair sure brings out a strange crowd!