Waterfall

So it's almost 1 in the morning and what the heck am I doing up?? Posting about a waterfall! I went to Twin Falls with the youth to see the temple and we stopped at Shoshone falls. This is what we saw. Beautiful!

Congrats Nate & Jme!

OK, this is late...way late! My little bro' asked his girlfriend to marry him on 8/8/08 and I helped him out with some of the planning. He wanted to do something really special so we made a sweet plan (hah, no pun intended) that was sure to work! Jme works at Graeber's downtown and he had me book her last appointment of the day so she wouldn't come home early for any reason. Well geez, tough for me to get a manicure and pedicure :) So nice, thanks Jme! Anyway, earlier that day I whipped up some fancy cupcakes that were awesome! Vanilla cake, with a strawberry glaze filling, strawberry buttercream frosting, and topped with a chocolate covered strawberry. Yum!

He had me put a ring in one of the cupcakes...not THE ring, but one that looked really nice but nothing close to her style. Before my appointment with Jme, I dropped the cupcakes off to Nate (who by the way was REALLY nervous). While I was at the appointment he was going to whip up a scrumptious dinner and have it all packed up in a picnic basket to cruise to the park to eat. James hung out with him while I was at the appointment too (for moral support) and to make a fun date out of the evening when I was finished. After my pampering, I headed over and picked up James and we borrowed Nate's camera that has a gigantic lens to get up close & personal. We were going to spy on them to document the event! We ran and grabbed some Sushi (yumo!) and headed to the park. Nate texted me with a change of park because he could barely get Jme out the door in the heat and had a HUGE picnic basket to lug around (while staying flat so he wouldn't smush those beautiful cupcakes!) and figured Camel's back park would be stretching it. The park down the street from his house was the place. Sushi took a little longer than we thought it would and Nate txt'd me way after the fact that they had arrived so we were a little late getting there. We had a good laugh sneeking around and trying not to be seen, carrying a camera with a HUGE lens. We got some strange looks from people but had fun doing it! So Nate made a nice spread of salad, pasta & a bean sauce & garlic bread. He had the cupcakes covered so she couldn't see what it was. When it was time for dessert he unveiled them and gave her the pre-arranged cupcake (I cut the green stem off the choco strawberry so he could tell which one was the right one). As soon as she saw the cupcakes she started asking more questions. Did Charise make these? When did Charise give you these? Why did Charise make these? Nate asked her to stop asking questions and just eat it. So she took a big bite and said (from Nate's words) "Oh my gosh.............this frosting is SO GOOD!". Heh, he thought she had bit into the ring. He continued to eat his and soon she found the ring wrapped in plastic wrap and started to cry. He took the ring and said that something wasn't right and actually pulled the REAL ring out of his pocket, got on his knee...yadda, yadda...you know the rest!




Anyway, so I was happy to help the little bro' out and get a fun evening out of it with James. Thanks to James' Mom for watching the girls and my mama for watching CJ (who by the way wasn't the happiest of babies...weird :P).
Congrats Nate & Jme!

Having fun.

Dear Mommy & Daddy,

I'm still doing great and love hanging out with my Aunt, Uncle & Cousins. My front tooth came through so I'm feeling MUCH better than I was. We ventured out to Target yesterday and I loved being pushed in the stroller, while M&M, Little A, & CJ all crammed in the basket. I'm still not sure why they all HAD to ride in the cart :) Today was fun too! We got to see M&M get on the big yellow thing and drive away. We also picked her up when she was done with school and headed home for a snack. After that we played in the pool! I loved it and loved to splash and chew on all the bath toys M&M threw in. I even saw Little A try to dunk Brutus in the pool, but her mommy & daddy caught her so his feet just got wet. I had a bath before bed and went to bed really happy. I know you are having a good time riding, so don't worry about me! They are all taking great care of me.
I love you,
Little Man

First day!

Today was M&M's first day of Kindergarten. She was SOOO excited she could hardly contain the excitement. We went to orientation yesterday and met her teacher and after that she wanted to go back right away. Having to wait until the next day was killer for her, but she made it and made us proud. She wanted to walk to the bus stop by herself, but I let her know that I would walk with her today because really...I had to get some pictures! So I strapped little man on me, put CJ in the stroller, Little A walked with Brutus in tow & we walked the 30 yards to the bus stop. Talk about a big production for such a little walk :) Of course we documented it all with pictures and it was fun to see her drive away on the bus. No tears here though...is something wrong with me? Doesn't every Mom tear up when your little one leaves for school? Maybe it could have been the fact that Little A was already heading back home dragging Brutus with his leash. That dog is glued to my ankles and hates to have to walk by anyone else..hence walking with a 3yr old isn't his cup o' tea. All in all she had a great first day. She loves her teacher and made a few new friends and WAY excited to be heading back tomorrow!

I think we need to get her a bigger backpack.


When I was taking the first picture of M&M she was saying "Mom, it's so bright. I can't see. I can't smile" yadda yadda. So Little A heard her and stood next to her and said "No it's not, look I can smile!" Little kids are funny.

2 months already?

As of the 2nd of this month, CJ has hit the 2-month mark. Crazy is all I can say! His stats:
weight: 13 lbs (75th percentile)
length: 23 1/8" (50th percentile)
Head: 16 1/2 " (90th percentile-great another kid with a big head!)

He is starting to smile so much more and is really on the verge of all out laughing. I can't wait for that. M&M can't stop giving him kisses and saying how cute he is.
We blessed him this month as well and had so much family come and support us. My sis even came down from Spokane for it, my bro's, parents, james' parents, a good part of his siblings, & freinds were all there too. We had an awesome spread at our house to celebrate (thanks fam for helping out!) which included BBQ pork sandwiches, baked beans, pasta salad, veges, fruit, chips, cookies, cupcakes, & cinnamon rolls. Of course I had to make the cupcakes and made a citrus cupcake, with a lemon glaze on top, & ivory buttercream on top of that. The day was a little hectic so I didn't even get a picture of them. All in all it was a great blessing and a fun time spent with friends and family.

Family tradition.

Since I was in my teens, my family (OK, my Dad) started the tradition of annual family trips. We've been all over for these trips (Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Idaho, Utah, & Canada) These aren't any ol' trips...they are biking trips that range from 400 to 500 miles in a week. I think we all thought my Dad was crazy for the first one we attempted. I don't know exactly how old we were (Ame help me out :P) but we rode our bikes from Salt Lake to Boise. Talk about a sweet ride! (Ok, not so much). We all carried our gear, camped along the way and came back with interesting memories. I pretty much only made it to Snowville (100 miles) and bailed out. Luckily my Mom was smart enough not to come on the ride so she could bail any of us out if we needed.
Well since then the rides have come along way. We eventually dropped carrying all of our gear and moved up to sag-support from a motorhome (driven by my Mom). We did a few rides this way until my Mom decided she wanted to start participating with all of us as well. So then we started paying a company to carry our gear, cook our meals, sag, etc. It's been great and a real bonding thing that our family does. I've looked forward to it every year! Since I got married and started having kids, the rides have been a little more challenging (finding someone to watch the kiddos, being pregnant, or even taking them along), but we have still managed to go...until this year!! M&M starts school on Wednesday (smack dab in the middle of the ride they are doing this year. I also didn't feel I would be prepared enough to go after having CJ 2 months ago.
So while they are pedaling this week, we will be watching my Bro's little man. We've had him since Friday night and he's been pretty good so far. Just wanted to give a little shout out to them from little man. I'm sure this is what you are doing at the moment.



Hi Mommy & Daddy...I've been having so much fun hanging with my cousins Little A & M&M. They play with me and make sure that I don't put any little things into my mouth. I'm not too sure of CJ though. He makes noises, cries and Aunt Charise likes to hold him, when I want to be held :)

On Saturday I went to the grocery store with all of them. I was a trooper too. Sunday was a little more difficult since you know that church just isn't my thing. I let them know what to look forward to when CJ is my age. I took a great nap after church and it was onto their Grandma & Grandpa's house. I ate yummy food, played and was so happy to come home to bed!
Today has been an ok day. I think I woke up a little too early. I've been playing, jumping, crawling/scooting and even got a little scared when the vacuum turned on. I love to watch Brutus run around and try to take his toys away from him. I hope you are having a fun time and I haven't asked once for you! I miss you!
Little man

Back on the saddle again...

My first official ride after having CJ or since the end of last summer for that matter. I have to say, it felt great!! I met up with other fellow TVCC members and did a nice evening ride last Thursday. It was hot, but still cool to be riding.

We rode out to a random grave out in the middle of nowhere. Very strange to find this grave in the middle of farmland!

My bro & I waiting to start.

All who rode that evening. My Mom, Dad, Brother, Bro-in-law, & Sis-in-law were all there too! I was taking the picture so I'm not in it. James was home with the kiddos. Mileage: aprx 27 miles

Surprise!!

Well you all know I turned the lucky 3...0..(it's lucky, right? Well it's lucky now since I feel OLD and I need to feel something else besides the "O" word!) Anyway, I didn't really post anything on my birthday so I thought I would. My parents were in town the Saturday before my lucky day so we went to lunch with them, my bro's & sis-n-law. We went to the RAM and that place is yummy! I had a strawberry and orange, grilled salmon salad. They also brought out a huge piece of mud pie for me. I think it was bigger than my head! Thanks Mom & Dad for the great meal and the rest of the fam for good company and some awesome gifts!!
So on the big lucky day the girls came and gave me some cards they had made while I was still in bed. They of course were adorable! James had to go to work, so the rest of the day was a pretty normal day. I did play the "it's my birthday" card to the girls so they would listen EXTRA good & make me really happy. I think that worked only once.
James got Applebees to go so I didn't have to cook. Yeah, for that one! Earlier in the week James had told me that some of the fam would be coming over for cake/ice cream that night so I thought that would be fun. M&M slipped up earlier in the day of who was coming so I was getting a little suspicious. I had been feeding CJ after dinner and James was outside with the girls and I heard his parents arrive. I figured I should finish up and head outside and when I did there were a TON of people in the backyard!! James had called/emailed a whole heard of family and friends to come over for cake & ice cream. I was definitely surprised by all who was there. Thanks everyone for coming & celebrating my lucky day with me!! Thanks James for all the work you put into it! One bummer though...we took a lot of pictures and found out later that all of them were corrupt for some reason, except for a handful :( At least I got to eat 4 different kinds of cake!

Buds?

Brutus has found a new sleeping buddy. One day they may enjoy each other quite a bit. Until then, CJ's blankets will do! (CJ almost 2 weeks in these pictures)

Girls will be girls!

The girls having some fun in the sun!