Bridal Shower, Chocolates, & TREE

So Saturday was Hayley's bridal shower! I thought it was pretty good turn out, considering the snow and the person who was in charge of the invitations got them out late. So irresponsible. DO NOT put her in charge again! But, it was nice. Tiff did a great job with the goodies. You can't go wrong when there is a chocolate fountain involved! I loved the visit and it was nice to meet two of Hayley's sisters. By the way Hayley, you looked FABULOUS in your Minnie ears!
After the shower, I went to Jared and Liz's home to help do home made chocolates. HUM! It was great fun! Sorry if I embarrassed anyone. Sometimes things just come out. :) he he It was nice to visit though. Thanks every one! We made it home without a problem and just in time to see Santa at our ward party. P.S. Please save me one cherry chocolate, if possible. I'm begging.
Finally the tree. It is up and looks nice! I ended up putting all the lights on myself (I think the lights are the guys job), with a little help from Miss Rylie. But that's the way life goes sometimes. The girls, and myself, missed Garth, but I'm sure I can find something else for him to do. he he he. Anyway, here are the pictures.

This is the only one I was able to get with the 3 of them. Here is what the Monster was doing while I tried to get one more...

She is such a good fit thrower! So, here are the other two and the wonderful tree in all it's splendor!

I love my girls! Thanks for your help pretty girls! And thanks Grandpa Neil for picking it out, cutting it down, bringing it to our house and putting it up. You're the best.

It's Official!

Well sure it's been official, but now that I've finally been to the doctor and heard a heart beat, it's even more official. We're having a baby! I am 13 and a half weeks along and the baby's due date is June 14th. So, just a few days ahead of Mary, but Grandpa Neil's birthday. Really hoping to go a bit early though. :) So there you have it folks. I'll say it...we're praying for a boy, but what we really want is healthy. My next appointment is Jan. 22nd. We'll get to find out what we're having then!

Thankful

I'm very thankful to have had a wonderful weekend. Although it wasn't like our typical Thanksgiving weekends, it was a nice weekend just the same. We got my parents moved with out a hitch, at least in my opinion. Things went pretty smooth. I'm just curious, how is the cat doing? Also, it was so nice to spend time with my family. It seems our visits lately have been too short, so this was a nice long visit. Thanks Jared and Liz for letting us stay at your place. And thanks Hayley for keeping the kids out of the sink. :) I think Rylie is your number one fan! Can't wait for the big day!
Garth is recovering from his c-section ha, ha. He gets pretty tired halfway through the work day and does his best to come home early, but he's doing pretty good. He's not supposed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds, but just can't resist picking up the monster. She's a whopping 21 pounds these days. (only in the 12% for her age)
As for the kiddies, they are doing great. Taylor had her school Christmas program last night and did an awesome job. Rylie is still as busy as ever. Love me some Rylie hugs. The monster has hit the terrible twos at 18 months, but that's ok. We love her just the same, maybe a little less at moments, but they don't last that long. :)
Taylor did an "I'm thankful for" turkey at school and I just wanted to share what she wrote...spelling and all.
I'm thankful for... my family who sill love me no matter what. They will always be there for me
I'm thankful for... animal that are good to me and that are soft and cuddly.
I'm thankful for... my silky blanckey is silky! That's why I love it!
I'm thankful for... being a good artist, is fun. I don't know why but that's what a lot of people say.
I'm thankful for... my church that is fun. I have good teachers that teach me more about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

I'm thankful for pretty much all those things and more (I'm no artist though, people don't say I am either.) I hope you all had a good weekend too!

Life

It never ends around here.  Life is always crazy.  Whoever said "Once things slow down, I'll be able to ..." should be shot or at least strung up by their feet, because things always come up!  I can't think of a time in my life when things have ever slowed down.  There is always something on the horizon.  Not that it's a problem, but sometimes enough is enough.

With all my ranting, you'd think life at our house was bad, but really, things are fine, just full.  Garth is finishing up his bout with strep, I am constantly sick, and Camryn is finishing up her bout with and ear infection (not to mention the couple days she had the stomach flu, sorry Jared and Liz).  Well, it gets better.  Garth has been in massive pain since Tuesday - I think - only to find out he has a hernia in his belly button.  He goes in on Tuesday to get it taken care of and I took Camryn in to the doctor Thursday to get her caught up on her shots and came out with another prescription for breathing treatments!  Her lungs are really rumbly.  And did I mention I feel sick all day?  Taylor also has an infected toe. :)  Good times. But hey, that's life right.  If I'm not busy, I'm bored.

So there you have it.  My house is a mess, because who really wants to clean when you don't feel good and are in major pain?  No one around here, that's for sure.  But the girls make it to school on time, get homework done and piano practiced,  I'm still able to get to my classes, so it all works out - even if it seem like just barely.

The other thing on my mind these days are my parents.  They are moving out of the home I grew up in.  This has brought many memories to my mind.  But the thing that I think of the most is how much my parents love each other.  I also wanted to let my parents know how much I love and appreciate them!  My parents are awesome!  They have raised 6 pretty darn good kids and still have their sanity (even if it seem like it's mostly gone at times :)).  They did their best to provide us with the things they thought we needed and the things we thought we needed.  I will be forever greatful to them.  I enjoy watching them now that all the kids are out of the house.  It's like I'm able to truly see the relationship they have.  The love they have for each other is amazing.  Anyway, I love you mom and dad!

Halloween

Here is the best I can do for you as far as a picture of my girls go dressed in their Halloween costumes.  And I stole this picture off of Jana's blog.  I was having a bad mom moment and didn't take a single picture of my girls on my camera, bad Tori.  If you want to see what we've been up to for the past little bit, go check out Jana's blog.  She has some great pictures.  I haven't had my camera out when I should, but Jana's got it covered.  So check out her blog for more pics of the girls carving pumpkins.  It's great fun.  Taylor is a ballerina princess, Rylie is a black cat, and Camryn is a purple dragon.

Halloween was quite the adventure at our house.  Last year I had this great idea to do spook alley in our trailer at the ward trunk-or-treat.  I thought the bishopric should do it.  Well, it didn't happen.  This year I mentioned it again and Garth said the bishop thought is was a great idea, but that the primary should do it.  No thank you, we have enough going on.  So Garth brought the idea to the youth and they thought it was a great idea.  Here's the kicker though, the youth in our ward is practically non-existent.  So what it came down to was me doing it with some help from a few people.  Mainly my friend Robin - THANK YOU!  Well, it was such a crazy night, and like I mentioned earlier about my camera, I didn't take a single picture - bad Tori.  Here is the best I can do...

Eyeballs in green goo.  If you want to hear about how cool it was, read on.  If you've read enough, you can come back later and finish my reading my story. :)

When you first walked into the trailer, I had stuff set up on the kitchen counter of yucky things: the eyeballs, brains, skull, spider web with a huge spider, witches brew.  It was pretty good.  My brains where macaroni noodles I had over cooked with every color of food coloring in them to make them look gray and gross.  It was awesome.  Also, when the kids walked in, one of the young women scared them by poking her scary pig head out of the door to the bedroom.  I think that scared the kids the most.  After checking out the "stuff"  you crawled through a box that we had lit with orange lights.  When you came out, there was a black light and I had another person standing still in a ghost costume who jumped out at the kids as they stood up.  Then you kept walking and spiders fell on your head.  (had another kid laying up on the bed and dropped the spiders.)  Then you turned the corner and went through and area with some blinking eyes and a blinking "floating" pumpkin.  Then you turned the corner one last time and I had a strobe light going and we had tapped wet ropes to the top of the bed and the kids had to walk through it.  Then as they went out, off the ramp on one side, Garth was there and sprayed silly string all over everyone.  It was pretty cool, trust me.  We had kids going through over and over again.  (just a little FYI, I sectioned everything off with black plastic table cloths and made the back end of the trailer go back and forth like a maze.)  It was pretty fun. 

So, by the time Halloween was here, (trunk-or-treat was Thurs.) I was done.  I did get the girls picture taken and the local "kiddy kandid", but that is about it.  I promise to do better next time. :)

Who are you?

I got this off of Emity's blog and laughed when I saw it on Jared's.  There is one to find out which male character you are. :)  Em, I'll bring the other two books up this weekend.  Thanks.

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Funny!

I was looking for a picture to put on my Dance Technica blog from photobucket and came across this one. I thought it was pretty funny, so I wanted to share. :P

The Swell

Here is our trip out the The Wedge over conference weekend. It was so nice to get away, just our little family. We got there after dark on Friday. Our campsite was awesome. We were right near a wash. Very cool.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then listened to conference. We couldn't get the radio in the trailer to pick up a station, so we pulled the truck under the awning and opened a few windows so we could hear. It was raining pretty good during the first session. After the first session was over, Garth took the two older girls exploring, while I stayed in the trailer with Camryn and tried to get her to take a nap. The rain was just a light sprinkle by then. Thankfully Camryn took her nap and I was able to read. Garth came back with the girls and they spent some quality time in the mud. They had a blast burying and find this dolphin of Taylor's that amazingly, hasn't disappeared out of the trailer with how much they play with it. Camryn didn't know what to think of the mud, so she stayed out of it. After the second session of conference, we went for a ride to go check out the wedge. We found a great spot to try out an echo. The girls thought that was pretty neat, and it was. It was cool to hear it echo all the way around the canyon. On the way back to the trailer, we found a "tickle your tummy" spot on the road. I think we went back and forth over that place about 4 times. Camryn even thought it was neat. Garth and I got a kick out of watching her face. Our goal was to record her the next day, but it didn't happen. We tried to have a fire that night, but the rain wasn't helping out at all. We ended up doing smores in the microwave, but not before we told a few ghost stories around the camp fire. Garth came up with a good one and gave Taylor a pretty good scare. Rylie, on the other hand, thought is was a "great story". She is such a tuffy.

Sunday morning looked better than Saturday weather wise. We made a yummy breakfast with all the fixins and listen to conference. After the first session, Camryn and I came on the explorer trip the others and gone on the day before. It was tons of fun. We came back with polliwogs. Garth loves to bring back animals he has found when he is out places. We've had so many at my house, but they all end up the same way - DEAD! :) (these only made it til tuesday) But the girls had fun trying to catch them. Rylie was the first to catch her own. I told you, she's a tuffy. They climbed up and down the rocks and just had a great time. It was really nice spending quality time with just my girls and Garth. The day ended with listening to the last session of conference, cleaning up camp, and heading home.

It was a great weekend! I'm glad I kind of threw a fit and had Garth take me camping. I hope he is too.

Have Your Kids Ever?

I was planning on having my next post be about Conference Weekend, but this one is just too classic.  Here is "life" in full swing.

I put the Camryn and Rylie in the tub this afternoon, and while they were playing, I was in the kitchen placing a costume and shoe order.  While I'm on the phone with the lady I hear this, "Mom!  Camryn pooped in the tub!"  She yells this more than once.  So I hurry in, pull them out of the tub, and thankfully, I was just about finished with my order.  As soon as I'm off the phone, I go fishing with a cup to take care of a few things, and put the girls in the shower.  Now the tub is sparkly clean, and so are my girls.  They would have stayed in the shower all afternoon if I would have let them.  

You know, I've never experienced this wonderful thing until my little monster came to our home.  Now I have experienced it twice in just the past few months!  Like I've said before, I love being the mom!

This is a CLEAN tub, just so you know. :)  I wouldn't take pictures of that, gross.

School Pictures

School pictures are so great don't you think? Some times you love them, some times you hate them. I wish I was there so I could make sure they turn out just perfect, but what can you do. Rylie's are way cute. You've got to love that fakey smile! Taylor's are very nice too, I just wish they could have moved her hair back just a bit from her eye, but they are pretty nice. Such the big girl!

Last weekend we had a great family weekend. It was much needed. Our little family went out to the San Rafeal Swell to the Wedge. I'll do a post about it later. Right now I am trying to get caught up on Dance Technica stuff, house stuff and church stuff. I guess I'm trying to get caught up on life stuff! Clisty, if I took pictures of how my house looks right now, mine would look very similar. :)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU Emity and Tiff for the quick little visit. I needed it so much! I love my sisters and wish I was a little closer. You two are the best!

Two of the cutest girls around! Don't be jealous. :)

Wacky Week

What a wacky week so far.  I took Camryn to the doctor on Tuesday.  Monday she had a terrible cough and Monday night, she could hardly breathe.  Her breathing was so shallow and so fast with coughing fits thrown in, it was pretty bad.  And her nose was not a pleasant sight.  I took her to the doctor and her oxygen level was at 91!  Poor girl.  So, we came home with an antibiotic she needs to take twice a day (love to change diapers when they're on an antibiotic)  and she has to have breathing treatments 3 times a day.  It's pretty tricky to get a 16 month old to sit still for 10 minutes and breathe in crazy "smoke".  But we make it work.

She is sort of getting use to it.  What she really likes to do is grab the hose and bend it all around.  I also was so lucky to have a friend help me out with watching Rylie while I did all the running to get things done.  I had to teach class in the middle of all this.  Thank you Robin, thank you.

Wacky thing #2.  We have a cat faced spider living on our front railing.  The thing is HUGE!  I'm not kidding.  It's about the size of a quarter.  During the day it hides out under the railing and at night it comes out and catches moths that fly through because of the porch light.  It's hard to get a picture of it, but here's my best efforts...

Pretty freaky, but also pretty cool and very large, trust me.  We have one living at the back our house too, just outside Garth and I's bedroom window.   All I can say is, if you come to visit, don't put your hand on the railing - not that it's very stable anyway. :)

Wacky thing #3.  Poor Rylie shut her fingers in her bedroom door.  It was pretty bad.

She was shutting doors so Camryn couldn't go in and make messes, and got her fingers caught.  Garth ran them under water for a good 3 minutes.  Then we gave her some Tylenol, put Hello Kitty band-aids on (she broke skin on two of her fingers) and I slept with her until she fell asleep.  It was pretty sad, her poor little fingers were throbbing and she would gasp with pain every once in a while.  But thankfully it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.  Lately she has been wanting to shut the van door, and that scares me because I'm afraid she'll shut her fingers in the door.  Can you just see that, that huge metal door slamming on her little fingers?  Well I can.  I remember when I shut my fingers in Aunt Shanna's blue 4-runner door and I couldn't get the door back open.  Not a pleasant feeling.  Anyway, I guess it just goes to show that anything can happen.

Not so wacky thing #4.  I went to parent teacher conference with Taylor, and much to my not surprise, she is doing VERY well in school.  Her teacher had nothing but great things to say about Taylor.  (pround, beaming mom)  She said she really enjoys having Taylor in her class and is very impressed with her, even wishes she had more students like Taylor.  She also gave her a Panther Paw, very big deal at Pinnacle.  Anyway, I was very proud of her, so we went out to dinner last night.  I let Taylor pick the place and she chose the Cowboy Kitchen.  Not the most family friendly restaurant, but the best place to get a GOOD stake.  It was very yummy!

So there you go, wacky stuff going on the the Frandsen home.  I know you're all jealous, but some people just have all the luck - right? :)

Still Going

Well, my house hold has barely made it through some crazy busy weeks. The first week back at the studio just happened to fall on the last week of Garth's hunt. Oh, yeah, lots of fun. He took the entire week off from work and spent it up on the mountain. But, we made it through, and I do mean just barely. Luckily everyone is still alive, and for those who know, just barely :). At any rate, things have been busy around here, but I guess what's new. I think we just need to get set in a routine and we will be just fine. I took pictures of my studio to send to Liz, but here's some just for fun...

love my red wall!

I spent two days cleaning the place. Cleaning all that floor and all those mirrors is not my favorite job.

I should be getting my sharing time put together right now, but for some reason, it's not coming together. I'm having a hard time with it. The other problem is this, have you heard about that scout that died at the sand dunes? Well, he's not from Mapleton, or where ever they're reporting, he's from here. Actually lives in my ward. Garth went to school with his parents and one of their girls is good friends with Taylor. This is going to hit our little community hard I think. He was a GREAT kid with so much potential. He was going to be the best wrestler you've ever seen.

Anyway, there's a quick update on our family happenings.

20 Years, Are You Kidding Me?!

Alright, here's mine, finally.  Mary did this in July (and only had 3 things under each year) and all my family has done it now too.  So read on if you're interested. if you're not, don't worry, I won't be offended.  Oh, and I tag those who really want to go for it.

20 Years Ago …

1.  I was in 6th grade. It was my last year at Westvale Elementary. I think my teacher was Ms. H. Williams. She was and awesome teacher. I can remember going to lunch with her and 3 other friends at Olive Garden. This was my first experience with a strawberry daiquiri (virgin of course) and now I love to get “special” drinks when I go out to eat.
2.  My big concern for the year was “How can I get my parents to let me go to South Jordan Middle?” Almost all of my friends would be going to South Jordan and I would be going to Joel P. Jensen.
3.  My future husband had graduated from high school!! Eeww gross!
4.  I went to Joel P. Jensen and met Amy Nix on the first day of school.  We became instant friends.   I know I owe it all to my dad and the Lord. I LOVE father’s blessings.

10 Years Ago …

1.  I married the man of my dreams in the Bountiful Temple because the Salt Lake Temple was closed for cleaning and I didn’t want to get married in the Jordan River Temple because I thought it wasn’t pretty enough.  Shallow, I know.  I think the Jordan River temple is actually quite pretty.  But still, it was an awesome day.  We had beautiful weather on that January day.
2.  I was going to school at Weber State and loving it – except for my quantitative analysis class.   I had a crazy thought that I would be a business minor.   I thought I was pretty good at math until I got to college.  The small world I knew of dance expanded so much in the short time I was there.   I still wish I could have finished my dance degree there, but don’t regret the way my life is today.  I’m pretty happy with how things have turned out.
3.  Garth and I moved to Price because Garth’s dad’s business was expanding and it was an offer we couldn’t pass up.  I started teaching dance at CEU almost as soon as we moved down here.
4.  We lived with Garth’s parents until we found a place to rent.  You know, the scary house, by the railroad, reeked of smoke, never go in the basement.  Yeah, that’s the one.

5 Years Ago …

1.  The studio had its first recital and we were ready to go for year #2.   I remember hoping that maybe, just maybe, we could bring home a little money for our time this year.
2.  I started coaching the drill team at the high school where I would make lasting friendships with some of my dancers.
3.  Taylor started taking dance at the studio and at each performance, I wished (still do) that I could just be mom instead of Miss Tori, and only watch her, take pictures and video of just her.   But it’s O.K. because I LOVE being Miss Tori.   My dream of having my own dance studio has come true.  And besides, I take great comfort in knowing that my girls dance at the best studio in town! 
4.  I was just beginning to accept the idea that I could be happy with just Taylor in my life when I found out we were pregnant with Rylie.  We were hoping for a boy, but I’m sure glad we got our little Rylie.  How could you not love that girl?  I dare you to find a better hugger than Rylie B Dawn!

3 Years Ago …

1.  I went to my 10-year high school reunion where I realized – again – that I had friends in high school, but not good close friends.   I hope my girls don’t make the same mistake I did.  I guess we learn from the events in our lives and I hope my girls will listen when I share the importance of this lesson learned.  Why didn’t anyone stop me from my madness?  Or did you try and I just wouldn’t listen?
2.  Taylor started kindergarten at Pinnacle Canyon Academy.  She had an awesome teacher and it was fun to volunteer in her class and see how well she was doing in school.
3.  Garth was taking pictures at the motocross races.   I was a widow just about every other weekend.  But it was O.K. because Garth was doing something he loved.
4.  Rylie turned one year old!

1 Year Ago …

1.  We had baby girl #3, our little Monster, Camryn.   She came so fast into this world; there was no time for anything, not even the doctor.   (I don’t recommend having a child that way to anyone. If you have by choice, you’re crazy!)  I screamed so loud, I was embarrassed.   I was so out of it, I didn’t even remember where Garth was.
2.  Garth cut back on his picture taking and focused more on his racing.  He went full speed ahead in the desert race series and would have came out number one if it wasn’t for a break down in the last race of the series!   Oh well, that’s racing.   We did make some great friends that year.  And even though I complained about vacationing at the racetrack, I really did like the time we were able to spend together as a family.
3.  Grandma Frandsen passed away the day after her birthday.
4.  We were blessed with the minivan.   It’s O.K., I embrace the minivan culture.

So far This year …

1.     I got my hair cut short. When Camryn sucks her thumb, she twirls her hair. When she was tiny, she would pull on my hair and it would hurt, so then I would get mad at her. That didn’t make sense to me, so I cut my hair so it wouldn’t be a problem. Plus after having it long forever, it was time for something new.
2.  I was called as the 1st counselor in the Wellington First Ward Primary Presidency by the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, in my home, one night after dinner.   It was pretty nice, I didn’t have to get all dressed up and go down to the church.  Then Garth called the bishop and told him I accepted the calling.
3.  Camryn started walking on her birthday.
4.  Anjelena moved to Ogden, which has left me alone with studio.

Yesterday …

1.  I spent most of the day at the studio.
2.  Took Taylor to piano lessons.
3.  Did some laundry because those crazy Nelco people working on our water line we’re shutting it off today.
4.  Tried something new with Taylor and Rylie’s hair, and it actually looked pretty cute.

Today …

1.  Went back to the studio for most of the day.
2.  Took Taylor to a birthday party.
3.  Went to the store and spent way to much money on clothes for the girls.
4.  Remembered where I was on this date and what my thoughts were 7 years ago today.

Tomorrow I Will …

1.  PRAY Garth gets something with large antlers on its head.
2.  Make sure my girls look fabulous for school pictures.
3.  Put in my shoe order for the studio. $$$$
4.  Go to a baptism.

In The Year to Come …

1.  I will make sure something in the basement gets finished!!
2.  Get a new sister!! Yeah Hayley!!
3.  Pray we get that little boy my kids have already named Travis.
4.  Borrowed this from Emity – Watch things grow; my testimony, my children, my love for my family and friends, the enrollment at my studio, and yes, the trees in my yard.

Can't Help Myself...

Garrett and Hayley

sittin' in a tree...

Congratulations you two!!!!

I'm so excited for ya!

I spend too much time ...

... on the computer these days.  I started checking out facebook this week and it is so full of different stuff, it confuses me, but I look at it every day!  It's pathetic!  (I haven't looked this morning, I'm trying to cut back :).)  This morning I told a friend I would help her find a talk idea for her little girl for primary.  I love Sugar Doodle!  But I spent a lot of time looking around her site and found a few fun things, so I added them to my blog.  I put two new buttons on from a site called lee lou blogs, and added a couple more things to my "Check These Out" list.  The lee lou blogs also has free blog back grounds.  They look pretty darn cute.  I expect my brothers to pick one out! :) ha ha Look around, tell me what you think (moms, checkout the blog with girl's hair styles.  Hers links to a bunch of others), did I go over board?  

So there you have it, I confess, I spend way too much time on the computer.  Someone stop me!

First Day of Preschool

Today was Rylie's first day of preschool.  She was so excited!  She woke up this morning without any problems, which is usually never the case when you have to wake her up.  It was sweet to hear her say that her teacher is going to love her shoes, her shirt, her new pants, you name it, the teacher was going to love it!  Doesn't she look like such a big girl?  I can't believe she is old enough.  After I dropped her off in her class room, I felt kind of sad.  It seems like Rylie has been at my side forever.  She goes where ever I go, always.  Taylor is such a social butterfly, that I guess it really didn't bother me when I took her to preschool.  Rylie is a social girl too, but she's my Rylie B and always at my side.  My kids are growing up. :(  I'll try to be brave.  Just a little FYI, Rylie picked her outfit out all by herself.  Didn't she do a great job?!  We went to JC Penny's mainly because the purses were on sale.  But I had some self control and didn't come home with one.  Please be proud of me. :)  So, now I need to make sure my schedule has time to get two girls ready for school in the morning.  Not much different from Sunday mornings I guess.

So I tried out the facebook thing.  It's pretty interesting.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  It seems to have so many little options and what ever on it, that it confuses me a bit.  But I did come across a girl I knew in high school.  Pretty fun.  I was reading her blog and she had a very funny website on it.  I Strongly suggest you check it out.   Some of them are hilarious.   Lineuponlinecards I think I'll have to use some of them, they're great.

Here are my two big girls, ready for school!  What cute kids I've got!  ;)

Today

Today I should be at the cabin with my girls, but Taylor and Camryn are sick.  We came home Saturday night to go to church and Sunday morning Taylor woke up with a sore throat, cough, and a stuffy nose.  The same stuff Camryn and Garth have.  So, because I don't really want to get my cute nieces sick - I hope I didn't get Jana's girls sick already - we are home.  And really that's o.k.  My allergies are TERRIBLE up there right now!!   Today I'm trying to figure out what to do with my girls so they don't feel too sad about not being with their cousins.  Garth is hanging out in his tree, so that leaves just me and the girls.  Maybe I'll go buy the new Little Mermaid movie and we'll have a movie day in the family room. 

But I was reading Hayley's blog the other day and saw a post that I really liked.

What's Your Best Part??

The best part of my day is when my girls laugh.  I love it when they play well together and when I can get them rolling with laughter.  You have to be careful with Taylor though, she just might have an accident. :)  It's a good thing she's only 8, or she would probably be very mad at me for telling everyone that.  Here's what would be the best part of my day - A date with my sweetheart.  I'll just leave it at that.  So, everyone please share your best part.  I'd love to know!

By the way, I am working on the 20 year tag.  I don't have the best memory, so it's taking a little time.  Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it figured out.  So Garrett, maybe I win with how long it will take me.  :)

Silly Girl

This morning I gave Camryn Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys.  Check her out . . . 

She was finding all the marshmallows first!  She would pick up a piece of cereal, put it in her mouth, and if it wasn't a marshmallow, she would put it on her tray!  After a while, she got good at just finding the marshmallows.  I also gave her some banana slices and she was dunking them in the chocolate milk in her cereal and then taking a bite.  What a silly girl.  I thought it was so funny watching her.  I guess she knows what she likes.

So registration is finally done at the studio.  Our numbers aren't as high as I would like, but really about where I thought they would be.  Hopefully a few more will trickle in when we get started.  Usually that's the case.  My house has been neglected big time this week because of how busy it's been around here.  So, today I should be cleaning my house, but here I sit typing on the computer and catching up on every one's blogs.  I also need a shower :)  I get to all, I promise.  But I guess I'd better get crackin'.  Taylor gets out of school in an hour and 40 minutes, and then I need to get things packed for the weekend.  We're headed to the cabin - like usual.  I really should stay home and get caught up on things, but it's always nice to get away.  I hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day holiday!

Garth Has Joined In

I set up Garth's blog tonight.  Check it out.  His big plan it to post all the details of his hunt and then we'll just see where it goes from there.  I think he's a funny guy, but I love his guts anyway!  Enjoy!

Back To School

Today was Taylor's first day of third grade.  Doesn't she look ready for school?  Aren't her Hello Kitty boots awesome!  Taylor has been ready for school to start for almost three weeks now.  We had a home visit with her teacher last week, and since then, Taylor has been chomping at the bit to go.  When I asked her how her first day of school went, she said it was "Wonderful."  Sounds like Taylor doesn't it.  I was wondering what I would do with the other two today, but the day filled up just fine.  Rylie and I played My Little Pony Memory (with some help? from Camryn) and then when Camryn took a nap, I got some bills paid (yuck) while Rylie watched a movie.  This is what my other two cuties looked like on Taylor's first day of school.  I trimmed Rylie's bangs last night then trimmed some for Camryn.  Her hair kept getting in her eyes.  It's hard to do anything with Camryn's hair because when she sucks her thumb, she also plays with her hair, so nothing last very long in her hair because her hand is always in it.

With the start of school brings the start of a new dance season.  Oddly, I feel pretty much prepared.  Which kind of make me nervous, like maybe I'm forgetting something.  I guess we'll see next week at registration.  I hope this year goes well.  With Anjelena gone, I hope I can keep on top of things myself.  Pray for me. :)  I also look forward to life getting back into a routine.  As much as I have enjoyed this busy summer, it will be nice to be home and on a schedule.  Rylie starts preschool after Labor Day and you can bet I'll post pictures of that one!  But then it will be just me and Camryn for four hours of the day.  I hope I can keep her entertained.  If I can't, I may be calling on some of you for back-up.

Pigtails

Check out my handy work Thursday morning!

I was trying to figure out what to do with Camryn's hair.  It's getting so long!  So, this is what I came up with, four little piggy tails, and I just kept going.  I love pigtails.  I think they look so cute, plus they keep my little girls little (in my mind at least).

Don't you love Camryn's cheese and the Swedish Fish in her mouth!?

Last week I headed "over the mountain."  One of my most favorite drill team girls got married Friday morning at 8 am, at the Timpanogas Temple.  I tried to leave Price Thursday early evening, but my plans were foiled by Mother Nature.  Thursday afternoon there was a mudslide in Colton (by the Scofield turn off).  They finally opened the canyon up at 11:00 pm.  I left my house around 11:30 pm.  We drove to Garth's Aunt's house, where I was able to get a few hours of sleep before I had to be at the temple.  Back at Laurel's full house, Cari is here for a visit, my girls were having a good time visiting with cousins.  We spent the day with the Browning fam.  (saw a "great" movie ha ha) then went off to my sister's house.

I have to say, this was the best visit all summer.  I really had a great time hanging out with my sisters and the rest of my family.  It was so nice!  I even met my brother's girlfriend.  She is great and I hope things continue to go good for them.  Keep your fingers crossed, she is definitely a keeper!  Taylor got to spend extra time with Shelby (amazingly she was returned to me with all her hair still on her head) and Rylie spent time with the other two cousins her age, Carter and Madeline - the triplets.  Jared and Liz were very brave and had a sleepover in their back yard with the triplets and one of Liz's nieces.  The best part, they all survived!  Also, I have now experienced Rock Band.  Fun stuff!  My family is great fun to be around when there is music involved.  We are amazing!  Hayley even joined in on the laughs - I mean perfection.  But it was a nice visit.  The girls and I didn't go home until Wednesday morning; two days longer than I had originally planned on.  We were also able to visit with James and Val and stop in and see Joy.  Vittoria loves it when her cousins come to visit!  My girls love to play with her huge bin of Barbie stuff.  And little Jocelyn is too dang cute for words! 

It's always good to see family.  How blessed are we to know that families are forever!  Even though sometimes my family drives me crazy, and as perfect as I am, I know I drive them crazy too.  It's nice to know that I will always have their love and support - Wards and Frandsens alike.  Could it get any better than that?  I think not.

Forts & Brilliance!

Sunday afternoon the girls wanted to make a fort out of the cushions from the couches in the front room.  I haven't let them do this in a while, so they were pretty excited when I said yes.  They were so proud of their excellent construction, that they wanted to sleep in it.  I think to their surprise, I said yes again.  They were so happy!  If I remember correctly, there was some jumping with excitement involved.  Check out their building skills.

They each had their own sleeping "chamber."  I took a few pictures while they were sleeping.  So much fun!

Here's Taylor all tucked in.

Rylie slept in until 10 o'clock this morning.  Must have been pretty comfy.

I love that these two play so well together, for the most part :).  They're good friends and take good care of each other.  Having a sister is a great thing.  I can remember building huge forts in the basement with my sisters and brothers when I was young.  Instead of cushions, we used chairs and blankets.  It was always so much fun.  Almost as much fun as playing Hot Lava Monster!

Here is my brilliant Camryn.  Brilliant and very cute in my opinion.

Camryn is now 15 months old.  (She looks SO much like Taylor did at this age.)  I was talking to Garth last night and thinking of all the words she can say.  She says mama and dada, eyes (she'll poke yours out too while she says it), Taylor (sounds like laylor), Rylie (this one is new and sounds like lylie), kitty kitty kitty, tickle tickle tickle (these are very similar, but you know what she means), hi, no, shoes (loves to try on any pair she can find), and she can throw a fit like a real pro.  This part is kind of new to us.  The older two weren't real big fit throwers, but Camryn has this one down.  She'll kick her feet, hit the floor, throw things, yell at you.  You name it, she does it.  As I'm typing this post right now, Taylor has just said to me, "Mom, you really should see what Camryn's doing."  She has emptied at least half a bag a Kirkland wipes.  Pulled them out one by one.  Taylor was too busy watching TV to stop her, she has her priorities I guess.  I love my little Camryn.  She keeps us on our toes.  Now she sits on my lap, sucking her thumb and playing with my hair.  That's my girl!

Wellington Pioneer Days

Happy 24th of July to you all!  I hope you had a good one.  I'm kicking myself because I didn't watch the parade Thursday morning.  I know, what's wrong with me?  I've watched that parade for as long as I can remember, I've even been in the thing twice.  I must not love my beautiful state or Garth must have had the day off and having him home in the morning threw me off.  Which ever it is, ( I'm going with choice #2) I'm sad I missed the parade.  To those of you who watched it, what did I miss?  We did do fireworks at the house that night with Jana and Casey and their family.  I kept some traditions alive at least.

           Casey, Jana & Harley, Payton, Taylor, Nati, Rylie, & Camryn

Wellington celebrated their Pioneer Days this weekend.  It's a fun celebration our little town puts on.  The festivities began Friday, but we didn't get involved until Saturday.  Saturday started with a parade down Main Street (aka hwy. 6, that can't be fun for officers to shut down a busy state highway for 30 minutes).  Most of the Wellington Wards put a float in the parade, the 1st ward was absent this year, someone needs to talk the primary presidency about that one :), but there were a few other local floats;  the little league baseball teams, local politicians, a few family floats, high school cheerleaders,  you get the picture, a small town parade.  The girls made out like bandits with a basket full of candy.  Gotta love a small town parade.

After the parade, we snuck into the church (perks of knowing someone with a key) and the girls changed into their dance costumes.  The studio performed in the park after the parade.  Summer performances are like playing a game of chance, you never know what your going to get.  Well, I sent out a note that had 6 classes performing.  Of those 6 classes, I had 4 dance.  One of the classes had only one girl show up.  She was brave and did a solo.  Rylie's class is quite large, I had 5 girls that were able to make it, Taylor's class has 8 in it, 3 girls came, but that's how it goes in the summer, especially on a holiday weekend.  Even with small numbers, the girls did a great job.  I was very proud of all of them.  

After the performance, we went back over to the church, changed clothes, and headed back over to the park.  Shameless advertising on my part, all of my girls, including myself, were wearing Dance Technica t-shirts. :)  One side of the park is full of free stuff for the kids to do.  It's great.  Taylor and Rylie spent most of their time on one of those huge blow up things, while Camryn went three times on the swings.  

  Garth even played one of the games.  I'll have you know my big strong husband hit that thing all the way to the top - twice!  He even won a little stuffed frog for his manly efforts. :)

The girls and Garth also went on the train that goes around the baseball diamond.  It was pretty cute to watch Camryn.  She stood on Garth's lap most of the ride with her hands up in the air.

Before we left, we bought some home made root beer from the Utah Daughters of Pioneers and also a pan of the most delicious peanut-butter chocolate brownies.  Yum!!!!  We finished off the day with working in the basement (don't get too excited, we just moved things around and threw out a lot of stuff so when we get real serious, things will be out of the way), a baptism, and a wedding reception.

We had a busy, but very nice holiday weekend.  I hope you did too!

Home For Awhile

   It looks like I might get to stay home for longer than a week!  I can't believe it.   It's been a lot of fun visiting with everyone, but it's nice to spend some time at home and spend some time with Garth.  All of the long trips we've taken have just been me and the girls.   Garth has had to stay home and work.   He's missed out on some fun things, but we'll catch him next time.  All of this traveling these past couple of weeks has put a lot of miles on the good old mini van.  Here's how my July has been so far:
   On the 3rd, we went up to the cabin, came home on the 4th and had Taylor's baptism on the 5th.
   The week of the 7th, we were at Mary and Luke's house in Logan.  We left on Wednesday.  Mary had a Layer's party Thursday, which was just a good excuse to visit.   The girls had a great time visiting and playing with Tianna.  Thanks for having us Mary.   I hope Rylie's tattletaleing didn't drive you too crazy, but what can you do?  Rylie is mommy's little helper.   She is always keeping track of Camryn and everything she does. :)   On Saturday of that week we went to Jordanelle with Mike and Tiff.  Mike had borrowed a friend's boat for youth conference that week and the ward didn't need it on Saturday, so we went with the Owen's fam and had a blast out on the water.  It was so much fun!  You'll have to check out my scrap book pages.  Thanks again Tiff and Mike.
   Last week I was up at my mom's.  We went up on Wednesday and ended up going over to my grandparents home to give my grandma a blessing.  It was a nice little visit.   Tiffanie had a Layer's party Thursday.  Thursday afternoon we went swimming at the Cottonwood Heights pool with Tiff, Mike, and Carter, Mike's brother's kids, and Darren and Emity and her girls (lots of ands).  Then had Tiff's "party" that night.  It consisted of me, Tiff, Emity, & my Mom.   But that's ok, another good excuse to visit with every one.  Friday we went downtown to the Church History Museum to the I Am A Child Of God exhibit.  Tiff and Carter came, Emity and her girls, and Mom.

It was fun watching all the girls play with the dolls while Carter was off doing his own thing.  I think after a while he got board of being be himself though and joined the girls.  I put the slide show at the end of this post.  It was a nice afternoon.  I really enjoy seeing my sisters and spending time with them.  Friday night the girls and I slept out on the trampoline.  Good times! I was so worried about the girls getting cold during the night so I let Camryn snuggle up close so she would stay warm.  Ended up that I was the who got cold and I wasn't very comfortable.   But at least my girls slept good.  Garrett came over early Saturday morning.  He got some pictures on Mom's camera.  I'll have to get copies of them.  You have to see Camryn's hair, it is hilarious!   Saturday was just spent hanging out with Garrett and my parents.  All in all, it was a great visit.   The girl's had a good time playing with their cousins and seeing Nana and Papa, and I had a good time visiting with my family.
   This week isn't as busy as the past couple.   The only busy day I have is Saturday.  Wellington Pioneer Days is Saturday.  The studio will be dancing in the park that morning.   I have to figure out how to get to a bridal shower at the same time, and later that night, I have a baptism to attend and a wedding reception to go to.  I think I can make it all work though.   Sunday I have sharing time, then the girls will start swimming lessons on Monday.  Whoosh, and that's my July.
     I hope I haven't bored you to tears with my novel.  Summer is always so busy, and there is still plenty more to do, but I'll take a little down time for now.  How has your summer gone?  I always say, if I'm not busy, I'm bored and I guess truly, I wouldn't have it any other way!
   Don't forget to leave your comments on my post just below this one. These memories make me laugh. :)  My sisters know me oh so well!