Frosty

My kids were pretty proud of the snowman they made with only a little help from Daddy. I was impressed!They even made a little canine companion for their Frosty!

Hawkins Musical Heartthrob

I'm well aware that I need to cut Amelia's hair just a bit. Her first baby hair has held on and has been joined by other hair, making some pieces super long and others a manageable length. Last night for fun I combed her hair forward......and realized she looks a little like a famous teen heartthrob...
...the one and only Zac Efron. Who doesn't have a crush on him?

He'll be missed...

President Gordon B. Hinckley will be missed. We loved him for many things, some of which include his sense of humor, his dedication to the Church and its members, his kindness to all, and his wonderful example of a Christ-like life. We are sad, but not for him. We know a good life like his continues happily after death. We are sad because we'll miss him. We are sad because today marks the end of an era. He made an impression on us all. He will truly be missed.

Let's SAVE money!

Because I have found my new hobby and it can benefit everyone, I've decided to start a new blog. It's called Crazy Coupon Chick. And, yes, I AM that chick! Check it out! "With YOU and ME, we'll find the FREE!"

But remember to keep coming back here, too!

First "Stages" of our Life Together

While we were in Rexburg this last weekend, we really enjoyed being able to visit some of the places that were special to Laren and me when we were going to school there SO long ago. We drove by many of the restaurants and grocery stores we would frequent and saw our old apartment buildings. Even though the city has changed quite a bit, it seemed we had stories about most everything we saw. But, by far, our favorite places to visit were the Snow and the Kirkham Buildings. The Snow Building was where I spent most of my waking hours in my year at Ricks College. I worked in the Music Office there, took music classes, practiced in the practice rooms, and performed on the stage. Here we are on said stage...Next we headed over to the Kirkham Building. This stage is the exact point where Laren and I first saw each other. I was playing (guitar...crazy, huh?) with the band and Laren was dancing in front of us with the rest of the dancers. He looked at me, gave me a big smile, and kept on dancing. He says he fell in love at first sight. Personally, it took me a little bit longer to be charmed, but it happened eventually and, as they say, the rest is history!Also in this same building is the room where we first sat beside each other. Somewhere in my mess of old photos I have a picture of Laren, my sis Vanessa, and me sitting in this room together. I'll find it, I'm sure. Here is the "now" photo, taken by Abbie.Okay, one more "memories" picture. During the first or second week of our dating, my parents were up in Rexburg staying at the CottonTree Inn. Those of you who have been in this hotel know that there is a porch-type swing by their swimming pool. I vividly remember sitting on this swing with Laren when our relationship was very new and exciting. As it turns out, when I "Pricelined" our hotel for last weekend, it was this same hotel that our offer was accepted at. So, going along with the spirit of our walk down Memory Lane, we made a point to visit "our swing". (Picture courtesy of Abbie again.)(If you're wondering why Amelia looks a little out of it in these pictures, it's because she didn't sleep well during any part of the trip...bummer for us all! Also, I realize some of these pictures are dark and hard to see. Sorry about that. Just smile and nod.)

The kids had a blast swimming in the hotel pool...and Mia's favorite part was seeing herself in the mirror. Thanks for sticking with me on this lovey-dovey blog post. I tried to keep the cheesy things to a minimum so you wouldn't throw up a little bit in your mouth while reading. I feel lucky to have been able to visit these fun places and even MORE lucky to have such a fantastic husband and great kids 11 years later! Who would have thought?

Rexburg Temple Open House

Rexburg, Idaho is a special place to both me and my husband. So when we heard about the new temple's open house, we decided to pack up and go! What a beautiful temple! Our kids were absolutely thrilled that they could actually walk inside and look around at the different rooms. It was a very wonderful and memorable experience for the whole family!

CRAZY kids with CRAZY hair!

Last Friday was Crazy Hair Day at Foothills Elementary School. My kids had been looking forward to it the entire week, so we did them up good...

More savvy shopping!

It's such a rush when I get a whole bunch of stuff without paying a whole bunch of money! This is my most recent haul...Because I have signed up to get 5 Sunday newspapers every week, I have a LOT of coupons! (I keep them in a binder that is ridiculously huge.) When there are sales at stores like Albertson's or Smith's, I can almost always get something for free or close to it. Today I got ALL of these groceries for under $45!! That's 20 jars of Skippy peanut butter, 4 YO+ yogurt 4-packs, 11 Yoplait yogurts, 8 bottles of Kraft salad dressing, 2 gallons of milk, 8 boxes of General Mills cereal, a big jar of Kraft mayo, 5 packages of Farmland sausages (my FREE items), 8 apples, and a package of Mickey Mouse-shaped hamburger patties...all for less than $45!! Can you see how happy all this food has made Christian?

Yay for cute blogs!

Thanks to my friend, Jana, and this cute website, I now have a cute blog background! And I didn't even lose any of my information! Yay! I'm still working on my new camera...I know, it's taking forever! I've been sick 3 of the last 4 days, so you'll have to bear with me. I'll post pictures from Christmas as soon as I can! Promise!

Dangerous Book for Boys

I saw this on my friend Jana's blog. I want this book for my family. My first thought was that my sister needs this book for her son, Jack. But then I reminded myself that he's become such a little 4-year-old inventor that he can probably already do most of these things without any help from a book. My nephew, Grant, would get a kick out of it, too. At any rate, I think it would be a fun one for any family, whether or not they have boys.

Products

While we wait for me to figure out how to download pictures from my NEW digital camera, I thought you might like to see one of my favorite comedians. I think he's hilarious! What do you think? Check out his other stuff on YouTube, too!