Schramm Family

Photo shoot

2012-02-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

We had an impromptu photo shoot last Sunday. My girls have some big personalities!

*Dani was 6 weeks old when we took the pictures

Life with 3 girls

2012-01-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

Gabby crashed on the floor in her princess dress after playing the xbox dance game. ....I feel like doing this all the time.

They say going from 2 to 3 kids is a lot harder then going from 1 to 2 kids. I'd have to agree...only b/c I am tired more and have kids now that don't nap. When Gabby was born, I could always count on my afternoon nap with Charley....now, not so much. However, I do sometimes turn the TV on, and just let them watch so I can take a quick nap. Gabby is now iffy on her naps. She just kinda falls asleep anywhere. But if she naps during the day, she is up all night....she is at a funny stage.

Dani is actually laying on Ben....but it was funny b/c she is going to be a crazy sleeper, just like her sisters! PS....I love her little shoes! Aunt Emily gave them to Charley when she was a baby, and they've lasted through 3 girls now!

This afternoon I, along with the girls played our xBox Dance game. The girls were HILARIOUS!!... And of course Gabby could NOT dance with out a princess dress.

1st month

2012-01-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today, Jan. 19th, Dani is one month old!

Charley is such a good big sister. She comes home everyday from school and the first thing she wants to do is hold Dani.

Gabby decided that Dani was going to be a princess...and put the crown on her head and made her hold a little wand. She does make a pretty princess though!....our own little Sleeping Beauty!

About Dani...

*I think she is going to have BLUE eyes....how did we manage to do that?!.....2 blue and 1 green eyed babies!

*She is more alert these days, but still sleeps a ton.

*I can normally feed her at 11pm/12am....and she'll sleep until 5:30am!....which is a nice stretch for me!

*at her 2 week dr. apt. she gained her weight back from birth plus 2 oz. (she left the hospital at 6lbs 10oz...and is now at 7lbs 7oz) She is now 20 inches long...she grew an inch and a half.

*She will take a pacifier, but doesn't really need it.

*She poos after every feeding! It is so loud when she does! It is quite funny. But since it doesn't build up, she hasn't exploded....I probably just jinxed myself.

*And we love her tons!

First Date

2012-01-19T19:39:00.001-08:00

Somehow at dinner we were talking about daddy dates, and how Gabby has never been on one. Ben has normally taken Charley to get ice cream or dinner every once in a while. Gabby heard that she got to go on one, so she quickly ate dinner and got her shoes on and told Ben she was ready to go. She was so excited!

Ben just took her to get some ice cream, but she LOVED it!

The girls are so lucky to have such a great dad....

Princess Party

2012-01-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Charley's 5th birthday party was a few days after her actual birthday. She was turning 5, so I wanted to make it special, however, I just had my 3rd baby...and had a ton of family over for Christmas. So we decided that she could invite a few friends to do a princess party. Last year a cosmetology school opened up next to Thanksgiving Point. I had gone there with Charley a few months ago to get our nails done. While I was there I asked if they had princess parties. For $5 a girl they did their hair, nails, and make-up! SWEET!!....party done! We called the hair school to make an appointment, invited a few friends. They met at our house, we drove over....each girl was assigned a student....so none of them were waiting around board. They got pampered....we drove back to our house and had cup cakes and opened presents and took the girls home. It was great. I really didn't have to do anything, and Charley was beyond happy!

Later that night we invited a few more friends over for cake and ice cream. .....after that was over, I felt like super mom!! ....baby born, holidays over, birthday party complete....time for this mama to relax!

Holiday Recap!

2012-01-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

I kinda posted about the holidays, but not really. Dani was born the week before, and I was in the hospital from Monday to Thursday. In that time Schramma & Schrammpa entertained the girls. Schramma made tons of yummy treats with the girls, had a princess party, and organized my kitchen!....it's amazing! A few days later my family arrived and the girls were pretty much in heaven with all eyes on them....with a bunch of their aunts and uncles and both sets of grandparents!
Charley got an Easy Bake Oven from Santa......this was her first batch of teeny, tiny cookies!....everyone got half a bite of a cookie!
When I asked Gabby what she wanted from Santa, she just said "presents"....easy enough...so she got a tent and tunnel combo!

We managed to get a family photo of the Zendejas side.

It was a really fun holiday. The girls were excited and happy with everything they got!....they were a little spoiled, but they are only young once.

Highlights of the week:

*Playing the dance game on the kinect....Go Schramma for getting the high score!!!

*Finishing a 1500 piece puzzle!

*Temple Square

*Uncle Carlos playing hide and seek with the girls for 2 hours!

*of course Dani was born!!!....

.....and I know I am missing a ton of things we did. It has already been too long for me to remember everything. All I know is that it was a great time!

I have a TON more pictures of the weeks activities, but they are not formatted in jpeg, and if I waited to post until I did change the format, it may not be until July. So here are my few pictures I took with my small camera that is already formatted right.

A look back...

2012-01-06T08:40:00.001-08:00

Looking back at 2011, I can't help but feel really blessed. Of course every thing wasn't all perfect, but it is hard to dwell on those things when those trials only turned to great blessings down the road.

This past year Ben got a new position at work. He is still with the same firm, but he is also an in-house attorney for one of his clients. This has meant a lot less stress and a happy dad! Last year we also found out that we were expecting another baby girl. Charley started pre-school, and Gabby started nursery and we finally got her potty trained!!! 2011 was also the year we bought our first home and welcomed Danielle into our family.

We were also lucky enough to finish out the year and spend the Christmas season with both families!

*Pictured above is our sweet Dani at 5 days old. Our good friend Michele Reyes took them for us. She is a great photographer in Utah county. She is the one that has taken all of the beautiful pictures of my girls.

Fancy FIVE!!!!

2012-01-03T20:15:00.001-08:00

Today my baby girl turned 5!! CRAZY!!!...how do I have a 5 year old?!

I was very proud of myself for getting us all ready and Charley to school on time today!! After I dropped her off I ran to the store to grab a treat for her class for snack time. Then when I picked her up from school, we also picked up Ben and went to lunch. We are planning on having her party with her friends on Thursday. We decided she could pick 3 friends and we would take them to the hair school next to Thanksgiving Point to get their hair, nails and make-up done.

Charley doesn't have a doctor apt. until this summer when we take her in for her kindergarten check-up. But I can tell you she is pretty much perfect! She is a great big sister, and a great helper, she is always wanting to help and always thinking of others. She has a photographic memory...literally, she remembers EVERYTHING you tell her. She is a great friend and everyone loves her. And we love her too!

Happy Birthday Miss. Charley!

she's got skillz

2012-01-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Get this girl to a pow wow....quick!

Danielle

2011-12-29T13:04:00.001-08:00

Danielle Denise Schramm

Born December 19, 2011 ~ 8:12am

7 lbs 5oz ~ 18 1/2" long

Big Sister Gabby

Big Sister Charley

There isn't any crazy story that goes along with the birth. Dani was a scheduled C-section. There was a point when we thought she would come early, I was having pre-labor pains, but then they went away around 37 weeks. But things went about the same as the other two c-sections. We were scheduled for 7:30am, so we had to be there at 6:15am. They were running a little late, and didn't leave for the surgery room until 7:45am, and we started shortly after that. Ben decided that he wanted to film this one. He even streamed it over his phone through a web cam and some of that family that wanted to was able to see it. Yes, I reluctantly agreed to letting him do this...as long as no one saw anything personal and it was just family! I am fully covered except my belly. Apparently I had a LOT of scar tissue from my previous c-sections, and it took a few minutes to actually get through it. But Dani was born at 8:12am! And she is perfect! She looks just like her sisters did when they were born, with lots of dark hair!

*For my own note: Dani was a very healthy baby. Most c-section babies have to have help with oxygen and have to be pumped of the fluids right after birth. And some times they wont cry right away because of it. But Dani didn't need any of it!

Because my body just ain't what it used to be, the recovery is a little bit more than the other births. I can already tell it will be a while before I am back to my normal self.

Schramma & Schrammpa were here to help with the girls, and brought them to the hospital to meet there new baby sister later that day. A few days after that, my family arrived. By the time I came home we had 8 extra people in our house. Some thought we were crazy, but it was actually fun. It was great to have so much help. But now every one is gone except my little sister. And I may keep her around for a few more days to help me get adjusted with 3 kids!

Today we were all kinda ready by 11:30am. I just have a few more days before school starts again where I need to have us all ready by 9am to get Charley to school on time....things are going to be interesting!

The Craziness that is Gabby

2011-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Woke up one morning to find Gabby wearing this little outfit over her PJ's. She's kind of a crazy little girl!

Potty Training.... Again!....

2011-12-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

That is right folks, we are on our second try at getting Gabby potty trained. She beat me last time, but this time, I am winning! It took me a few days to not be frustrated with her. She was still having accidents, and not willing to go poo in the toilet. I didn't want to buy pull-ups this time, we went straight to panties.

The last few days have been great. She's been in panties all day and no accidents expect #2...which only happened every other day. However tonight we made a break through!! If you do not have kids yourself and have gone through the potty training process you will not understand the excitement I am feeling right now!....Gabby just went poo in the toilet!!!!!!!!!! We had already put them to bed, and Gabby came running in our room panicking and told us she needed to go potty. Sure enough, she went! #1 & #2

Oh Happy Day!!!

Count Down

2011-12-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

Today we worked on a few craft projects....some can not be shown because they are Christmas presents. But here is one I can show you. It is our count down chain. We have listed on each link birthdays, who's coming that day, when baby sister comes, all the way to Christmas! There were just a few links that didn't have anything written on it. We are going to have a busy next few weeks. But we are all excited for everything that is happening, and we can't wait for all of our family to get here!

In other news, we started potty training Gabby again. I took a break a month or so back, and bought a big box of diapers from Costco. We only have a few more left, so we decided to try again. And things seem to be going slightly better. We only had one accident today!! We have 9 days until Danielle comes, I'm hoping she will be about done by then. ....crossing my fingers!

Christmas Decorations

2011-11-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

I think Charley looks so old in this picture. But she will be 5 in a few weeks.....crazy!!

My wreath I made!...I think it turned out so cute! ...Thank you dollar store! It cost me $7 for the ribbon, ornaments and flowers at the dollar store and $3.50 for the actual wreath. It literally cost me just over $10 to make!!! and I LOVE IT!

The day after Thanksgiving....after we slept in from shopping the night before....we broke out the Christmas decorations. We had our siblings over to help us put them all up. Our new tree is so pretty. A guy at Ben's office moved into a smaller house a few months back, and his huge 9ft tree wouldn't fit. He tried to sell it at a garage sale, but couldn't. He found out we had a 7ft tree and wanted to trade. I told them our tree wasn't as cool, but they didn't seem to mind. So we traded.....We had to use a ladder to get the ornaments on the top!

Thanksgiving is done

Decorations up

Christmas shopping 90% done

Bring on Baby!!!!.....3 weeks left!

Turkey Day!

2011-11-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

Ben's first Turkey! It was actually really YUMMY!!! It was perfectly seasoned, and really moist...no gravy needed! He did a great job!
The girls couldn't wait for the food....they were really excited to eat!
After dinner we ate so much, we just needed to lay down!.....we all crashed in our living room!

And of course we had to go through the Black Friday ads to map out where we were going!

Thanksgiving was soooo much fun! We had 10 people at our house. My sister and her friend, Calvin & Courtney, Kristen, Aunt Kay and us 4. We divided up dinner, and everyone made delicious foods!! After dinner Charlene & Jared came to stay the night, so the girls could all go shopping. And since stores seem to open up earlier and earlier every year....we headed out at 10pm on Thursday to Walmart, then 12am at Kohls. It was Char's, Courtney's and Lexi's first time going black Friday shopping. I had to break in the rookies!

We loved having so much family over! And we have so much to be grateful for!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Let it Snow

2011-11-26T22:23:00.001-08:00

It was Fr-EE-Zing outside that day, but the girls didn't seem to mind. They LOVED the snow! And yes, that would be Gabby in a tutu! This was our first measurable snow fall. Since then it has melted...but I'm sure we will be getting plenty more!

Crunch Time

2011-11-20T21:08:00.001-08:00

Okay people, I know I have been MIA lately with the blog. I'll try and get photos up later, but for now here is a quick update on what we've been doing.

*Charley's been loving school. She has school 4 days a week, Tues.-Fri., and every time Tuesday rolls around, it seems like the week flies by. And she is making a ton of new little friends here in our neighborhood. She is invited to friends house at least twice a week. It is fun to see her growing up and being so independent. It is a good thing we are having another baby, because otherwise I would be sad about Charley growing up so fast.

*Gabby changed her name for a day. I was teaching her a while back what her whole name was. But she somehow just remembered her middle name, so one day....a few weeks after I told her her name. She goes on this rampage on how her name is Sofia Schramm. And when we tried to tell her it was Gabby, she yelled at us and said "No! I'm Sofia Schramm." So for the whole day I called her Sofia, and she answered to it. But by the end of the day she told me she wanted to be Gabby again.

*We decided on Danielle Denise for our 3rd baby girls name. We'll call her Dani, and Denise is after my aunt who passed a way over 4 years ago. We thought it sounded pretty together, and plus we love our aunt! We have already scheduled her delivery for December 19th around 7 am. However, the little stinker is really wanting to come early! I started having signs of pre-term labor, and even started contracting last week. I was sent to Labor and Delivery twice last week. Not to actually deliver, but to check on the baby to make sure she was okay. I am not completely on bed rest, but I am almost useless....I can't exercise, lift, or do anything that may induce labor. It is a little bit stressful b/c I still have a lot to do before baby comes. I am just glad that I have about 75% of Christmas shopping done!! I knew I wasn't crazy for starting 2 months ago!

*This week we are having Thanksgiving at our house! We are kinda excited! Just because it will be the first in our new house.

The past few weeks really have been a blur, and plus with my pregnancy brain, I can't remember a whole lot. So once I get the pictures off my camera I'll post some more. But until then, we hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday....and we wish we could spend it with more of our family!

Halloween Festivities!

2011-11-02T21:55:00.001-07:00

Charley wanted to be a witch and Repunzel for Halloween. So she was a witch for her school party. That is my shirt....with pins in the back. And my Christmas socks!!!...pulled up to her thighs!! But that was the best we could do last minute! She only has school Tuesday-Friday, so her class party was on Friday (which I got to help with....so fun!), and then the school parade was on Monday, on Halloween. It was an optional activity that Charley wanted to go to, so that time she was Repunzel.

Our pretty princesses! Repunzel and Sleeping Beauty!

Then Friday night we went to our ward/church Halloween Party/Trunk or Treat.

Monday, after the School costume parade, we had a neighborhood trick or treating kick-off!...Hosted by our little cul-de-sac. It was really fun....everyone brought food to share, and we had a few games. After we all cleaned off, the kids were off trick or treating. Calvin and Courtney came over to spend the night with us....Courtney went with me and the girls trick or treating. Calving stayed back with Ben to pass out candy....or to scare kids. Ben dressed up as a scare crow on the porch, and pretended he was fake....and scared kids and their parents.....and Calvin took videos of it! They had a fun nigh!
Last Sunday, after church, I came down the stairs and found Charley reading to Gabby. It was so cute....both girls have their arms around each other. I promise I didn't tell them to do it.

On a side note, I am so grateful/lucky to have such great jobs. I just came home from a meeting with one of my jobs. I am the certified teacher for a private school that has an independent study program. I created the curriculum, and now the students finish the packet, it gets emailed to me and I grade it....I've done it for the last 5 years, and now I can grade them super fast. For the past 5 years we have had a "provisional" accreditation....and have been working toward full accreditation. Tonight was our meeting with the National Accreditation team, and it went great! It was fun to hear all the good things that they saw we were doing....and it made me feel good as a teacher. Since I have been out of the actual school system for a few years, sometimes I feel out of it. But after tonight, I felt like I really am a good teacher. The team was really impressed with my curriculum!! Pat on the back to me!

I heart my crib

2011-10-25T21:07:00.001-07:00

I believe this crib was originally bought for my sister-in-law, Char. I'm not sure who else used this crib, but when I was pregnant with Charley, my mother-in-law gave it to us. With Charley and Gabby, I left it a dark brown color. But since I painted the nursery, I felt I needed to have the crib match. It was a pain to paint....b/c of all the detail....it isn't just flat...it's rounded ALL OVER!!! However, I LOVE how it turned out. Now that we have the crib up, I can start hanging curtains and wall stuff! I'm so excited for it to be done.

Above Gabby is in the crib. And below Gabby is at the doctor waiting to get her cast off from her surgery. And above Gabby has on a light wrap after her cast is off. She still isn't allowed to move her thumb very much, but at least now she can move her wrist.

School Pictures

2011-10-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Charley had school pictures a few weeks ago. However, Ben just bought a nice new camera. Plus I am just cheap, and couldn't spend $20 on 5 photos. So I decided to take my own. ....and a Bonus I could take some of both girls as well. They are not professional, I am still learning how to work the camera, and figuring out what looks best in editing, but I think they'll work for documenting her school years.

Charley, 4 years, Preschool

Gabby, 2 years

The Mole

2011-10-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

When Gabby was about 1 I noticed a small black dot on her right thumb. At first I thought she wrote on herself with a pen. But after a few months, that black dot grew into what you see above. It was raised and dark and fast growing. Every time she would go in for a check-up or when she was sick to the doctors, they all told me the same thing....it had to come off. After her 2 year check up, we finally decided that it needed to be done, especially before the baby. We scheduled it for Sept. 8, 2011. The surgery went great. However, when they had it tested, they found it was called a Spitz Nevus. And this particular kind of nevus had little tentacle things under the skin that could become cancerous. Which meant that they needed to do a second surgery to take more skin out around the original mole. But since Gabby's thumb was so small, and her skin was already stretched, they would have to do a skin graft from her tummy. The second surgery was done on Oct. 14, 2011.
Gabby was really attached to her mole. Even when we went in for her check-up after her 1st surgery, she kept asking the doctor to find her mole. I'm not sure if she thinks that this second one was to put it back on? Right now she has a cast on to help keep her not move her thumb...I'm afraid to see what she thinks when it comes off and the mole is still gone!
I was an emotional wreck going into both surgeries. But I knew she was in good hands. It wasn't a major surgery, but they had to put her under, and it was just sad....she is my baby.
She has been recovering great. That day she slept a lot, and slept off all of the drugs. But after that, she has been herself. She is having issues trying to do things with her left hand, since she is right handed. She has a plastic cast on over her whole arm. They don't want her to move her thumb for a week, so I am anxious to see what her thumb, looks like. But I'm just hoping we have no more hospital visits for a long while at least!....except the baby of course!

Cornbellys

2011-10-10T20:33:00.001-07:00

Next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I'm not sure why, maybe it's all the fun things to do! Tonight we went with some friends to Cornbelly's! It is a corn maze, kids play ground, pumpkin patch, rides, and random stuff place! Either way, the girls loved it! ....we came home and they crashed!....mission accomplished!

I think it is funny how if you tilt your head for a picture, Gabby has to do the same thing, even though you are tilting to get to her level...she just goes smaller!

My princesses in Cinderellas carriage.

The kids corn maze.

Look what I've been cooking....

2011-09-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

....and no, I'm not talking about the baby!...

But for those who really know me, and all my cooking disasters, you will understand why I had to post about this! for example, in 7th grade I failed my home economics final. We were supposed to make cookies. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of flour, and I guess I didn't see the 1 in front of the 1/2, because I only added the 1/2 cup. Needless to say, the dough was too runny and the cookies just ran off the side of the pan....ergo, I didn't pass. ....but 7th grade teacher, look at me now!!! If you click on the picture, you can actually see the fluffy-ness in the cookies....and they even taste good.

I have a friend that makes the best looking cookies (they taste good too, but her's look like she always buys them). And I've make cookies before, but they always come out looking like little pancakes. Even with her recipe, they never came out fluffy...or they did, but would fall 10 seconds later. But tonight I did it! I think I need an award!

And here is just a little extra. We can't have a post without the girls! Friday night we rented "Rio." Our couches are in the middle of our living room, Ben is still working on our moldings. So we decided to just completely push the couches together and make one big bed....and watched the movie. The girls loved it! ....they normally can't eat in the living room, but I layed down the blanket, and they each have a no-spill sippy cup, and they only got pretzels. But they were happy!

Preschool

2011-09-06T21:20:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of preschool! I seriously can't get over how big Charley is...and how pretty. She is such a great girl. She is going to do great in school this year!
We had to get a few traditional shots of her by the front door. Ben wasn't able to stay long enough to actually see her off before he went to work. But he wanted me to make sure I got a picture of her by the front door, facing the side....just like he had to do every school year!
We were a little too excited and got to school really early....so we took a few pictures in the front of the school. Gabby was excited to go to school with Charley until she realized that she didn't get to stay. She cried, and all morning kept asking me where Charley was. It was kinda nice to have just one kid at home....and Gabby who is normally loud and crazy, was actually calm, and quiet. .....then we picked Charley up and Gabby was back to her normal self, trying to out talk Charley!
Outside her classroom....her name on the door!
There is a 10 minute drop off window, the teacher has puzzles and games for the kids to play while they all wait for everyone to get there. This is Charley with the other kids who have over excited mom's who got them their really early! But she did great and loved every minute. And she can't wait to go back!

Where's Gabby?

2011-09-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

The girls were playing up in their room one day, and I went in to check on them. Charley was in the room, but Gabby wasn't. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find her. I finally asked Charley if she knew where Gabby was. Charley thought she was in the guest room. I looked in there one more time, this time, under the bed and found her!....ASLEEP!!!

Projects

2011-09-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays ago, I signed Charley up for a free clinic at Lowe's to make a little school locker. She was excited to go to "Schrammpa's favorite store," but she was also excited to build something. Ben took her, and this is how she came home! So cute!
Ben and Calvin have been working on my crown moldings on our first floor! They have done an AMAZING job! Some of the corners were tricky, I'm really impressed they figured it all out. But Ben has been working on filling in the seams and caulking a few hours every night. Then we'll have to do some paint touch up, so no close-ups until he is all done!
When my mom was here last month she was able to paint our nursery. I let Charley pick the paint color since it will be her room once the baby can start sleeping through the night. Then Charley will get this room, and the baby will share with Gabby. I am still working on the crib. I am painting it white to match. It will be a cute room!....almost ready for baby!

Cranky

2011-08-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ben & Calvin have been working hard on our crown moldings! (pictures to come...it looks so pretty) So Friday night I took the girls to Aunt Kay's house to get them out of the boys way. We stayed a little too late and Gabby started crying as we were leaving.

Me: "Why are you crying?"
Gabby: "I'm not crying, I'm just cranky!"

Seriously, I have no idea where my kids come up with half the things that come out of their mouth!

Getting Ready for Pre-School

2011-08-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Charley has one more year before she starts kindergarten, and we decided to sign her up for pre-school. The pre-school we decided to send her was through the school district. Not all of the elementary schools offer it, but we were lucky that the one in our neighborhood did. It is 3 hours a day, 4 days a week, and it follows the district calendar. We felt like it would be a better transition for her into kindergarten. We know she really doesn't need to go, and it wasn't that we felt she needed extra help before kindergarten, but it would be more of social learning....making new friends, playing in groups...and learning when it was time to be quite and not talk (she can talk your ear off!). Plus she loves learning, and thought it would be fun for her.
Last Thursday was an open house at the school. So we went to meet her teacher! She is a new teacher, they just hired her....they opened a 3rd pre-school class a few weeks ago, and she got the new teacher, and her room wasn't quite ready yet. But she was there and was really nice. Charley wont start school until after Labor Day, so she'll have plenty of time still to get the room ready.
But Charley was excited to see her name on the door to the class and in her little cubby where she can hang her new backpack and coat.
Ben and I were talking one day on how we wanted to do something special for Charley when she started school. She really is a great girl, and sometimes with a younger sister that can steal (demand) a lot of attention, it can be hard. So we came up with the idea of having a 'Charley's get ready for school day.' We were going to get a babysitter, but since my mom was in town, we took advantage of her watching Gabby. Ben and I took Charley out to lunch, just her and us and then we took her to get her school supplies.
Our original plan was then to drop Ben off home and then me and her go shopping, but since Nana and her aunts was there, it ended up being a 'girls' shopping trip. But we made sure to let Charley know it was for her. She got a few outfits (one modeled above), and 2 new pairs of shoes.

The few people I heard her tell about her special day, she was always sure to mention that she got to go to lunch with mom and dad "without Gabby". I know she loves Gabby, but I know she loved getting all the attention from Ben and I.

I think as the other 2 girls get older and start school, we'll just take turns on different Saturdays and take them each out to lunch before school starts and get their school stuff. My hope is that it will be something that they can look forward to and get them excited for going back to school.

'Lawyered'

2011-08-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I had to drop something off to Ben at work. The girls were playing in his desk and found his candy and change drawer. Ben filled their pockets with the extra pennies from the drawer.

On the way home this was my conversation with Charley:

C: I love my money
Me: Well, money doesn't love you back.
C: Yes, mom, but I love my baby dolls and toys and they don't love me back!
Me: *Silence*.....*still nothing*.......
Jordan: you just got lawyered! (Jordan is here visiting)

Charley is only 4...but I think we got a future lawyer on our hands!.....until then I think I'm in trouble!

Beach Babies

2011-08-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Warning: Picture overload of my girls!...
Above, Ben and Charley boogie Boarding

Daddy's girls

Cousin Love

Schramma Love

And brotherly love...bonding with xBox

Beach fun...

Picnic on the Beach

Sand castles

Gabby's smile cracks me up!

pretending to camp, and roasting marshmallows.

Playing at the park

It was very hard to pick through 384 pictures I took the other week at the Schramm Family Reunion. It was so much fun. We are so happy we were able to go this year. It was an adventure flying out there, but well worth it. The girls loved it, and every one made it out except Jared.

The first day the girls were a little scared of the ocean. I was barely able to get their toes in. But by the end, they were mad when I took them out to go inside. In fact one day Gabby was running up and down the beach yelling "This is so much fun!" "This is the best day ever!"....I later realized she was quoting the movie "Tangled."

7 years

2011-08-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ben and I celebrated 7 years of marriage last weekend while we were in NC. Schramma & Schrammpa watched our girls so we could go out!

Here's to many more!...cheers!

Different Personalities

2011-07-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Last week Ben had to go up to Logan for work. He had something he needed to do at the court house at 2pm and at 4pm. Both things would only take a minute, so instead of hanging out in Logan by himself, he took us! While we were there, we took the girls to the temple, played at the mall playground, I meet my old friend from Omaha, Analisa, and we were able to hang out for a while, went to dinner, and on the way back stopped off to see Granny & Grandpa Schramm. It was a fun little day!

While we were at the temple we stopped to take some pictures of the girls. Just by looking at the pictures you can see their different personalities. Charley is cute and sweet, and is always wanting to please. Gabby is also cute, but she is just spunky! She just wants to go whether you are ready or not. And she has a mind of her own.

It will be interesting to see what this 3rd little girl has in store for us!

Watch out World...Gabby is 2!!!

2011-07-23T13:10:00.001-07:00

Gabriella, Gabby, Gabbers, Gaberella, Yo Gaba Gaba, Gaber-daber-do, Gab, Gabzilla...etc...

Age: 2 years

Birthday: 7/20
Length: 33" (28th %-tile)
Weight: 24lbs (16th %-tile)
Head Circ.: 49.3 cm (90th %-tile)
*our little lolly pop (a big head with a little skinny stick body!) ....or I think she got grandpa Z's big head and wide feet!

One of these days our girls are going to just have one party...I can't seem to figure out how to do that, so for now, we'll at least have 2!!! 2 years old, 2 birthday parties...that sounds about right!
The first party was on her birthday. It was just a little one with just us, and my parents on web cam....she just opened the presents they got her. And earlier that day we went to the park with some friends, and I brought cup cakes. So it was a fun little day for her, but nothing really big. It was a good day!
The new night gowns my parents go the girls...they found good deals on the night gowns, so they got one for Charley too! They look so cute in them! (I pull out the camera and Charley automatically tilts her head and poses!...what a girl!)
Since the girls cousin's were here, we took advantage to have a little party with them, and her little friend across the street, Brooklyn. If you can't tell....this is a Rapunzel cake...it's her tower!

Happy Birthday to my CrAzY little girl!! We love you tons!!

Girl Cousin Sleepover!

2011-07-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had 4 little girls at our house, ages 1, 2, 3, & 4! The girls cousins from NC were here for a wedding, and they were able to spend the whole day with us, and even spent the night! Lucky us, we are experts when it comes to little girls and have plenty of girly stuff to go around. So what do you do all day when you have 4 little girls? Well, we played dress-up (obviously!), played with princess barbies, played house, ate lunch, took naps (my favorite part!), painted our nails, watched and danced to the Princess Sing-Along Movie, ate dinner, and when Ben came home, he took over and they had a pillow fight....then it was off to bed!

They even played really well together! I'm hoping that they still remember each other when we head out there for family reunion and they'll play just as good!

Barricade

2011-07-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today we are trapped in the kitchen. It isn't because we have too...It's because I am forcing us too.
We have been trying to potty train Gabby for a few weeks now, and I fell like we've made very little progress. Since we just moved into a new house, and I'm not wanting her to pee all over my new carpets, we are staying in the kitchen and I barricaded us in the kitchen where there is tile, and much easier to clean. Plus there is a bathroom just off the kitchen. I will not have 2 kids in diapers!!!

On another note. We spent this last weekend with family at the Hinkley/Ewing Family reunion here in UT. There wasn't a lot of little kids, so the girls enjoyed lots of attention. And we loved seeing everyone. The pictures above were taken at Temple Square. On Sunday we all went to Music and the Spoken Word, walked around Temple Square, then went to lunch. It was hard to get everyone together for a group shot, so I don't have any. But I did take some of the girls. Gabby wasn't wanting to take pictures, so the one with the two of them was the only one I really got. But Charley was a good sport. She is growing up to be such a beautiful little girl. They both are, but Charley isn't so much a baby anymore.

Unheard of....

2011-07-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

When the girls wake up before me, they know to stay in their room until I come get them. And normally they read books or play with their toys. And normally they make a mess.

Well today they woke up early, and I thought I heard them playing in their room. But when I went in their room it was CLEAN and their beds were MADE!!!!..... I didn't even tell them!!

Potty Training:

I am trying to potty train Gabby. She is going to be a tough one. She is very stubborn, and not really wanting to....even though I know she can do it. We'll yesterday I trap her in the bathroom...I'm sitting in the doorway....and she is running around with nothing on her bottom and keeps jumping on and off the toilet. Well after a few minutes, she drops to the floor, bare bottom and all, and face down starts yelling, "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER." A full on tantrum! You know how hard it was not to laugh! I have no idea where she learned that.

I am tempted to pay someone to potty train her....any one need a few extra bucks?!?!

Happy 4th

2011-07-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th! It was perfect weather too. We had little rain sprinkles through out the day, but for the most part it was 78 and breezy. In the morning our little cold-e-sac hosted a kids parade, the whole neighborhood was invited. The kids decorated their bikes, we tossed candy at them, there was an adult egg toss (Ben almost started an egg fight when he tried to throw an egg at Regan, but he hopped out of the way and Ben got someone else!), and everyone brought cookies and someone brought a snow cone machine and popcorn machine.

In the afternoon our neighborhood had a big party at the park. They had food, carnival games, and those big blow up things. Then we came home and sat on our back balcony and watch fireworks. We had a perfect view. Once it got dark, we started hearing the big bangs from the fireworks, and Gabby got scared. But once we took her outside to show her what they were, she didn't stop squealing.

The only problem with yesterday....we let the girls go to bed late...and they woke up early. I have a long day ahead of me!

Nana & Grandpa's Visit

2011-07-05T08:00:00.001-07:00

Last week my parents came to visit. Bella was able to come with them. My little brother Ruben needed to come out to Utah for a summer program at BYU, SOAR (Summer of Academic Refinement) The girls had so much fun. We spent everyday doing something fun. (I am still recuperating from it all!) We went to the splash pad, made paintings, went to concert, lunch at the creamery, Trafalga, the dinosaur museum, the Animal farm, they went on a hike, and went to the park every night.

green ruffles...

2011-07-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

The girls room is as done as it is gonna get until we get new beds and bedding for them. But that is going to have to wait until we know what gender the new baby is. If it is a boy, then he will stay in the nursery, and have his own room. If we are having a girl, then after she starts sleeping through the night, I'll move her in with Gabby, and Charley will get her own room.

My mom just finished the girls curtains! I love them! And a few days ago I had the girls paint me some pictures on canvas to hang in their rooms. I loved the idea of them making the pictures rather than trying to find something to match their room....which would have been hard. But the one Charley made is hung above her bed. Gabby's is on the other side over her bed.

Now on to my page long of other things I need to do around the house!....

The next Generation Jets...

2011-06-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Liz was the lead singer in the 80's group, the Jets. You may recognize one of their more popular songs....click here. Liz is the one in the green shirt.

Well, her brother, the bass player from the Jets, now has 10 kids. And the oldest 6 of the kids have formed a group and have been featured on Nickelodeon, Yo Gabba Gabba, and a few other shows. They came to SLC the other night to perform for our churches summer concert series. My parents and niece were in town and decided to take the family. They were actually really good, and we were very impressed. And the girls had fun. I think it was fun for them to see kids their ages (literally) dancing and singing. The kids did a little Jets medley in honor of their aunts and uncles. If you watch both the you tube video I linked and this clip I got at the concert, you'll see the same little dance moves!

Our fun weekend....

2011-06-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

First I would like to say Happy Father's Day to Ben! The girls have the best dad, and I have the Best Husband! ....the picture was a few weeks ago at the park. Ben was teaching Charley how to pump her legs on the swing. We love him tons!
Second...Gabby is turning into quite the Miss. Independent! Above, she insisted on wearing her sweater backwards. I pick my battles with this little girl, and that was one she won!
Sometimes she is so stinkin' persistent that she is not going to take a nap, even though I know she is tired....for the most part she takes naps great every day, but this day, she was not going to! I finally found her knocked out on the stairs....I guess going up to her bed was too much work!
The new swim suits Schramma got the girls! We've been breaking them in for when we go to the beach this summer!
These are totally my girls....they know how to lay out!!!....
This past weekend our good friends the Albas came to visit!!!....Micah was coming to Utah to work and recruit at a football camp in Bountiful....Micah coaches football at Fresno State. But since he was coming up to Utah, the whole family decided to come up! And we were so excited that they wanted to stay with us! We took a quick trip to the Dinosaur Museum. ....it wasn't just Charley wanting to go this time....the boys wanted to go as well...but Charley was not opposed to going! She was all for it!
We also took them to the Splash Pad in Alpine. This was our second trip there...it is a cute little water park for kids. Our other friends Annie and her two kids came too. And since our husbands work just a few blocks away (Annie and I's husbands), they met us for a picnic lunch at the park. And Alisha and her girls came up a little later as well. We were there all morning and part of the afternoon! We thought it would knock them out, but we came home and rode bikes and scooters until dinner. Lucky us the kids went right to bed that night, and Ben stayed home with the kids while Wendy and I went to look at a few parade of home homes. Thanks Ben!!!
The next morning we decided to take the kids to the Animal Farm. We were going to just make it a quick trip since they were going to drive home that afternoon. But when we got there, it was a special Dairy Day's at the Animal Farm. They had a bunch of games the kids could play, they won prizes, and had extra little rides, and free drinks and Popsicles....in addition to the pony rides and wagon rides. Our quick trip turned into a 2 hour adventure. We hurried home and ate lunch before they headed out back to California.

**Another little side note on Gabby....if you look at the shirt she is wearing....you may see a little bit of Elmo poking through. No people, she does not own an Elmo shirt...but she does own Elmo PJ's. And YES, those would be her PJ's. I managed to get her bottoms off because I changed her diaper...but she was not going to allow me to take her shirt off. So, she won again, and she wore her Elmo PJ shirt to the animal farm.

***Side note #2....since I am past my first trimester, I guess it is safe to start telling people...Baby #3 is due December 25th!

Out and About

2011-06-09T13:00:00.001-07:00

We went to a BBQ last week at the park....we told the girls they had to eat before they could play...the temptation of the playground was taunting them....the never ate so fast!
Our real estate agent got us free tickets to the Utah County Parade of Homes. We've had fun getting decorating ideas, and looking at 2 and 3 million dollar houses! One of the nights after we had gone, we took the girls to get frozen yogurt. I have to smile at this picture, because I told the girls to smile, and Charley smiled, and Gabby took the opportunity to grab an extra bite.

Lil' Crazy Girls!

2011-06-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

The girls are not allowed to eat anywhere but the kitchen....so Gabby out-smarted me, and I came down stairs and she is sitting right on the boarder eating her cereal...technically, she is still in the kitchen.
We take our time getting up in the mornings!
In the move, I found a hat I made a few summers ago with cousin Susan in Seattle. Well, Gabby has inherited it, and wears it EVERYWHERE!!! It's almost too small on her, but she's too cute to take it from her!
Yummy Capt'n Crunch!

Getting All Set Up...

2011-06-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

We've been in our new house for a few weeks now, and we are slowly getting things put together. We still have half of the rooms with nothing in them, but we'll get there. My mom is coming in a few weeks to help paint and make curtains, and some other little things. So once she comes, things will look a lot better.

Here are some of my favorite things about the house so far:
Our fireplace.....and even though it is June, we have used it. It has been quite cold here the past few months. In fact some of the ski resorts say they will be open until July 4th. We really haven't had a spring here...just a very long extended winter.
I love these windows.....they let in so much light. I never have to turn the lights on until after 8pm.

These are my new favorite toys!!! Arn't they pretty!!!

And I've actually enjoyed cooking in here.

double sinks.....sweet!!!

Jetted tub....HEAVEN!!!

This is actually our guest room....We have part of the summer filled up...call me now to schedule a visit! We are looking forward to our friends coming to visit in less that two weeks! (Yay! Wendy Can't wait!)

This is a before picture of the bookshelf I painted for the girls.

And this is the after! I think it turned out really cute. It matches the dresser I painted for them last summer. We found this bookshelf in the garage of our old apartment. The previous renters left it. We ended up putting it in our storage room to help organize things, and decided to bring it with us....so I could paint it for the girls. Sweet Free deal!

We've really enjoyed getting to know our ward and neighbors. And the girls love all the space.

The only bad things so far is the backyard neighbors dog. Not every night, but a few times we

have woken up to it barking.

funny girl

2011-05-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

This is how you be a frog

and this is how you make a silly face

Smarty Pants

2011-05-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome Home!

2011-05-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

We finally did it.....we bought a house! And we are so excited. It was a great deal, in a great neighborhood! I am excited to decorate, and paint, and not feel bad for putting holes in the walls! I will have a garage, so I don't have to walk down the street and up the stairs to get to my car! And the girls will have plenty of room to run around!

Tomorrow is moving day. I WAS very organized with my packing....but it has now turned into just trowing things in boxes.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

The girls with their basket. The Easter Bunny gave them the movie "Tangled."
Last year the secretary in Ben's office told the girls a little secret about the Easter Bunny. She told the girls that the Easter Bunny has a magic watering can. And if you plant jelly beans he can make them grow into Lolly Pops! So We had to try it, and it worked! So this year, when we told Charley Easter was coming up, all she wanted to do was plant jelly beans so she could get lolly pops. We even got her to clean her toy room and bedroom....we said the Easter Bunny wont come to a messy house....it worked like a charm....she literally cleaned it all by herself, and I didn't even have to tell her twice. So each of the girls got to plant 3 jelly beans.
This was taken after Church, but they are still cute as ever! I did have matching pink dresses the girls got from Christmas. But when I asked Charley what she wanted to wear, she wanted to wear her green dress. I didn't want to force them to match if they didn't want to....those days may be over....sad....I really like matching them....but don't worry....I will still try! The dress Gabby is wearing is one of Charley's old dresses. It's a 2T....it is a little big, but it was too cute on her for her not to wear it!
By the end of the day we were zonked! ....Gabby was zonked before then....this was after church. I guess sugar couldn't even keep this girl up!

We hope everyone had a great Easter holiday!

law school grad

2011-04-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

Congrats Atuaia Family. They all survived a JD/MPA...I think they all get credit!

Mark & Liz

Ben met Mark his first day of law school. And the rest is history...they are best buds! We even lived across the street from them when we were in Wymount, and his little girl and Charley are really good friends.
The candy easter egg lei's I made for the family....the kids got the easter eggs, and Liz got the chocolate. I figured Mark would get enough, but the family deserved one as well....I think they turned out cute.

Mark at graduation....he's the bald one!!

We have been very lucky to know this amazing family. Mark started law school the same time Ben did, but then after his law school experience, he decided to continue on and get a joint degree, an MPA. He has the sweetest wife, and the cutest kids. We are so excited for them! They have been great friends, and I'm glad we were able to attend his graduation.

Easter Eggs

2011-04-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

This is Charley's "hurry & take the picture" smile
Gabby about gave me a panic attack with the dye....and she is so quick. So after a few minutes I gave her a plastic egg with stickers. It held her over until we were done!

Discovery Kids Museum

2011-04-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

The girls loved the kids sized house!

We went with these fun people! We love that Charlie and Susan will make time to see us when they come to Utah, even though they already have a booked schedule!

the helicopter they were able to play in

Brianna and Gabby....the new news anchors for KSL Channel 5

dare devils!

On the farm at the discovery!

Playing with water

Cooking in the cute little play kitchen....now if only they could do that for real!

Dinosaur Museum

2011-04-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

Schramma told Charley she could pick a fun place for us all to go....where did she pick, but the Dinosaur Museum!....her favorite place of course!

Fancy Little Girls

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

When we were back home for Christmas, we were going through some old boxes and we found my older sister's and mine regalia from when we were little. They were perfectly Charley and Gabby's size. I meant to bring them back with me so my girls could wear them to the pow wow (don't worry Brooktynn, I wasn't going to keep yours...just borrow it). But I forgot them. I called my mom to have Jordan bring it out with her when she came out. But instead of sending out mine, she surprised the girls with new ones she made them!

My mom made Charley a little fancy shawl dress, and Gabby a Southern cloth traditional. They fit perfect, and they looked adorable! We took the girls to the pow wow to the Friday night and Saturday morning sessions. We had them dance with the Tiny Tots. They were so cute! And they looked so good! My future little Living Legends!

Glory Days

2011-04-06T07:37:00.001-07:00

Pictured above: Lohi, Eva, Jordan, Me, Charmay,Channy

Chauma, Me, Jordan
Crystal and I

Michele and I before the DeJong Show

The alumni Fancy girls. Us, along with the current Living Legend girls danced the Women's Fancy during the Heritage Week show.

Las week I relived my college glory days. And I have to tell you, it was fun! When I was in college, I danced for a group called Living Legends. It showcased Native American, Latin American, and Polynesian traditional dances. I danced with them for 3 years. While I was in there I was able to dance all over the US including Alaska, Washington, New Mexico, and Washington DC. I also toured for a month in South Africa, and danced in all the different venues during the SLC 2002 Winter Olympics...including the Opening Ceremonies. This last week was the 40 year reunion of when Laminite Generation (the original name)/Living Legends first started.....in the 1970's. My sister, Jordan, was in it with me one year, and came out during her spring break to join in all the fun. We wanted to go watch the LL show, but by the time we decided to go, it was sold out. The only way for us to watch it was to actually be in it. So that is what we did. We spent Thursday morning of the show running through the fancy routine. We had a lunch break, then spacing at the DeJong. I had the girls with me, and they were great the whole day. I drove them home to stay with Ben before Jordan and I were off for the show. It was a amazing feeling dancing in the DeJong Concert Hall again. I'm glad I was able to experience it again.

After the show they had a little mix & mingle at the Student Center. They reserved the terrace for the event and it was litterally packed with old LL alumn! I loved seeing all my old friends. It was fun to see us all at a different stage in our lives, and being able to reconnect.

The rest of the weekend was full of alumni activities. Saturday morning I took Charley to the alumni showcase. I wanted her to see what it was all about.

We also took the girls to the Pow Wow where both the girls danced in their new regalia, and I danced hoop. It was a great weekend. I can't wait for the 50 year...hopefully we all wont wait that long!

Super Powers

2011-03-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

So I have already started to forget bits and pieces of this conversation, but here it is anyway....

For the last little bit, I will catch Charley doing something out of the corner of my eye, and she is in shock when she gets caught! I tell her I have eyes in the back of my head. I can kind of tell she believes me, but she always questions. I just tell her all moms have eyes in the back of their heads.

Well the other day Charley asks Ben a question and he answers her. She tells Ben, "Wow, you know everything! And did you know mom has eyes in the back of her head? she can see everything!"

It's confirmed....Ben knows everything, and I can see everything!

Sisters

2011-03-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

Charley has been sick the last few days with a runny nose, cough, and fever. And last night a few hours after Gabby went to sleep, she woke up with the worst sounding cough. It was so bad, she almost couldn't breathe. I was going to be up all night worried about her, so we just decided to take her mattress and put it in our room so I could keep an eye on her all night.

Later in the night Ben wakes me up because he had heard Charley crying, and a light was on. Gabby had fallen off her mattress, so I get up to put her back on, and Ben goes to see where Charley was. She was in the living room, sitting on the couch with the light on crying. She tells Ben, "I don't know where Gabby is, where is my sister? She's not our room, I want her."

It was so sad. So Ben brings her in our room to show her Gabby was okay. And I go and grab a bunch of blankets to make a little pad on the floor and have Charley sleep with us as well.

I know they probably go through their stages of a love/hate relationship as they get older, but it is a good feeling knowing that they really do love each other.

St. Patricks Day

2011-03-17T13:06:00.001-07:00

Today I thought I would be a cool mom and make our girls a green breakfast! Well, granted, the girls are smiling in the pictures....they would NOT eat the green eggs or toast. I even pulled out the "Green Eggs and Ham" book and thought I could change their mind. But nope, they just ate the sausage. (For green toast, mix milk with food color and paint on the bread before you toast it....and you get green toast! it is a fun activity with different colors as well....they can "paint" their bread then eat it!...a fun snack idea)

After breakfast we got ready to meet some little friends we are starting to do pre-school with at the Animal Farm...for the Animal unit.

Ummm...Charley is a little diva!

I still can't get over how big these girls are getting....and so pretty!

And we can't go to the animal farm with out ridding the ponies!

Charley wasn't so excited I was videoing her, but Gabby was....girls are funny!

Just pics

2011-03-16T07:57:00.001-07:00

We got Charley a new/used bike off KSL. So Gabby inherited Charley's old bike. She hasn't quite figured out that she need to push on the peddles, so we still have to push her.
Ben and I were talking the other day, on how our kids are growing up too fast. Seriously, where did our babies go?

Gamer

2011-03-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

Gabby discovered where Dad keeps his controllers & headphones for his XBox. She is trying so hard to keep the headphones on! ....and I think it is hilarious that she had her teeth passy in!

recent pictures

2011-02-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

I promise, I didn't send her to bed wearing that! But she found her cheerleader outfit, and I guess needed to sleep with it!

Gabby's blanket!....blankets are much loved items in this house.

Anxiously awaiting cookies to be done.

My two pretty babies.

Sh-or-e

2011-02-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

So I think this is hilarious!...but then again, I think my kids are hilarious! Gabby is at a fun age, were I can have conversations with her. She is learning to talk, and she understands most of what I say, and I can understand most of what she says. She also has some funny little quirks....like when she shakes her head to say yes, she also uses her mouth....!!!!

BRAVO!

2011-02-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last night for FHE, we had the girls sing after our lesson. This is Gabby singing her version of "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam"

This is Charley singing "I love to see the Temple." I think they both did a great job! They are becoming quite the entertainers! But what I love is Gabby's reaction when Charley is done. We actually have another video of Charley doing the same thing to Gabby when she is done singing. But I couldn't put 2 big videos on here. But I'm so glad they love each other....for now!

That's my girls!?!?...

2011-02-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

Gabby trying to pose like Charley

Funny Face

Charley wanted me to take a picture of her "other" funny face....which looks very similar to her 1st funny face.

These pictures need no explanation. I have some crazy, funny, sweet girls.

Your next American Idol...

2011-02-07T19:11:00.001-08:00

For the most part...after a while, or when they brake, I just throw away the happy meal toys we get. But this microphone we got from Wendy's a while back is awesome, and I love it! Why? Because my girls put on 'shows' for us. And they are totally serious about their shows too. If you ask Gabby to sing, she'll go and get her microphone, and run to the sliding doors and start singing this low pitch mumblings. It is quite funny. Some times, if you ask her, she'll sing and dance for you!

And for some of our FHE nights, if we don't have anything planned, we'll just tell the girls to put a show on for us. It's brilliant! But since not both of them can sing at one time....we do have a second mic, but we can't seem to find it at the moment...we make one dance, and the other sing, and they take turns. However, it always turns out that Gabby sings more...she really loves it.

One time when the girls were singing, we started saying "Bravo" and clapping. And now Gabby expects us to do it every time.

I heart NYC

2011-01-27T07:52:00.000-08:00

Annie and I in Central Park

This was an AMAZING meal at a place called Max Brenner Chocolate by a Bald Man....seriously, that was the name of it. If you ever go to NY, you have to go there. My brother recommended it, and it was the best place we ate! It's in the Village, if you want to know. But all I have to say is YUMMMM!

Statue of Liberty. We didn't have time to actually ride a ferry to the Island, but we were able to make a stop to the pier to look at it from a distance!

We went to Rockerfeller.....we even went to the Top of the Rock! It was really cool. Besides the little antenna building, we were looking down from the top of the building.

Regan charging his phone on the sidewalk. All of our phones were dead, and we needed to figure out where we were going. He was smart enough to bring his charger with him.

Umm...no comment!

The temple/Church building. We were able to go to church on Sunday! We even knew some people that were in the ward....small world....but the building was beautiful.

Central Park Fountain....where they film all those chick flick movies. Notice my pursue!?!?! That is the one I got in China Town on Canal Street. I totally got taken back to the basement of a store, with the secret stash of the "good" knock-off purses. It was kinda scary, but also kind of exciting. As we were leaving, we had to wait and stand by the door for a cop to pass. There was a lady on watch on the outside with a walkie-talkie. It was a crazy little operation.

Ben and I in Central Park

In Grand Central Station

On Wall Street!

Us on Top of the Rock! It was a beautiful view

We saw 2 Broadways while we were there. The first night we saw Wicked! It was Amazing. I didn't think I would love it as much as I did. But I almost cried it was so good! The second show we saw was called Memphis. On Saturday we didn't have tickets, but were just planning on getting discount tickets at the TKS booth. We had a few we wanted to see just in case we couldn't get the one we actually wanted. But we read about Memphis and thought it sounded good. It had won a few Tony Awards last year.

On the Subway

Time Square

Both Annie and I had never been to NY before, but our husbands had. Back in November they were talking about taking us. They decided it would be a fun Christmas present for us. They literally planed EVERYTHING without us knowing. It was so much fun. We literally left in the morning and didn't get back to our hotel until late that night. Our day was filled with sight-seeing, shows, eating, and shopping!....I didn't get a picture of everywhere we went, but the one place I really enjoyed was Ground Zero.

It was freezing cold, but I wore leggings under my jeans, and a hoodie under my coat...and we had hot chocolate at every place we ate! Plus we walked like 10 miles a day (no joke...I wore a pedometer just because I was curious on how much we would) and that warmed us up a bit.

But we wouldn't have been able to go if it weren't for Calvin & Courtney! A HUGE THANK YOU! They kept our girls entertained while we were gone. Every time I called the girls, Charley kept telling me that they were having "so much fun!" And I think they probably had more fun with them, then they would have with us.

But Thanks to Calvin, Courtney for watching the girls, Regan and Annie for being such good friends, and great travel mates, and THANKS Ben for a Wonderful Trip! I am one lucky girl!

Blog Worthy

2011-01-24T21:38:00.001-08:00

First, Charley finished her 2 week Basketball camp. She loved it! And she was pretty good for her first time....and I'm pretty sure it wont be her last!
In other news....do you notice anything about both girls?!?!?!?!....besides the fact that they each have to sleep with a pillow pet, their blanket (Charley's has to be under her head, and Gabby's is in her hand-it's the poka dot one sticking out on the side) and a doll (Charley needs her baby Alli, and Gabby has a puppy). We have a lot to keep track of at bed time....
They are both in beds! Tonight was Gabby's first night in a toddler bed....no more crib. I've decided that I can't hold back her progress anymore. I still had a 'baby' status on Gabby. But now that she is talking more, and wanting to be more independent, I need to let her learn. But she did Great tonight! After about 5 minutes I went to check on the girls and I found them both in the toy room playing. But after that, Charley fell asleep, and then Gabby wandered out of bed and into the living room, but she finally fell asleep. It wasn't traumatic at all. I asked her if she liked her big girl bed, and she said yes. So I'm crossing my fingers naps go okay tomorrow!

I'll post pics of NYC soon!

Princess Tea Party

2011-01-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

The Birthday Girl....Princess Belle

Chenoa, Princess Cinderella

Brooktyn, Princess Snow White

Rylie, A Balerina Princess

Gabby, our little Princess

These were just a few of the girls at the Birthday party. I took pictures of them all, but that would be a really long post. We had 11 girls total, ranging from Sleeping Beauty, Tiana, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Belle, and a few other cute Princesses!....It was a crazy party, but the girls had fun!

WHY?!?!?!?!

2011-01-15T12:07:00.001-08:00

I was cleaning out my closet today, and found these Gems! .....This one my dad would be interested in....It is probably now one of the only original REX LEE RUN for Cancer Research shirts in existence. My dad and his friend from law school started the race back when he was there....this was the first shirt made....and I have it! Don't know what to do with it, but I have it!
This shirt my mom got me right before Ben and I got married. I think it was actually in reference to Ben Afleck at the time, but I thought it was cute because I had a Ben....however, Ben hates this shirt, and it is REALLY small....we'll have to get rid of this one.
Ahh....my old Rainbow League softball t-shirt! I've had this since 5th grade....that's right....I said 5th GRADE!!!!! We were city and tournament champions that year.
This is the back of the shirt, and yes, that is my hand you can see through the shirt! It was my favorite shirt for the longest time...and it still fits me! It has been retired, but I looks like it may have bit the dust. Rainbow League shirt may you rest in peace!
Oh yes, let us not forget these gem's of pants! For those of you who knew me in junior high (which isn't a lot of my readers), these are my running tights! I ran for a club track & Cross Country Team, the Cornhusker Flyers, when I was younger, and we all had blue running tights for our meets in the winter....These were actually a lot smaller. I was about 100 lbs, and maybe even smaller, when we bought these. They have now expanded so much they are see-through! I kept them around because at one point in my life I had a Superman fetish....and these tights went great with my costume. I actually thought I lost them, but cleaning out my closet today, they were found!...only to be thrown out for real this time.

Why do I share these random articles of clothing with you? Because I think it is hilarious that I still have them! I have a few other items that will be thrown out today as well, but non as bad as these.

2011-01-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Charley scoring a basket! ....this was her second basket. The first one, she just picks up the ball and walks it down. This was her second attempt. But at least she dribbles it for half the way (I started the video late, but she does dribble it some of the way....she's getting there...)

This is Charley at one of the stations...they were practicing dribbling. I know the video is small, but if you look close, she is actually dribbling it....it isn't until she turns around that she starts dribbling air!

The last week Charley's been playing Itty Bitty Basketball! It is set up like the Itty Bitty Soccer we signed her up for this past fall. There are about 60 kids singed up for her time slot. They are divided up into 6 teams and each time they come, they warm up, then each team goes to a station set up around the gym. After about 5 minutes, they rotate so they get to do all the different games/drills for the day. After ward they either have a relay race/other game (not necessarily basketball) or they partition the gym into thirds and let the kids play a basketball game to help them with the skills they learned that day. It is not competitive, no one takes score, or calls fouls. And since this is a learning experience, you get to do things over if you make a mistake....and every one gets a turn. I really like the program. It is a good way for Charley to get some energy out in the winter, plus it introduces her to a variety of sports. And, I know she is actually learning and I'm not just watching her and a bunch of 4 year-olds chase a ball around.

These videos were taken on her second day. She is catching on fast! I used to play in high school, and I was on a Championship Intramural Basketball team at BYU....so I am one proud mama!

Ummm....yeah!

2011-01-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

So apparently I've gone mad! ....nope, I have!

I had this brilliant idea that it would be okay for Charley to have a birthday party with her friends. I made little invites and handed them out. As I was making the list, it totaled 9 little girls. On paper it didn't look like a lot, and I didn't think anything of it.

Today as I was setting up my little apartment for 11 girls (9 plus my 2 girls), all of a sudden it hit me how stupid it was, and I was nuts!

We had a little tea party, with pink juice, crackers, apples, cheese sticks and cupcakes. Then the girls were done and wanted to dance. So we played Freeze dance (where you have to stop dancing when the music stops), then we played pin the tiara on the princess (with my home-made drawing of Tiana....kinda funny in its own right!), then we made a little door hanging craft thing that had a crown on it. Then we opened presents, and after that I kinda lost them! They all wanted to play with they toys, and attentions were gone.

It was a little crazy, but I think they all had fun. I thought my teaching background would help me out with managing them, but then I quickly remembered that I am not an elementary teacher, I'm a secondary teacher, and there was a reason I was not an elementary teacher!

My house is a wreck and I was too tired to make dinner, but Charley was happy, her friends were sent home happy, I guess it was a success, but we probably wont be doing that again!

CTR

2011-01-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Cute story I am writing down for my records, but you may read them as well!...

Last night we had a little family birthday party for Charley. We got her a little necklace that had CTR on it. We told Charley to read what it said, and she starts sounding it out..."Ca - t - Rr" She was a little puzzled one what it read. Technically it did read Ca-T-Rr....but she was a little more excited when she found out it was CTR, like her new primary class.

It's a new year...

2011-01-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

Charly's in the CTR 4 class now!

After Church on Charley's first day in CTR and Gabby in nursery!

I added this one for fun....I found this one of Charley on her first day of nursery. It is fun to see how similar they look...and how different.

The last few months have really been hard on Gabby. She just wants to run and play, and sitting still for 3 hours of church just does not seem fun for her. Gabby will be 18 months on Jan. 20th. ...in just a few weeks. And normally, it's sad when your kids start growing up, but nursery is one of those things you are counting down the days.

Today Gabby just had a hard time during sacrament meeting, especially since we were in the car ALL DAY yesterday driving back from Nebraska. All she wanted to do was run, and I couldn't blame her. But as we were getting Charley settled in to her new Primary class, she's now a CTR, Gabby was getting restless again. Walking to Sunday School I ran into a friend that was headed into nursery, she was one of the teachers. She told me to bring her in to see how she would do. (Gabby is actually on the nursery rolls, with her name blacked out until the 23rd, so she new she was getting close) We decided why not? I stayed with her during the 2nd hour, and then decided that she would be fine and then went to my class 3rd hour. I ran into Ben in the hall after he got out of Sunday School, and we walked down the hall together, with no kids. It was a little weird, but also really nice! Both our kids go to class during church!

Charley at her birthday party in Omaha at Nana & Grandpa's house!

As for miss Charley. My baby will be 4 tomorrow! I can hardly believe it. She an awesome little girl. Tomorrow she starts her Itty Bitty Basketball team, then we are going to go to see 'Tangled'. Her birthday party with her little friends will be later this week. I had so much to do before Christmas, and with us being out of town, it was hard to get it done on her birthday. She'll have a birthday week! But before we left Omaha, my parents gave her a little birthday party so they could be there! I'm pretty sure she feels special getting to have 3 birthday parties!

R-U-B-E-N

2010-12-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

My baby brother plays for his varsity basketball team at school. We have all wanted to go to a game, but he's so far away, and we only come really during a holiday or summer, when he's not playing. But to our surprise we discovered that he would be having a home game during break!!!....then when we realized that all 5 sisters would be home, and there are 5 letters in his name....coincidence? I think not!!

Our original idea was to buy shirts and just use a marker to write his name. But as our plan evolved, we decided to go classy and make them nice. We bought shirts and the special paper you print and iron on. And Wala....instant cheering section! We even had people from the school thinking it was cool and taking pictures of us! He was a little embarrassed, and got a little teasing from his teammates, but secretly they were all jealous that they didn't have enough sisters to spell their names! And one day Ruben will appreciate it too.

Christmas

2010-12-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Waiting on the stairs Christmas morning.....gotta get the pictures in before we can open presents!
Charley got what she wanted from Santa...a unicorn Pillow Pet. Gabby got a Ladybug Pillow Pet.
Look at that huge paper mess!!! The girls were spoiled by Grandpa and Nana, and all of their Aunts and Uncles....I have a lot of siblings.

We did our normal Christmas traditions....Christmas Eve party with the Zendejas side....Presents in the morning, omlets for breakfast, the boys playing basketball, and then Christmas Party with the Rosenthal's (my mom's side). It was a great day!

And Ben gave me the best gift!!! ....he made me a book! the first page had a picture of an Apple. The second page had a picture of a witch, the third a picture of a lady shopping for purses in China Town, and the 4th picture was of a google map!....Then it had a note telling me to leave my calendar open for a few weeks from now, and baby sitting provided by Calvin and Courtney....because we are headed to NEW YORK CITY, NY!!!!....tickets purchased for the flight and for us to see WICKED!!!! (I'm actually really excited b/c I've actually read the book), and hotel booked!!! We are going with some friends. The husband gave it to his wife for Christmas too! It's going to be so much fun!!!

uDrove Humanitarian Bowl

2010-12-21T20:39:00.000-08:00

In the club box of Boise State Stadium....with the blue field

With my friend Wendy....I miss having her live so close!

The Albas! so cute!

Calvin & Courtney got to come with us....in fact we stayed at Courtney's families house, and her sisters watched the girls while we went to the game! They were awesome!

Last week we had the chance to go up to Boise, ID to go to the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl. Fresno played Northern Illinois University. Our friend Micah coaches for Fresno, and his whole family was going to be going, it was a good excuse to go see them, so we went! We even got to sit in the club box seats!! Yep, we felt cool! We drove up after work friday, and came home sunday. It was a quick trip, but very fun!

Lights, Computer, UPDATE!!

2010-12-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Calvin in front of the temple
They added a few new features to the temple lights...this nativity scene is one of them. They are floating on the reflection pond. It was gorgeous!
Love the lights on Temple Square
Sunday was one of the warmer nights we have had, so we bundled the girls up and met Calvin and Courtney up at the lights on Temple Square. We were not the only ones with that idea, there were thousands of people there! But that's the fun of it all I guess.

*my computer is still out of commission. The tech people at the district office couldn't fix it, so they sent it to mac to fix it.....a little more serious then I thought. I'm not sure how long it will take, it's been a few weeks, hopefully soon.

*Update...I've decided to just catch up with what I had....I hate getting to far behind, so I put up about 6 new posts....Enjoy!

VEGAS!! & Santa!

2010-12-12T22:36:00.001-08:00

Ben and I at the work Christmas party in Vegas.

outside the Rainforest Cafe' with Brooklyn, our friends daughter.

The first weekend in December we went to VEGAS!! Ben's main office is down there, and they had their yearly reviews and Christmas party. We brought my sister Lexi to help watch the girls while we went to the Christmas party. But during the day we hung out around the strip taking the girls to circus circus to see their little acts, and the MGM to see the lions, and lunch at the RainForest Cafe'....and of course while the boys were at work on that Friday us girls went Shopping!!!

Santa was at my work party this past week. Gabby was all for Santa, but Charley was scared...she's been scared of things a lot lately. So I only got a photo of Gabby.

Princess Party!

2010-12-12T22:29:00.001-08:00

This pictures are backwards, but you get the picture!....Charley's friend Aurora invited Charley to her birthday party at a hair school. They got their hair and nails done! I think I had just as much fun as Charley!
The finished product! ...Isn't she so cute!?
Getting her nails done!
Gabby chilin'
Getting her hair done!

Christmas Tree

2010-12-12T22:21:00.001-08:00

Pictured above...Gabby eating the ornaments.....then getting mad when I tell her she can't eat them....poor girl is teething and everything is going in her mouth!

Charley hanging Ornaments!

Gabby finally catching on and hanging ornaments!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

New Cousin Kyler!

The week after we got back from Omaha, we loaded the car and drove up to Rexburg! Ben's youngest sister had her first baby a week earlier, and we decided to spend the holiday up with her and her family, and Schramma and Schrampa, who were up there helping Char out.

On the way home from Rexburg we stopped off in Bountiful where my sister and family were spending Thanksgiving....so we got to see our other little nephew...little RyRy.

Trip to Omaha

2010-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

We went to Omaha the week before Thanksgiving. I went with the girls, and Ben stayed home. I was asked to dance at a few places, and they paid for our flight out there. Plus we got to see family....of course we had to stop by and see Bella! Charley just loves her cousin Bella!
You may wonder why Gabby is wearing my shirt...or why Jordan is wearing my pants and Sara's shirt?! ...well...after I danced at UNO Gabby needed a diaper change. Jordan went to the back room to change her. Little did she know that Gabby had an explosion! And it got all over Gabby's clothes, and Jordan's clothes! So in swoop Gabby took our 4 peoples clothes....Gabby wore my shirt home. I wore my hoop outfit home. Jordan wore my pants that I wore there, and Sara's shirt....Sara had a tank, shirt and sweater....Good Job Gab!
Me hoop dancing at UNO...I also danced at Union Pacific.
And we also went to the temple and trail center. Charley loves seeing the temple we were married in.
A few years ago a walking bridge was built that goes from Nebraska to Iowa....it was a nice day, so we went....and we got to be in two places at once!

Conversation....

2010-12-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

This was a true conversation I had with Gabby! It was hilarious so I had to blog about it. ....if you have been around Gabby, you will know that she is starting to talk...

This afternoon I was getting the girls ready to go to my work party. I was telling Charley that Santa was going to be there. Charley had told me what she was going to tell Santa then I started talking to Gabby:

Me: What do you want to get from Santa? Do you want a Pillow Pet?

Gab: NO

Me: Do you want a baby doll? (let me add, those are two things she is getting!)

Gab: NO

Me: Are you just saying no b/c that is all you know how to say?

Gab: NO

Me: Well, what do you want for Christmas then?

Gabby points to the TV

Me: You want a TV?

Gab: YES

I seriously about fell out of the chair laughing! When I told Ben, he said he was talking to the girls about Christmas and how he wanted a new TV....I'm not sure if she got that from him or what, but if she did it is amazing what they catch on to.

Other Gabby Sayings:

"Here go" (as she hands you something)

"Where puppy go?"

"It's cold" (this one is cute, she says it as she folds her arms and pretends to shiver)

"Mama"....which she will yell for hours on end until I answer her

"DaDa"

"Bye bye"

"Hello"

"ball"

"yes/no"

and while she was at my parents house she started saying "Nana" and "Grandpa"

and then when Ben's parents came out we got her to say "Schramma & Schrammpa" a few times

....and the list grows every day. We are still working on her saying Charley....she'll get it soon enough!

my love/hate relationship...

2010-11-20T00:16:00.000-08:00

...with technology. I have grown accustom to it and love it, yet it annoys me so. One, I don't know how to use half of it, and two, I don't know how to fix you when you are broke.

My trusty old mac computer has blown a little fuse where the connection cord connects. But lucky me, my computer is a work computer, and I just have to hand it over to some awesome tech people and they fix it for me for free!....and they give me an new computer to hold me over until it is fixed. However, this new computer is very slow, and has issues of it's own. So until my old computer is fixed I will have not pictures to share.

Last week I went home to Omaha to dance. My dad got a few requests for me to dance for Native American Month. All of the dances paid enough were they covered my plane tickets for me and the girls, Ben stayed back to go to work. (we missed him though) It was a fun week trip! The girls loved the attention from Nana and Grandpa.

We took lots of pictures and video, and I will post them at a later date....or when my computer is fixed.

This coming week is Thanksgiving, and we are headed up to Idaho for the holiday. Schramma and Schrammpa will be up there helping Char.....Char had her baby on the 16th!...little Kyler! The girls are excited to meet their new cousin!

So until next time...I hope to have my computer back!

A picnic in NOVEMBER!

2010-11-09T13:15:00.001-08:00

You would never know it by looking outside today, but last Saturday was BEAUTIFUL!!! It was 70 degrees and sunny! The BYU game was on and we didn't get the channel on TV so we couldn't watch it, and we were going to have to just listen to it anyway. So Ben decided to take a picnic to the park and listen to it on the car radio. It was one of those days were there was no way we could not be outside.

Only we didn't have any picnic stuff on hand, so we just got kids meals, and called it good!

The girls had so much fun! And so did we! Now it is getting cold...and snowy, so I'm glad we got outside one last time before we get stuck inside.

Trunk or Treat & Aunt Kays

2010-10-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

Originally We were supposed to have our ward Trunk or Treat tonight. Everyone was there with trunks open and candy in hand. We had said an opening prayer to get the party started....and it started Raining!!....hard. After about 2 minutes, we all decided to move the party inside. So the adults lined the hallways and rooms and the kids just went down from person to person. It was a combined 3 wards, so there was a ton of people passing out candy. And for the amount of people that we had to organize very last minute, it all ran smoothly, and the kids only had to wait about 5 minutes before they could trick or treat.
Charley was an old pro at the trick or treating. Gabby started out wanting to hold every candy that she got, but she's a quick one. After about 5 minutes she realized that if she put the candy in her bag she could get more...then she was off. She was a very efficient 15 month old. She was all business going from person to person, it was hard to keep up with her!

Ben was Roy (from Siegfried & Roy), and I was the White Tiger that Bit him, Charley was Belle, and Gabby the Goblin!

Our ward activity was really early. It went from 4-6pm. It was actually really perfect timing. After the activity we took the kids to Aunt Kay's house to trick or treat. It has kinda become a tradition of ours. After Kays house we went to a few of her neighbors houses and called it good, and visited for a little bit. We came home and bathed Gabby (she left a black ring in the tub!), and sent them to bed by 8!!!

And now that they are in bed, we got to enjoy the girls loot! All Chocolate is separated and bagged for mom and dad!! My dad always called it the "Dad Tax"....Ben heard about that, and decided to implement that with our kids!

We had a busy and FUN Halloween!! It is always ten times better with kids. They make everything worth it! Even though tomorrow (Sunday) is the real Halloween, we live in Utah, so Halloween was actually tonight. Our festivities are over....now on to Thanksgiving!

Halloween...office and country club

2010-10-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Friday night we went to the Alpine Country Club for their Halloween party! We have a membership through Ben's Firm, they have a corporate membership. We went with some friends from work. The girls love their little girl, Brooklyn. It was really YUMMY! They had a huge Dinner buffet, then they had games and dancing and a spook ally. It was mostly kids dancing, which made it really fun for the girls, they were both out there shaking it! It was so cute! They had little costume parade, and the girls got little goody bags....they tore into them before we even got home!
Even though she was a little Goblin, she was still so stinkin' cute! She ended up being a hit, and everyone loved her!
Earlier that day we took some cupcakes to Ben's office. Plus Charley wanted to show Allison her princess dress, Allison works there, and they have become quite good friends! Since Charley was going to be dressed up I decided to dress Gabby up....Even though Ben wanted to dress Gabby as a goblin. Since I got to dress Charley, Ben said he wanted to dress Gabby. But I wasn't going to dress her up like a monster, so I put a princess dress on her.
I'm pretty proud of Charley's dress! I made it! I think she made the perfect Belle....even down to her brown hair and blue eyes. Plus she is just gorgous!!
My poor little baby...she was playing outside the day before and face planted on the sidewalk. She has little scraps on her forehead and chin.

Halloween Fun

2010-10-30T20:05:00.001-07:00

We made yogurt suckers. We put a Popsicle stick on some wax paper, and with a zip lock bag put yogurt in it, and snipped the corner and let the girls squirt it out onto the stick and then froze it. It kinda looked like brains. But my girls LOVE yogurt, so they loved it!
I made cupcakes with spider webs on them out of white chocolate chips. You're supposed to put the spider rings on the, but I couldn't find any anywhere....they were all sold out. But they were yummy! We took a bunch to Ben's office.
Thursday night we carved a pumpkin. Ben carved while Charley colored her little ones.

The girls got to dig out the pumpkin goo.

Our Jack-O-Lantern!

White Tigers...Vegas Ragnar 2010

2010-10-26T09:03:00.001-07:00

We had all of our faces photo-shopped into old pictures of Siegfried and Roy and printed into posters all over our car!
White Tiger Girls...Van 1
After 24 hours of running....we are done!....we are at the check point for the guys to take over and finish their last legs.
At the finish line....195 miles.....we are still alive!
This was at the Lowe's resort in Henderson. It was at the second major exchange where we would meet up with the guys again, and we would start running. We were able to lay on pool chairs and sleep for the few hours they were running!

This past weekend I ran another Ragnar Race...this time it was from the Valley of Fire National Park to Las Vegas. I was asked to run it a month ago with some people from our ward. They wanted Ben to run, but it was too hard for him to get off work. Van 1 was all girls, and Van 2 was all the guys....so it was a party in each van!

One of the girls parents lived in St. George, so we all crashed on their floor the first night, then drove an hour in the morning to the starting line. We ran, ate, slept, then repeated it 2 more times....through the night! When we finished, we went to the hotel to shower....b/c we hadn't in a few days of running! (we stunk!!) We stayed at the Vinetian, and their rooms were HUGE! (b/c we were an out of state team, the race gave us 2 free rooms....so we split it boys and girls again...it all worked out....even the couples that were there slept in separate rooms) We went to dinner, and our original intention was to go shopping....but we soon realized we couldn't move, and we were so tired!!!

We drove home Sunday morning. It was a nice welcome home....the girls, and Ben were excited to see me! Thanks to Courtney and Lexi who watched the girls for us on Friday while Ben went to work! It was really nice knowing that the girls were well taken care of...I didn't have to worry at all!

Charley

2010-10-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Charley is hilarious!! She is 3, and will be 4 in January! We will never have a dull day in our house with her!

Normally we check on the girls a few times before we go to bed. They just look so peaceful and cute! We've actually found Charley doing this before. She just sits up in bed and looks around. We think she is still sleeping though. One night Ben found her under Gabby's crib. (we think sleep walk/talking) Ben asked her what she was doing under there, she said she was trying to find her shoe that blew away. ***We live in an area that is super windy. One night the wind was crazy, so Ben took her outside for fun. As he was carrying her in, her sandal blew off, never to be seen again. But she loved those shoes, and even though it was last year, she will still randomly talk about how the wind blew her shoe away. I guess it was a traumatic experience for her!

Today Charley wanted to put on a show on a stage. She pulled out the folding chairs and set them up, then flipped her table upside down for her stage! This girl was set to perform! I got the pleasure of hearing many of her "songs", this is just one of them. Charley's new thing is making up songs....on the spot. Some she remembers and will sing over and over again....one of her more popular ones is "Old Mcdonald had some pants, Okie okie okie".....or "Twinkle Twinkle little star, how i wonder what you eat for Breakfast?"....she literally sings these songs over and over, and thinks they are hilarious! gotta love her!

I'm not quite sure what the theme of this song was....she starts by saying grandpas and grandmas are nice, then the stars and moon spin in the sky, then it ends with her saying she is a child of God, and he sent me here.....It is quite the song!

the girls...

2010-10-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

So after getting dressed Gabby thought that her overalls had pockets. She somehow got her arm in there, and it got stuck! She didn't really complain, she just kept it there and walked around. I had my laugh, then helped her out of it!

My little readers!

Every time Gabby hears music she dances. ....even if it is only for 5 seconds!

The end of summer....

2010-09-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

Our friend Micah, who coaches for Fresno St., got us tickets to the Utah state game. It was a fun game to go to. And it was great to see him afterward. However, I would like to make sure everyone knows that it was Fresno Red, not Utah red. I couldn't believe I was wearing Red in Utah on a game day. But I did it for a friend!
We've been taking advantage of the final summer days as much as we can. We've gone to Thanksgiving Point a few times, and make many trips to Trafalga. Gabby recently discovered ponies, and is pretty much in love with them. Every time she sees them, she gets so excited, she can't breathe....literally. It is quite hilarious! We went to Trafalga one day last week, and some company was there, and they brought in ponies. And it took me forever to get the girl away from them! It was cute.
Charley is a pro now. She is getting so dang big! She'll be 4 in three months....I just can't believe it! She wont let me call her baby anymore....she is a "big girl"...

Story time started again at the library, they took the summer off, so now we're back, and the girls love it. We are also waiting for basketball to start for Charley. Right now they are doing Itty Bitty Football. I was thinking of signing her up, but I decided to wait and just do basketball.

We are having fun everyday, the girls keep us on our toes. But I'm trying to do as much as we can before we get stuck in the house in the winter....then I'll have to be more creative on ways to get out of the house.

Summer Projects

2010-09-14T09:14:00.001-07:00

My parents gave us this dresser when we got married. It was a lighter wood with a mirror on top. (I still have the mirror if anyone wants it) I sanded it down, stained the top a mahogany color, and painted the body black. The handles are what was on it....I just cleaned them with Braso and now they are sparkling new!

I found the headboard on KSL for cheap. It was white, I just painted it black. There are some detail to it, but it's hard to see in the picture. I also painted the little side table. It is just a cheap Ikea table, that was originally the light brown color. But after re-doing the dresser, it didn't match. Instead of buying a new one, I just sanded it down a bit for the paint to stick and painted it black. Since it was a table, I put a coat of polyurethane on it so the paint wouldn't come off. There is another one just like it on the other side.
I found this dresser on KSL for $20!! It was a great find! I sanded it down and did a 2-tone paint job on it! It matched the girls "Tinkerbell" room. The lamp shade was one I already had, I just primed and panted it as well. And the curtains are left over table clothes from Char's wedding.
These frames were originally white. Char bought them for me years ago at a neighbors garage sale in GA. I was prego with Charley at the time, and they had some cute little pictures in them for the nursery. Now that we don't have a nursery, and the girls room is Tinkerbell, I didn't want these nice big frames to go to waste. So I stripped and stained them. These were actually a lot harder then I first thought. Getting paint off stinks! And these had like 20 layers of paint. But now they match in my living room! And the girls pictures look so pretty in them!
My first project was this dresser/table. It is kinda like our little entry table. It replaced a bookshelf we had. I found this on KSL and was previously in a little boys room, and it was a disaster! I had to sand this down....fill all the scoffs with wood filler....stain, and bought new handles for it.

I wanted to decorate our house this summer, but the things I actually wanted was WAY out of our price range. Then I decided that if I just re-did furniture myself, I could do it the way I wanted for a fraction of the price. Plus it is actually really fun!

Next summer I want to find an armiore for our room, and re-do it to match our dresser, and I want to find something to do with our table. I need to figure out if I want to re-do it, or just get a new one! ....but that is for later. I'm done with my big projects for the summer. This winter I am going to work on stuff for my walls!

Park City & Blessing

2010-09-08T10:28:00.001-07:00

Our view from the back balcony

a busy weekend....with some tired girls!

with their grandbabies!

Ryan Jr.'s blessing day! My mom made his cute outfit!

Breakfast before my family left at Burger King....the girls loved the hats!

This past weekend my family came in-town for Ryan's blessing. My parents were bringing Bella, Jordan and Ruben, and Lexi was going to be coming up from BYU. So instead of all squeezing into our little apartment, PCG (Private Capital Group) Ben's client, let us use Little Belle, their condo in Park City. But this isn't any condo, it's a huge 4,000 square foot condo with beds for everyone, and 5 bathrooms!!! We LOVE PCG!! they are so nice to us! (this was the same place Ben and I stayed for a night for our anniversary last month)

....Add in the BYU football game with at win!....and you got yourself a perfect weekend!

7Peaks, J-Dawgs, & Trafalga....

2010-09-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday we did the ultimate Utah experience!....we went to 7 Peaks, then ate at J-Dawgs, then went to Trafalga! It was a fun day, and the girls were knocked out by the end!

We bought these passes where we get unlimited access to 7 Peaks, Trafalga Orem & Lehi, Orem Owls games, and Utah Flash games!!! So we went with some friends who also bought passes! We are gonna have a fun year!

Dino's with RyRy...

2010-09-08T10:14:00.001-07:00

This past week my sister and her family were up here to bless their new baby Ryan Jr. We wanted to hang out, and we let Charley pick, and of course she wanted to show ryry the dino museum! He was probably a little too small to enjoy it, but my girls loved it.

Soccer Party

2010-08-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Soccer ended a week or so ago, but here are some pictures of Charley's last day of soccer.
This is her coach! She was a really nice lady that worked well with the kids.
The kids played some games, got a certificate, balloon and sucker.
Charley with a few of her friends she did soccer with. Itty Bitty Basketball is coming up....we'll have to sign up!

Pictures...

2010-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Charlene & Gabriella

aka: Charley, age 3 1/2, she is a beautiful little girl

Gabby, Age 1 (Traditional, Hoop)

aka: Gabbers, Gab, Yo GabaGaba

Michele Reyes is A-MAZ-ING!!!!

She took the girls pictures a few weeks ago, and we got them back today. I've already looked at them multiple times, and I still can't get enough!

I think Michele is one of the best! She is located in Cedar Hills, so if you are in need of pictures taken, she's great! I linked her site, so go check her out!

Anniversary Weekend Get-a-way

2010-08-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 7, 2010 was our 6 year Anniversary! A few weeks ago Ben told me that he scheduled a night for us to stay at Little Bell. Little Bell is a townhouse in Park City that one of Ben's clients, PCG, owns. PCG (Private Capital Group) is a hard money lender. They lent some guy some money, he used his house as collateral and didn't pay, and now PCG owns it. They now just rent the house out for vacationers, but they were kind enough to let us use it as it wasn't booked this weekend.

Then last week, Ben's firm sponsored a hole in a Golf Tournament....which meant that Ben got to play in the tournament....what a fun work day for him! At the tournament they had a silent auction. Ben put in a bid for a one night stay at the Anniversary Inn, dinner for 2 at Tuconos, 2 tickets to a play. He was the highest bidder, but paid less than half of what a room would have cost one night at the Inn....Great Deal! So we decided to use both nights in one weekend!

So Friday Ben came home from work early and we packed and left for our exciting weekend with out the girls!!! THANK YOU to Jordan who watched the girls for us! The girls sure are going to miss her when she moves.

We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner (they were supposed to send our gift certificates for Tuconos, but hadn't yet, otherwise we would have used them)

Then we went to see a movie! ....we saw Eclipse....Ben let me pick!

Afterward we stayed at the Anniversary Inn. If you have never experienced the Anniversary Inn, you should. Each room is decorated with a different theme. You get to pick what theme you want to stay in, depending on what rooms are open. We called ahead, and decided in the Mysteries of Egypt Suite.

This guy was in our bathroom!

In the morning we got breakfast delivered to the room (it was part of what you pay for) then we packed up and drove to Park City.

We went to the outlets and walked around for a little bit, then headed over to Olympic Park walked around the museum and watched the Flying Aces show! (click the link to see a video...and you can click on the picture to make it larger....we got a picture right as the guy was in the air!) It was AWESOME!!!

Then we drove to Deer Vally Resort and ate at the Royal Street Cafe'. While we were eating this lady came up to us and asked if we wanted her lift passes. They already bought them and decided not to use them, and didn't want them to go to waste. We didn't have anything planned, so we took them and went up the lifts. We walked around the mountain top....and it was freezing! We didn't think we would need coats!

When we were done, we went to check out the Little Bell. It was pretty much the coolest house ever!!! I don't know why we've never took advantage of staying there before?

This was the hot tub/waterfall that was located right off the master bath!!!

We came home an hour before Church started.

It was a perfect weekend!

Love you Ben!!! Happy Anniversary!!!

Princess Soccer Player

2010-07-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

If you've ever asked Charley what she wants to be when she grows up, she'll always answer "A Princess Soccer Player" ....not just a soccer player, but a Princess soccer player! So of course we had to put her in soccer this summer. We put her in Itty Bitty Soccer with Lehi Parks and Rec. It isn't a team where they play other teams, but they go the same time every time, with the same kids and coaches. They warm up, go to little stations where they learn different soccer skills, then play a game at the end (not necessarily a actual soccer game) and then have a treat and go home. It is for 3 and 4 year olds, and I think it is perfect for this age. It is 3 weeks long twice a week.

Today was our first day! And yes, I was the crazy mom that followed my child around taking pictures and video!!! This is my babies first "team" experience and I think I may have been just as excited as she was! She woke me up this morning telling me that she got to go to soccer today! It was indoors, which was nice it wasn't in the heat, but it was too dark to take pictures, so I didn't get a lot of good ones.

Night and Day

2010-07-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

Our two girls may have looked like each other when they were first born, but after that....they are pretty much as different as night and day. They each have their own individual look and personality. For example, Charley has curly hair, and Gabby's is straight. Charley is very outgoing, and Gabby is more shy. Charley sleeps on her back with her feet up in the air, and Gabby on her tummy with her bum in the air!!! Granted, there are some things they share in common, but for the most part they are their own girl!

We went to the doctors today for Gabby's 1 year check up. Poor thing is already getting 4 new teeth (I swear they are all coming at once! She had 2 teeth for the longest time, now she has like 10!) and now today we added 4 shots!

Gabby's stats:
Height: 28.5 inches 30th %tile
Weight: 18.5 lbs. 12.5 %tile

*Just for some fun I looked up Charley's old stats from when she was 12 months...
Height: 33.5 inch 99+ %tile
Weight: 20.7lbs 30th %tile

We have a Giant and a Runt on our hands!! :)

Gabby:
Gabby is walking along all the furniture and can walk on her own, but only a few steps. She was going really good for a week or so, but decided crawling was a lot faster. She loves patty cake, and peek a boo! I'm not sure if she knows she is actually saying it, or just happens to say mama, dada, baba, and hi. She is very much a momma's girl, but she is the cutest thing when dad comes home, she gets all excited and crawls to him and meets him at the door! Even though she is a momma's girls, she is still very friendly and plays with everyone. As of yesterday, she is completely off the bottle. She isn't too picky with how she gets her milk, so we took advantage of that and just stopped giving them to her....and we arn't going back! She loves to "read" and look at books. I think her sister is a good influence on her. She loves doing whatever Charley does. It may not always be fun for Charley, but Gabby sure does love it.

Charley:
Charley can talk your ear off, and has an amazing vocabulary for a 3 year old! She knows all of the sounds to the letters, and can put some together and read a few words and even knows how to spell some. We've been kinda crazy this summer, and haven't had our "school" since May, but we'll probably start that up again when all the neighbor kids go back to school as well. She is very polite and sweet. She is into anything Princess, Tinkerbell or Dora. And loves her primary class and teacher. The other day we drove by the temple and she told me that the temple was Jesus' and Heavenly Fathers house. Then she asked if we could go there and visit them. It was very hard to explain to her that they don't physically live there. But we can go there and be reverent and feel their spirit and we can pray and talk to them. I still don't think she understood, because by the end she was still insisting that they LIVE there.