our michigan family.

we are off to visit our michigonians!!

we've been oozing with excitement all week thinking of being in ann arbor with them!

these kids melt me right down to a puddle.

see you all next wednesday:).

doughnut falls....somewhat.

 

saturday was so beautiful.  so we thought we'd go for a hike up doughnut falls.  we got up there and hiked some, then all of a sudden there was snow.  but it was extremely bizarre because the weather was 70 degree's, but there was snow.  the snow wasn't even cold on our shoes, it was warm.  and it was so hot that the breeze from the snow actually felt refreshing.  weird. we couldn't even make it up to the falls because the snow got so deep.  but we tried some other hikes that were great. i'd chalk it up to a good day:).

rain, rain.

last night i gave a seminar on..wait for it...menopause. i know, i had the same reaction when they asked me to give it.  i first asked them how old they think i am, and then i reassured them that i have never actually experienced menopause.  after we all were on the same page, i ended up researching it and teaching it anyways.  i learned a lot to be honest.  i learned that woman have absolutely nothing to look foward to. i learned that woman are incredibley nervous to talk about menopause openly, and i also learned that-like everything else in this life-everything stems back to good diet and exercise. so it did motivate me to stay healthy throughout all my years.

this rain makes me tired.  but i like it to be honest.  there's nothing better to me then me and brad being cozied in our apartment, feeling trapped because of the rain.  forced to watch movies.  forced to listen to good, mellow music for hours.  forced to take long naps. i like it.

i came across this picture that seemed to brighten up the day.  those young woman are such a light to me.  and i felt it while i was looking at this picture.

i've been listening to music all morning to match this gray, rainy weather. thought i'd share some of my favorite "rain" songs with you while you feel cooped up in your home. you can resort to good music while reading a good book and eating good, warm home-cooked food when the weather is grum.

fondue frenzy 2011

please enjoy scott's face as much as i do.

this is a tradition i never ever ever ever want to die. it's a fantastic one that i now look forward to throughout the year.  this is how we celebrated mamma's day for lisa, my mom in law. but to be honest, i felt like it was "everybody's" day with this 3 course fondue fananzo. i'm salivating all over my keyboard as i type.

thanks so much elders! please, i repeat please never let this wonderful fondue night disappear.  including the hyper-ness that takes place afterwards from so much chocolate sugar.  that actually might have been my favorite part.

a typical night with kelly and candice...

all you need to do to have a good time is find some stairs and angle the camera just right.  turn on the quick timer so it takes 5 shots in a row, and before the camera flashes you have to find another pose and place. for some reason we were having the time of our lives.  we're dumb.

we also hit up michael's, as in the craft store, and bought some balloons and paper planes.  as it would a 3 year old, they entertained us for hours. i'd give that night an A+.

sunday at it's best.

yesterday was a funny day.  sacrament was spent laughing throughout the entire hour at things that were happening with other people. our ward is priceless sometimes. we also spent dinner laughing at my dad's story about how he was playing hockey and sucker-pushed a teen that was bulling him. and then we (the older folk) finished the glorious sabbath day laughing at the natalie portman rap from saturday night live. i would post it, but it's truly inappropriate so i thought i would save you the scars.

and before we said our goodbye's, we watched and laughed cooper and reese-but mostly reese, dance to this song.....blazing through our house.

at least we are together as a family on sunday. that's all that counts right? sure hope so.....

ahhhh..... the weekend begins.

i've been anticipating the weekend all week more than usual.  there's nothing going on, nothing huge to look forward too, just being outside in this beautiful weather makes me so excited!

brad picked me up from work yesterday with lunch and a blanket and my newest fave, chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  we hit up this field of grass by the opening of emigration canyon.  it was deserted.  the grass was green and thick.  there was a little creek down below us.  i couldn't have asked for a better day.  we played some catch, talked, ate, slept for an hour, i loved it.

the day before that i hit up my folks home after my class and had a brief party with my family.  everyone was there.  we were all outside.  reese was in her superman outfit.  music was blazing.  again, i couldn't have asked for a better evening. all within a couple of hours.

i'm going to repeat the words of my brilliant little sister jaclyn, "dear life, you treat me so well.....thank you".

i'm truly thinking it's the weather though.  life only feels great when the weather is great, ha.

p.s. a downer-me and brad saw a little old man that worked at smith's have a heart attack.  it broke our hearts.  it seriously was one of the saddest things i've ever seen. i hope he gets better, or lives for the matter...

happy thursday!

we're as hideous as they come.

tango bango

we went tango dancing friday night just us 2.  

learned tango moves and listened to tango music. 

it was awesome. 

but what was more awesome than that, brad loved it.

and there's something else that was even more awesome than all those things combined....

it was only 5 bucks.

jbm-in a different time

sometimes i like songs solely because of the mood they bring. not necessarily because of the lyrics, but because of how the music actually makes me feel. this song puts me in a somber mood. and i love it just for that reason. so here's a somber song for your day. hope you enjoy.

Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not. -James Joyce

i wish i had a picture of every woman that has impacted my life. they say it takes a village to raise a child, and i consider my village priceless. i've had nothing but the best examples in my life of what it means to be a good woman and person. all of my wonderful friends, my never ending comfort of a sensational extended family, my older sister, my mom in law, and my beautiful mom that has spent her life serving us kids.

so to all you "moms" that have helped raise me, thank you so much.

womanhood is such wonderful thing to be a part of.

happy mother's day!!

are you sick of her yet? because i'm not:)

a gourmet dinner.

we have a friend named caitlyn hall.  she has a hidden secret that she tells no one about.

we found out what it is. 

she has the talent of cooking like professional cuisine chef. 

i'm not exaggerating in the slightest.  never before in my life have i tasted such gourment food.

now, i've met a lot of good cooks in my day (my sister,  my mom in law, a lot of my friends) but none of them, please no offense, have made such food that could actually compare to a 5 star restaurant.

the steak was unreal.  i'm sure me and brad sounded exactly like this when we were at their dinner table. 
but we couldn't help it. the food had so much flavor, and flavor's we've never tasted before. honest.

we were blown away by her talent.

she has a gift that needs to go public.  so here i am singing her praises. 

 from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much caitlyn for giving us such a rare blessing as to let us eat your delicious 5 star hidden talent food.

our kids have no chance at having normal hair in the mornings.

heaven help me.............i couldn't stop laughing at the ace ventura i was sleeping next to.