We moved back into our house right after the new year. It has been so nice to be back in Lehi. Last week my grandpa passed away. It was a little bittersweet. He was old and losing his memory and had been sick for a few weeks. He died peacefully in his sleep. The funernal was this past weekend so all of my family came to town.

Grandpa Grandpa with Lucy and Riley

The men practicing Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy.

Evie Soule being cute as can be.

Melia, Kaylee, Rees Ezra, Sophie and Elliot in the playhouse. I'm sure there were more kids upstairs. These little second cousins are so close in age... they had a ball.

Sarah, Christie, Annie, me and Riley enjoying the best carmel popcorn I have ever had.

Kami, Jessica, Kathryn and Bonnie... beautiful ladies indeed!

Lucy, Rees, Riley and Kaylee watching a show. Both Rees and Lucy caught the flu while they stayed with us. Brian, Kami and some of the Hart kids got sick too... I'm so sorry!

Kami being a super aunt, reading a book to Kaylee, Riley and Lucy

Riley likes the shower now too!

Kaylee is on a pants strike- she only wants to wear dresses. In the morning she calls for me to get her out of bed. Somehow she is already in a dress! She changes dresses 5-6 times a day, usually favoring the floral one pictures and a little black and white polka dot dress that is actually Riley's. What am I going to do with this girly girly??


Riley is developing the sweetest little personality. She loves to play chase and hide and seek. She is really patient with her diva sister, but is starting to notice when things aren't fair. For the most part, she and Kaylee are the best of friends.

My favorite part of Christmas

We've been drilling Christmas songs into Kaylee's head. Whenever I try to record her singing she tries to take the camera from me. Randomly she wanted to take a shower. While I was around the corner this is how I caught her.

Christmas jammies from Grandma at the sibling party.

Riley got a cute pair of Squeakies from Hunter.

Kaylee got a dress up tutu and shoes from Bella.

Katie got some make-up from Penny and shared with the girls under the table.

Happy Birthday Evie! We were glad to see the Soules and Lowes at Diane's house.

Annika came up to our room at 6:30am to announce that Santa came and he brought a bike! We made her wait until our girls woke up around 8 to open presents.

Papa got Riley a cute stuffed bear. They are best buddies.

A frequent expression as Kaylee opened all of her presents.

A new table a chairs, just their size.

Kaylee called Santa and said thank you for the kitchen!

The deer came a bedded down outside in the neighbors back yard. We have seen quite a few deer as the snow has come down.

tagged

I was tagged forever ago, it's just taken me a long time to get it together.
In no particular order...
10 intersting things about me

1. Since I moved out of my parents house after high school, I have moved 23 times. Of all those places, I have never lived in the place for more than eight months consectutively. We've had our house in Utah for almost 2 years, but we've moved out each summer. I've lived in various cities in Washington, Idaho, California, Utah, New York and most recently Rhode Island.

2. In February 2002 I saw 311/Incubus/Hoobastank performing in a bull ring in Spain. My parents took me and Brent Spain, so naturally that was planned in our itinerary. No, my parents did not go. I've actually been to five 311 concerts, which is wierd cause I've only been to like 10 concerts total. Here are a few samples of the groups that played.

3. I have never broken a bone. When I was about 5 my brothers dropped me from the top bunk on to the bed frame of the bottom bunk. I got stiches right down the middle of my head, leaving a permanant scar that hairstylists often mistake for a part. I think I would have prefered having a cast and no scar!

4. I survived Hurricane Kenna! Oh you've never heard of that one? Well, in October 2002 in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, my sister and I were learning Spanish and teaching English to kids that lived at the city dump. On our last day there we watched from the hotel room as the rain and ocean waves poured through the hotel lobbies and into the streets. I mean, more than pour, it was a hurricane after all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Kenna. A traveler who must have been there at the same time as me took the following footage:

5. I watched the sunrise at Machu Picchu. I went to Peru with my parents and my sister during the summer of 2005. Although this famous wonder of the world was incredible to behold, we were so exhausted from our adventure the day before that I don't think I fully appreciated it.

This a ladder on the trial up the mountain, Putucusi. It is directly across from Machu Picchu. We climbed to the top of this the day before, and on our way down, ran into a man who was passed out on the trail. He died that night after my sister and a group of other tourist gave him CPR. Crazy experience, to say the least.

6. I had an article written about me in the Ensign... kind of. In the April 2001 issue there is a story called "Standing up to Profanity". My aunt had written the article 7 years prior to it being published. There was even a little artistic representaion of me with my hands on my hips. Read the story here.

7. During our trip to Spain we took a ferry across the Strait of Gibralter to Morocco. We were just there for a day but I rode a camel! I don't think I have ever seen a camel before or after that experience. Kind of cool, right?

8. From as far back as I could remember until I left my parents house, we have had 48 different cars. They ranged from typical sedans and minivans, to classics, trucks, scooters and so on. Some of them had clever names, like the Sassy Chassy, Queen Latifa and the Toucher (creepy, I know).

Helix Precis (our's was white) Aerostar

9.The doctor who delivered me 26 years ago also delivered my first baby, Kaylee. We moved to Seattle 2 weeks before she was born. We didn't have a lot of time to find me a doctor and although I had no memory of him, it was comforting to know firsthand that I turned out just fine!

10. Before I got married I worked at a barter exchange called ITEX. I worked there for 3 years and must say I was a pretty good trade director. I won an award for my acheivements at a convention in Florida. When Jake and I moved, his mom took my job and now rocks the house and runs the show in the Utah office.

my cute little family

Jake's cousin Jandee and her husband Jordan took these pictures for us up Hobble Creek Canyon. Just for an update, Kaylee is 2 and a half and Riley is just over 1.

quilt contest

You've got to check out the amazing quilt at www.potsandpins.com. You could even win it!!! Maybe one day I'll be clever enough to make such a masterpeice!

Busy Fall

It has been a crazy crazy few months.

Here's the run down:

Jake's birthday on the 11th

Dane and Lindsey got married on the 12th

The Hydes and Jake Tanner stayed the weekend with us

Birhtday party on the 13th

Riley's 1st birthday on the 16th

Jake Tanners wedding weekend in San Diego on the 18-21st

Visit my family in Seattle the 24-1st

Rented out our house in Lehi- packed everything into storage in 3 days!

Moved in with the Dahl's October 5th

Jake started a company in Utah. We couldn't be happier!

Goodbye New York, Hello... Rhode Island

We're home! We're Home! We're home! It is wonderful. I love my house, I love my yard, I love my family and friends that are here. My girls are happy to have their beds and their toys and their cousins and grandparents.

So to catch up, 2 days after I got home from Nevada, I packed up the apartment and met Jake in Utica, NY. Luckliy we were only there for one night. We headed down to Rhode Island, where the team would finish out the summer. I was really excited to explore a new part of the country. Whoever thinks about going to Rhode Island? Well I lost my camera battery charger and only got a few pics, but here are some of the highlights of the Ocean State.

Riley making a dash for the water. She is fearless when it comes to the water. She can't get enough!

Kaylee and her dear friend Olivia. We sure miss her!!!

Gotta love these girls! These pics were taken at the Naragansett beach that Marie and I went to the first week we were there.

We also enjoyed the coolest park ever! There was a huge playground, swan shaped paddle boats, a carousel, a wonderful zoo that we were sure to take advantage of. If you're ever Rhode Island, be sure to check out www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org.

While we were there I had a surprise visit from my sister! Kami flw in on Sunday and stayed til Wednesday. We had fun driving around Providence and got a night with no kids in Boston! We also went to the Providence Children's Museum (kind of lame) and bumped into some colleges like, Brown, MIT and Harvard. If I can get some pictures from Kami I will post about our adventure.

I have found and am currently charging my camera battery. Hopefully I can update more in the next week. Jake is out of town, so I should have some time.