From "WENTZ" We Came

Lots of posts below!!!!!!

2009-07-15T00:18:00.004-06:00

I have updated my blog FINALLY!!!! There are lots of pictures to see...check it out!

Catie got stitches today :(

2009-07-14T23:34:00.004-06:00

So today, I was getting our swimming stuff together and other things ready because after I got my checks printed, we were going to meet a friend at the North Shore Aquatic Center and I didn't want to have to come back home to get our stuff. While I was in her room gathering a couple of items, Bekka started yelling that Catie was hurt. So I picked her up and was trying to comfort her. When I turned her around there was blood everywhere! She had hit her chin on the coffee table and her tooth went through the top lip of her mouth on the right side! I called Travis to tell him I may have to take her for stitches and then I called my Mom to see how deep a cut would need to be to need them. After debating for a few minutes while I got the bleeding under control, I decided to take her in. They said that because it was above the lip line, they would probably need to put in a couple of stitches, she ended up with three. Travis met us there and took Bekka so I could stay with Catie. They had to strap her down to help to keep her still and she cried so hard and kept saying Mama. I felt so bad and I probably was crying as hard as she was! I bet that she has already forgotten about it, but I haven't and probably never will! My poor little girl, all she wanted was her mommy and I couldn't do anything about it! Once they were done, I got her off of the bed and held her close trying to comfort her and get her to calm down as I tried to calm myself down also. We walked Travis to his truck and then the girls and I went to visit my Mom at work for lunch. After that, we went home and Catie fell asleep in the car....she slept for about 3 1/2 hours this afternoon and I am sure she really needed it after the traumatic afternoon she had.

LAGOON

2009-07-14T22:58:00.024-06:00

Friday morning, Travis decided that we should take the kids to Lagoon and stay at the campground. So I loaded up the camper and Friday after he got off of work we drove to Farmington and got all set up. Saturday morning we were at the gate when the park opened! It was so nice that day because it was partly overcast and the park wasn't very crowded like we thought it would be on a Saturday. We spend the morning riding rides, the entire day we walked on nearly every ride we wanted to go on because it wasn't packed. Then at about 12:30 we went back to the trailer and had lunch, changed into our swimming suits and went to Lagoon A Beach. About 4:30, we went back to the trailer and changed back into our clothes and went back to the park until closing! Bekka had so much fun! She rode nearly every roller coaster and ride that she wanted to! She rode the Bat about 1/2 a dozen times and Catie was even able to ride alot of the rides also! We had so much fun! I can't wait to take the girls again! Sunday when we were pulling out of the campground, I looked over at the parking lot and the first lot was nearly FULL! So we picked the perfect day to go to Lagoon!

4 Generations...

2009-07-14T22:56:00.003-06:00

Joyce and Hugh came out the day after the 4th of July on thier way home from Idaho after picking up Travis's Grandparents. They stayed Sunday night with us before heading back to Nebraska. Below is a picture of 4 generations of Jacobs!

4th of July 2009

2009-07-14T22:44:00.012-06:00

This year, I had a booth for Scentsy at the City's celebration. Then I came home and Travis took Bekka to get some fireworks. My parents came over that evening for hamburgers and hotdogs, then we lit some of the fireworks. Catie didn't like them, especially the loud, crackling ones!!! She finally started to like them though! Everytime Travis lit one, she would run to my Mom! We were able to watch the big firework show from our front yard again which was so nice because we didn't have to fight the crowds!

Baby Contest 2009

2009-07-14T22:38:00.007-06:00

I entered Catie in the Baby Contest again this year in our city. She won Most Independent! She is so very independent! :) Before the contest started, I had given her a small baggie full of Trix cereal and she was everyone's best friend! But she wouldn't share with any of the kids! She looked so adorable! :)

Catie & Bekka playing dress up

2009-07-14T22:35:00.003-06:00

Bekka doing Catie's Hair

2009-07-14T22:29:00.004-06:00

Bekka put every barrett we own in Catie's hair! I can't believe that Catie let her do it! :)

Memorial Day at the Cemetary 2009

2009-07-14T22:19:00.006-06:00

Easter 2009 Green River, UT

2009-07-14T22:07:00.012-06:00

We spent Easter in Green River for the second time since we have had children. We took the kids to color Easter Eggs at a friends home, then Easter morning we spent at the trailer. In the afternoon, we went to the park and then went to our friends home for an Easter Egg Hunt! The kids had so much fun!!!

Bekka's Butterflies

2009-07-14T22:03:00.004-06:00

Here is a picture of one of Bekka's Butterflies....

Day 4 & Day 5

2009-06-05T22:02:00.003-06:00

I forgot to take one last night, so this one was taken this morning at about 10:00 am. None of the catapillars had started making thier cocoons yet....They were all starting to make thier way to the top of the container though.

This one I took tonight at 10:00 pm....This afternoon when we returned from Layton after feeding the ducks, playing at the park and our adventure to Costco for lunch and a few other things, one of the catapillars had already transformed into the cocoon. Tonight 2 more were upside down and getting ready to change!!!! Bekka is so excited!!!!

Day 3

2009-06-03T22:02:00.001-06:00

I can't believe that they have tripled in size!!! Before long, they will be turning into butterflies! Bekka is soooo excited! :) And Catie loves to look at them, she calls them bugs!

Bekka's Dance Review Dress Rehearsal

2009-06-03T14:45:00.011-06:00

This morning we had to go to Weber State for Bekka's dress rehearsal for her dance review this Saturday. First the did thier Lucky Ladybug dance, then they did thier Human Stuff dance! Lots of fun, but LOTS of work!!!!

Catepillars Day 2

2009-06-03T14:40:00.003-06:00

Day 2!!!

Bekka's Caterpillars Came today!

2009-06-01T21:51:00.002-06:00

We ordered Bekka some caterpillars last weekend and they finally arrived today!!! I am going to take pictures of them every day to show how fast they grow! She was so excited when we went and got the mail!

Bekka's Field Trip to the Trout Farm 5/15/09

2009-05-28T21:33:00.013-06:00

Catie and I went with Bekka on her field trip to the Trout Farm in North Ogden a few weeks ago and they both had a great time! Bekka rode the bus and Catie and I drove the car up there.

Bekka's Dance Competition 4/18/09

2009-05-28T21:11:00.007-06:00

FINALLY....Here are the pictures from Bekka's Dance Competition in Logan.

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

2009-04-05T19:57:00.010-06:00

Today my Mom and Dad had the annual Easter Egg Hunt for all of the grandchildren! They had so much fun. After the hunt, we emptied all of the eggs into the kids bags and then had supper at my parents home, our traditional Easter dinner meal! :) We had so much fun!

So I have been blog neglectful and let me tell you why!

2009-04-03T15:16:00.004-06:00

Three weeks ago tomorrow, I decided to join a fantastic company called Scentsy! I really love the product and know alot of people who love it to! I had my first Open House/Business launch party at my home on March 24th which thanks to Family, Friends and Neighbors turned out to be a HUGE success! I closed my first party on March 31st in order to be able to have the sales be in the month of March, and it took me FOREVER!!! I started putting it in at 6:30 and didn't even get finished until about 10:30 that night! I think I called my sponsor atleast a dozen times to make sure I was doing it right! The order finally shipped today and I should receive it on Monday! :) Then the real fun will begin of sorting orders for nearly 40 people!

I did get over to the Plain City office and signed up to do a booth at the Plain City 4th of July Celebration! For those of you who live close, I hope you can come and join in the festivities and come by the booth for a visit! My sponsor will be there with me as well! :)

Also the night of the 31st I had a friend on my FB send me a msg wondering if I could take a spot for her at a small in home boutique. There were to be a few other vendors there to sell thier products so I would be probably 1 of 4. Being as I was new to selling Scentsy, I was of course a little nervous but accepted the invitation so I could get some experience! It was a great time, there were quite a few women there and I am hoping that they will ask me to come back and do it again sometime, if they decide to do it again! I will be closing that party on Saturday (tomorrow) and hopefully it won't take me quite as long! But I only have 5 orders to put in instead of 40!

Anyway, please feel free to visit my website www.scentsy.com/lesliew and view the catalog or place an order. You are also welcome to call me directly to place your order if you choose! :)

So in a nutshell, that is what I have been doing the past 2 weeks!

Disney On Ice

2009-03-13T22:11:00.021-06:00

Today we went to the Disney on Ice show at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake. The girls had a BLAST! We went with some friends, Teri and her daughter Aubrey, and Tammy and her daughter Lexi. Before the show we decided to go and eat a late lunch at Crown Burger, when you eat there, you can park there for FREE! So it was a win/win for everyone! We drove down in the Suburban so we could all fit into one vehicle. When we were finished eating, we walked to the Energy Solutions Arena and were there in plenty of time to walk around for a little bit before the show got started. Rebekka wanted a snow cone and I got Catie some Cotton Candy that came with a fish hat from Little Mermaid. After finding our way to the seats, the show started which included characters from The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch and Peter Pan. Minnie & Mickey Mouse and Daisy & Donald Duck were there as well as Goofy. Fun was had by all and I would love to take the girls again! Disney on Ice comes twice a year, Spring and Fall! I look forward to doing more things like this with the kids!

Eating at Crown Burger

Catie's Flounder Hat

Patiently waiting for the show to start.

The beginning of the show

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

During the intermission, Catie stayed with me while

everyone went to stretch their legs.

Peter Pan

The Finale

Happy 4th Birthday Abbigale UPDATED

2009-02-24T22:23:00.005-07:00

My beautiful daughter! It is hard to believe that you would be 4 years old tomorrow! It seems like yesterday that you were born into our family. I constantly find myself wondering what your personality would be like right now, and who you would be friends with! I dream about you running around our neighborhood playing with the kids eating ice cream in the Summer time, and playing with your sisters. I love you my sweetheart!

***UPDATE***

This evening we went up to the cemetary with my parents and my sister Stacey came with us. We released 12 balloons up to her. 8 purple and 4 white ones, the purple symbolizes the birthstone color of February and the white ones symbolizing her age. I hope she knows how much we miss and love her.

Thank goodness for magic erasers!

2009-02-15T20:16:00.003-07:00

Catie decide to color with crayons on one of the doors downstairs this afternoon! Thank goodness there are magic erasers to take off the mess!!!! Neither of our other kids ever colored on walls or anything she is the only one.

Hanging out with the socks

2009-02-08T13:11:00.006-07:00

This morning Travis laid Catie in the sock basket. She looked like she was so comfortable! She did not want to get out. Then shortly after I took these pictures, Bekka was on her scooter around where Catie was and the scooter fell over smacking Catie in the head with the handle bar. OUCH!

PBSKIDS.ORG

2009-02-08T13:05:00.003-07:00

Bekka loves to play pbskids.org....last night Travis was messing around with my camera and took some pictures of Rebekka while she played.

My goofy little baby

2009-02-08T13:03:00.003-07:00

A friend of mine brought over some dolls and stuff for my girls since all she has is boys. So Catie & Bekka were playing with the toys and Catie decided to climb into the doll's high chair.

Horrible Hair Day

2009-02-08T13:00:00.002-07:00

Bekka had Horrible Hair Day at school this last Thursday....so this is what I came up with....not really horrible, but pretty cute! LOL....I didn't have the heart to send her to school with a rats nest on her head!

My little nakie baby!

2009-02-08T12:48:00.007-07:00

After our shower Thursday morning....Catie decided to run around the house with her towel and I just had to grab the camera and snap some pictures. She was chasing Rebekka around while Bekka rode her scooter in the kitchen. Then we had Fedex deliver a package for work so Catie followed her sissy to the door to get it. These are pretty darn cute pictures!

Rebekka's turns 6!

2009-02-08T12:38:00.008-07:00

On January 31st we had Rebekka's 6th Birthday Party at Sparetime Family Fun Center in Roy. She invited a few friends and her cousins. She had so much fun and I think it was the best and easisest birthday party we have had for her! Even the adults were bowling and had fun! We bowled, ate pizza, opened presents and had cake w/ice cream!

Jenny's Little Miracle

2009-01-27T19:54:00.010-07:00

Jenny has been my best friend since we were 5 years old! Today she gave birth to her beautiful daughter and she allowed me to be in the room during the delivery to help her document this wonderful occasion! Here are some pictures of this beautiful little miracle!

Jorie B Murray

6 lbs 8 oz

19 1/2" Long

Born at 1:44 pm on January 27th

Our 2nd Christmas

2009-01-27T19:33:00.006-07:00

Here are the pictures from our 2nd Christmas we had with Travis's Mom and Hugh! The girls had so much fun!

Scrapbook Overnighter

2009-01-20T07:23:00.002-07:00

All right all of you scrapbooking ladies that read my blog, we are having another Scrapbook Overnighter scheduled in time for National Scrapbook Day! We have two different weekends and the majority of my group that comes will be going on March 26 & 27th! If you are interested in coming, it will be at the Comfort Suites in Ogden off of 21st street so you can have overnight accomodations! Let me know if you are interested and I will make sure that you get the registration form!!!!! It is always lots of fun!

What a bummer...

2009-01-20T07:07:00.004-07:00

Yesterday my hard-drive on my lap top crashed! Luckily though, I had already been burning pictures to cd's and I had uploaded a bunch of them to shutterfly so I didn't loose to much! I did however loose the pictures from Bekka's dance recital, but I have them on here so I am going to try to print them and see if they loose any print quality. I had printed all the way up to Halloween 2007, and hadn't dumped my storage card from my camera so I still have the pictures I took up at Snowbasin of the girls last Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas and sledding which made me happy! I bought a new hard drive and am waiting for the recovery disk to come from Toshiba since I can't find the cd's that are in the box from when I got the laptop, but that is going to take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to get, so I am kinda bummed about that. Now I have to go and look for all of my software program cd's so I can re-install Microsoft Office and Photoshop and any of the other programs I use alot of. Good news is that I will have a bigger hard drive, bad news is that I will now be needing to purchase an external hard drive so I can store pictures on it so that this doesn't happen again! I plan to take all of the cd's that I have pictures on and put them on the external hard drive so I have 2 places that pictures are stored! Oh well.....what do you do!

Travis's Mom and Hugh were here this last weekend and we had our 2nd Christmas! I have pictures and will post them later this afternoon!!! Check back!

Sledding with the Kiddo's

2008-12-27T17:27:00.013-07:00

Today we took the girls sledding with our friends (our neighbors). Travis had taken Bekka sledding yesterday and they decided to go again today, so I bundled Catie up and borrowed a snow suit from my neighbor and we went(she had 3 layers of clothes on under this snow suit)! We had a good time and I was really suprised that Catie actually liked it! :) On our way home, we stopped and got some hot chocolate to warm up!

One Winter memory that I have from when I was little was going sledding with my Mom & Dad, my Brothers & my Sisters. We used to go to this hill near Hill Air Force Base in Roy or Riverdale...it was where the Saturn dealership now sits. We had so much fun!!!!

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-25T19:40:00.017-07:00

We were supposed to go to South Dakota for Christmas this year, but Travis started having stomach pains and we thought he might have appendicitis...he had some blood work done last Saturday and he had a bad infection. They gave him some strong antibiotics and he felt a little bit better, but the Dr. thought we should still have a CT Scan...so we did that on Tuesday morning(we were supposed to leave for South Dakota that morning). After that, we decided that we should go and talk to the Dr and let her know our plans so that they could try to get the results from the CT Scan so we would know if we should stay home or if we should go. We got a call from the Dr about 3:00 in the afternoon and she told us that it wasn't appendicitis but we should stay home in case something were to happen we could be near good medical care. So we were not able to leave. He was also put on a liquid only diet until his pain was better. He is feeling somewhat better now, better than he was last week! So that is a good sign. He had some more blood drawn yesterday to check his white cell count and it was a lot better. We have another CT Scan scheduled for him on Tuesday so we will see how that comes out! I am just glad that it isn't anything to serious!

Last night, the girls and I went to my parents home and had our traditional pizza and open up our jammies on Christmas Eve. Grandpa and Grandma took Jaylee, Jace & Bekka to see the lights and then they brought Bekka home at about 9:00. She finally went to bed about 10:30 so that Santa could come!

We were up at 7:30, by the time Travis got up and came downstairs it was about 8:00. We opened all of our gifts and then I went upstairs to prepare the meat and cut up veggies for our Omelet tradition (we have omelets every year on Christmas morning). My Mom and Dad came over at about 11:00 and brought gifts for all of us. We ate, hung out for awhile and then they went home. Travis wasn't feeling well this morning, he had a lot of stomach pain, so he fell asleep downstairs about a half hour before my parents came. I think it was probably nearly 2:00 when he finally woke up and came upstairs and hung out with us....he was feeling a bit better. Travis and the girls got me a diamond pendant that has 5 stones, each of the girls birthstones in it and then there are 2 diamonds so that if we were to have any more children, I can have their birthstones added to it! It is quite pretty!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight! :)

My Beautiful Girls

2008-12-17T22:33:00.015-07:00

I took the girls a couple of weeks ago to have thier pictures done in a studio since I don't have the equipment I need to be able to do them myself at home. I wish I had the backdrops and the big umbrella flashes, but I make do with what I have. Catie did not want to have her picture taken, she threw the biggest fits during the session, but we did get some good shots of her!

Then & Now

2008-12-17T22:27:00.005-07:00

Here are some pictures of Bekka from school. One is from Spring 2008 and the other one is from Fall 2008. I can't believe how much she has changed in just a few short months. She is growing up so fast and it makes me so sad and happy at the same time. Both Travis and I are so proud of her.

Spring 2008

Fall 2008

Abbigale

2008-12-17T22:19:00.006-07:00

I know I posted this back in September, but I was finally trying to get it scanned in and this so far is the best I have been able to get for a scanned image.

Bekka's Christmas Dance Review

2008-12-13T17:42:00.014-07:00

Saturday Bekka had her first dance recital! I took pictures while Travis recorded it on video. She did so well and we are so proud of her!

Santa at the Mall

2008-12-10T20:10:00.004-07:00

Last Wednesday I took the girls to see Santa Claus at the Mall after I had thier pictures taken at the studio. As you can see, Catie really didn't like him and was really scared! Makes a great picture and when she gets older, I am sure she will laugh about it!

Our Newest Addition to our Family

2008-12-10T20:03:00.005-07:00

Introducing Sophie Grace.....

She is Bekka's Christmas Gift from Travis and I this year, we took Bekka and let her choose which one she wanted and brought her home last Saturday evening. She is a Jack Russell Terrier and is a really good puppy! We just love her and Bekka has so much fun with her! Bekka had wanted Catie's name to be Sophie Grace and when that didn't happen and we ended up getting a new female puppy, she decided to name her that.

Christmas Tag

2008-12-03T12:28:00.005-07:00

Christmas Tag!!!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper

2. Real Tree or Artificial? Artificial, that way I get to put up my tree whenever I want, and enjoy it alot longer without the mess

3. When do you put your tree up? For the past few years, my tree has gone up the weekend before Thanksgiving since we usually travel alot during the month of December

4. When do you take your tree down? Usually New Year's Day, but if I could get away with leaving it up alot longer, I would.

5. Do you like Eggnog! yes

6. Favorite gift received? It isn't about the gifts for me, it is the thought that counts, and for me it is more about the season, the Christmas music, the lights and being with family and freinds.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Travis, he always goes out and buys whatever he wants when he wants it.

8. Easiest person to buy for? my girls

9. Do you have a nativity scene? My mother in law gave me some pieces of the Willow Tree nativity scene that I have on my fireplace mantle.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas Cards? mail

11. Worst Christmas presenst ever received? never received a worst

12. Favorite/Worst Christmas movie? Elf, it was on tv last night and I think even my grinch husband enjoy's watching that one!

13. When do you start shopping? I would like to have all of my Christmas shopping done by Halloween, but that NEVER happens.....usually it is the day after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a gift? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? frosted cut out sugar cookies, peanut brittle, chips and dip, and home made caramels.

16. Lights on tree? yes

17. Favorite Christmas song? Manheim Steamroller's Carol of the Bells

18. Travel on Christmas or stay home? usually we stay home, but this year, we are going to South Dakota.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes

20. Angel on top of tree or star? a star on the tree upstairs and a snowman clustered with snowflakes on my tree downstairs.

21. Open presents of Christmas eve? only 1, it is always pj's from my Mom & Dad, it has been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? This time of year brings out all of the IDIOTS! I wish that everyone would just feel the spirit of the season and everything would be so much better!

23. Favorite ornament? I only have a couple that are my favorite. They are the ones that remind me of my Abbi.

24. Favorite food for Christmas Dinner? Turkey and Ham

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? What I would want for Christmas is something that no one can give me. But if I have to choose something that someone could, I would want my girls to have a good Christmas and feel the spirit of the season and know how much that we love them.

I now tag: Trina, Sally, Shannon, Lacie, Beckie, Beth and Amanda

Having Fun Making a BIG Mess

2008-11-30T22:35:00.009-07:00

So, today we went to Sam's Club to buy Travis a desk for his office downstairs and we got all of the pieces of the desk out of the cartons. Then while we were in the office getting the pieces in place, we came out and found the girls making this mess! When they were done and we were done with getting the desk put together, picture this only 10 times worse! I think it took longer to clean up then it did for me to put the desk together! But atleast they had a fun time!

FYI...

2008-11-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

Parents for Window Blind Safety has been writing the CPSC for 6 years begging for dangerous cords on roman shades, corded roll up shades and shades with a looped metal chain to be removed from the market. We are happy to announce that Roman Shades made by IKEA are being recalled today. This is the first recall on Roman Shades since the first reported death in 1986. The CPSC is also recalling ALL roll up window shades due to the cord coming off of the side of the shade and forming a loop.This is the first break through that our Non-Profit has seen since founded in 2002. As the new administrations moves into office in DC, they also move new administration into the CPSC. Due to the new administration at the CPSC, there is already talk that there will be more recalls coming in the near future for ALL Roman shades and roll up shades.We are also pleased that the CPSC is now telling the public NEVER to have these types of window coverings in homes with children.Please forward this to everyone you know so they know to remove these dangerous products from their home.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 10/31/2008

2008-10-31T21:41:00.017-06:00

Well, today was Halloween and also my Sister Shannon's Birthday! We took some pictures in the front yard with my friend Tammy's kids (Logan 6 wks & Lexi who is the same age as Bekka and they are in the same class at school). Then we ate some dinner, took some more pictures with Avery and then we headed out on the street to do some trick-or-treating! We left about 7:00 and we were out until about 9:00. The girls had so much fun! Catie got tired but she tried so hard to stay awake! I think she finally zonked out for the night at about 8:15ish. But it was alot of fun! When we were out this year, it reminded me of what Halloween was like when I was able to go out trick-or-treating by myself with my friends! I really love this time of year!

Bekka's Kindergarten Halloween Party

2008-10-30T17:01:00.011-06:00

Today Bekka had her Halloween Party at school and I signed up to be the "Room Mom" in charge of the craft! We made pumpkins out of strips of orange construction paper. I will have Bekka make one and post the pictures later, I was to busy helping the students make them so I didn't have time to take any pictures! I even dressed Catie up in her costume and took pictures of the two of them before we went to the school. We had alot of fun! :) Tomorrow we will be going to my Mom's office and going Trick-or-Treating in the morning and then we will take the girls around our neighborhood tomorrow evening! Can't wait! I am going to have Bekka take Catie's treat bag around so I can eat anything that Catie can't eat!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-10-27T21:33:00.002-06:00

While we were hunting, I ate the best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! They were so yummy, I decided to make some! They aren't quite as good as the other ones, but they are pretty good! :) I think I will make it a tradition to carve pumpkins the Monday before Halloween and then make these cookies! :) :) :)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. BEat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk togeter the floer, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping teablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies of with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-27T21:19:00.007-06:00

Today after Bekka got home from school, we carved all 5 of our pumpkins!! Bekka was supposed to remind me to bring them in after Catie's birthday party so we could have grandpa and grandma help us carve them up! I think it took us 2 hours to carve all 5 pumpkins, but it was alot of goopy fun! We saved the seeds and will roast them up tomorrow to eat! YUMMMM

Catie's 1st Birthday Party

2008-10-27T20:52:00.016-06:00

This last Saturday, we celebrated Catie's 1st Birthday with some of our family and friends! She had so much fun! I can't believe she is a year old now! :( Time goes so fast!

Better Picture

2008-10-23T20:20:00.003-06:00

Here is a better picture of Catie's first tooth! You can see the second one has popped up right nest to it! Most of you who know her, know that she is usually sticking her tongue out and you can never get her to show you anything in her mouth, but Bekka and I got her laughing the other day and she was laughing so hard we could finally see her teeth so I grabbed my camera and this is the only one that I took that you could see the tooth clearly! :)

I've Been Tagged Again!!! :)

2008-10-22T17:56:00.002-06:00

Taggin the hubby!
Tag your Hubby is it.....

1) Where did you meet? We used to work together

2) How long did you date before you got married? 3 years

3) How long have you been married? 7 yrs on Nov 10th

4) What is your favorite feature of his? His dark brown eyes

5) What is your favorite quality of his? I can't pick a favorite!

6) Does he have a nickname for you? Yes, but I am not telling what it is!!! LOL

7) What is his favorite food? Meat and Potato's cooked any way possible! Mostly pot roasts and mashed potato's and gravy.

8) What is his favorite sport? NASCAR

9) When and where was your first kiss? On my parents front porch after our first official date

10) What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Watching NASCAR

11) Do you have any children? 3 girls

12) Does he have a hidden talent? If he does, I don't know what it is! :) LOL

13) How old is he? 34 in December

14) Who said "I love you" first? I think I did, but it has been a long time ago

15) What is his favorite type of music? Mostly country (the older stuff) but he pretty much likes everything.

16) What do you admire the most about him? He is a really hard worker and loves and supports his family.

17) Do you think he will read this? Nope, I don't think he has ever looked at the blog!!!

I now tag: My Mom, Shannon, Beth, Amanda, Trina, Lacey & I would tag Kara, but she has already done this! :)

We have returned!

2008-10-20T19:49:00.003-06:00

The deer hunt opened this last Saturday and goes through Wednesday the 22nd, both Travis and I have tags but neither one of us brought home a buck!

Catie stayed with my sister Shannon, I had some anxiety with leaving Catie because we don't leave the kids with really anyone but family but I still had a hard time but we couldn't take her with us. Just ask Shannon though, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I called her quite a bit to check in. It was also the first time that I have ever been away from her for overnight, and I was not going to see her until Sunday night possibly Monday sometime.

We went down to a town called Koosharem (near Fish Lake and close to Richfield) and stayed at a friends home in our camping trailer along with some other friends who also brought theirs. On our drive down, the transmission getting hot indicator on our Suburban came on but once we got there, Travis was able to figure out what was wrong and we will be taking the Suburban to get fixed this week. While he was trying to get that all taken care of, I went with our friends to make sure that I could hit a target!!! I shot 3 times and 2 out of the 3 shots were just about 2" from the bulls eye. The only reason that the 3rd one wasn't was because our friend was using my gun to spot with and had turned the power up on the scope, I felt like I couldn't keep it still but that one wasn't to bad off, only about 4" from the center. Opening morning was alot of fun!!!! There were so many people up there though! We saw so many deer, near 200 atleast! Alot of does and fawns but we only saw one 3x4 and two 2 points and that was it!!! We got up early and stayed up until about 9:00 each day until we headed home last night. Last night we started home at about 8:00 and didn't reach home until about 1:30 this morning after picking up Catie and only being able to go 60MPH all the way home so our transmission wouldn't get hot.

But we are all home, safe and sound! :) Wish both Travis and I could have gotten our tags filled!

I love this time of year!!!

2008-10-16T23:50:00.003-06:00

The month of October is 1/2 over and I am already on my way to having more posts this month than any of the month's I have on my blog! I have found that I have started to enjoy taking pictures again, especially of my girls! And I love to share them and see everyone else's blog posts and pictures. I am getting really anxious to start scrapbooking again and have even started looking into doing the digital scrapbooking! Below is my first attempt at it! I used some free stuff I found on the internet! I am really thinking this may be the way to go with all of the stuff there is out there and all of the pictures I have! But I still can't get over the fact that I love the real embellishments and stuff! :)

Catie's 1st Birthday

2008-10-16T22:42:00.017-06:00

Today was Catie's 1st Birthday! While I was shopping at Wal-Mart to get the groceries we needed to go hunting tomorrow, I decided to buy some cupcakes for Catie to have on her birthday since we aren't celebrating her birthday til the 25th due to us going hunting this weekend, my Mom being gone, and Joyce and Hugh coming out! I can't believe how fast this last year has gone by! HAPPY BIRTHAY CATIE!

Travis gave her her cupcake!

Bekka helped blow out the candle

Catie got mad when Bekka took her cake to take off the paper

Then we let her have at it! What a MESS!!!!! Now I think she knows what to do next Saturday when we have her PARTY!!!!!!!!! :)

Such a nice little girl to share!!!! :)

Black Island Farms

2008-10-16T22:11:00.014-06:00

Once again we went to Black Island Farms in Syracuse to get our pumpkins. This year we went with our neighbor Heather, her kids Matt & Avery and we also brought Bekka's & Avery's friend Lexi. They took us out to the pumpkin patch and we were able to each choose our own pumpkin! After everyone's pumpkins were chosen, I was able to choose a pumpkin for Abbi and Travis. We take Abbi a Jack-o-Lantern on Halloween morning and my sister Stacey goes up and lights it for us! We were able to use a $2.00 coupon for each of us so for Bekka, Catie and I to go on the hay ride it cost $9.00! Not bad!!!!

I had heard that if the farm doesn't do to well this year and next they may have to sell the farm :( That makes me sad since we just started this tradition last year! You wouldn't believe the size of these pumpkins! They were all really good size! Bigger than the ones I have seen in the bins at the Wal-Mart!

If any of you haven't gotten your pumpkins yet, it is worth the trip to go out to Black Island Farms....thier website is www.blackislandfarms.com , the address is 3180 South 3000 West in Syracuse! Take Antelope West to 3000 West and turn Left, continue South until you see the Farm! They also have a produce market where you can purchase carrots, fresh squash, onions, etc...There are alot of other activities to do there as well! They have a huge corn maze!!! Check it out online!

Catie gets teeth

2008-10-16T22:05:00.006-06:00

She is now a year old and I first noticed her tooth poking through on 10/9. Most of you who know Catie, know that she likes to stick her tongue out alot of the time! So trying to get a picture of this was pretty hard to do! I keep trying daily to get a picture of her tooth! It has now gotten through, so when I do finally get a better picture of it, I will post it!

Sunday Morning.....First Snow of the Season

2008-10-12T10:47:00.011-06:00

This morning I got up with Travis to get him out the door at 3:00 am and Catie had woken up, so I went and got her and nursed her back to sleep. Then I went back to bed and Bekka woke me up at 8:00 this morning, which is very unusual for her to be up before 10:00 on the weekends! I asked her to check to see if it had snowed like it was supposed to and she was so excited to see that it had! She wanted to go outside and play in it right away! I told her she had to wait for a little while since it was still kinda early. So we got up, made some breakfast and I wanted to take some pictures of the snow! It is just after 11:00 am now and we all still in our jammies staying comfy and warm inside. We probably got 2" of snow on the grass, but none of it stuck to the streets!

***UPDATE*** It is now about 3:20 in the afternoon and all of the snow has melted! :( I had told Bekka that I would go out with her while Catie took her nap and make a snowman, but when Catie went down, the snow had pretty much melted to where we didn't have enough to even make a snowball. :( Well, I guess we have ALL WINTER long!

Maggie's first time out Duck Hunting

2008-10-12T10:24:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was Maggie's first time out duck hunting! Travis said she did pretty well for her first time out! Jim who also works for Frehner but down in the Las Vegas office came up to stay with us and go along! They got up at 2:00 am and left at 3:00 am! They met another Jim down at Farmington Bay (where they have been going for years) and didn't return until about 3:00 pm! They had alot of fun and shot alot of birds!

Mommy's Little Helper

2008-10-12T10:03:00.011-06:00

Every time I go and open up the dishwashser, Catie comes crawling as fast as she can to help me load/unload it! Now to load it, I have to rinse the dishes and leave them in the sink until she has her nap or goes to bed, unless she is in her high chair. And when I unload it when she is awake, I have to hurry and pull everything out of it and put it all on the counter so she doesn't try to pull stuff out, especially the silverware (there is usually sharp knives in it). Yesterday morning I was unloading the dishwasher and she, as usual, climbed into it! She always gets so mad at me when I pull her out of it!

First she has to move the dish bin.

Then she climbs inside!

She has so much fun doing this! :)

Been Tagged!!!!

2008-10-11T09:30:00.003-06:00

Tagged by: My Sister Shannon

I have only owned a new car once....driven off of the lot with 21 miles on it! It was my 1996 Toyota Tercel that my sister Stacey now has!
I have more $ invested in scrapbooking than my husband Travis does in guns for hunting.
I have just as many animals as I have children! 2 cats and 1 dog.
I have never shot a deer before, I have had a tag before, but never shot one! Hopefully next weekend I will shoot my first deer.
When I eat salads w/dressing, syrup with pancakes or french toast, I have to put it on the side and I dip it!
I love to cook and lately my favorite thing to make is home made pizza! The last one I made last week has been the best!!!!!
This is my favorite time of year, I love the holiday season! From Oct 1st through New Year's Eve! If Travis would let me, I would put up my Christmas Tree Oct 1st....but I guess the week before Thanksgiving is early enough! LOL :)

Now I tag: Beth Borup, Amanda West, Sally Wade, Beckie Gold

We were nearly to late!

2008-10-05T22:50:00.011-06:00

Today the girls and I went up to Snowbasin ski resort so that I could take some pictures with the fall colors. It was still pretty overcast, but I decided we better get going. So we got ready and headed out. It's a good thing we got there when we did because about 45 mintues after we started taking some pictures, it started to sprinkle....then about 15 minutes after that, it was down pouring again! The Fall colors look so pretty when they are wet. The only down side to the rain today was that Catie got her new clothes dirty because I had to sit her on the wet ground. I think if I had waited a few more days, I wouldn't have found any red leaves left on any of the trees! Next year, I will go up a week or two earlier than I did this year! It was still so beautiful though to see all of the yellows, browns, oranges and some of the reds! Bekka kept saying how pretty the mountains look.

One thing I do love though is a good digital camera! LOL... I probably shot about 300 pictures of the girls today and maybe 75 of them are ones that I liked and 50 of the 75 are ones that I LOVED! I know any of you who own a digi camera know what I mean! If I had been using a film camera......all I can say is it would have cost me alot of $$$$$$$$$$$. I never have the heart to delete any of the pictures I take, so I end up burning all of the photos to cd's and keep them in case I ever decide that I need them......But anyway, I didn't want to post all of my favs because most of them are the same pose, just with a different expression on thier faces. But any Family members who would like to choose the photos that I will have printed for them this year, let me know and I will let you see all of them so you can decide for yourselves which ones you would like to have!

Rain, Rain go AWAY!

2008-10-04T13:39:00.000-06:00

It has been raining ALL DAY!!!!

At about 11:00 this morning, I looked under my deck to find that my patio was flooding. I thought I better run outside and get the tubes to hook to the down spouts and did that, when I went out the basement door, the water was about to start coming up into the house and we had just finished our basement! With Travis in Alabama this weekend for the Talladega NASCAR race, I was here to try to figure out how in the world I was going to get rid of all of this water! First thought was I would get a bucket and start carting it out to the grass. Then I decided I better call Travis and let him know what is going on. When I called he reminded me that we had bought a submersible pump that was up in the garage. So I went out and got it, hooked it up and it started pumping away!!! After about 20 minutes or so, we finally had all of the water gone! I was so relieved! Here are some pictures of all of the water we have in the yard!!! I don't think we will have to water the grass for quite awhile!

(The pictures of the patio water were taken after the water had been pumping out for awhile. The water was ankle deep near the chair and rocks and was covering my feet closer to the house)

Introducing...

2008-09-21T22:16:00.000-06:00

The newest addition to the family....

SADIE CARTER
Born on Friday, September 19th
Around 11:00 pm
She weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz

Congratulations Stacey & Josh! Sadie is beautiful!

I am not sure what happened to my camera, but it started taking fuzzy pictures and this one of the three of them together was the only one that looked the best when I looked at them tonight. I did take some though with their camera and hopefully I can copy some of the pictures from them and update with better pictures!

Antelope Hunting In Wyoming...

2008-09-21T21:59:00.003-06:00

On Saturday afternoon, Travis, Catie & I went antelope hunting in Wyoming. Bekka wanted to stay with Grandma so she could play with her cousins.

My Day Today...

2008-09-18T23:27:00.002-06:00

Today was the 2nd "Heaven Day" that we have had to go through for Abbi. She has been gone for 2 years now. My sister Shannon came up to spend time with me since Travis had to go out of town to work on a bid for work. I had not been looking forward to this day at all. I still wonder why.....why MY Abbi was taken.....why did this happen to MY family......questions that I will not get an answer to for a long time.

My Mom, Sister's Shannon & Stacey, Stacey's husband Josh, Jill, my neice Jaylee and nephews Jace and Brady, Bekka & Catie, and of course myself met up at the Cemetary at 6:30 this evening and we took 16 pink and 2 white balloons to let go. I also went and picked up some white roses for her. When I arrived up there, my Mom had the following picture sitting up at her site. (It isn't the greatest picture as I took it through the glass with my digital camera and without a flash. Once I get my computer set up again in the basement with my scanner. I will post a better picture. It is so beautiful and I LOVE IT!)

My Mother and I talked about Jean's work one day when I had brought up that I had seen a picture at a friends home of her sister with Christ and I had asked her who did that wonderful portrait. About a year or so ago just about the time we had talked about it, my Mom had already spoken to Jean Keaton (http://www.keatonprints.com/) and asked her to do a picture for our family of Abbi with Christ. She said it would probably be about a year before she would be able to do it and then a few months ago, Jean called and said she was nearly ready to start it and asked us to send her some pictures. So we did and the above picture was the result. Thanks MOM!

Something I Can't Do That My Sister Can!

2008-09-18T23:27:00.001-06:00

My sister Shannon came up to spend some time with me today. She stayed at my house with her son and Catie while I ran Bekka to school. When I returned home, I found Catie sleeping on the floor next to Shannon! :) It was so cute! She never does that for me! I usually have to nurse her to get her to fall asleep, unless we are in the car!

Catie on my computer AGAIN!!!!

2008-09-14T19:40:00.000-06:00

What are you looking at??? I am trying to play my video games!!!!"

"I know how to do it!!!!"

"This is so much fun!!!!"

"YEAH!!!!! :) "

"Dang it, I lost!!!"

Bekka dressing up like Daddy...

2008-09-14T19:31:00.001-06:00

How we spent time while Bekka was at school...

2008-09-14T19:20:00.000-06:00

Catie wanted to help me fold laundry one afternoon while Bekka was at school! She was playing Peek-A-Boo and I thought it was so cute that she was sitting in the middle of my laundry pile so I grabbed my camera to take some pictures of her!

It's Official!

2008-09-02T22:50:00.000-06:00

Bekka is now a Kindergartener! She is in the afternoon class and today was her first day of school! She was so excited this morning when I woke her up. She kept asking if it was time for her to go yet! I had to keep telling her we had to wait until after she got done eating her lunch. We car pool with our neighbor, I take them to school on Monday's, Tuesday's, Thursday's, Friday's and pick them up on Wednesday's. Lexi's Dad picks them up on the day's that I drop off and drops them off on Wednesday's so I can get into the office to print the payroll. Today she and Lexi had Maccaroni and Cheese, a banana and Oreo cookies for lunch!

Oh, so tired!

2008-09-02T22:47:00.001-06:00

Catie sometimes ends up falling asleep in her high chair during her afternoon snack! I don't ever have the heart to wake her up and put her in her bed for her nap when this happens. Mostly because she would wake up and not go back to sleep, she just looks so peaceful!

Attack of the OREO returns!

2008-09-02T22:39:00.001-06:00

Some pictures I found

2008-08-28T00:42:00.000-06:00

Travis had taken some pictures with his camera of a job he was getting ready to bid this last Spring, he had asked me to download them and email them to him. While doing so, I came across some pictures of Abbi that I wanted to share...

My Play List

2008-08-28T00:16:00.000-06:00

So I have gone in and added a play list. The songs that I have chosen have alot of meaning for me. I hope you will take the time to listen and maybe feel what I feel when I listen to them.

Baby Mine and In My Daughter's Eyes are songs that remind me of my precious daughter Abbigale. I miss her so much. When I was cleaning my room yesterday I came across a box in my closet that has all of the cards from the flowers, sympathy cards that were sent to us and all of the Thank You notes I had made but never filled out and sent. I sat in my closet read a few and cried for a good hour or so by myself. I still to this day get a huge lump in my throat when I think about or talk about her. I try to fight back the tears more so lately and my heart aches so much to hold her and kiss her little cheeks. These songs were also added to a wonderful DVD with pictures of Abbi that my Brother-in-law Steve put together.

When You Say Nothing At All is the song that Travis and I danced to at our wedding and we will be celebrating our 7th anniversary this November.

This Kiss takes me back to about a year or so before Travis and I got married. I can remember that when I would go and see him during the Summer months I used to put this CD in my player, turn it up as loud as it would go and sing it at the top of my lungs! The reason I would turn it up so loud was so that I couldn't hear myself butcher the song! Still to this day I do laugh every time I hear it and remember what I used to do! Back then, I drove a Monte Carlo (kinda a sports car) I probably looked cool, but now while driving my big 'ol Suburban I would probably get laughed at by everyone who saw me in the car singing it!!! LOL :)

I have such a smart DAUGHTER!!!!!

2008-08-27T09:21:00.001-06:00

She can say "DOGGIE"!!!!!!

Look what Catie has learned!!!

2008-08-21T00:04:00.000-06:00

BOONDOCKS FUN CENTER

2008-08-20T19:40:00.000-06:00

My Dad's company had thier summer party at Boondocks Fun Center. Mom, Dad, Shannon, Steve, Brady, Jace, Jaylee, Bekka, Catie and I went along for all of the fun! There was an arcade that we were given tokens to play the games and we won tickets. We decided to put all of the tickets together and then split them up between all of the kiddos and then at the end of our fun, Shannon, Steve and I went and picked out the stuff for the kids, for those of you who know Bekka, you know we could have been there all night long waiting for her to choose her prizes. We went miniature golfing, drove the go-carts, and went on the bumper boats! Bekka wasn't as tall as Jaylee, so she couldn't drive her own, she didn't really want to go because she didn't want to get wet but I talked her into it telling her we wouldn't get to wet....but we did! She was not happy about it. We did go back on them before we left and that time she LOVED it! They had an all you can eat buffet with hamburgers, hotdogs and all the fixin's that was so good! We had a great time! Thanks Mom & Dad!!!!!

O R E O

2008-08-20T19:18:00.000-06:00

Catie loves Oreo cookies!!!!!!

Catie's First Hair Do!!!

2008-08-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

Title says it all!!!!! :)

Surf N Swim Party 2008!!!

2008-08-20T19:01:00.000-06:00

For the past few years, my Mom's work goes to Surf N Swim in the Summer for a party and they are able to bring thier families to join in on the fun. Bekka was in Nebraska during this party, but we still had a good time anyway! :)

Bekka's time in Nebraska....Her first trip from home

2008-08-20T18:27:00.001-06:00

This was Bekka's first trip without Mommy & Daddy! She had a blast, didn't get home sick until the last few days. She was gone for two weeks! I called to check on her everyday sometimes twice a day, but most of the time she was to busy to talk. Her Grandma took a bunch of pictures for me. She had her own bed, cuddled with Grandpa and was silly, slept at Grandma's office while she worked, got a new bike, went on bike rides with Grandpa and Grandma, went swimming at the pool, and went camping at the lake! She had a blast, but I was sure glad to have her home! I missed her!!!!!! :) Oh, and she went to the park and played with the Kitty's! She wore out her Grandma & Grandpa! Grandma took so many good pictures, I couldn't pic just a couple, but I didn't want to post ALL of them....

How we spent our 4th of July

2008-08-20T18:05:00.000-06:00

We BBQ'ed, watched fireworks from our front yard and Travis's Mom & Hugh came out and put our tile in the basement!!! We now are alot closer to being finished with the downstairs. We are just about to start coloring (painting) the walls after priming them! Once that is done, we will get carpet and get the electrical stuff finished up!!! I can't wait! :)

Catie wins Cutest Personality...

2008-08-20T17:53:00.001-06:00

Catie won the Cutest Personality in the Baby Contest at our City's 4th of July celebration!!!! Check these pics out! Yes every single one of these babies (even the little plump one) are in the same age group, all within days or weeks of each other.

Before & After

2008-06-27T01:41:00.000-06:00

BEFORE: This picture was taken just before we moved in.

AFTER: Of course, after we got our yard put in!!! Nearly a year from when we moved in.

These two pictures are the extent of any vegetable garden I have! I can't plant a real garden mainly because Maggie would eat it! I had both barrels in the back yard on our patio, but when Maggie ate everything out of them, I moved them to the front of the house! The above picture are my cucumber's and the one below has 3 different tomato plants and also the jalapeno's and 2 different kinds of bell peppers!

This is a picture of the planter I made in the front yard that I said I would take more pictures of once we got sod and my flowers were filling in! I can't wait to see it in another couple of weeks! I have so many flowers, that it will look so great! I will take some more pictures once the flowers fill in more! Below are a bunch more pictures of the front yard! I also included some of the flowers I have found to be my favorite! They are called Dahlia's! I think I will continue to plant these in my yard....they come as a mixture of colors and make it so colorful when in bloom!!

This just shows what I did in front of the house going up twards the front door! Once the petunia's start to cascade alot more down the rocks on the side, I will take some more pictures. They are starting to do it now, but give them about another couple of weeks!

Rice Crispies & Nilla Wafers

2008-06-27T01:32:00.001-06:00

These two products have become a life saver in our home! Catie loves to pick things up and put them into her mouth! I have to watch her every second, every minute all day long! Oh, did I mention that she has been crawling now for about a month?

Bekka hanging out!

2008-06-27T01:25:00.000-06:00

She was too cute lounging in her little swimming pool keeping cool while eating her popsicle!

We got grass!!!!! :) :) :)

2008-06-27T00:51:00.000-06:00

Travis had taken the trailer down to Moab about 2 wks before we got the sod and because he was gone, I had to try to get the final grade done on the yard. Thanks to a few of our neighbors, we were able to get the yard ready for sod and on Friday, June 13th we finally had sod delivered!!!!! We had 19 pallets and each pallet had 500 sq ft on it just for our yard (front & back). We all first went and helped our neighbors accross the street lay the sod in thier back yard, Heather made lasagna and we ate, then we headed to our house and got the entire front yard done in about an hour, everyone wanted to do the back yard, but I thought we should wait until Travis got home so he could help! The neighbors that live to the East of us had sod delivered also (there were 3 homes that all ordered sod to be delivered at the same time so we could split the delivery fee) and they were laying it by themselves, so we all went over and got thier yard done! Saturday we started laying sod in our back yard just after 10:00 and we were done by 12:30 and then I BBQ'ed 24 hamburgers and 20 hot dogs for everyone who helped out! Between all 3 yards, we had 35 pallets delivered which is 17,500 sq ft that we ended up laying in a matter of hours!!!!

Trip to South Dakota....Memorial Weekend

2008-06-26T22:43:00.000-06:00

We went to visit our family in South Dakota for the weekend. We hadn't been back there since July 2006 for Travis's brother Curtis's wedding. We visited with everyone and wished we still had more time to visit more. We stayed out at our farm with Grandpa & Grandma Jacobs and every day just after noon, we would take off for town which is about 25 miles and we would visit with Grandpa & Grandma Wentz and George & Lisa and everyone else! It was a short trip but worth it! Travis's brother Curtis with the girls!

Great Grandpa & Grandma Wentz with Joey, Tasha and the girls

Bekka's Grandma & Grandpa Wentz took her on a shopping spree!

This is most of the items she picked out for herself and Catie

On Saturday, there was a big hail storm that hit out at the farm! Check out the size of those pieces!! I have never seen hail that size before!

Tony & Cassandra with the girls

Grandma & Grandpa Wentz with the girls!

Travis & the girls with Great Grandpa & Grandma Jacobs at our farm.

Great-Grandma Jacobs & Catie

Mannerisms & Hazel Eyes

2008-05-16T11:47:00.000-06:00

Catie is now 7 months old today and I can't believe how fast the time has gone by already. I am so glad that I get to spend so much time with her!!! I take her to the office with me during the time that Bekka is at school and it is wonderful! Her blue eyes are now starting to turn more hazel, Bekka and Abbi have thier daddy's eye color and Catie has mine! Catie has started to do alot of the mannerisms that Abbi used to do...Travis was watching her the other night and noticed that she plays with her hair just like Abbi used to. She is now at the age when some of the things she does reminds me so much of Abbi. She still isn't crawling, but she is still trying really hard to do it. She does get on her hands and knees and launches herself forward and gets back up and does it again and again to get where she is going. I am sure it won't be to long now before she figures out that if she moves those hands forward, then she can go! Well, here are some pictures of her that I took a few weeks ago....I am going to try to take her 7 month pics this weekend and will post more when I am done with those!

Gage Denver Canfield

2008-05-16T11:27:00.000-06:00

Our friends Jen and Travis had thier little boy on April 29th and he is so adorable! Jen let me take pictures of Gage and Hannah last Friday evening and we had a ball!!!! Just wanted to share them with you! :)

Changed My Mind....

2008-05-16T11:24:00.000-06:00

Well, I think that I have changed my mind on having this blog be private. I am going to leave it though to where any comments are going to have to be emailed to me before they are published on my blog so that I don't have someone anonymous leave crap on my comments for people to potentially get virus's....I know, I change my mind alot! Hope all is well with everyone! :)

Going to make this blog private!!! :)

2008-04-20T23:26:00.000-06:00

I have a friend who is going to make her blog private and I have decided that because of the pictures of my children and personal things being posted, I will be doing the same thing so beginning May 15th, this will blog will be password protected. If you would like to get the access information, please email me and when I get it set up, I will send it to you. Also as of tonight, I will have any comments that are posted sent to my email address for approval until the privacy is set up because of the comment left by someone that I believe if you click on what they are leaving will give your computer a virus!

Thanks for your understanding!

Some pictures since the last post on Tuesday...

2008-04-20T22:57:00.001-06:00

Travis bought Bekka a Bubble BBQ Grill today that she has seen on TV and has asked for numerous times. You wouldn't believe the amount of bubbles this thing puts out! :)

Two Days after I posted the pictures of Catie pushing herself up, she had figured out that those knees are supposed to bend! She also is rocking back and forth!!!! Not to much longer! :)

Today I also took her 6 month pictures. I still have to do some editing, but here are some! I think they look pretty good and are just as good as if I was to take her into the studio.

Nearly 80 Degrees!

2008-04-15T15:22:00.000-06:00

Yesterday it was nearly 80 and today it is cold and actually snowing! Shorts yesterday and sweats/snow clothing the next not completely unusual Utah weather, but after getting sun burned working out in my yard yesterday this is very unwelcomed! The last week has been pretty busy outside at the Wentz house! I was able to get my raised flower beds in (picked up all of the brick last week for them), planted shrubs and we even got the fence posts put in last Friday. The fence company is coming this Friday to finish putting in our fence and we will be another step closer to laying sod. I just need to finish putting the rings I am building out of brick around my trees and we will need to level the yard a bit more and then we can order sod!!!! If it were up to me, I would have just hired someone to come and put in my yard for me, but it is nice to see everything finally coming together and all of the hardwork paying off! We are also in process of working on our basement. I had to get the plumbers in to do the plumbing last Thursday so that is done....we have just a few more things for electrical in our family room and the sheet rock was delivered this morning. The sheetrockers can get started on everything except for the family room and the bathroom because we have just a few more things that we need to do before that can be sheeted, so this weekend will be another busy one for us! Below are some pics of outside and our basement as it sits right now. I will take some more pictures when the weather is a little bit nicer and I get the rest of the planters done in my back yard, hopefully the fence will be up at that time as well and I can post some updates on that! ENJOY!

The ring I built around one of three trees in my back yard.

View of fence posts.

Another view of fence posts

Front planters (can't see them to well, I will take better pics later)

This will be our guest room

This will be the Office.

My scrapbook and kids playroom

Fireplace in family room

Catie is almost 6 Months old and....

2008-04-13T22:52:00.000-06:00

She wants to crawl....she is gets so frustrated, but I love to take pictures of it! :) She looks like she is doing push-ups, she does scoot backwards and she can get herself turned around really well. I think she will be crawling before the end of April!

Yes, We Did Make It Back...Pictures from Our Trip

2008-04-13T22:21:00.000-06:00

Catie - Just hanging out!

The girls & I went into town and went to Walmart. We bought kites for both Bekka and Grandpa. Bekka chose a Spiderman kite for Grandpa....we think he liked it!

Grandma even had fun flying kites!

Hanging out w/Grandpa after a hard day of play!

Bekka & Grandpa making a hop scotch...

Grandma helped her make a hop scotch as well.....Bekka loves to color on the sidewalk with chalk.

Sittin' In Nebraska! :)

2008-03-31T15:19:00.000-06:00

The girls and I left last Thursday to drive out to visit Grandma & Grandpa Meier in Nebraska for a few days. We were originally going to leave and drive back to Utah on Sunday, but with the weather being just terrible across Wyoming (the interstate was shut down most of the day) we decided to wait and see what the roads were like this morning. Well, I set the alarm to go off at 6:00 and I checked the road conditions at 6:30 there were still some closures so I talked with Travis (he had to work and couldn't come with us) and then to Grandma & Grandpa and we decided that we should just stay put and not try to take off today. Wyoming DOT opened up I-80 at about 10:30, but when I just checked it, after getting back from town at about 3:00 most of the Westbound routes on I-80 were closed again. So it is a good thing we didn't go or we could be stuck somewhere in the middle of no-where! We got stuck on Elk Mountain on our way out here for about 1/2 hour, but it was a good thing that both of the kids were asleep and that was our only obstacle so far this trip. When Grandma & Grandpa came out in December, it took them nearly 2 days to get out to our house! Well, we have been having a lot of fun and I have taken a lot of pictures! I may try to post some later or I will do it when I get home, if I get home! :) :)

By the way, it is snowing outside here as I am typing this!!!! :)

Easter 2008

2008-03-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

The title says it all!!! We colored our Easter Eggs before we went to my Mom's on Saturday.

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's House

2008-03-26T08:43:00.000-06:00

My Mom had the annual Easter Egg hunt for the Grandchildren at her house on Saturday before Easter, and all of the kids had a great time! Thanks Mom!!!

Easter Egg Hunt at The Park!

2008-03-26T08:16:00.000-06:00

We went to our City's Easter Egg Hunt and Bekka along with her friend Avery cleaned up!!!! Here are some pictures! I told them to run past all of the bases into the outfield and that is exactly what they did...they ran out past all of the other children because the other children stopped to pick up candy that was close to them that they saw the girls cleaned up once they got to the outfield! It was alot of fun, we had never taken the kids to one of the hunts with the City before. After that, we went with our neighbors to breakfast and went and picked up some stuff to work out in the yard.

Just before they had the kids line up.

Waiting for the whistle to blow

Running to the outfield

Picking up the loot!!!!

Bekka, Avery, Matt & Tucker