6 Hot Tamales

One Sad Mama

2011-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

My baby turned one on November 30
I miss her baby smell
And her cuddling
And when she used to stay in one place
And my cabinets weren't constantly re-organized
I enjoyed every minute of her first year. (Except for when she cried every day for 4, or more! hours)
It's sad that we won't have a baby at our house anymore. But it's so fun to see who she is turning in to!

We've all had so much fun getting to know our Syd the kid

Love you baby Sydders!

Let's see if anyone looks at this anymore...

2010-12-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

Sydney Reay Allen

11/30/2010 8:05 p.m.

7 pounds 15.5 ounces, 20 inches

I'm back??????

2010-07-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Feeling better finally. I might try to get into blogging again...then again, I might not. No promises :). We'll see how it goes. For now, Here are some pictures from the summer.

In Encinitas, the place of no sun.

Ashley and Samantha Herbert

Taylor getting his T-ball award

Samantha in Rocky Point

Stay tuned for more pics from our trip to CA.

New Kitchen!

2010-04-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting up the pics from our kitchen re-do. I took horrible, blurry, pictures, but have been too sick to care! It definitely looks better in person, and I have some re-arranging to do but this is the final product painted black, antiqued, (which is hard to see) and with new hardware.

Taylor's newest obsession.

2010-02-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

And he's good too! He practices all the time and loves going to the skate park.

2010-02-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Baptism

2010-02-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ashley was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on February 5, 2010. It was a really beautiful day and we were so thankful to be able to have so many of our friends and family attend!

2010-02-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

The many outfits of Samantha Marie

2010-02-15T15:33:00.001-08:00

Enough said.

Pinetop

2010-02-02T07:00:00.001-08:00

We took some friends up to the cabin for New Year's- and I just realized we have pictures!

I LOVE this picture of Taylor- Look at the pure bliss on his face. He was the most excited to go to the cabin and play in the snow!

The snow fort the menfolk made.

One of the builders. It was very serious work.

This is about as far as I like to venture out of the cabin.

Ashley!

2010-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:00

Ashley turned 8 years old last week. Wow! We are so proud of the girl she is becoming. She is excited to get baptized on Friday. What can we say about Ashley? She is very smart and continues to do well in all subjects at school. She is the life of the party and makes friends easily. She wants to be included in everything. She is SO fun and SILLY! She is beautiful and is already starting to have to beat off the boys. We love her!

2010-02-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

Meghan will love me for this one, but it's so cute!

Please Help!!!

2010-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

And Spread the Word!

My name is Ryan Hess and I was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Over the past 7 months I have received enough donated leave from federal employees to help me keep a paycheck and throughout 3 rounds of chemotherapy and most recently, a bone marrow transplant. After meeting with my Dr. last week (1/12/10), he said that I could possibly be back to work in July. I have finished one year of residency at the Veteran's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. All of your generosity with donating leave and spreading the word has kept food on our table and kept a lot of stress out of our lives during this time. I am now doing well enough to watch our two children so that my wife can work part time to help with the bills. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time so that we can keep our health insurance and so that I can hopefully continue with work later this year. Thank you so far for your help and prayers. We are beating this together!

We were told that any federal employee (ie: civilian military- not active duty, Border Patrol, DEA, FBI, IRS, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees and active duty military) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee.

We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate.

Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:Brenda Joy - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.) Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 4409 Fax # : (520) 629-1849 attn: Brenda Joy E-Mail : Brenda.Joy@va.gov ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook, e-mail...whatever you can think of.Visit:

http://teamryanhess .blogspot .com/

The Cutest Kids Ever!

2010-01-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

These are scanned into the computer so they aren't the best quality.

Samantha 3, Taylor 5, Ashley 7

All the Great Grandkids

Taylor, Samantha, Ethan, Harlow, Parker, Colin, Ashley

The Ultimate Vacation

2010-01-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

This post brought to you by Sarah who has taken back the blogging reigns- for a couple days at least.

We had the opportunity to go with (most) of my family on a Royal Caribbean cruise before Christmas. We left from San Juan, Puerto Rico and visited the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, and Barbados. Paradise. Keep scrolling through the older posts to catch it all.

Our Ship- Serenade of the Seas

The Group

Here's a little of what we experienced.

2010-01-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

Beautiful this

Some of this

Lots of this

2010-01-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

Hike to this

Lots of this

Fun Van rides with the fam

Lots of laughs

The End

For your viewing pleasure...

2009-10-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

While Michael is SLACKING! ;)

Tomboy!

2009-09-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Actually, Samantha is a very "girly-girl," but when it comes to scars, bumps, and bruises, Taylor has nothing on her! She is pretty tough though and likes the fact that this one made it look like she was wearing Eye-Shadow.

Always posing, just like her sister!

The camera added 10 lbs to her cheeks and the wound!

One Tough Son-of-a-Gun

2009-09-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Taylor is the boy in the family and takes his duty to be the rough, tough, rowdy brother very seriously. It isn't very often that you see him without a bump, bruise or large scrape somewhere obvious on his body. They are his "Battle Wounds" and he is proud of them. Taylor knows that the chicks dig it when a man looks like he just returned from a fight.

Here are a couple recent Battle Wounds that were in very noticeable places.

This one was from a Skateboard accident. He's smiling cuz he knows that's cool!

Taylor got this one after a fight with a rather large German Shepherd. If you think Taylor looks bad, you should have seen what the dog looked like.

Ladies, I know it might be difficult, but he's only 5 and isn't allowed to date yet. You're gonna have to wait a few years.

Sarah? On the Beach?

2009-09-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Many of you who know Sarah may think that the 2 words Sarah and Beach cannot be properly used in the same sentence, but I am here to tell you that this is entirely NOT true. I am pretty sure that she hasn't put as much as her pinky toe in the water the last 2 times we have been to Rocky Pointe, but she still spends some time on the Beach. Over the years, we have come to the conclusion that it is not necessary for her to like to get wet and play in the sand on the beach because I do it enough for the both of us. Kinda like, I don't really have to be in love with New York because she's in love with New York enough for both of us (and ten thousand other people for that matter). We have a very complementary relationship that way.

She does, however, really know how to have a good time when we are down in Mexico. She likes to hang out with family, take naps, read books (and the occasional trashy magazine), make (and eat) delicious food, work on her tan (lol), hang out at the pool, and just plain old relax. She is also one mean barterer. For instance, on Saturday the kids all wanted bracelets with their names on them. The guy selling them wanted 5 bucks for each one. Well, she talked to him for a few minutes (her spanish is amazing by the way), and when all was said and done, she got the 3 bracelets, a mango, 2 pairs of sunglasses, a sarong, her name on a grain of rice, a henna tattoo, and the guy paid her 500 Pesos. I don't know how she does it.

Sarah also was introduced to a new (and very addicting) game while we were there. It is called "photo hunt" and it is on these touch screen computers at one of the condo resorts. We stayed up till midnight one of the nights while Sarah, Meghan, and Sammie (Herbert) were trying to beat the high score. They kept yelling and screaming at the computer whenever they would get one wrong, but I am pretty sure the computer only understood Spanish.

She had a good time while we were there. She deserved some relaxing time to unwind and I think she got it. Unfortunately I didn't get many photos of her while we were there.

Sarah always wears an evening gown when posing for pictures with the kids.

She even knows how to relax while riding in an elevator.

I'm fresh out of material from Mexico, time to go on another trip.

My Name is Sammie, and I, Like to Party!

2009-09-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

She actually told Sarah that last week. I have no idea where she learned that from:)

If you ask her what her name is, she will say "Samanta Merlee Allen."

She had a great time in Mexico and she does like to Party. She also loves to swim without her floaties now and does a pretty good job. Sammie mostly just went with the flow and was into doing whatever everyone else was doing. She just likes to be included and has a way of becoming the center of attention.

Just hangin out on the beach with "uncle wod."

Sammie only smiles when SHE wants to.

She also yells a lot when she swims, and when she doesn't swim.

And she loves her sister Ashley!

Let me know if you want to see what Sarah does at the beach.

Boy's Just Wanna Have Fun!

2009-09-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Taylor is nonstop and this certainly doesn't change while on vacation. He is either doing something or begging someone to do something with him. For some reason this kid has no concept of time and when you tell him "just a minute" he thinks that is an open invitation to ask you the same thing 20 seconds later.

Taylor was constantly swimming, sliding, boogie boarding, diving, riding razor scooters, looking for shells, throwing shells, causing mischief, or eating on this trip. He played hard, but he also crashed hard. At night, and 2 minutes after he'd lay down, you could hear him snoring.

"I wonder what would happen if I pushed all of the buttons on the elevator?"

Getting ready to throw a shell, rock, empty beer bottle, or used syringe at the waves.

Taylor loves the water and was wet 93.7% of the time he was there. The other 6.3% he was eating and sleeping.

Part of the of the 6.3%. Eating authentic Mexican Cuisine.

Drop in tomorrow to find out what my youngest child calls herself and what she likes to do.

7 going on 17

2009-09-09T21:13:00.001-07:00

Ashley is our miniature teenager and it really came out this weekend. She had a really good time swimming, sliding down the slide, and looking for seashells and crabs, but what Ashley really loved most was hanging out with Sammie and Meghan Herbert (senior in high school and BYU graduate). Ashley was pretty much down with doing whatever they were doing and felt really cool to be included with them.

She spent her days tanning on the deck 15 floors up while reading a jewelry catalog.

Smiling for the camera!

Getting her "party hair" done in the evening.

Ashley is my one child who knows that there is a time to relax and a time to have fun!

Rocky Point Barrels!

2009-09-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

We spent Labor Day weekend with the Herberts in Rocky Pointe. We had a great time enjoying the ocean, pools, and the hospitality of the Herbert family. We didn't take as many photos as usual, however I think that we were able to capture everyones moods and mindsets pretty well with the ones we did take. Over the next 5 days you'll see what each of us does and how we act in Mexico.

We'll start with me. Of course there are no pictures of me as I am usually the one taking them. You don't get to see how great I looked in my speedo on the beach or my golden bronze tan and blonde hair. However, with Hurricane Jimena spinning south of us in the gulf of california, I thought that there might be a small chance we would see some sizable waves on the beach. I threw a little 5 foot surfboard that I made for the kids on top of the minivan and prayed for surf (and that we wouldn't get shot by the federalies m16's) the whole way to the beach. As my luck would have it, there wasn't much there in the way of surfable waves, but I did get some nice tube rides while mindsurfing these beauties that were breaking right on the shore.

a stand-up barrel for a chiuaua

the kahuna of the cookoorauchas could get some nice turns in on this left

So pretty much my mind was on surfing the whole time eventhough I got skunked, again.

Check in tomorrow to see how Ashley rolls in mexico.....

Crazy Cat Lady!

2009-08-31T20:57:00.001-07:00

Samantha is officially a crazy cat lady in training. The other morning, Sarah went upstairs to see if Sammie was still asleep. She found her laying with all of the cats in their makeshift bed (in the corner of the extra room) talking to them and telling them nonsense stories.

Even her pajamas have cats on them.

At least she wasn't sharing their food and using the litter box.

Fun with the Romneys!

2009-08-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my sister Jeni brought her kids over on her way up to Las Vegas. They all had a good time playing together and just being cousins.

Tate got to stay with us for 5 days while they were in Vegas. Taylor was in Heaven and was really sad to see him go.

playing in the backyard sprinklers! (grass is looking good)

Tate showing off for the ladies!

can you pick out the Mexican Natives? I didn't think so.

Happy 91st Birthday Poppy!

2009-08-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know if Poppy (my grandpa, my dad's dad) reads my blog at all, but I just wanted to wish him a Happy 91st Birthday!

If you are lucky enough to know Poppy, he has surely blessed your life. He is a shining example to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren (he has quite a few). Much of the good that I have become as a father and husband (I don't need to hear your comments) I owe either directly or indirectly to him thru my dad. He believes in serving the Lord, being righteous, and working hard. He is stubborn enough to get anything done that he sets his mind to. He also believes that everything looks better with a nice coat of paint.

We love you Poppy and look forward to seeing you soon!

By the way, I really hope that he doesn't read my blog, it is much too rude!

Also, Nonny, I really like your green hairbow in the picture.

Kitty Litter

2009-08-21T06:56:00.001-07:00

Sophie had her babies on Sunday night (well early monday morning actually). 2 male, 2 female and I think the father must have been a rat because they don't look much like cats yet. They are going to be given away in 7 weeks. Any takers?

The Cat Groomer

2009-08-20T06:00:00.001-07:00

Samantha treats the cats like her babies, and last week decided that Stella needed her fur styled. She grabbed a brush and a spray bottle and started going to town. I'm pretty sure the cat would have rather died than get her hair done, especially when Sammie repeatedly sprayed her with water (while holding her in a death grip).With Sophie's help, however, Samantha go the job done.

So Fresh and So Clean!

2009-08-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

Samantha is a lot like her mother. She likes to take baths, do her hair and nails, and loves to do her makeup. She thinks that it makes her look "Popular!"

What did the Fish say when it swam into the concrete wall?

2009-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Ashley was swimming underwater and swam into the side of the pool. It left its mark with a nice little strawberry under her left eye. Unlike the fish, Ashley only said, "Ouch!"

It didn't make her happy (as you can tell from the photo) but it did turn her lips green!

Happy 10th Anniversary Babe!

2009-08-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm good for at least another 10.................million!

love,

Michael

GUILTY!

2009-08-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

We are involved in a lot of activities here in the Allen home, most of which are good and wholesome. Recently, however, we have become engaged in some activities that are less than admirable and are downright illegal. I might as well just say it and get it off my chest. Sarah and I are heavily involved in ........Money Laundering!

I know, it sounds awful but has been going on for months. The same money gets laundered day after day. It is difficult to quit (mostly because the coins slide under the washing thingy and are hard to get ahold of) and neither of us has the desire. To make matters worse, we have gone international (there are peso's in there too). Someday we'll come clean (pun intended).

Please check your pockets so that you don't get in deep like we have.

The Rudest Vegetable Ever!

2009-08-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Sarah was making Soup for dinner and asked me if I would cut some Kale (a leafy green vegetable) to add to the soup to which I quickly responded, "Kale Yeah!" I then proceeded to make comments like, "Why don't you get the Kale Out... of the refrigerator!" and "This stuff looks like Kale!"

A few minutes passed, I had just finished cutting it up, when Taylor sniffed the air and said, "It smells like Kale in here!"

We all busted up laughing!

Clearly I am a bad example to my kids.

The soup tasted like Kale!

If you don't get this post, email my mother, she'll explain it!

Rest for the Wicked (or Naughty at least)

2009-08-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Aren't we lucky! Samantha is now at the age that all parents dread, but know is eventually coming. We pretend that we are gonna lay down the law and that it's never gonna happen (kinda like "my kid won't ever watch Barney", or "we will NEVER own a mini-van"). She is at the age where she really needs a nap but refuses to take one.

Since she is our third child, we have completely given up fighting and just let her stay up during normal nap-time.

Today I took her to go pick up Taylor and Ashley from school at 2. She threw a fit about something, cried for a couple minutes, and promptly fell asleep in the car. Upon arriving home, I carefully pulled her out of her car seat with intentions to put her in her bed. As soon as I walked through the door, she awoke, made me put her on the ground,started throwing a fit. I ignored her for a few minutes and went about getting the kids a snack. I noticed that she had calmed down, went to see if she wanted something to eat, turned the corner toward the garage, and found this...............

She slept there for about 45 minutes till I woke her up.

I guess she still needs a nap, maybe I will try harder tomorrow.

Have you seen my Glasses?

2009-08-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I purchased a pair of $12 sunglasses from Aldo. I wore them a few times but they were not nearly as comfortable as my Oakley's so I kind of forgot about them. It was no big deal that I never saw them around. I would find them whenever I wanted to wear them I thought. Well a few weeks went by and I wanted to wear them but they were no where to be found. I pretty much just accepted that they were a cheap pair of glasses that I had lost.

We went about our normal activities and summer vacations. We traveled to Rocky Point (mexico), Phoenix, and countless times across Tucson. About 2 weeks ago as I was building a surfboard with a couple of friends, I placed the surfboard on top of the Mini Van and .....Yep, you guessed it! I found my glasses. They were wedged between the top of the car and the roof rack. They had traveled over 1ooo miles easily. They were still in great condition once I wiped the bugs and dirt off of them.

So if you come up missing something, check the top of your car. It just might be up there.

Perfect Tears

2009-08-05T20:54:00.001-07:00

I am admitting that I am a bad father by even taking these photos much less by posting them on the internet, however, I just couldn't resist.

About 2 weeks ago Samantha was playing and fell or something and bit or knocked her lip. It began bleeding a little bit and I guess it started to hurt. I picked her up, comforted her a little, and set her down on the stairs. I quickly went to grab (no, not a band aid) the camera so that I could capture on film what a perfectly placed, perfectly shaped tear looks like on a perfectly innocent little angel.

You may have to zoom in to see it. It is right below her left eye.

Yes her lip is now healed up and looks great.

Fourth Day of August, First Day of School!

2009-08-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that they start school at the beginning of the hottest month of the year. Taylor started kindergarten, Ashley began 2nd grade, and Sammie is an only child all day with Sarah.

Taylor said that the worst part of his first day of kindergarten was that he had to sit down all day. I think that I would have to agree.

Ashley likes everything about school. I'm pretty sure that she is the only girl in the world who wanted to wear one of last years shirts to the first day of school. Oh well.

Chocolate Pudding + 2 year old = Makeover

2009-08-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

I think that this one explains itself!

Photos from the beach

2009-08-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Taylor and Colin engage in an intergalactic lightsaber fight!

I think that Sammie gets that from her dad

Sarah being a little SASSY!

Sammie was lounging there eating snacks for about 30 minutes. learning how to relax at an early age = Priceless

"Taylor, look! A broken piece of a beer bottle!"

This Blog Has Been Taken Over!!!

2009-07-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

The heist was successful and this blog has been officially taken over! The Perpetrator will remain nameless, however, the security web cam snapped a quick photo (see below) of the disguised assailant. In his/her effort to rule the world (or at least his/her home), propaganda will be posted on this blog much more frequently. Again, I have taken over! Follow this blog at your own risk!

Nice Hair?

2009-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Interesting hairdo's have mysteriously appeared on some of our family members. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt. The Culprit is still at large.

Circus Training!

2009-07-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to Rocky Pointe, we enrolled our children in a swimming class that prepares children for the flying trapeze and high dive. As usual, they excelled.

Please Help!!!

2009-06-24T20:06:00.001-07:00

***FEDERAL EMPLOYEES- PLEASE DONATE LEAVE TO RYAN HESS***

My name is Margie Hess, my husband Ryan was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since this is an aggressive form of T-Cell Lymphoma, his doctor has put him on an aggressive chemo regimen that will result in him being unable to work for the next 4-6 months and possibly longer. At the time of diagnosis he was finishing up his 1^st year as a Podiatry Resident at the V.A. in Tucson, AZ. Ryan is a devoted husband and father of two children, Hallie (5) and Max (2). By the end of this month (June 2009), Ryan will use up the last of his vacation and sick leave and will have to go on unpaid leave. Ryan is the sole provider for our family; I stay at home with both the kids. Without him working we have no income. I need to stay home to help care for him, so I cannot get a job right now, either. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time. We were told that any federal employee (ie: military, Border Patrol, DEA, FB I, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee. We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate. Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?

Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)

Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:

OLIVIA McCLURE - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.)

Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 6076

Fax # : (520) 629-1849

E-Mail : olivia.mcclure@va.gov

ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!

How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:

PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook...whatever you can think of.

Thanks again everyone- this will help SO much!

GO TEAM RYAN HESS!

Ashley

2009-05-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ashley has had quite the year- She has done so many wonderful things and we are really proud of her! She finished off her 1st grade year with a certificate honoring her as the student with the most books read out of 6, 1st grade classes. She got straight E's all 4 quarters, and she went to school every day with no complaint and a happy attitude. During the last week of school, she also had the lead in her class play. She played the role of Bella Butterfly and she did FANTASTIC!!! Last week we finished off the year of Hip Hop with a really cute dance performance. Both of these things have led us to enroll her in Christian Youth Theatre for a week this summer where they will be working on a performance of Aladdin. Her teachers have informed us what a good performer she is- and believe me, we know!!! Its been great to watch her succeed in all of these things this year!

Playin' in the Arizona Rain

2009-05-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sophie

2009-05-21T14:19:00.001-07:00

We have the strangest cat. I left the bag on my bed and Sophie decided it was a great place to take a nap.

Star Wars Mayhem and No more preschool

2009-05-21T14:13:00.001-07:00

Taylor's 5th birthday party was a huge success. We had a lot of kids here, and man, they were wild! Taylor loved it, and that's all that mattered.

Taylor graduated from preschool. They had a family party at the park and a short show and graduation ceremony. I can't believe I will have two kids in all day school. No, that doesn't mean its time to have more! :)

Happy Birthday Taylor!

2009-05-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

What better way to get back to blogging then with Taylor's 5th birthday!!! It seems like he JUST turned 4! Taylor is very obedient. He always thinks of others. He is sensitive and pretty quiet- except when he is playing Star Wars!:) Lately, Taylor loves to ride his bike, skateboard, play Wi, play light sabers, and play all of the above with his friends.

2009-05-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

AND the final few...

2009-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Some more...

2009-03-25T11:46:00.001-07:00

For Grandma

2009-03-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Entrepreneur

2009-03-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Ashley is very interested in money. She likes to get it, and she likes to save it. This is what we found her advertising outside on our driveway last Saturday.

Mex-i-co

2009-03-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Haven't had a lot to blog about! Last week the kids had rodeo vacation, so we made our way down to Rocky Point. It was relaxing, the kids were great, and the weather was beautiful.

Now we are home- back to school, work, and LAUNDRY.

Angelic

2009-02-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

Ashley dressed-up Samantha, complete with hair and makeup. Does it get any cuter then that?

Ashley

2009-01-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

Ashley turned 7 on January 25th! She is a very fun girl. We never know what she is going to do or say! She gets straight E's in school and loves to read and write stories. She loves makeup and music and doing her nails and her hair or anyone else's! She is all girl and we love her! Here are some pictures from her life.

2009-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

Final Page count 2008

2009-01-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

My final page count for 2008

Drumroll please...

56 books for a total of...

21,340 pages!!!

This does not include subscriptions to Parents magazine, the Ensign, and The Reader's Digest which I read cover to cover almost every month. It was fun to keep track of my pages this year and I am surprised at the number! Its something I love to do and I've had lots of practice! I don't have much time to read with three kids running around. And I don't stay up late- I need my sleep! This year Michael wants me to keep track of the amount of money I spend on books each year also. But I think I will forget to do that. ;)

It was a "Merry" Christmas!

2008-12-30T14:03:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. We are thankful for friends, family, faith, and all of the things in life that we get to enjoy. We are very blessed.

Christmas outfits

2008-12-30T13:59:00.001-08:00

An early Christmas present

2008-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I gave the kids an early Christmas present. A kitten! Her name is Sophie. Samantha tortured her for the first day and I thought I would have to give her away- Samantha, not the cat. :) But she has calmed down a little bit and believe it or not, the cat loves her. Ashley and Taylor were SO excited to get a cat and have been great with her.

Christmas Festivities

2008-12-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Every year we decorate Gingerbread Houses. This year I bought a kit and the house was already assembled-so GREAT!!!

Ashley and Taylor were very intent on making their pattern for the roof

Not sure what was going on here!

As usual, there was lots of candy sneaking going on

Samantha decorated her own gingerbread snowman. She made sure to lick, or take a bite out of every piece of candy as she put it on. I think she was pretty proud of it.

My new tree and un-traditional decorations-UPDATED

2008-12-01T15:26:00.001-08:00

My beautiful new angels- aren't they perfect!!!

And we moved the tree! :)

Its my favorite color, what can I say?

Yay! Only 23 more days!!!

2008-11-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

I was tagged for this by my friend Tammy
So the rules are: Go In your Picture Folder, choose the 4th folder and 4th file, then share 4 things about the photo:

1. This is Ashley
2. Taken at the beach in San Diego
3. She was 5 years old
4. She's my beach babe.

I tag anyone who wants to play!

* I stand corrected. This was this past summer, and ashley was 6. Its all a little bit muddled to me.

Groovy

2008-11-11T13:43:00.001-08:00

I love these pictures of Taylor being silly, with a HUGE smile on his face...

Yep we were dancing on a Sunday. :)

Happy Birthday to Michael....

2008-10-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here are 32 things about Michael that I love, although I could think of many more!

1. He's a surfer. ( A darn cute one)
2. He is an amazing father
3. He makes me laugh
4. He likes to tease, but knows better then to tease me too much
5. He works really hard
6. He likes to wear his socks outside
7. He is good at everything he tries
8. He's really good at barbecuing
9. He likes to listen to AM radio, yeah he's getting old! ;)
10. He's good at skateboarding
11. He doesn't care what people think
12. He likes to help others
13. He has muscles without even trying
14. He's smart
15. He takes me to New York
16. He's almost always happy
17. He is patient
18. He can do back flips
19. He puts up with my crazy moods
20. He does a really good imitation of the dancers on "So You Think You Can Dance"
21. He doesn't sit around all day and watch football- even though sometimes he would like to
22. He changes diapers like a champ
23. He likes to eat chocolate covered pretzels dipped in peanut butter
24. He lets me sleep in
25. He can dunk- I think he still can, although I haven't seen him do that in a little while. ;)
26. He likes to watch "The Office" with me
27. He likes rootbeer
28. He does crazy things like perm his hair and dye it very blonde
29. He's very practical
30. He's relaxed and easy going
31. He can talk like Donald Duck
32. He's an amazing husband

Hope you have a great day babe! I love you!

We Vant to Suck your Blood...

2008-10-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Look!

2008-10-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

I did Sammie's hair! :)

Sun's Scrimmage game, A lost tooth, and a haircut...

2008-10-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Ashley lost her tooth last week- FINALLY. It was hanging on by a thread for weeks.

We took everyone to the Sun's scrimmage game at McKale Center on Friday. The kids LOVED it! Sammie danced and played the whole time. Ashley was just happy to have nachos and sprite(takes after her mother), and Taylor kept an eagle eye on the gorilla, ready to bolt if he came anywhere near. As we left, Samantha threw herself on the ground and said, " I wanna stay here!"

Yesterday, I took Ashley to get her hair cut. She loved getting it washed and styled. She thought she was pretty hot stuff.

Today is I miss NYC day...

2008-10-01T12:43:00.001-07:00

sigh.

If you've been to NY, tell me your favorite thing about it. If you haven't been there, tell me when we're going. :)

I love the energy. I love the constant hum of activity. I love the diversity. I love the architecture. I love the black stuff that gets all over my face after a day of walking around the city. Ok, I don't really like that, but I'd take some black stuff from NYC on my face today.

Time keeps passing...

2008-10-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Taylor learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. He woke up one morning and told me he had a dream where he learned how to ride his bike. Michael took off his training wheels and they tried it once- Taylor was terrified and decided he didn't want to learn after all. A few days later he decided, once again, that he was ready. Now he wants to ride ALL THE TIME. No matter that it is 95 degrees out. He's not too good at steering. He's almost taken out me, Samantha, and Grandma's car. But he's getting better!

I blog in spurts...

2008-10-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Samantha's party was fun- she is the first of my kids to not freak out when everyone is singing happy birthday. She just sang along!

P.S. I promise I do Samantha's hair. Every morning she says, "Hair Pwetty?" And so we do her hair. It lasts 10 minutes. Sometimes even an hour.

I made cupcakes from scratch with a recipe from Magnolia Bakery in NYC. They are easy, but very time consuming.

I guess it was worth it though- Samantha enjoyed them. :)

Let's try this...

2008-09-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a MEMORY GAME challenge for you. Saw this on my friend Ashley's blog and thought this was a fun idea. I'd love to hear the memories we have shared together! Heres what you do: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

2008-09-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Samantha Marie turns 2 years old today! We love her so much! She is a little troublemaker and she makes us LAUGH!

More Pictures...

2008-09-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Bethesda Fountain

Belvedere Castle

New York Part 3

2008-09-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Okay I think I am dragging this out too long now so I'm going to wrap it up! I don't have a ton of good pictures left either!

Saturday we went went to Harlem. My dad has a friend, Dennis, that lives there in a brownstone that he has been restoring, and he was going to let us see it! Unfortunately we didn't bring the camera. We have some video, but its not great video. His place was really cool, I wish I could remember all the facts about it. He lives on one floor, and rents out the other 3. He has done a great job with it. It was amazing to see the before photos and be able to see the finished product. Dennis has lived in New York about 20 years and he knew a lot about it. Especially about his neighborhood in Harlem. He took us on a great tour. Except it was SO humid! We ate Fried Chicken at a wonderful Southern restaurant called Spoon Bread (after walking about 100 miles, Dennis knows how to walk!) and finished up with the BEST peach cobbler I have ever had. After that, Michael and I separated from the group and went back to the hotel to cool off. We met up with the fam later to eat at B Bar and Grill- I highly recommend it. Form there we went to Dylan's candy bar- cause who doesn't like candy?! Then of course we went to Serendipity for Frozen hot chocolate and other desserts we did not need. But hey, we did walk A LOT. Our plan was to go to a club that night, my cousin Kelly very kindly gave us some good options. I'm not sure what happened-Oh yeah, it poured BUCKETS of rain from 4pm to 11pm thanks to the hurricanes. And me and Michael realized we are way too old and not hip enough to go to clubs. So we put ourselves to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up and got ready for church. We looked at the building locator online to figure out where the ward was meeting that was in the temple building. It told us where to go and what time it started-11am. We took the subway, barely making it on time, only to find out the building was closed for construction. We were so disappointed! At that point we wouldn't have been able to make it to any other meetings. At least we tried right? We went to lunch at the 5 Napkin Burger on restaurant row. It is very good, nice BIG juicy burgers. Except mine came out mooing and I kinda lost my appetite. We went to Rockefeller Center and St. Patricks Cathedral and then walked by all the fancy shops on 5th avenue. Then Michael and I, and Jeff and Natalie decided to go to Central Park and rent bikes. I got to see all of the things I've been wanting to- Bethesda fountain, Belvedere Castle, Sheeps Meadow. I highly recommend renting bikes to tour Central Park. We got to see everything without killing ourselves walking. It was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday and I think one of my favorite parts of the trip!

Michael and my brothers and Natalie left early Monday morning. I changed my flight so I could stay one more day with my parents! Michael took the camera home, so no more pics at this point!

Monday morning I got to go to the lower east side Tenement Museum. It was very cool. A lot of history there and I love to look at old buildings. We went over to Greenwich Village and of course, got some more cupcakes at Magnolia, and then ate lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. My parents needed to leave- they had tickets to the US Open, so I had the afternoon to myself. Which was great! I would hang out by myself in NYC any day! I went down to Bryant Park. It was Fashion week, so I stood by the tents people watching for over an hour. I was trying to catch a glimpse of someone famous, but no such luck. I went shopping around Times Square, ate some dinner in a little cafe, and then went to see "Chicago". Can't say it was my favorite Broadway show, but it was entertaining. I walked back to the hotel by myself at 10:30 pm, stopping on the way to get some soup. I was so glad I stayed another day- EXCEPT...

We had to wake up EARLY Tuesday morning to get to JFK. Our flight was at 8am. We got on the plane on time and got on the runway. And then we stopped. The captain came on the intercom and said that there was bad weather up ahead and that we were grounded until it came through. We sat for two hours on the plane before it even started raining. We sat for another two hours waiting for it to pass. We were finally getting close to leaving, we were 4th for takeoff, when 1 lady on our plane decided she wanted to get off. After 4 hours the airline cannot force you to stay on the plane. We had to turn around and let her off. People were NOT happy. I was starting to feel hysterical from being cooped up in a plane for 4 hours. We were given drinks and some nasty snacks. It took another 2 hours to refuel, re-stock the plane, and change crews. After 6 hours of sitting on the plane, we left on our 5 hour flight to Phoenix. We arrived in Phoenix, got some food, and drove to Tucson. I got home at 8pm, 11pm NY time, just in time to see the kids before they went to bed. The whole travel experience was AWFUL.

But I LOVED my trip to NYC. And I got some great news in my email inbox a few days later. Jet Blue gave me a voucher worth my round trip flight to NYC!!! Now I have to go back. How awesome is that?! Its time for that girl trip we've been talking about! You know who you are, lets get it planned! Whoever wants to come! :)

Closest subway station to our hotel

B Bar & Grill

Dylan's Candy Bar

Serendipity Frozen hot chocolate

New York Part 2

2008-09-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we woke up jet-lagged, but eager to start our day. Well some of us were eager! First thing we went to the Empire State Building. Since we went early, we had NO lines! I think I like the view of the city the best from the Empire State Building. Or maybe that's because it was my first view of the city in the day. I have been to the Top of the Rock a couple times, but only at night. Both views are awesome! From there, we took the subway to the WTC center site. We walked by the site, but right now there is not much to see. Just a lot of construction. Then we walked down to the water to catch some views of the Statue of Liberty. We walked along the water a long way, headed toward Battery Park. But we never made it that far- everyone got too tired. Bunch of wimps I tell ya. :) I really wanted to go to the WTC tribute museum so we headed that direction. It was very sad. But I am glad we went. Afterward we were all a little depressed, but hungry! We went to La Esquina Taqueria for lunch. Very good food. After lunch we went to China Town and got new purses and watches etc. It was really hot and I was ready for some cupcakes, so we took the subway to Magnolia Bakery. YUM! I am not normally a fan of cupcakes, but these ones are GOOD. About this time I think we were all about dead. We went back to the hotel to rest and to get ready for dinner and the show. We saw Mary Poppins, my mom and I for the second time. I think everyone enjoyed it. It was a good end to our day.

The Chrysler Building from on top of the Empire State Building. It was a little hazy. Obviously.

The Camera guy

Subway!

Fire station across from WTC

Ready for the show, but falling asleep in my chair. We walked A LOT that day.

New York Part 1

2008-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've decided to chronicle our trip by the day. The thought of another HUGE New York post makes me a little overwhelmed. And this time I've got way more PICTURES!!! Although maybe not as many as Michael promised since he got tired of carrying around the camera after the first day. This trip was taken with my mom and dad, my 3 younger brothers Sean, Andrew, and Jeff, and Jeff's wife Natalie and me and Michael.

We began our trip Thursday morning the 4th. We all met at my brother Sean's house at 7am for our drive to Phoenix. He very kindly went out and got us all bagels for breakfast! Our travel was pretty uneventful, Jeff was a great chauffer, flights were amazingly on time and we loved watching satellite T.V. on our Jet Blue flight. We arrived at JFK around 8 pm where we were supposed to have a car waiting for us that my mom had reserved in advance. Of course they had no record of us whatsoever, even though we had a confirmation number with us etc. So we hopped in another car and off we went. The first sights of the city always make me deliriously happy, when you come up from the tunnel and there it is! We arrived at our hotel- The Residence Inn Times Square. My parents, who had arrived the day before, were standing outside waiting for us. We're ready to head up to our room when all of a sudden Sean realizes he doesn't have his backpack- he left it in the car that sped off a few moments before. His backpack with his new apple laptop, his ipod and other various important things. Amazingly, his fabulous sister (that would be me) suddenly remembered being given a business card by the guy at the airport, who got us the car. I scrambled through my purse to find it and they quickly called the company. They located the car and said the backpack would be returned within a couple hours. Phew!

We headed over to get some dinner. We stopped at a little roadside pizza joint and it wasn't the best pizza, but who cares! We were in NYC! We went by a subway entrance and I had to go down and get a whiff- Aaaaaaaah,the smell of New York. Call me crazy. Then we went over to Times Square. It was about 2 blocks from our hotel. It was hopping as usual. Sean was unable to enjoy himself because he was still worrying about his backpack, so my dad and him (him and my dad?) headed back to the hotel to wait. To Sean's great relief, it was returned with everything intact, and they met up with us again later. We continued our tour of times square, stopping in our favorite shops and watching the crazy people. I asked a police officer if I could take a picture with him. He said sure and asked if I wanted to sit on his bike! I felt like a star because for some reason lots of people found this entertaining and took my picture! There were some government things going on downtown and further down the road was another officer with a machine gun. He did NOT want his picture taken! We saw Batman, well he was the African American version of Batman, and an old lady wearing lingerie singing songs. NOT a pretty sight! We went to the Hershey's store and the M&M store- lots of chocolate, YUM! We were all pretty tired about this time and went to back to the hotel around 1am. Enjoy the slideshow!

See ya next week!

2008-09-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving on Thursday for Manhattan! I can't possibly love it as much as last time- right? I have a feeling I will. Michael says he is taking 365 pictures of NYC so I can start my own NYC daily photo blog. Stay tuned! Here are some pictures of the kids to tide you over while I'm gone.

Samantha with her bottle that we FINALLY got rid of. Yep, she'll be 2 on the 19th so its about time.

Ashley got her face painted at the safety fair by our house.

Taylor really wanted to get his face painted- but he was TERRIFIED of the "mascot" a guy in a stuffed dog costume, who was walking around. SO, Michael said he would paint his face at home.

Of course, then Samantha wanted hers done too.

We're just getting excited for Halloween. Except for Halloween, we will be the Cullen Family. Yep that's right, a family of vampires. Will someone please invite us to their Halloween party so we can wear our cool costumes? :)
Have a good week!

Things go bump in the night...

2008-08-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

At midnight last night, I woke up suddenly, thinking I heard the curtains move on the window by my bed. I sat up and looked at them for about 10 seconds, then figured I was imagining things and laid back down. A few minutes later I heard breathing and shuffling around. It freaked me out. So I did what any good wife would do and woke up Michael.

Sarah: "Michael! There is someone in the curtains!"

Michael: "What?!"

Sarah: "I'm sure its the kids, but its freaking me out!"

He tried to turn on the lamp next to our bed, it didn't work so he used his cell phone light.
I got out of bed and pulled back the curtains. There was Taylor, just sitting there.

I asked him what he was doing. He just stared at me and gave no answer. I'm pretty sure he was sleepwalking, he does that a lot. Michael took him back up to bed. I couldn't go back to sleep for over an hour. It was just WEIRD.

For all those who are coming to stay with my kids next week while I am in New York- Beware!

I'm going to New York in 6 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 9th Anniversary...

2008-08-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

to me and Michael! Nine years ago today we were married on Friday the 13th in the Mesa, AZ temple for time and all eternity. Its been amazing! Love you babe! :)

1st Grade!

2008-08-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is Ashley on her 1st day of 1st grade! Okay, so its really her 5th day of 1st grade because I kept forgetting to take a picture! But she'll never know the difference right?:)

Finished!

2008-08-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished "Breaking Dawn". And I loved it! I had hoped to make the book last a little longer since it is 754 pages. But, like the others, I couldn't put it down. Now I am bookless once again. My 2008 page count is now up to 14,109. I am pretty proud of that number since I have hardly any free time to read! Next year, Michael wants me to keep track of how much money I spend on books each year. But I think that will be my little secret. For me, books are a need, not a want. :)

I Demand Sick Days

2008-08-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

I feel terrible.

I had a fever half the night. My throat hurts and I am congested.

My ears hurt too.

My body aches.

If I had a regular 9 to 5 job I would totally call in sick today.

Instead I am taking kids to school, making breakfast and cleaning up messes.

I think wives should be allotted at LEAST 3 sick days a year from their husbands jobs. Spread the word.

Dude...

2008-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy- But I don't even know what we have been doing! Until I get my act together, here are some pics from our gnarly skate session. Yes, Ashley is wearing her Hannah Montana pajamas- it was almost bedtime. Stay tuned for pics of Ashley's first day of 1st grade! Taylor starts preschool tomorrow!

You'll never believe it...

2008-07-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not pregnant.

It's the COOLEST news ever...

I'm SO, SO, SO excited...

I AM GOING TO NEW YORK- AGAIN!!!!

WITH MY WHOLE FAMILY!!! Adults only :)

It feels very unreal. Cause you know, I like that place a little bit. A lot. I'm not sure how it came about. I think its because I am very persuasive and an incredible travel agent. But somehow we got it all planned where everyone can go between school and jobs etc. We are going September 4-8th. WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! We are gonna PARTY!!! This will be my 3rd time THIS YEAR! I'm such a LUCKY, LUCKY (spoiled) girl! And I am taking lots of pictures this time!

Does anyone want to go? And if not, does anyone want to babysit?:)

Surf's up!

2008-07-10T13:52:00.001-07:00

Last week we went on our annual trip to San Diego, CA with the Allen Family. We had lots of fun and lots of sun! Michael surfed every morning for about 3 hours- which of course is not enough! He got barreled for the first time which is totally gnarly. The kids spent lots of time on the beach boogie boarding and building sand castles and jumping the waves- or running from the waves in Samantha's case. I spent less time at the beach and more time shopping and reading while Samantha napped- and napping myself. I really do like the beach- I think. I like the idea of it, I like the sound of the waves. I like to sit on the beach peacefully reading. But I really don't like to be Sandy. I know, lots of sand there and my kids enjoy covering me with it one way or another. I really don't like to be in the sun too much either. Gives me a headache. And I really don't like to get in the water. Its COLD and there are STRANGE things in there. Ha! So I'm not too fun at the beach. Luckily the kids had a great time with the rest of the family! We had more then a few bee stings and a sting ray casualty, but other then that, fun times! Here are some ( a lot) of pics. Sorry, their are a few too many family pics in there but I am too lazy to go back and take them out!

I want to be a part of it -New York, New York....

2008-06-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

I LOVE that city. BEWARE you will hear much more then you ever wanted to know about my trip. I could talk about it for days, weeks, months... I know, you're already tired of it.

We arrived at JFK late Wed. night. We took taxi to the hotel which is an experience in itself. We we saw the city up ahead I was SO HAPPY! We stayed in Manhattan close to the Rockefeller Center. When we arrived at the hotel, we checked in and the lady told Michael there was a package for him at the concierge desk. We went by the desk on the way up to our room, but he was already gone for the night. Michael figured it was something for his ortho conference starting on Friday morning. We stashed our suitcases and walked over to Times Square! We ate at Ray's pizza- really good, greasy pizza! We walked around a little after that but it was midnight by that time so we headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning we headed out about 10am. We took the subway (I LOVE the subway, its so fun!) downtown to the World Trade Center site. We walked by the Trade center and then headed down by the water to Battery Park. We walked along the water and saw the Statue of Liberty. We walked all over downtown. All the buildings are beautiful to me! I love the architecture, I love to be surrounded by them. The weather was beautiful, about 72 degrees. Then we jumped back on the subway to head over to Greenwich Village. We went to Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street. SO good. The chocolate frosting is to die for and really messy cause you have to lick it off of everything to make sure you didn't miss any! :)Even Michael liked them and he is not a cupcake fan. We walked a little in the village- its really pretty down there with the tree-lined streets. We ate lunch at a little sidewalk cafe. Then we took the subway back to our hotel to freshen up- then we were going to head over to the Gershwin Theatre to try and get standby tickets to Wicked. I REALLY wanted to see it, but we didn't get tickets in time.

Did I mention I love the subway? :) Here's why- I love the smell. I know, that's a little sick. But the smell of the subway is New York to me. I love that there is always something interesting going on in the subway. So many performers, interesting people. I love that it goes really fast- kinda like a roller coaster! I love the huge mix of people you find in the subway. I love that its really loud- I don't know why. And I think the subway system is amazing! Its like an underground city with so many levels and trains going EVERYWHERE. So cool!

We got back to our hotel and stopped by the concierge desk. She pulled out a card and gave it to Michael. He took it and said thanks - I wasn't really paying attention. The concierge said, "Wait, aren't you even going to open it?" She took it back from him and opened it to reveal an envelope with MY name on it. I was so confused, my heart sped up. What was going on? He still had the card and took out two tickets- TO WICKED!!! My aunts, Debbie, Diane and Susan, and my grandma surprised me for my birthday and got us tickets for the Friday night show! I was SO shocked because I wasn't expecting anything and so excited I started crying! THANK YOU SO MUCH to my grandma and my aunts! This was also exciting because now we didn't have to go wait in line to get tickets. Thank goodness we checked with the concierge BEFORE we went out again! So we took a half hour nap. Then we jumped on the subway again to head over to Central Park. It is amazing to me that they have this beautiful park right in the middle of Manhattan! I love all the greenery and trees and ponds and lakes and then looking up in the background and seeing all the buildings. WOW.

My cousin, Kelly put together a fabulous list of restaurants and things to do in New York (thanks Kelly!) which helped a ton in figuring out where to go eat. She lived in the city for awhile (I'm jealous). So we ate at the highly reccommend B Bar and Grill- REALLY really good. Great atmosphere and we got to eat outside in this little garden area. We had this huge bowl of yummy guacamole with homemade chips. Michael ate fish tacos which he thought were really good and I ate the New York Strip and garlic mashed potatoes with spinach. I am a meat eater- It was GOOD. Can you tell I like food? I talk about it a lot. We went to FAO Schwartz next. I'd never been there before. There are so many cool things! And we went a little crazy buying things for the kids. Then we went over to the Rockefeller Center and went to The Top of The Rock. AMAZING. Love it up there. We walked back to the hotel. Past the St. Patrick's Cathedral. Beautiful. I think we walked about 10 miles that day. We slept well.

Friday morning Michael started his conference at 8am. I had grand plans to leave at 8 am also, to go to the Rockefeller center and see The Today Show. Well I couldn't get out of bed- I was drugged on cough medicine after being up all night hacking up a lung. I turned on the T.V at 9 am in time to see Chris Brown performing right there. Shoot! I got ready and went shopping at H&M and then I went to the American Girl store and got the girls some cute things. It was another beautiful day. Then I met Michael for lunch at some cafe. After lunch I took the subway (all by myself!:) uptown to the Frick Collection Museum. Its in a mansion. Very cool. I enjoyed it even though I didn't really know much about any of the things I was looking at! I walked along central park and just enjoyed being in my city and people watching. I took the subway back to midtown and did some more shopping. Then I went back to the hotel to wait for Michael and get ready for the show! We took the subway over to Union Square and ate at The Coffee Shop. We had a chicken quesadilla first and then split the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It was delicious! (Thanks Kelly). We went over to Times Square and shopped at the Quiksilver store then we walked over to the Gershwin. We LOVED the show. I could have listened to Elphaba (sp?) sing FOREVER. I'm SO glad we got to go! On the way back to the hotel we stopped by the Bar Americain which is Bobby Flay's restaurant. He is a chef there but we thought the odds of him actually being there probably weren't very good. We were seated and realized he was sitting at a table right behind us wearing his chef uniform. So that was kind of cool. We ordered dessert-Michael had lemon-orange crepes and I had a deep dish chocolate pie. Yeah, it was goooooooood. I wanted to get a picture with Bobby, he was standing right next to us talking for a little while. But I was too shy.

This is going to take me 6 hours to write because my darling children keep interrupting.

Saturday Michael left early again. I slept in and then I could barely get out of bed. I was so sore from all the walking! My calves, shins and back were screaming at me. Wimpy, I know. So I relaxed. I got ready and walked around by the hotel and ate a bagel at a sidewalk cafe. I shopped a little more. It was HOT. Record heat. 95 degrees and it felt like 120 with the humidity. I know how to deal with dry heat. The humidity about killed us. Michael got done at 12:30 and we took the subway to Little Italy. We ate at a really good restaurant that I ate at in October. But I can't remember the name. It was good. But So hot! We walked to China Town and got some purses but we didn't stay long. We went back to the hotel and just stayed inside for awhile. Michael wanted to find a store called Steve and Barry's. It turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment- and there was nothing in his size. I found a cute shirt though! Everything there is $8.98 or less. We decided to try and get in to eat at Serendipity. Luckily there was no wait! For a Saturday night at 7:30, I was really surprised. It was great- I've had dessert there but not dinner. I ate some Chicken fettucine alfredo and Michael got a meat skillet thing. Michael wasn't even interested in trying the frozen hot chocolate and I really wanted apple pie so I got that and hogged it down by myself. Next time I WILL have the frozen hot chocolate. :) We walked back to the hotel in the heat. All those buildings really keep the heat in!

Sunday morning we woke up and went to Church. I woke up sad, knowing I was going home. I kept getting tears in my eyes because I knew I had to leave. It is weird how much I love it. I kept trying to figure out how I could get Michael to move there. Its such an amazing place. I love to be around so many people. I love all the excitement. All the things to do. I sit in my home in Sahuarita and sometimes don't talk to anyone for days. How cool is it to have so much going on all the time! But really I know deep down it isn't a great place to raise kids.
I really missed the kids, so knowing that I was going to get to see them helped. But I wished I could stay, and have them shipped. :)

The church building was neat. We recently had a family move into our ward from nyc. Can you imagine moving from nyc to Sahuartia, AZ? Anyway we ended up at their ward by accident! The people there were very nice. The theme of the meeting- Sarah, these are the reason you can't move your family to NYC. A 14 year old girl spoke about being the only member of the church in her entire catholic school. The other two speakers hinted about some of the hardships of living in the city. Ok, Ok I'll try to push it out of my head. But I did look online at places to buy. :) We went and ate at the Grey Dog Cafe. Very trendy little place with really good brunch. It was jam packed full of students. Me and Michael were probably the oldest ones there! But it was very good. We took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. Well we kind of got lost but we didn't mind since the subways were air conditioned! After we were done we went to Central park again but it was just too hot so we headed for the airport. :(

I cried leaving the city- I really don't usually cry so much. It was a fantastic trip- I loved every minute, even the heat. I'll be back...soon.

If you made it this far- wow. We didn't take many pictures. Here are a few. They are not so great. Michael took tons of video but they are mostly just extreme close ups of my face. Maybe I will post a few clips later if I can.

Why am I making such funny faces?

The subway!

Sidewalk cafe in Greenwich village

The results...

2008-06-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Alright here's what happened with the Tucson Idol. I've been waiting for my mom to send me some pictures of me singing, but she is taking too long! It was so Fun! There were 7 other very talented people in the show. I was very nervous the day of the performance- especially since I woke up with a sore throat! After I got to the theatre and did my sound check I was a lot less nervous. I felt really good about my performance. It was really cool to sing on a big stage! We video taped it but I think I am too scared to show it on here! I didn't win- there was a girl that performed a song on her synthesizer that she wrote. She was DANG good! She deserved to win! They didn't tell us who the runners up were. It was a great experience- I am hoping to keep my voice in shape so I can continue to sing more often.

I'm leaving!

2008-06-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to New York until Sunday night! I'll tell you about the Idol thing and my trip when I get back!

Tucson Idol '08

2008-05-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

On May 30th Corbin Allred and Kirby Heyborne are putting on a concert at Catalina Highshcool in Tucson, at 7pm. I have to say I had no idea who they were- but I have found out they are famous for doing lots of LDS movies, and TV shows as well. Have you heard of them?

Anyway before the concert, they are doing a Tucson Idol '08 and I was asked to participate. I think they have asked 8-10 people total. I am going to sing "I will Be There For You," by Jessica Andrews- and I am FREAKED! They say they will sell out and there will be about 500 people. I have sung a lot, I have some experience, but not for this kind of thing! I sing mostly for church functions. And man is my voice OUT OF SHAPE! It sounded like fun, and I have no hopes of winning- I only want to get up there and not make a fool out of myself! The prize is that you get to sing with these guys, but I am not at all familiar with their music.

So... if you live close, get your tickets and come and cheer for me! I need some support there even if I totally stink! My Dad will also be performing a song he wrote called "Battle Cry".You can buy tickets on Kirby Heyborne's site or at Latter Day Cottage. Wish me Luck! :)

Big Surf

2008-05-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Every year, for the past couple years, our family goes to a water park in Phoenix called Big Surf. We get to go usually a couple days before it opens for the season, and we get the whole park to ourselves! Why you ask? Because my brother and sister in law have connections! :)They crank up the waves and all the guys (and some of the girls) surf! Its great fun!

All the grandkids with Grandma- minus one who snuck off

Taylor

Ashley

Is that Matt? Surfing

The two troublemakers, Remy and Samantha

Dance!

2008-05-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Ashley was in her first dance recital! She did GREAT and she was definitely the cutest one on that stage! :)

Happy Birthday Taylor!

2008-05-08T11:41:00.001-07:00

Edited to add some newborn pics that I finally got scanned in!

Taylor turned 4 years old yesterday! We had a Power Ranger birthday party at the park, went bowling and out to dinner. I can't believe he's 4! Here are some pics of our Taylor.

Happy 4th Birthday Taylor!!!

2008-05-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

2008-04-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to see our family pictures go here

http://studio-s-photography.com/index2.php

click on YOUR EVENT on the right side of the screen

our password is

allen

There are a lot of not great ones and a couple pretty good ones. Samantha was a pain in the neck and wouldn't let us get any! Michael and I especially like the one of us we like to call rubber neck, rubber arms.
_________________

2008-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's great living closer to my parents! We get to see them a lot and the kids love playing at their house!

Taylor and his new best friend

Samantha loves the dogs too

Taylor always wants us to take pictures of him while he jumps and does Power Ranger moves

His new shirt- the perfect blend of Power Ranger and Surfer

A rare picture of Ashley who's always too busy!

Our backyard Project

2008-03-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

We are finally doing our backyard! When we moved in, it was covered with tiny gravel a foot deep and had a dead palm tree in the very center of the yard. I don't know what the previous owners were thinking. It took almost a year to get all of the gravel out, Michael did it gradually himself. We got sod delivered to our house last week and its beautiful! We also got a little sandbox. We still have A LOT of work to do but its getting there!