May 28, 2007

25 and counting

I turned a quarter of a century old this weekend, and it doesn't feel like it. My body sometimes feels like it, but that's to be expected. Can't be young forever! I got most of my gifts before today, which left only the mud pie I made instead of cake to be my present to me. I like ice cream, a lot.

The other highlights of the weekend were having Nicole and Tyler here with the boys, it was fun having the two oldest sisters in the house. Kind of like old times, just husbands and kids in addition. Kaden and Evelyn chased each other like crazy people all over the house, hid in the dryer together, jumped on the tramp, all sorts of fun. Where one kid was, the other could be found close behind. Jilly and Jaren had staring and screaming contests periodically, and a weight contest, which Jilly lost terribly. He outweighs Jilly by 4 pounds. The only thing she has that's bigger than Jaren is ears. We lovingly refer to her as the Yoda Baby.

We also went over to the barn on Sunday - I don't think I've been over there with the family for at least a year and half. So it was fun to hear everyone tell their stories, listen to Brock and Jasen laugh hysterically at jokes, and watch Brock squish Camille, Travis, Tracy and Clair all onto a couch. Fun times. We miss everyone who wasn't there, but there are two wedding opportunities this summer to see each other!

Ben and Shaunie's Tell-All   (not really)

Shaunie's answers are in one color

Ben's answers are in another...can you figure it out?

What was I doing ten years ago?

Ha! Ten years ago this month I was graduating from high school. Shaunie married an old fart. That summer I just goofed off with friends before starting Junior College as a music major. I also bought my trumpet that year (her name was Gayle). She was a beautiful Bach Stradivarius silver plated 37c. Sadly she died in a car accident two years later after a pioneer day celebration that I played for...I'll never be whole again.

I was ending my freshman year at Pasco High, and also living in "the Barn" (a pool house of sorts) while the remodel on my family's house was being finished. This was also about the time the Gibbons' had their big family reunion at Camp Wooten, and brother Ryan got his leg involved with a lawnmower (long story for those of you who don't know, but everything turned out all right).

What was I doing one year ago?

I was working full time at The Home Depot in the receiving dept. while I also pulled 20 hours a week at BYU as a research assistant and security analyst for International Study Programs. I wish I had more time to play.

Growing a bigger pregnant belly in Provo. I was Relief Society President, and a wife to a crazy working husband. I was starting to take Evelyn to the BYU pools to get her used to the idea of swimming, and spending a lot of time playing outside with her.

Five snacks I enjoy:

1. chocolate varieties of ice cream

2. brownies

3. beef jerky

4. fresh apples from the orchard

5. Nilla wafers

1. Peach or banana smoothies and shakes

2. Beef Jerky

3. Fresh or dried fruit

4. Mexican Coca-Cola (Really it tastes different, I swear!)

5. Trail Mix

Five songs I know all the words to:

1. No Place that Far (Sarah Evans)

2. Where the Grass Grows (Tim McGraw)

3. These Days (Rascal Flats)

4. Lots of Primary Songs (Evelyn loves to sing them)

5. Summer Sunshine (The Corrs)

1. Anything by Sting (Fields of Gold; When We Dance etc.)

2. Your Heart Is An Empty Room (Death Cab For Cutie)

3. Brand New Colony (The Postal Service)

4. #41 (Dave Matthews Band)

5. Daniel (Elton John)

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire?

1. Pay off the Student Loans

2. Invest for retirement, missions, college, etc.

3. Build a house

4. Go on a shopping spree for everyone

5. Buy an elliptical exercise machine

Invest some, then...

1. Pay off my student loans and all my nuclear families debts

2. Live in Latin America for a few years (Esp. Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Brazil)

3. Take Shaunie somewhere tropical for a month, just the two of us.

4. Buy a new trumpet and all the items on my Amazon wish list and a lot of gifts for Shaunie and the girls.

5. Build a modest home and buy a hybrid Toyota Camry

Five of my Many bad habits:

1. spending too much time on Ebay

2. forgetting to rinse my dishes

3. not making the bed in the morning

4. not responding to phone messages

5. impulse buying at Wal-mart

1. Not sleeping enough

2. Not exercising as much as I should

3. Starting research papers too late into the semester

4. Playing Xbox when I should be working on homework or work

5. Following sports way too much and not dedicating that time to better things 

Five things I like doing:

1. Playing piano

2. singing songs with Evelyn

3. listening to Ben tell stories

4. reading Jane Austen

5. Pilates

1. Reading books

2. Learning about the origin and original meanings of words (Etymology)

3. Playing Xbox and computer games

4. Listening to music and Singing along at the top of my lungs

5. Watching baseball/playing catch

Five things I will never wear again:

1. too short t-shirts

2. bright pink or purple knit leggings

3. tapered leg jeans

4. pastel pink tights

5. my Girl's Camp shirts

1. A 'The Home Depot' apron

2. Animaniac's socks

3. A marching band uniform

4. Really short shorts...thanks for the tip Chad

Five of my Favorite toys:

1. piano

2. sewing machine

3. scrapbooking paper

4. Pilates ball

5. trampoline

1. Xbox

2. My DVD collection

3. My library of books

4. The computer

5. My baseball mitt

May 18, 2007

Where the green grass grows

Living on the family farm for the summer

My favorite Tim McGraw song, with the same title name as this post, has a chorus that sings:

I'm gonna live where the green grass grows

Watchin' my corn pop up in rows

Every night be tucked in close to you

Raise our kids where the good Lord's blest

Point our rocking chairs toward the west

Plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows

Where the green grass grows

This kind of sums up my enjoyment of the country life at this moment. Evelyn loves being outside, watering flowers, watching the animals, and following Grandma around. I love the green growing environment, the absence of parking lots, traffic, and shopping malls, and the general quiet. Even the bugs aren't getting to me at this point.

Here's what the girlies have been up to lately:

Jillian figured out how to sit up and stay up over the last week or so, and she's been happier about that. She's also started throwing tantrums. Already. Isn't this not supposed to happen until, like, 10 months old or something? It only happens when she's got something she's chewing on, and it gets taken away. Then she starts screaming, working herself up to the point where it's hard to calm her down. It happens a lot around Evelyn of course, who still frequently forgets she's supposed to be sharing.

Evelyn always wants to go outside these days, and it's getting warm enough for her to play in the water as well. She hasn't been too fond of digging in the dirt, at least not yet. She likes feeding the fish in the pond, and seeing the "mamas" (llamas). She dresses up quite frequently, either in farming or gardening attire. She cuddled with a kid-size watering can as she went to sleep last night. It was funny, but cute. The only name she says of any family member is Ryan, who's been dubbed "a-whyn". I think Ryan gets a kick out of that.

Having cousins that don't live too far away is a fun bonus too. 

Surprisingly to myself, I've been pretty busy since we arrived here. I had visions of completing my scrapbooking I'm way behind on, making jewelry, quilting....that so far have not materialized. All those daily things....laundry, dishes, bills, naps, food....the list is unending, take up the day. When the day's done though, it's been fun, despite not getting that fun stuff done.

Ben took the picture of me sleeping. Lovely, isn't it? 

May 10, 2007

Some quirks of my own...

This was one of those "talk about yourself!" posts in response to a challenge from another blogger. It's interesting to see how I've evolved in 5 years.

I love crafty things. I grew up doing them, so that's probably why. I scrapbook, quilt, sew, and cook. And I consider myself pretty good at all of them. I want to be a better photographer at some point, and make jewelry as well. But my time is demanded by two little girls at this point, so only one hobby at time.

I have a big fear of heights. I can fly on a plane just fine, I think it's a lot of fun. But standing on the edge of cliffs, putting Christmas lights on the roof, swinging out of trees terrifies me. I am quite content to keep two feet on the ground. I also have, I guess you would call it, a paranoia about bad food. Ben calls me weird on this one. If food has sat out for more than a couple hours, it may have collected enough bacteria to make me sick. I hate food poisoning. So into the trash it goes. Ben argues that a piece of pizza that has sat out all night is still edible for breakfast, and I say no. What does everyone else think?

Staying on the topic of food, one of my biggest pet peeves is when something I bake or cook doesn't turn out the way it's supposed to. I hate that.

I majored in Health Science in college with an emphasis in Nutrition and Lifetime Wellness. But I'm the first to tell you I don't always practice what I preach. I'm working on it. Another thing I'm working on is being a better gospel study student. Since kids walked (well, not really) into the picture, I haven't been doing too well in this arena. I'm still trying to figure out a routine I guess. I am really good at reading the conference talks though. They always brighten my day.

I have always had an athletic aspiration. I wanted to be a great athlete. Alas, exercise-induced asthma and a disdain for running really dissuaded me from doing school sports. I indulged in another passion, piano. I am currently working on the music from Pride & Prejudice, and I love it. My goal is to have it learned by the end of the summer, when I leave my beloved piano.

One of my little girl dreams I have yet to fulfill is to dance a waltz in a big, poofy ballroom dress. Like they do in the movies set in 1800-something. I guess I see it as something romantic. I like watching Dancing with the Stars, and hopefully I can learn some ballroom dancing sometime.

My phrase of choice is "Holy crap." If you're around me a lot, you'll hear me say it a lot. Sometimes "batman" is added onto the end. That came from Ben, and I can't explain it. I tend to talk too loud when I'm on the phone as well. Especially when I'm talking to a good friend or my sisters. I start getting all dramatic, and the volume gets higher and higher until Ben shoots me a look or asks me to pipe down. I also say "so" and "like" way too much in conversation. I blame that on Utah. :)

I like to watch National Geographic and Planet Earth, and any geology or weather special. Always have to watch the weather on TV. I also like watching the news, just so I can stay up to date, but it is also really depressing to watch. The only comfort I get is from the framework of the gospel and knowing that all this bad stuff is taken away in the Atonement. Christ is the true Comforter.

Another one of my nagging fears is that life is too good. It's going too smoothly. Something bad has to be around the corner. And granted, I do have periods where it seems like everything is falling apart, but it's not really that terrible. Not as bad as what some people endure. I really am grateful each day for the good life I live and the life of comfort I have.

I enjoy teaching groups of people stuff I learned in school, experience, etc. But I don't see the audience when I teach. I don't really look at any one person, just scan back and forth across the room. And unless I'm talking to someone I know pretty well, I have a hard time keeping eye contact. Not that they're boring or anything, I just don't. I don't even know why.

Lastly, I have always wanted to be a mom. When they asked me in Kindergarten what I was going to be when I grew up, I said, "A Mom." I have aspirations to be a nurse someday, but that is at least 8 or 10 years down the road. (I've always been interested in medical matters). I love my little girls to death, and like keeping house for a husband who appreciates it and loves my girls as much as he loves me. And while everything I said above may change at some point, that last paragraph won't. I will always be a mom. Happy Mother's Day!

April 14, 2007

The End is Near

Ahh, 11:30 pm on Saturday night and Evelyn is still awake. Ben is asleep on the couch, Evelyn is sitting next to him playing with her potato head, Jillian is asleep, and I'm posting on the blog. I need to be up at 7 am. I'm crazy I guess. We're moving in two weeks, haha, sure doesn't feel like it. Today was kind of crazy, we had two BBQs to go to, shopping to get done, and Evelyn took a 2 hour nap, waking up at 5:30. So that's why she's still awake. Ben is about to stay up most of the night finishing a big book project due on Monday, then he has one or two 10 page papers to write sometime next week, and finals. But, it's all good. He'll survive, he has before. All you lucky ducks out of college - no more end of semester stress! The summer is looking mighty fine at this point!

The pic is of Evelyn doing one of her new tricks - if she needs a drink, she climbs on up to the bathroom sink and gets it herself. Independence is the rule!



Graduation from BYU

Bachelor's degree of Latin American Studies
Double Major of Spanish and Latin American Studies

 BYU campus in the background.

Dr. Lyon with Ben. He is one of Ben's favorite professors, and was luckily able to stick with him during the Bachelor years. Dr. Lyon left six months after this to serve for the Church in Chile.

Evelyn tired after such early graduation ceremonies. Ben's school walked at 8:00 am. It was a lot earlier than the girls and I were used to being ready for.

Settled...for now


So we made the move, and it was moving. That's all I'm going to say about it, besides the fact that I'm am REALLY glad it's over. Ben graduated last weekend, and that was neat to see. I didn't go to the Dick Cheney speech, the security was crazy, as were the lines and waiting. The girls wouldn't have made it, and my sanity wouldn't have either. His individual college graduation was 8 am Friday morning, and I went to that. He finally graduated! It still doesn't feel like it.

We spent a few days in Emmett (near Boise) with Ben's parents, which was a lot of fun, Evelyn certainly enjoyed running around a much larger space with a yard. Ben's mom took me birthday shopping, which was so fun, it's really hard to do much shopping by yourself with two little kids. Now we're in Washington, where Evelyn is liking playing with Ryan and Heather, and Ben is getting his feet wet in farming. He's already helped dig ditches and move handline! That' a quick rundown, I hope to get some pictures up soon!

March 31, 2007

Roly-poly and the Weed

Jilllian figured out how to roll over this week, and so she's all over the place. She also became suddenly interested in whatever I eat or drink. If I'm drinking out of a glass and holding her, she'll come at the glass with her mouth open like she's going to attack it. So I've tried feeding her some rice cereal over the past few days, and she absolutely hates it. I hope I'm not getting a super-picky eater!

Evelyn has been nicknamed the Weed. I bought her a pair of cute Easter sandals not two weeks ago, and I bought them big. Today, they fit perfectly. At that rate, she'll be out of them by the end of April. I know you're always buying new clothes for your kids because they outgrow them, but not that fast! Late last summer I bought a bunch of "big" clothes on clearance at Old Navy for Evelyn this summer, but my "big" is probably going to be "small" by the time it's warm enough for her to wear them. Oh well. I guess there's always hope for Jillian.

Easter Bubbles

 We had a pretty good Easter Sunday - the Lanengas invited us over for their delicious ham dinner, and then we headed home for Evelyn's nap and an Easter egg hunt in the house. It was pretty cool outside, and Evelyn was Oscar the grouch when she woke up, so the living room worked out well. I don't think Evelyn cared.

Whenever she found an egg she would stop, crack it open, and eat all the candy first. When she had her fill, she wasn't interested any more.

Her favorite Easter present by far has been the bubbles. I couldn't resist posting the black and white picture!

March 24, 2007

Playtime

Evelyn likes to help Jillian play with things, and she's slowly learning to share. Jillian is almost 5 months old, nearly ready for solid foods. Ben and I don't know where the time has gone. They grow so fast!

Evelyn's favorite toy the last few days, her old toy bucket. She likes it better than what it held apparently.

Jillian is almost rolling over, she's a lot better at scooting all over the floor on her back. She was completely on her little floor pad before this picture was taken, and somehow wormed her way off. She's a happy kid, but definitely a momma's girl.

Barbecue

We had a barbecue this last weekend with some of our friends with girls the same age as Evelyn. Dan (behind the tree) was chasing them all around it, and they thought it was a great race track. Maggie is 3 weeks older than Evelyn, and Grasen a month younger. It's been a lot of fun having them so close in age. If they were all in nursery together, I think Evelyn would actually stay the whole time.

Kristan, Ashley and I are standing in the next pic, it got a little nippy outside, but the weather was still great for being March. This was taken after I had calmed Jilly bean down from her 'Mommy abandoned me' scare. I went up to the apartment to get some water, and left her with Kristan and Ashley. A few minutes later, Ben was rushing her upstairs, Jillian screaming at the top of her lungs, like she'd had a limb chopped off. She stopped as soon as I had her again. Wow, Momma's girl of the year award right there!

Evelyn thought covering Graysen in a blanket was an awesome idea. 

Evelyn has a thing for hair, some of you may know about it. Maggie has lots of hair and pigtails quite often, and Evelyn can't quite help but touch it. She doesn't ever pull it, for which I am grateful, but I can't help but wonder if she'll be a hair stylist when she grows up. 

March 18, 2007

Bom dia!

Hello from sunny Provo, UT. We decided to do this blog thing to keep up with what everyone's doing. Seems like an okay thing! This is our most current family picture, as of December 2006. Jillian is now 4 1/2 months old, and Evelyn is 20 months old. And the handsome guy on the right is Ben.

This shot was really taken in front of a gray trailer. Our good friend Chad Lanenga, who is excellent in the Photoshop department, made it look like we were in Bermuda. I wish we had been! Someday, it will happen. The clothes were a baby gift from Ben's Aunt Debbie, who frequently visits Hawaii. Jilly's only 2 weeks old in this shot.

Sisters


Evelyn and Jillian (or jelly bean) on a slow Sunday morning. We speculate they will look a lot alike when Jillian is older. Evelyn is a good big sister who likes to give Jillian hugs and will help mom take care of her. Jillian likes to watch Evelyn and laughs at her quite a bit. We love our little girls!