Temple Square and Forgotten Carols

WOW! It has already been such a wonderful Christmas! This last weekend we (meaning Ryan, Me, Jace, Jay, Lois, Troy, Jamee, Kelsey, Abigael, Savannah, Samuel, Christian, Aunt Tabitha, Noah, and Eva) were able to go to Temple Square and see the lights! We arrived early on Friday evening, and they didn't have the lights on yet, so we went to the South Visitors Center and watched a local high school choir perform. They did awesome! By the time they finished their songs, the lights had come on and out into the cold we went. Seriously it was FREEZING!!! But despite the cold, everyone enjoyed themselves! Thanks to Jamee, we were able to take pictures of our experience and she sent me some copies. Jace LOVED it there! He kept laughing and looking at all the lights. It was a nice break to hear him laugh instead of fuss in the car because he was tired of his car seat!


Afterwards we went to Olive Garden and waited over an hour for our dinner. It was a long wait and I probably wouldn't do it again, but dinner was SOOOOO good!
On Saturday we did a TON of Christmas shopping. We hit Costco first and found a lot of GREAT deals! Then to the Southtown Mall, and Fashion Place Mall to finish off the gift buying. We ate lunch at Goodwood then dropped Jace and Christian off at Aunt Tabithas so we could go to The Forgotten Carols. It was SO cool this year! Michael McLean added a song to the end of his program that was hilarious! If you haven't seen it yet, GO! If you can't find tickets, do it next year! We had to buy our tickets in October, so write it in your calendars!


It was a great weekend and I hate to see it pass so quickly. I'm not ready for Christmas to be here. I love this time of season so much and I wish it could slow down. It seems I get so caught up in getting everything ready that the time to enjoy it slips by. Maybe I will just forget if the ornaments aren't on this year and enjoy the lights. Merry Christmas everyone!

Little Notes

Hey Everyone!

Thanksgiving was a BLAST!!! I can't wait until next year to do it all over again! Thanks to everyone for such an AWESOME time! Since Cami came home this year, our family did pictures while we were all together! I can't believe how much we have grown! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.

Pregnancy is going great! The small bout of morning sickness I had during this pregnancy is gone and life is back to "normal" as much as it can be. Jace is growing and shows me everyday why I love him SO much! He continues to climb and fall off things, but thankfully not on anything to tall...yet. :)

Isaac is getting baptised on Saturday! I can't wait to see him again! We get him for Christmas this year, and it's going to be great to have our family complete this year! We'll be getting family pictures done too, so it will be perfect!

Well I don't have anything else to say, so until next time... Happy Holidays!

Fire Alarms and Me

Every house has them. Fire alarms. My house has two in the downstairs living room, and one in each bedroom upstairs. Pretty amazing creation. These alarms are meant to alert the homeowner of fire, smoke, or other dangers. Some go to the extent of Carbon Monoxide poisioning and determining the heat within walls to make sure it never reaches a certain temperature. Thankfully I have never had any of these experiences, and I feel blessed to have these amazing alarms all over my house.

I think the creators of these contraptions are testing a new line of alarms. It's undercover, so they can get "real" reactions from "real" people. I so happen to be one of those "lucky" people chosen. I'll be cooking homemade pizza, eggs, french toast, and if the alarm senses the slightest amount of smoke, it goes off! The idea behind this is that you will become a good cook when the alarm never goes off and you have amazing not burnt, great tasting food. Well I must say I know the beginnings of burning food now, but I have a problem with sensing it before the alarm goes off. Instead of worrying about non-burnt food, I have a near heart attack when the alarm goes off. I then open the drawer with my flexible cutting boards and rush over to the alarm. I then proceed to fan the alarm until it stops beeping loudly and resumes it's "normal" state. In order to keep it from going off again, I open doors and windows to air out the house. I even turn on the oven fan to help circulate the apparently smoked filled air. By the time this is all done, I have burnt food and I have to start over.

Well tonight was grilled cheese and soup night. AKA the night I don't want to cook a large meal. I already had a plan of how to cook these yummy sandwiches and not have the alarm go off. I started the first sandwich and amazingly I DID it! No alarm and no burnt food! My confidence about cooking had grown. Finally. So I made the second sandwich. Success again! By now I felt professional. No smoke alarms and no burnt food! On to the third sandwich. "In my defense" (from the words of Taci) Ryan distracted me for a minute with talking. This action not only set off my 1st alarm, but apparently was enough smoke to set off my 2nd alarm tied to ADT. Now, not only could I not smell any smoke, but I couldn't SEE any smoke. I have NO clue why it set off this time and not before. I rush over to grab my cutting board and run to the alarms and fan them until they stop. But now I had the problem of turning off the alarm on my ADT system. I rush over to the key pad and touch the appropriate numbers to turn it off. Or so I thought. It told me the alarm was disarmed, but the light was still on. I figured it needed to have a few minutes to register so I did all the numbers again and it again told me disarmed. Well Ryan and I decided to sit down and eat our not burnt dinner and wait to see if the light would go off or if ADT would call and see if things were ok.

We had just finished our meal when a knock came at the door. Immediately my heart jumped to my throat! I was shaking a little when I went to answer the door. I opened it and not to my surprise I saw a cop standing there. CRAP! But to make it better it was a friend of mine who I hadn't seen for a while. He started laughing when I told him what had happened and continued to walkie talkie his other policeman that everything was ok. I thought that would be it, and he was getting ready to leave when his Police Chief walked to the door! DOUBLE CRAP! Thankfully he was laughing as well when we explained what happened and we continued to joke about making them some! By now I was shaking a little more and I KNOW my face was bright red. Again I thought that would be the end of it, but in the distance I hear SIRENS! OH MY HANNAH!!!!! I looked to my policeman friend and his chief and my now pale white face asking if that was for me. Laughing they shook their heads yes!!! They told me goodbye and I happily made the assumption that they would "take care of telling the fire department." I did see out the front window, with the corner of my eye, the fire truck come up, talk to the police and proceed to turn around. Ryan by now is rolling on the floor laughing and at the same time calling ADT to see how we shut off the alarm.
Well after 15 minutes of talking on the phone WE, not ADT, figured out how to turn it off and get things back to normal. I hope I NEVER have to go through that again, and for those wives who are looking for a way out of cooking, Ryan has now declared himself the "cook" and I am no longer permitted to touch the stove! NO PROBLEM THERE!

Ok Taci here you go!

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Never went. Neither did Ryan though, so I have a special date in mind to do in the future.

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Nope.

3. Who was your FIRST boss?
My first "real" boss was my now sister-in-law Jamee

4. What was your FIRST job?
Again, "real" was an after school program called "Connections" and I was a helper or substitute

5. What was your FIRST car?
The first one I purchased was with Ryan and it was brand new Honda Accord. I miss that car :(

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
No texting yet this morning (don't be shocked family) but Ryan was the first one to IM me :)

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Jace. Wondering when he was going to wake up. Then Ryan. Wondering when I get to see him.

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Rasmussen

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Flew from SLC to LAX. Then connected to my real flight from LAX to Sydney. 14 hours in business class! YEAH!

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Keeli M. and Nope. I moved and lost connection

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
??? I do remember sleeping over at the Bennetts a few times though

12. Who was the first person you talked to today?
Jace, who is being onry today

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
Who knows. I was always the server girl who got the "cute" aprons :) JK they really were cute! In line it was Kari's

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Put Jace back to bed when he got too onry

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
Dixie Chicks. Priceless story about Taci another time!

16. FIRST tattoo?
??? I got a lot of fake ones growing up. No real ones. Don't like needles, and I don't think they're pretty

17. FIRST piercing?
My ears. Then had to re-do it when they closed

18. FIRST foreign country you went to?
Australia

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
That's a hard one. Lion King I think

20. When was your FIRST detention?
At home?? Probably everyday! Ha ha ha Just kidding Mom! None in school thankfully

21. When was your FIRST kiss?
In Junior High with Troy

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Michelle! She was AWESOME!

23. If you had one wish, what would it be?
World Peace! I hate the news...

24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
I DO have the chance, if I had more time....I would want to actually LEARN how to ride a horse, and not just ride, control them!

25. Did you marry the FIRST person to ask for your hand in marriage?
Sure did! And it was the best decision I ever made!!!

26. What was the FIRST sport that you were involved in?
Kickball! At school in P.E. I was always picked last though...hum....

27. What were the FIRST lessons you ever took?
VOICE! Then Piano and Tap

28. What is the FIRST thing you do when you get home?
Ummm....I am home. So what's the first thing I think about doing at home would be when can I get out! Ha ha ha nah, just when can I take Jace outside. He LOVES it out there!

29. Who do you think will be the FIRST person to post this in return?
Melanie now since Taci and I both said so!

Ha ha that was fun! Now to get back to work. See you all soon!!!

10 Things I'm Thankful For

Everyone on Facebook is doing a Thankful List for the month of November. Everyday they will write one thing that they are thankful for. Well it's the 10th of the month, so I thought I would do a post with my first 10! Here it goes:

1: I'm thankful I'm a daughter of God! I know who I am, where I'm going, and how to get there!

2: I'm thankful for a loving Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ who guide me to be the best I can be. They love and lift me even when I make mistakes over and over!

3: I'm thankful for my husband...I can't believe how lucky I am to have him in my life. He was really the man of my dreams, and has helped me become the strong woman I am today! ( I love you babe! )

4: I'm thankful for my son Isaac! He has such a sweet, innocent spirit that has taught me how to be a better mother. He means so much to me, and I'm so thankful I get to be a part of his life!

5: I'm thankful for my son Jace. It has been an amazing journey! I am so blessed to have such an amazing, funny, and sometimes trying son!

6: I'm thankful to have a LARGE family! Both mine and Ryans! I always have someone to look up to, and someone to lean on when I need it most.

7: I'm thankful for the lessons my parents taught me growing up. Always remember who I am and who I represent, Help others, and pray!

8: I'm thankful for my PARENTS!! Mom and Dad!! No words will ever be able to express how much I love you, except those: I LOVE YOU!

9: I'm thankful for my Herbalife business! It has given me self confidence, spiritual coaching, and has turned me into a national motivational speaker and coach! NEVER thought that would happen to me!

10: I'm thankful for this time of season! So much faith and hope for better lives for others as well as ourselves! Do something good for someone everyday!

Background Buddies

I just wanted to do a post about having the same backgound as other wonderful bloggers I know.

I have to say that it's an honor to have the same taste as you! To be picking the same background as you really lets me think I have a creative side. Not only that, but the odds of us getting the same background are...what... 1 out of 5??? How COOL is that!!!

I'm just of course joking around, but incase others do pick this backgound, like I chose the same one as another awesome person a while ago,(like...Erin! You know which one I'm talking about) I won't be offended or let you know that you picked the same one as me. I will take it that we just have the same taste and want our blogs to be the most stylin!

p.s. I know that certain people (Erin) was never upset or anything, I'm just trying to make her laugh. :) I miss joking around with all you Easterners!

Talk to you soon! Love ya!

First Picture of Our June Bug!

Hey Everyone! So today was my first Dr's appointment! Everything is great, and Ryan and I got to see the heartbeat! Not hear it, but see it! It was such an amazing thing! It made being pregnant again so real. We're really excited to be a part of such an amazing miracle, and can't wait until we get to hear or see that sign of life again!

Something to make you smile!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

15 months and LOVIN' it!

Jace and I went to the park today for some much needed outside time! It was a BLAST! I can't believe he's 15 months tomorrow. He has such a fun personality and I love the moments when he makes me laugh! He went down the slide for the first time by himself today, and showed me how daring he can be. (I'm in for it now) Here are some pictures and videos of our adventures lately. And Mel, I think this first one of him in the bath looks like BRADLEY!! Crazy....














May all your adventures be as fun-filled as they can be!!!

Latest News....

Hey everyone! In case you aren't on Cami's missionary list to receive her weekly email on how her mission is going, you'll have missed out on the latest news....

Read it for yourselves: (this is only a small part of her letter)

Dear Family,

Wow, This week's email was great! It's good to know that you're all taking good family vactions. That sounded like a really fun trip. :) I"m excited to see the pictures. And it sounds like you are all going to have a fun time in June with Katie and Ryan's new baby. I can't believe Jace is going to be a big brother soon! That's nuts! :) But i hope you have a girl Katie, that would be a lot of fun. Keep me posted ok? Love ya.


WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like......ICE!

WOW this weather change is something I'm not entirely ready for!!! We've turned on the heat in our house, and are putting extra blankets on beds. This morning I woke up and looked outside to see a section of our neighbors field COVERED in ICE!!! I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. While I was taking them, you could hear them clink and chime when they hit eachother or fell to the ground. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did!

Family Vacation!

Hi Everyone!

This last weekend Ryan and I were able to take Isaac, Jace, Jay, and Lois to Scottsdale Arizona!! Every 4 months our Herbalife business has a Leadership Development Weekend (aka LDW) where we go to get motivated and learn how to make our business grow! It was AMAZING!!!! We stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa! It's a 5 star resort that gets booked out every October for weddings and we were able to get an AMAZING deal for the 4 nights we stayed there. If you hadn't noticed I FINALLY have a family picture! Not exactly the best, but it's the most recent. We are standing outside the resort waiting for the shuttle to take us to the mall 1/2 mile away. That's how far the entrance is to the resort!

We left home Thursday and flew US Airways to Arizona. It was Jace's first plane ride and he LOVED it! I loved it too because he fell asleep once we were in the air. Looking out over Phoenix was incredible! It seemed the houses would never end! I didn't realize how HUGE a city it is! When we got to our room we put on our suits and went swimming! They had at least 5 pools! 1 was a "Lazy River" type where you sat in a tube and let the drag you around the circle pool. It took at least 5 minutes to go the full circle!
Friday morning we went down stairs and had a buffet breakfast at the Blue Sage. Everything was organic and tasted incredible! They had fresh fruit, fresh squeezed juice, they even had someone standing behind a counter just to make fresh omletes!! They had every breakfast food imaginable! Cheese blitz's, cereal, salmon (Yuck!) sausage, bacon, potatoes, muffins, bagels, and mush! (I still lost 2 pounds on this trip!) After breakfast we left Isaac and Jace with Jay and Lois, and went to our meetings. This is basically what we did the entire time until Sunday evening when training was done. Then we partied the last night and flew home EARLY Monday morning.
It was an amazing trip and thanks to Jay and Lois to joining us and making it possible to take our boys with us!

In four months we go again, only this time it will be in LAS VEGAS!!!!! Anyone want to join?? :)

Chop Chop!

I cut Jace's hair today! I think I did a pretty dang good job. What do you think??

Before:



After:

Happy 32nd Ryan!!!

Ryan's birthday is on the 16th this month, so before things get too busy, I decided to do his birthday post now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!!


No one is more happy about his birthday than Isaac and Jace. They've been daddy's boys from the start and they love to make daddy smile and laugh. Jace has recently started remembering what Ryan's work place looks like, so when we drive to go visit him, when we pull in the parking lot he starts saying, "da...da, da?" as if to tell me this is where dad works and I'm going to see him soon right?

Isaac bought Ryan a present this year. With his OWN money!! He only had $12.00 but wanted to get him something he uses everyday. So we went to Staples and Isaac bought him 10 highlighter markers. Ryan uses those all the time and Isaac was excited that they only cost him $8.00 total!


Ryan is such a big kid at heart! He loves to wrestle with the boys every chance he can. Usually when the boys start wrestling, I turn my head and do other things around the house. That way when one of them gets hurt I can honestly say I didn't see what happened. Well, when it was play time with Jace today, I laid on the floor and he came and SAT on my HEAD! ON PURPOSE!! THEN as if to say he got me, he put his hands on my face and rolled my head back and forth as if to smoosh me further into the floor AND then he jumped up and down on my face!!! I was laughing TOO hard to do anything about it! I know that anyone who tries to mess with him in the future will probably end up like me on the floor. Oh well...


Here are my top 10 favorite things about Ryan: (since 32 is too long a list for people to read) (and for me to make) :)

1: Ryan works above and beyond normal to provide for his family!
2: Even though he tends to act tough, he has the biggest caring heart for everyone he knows!
3: Ryan loves to watch "chick-flick" movies with me!
4: Ryan knows how to make me laugh...(he once put on my swimmingsuit) :)
5: He knows how to keep secrets (like presents) away from me. (I did once, but I had to leave his present at my mom's house wrapped in duct tape!)


6: Ryan wrote in his senior year book he wanted 10 kids!!
7: Ryan knows how to bring out the best in people.
8: Ryan is the smartest person I've even known! His common sense is out of this world!
9: He knows how to make money work for him.
10: He knows how to dream with me!

HAPPY 32nd BIRTHDAY RYAN!!! MAY THERE BE AT LEAST 32 MORE!!!

Biggest Loser

Hey Everyone!
Well I got off the phone with my mom tonight and she asked when I was going to update my blog. I told her I didn't really have anything to blog about and we left it at that and hung up. After thinking about it, I did decide I have something to blog about.
I've had one steady change the last 5 months. I'm actually living one of my "new years" resolutions: loosing weight. It's been quite the journey.
I started out this year weighing 230 pounds. Yeah. That's what I thought too. Bummer.
Well after finding a wellness program that I absolutely LOVE and can stick with for LIFE, I'm now weighing 196 pounds! That's a difference of 34 pounds!!
And if you thought that was cool, I've also lost 15 inches off my body frame!! So instead of squeezing into a very tight size 20, (I was in denial that I was big enough to be in a size 22) I am now in a size 14!
I sometimes think that I'll wake up one day and look in the mirror and realize it was a dream; but I wake up everyday and I like what I see in the mirror. And it just gets better.
I'm at my half-way mark for my goal to loose 60 pounds and the next 26 are going to be hard I fear. But it's going to feel awesome when I reach that goal! Good luck to anyone else trying to reach their weight goals! You'll see "LESS" of me soon! :)

Jenny Phillips Results!

Hey Everyone!
Well I went to the Jenny Phillips workshop on Saturday. I didn't win the songwriting contest, but I got a GREAT critique from Jenny on my song! I realized I already knew a lot about how to write songs and the advice she gave me is priceless and will help me with the next songs! I learned the more I write, the better each song becomes! So much FUN information!
I met Hillary Weeks and Mindy Gledhill and Tyler Castleton and of course Jenny Phillips! If you don't know who they are, google them! It was such an inspiration to see them and be able to hear their stories. Hillary gave me her autograph and wrote to believe in myself because God does and to always seek to do His will. Mindy gave me her autograph also! It was so fun and I'm planning on going every year! Maybe one of my songs will eventually win!
This workshop also gave me a better idea of where I want to go with my music. Right now it's just a hobbby, but I want to do more with it! I'm getting serious about lyrics for my current songs, and when I'm done I'm going to hold a Critique Concert! You're ALL invited when it happens! This Saturday is the vocal part of the competition and I'm excited to see what things I can learn from Jenny on how to improve my voice!! I heard some of the other contestants singing and they sounded SO good! I'm not downing myself, but I also have to be realistic and just be excited to grow! Because someday I'll be there! :)
Thanks for all your support and comments!! I get a copy of Jenny and Tylers song I'm recording on Saturday, so I'll send that one along with my song for those of you who wanted them! PLEASE if you have ANY advice for me when you listen to them, LET ME KNOW!!! Every critique helps! That's what I learned this past weekend. My ablilty needs to grow! I'll let you know how things go this weekend!! Thanks again!!

Katie's Secret.....

Hi Everyone! So I have a small secret that it's now time to let it out.....
I'm not PREGNANT and I don't have a new CAR! Actually it has to do with my talent in music.
A few months ago, Ryan told me he entered me into a music competition sponsored by Jenny Phillips and Tyler Castleton....Um.....What??....YIKES!!! Well I had to submit a song written by me, lyrics and all, back in June. Thanks to Heavenly Father I was able to pin down the lyrics 2 days before the send in date (I'd been working on them for 2 months!) and found an AWESOME guy to record it to a cd the morning I needed to send it in. He also entered me into the vocal competition. I have to memorize a song written by Jenny and Tyler, and on the 14th I will record my voice to the song with Jenny helping me and giving me tips!! That's the nervous part...
I get my cd back with a critique from Jenny Phillips this weekend on the 8th. Also, they will announce who the winner is. The winning song will be on Jenny's 2010 Young Womens Theme CD. If you want a copy of my song let me know what your mailing address is and I'll send one to you!
I'm really excited to see what the day will bring. It's going to be full of workshops and concerts and people who have been where I am in music and I'm really excited to see what they did and do to get where they are! I'm nervous, but I'm pushing through those fears because it's going to be an AWESOME experience! Win or Loose I'm coming away on top! I'll let you know what happens!

Jace's FIRST Birthday!!

I know every mother says this, but I can't believe that my little boy is 1! The time has flown and it's been such a wonderful first year! We had Aunt Kari and her kids Taron, Makayla, Alexis, and Landon, and Uncle Troy and Aunt Jamee and their kids Savannah, Samuel, and Christian, and Grandma and Grandpa Merkley and Grandma and Grandpa Hartle, and Aunt Char and Uncle Michael. Thank you for coming to Jace's special day!!!
Thank you Jace for being one baby that spoils his mom! I'm so lucky to have you in my life! I LOVE YOU!!

This is Jace's first birthday cake made by me :)




He INHALED his cake...


And his ice cream!


He loved his presents too! Thank You family!!!

Walking Tall....Almost :)

Marks of a TROOPER!!

Hey everyone! Well Jace is asleep and I finally have time to do an update. A lot has happened and I can't wait until I'm looking back and laughing at it.

Jace has had quite the adventureous month. He hit his head on the corner of the entertainment center hard enough it cut his skin and started bleeding. I was a little shocked, but my insticts kicked in and we had tissues and a first aid kit in the kitchen and in seconds he was fine. Thank you to Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken whose idea it was to get us a first aid kit for our wedding! It's come in VERY handy!



Then on Tuesday I was making nutrional bars to take on a trip. I gave him a little peanut butter thinking he was old enough by now. I didn't notice anything was wrong until his face broke out in hives and his eyes started getting puffy. The doctors office wasn't open yet, so I called everyone I could think of to help. Well thankfully we had some childrens allergy medicine and I gave him 1/4 teaspoon. Thank you to whoever gave that advice to Ryan. He was back to normal an hour later. That was scary. I kept checking his mouth to make sure it wasn't closing, but it looked normal the whole time.



Then Ryan and I left him with Grandma JoAnn on Wednesday so we could go on a business trip to Minnesota for 4 days. Well, Thursday night she called me saying the rash on his mouth was getting worse. I had seen it get pretty bad, so I told her what I did and left it at that. Friday she called me and told me she took him to the doctor because he had a high fever (102!) and the doctor said Jace has Impetigo. It's a skin infection and gave him antibiotics. That's when the worry set in. I wouldn't be able to see him until Monday and I was feeling like I should go home then. Mom assured me on Saturday he was doing a lot better dispite him not eating or resting very well and told me not to worry. Sunday he started not feeling well again, so I was glad we were on our way home. Grandma Lois took care of him on Sunday, so Mom could do her church calling of primary. Thank you to both these amazing women who helped out while I was gone!! Monday finally arrived and we were on our way home to our boy. I couldn't wait. The only thing that made me think it was bad was when Lois said to be prepared for what we were going to see. YIKES!! I finally pulled up and this is what I saw:



Yeah. That's what I thought. I didn't cry, but he sounded horrible, so we called the doctor again and thankfully got another appointment for an hour later. I cried a little on the way over, 1 because I was so happy to see him and 2 because I felt so bad he wasn't feeling good. The doctor gave him another perscription and took some cultures and told us to just let it take it's course and heal. His face gets better a little each day and his appetite is much better as well. He slept with me two nights in a row, but last night he slept in his crib ALL NIGHT!! I'm so glad he's getting better!

Co-Workers to Friends to Adopted Aunts

Ok before I start, I just have to tell you that Jace has a new trick:

Now that we are living in Vernal, we are 2 minutes away from "Aunt" Char Lee and soon we'll be a few minutes away from "Aunt" Andrea. Char Lee and Andrea (a.k.a. Char and Drea) worked with me at Mountain America at the Vernal branch. As soon as I found out Char liked broadway and Rigoletto, we became immediate friends! Drea was the sweet adorable girl you can't help but be friends with! Both of them were one of the firsts to know I was pregnant with Jace. Char even braved the waters and was one of the first to visit me in the hospital when he finally arrived. Even though I don't remember too much of what was said. Drea had her first son Landon four months after Jace was born, and I LOVE talking with her about our babies and how fast they grow and have play dates and such! I look at Landon and remember the days of when Jace was small and just learning things and I look at Drea and see what an awesome job she's doing at being a mom!

Char and Drea have been such a blessing in our lives and Jace just adores them! I don't have any pictures of Andrea or Char yet, but I do have this video of Char playing with Jace that I got on Wednesday. She came over for a girls day and we scrapbooked and talked about Project Runway. Then we ate dinner with our husbands and watched a movie. It was SO fun!! I'll have more to tell about Andrea soon because we have a play date next Wednesday. Thank you girls for all the fun memories!! And thank you for being a part of our lives!!

Pictures of the Downstairs

Hey Everyone!
Well I finally ultra-cleaned the downstairs the other day and decided to take pictures. Because every woman needs proof that her house can get clean all the way right???
I'm glad I took them because now you wouldn't believe the mess I made. I decided this week to clean out the garage so I can park my car in it. YIKES!!! I bit off a little more than I planned to chew. But I remind myself that I can do it and my goal is to have everything "Kari Organized" by the end of the week. She is SO awesome for doing stuff like that and she even told me once that I was like her in that way. Here's hoping I can pull it all together!

"911 what's your emergency....hello?"

Well it happened a lot sooner than I thought, and it was more embarrasing than I imagined. Jace called 911 yesterday. WOOPS! He was playing with Ryans phone and we had the keys locked on it so he couldn't make any calls. Or so we thought. Well if you hit the middle key enough times, it will pull up a list of things to do: Unlock, Cancel, and Emergency Call. Well I don't need to tell you which one Jace happened to land on. All of a sudden I hear a "hello?" and both Ryan and I jumped, surprised that he called someone, then we scrambled to get the phone because at the same time we realized there was only one number he could have called. Well in the process of us both reaching for it, we hit a ton of buttons and hung up on the operator!! My heart was in my throat! A few seconds later the phone rang. (I made Ryan answer it) After all it is HIS phone :) It was the 911 operator making sure everything was ok. Ryan told her we were sorry, but that it was our son who hit the wrong key and made the call. My face was so red!!! I guess I learned a lesson.

Settling In

Hey Everyone!

Well things are going great! We have been in the house 9 days now, and I have been working non stop to get it looking like a home! It feels SO weird to cook in my own kitchen and have my things up on the walls, but I can't wait to show you what it looks like! I left my camera at moms so you'll have to wait for pictures. Sorry!

Ryan is doing GREAT!! We love having his work 3.8 miles away! I get to see him a lot more! We finally have the internet, so he can work on his Herbalife business from home too. He is really taking off with that and already has 4 distributors working for him!! Congrats babe!! Ryan also really likes having his permanent school bus route here in Vernal. I do too! I get to hear all the stuff that happens on the bus when he gets home! Yesterday a freshman got a ticket for spitting out the window at cars!! The kid kept telling Ryan it was stupid he was getting a ticket, but Ryan told him it was pretty stupid that a FRESHMAN was spitting out the window!! I just laughed!

Jace is taking the move a little hard, but other than that he's doing great as well. He wakes up during the night not knowing where he is, but last night he only woke up once, and I think we're finally on the mend. He loves climbing on the stairs!!! That was the first thing he did when we moved here. Little stinker! He misses Grandma and Grandpa Merkley and not seeing them everyday, so when we go walking we visit Grandma at the school. He's always happy to see his Grandmas!!

Well I will try to post pictures next time. Feel free to come visit!! Oh and if you have my cell number, that is going to be our home phone number. We do have a home phone, but Ryan would like to use it mostly for his business line. I hope all is going well on your end! Have a great weekend, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Everyone say HI house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE OWN A HOME!!! The end of the tunnel FINALLY appeared! We closed today on our house and it is offically ours! OH the joys!! Here are a few pictures for you to look at and I'll post more when we are moved in! Also I wanted to thank Mom and Dad for all that they have done for us. Putting up with late nights, babysitting, scanty meals that I cooked (tacos are not a favorite anymore), and trying to teach Dad how to use the DVR. (I just learned to live without my shows). But I will miss the talks, walking at sunset, being able to learn how to be a mother, and mostly the way Mom would smile with me as we watched Jace grow. It's been six months that we lived with you and I couldn't have asked for better "roommates". I am going to miss seeing you everyday. I know Jace will too. I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!

These pictures are just of the downstairs.

Happy Anniversary, Happy Late Easter, and Fun Cousins

Hey Everyone! Well this is going to be three posts in one. First and foremost I want to tell my husband thank you for an amazing three years of marriage! We had our anniversary yesterday and it was a blast even though we didn't go anywhere. Ryan bought me flowers, and I made him dinner. That was it, and it was perfect! It was nice to stay at home and relax and enjoy his company. I LOVE YOU RYAN!!








Easter came late this year. We were waiting for Isaac....I mean we wrote a letter asking the Easter Bunny to wait for Isaac. It was actually really fun! The boys all got a lot of fun stuff! Books to take to church, swimsuits, flip-flops, a church cd, pajamas, and a game. No egg hunt, but I think it was more fun to spend time playing games as a family. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful sons!

While Erin was out here, Eleasha and Wyatt came to visit. WOW Jace is a GIANT when you set him next to them! But it was fun to see Eleasha and Wyatt. He is such a cute baby!!! I also played with Alesa's head bands. Doesn't Jace look cute as a girl??? :)









Last but not least I'm sure you all have been waiting on any news about the house. Well I have good news and bad news. Good news is the house is DONE!!! Bad news is it has to wait on us now. We're still waiting on financing and hope to close soon. They say (say is the keyword) Friday, but we'll see. I'll keep you informed. Talk to you soon! (Sorry about the messy post. I can't figure out the pictures)