Flinders Family Fun

Proud Parents

2011-06-01T19:59:00.003-06:00

I wish I could call my parents and tell them I applied for a big promotion at work and was offered the job. It will be a big challenge and a lot of work, but I'm excited about it. I think they would be proud of me. And I know they know, etc, etc, but sometimes I wish I could see their faces light up with news of the accomplishments of me or my kids, and sometimes I wish I could hear them say, "Way to go, Bec! That is great news!".

They would also be proud of my little brother, Joel. He was also given a big promotion at work. He went from a sales position at Simply Mac in St. George, to managing an entire store in Layton almost within a year of starting. He is an amazing dad and husband, and friend.

I know they are proud of my sister, Jenn, too. She has been a very dedicated city council woman in Gilbert. She stands up for what she believes in no matter what criticism she gets for it. She is a fun loving mother to her 3 boys and now her little princess, Kate. I'm sure my mom sent her baby Kate, just like she promised she would before she left.

I think my mom and dad would be most proud of my sister, Val. She has really taken on the role as matriarch of our family. She has become the one that I call for advice, to share exciting news with, and the one who calls to check up on me when more than a few days have gone by when she hasn't heard from me. Before my mom died, she asked Val to be PTA President at their elementary school. Val did it this year, and did an incredible job. She worked very hard all year long.

I am so proud of all of my siblings and I love them so much. I am so grateful for how close we all are. They are my best friends. I don't know if I could have gotten through losing my parents without them. I am so lucky to have them and I am so proud of where we have all come in the past year. It's really amazing! My parents must be proud. They made us what we are!

Tennessee - Day 1

2011-05-24T19:24:00.006-06:00

I don't really want to remember my nightmare of a journey to get to Tennessee yesterday, but I do want to remember all about my first day here!

Tennessee is:

---The Walking Horse Hotel---

We are staying in this cool little hotel with a lot of history! It's in the town of Wartrace, population 610. The hotel was built in 1917 and was recently purchased and renovated by a man in memory of his wife who died from cancer. She was an amazing singer and loved music so he is trying to bring that into the hotel. In her name, he constructed the Chais Music Hall where he has aspiring musicians come and entertain on weekends.

Downtown Wartrace. It's right across the street/railroad tracks from the hotel. Everything closes at 5pm so I probably won't get the chance to do some shopping, dang it!

---Cicada Bugs---

We were so lucky to be able to experience Cicadea Bugs since they only come out ever 13 years! The come out of the ground once ever 13 years and fly around and make tons of noise for about 5-6 weeks before they all die, make a mess all over the place, and nobody sees them again until 13 years later. They are HUGE UGLY bugs! And I don't do well with bugs! Pretty fascinating little life though.

---Tennessee Walking Horses---

Have you ever seen a World Champion Tennessee Walking Horse? Today was my first time too! Not much of a horse person, but I never even knew what that was before touring Joe Fleming's Stables. He has 90 Tennessee Walking Horses and 2 World Champions! Shelbyville is the Walking Horse Capital of the World! Every year, for 10 days before Labor Day, the whole town of 17,000 goes crazy with the Walking Horse Festival. Schools even close as their population triples when people come from all of the place to show their horses. The locals take off to Florida for the week and they rent their houses out for like $7,000 for the week! Pays for their whole trip! So, anyways, walking horses have these special platform shoes on their front two...feet? hooves? Whatever, like I said, I'm not a horse person. Anyway, they raise their front two legs really high when they walk and their back two kind of sway like an elliptical does. They are very smooth and the riders don't even bounce up and down when they...walk? Anyway, cool to see, but I think I'm allergic to all animals!

---Beautiful Scenery---

This is pretty much what the view consists of...rolling hills and lots of trees. Everything is SO green and beautiful! I couldn't get enough staring out the windows.

---Bell Buckle---

Cute name for a little town, don't you think? Bell Buckle was established in 1852 as a railroad community. I can't find the population, but I do know that it is home of the RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival coming up here next month. We had dinner at the Bell Buckle Cafe...true downhome southern cooking. Everything was fried...fried okra, fried corn, fried chicken, etc, and for dessert we had grit cake and oatmeal cake. It was actually really good, and you can bet I bought some moon pies to take home to the kids!

Cute little row of shops, don't you think? I loved it!

---My Dream Houses...for a day---

So obviously I took this picture from the car, while we were moving, with my phone. But, you get the point. Beautiful country homes, a lot of them plantation style like the Carmichael Plantation on Sweet Home Alabama. They are all acres from each other and no joke, as we drove past, people were sitting on their porches in their rocking chairs just watching the grass grow. I just want to experience that life for one long day!

---To End the Night---

I found this beautiful park with a walking path right around the corner from the hotel. I was so excited to take a quick run before the sun went down. It is a lot more humid here than I'm used to so I was dripping sweat, but the air felt good. So much easier to run at 700 feet instead of 4000. I even saw lightening bugs! So cool to see their blue lights flicker in the fields!

It was a great day! I like Tennessee as a place to visit. It's...charming. Makes me want to see more of the East and definitely makes me want a southern accent. I'm just not going to come during tornado season next time.

Oh yeah...and I worked a little bit...cuz that's why I'm here!

Dance 2011

2011-05-14T18:42:00.004-06:00

Lyrical : True Colors

Jazz: Single Ladies

Hip-Hop: Whip My Hair

Brooklyn started Hip-Hop this year and LOVES it! She likes being a little extra sassy and being encouraged to have attitude. She loves getting her hair and make-up done and hanging out with all the other dancers in the locker room in between dances at competitions.

Recital is this week! Yeah!

My Closet

2010-10-20T19:30:00.004-06:00

This is a picture of my linen closet. It's simple and organized and everything has a place. I don't have a before picture, but to give you a visual, Tallan and Keslie had successfully taken everything off the shelves while I was making dinner last night. Everything. Blankets, towels, and bedding were thrown all over our upstairs. It was chaos! It pretty much gave me anxiety just looking at the mess and thinking about the amount of work it was going to take to put it all back together.

As I started refolding everything, I decided it was as good a time as any to start cleaning out and making some changes. All 3 sets of crib bedding I had been storing in that closet are now gone. So are all of the baby blankets and cutesie burp cloths. The beach towels are a little higher on the shelves now that they won't be used for awhile. The blankets are a little more accessible. Time to move on and start a new season of life.

The past 6 months of life in our house, have been a little like the before picture of my closet. It's been chaotic and filled with anxiety and looking at life and thinking about how to put it all back together was hard. I struggled to give my husband and kids the attention they needed and deserved. I ignored what should have been a priority and I wasn't taking care of myself either. As long as I wasn't in the car alone or in the shower, I was really good at pretending I was okay, but every once in awhile, reality took center stage over my acting.

Sunday, a friend of mine gave a lesson in Relief Society and mentioned how bad she felt about herself while reading other people's blogs because everyone's lives seem so perfect in the blogging world. Everyone's kids are perfect. Everyone's husbands are perfect. All of the perfect neighborhood moms get together during the day and do perfect motherly things with their kids. Everyone's family vacations are perfect. Everyone has perfect holidays with their parents. That's why I'm writing this. For the past 6 months I haven't wanted to write a blog, and I rarely looked at anyone elses for that very reason. I felt like I was the only one whose life wasn't "perfect". But, it's time to be real and honest. It's time to start telling the truth and possibly admit what most people think but won't say out loud. Life is hard. Did you hear me? LIFE IS HARD!

So, like my closet, I'm cleaning out, I'm trying to get a fresh start. Hopefully with a little less chaos. A little more organization (since I successfully forgot about both of my kid's picture days at school this year), and a little more attention to detail...like my family. It's time to get rid of the things in my life that I can live without, that are just taking up space, just like in my closet. No more facade of "perfection". It's time to give the important things that are left, a place, and a priority, hopefully keeping it simple, with a little more organization. I know it's going to take some work, and it won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

One of the first things going on the shelf...facing some fears. I have only been back down to Hurricane one time since my mom's funeral and that was to clean out her classroom 5 months ago. It was hard. It was one of the hardest things I have done and I have been scared to go back to visit my grandma, sister, brother, and their families ever since. Several times we have made plans to go down and then I would make an excuse not to at the last minute. We are planning on going to Hurricane for Thanksgiving this year. There! I've said it out loud. I've made the announcement to the world, well, to whoever reads this, and I'm going to follow through with it.

Here is to cleaning out the rest of my closet, being honest, and giving my life a new look...

For The Record...

2010-10-13T10:31:00.003-06:00

For the record, if there is anyone out there still, we are still alive!

There is no time for catch up at this point, but here is a quick recap...just for the record:

Birthdays:
Keslie turned 2 in May
Tallan turned 4 in September
Brooklyn turned 7 in September

For the record, Tim and celebrated our 9th anniversary in September. Well, I wouldn't say "celebrated" because it was just another busy busy day for us as usual.

Races:
Tim and I both ran in the Wasatch Back
Tim and I both ran the Speedy Spaniard 10K in Spanish Fork on the 24th of July
I ran the Hobblecreek Half Marathon
I also ran in several 5ks. Decided it's fun to do those cuz I always win a cool prize for coming in 2nd...always 2nd!

Vacations:
Tim and I both got to go to Girls Camp and did Trek for Youth Conference; both were awesome
Brooklyn and I took a girls trip to San Diego for a long weekend...amazing trip!
Family pass to Thanksgiving Point = very good investment
Lots of camping, boating, golfing, playing outside, bike rides, visits from cousins, new trampoline, etc and that was our summer!

Church:
Tim got released from Primary after 6 years and is now the assistant financial clerk, or something like that.
I got released from Young Women's, which was bitter sweet, and now I teach Gospel Doctrine...to adults! Don't ask me how that happened!

School:
Brooklyn started 1st grade
Tallan started Preschool
I am heading back in January at UVU to finish up...finally! I'm super excited though!

Work:
Tim somehow manages to stay busy enough in this slow real estate market, but has been applying for many other jobs around the US. We hope we get to go somewhere exciting, but I told him it has to be close to my family!
I am still working full time but got a new "job" within the same company. I am a professional shopper now! I get to do all of the purchasing for all 4 campuses and the best part is furnishing and equiping our brand new 90,000 sq ft building at Thanksgiving Point. Stressful, but fun!
I am still teaching TurboKick 2 nights a week and have a lot of fun with those girls!

That's about it.

And now let's see how long it takes me to post again...

15 Seconds of Fame

2010-06-16T00:09:00.002-06:00

Read about it here!

Watch almost 3 minutes of here!

Costa Vida Flyer

2010-05-10T14:37:00.003-06:00

Most of you may already know that my team is running the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay for the American Cancer Society in June. Costa Vida is sponsoring a benefit night for us where they are donating 20% of all sales to our team when you bring in a flyer to the American Fork or Provo locations on Wednesday, May 12th from 2pm -9 pm.

We are so excited about this event! Please come and support us and pass the word along to your friends and family. You must have the flyer with you in order for your sales to count! Click on the image above and print it. Black and white is just fine too! Please pass it around by email, to your coworkers, family, neighbors, and friends.

Thank you SO much!

Becky

The Funeral

2010-04-18T20:42:00.005-06:00

American Cancer Society

2010-04-15T16:44:00.002-06:00

Most of you already know that I lost my amazing mom to lung cancer early Easter morning. She fought hard for almost a year, but the cancer was too aggressive. While she passed peacefully in her sleep, the cancer was a horrible disease that took all her quality of life. I also have quite a few other family members who have fought cancer as I'm sure you do too.

I am running the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay in June this year for the American Cancer Society. The Wasatch Back is a 12 person relay where we run almost 200 miles over a 24 hour period from Logan, UT to Park City, UT through the mountains. I have done it twice before and this year I have pledged to raise $4200.00 to fight cancer. Any amount of donation is accepted and appreciated greatly. I know times are tough financially but if you can even donate $5.00, it would be very effective in helping me reach my goal for a great cause.

Please click on this LINK to donate in my name (under Rebecca Flinders) to the American Cancer Society.

Thank you for your time and your help.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T08:12:00.005-06:00

What a beautiful morning to reflect on the perfect life of the Savior as well as the amazing life of my mom. Mom passed away around 2am this morning peacefully in her sleep, while for the first time in at least a month, no one was watching her. Jenn and I had gone home yesterday afternoon to be with our families for Easter and my mom's two sisters were taking the night shift with her but had both fallen asleep. I think it was just what my mom wanted.

I am overwhelmingly sad, but have so much joy thinking about the glorious reunion she is having with my dad, her dad, her granddaugher, Natalie, and do many other people who love her. I am so glad that her tired, sick body doesn't have to suffer anymore. I know that when the time comes I will be reunited with my mom and dad too.

I am ashamed to admit this, but I know it is important to share my testimony about the last 24 hours. I woke up yesterday morning at my mom's house and was bitter with my Heavenly Father. I questioned how He could let my mom continue to suffer for so long after all of our prayers to release her from all of the pain and let her return to Him. I questioned how He could possibly love her and still let her go through such a horrible illness. I questioned how He could love me as an individual when I prayed so hard for my mom over the past year that she was sick and that I could be there with her when she passed but my prayers were not answered how I wanted in that either. After Val called me when mom passed away, I felt Heavenly Father's arms around me so strong that it physically hurt. I was overwhelmed with how strong his love really is for me and my mom. I learned when my dad passed and I am learning again, that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and He loves all of us so much. Although we don't understand sometimes, we need to not question, but have faith that everything is part of the plan and that everything happens for a reason. I know it was hard for my Heavenly Father to watch my mom suffer just as it was hard for Him to watch our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffer throughout His life, and ultimately on the cross in Gethsemane. He is perfect in all things and He will never abandon or betray us.

The ground is covered in white this morning and even though I have been anxiously awaiting Spring, there is something comforting about having an excuse to lay around with my cozy blanket listening to the message of the Prophet and the apostles during Conference with my family.

Thank you again for all of the prayers, fasting, help with my kids, meals, etc. It was an honor and a priveledge to be able to spend time with my mom and take care of her over the past month and for all of the tender moments I was able to be apart of with her and my siblings.

Funeral arrangements will be posted soon for those that are interested.

A sweet surprise...

2010-03-22T09:36:00.003-06:00

About noon on Saturday, I was playing the piano at my mom's house while she was laying on the couch. My grandma was next to her, brother on the other couch, and sister hanging out too. Someone came to the door that has a permanent note on it saying "do not disturb. napping in progress. thank you!" No offense to anyone, but my mom is just up to visitors anymore most of the time. Anyway, luckily my sister saw her coming and went to open it. This total stranger was holding the biggest cup of Spoon Me I have ever seen! We all started fighting over who it could be for when the girl said her sister asked her to bring it over. We asked her who her sister was and when she said Amber Hall, I knew it was for me and that I had one of the coolest friends ever! My good friend, Amber, who lives in Idaho, asked her sister, who lives in St. George, to bring me my favorite treat. Can you believe it? Totally made my day, and my sister's too since I shared with her. : ) Thanks so much, Amber! Seriously the best surprise! (well, it could have been better if you delivered it, yourself, but I'll take what I can get!)

I am so lucky to have such amazing friends and neighbors who are taking care of me and my family. So many people are helping to watch my kids while I'm away, bringing us meals, etc. I don't feel worthy of all of the great service, especially when there are so many others in our ward who are in much greater need than I am. But, we are very grateful. Thank you!

February

2010-03-18T22:11:00.003-06:00

Really? February seems so long ago and so insignificant. Maybe another day.

I'm at my mom's house again. Sam, the home health nurse came this morning bright and early at 7:30. I had been up since 3am. That's when my "shift" started. Sam did mom's vitals. She weighed 103 pounds. Oxygen got up to 91, blood pressure was normal, no temperature, heart rate at 120. A normal resting heart rate is 60-80. She was having chest pains during the night. Her heart and lungs are having to work too hard. Sam ordered oxygen to help give them a break and hopefully allow mom to rest a little better.

We spent the morning trying to get mom comfortable. Grandma came over to help me. I was supposed to have given mom a bath, but she wasn't feeling up to it. Maybe tomorrow.

We met with Dr. Haslem at 10:30 in St. George. He was wonderful, but turns out mom has DIC, which is a blood condition where her blood cells are at war with each other and they just don't work anymore. It's a rare side effect to cancer, and since they can't get the cancer under control, they can't stop the bleeding. She will just have to continue spitting it out. She never complains about it. He also said there is nothing else they can do. We are supposed to spend the remaining time hoping for her comfort and time well spent with loved ones instead of hoping for a miracle. He eliminated some of her meds, which will make it easier for us to manage the daily schedule of it all.

Mom is so at peace. I think it was a relief to her, actually. She doesn't have to go through any more chemo, radiation, blood or platelet infusions, etc. She said today that she is ready. She's ready for the Lord's will to be done. She's ready to be out of pain. She is ready to go to sleep and not wake up again. She's ready to be with my dad again.

The rest of the day, mom spent laying on the couch, with her nasal canula and oxygen. Sleeping on and off. She dictated thank you cards to Kristan and I to write for her since she can't do it on her own anymore. That's my mom in a nut shell. She was told today she won't live more than a couple of weeks, and she spends her time thanking people for the flowers, meals, cards, quilt and banner from her elementary school, and friendship. Always thinking of others. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

It's 10:30 pm. I gave mom her night time meds and got her tucked as comfortably as possible in her rented hospital bed. My "shift" starts in just a few hours. I should get some rest.

January

2010-03-14T16:26:00.006-06:00

Happy 2010!

My sisters and I planned a pizza and ice cream sundae party for all of Joel and Kristan's friends and family who had traveled to be with them on their wedding. We rented out my mom's clubhouse the night before the big day and went through 20 large pizzas, and I think 6 gallons of ice cream with every topping you could think of. So fun to have a casual get together where everyone felt free to visit and talk with Joel and Kristan without the pressure of the wedding day. We couldn't believe all the people who came from so far to celebrate with our family.

The morning of the wedding...
We convinced my mom she was beautiful with or without hair and she decided she would go without her wig to the wedding. She did look beautiful and did really well throughout the whole day!

Joel and Kristan were married in the St. George Temple on January 2nd. Probably one of the most amazing days of my life. The experience we had in the temple with my whole family was incredible. They had a beautiful dinner and reception up the canyon to Zion's, but really my pictures and words can't do the day any sort of justice. Here is a link to Becky Ravenberg's (the photographer) website where you can see for yourself. Really, take a look...

Blog:
Website:
Wedding Video, done by their good friend, Tia. Seriously, Tia, it was amazing! I can't even get through the first 30 seconds without crying.

1 vacant house with a steep driveway, a visit from our good friends, The Halls, from ID, and some fun neighbor kids made for many fun days of sledding down unplowed territory...

Celebration for Uncle Matt's birthday...

My good friend, Katie, and I went up to Logan for a weekend to get certified to teach Turbokick. We are team teaching 3 classes a week now and I absolutely LOVE it! We are having so much fun with our class!

Celebration of Tim's birthday...

Brooklyn lost her first tooth (right before bed, hence the jammas and bed head)...

I think that's all I can handle for now, but before I sign off for however long...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA! One of my very best friends turns 30 today! And even though her husband won't let us live in the same state, in fact, even though he keeps moving further and further away from us, she is still one of my greatest friends and one of the most caring and thoughtful people I know. She is talented and fun, has great style and I can't wait to plan a wedding in the next 15-20 years for two of our kids! Happy Birthday, Melissa!!!

December

2010-03-14T16:04:00.007-06:00

Decorated gingerbread houses with the kids...

Tallan met his new soon-to-be cousin, Kailer. If these two were any more alike I'd question if they weren't really brothers. Look alike, act alike, love skateboards and motorcycles and dirt bikes. Trouble makers, silly name calling, and temper tantrums. But these boys love their mamas!

We took the youth to Temple Square to see the lights. It was absolutely freezing that night. Not a single girl complained. Everyone was so overwhelmed by the Spirit that was there. I love these girls like I love my own kids. I have to admit that I never really believed it when leaders would say it, but now I know what it feels like. I already get teary thinking of my 3 girls who are graduating this year and leaving me. I don't know what I'm going to do without seeing them a few times each week. I'm going to miss their sweet spirits, their texts during school just to say hi, and when they stop by to see me, and waking up to see my house decorated among other things. They are really special people.

Christmas cookies for the neighbors...

Brooklyn's Kindergarten Holiday Sing...

Keslie looks exactly like Brooklyn at 18 months. (Keslie is holding a picture of Brooklyn wearing the same shirt at the same age) Keslie finally started walking at 18 months and will someday love nursery as much as I do.
Christmas morning was kind of a blur. we had driven down to Hurricane on Christmas Eve...lots of people, lots of presents, and we didn't even get through them all before we noticed my mom was bleeding from her gums. A side effect of chemo, which meant she spent all day in the hospital getting a platelet infusion. Something we didn't know at the time she would have many many more of. She never complained and insisted we still eat Christmas dinner without her. She didn't have an appetite anyway. The table was pretty quiet that afternoon. Again, not many pictures.

A bridal shower for our soon to be sister-in-law, Kristan. I must admit it was a pretty dang cute shower too. Red, white, and silver snowflakes was the theme. We had an awesome lunch and she was well prepared for marriage.

I'm so glad Christmas only comes once a year. And advice for anyone planning on getting married within a few weeks of Christmas...don't! It's just not fair to those who love you!

Overwhelmed...

2010-03-14T15:30:00.005-06:00

To some it may come as a surprise, but the Flinders Family is, in fact, still alive and doing well for the most part. Where have we been since November when I last posted that my little brother, Joel, was getting married? I don't even know where to begin with that answer. And as the days, weeks, and months have gone on, I become more and more overwhelmed with everything that has gone on in our lives during the past 4 months. I decided today would be the day I would start to catch up and I will do it 1 month at a time, if nothing else, for posterity.

November:

Took my good friend, Steph, to Texas Roadhouse for her 30th birthday with our other fun neighbor girls. Loved the food, loved the company. These girls have become such a major part of me getting through each day. My battery died on my camera of course. Steph, forgive me now for the picture I have to post. Don't pretend you didn't love riding the saddle either!

I got to have my mom visit and for a whole 3 hours I had her all to myself. We went to a fabric store to get fabric so she could help me make these adorable pillowcases for my kids. It was cold and wet and even though she had already stopped liking food, I took her to Zupas where I thought she might like some amazing soup. She even ate a little bit. Way to go, mom! I think Tallan took this picture. Pictures like this I will always cherish now. My mom and her cute furry hat that she wore to try and keep her bald head warm in the winter when scarfs no longer did the job. Her clothes still fit and she still maintained a good weight. She mostly felt well and we still had hope that she would be a miracle.

Brooklyn and my mom have always been especially close. My mom wrote Brooklyn a simple little note telling her she loved her on the paper that Brooklyn has in the picture. That has become a special treasure also.

Thanksgiving was held at the Flinders' in Spanish Fork with Jon, Peggy, and little Emma, and also Matt. I think I made rolls and my mom's lemon merengue pie and my homemade cranberry sauce. I'm sure we had turkey and I'm sure it was all wonderful, but the details have since left me. I don't even have any pictures to help me remember. Taking pictures hasn't been something I've been good at over the past few months.

Grandma and Grandpa Flinders took the kids and I, Aunt Peggy and cousin Emma, and our friends Brittany, Sydney, and Ryder, on the Polar Express again this year. Such a magical experience for Brooklyn and Tallan. Really a fun way to get in the Christmas spirit, but since I'm long past that now, retelling it just wouldn't be the same. I didn't even get any pictures with Santa or Mrs Claus or even an elf this year. Could be that I was too busy wrestling with the 3 kids, bribing them with suckers and licorice, while Tim was at a BYU football game. I do remember that they served yummy chocolate chip cookies and semi-warm hot chocolate, but with no bathrooms on board the train and two kids with very small blatters, we had to refuse. As you can see, Keslie and her cousin, Emma, loved all of the treats though!

That was November...not as painful as I thought it would be. I may just continue on with another month today as long as Keslie and Tallan stay asleep...okay wait, I feel some anxiety as I'm about to click on the "publish post" button. Anxiety has become part of my daily life over these past few weeks, so it's nothing new. Might as well just do it, right?

And the Happy Couple...

2009-11-18T08:59:00.003-07:00

I can not even contain my excitement when I think about my family all getting together. Next time will be January 2nd in St. George for Joel and Kristan's wedding. I can't believe my little bro is getting married! So happy for them!

Go to www.DionSenecaPhotography.blogspot.com to see more of the amazing pictures that Dion took. Dion took our family pics when Joel got home from his mission and she is way talented! We just love her!

My Dad

2009-11-09T12:49:00.002-07:00

November 9th...
November 9th...

Why does this date stick out in my mind? I feel like I am forgetting someone's birthday, but whose?

Then it hits me all of a sudden. November 9th. 6 years ago today, my dad passed away. 6 years? Seriously? It's really been that long since I have seen my dad's smile, gotten a phone call from him for no reason, heard his laugh, or had him put his arm around me and say, "Way to go, Beck!" Those are some of things I miss the most.

And all the most important things in my life that my dad's missed...two births, the growing up of my children, home buying, etc.

My dad was such an amazing person. Soft spoken, great sense of humor, hard working, always serving, and he loved his family. He was such a proud grandpa and just know he would have loved spending time with my kids.

For a long time I was angry and asked why. A few weeks ago I told my mom I think he left because he didn't want to see her sick.

I don't get sad very often anymore. I know that one day I will get to see him again and we will both have lots of stories to share with each other.

I Love you, dad!

October at the Flinders' Home

2009-11-04T09:53:00.010-07:00

This month was filled with all sorts of changes at our house and they were all very positive!

Tim: played less golf since the weather was a little colder

Becky: got to start working from home and loves it.

Brooklyn: Is doing very well reading.

Tallan: Potty trained himself over night.

Keslie: Went to nursery for the first time and will even walk a few steps every once in awhile.

We had a whole month of Halloween parties and festitivies!

*We went to see the witches at Gardner's Village

*Pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins with the Custers

*Party at the Lindley's - no kids allowed!

*Trick or Treating at Grandpa's Office

*Young Women's Halloween Party

*Brooklyn's school Halloween parade and class party

*Party at the Hansen's (sorry no pictures, but the kids wore their costumes and we dressed up as Aggie's fans. )

- drove down to Hurricane to spend Halloween weekend with mom, GG, Val, and her fam -

*Halloween carnival and parade at Coral Canyon Elementary

*Tri-ward trunk-or-treat with Val's ward

*Trick or Treating in mom's neighborhood

We definitely got a lot of use out of the costumes and enough candy to last until next Halloween! Seriously!

Hot Tamales!

2009-10-11T20:09:00.004-06:00

Team Hot Tamales

what: 12 fun girls running a total of 171 miles through the Las Vegas desert in 90 degree heat

when: started Friday, October 9th at 10 am
crossed the finish line Saturday, October 10th at 12:49 pm

why: we are completely crazy!

BEFORE:

VAN 1

VAN 2

AMANDA STARTING US OUT
EXCHANGE
SOME HOT WATER GIRLS

MY WAY CUTE VAN-MATES

AND I'M DONE!!!
I handed over the slap bracelet to Tiffany for the last time after running 19.5 miles at an average of about 8:50/mile. (give me a break! There were lots of hills!)
I honestly did not think I was going to make it sometimes. I wanted to give up more than once. I pushed myself really hard and was proud of myself for finishing and never letting myself walk!

AFTER

Rankings: finished in 26 hours 49 minutes and 15 seconds
4th out of 13 all female teams
87th out of 182 overall

What's next: a shower, some food, and sleep, for the first time in almost 48 hours. Just don't laugh when you see us trying to walk, sit, stand, or go up/down stairs.

A big thank you to my awesome hot tamales team. I don't know if I'm more sore from the run or from laughing so hard. Seriously awesome girls! Everyone trained so hard and everyone did their best. We had such an awesome team who helped each other out with whatever they needed...water, cheering, or even finished that last part of their leg when they couldn't do it for one reason or another. Good times in Vegas! Hopefully after we've recovered I can convince them to do another race with me!

Good Times in So Cal

2009-09-28T21:04:00.009-06:00

I don't think we could have possibly asked for a better family vacation. I will spare you most of the details, but prepare yourself for a super long post with a ton of pictures! I'm not good at editing when there is so much to share.

Last week we packed up (basically the whole house when traveling with 3 kids) and headed down to So Cal. We stopped in Hurricane Friday night so I could get in a good run in the morning and so we could have lunch with all my fam there to celebrate GG and Ali's bdays.

Sunday was church with Tim and my aunt's, who are both in the same ward in San Diego, and then dinner and swimming at my Aunt Gail's with my cousin's Heather and Elisa and their cute families and my Grandma and Grandpa Ehorn, otherwise known as the "gum king".

Monday I got up for another good run in the humidity, but I survived. ( I have to keep my training up!) We headed up to OC for the Childeren's Discovery Museum in Santa Ana. Very cute! Way fun for us and the kids!

We got checked into our condo in Anaheim and headed to Newport Beach to have dinner with Jeff and Paige. Seriously, one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. I was Paige's nanny for a very long time and saw her for the first time in almost 5 years last summer. We have kept in touch throughout this past year and it was so good to see her again. She has just grown up so much and she and my kids got along great. They just loved each other.

Jeff and Paige were so great to Brooklyn. They got her a cake and a tiara and sang happy birthday while we were there with them. They are some of the nicest people I know and I hope we continue to see them more often.

Tuesday was the beach. It was perfect! Not crowded at all and although the water was cold, the outside temp couldn't have been better. The kids loved it of course but were totally shocked when we got back to the hotel to clean up to find out how many places sand can go!

(A quick little plug for Rubys. This is the original Rubys in So Cal right on the pier. How awesome is that?! You have to go get their cinnamon roll french toast! It's to die for! Just don't plan on eating anything the rest of the day. That meal has way more than your daily allowance of calories!)

We got all cleaned up and took the kids up to Mission Viejo so my good friend, Andrea, could watch the kids while Tim and I went out for a few hours on our own to celebrate our anniversary. 8 years! I still can't believe all that we have been through in the past 8 years. I couldn't get through a day without Tim. He is perfect for me. I love you, babe!

Brooklyn was born the day after our 2nd anniversary, so naturally, we celebrated Brooklyn's 6th birthday at Disneyland!

Sorry about Tallan's red eyes, Keslie's crazy face, and half of my head cut off, but this was the craziest thing. It was a 4D movie about Bug's Life. I HATE bugs, spiders, etc, so I honestly still get the chills thinking about this. Way scary! Don't ever go see it if you hate bugs too! Brooklyn and I almost ran out of there!

Brooklyn got in free since it was her bday and they gave her a little button to wear so everywhere we went, people were telling her happy birthday and calling her a princess, making sure her day was going well, etc. It was way too cute at the end of the day when she finally said, "mom! why is everyone telling me happy birthday all day! I'm tired of it because then I have to say thank you so many times!" We were all a little tired at the end of the day, but got some good rest and something made us do it all over again.

Keslie couldn't get enough of the carousel. We had to go on it over and over again. Her face was just too cute the whole time. She couldn't contain her excitement.

Brooklyn was on cloud 9 after talking with Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty told Brooklyn that she looked just like her when she was a little girl and they could probably be sisters. She told Brooklyn that she was beautiful. Every 6 year old girl's dream, right?!

It was a perfect time to go to Disneyland. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. It was hot, but we all survived and everyone had so much fun. It's great that Brooklyn is tall enough to go on just about every ride, so I made sure she tried all of them. She wasn't a fan of Splash Mountain or Pirates, and lucky for her the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain were closed. Next year! I do have to say though, that men in their 30s and 40s should stop wearing Mickey Mouse t-shirts. Something about that just didn't sit right. Tim and I couldn't get over some of the things people wear these days! Guess we have been in sheltered Lehi for a little too long now.

Had to get pics of Keslie's first In N Out experience. She's hooked!

We had such a good time as a family on this trip. We are so lucky to be able to do such fun things together! I am really excited for more family vacations to come as the kids get older!

Promise to Amber

2009-09-17T21:37:00.002-06:00

Amber, as soon as you move back next year, the fence dividing our houses is coming down!

But until then, it's going to be SO nice to have!

These are the moments...

2009-09-17T21:34:00.003-06:00

I wish would last forever.

Sitting and talking with my mom and sisters watching the dads play with the kids. Flying kites, and running free. Perfect weather, beautiful scenery. Pure joy.

This must be what eternity is like.

Happy Birthday, Tallan!

2009-09-17T21:15:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Tallan's 3rd birthday twice this month! The first time was at Grandma and Grandpa Flinders' house with some of our favorite BYU going cousins. We BBQd in the backyard, ate the awesome football cake I made, and played with all of Tallan's new toys. Tallan got a scooter from Tim and I and after watching him we decided he would probably grow up to be on the X Games or something. This kid has NO fear at all! He is totally athletic and can already ride a skateboard too.

can I just mention real quick that Keslie is now more than 16 months old and still refuses to even try and walk! Come on, girl!

Over Labor Day weekend, we went down to Hurricane for my niece, Sarah, to be baptized. It was so fun to be with family and I'm so proud of her for making the decision to be baptized. We spent a day in Zions doing a little hike. My mom was such a trooper! She did awesome! Almost all of our kids are old enough now to play on their own without constant supervision so us adults had as much fun as they did. We got in some golfing, shopping, playing, and tons of eating as usual. Then we celebrated Tallan's bday again! This time we made my almost famous mint brownies. He got so many new toys that the cousins were busy for hours! What a lucky boy!

I can't even put into words the love I feel for Tallan. He is such a ball of fire, but I know he has a tender heart too. My other kids haven't made me cry as much as Tallan has, but they haven't made me laugh like he does either. That kid has the best sense of humor. He is constantly finding trouble as soon as no one is looking, but is always quick to tell me he loves me and give me a huge bear hug. He definitely knows how to get back on my good side and is just so stinking cute! There is just a special place for that little boy in my heart. I can't wait to see him grow up. I love you, Buddy!

Triathlon - check

2009-08-29T18:12:00.004-06:00

Tim and I did our first mini triathlon this morning. 1.5 mile run, 6 mile bike, 200 m swim. Wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Before:
a little nervous...not quite knowing what to expect...hoping I don't fall off the bike or drown in the swim..

After:
really tired...muscles starting to cramp...wish I had taken my shirt off for the swim...very proud of finishing...

My official time was 43:55 (Tim didn't want me to take a picture of his, but let's just say he beat me by about 40 seconds. I'm very proud of him!) I placed 6th in my division so I got a cool little ribbon. Kind of like the one you get in elementary school when you participate in the science fair. It was light pink and said 6th Place on it. Kind of embarrassing, but good motivation for me. Next time, I'm going to ride a bike more than once before the race and I'm planning on placing 1st.
We had a ton of fun, and challenge all of our family and friends to do it with us next year!

First day of School! First day of School!

2009-08-29T18:02:00.005-06:00

After much anticipation, Brooklyn finally started Kindergarten. We met her cute teacher at back to school night the day before she started and we all love her. She really impressed us because she called Brooklyn by her first and last name without us even telling her and told Brooklyn how excited she was to meet her. Brooklyn felt so comfortable and wasn't the least bit nervous to start. Brooklyn was lucky to have her dad drive her to and from school for the first 2 days (I had to work, and yes, I cried that I couldn't be there), but she will start going on the bus this week.

We are so excited to see Brooklyn learn and grow this year!

A Happy Birthday

2009-08-09T21:41:00.003-06:00

So, Paige is our YW President and one of my good friends. Along with another leader and a couple of the Laurels we decided to decorate the front of her house the night before her birthday. We went all out. We hit up the dollar store and got tons of balloons, streamers, banners, blow up animals, etc. We even got construction paper and cut out 100s of hearts, attached them to pencils (couldn't find popsicle sticks!) to stick them all over her front lawn. The preparations began around 9pm and about 10:30pm we were ready for the attack.

We only got one heart stuck in the yard and I almost got one piece of tape holding up one of the banners on her garage when her porch light went on and the garage door started going up! We ran and hid! To make a very long story short this went on for about 30 minutes before we had to give up. She was messing with us the whole time because she happened to look out her window before going to bed and see us walk down the street with our arms full of equipment. We were a little disappointed we didn't get to carry out our plan, but it was still a very fun night. We brought a cake over to her the next day and we decided it doesn't have to be her birthday for us to try again. So, Paige, you better be prepared. We are coming back!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIGE!!!

Goin' Golfin'

2009-08-09T21:34:00.003-06:00

Tim and I were able to drop the kids of with Tim's parents and spend some one-on-one with each other, which doesn't happen very often at all. We went and played 9 holes and had so much fun. Tim was very patient with me because I'm a little slow, but I'm so glad we went and hope Tim will take me again often. I love that this is something we both enjoy doing together and love that we still have fun together when the kids aren't around. I even convinced him to take me shopping afterwards! Love you, babe! Thanks for the fun day!

A night out with the girls...

2009-08-09T21:25:00.004-06:00

Just over two years ago Shannyn, Sarah, Buffy, and I lived close enough to each other that when our kids were sleeping we could just bring a baby monitor to the other's condo and still be able to hang out. By the end of this month, we will all be in 4 different states! First I moved to Lehi, then Buffy moved to Texas, Shannyn moved to Arizona, and Sarah is now moving to Oregon.

By some sort of miracle, we all happened to be in Utah the same night and were able to get together to shop, eat, chat, and laugh just like old times. We had so much fun and I hope that someday we will be able to do this again. Love you girls!

How old are we anyway? We had so much fun taking pictures of each other when we weren't ready for it to happen. They are so funny that I had to share. I apologize in advance to the girls, but they just make me laugh so hard I couldn't resist!

Lake Powell 2009

2009-07-26T20:17:00.005-06:00

The highlights of our summers always include a trip to Lake Powell with the Meadows. Tim's uncle has a houseboat timeshare and the they are so nice to invite us to spend the week with them! We always have so much fun with them. We fish, hike, swim, wakeboard, jet ski, play games, and eat cookie dough. That is one of my favorite parts! My kids would spend all day in the water if we let them. They were awesome too. So happy almost all the time and never complained about eating, sleeping, and playing in their life jackets. I'm not paranoid or anything. My sister, Val, was awesome and let us leave Keslie with her so we could enjoy Brooklyn and Tallan even more! Seriously owe her big time!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was evening out my farmer's tan and also going down one of the little canyons that gets so narrow we just had to wedge our boat because we couldn't go any further. Once we wedged we had a nice lunch in the shade and decided to swim the rest of the way in to see what we could find. All we found were more corners and at the end, a trail with more corners. It was seriously a way long swim but it was awesome.

We had really nice water for some wakeboard runs and Tim even got up on the air chair for a few seconds. So fun to spend time with the Meadows and Havertz. Another memorable Lake Powell trip. Thank you, Uncle Mark!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-07-26T20:09:00.003-06:00

On our way to Lake Powell we stopped in Hurricane so I could make a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to my mom. Her birthday was a few days earlier, but Jenn and I wanted to celebrate it with her so we did it all again when we both arrived!

My mom is amazing. Always down the earth, practical, and level headed. The best person to go to for advice on anything from cooking to child-rearing to life's major decisions She is strong and independent and has proven to be a fighter. She loves to have fun, play games, is an amazing quilter, plays the piano, and loves to be with her family.

(Brooklyn and Tallan were actually already at Lake Powell with Tim. I joined them the next day!)

Next year will be another party and everyone is invited!

I actually loved Girls Camp

2009-07-26T19:53:00.004-06:00

I hated going to Girls Camp growing up. I wasn't a fan of dirt or heat, or spending a week with girls I didn't get along with very well. I didn't like hiking and not having normal bathrooms or showers. But, I got to go this year as a leader (camp cook to be exact) up in Heber and had SO much fun! Girls camp in Utah is way different than in CA for one thing, so that was a positive in some ways. But, all 22 girls were amazing. NO one complained or fought or anything. Everyone was so happy and fun and so willing to help others out. I was so impressed. I had great "tent-mates" and each night was very entertaining because Mandy talks in her sleep and you never knew what she was going to say next! We had some food fights, "bear" attacks, and had some awesome spiritual moments with devotionals and the Testimony meeting the last night. We ate good food and my very favorite part was singing around the campfire every night with Blair playing the guitar. Seriously some of the most talented girls I know! It's been a long time since I have laughed as hard as I did and I really hope I get to go back again next year!

July has been busy already...

2009-07-06T22:28:00.006-06:00

July 2nd
Tim and I actually went on a date! Dinner with the Whitfords and NO kids! Went to Los Hermanos for dinner and Red Mango for dessert. Went back to Melissa's parents house for a game of spades just like old times. For the record, the girls won! I have to add that because it just doesn't happen that often.

July 3rd
Started the morning with the Provo balloon festival. It's a worthwhile tradition, but glad it's only once a year. Met up with the Whitfords who were visiting from Washington. It's always fun to see Parker and Brooklyn reunite. They truly are best little friends. Had a really yummy breakfast at Melissa's parents house, the boys went golfing, we stayed with the kids and all had naps.

July 4th
Hosted the 2nd annual neighborhood pancake breakfast and had about 15 families come over. Went to the Whitfords for a BBQ and then to the Provo Temple lawn for Stadium of Fire fireworks.

July 5th
BBQ and fireworks for our neighbor, Drew's, b-day. He really wanted to pose for the camera once he found out it would probably end up on my blog! We have such fun neighbors! Happy Bday, Drew!

July 6th

dinner at P712 with Jen and Kristin; 2 of my favorite girls from USU. I can't believe it's been almost 10 years since we met! It is so fun to catch up whenever we end up in the same state at the same time!

July 9th
Relief Society vs YW softball game. I should have kept my mouth shut, but right before I went up to bat I told some of the girls that last time I played softball I broke my nose. This time I only ended up with a black eye and the cut above my left eye didn't need stitches, so that was good.

July 11th
Tallan gave me a fat lip to match my black eye. He threw a temper tantrum when I took him out of Keslie's crib after he climbed in a woke her up and head butted me in the mouth. He almost spent more time in the "naughty chair" today than all of the other times put together.

I cooked 3 pounds of sausage, 4 pounds of bacon, and 8 pounds of ground beef getting ready for Girl's Camp this week. Sick!

...and the month is just beginning. I'm tired already!

Rush II

2009-06-21T22:25:00.003-06:00

This blog is normally not about me, but I really have something to be proud of. Over the past year now, I have been working very hard to lose my baby weight...3 baby weights to be exact. I have been exercising very consistently and even changed some of my bad eating habits. No more white bread or ice cream for me! I know, weird! But, I have lost 17 pounds now and I can finally see and feel a difference. (you can check the blog for pictures a year ago and see for yourself!) As part of my motivation, I made a goal to someday run at least a half marathon, but a couple of months ago, I got a call from my Aunt Patty that someone had dropped from their Ragnar team and I jumped on the opportunity.

This past weekend was a huge physical and mental accomplishment for me as I ran in the Wasatch Back Relay with 11 other team members in 2 vans. It was amazing. There are a few words that describe the experience I had...

running
no eating
no sleeping
team
encouragement
hills
endurance
running
beautiful
stars
rain
exhaustion
running
188 miles
finish line
accomplishment
pride

Our team, Rush II, finished 85th out of over 400 teams. We did it in 28 hours and 20 minutes. Wish I had more pictures, but I was too tired to take any.

Can't wait until next year!

2009-06-09T22:58:00.005-06:00

As usual, it's way too late and I should be in bed fast asleep, but I really need to update this struggling blog of mine.

First of all, let me just say that Tim and I really feel like grown ups because we got a brand new bedroom set delivered today and it's our first real "set". We painted the walls this past weekend in preparation for the big delivery and had so much fun getting the drawers filled and everything organized tonight. We still have to find some good wall decor and lighting fixtures, and our window coverings won't come for another month, so I am going to wait to post any pictures until it's all complete. I know the suspense it probably going to kill you, right?!

Brooklyn had a run in with the sidewalk when she was running in the rain and she got her first stitches. Just 3 in her chin and she was very brave. I was brave too. I stayed very calm holding her chin together until Tim could come home from work with the car-seats. While Brooklyn was sitting on the kitchen counter with me holding her chin together with a paper towel, she started to fall asleep. Since I didn't actually see the fall I was worried she might have hit her head so I gave her a little quiz to see if she was still with us and this was our conversation:

Me: "What's your name?"

Brooklyn: "Brooklyn"

M: "How old are you?"

B: "Five:

M: "Where do you live?"

B: "California"

Ummm, should I be worried, or is it just wishful thinking???

Tallan didn't want to be left out of picture taking.

For the record, Keslie was taking a nap. I do love her too!

My mom and Brian, and my sister, Val, came up to SLC for a very disappointing appt at Huntsman last week (see my mom's cancer blog), and we were able to celebrate my Aunt Lynn's birthday with her. She is my dad's sister and is very special to me.

My mom is hanging in there and doing a lot better than we had anticipated. For a quick update...she finished her 15 treatments of back radiation, and has had 5 on her brain already. She has her 2nd chemo treatment next Tuesday. She hasn't lost any hair yet, but we are kind of expecting that to happen any time now. She is getting tired, but is actually letting herself sit and rest. That is something I have NEVER seen her do. She is just amazing! I can't thank everyone enough for all of the prayers, fasting, thoughts, and support. We are all surrounded by such awesome people.

I think I need Super Nanny!

2009-05-21T21:08:00.004-06:00

I totally took advantage of how wonderful the past year was where my two youngest children would be in bed no later than 7:30 pm. I could spend some one-on-one time with Brooklyn, or let her entertain herself while I had my own "quiet time". This past week, Tallan has been fighting bed time with every ounce of energy he had left after each busy day. I can't get him to stay in bed if it's before 9pm! Seriously, don't tell on me, but we even had to rig his door so he couldn't get out because most times he quietly climbs in Keslie's crib with her and wakes her up too. Tonight was the night of all nights though. After too many chances to stay in bed with the door open, I closed it. Less than 30 seconds later, it sounded like a bomb went off in his room. I opened the door to find his baskets of clothes all over the room, his books scattered across the floor, and the mattress off his toddler bed! I grabbed everything...EVERYTHING...out of his room except his bed, pillow, and blanket. I even moved his changing table out of the room so he couldn't climb on that or knock it into the wall anymore. Closed the door.

Two seconds later, another blast from the room.

Time for a heavier bed...and possibly some anger management classes?!

A sweet ending to my story: We put his bed back together and he laid down. He was fast asleep less than 3 minutes later. I already like him again.

Victory

2009-05-19T21:37:00.003-06:00

Give me a "V" dot the "i" curl the c-t-o-r-y! VICTORY!

Way to go, Jenn! My sister just won the election today for Gilbert town council with the highest number of votes! So proud of her and all of her hard work! Love you, Jenn!

could have been better...

2009-05-07T21:06:00.007-06:00

What a crazy day. I took the day off of work to spend it with my mom, Brian, (mom's husband), my sister, Val, brother Joel, and some of Brian's kids as well. Sounds more glorious and fun than it really was. We spent the day up at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake. More tests and more results. Cancer is in her brain. She doesn't qualify for the clinical study anymore. Radiation is next, but first back to Huntsman on Tuesday of next week for a consult with the radiologist. All of the details are on the blog following her here.

Today was also Keslie's first birthday. It's a good think she is too young to remember that I spent most of the day crying and have been so preoccupied with everything else lately that I didn't even get her a present or make her a cake. We'll make it up to her. We did run out the door last minute to get some pizza when I realized it was 6:15 and my kids were probably hungry. I forgot to make dinner tonight. We do just love that sassy little girl though. She is stubborn and feisty and only loves her momma. She's just barely army crawling and still only has her two little bottom teeth. She is still even wearing 3-6 month clothes. I'm not worried. I think she's doing me a favor by being slow to be mobile. And she eats more than Brooklyn and Tallan combined so I know nutrition is not an issue. She's just a petite little girl.

Here are a lot of pictures of what has been going on with us the past month and a half. Better late than never, right?!

We decorated Easter eggs and did the annual egg hunt at the Creer's.

Brooklyn had her preschool graduation! Off to Kindergarten next year! I can't believe it! Brooklyn was so lucky to have her grandma and grandpa Flinders come to celebrate. She had a great year at preschool with Mrs. Ockey and the year ended just in time. Mrs. Ockey had her baby a week later!

Brooklyn and her BFF, Sydney. We are pretty nervous about the boys coming after these girls in the years to come!

The tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. So beautiful!

Bridal Shower for my step-sister, Nicki.

And finally, some pictures to document the day of Keslie's birthday.

Just wanted to give a special thanks for all of the thoughts, prayers, flowers, cards, cookies, etc. I have the best friends and neighbors and family. You are all wonderful. THANK YOU!

Adenocarcinoma

2009-05-03T20:36:00.003-06:00

After 3 long weeks of lots of tests and lots of waiting my mom was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma. Lung cancer. My mom. Who has never smoked a day in her life. Who has never been in a smoke filled environment. Lung cancer. "Why?" doesn't even begin to cover what questions are running through my mind. A few more tests and appointments this week and then the fight begins. My mom is strong. She will beat the odds. She will break all rules of cancer survival. Sorry, dad, but there are more of us fighting to have her from this side. You will have to wait before you get her again.

My sister, Val, started this great blog to document the journey. Feel free to check in and see how we are all doing.

http://momandherjourney.blogspot.com/

A quote from my mom...

2009-05-02T19:28:00.003-06:00

For those who are interested,

"Everything that could go right, is going right. Except for the part that is going wrong."

Leave it to my mom to always try and be positive. She is absolutely amazing. What would I do without her?

Learn something new everyday...

2009-04-20T19:31:00.002-06:00

We live in a beautiful area with lots of farms, horses, and cows. We were driving through them today when I saw about 10-12 horses running totally fast through some big puddles and this was my conversation with Brooklyn:

Me: Whoa, Brooklyn look at those horses running.

Brooklyn: Wow! They are running super fast and splashing a lot!

Me: Oh look, now they are all in a straight line walking right behind each other.

Brooklyn: Yeah, it's like they are in a parade.

Me: That is crazy!

Brooklyn: Yeah! That is way crazy! I didn't know horses have brains!

Happy Spring?

2009-04-05T22:09:00.001-06:00

From all of us in bright and sunny Utah!

The Simple Life

2009-03-22T20:43:00.005-06:00

We had the great opportunity to head up to Idaho for quick weekend getaway. Tim's brother, Jon, and his family met us in Mink Creek to celebrate little Emma's first birthday. My sister-in-law, Peggy is from Mink Creek and her family seriously lives in the middle of nowhere up this dirt road into a little canyon and their land goes on forever and ever as far as you can see. There was still quite a bit of snow up there, but it was such a warm day so we spent all of our time outdoors. I really wish I would have taken more pictures because it really was incredible. I don't even know how to describe it. There is a lot of history up that little canyon because their family has been there for generations.

This hill was up behind their house. The pictures don't do the beauty or the steepness of this hill justice. We drove the 4-wheeler up the mountain and then Tim and the kids sledded all the way down to where the little river is along the road at the very bottom of the hill. It was seriously huge!

See where the tracks stop? That's where the hill really drops steep!

This is some of their beautiful land!

Tallan would not want to get off the 4-wheeler. We took quite a few rides exploring the canyon and when he woke up this morning in his own bed the first thing he asked for was to go on the 4-wheeler. I told him if he will stop wearing diapers and be a big boy then he can have his own 4-wheeler. I said it out of frustration so I hope he doesn't remember when the time actually comes!

The boys were shooting clay pigeons and after much convincing, we decided not to let the boys show us up.

I may not look the part, but I shot the target!

Peggy and I had a lot of fun trying to make 2 cakes for Emma before we finally gave up and ordered one from the local market.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

They really live the simple life up in Mink Crik (I can talk like them too) and I loved it almost as much as my kids. I can't wait to go back and do it all again!

Welcome Home Elder Ehorn!

2009-02-18T21:53:00.003-07:00

After two long years, my little brother is finally home from his 2 year mission in the Philippines. We had such a great reunion spending the weekend together hanging out and hearing all of his great stories. Joel was an amazing missionary and I'm so proud of his hard work and service. He truly loves the people he served and I know he bettered the lives of so many people. He gave an amazing homecoming talk on Sunday and there was not a dry eye in the congregation. We got some family pictures done in my mom's backyard by the amazing Dion Seneca. Check out her blog to see how talented she is. Here is a preview of the pictures she took for us!

The whole fam!

Siblings

Joel and Mom

He didn't waste any time getting back into the swing of things and started school already at Dixie. Now we need to find him a wife! Any takers?

More pictures of the fun weekend coming soon!

Tim had a birthday!

2009-02-01T11:27:00.003-07:00

Tim's birthday was coming up and we had a whole night of fun planned. See, we have this babysitting swap thing going on with two other families in the ward where we watch all 8 kids (ages 5,4,3,2,2,1,8 m and 6 m) one night and then they each take a night so we get 2 date nights a month where we don't have to pay a babysitter. It's awesome! Anyway, we had the kids all taken care of and had planned to go out to a nice dinner with the our friends, the Shultz'. The big day came and all of a sudden around 11am Tallan started crying that his ears hurt. Uh oh! He was whining and grumpy all day so we had to cancel our plans. We still took Brooklyn over to the babysitter and we took Tallan and Keslie out with us to find a movie. Tallan was really mellow at this time so we thought we would try and go get some dinner. We ordered our food and a few seconds after our soup came out, Tallan leaned under the table and started throwing up! With no warning! This is not unusal for Tallan because he's been throwing up since he was born as most of you may know, but it's never happened in a restaurant before! We asked for our food to go and left a big tip. Sorry! So, Tim's birthday was a real bummer, but the next day we had Tim's parents, aunt and uncle, and cousins over for dinner and cake and ice cream and it was so yummy that is almost made up for the day before!

(The recipe for the cake will be on my food blog in the next week or so for those interested)

Happy birthday, Tim! We love you so much and couldn't get through a day without you. Thanks for all you do for our family! You are the best!

Party with The Halls

2009-02-01T11:19:00.004-07:00

Our good friends and ex-neighbors came to town to finalize the adoption of their beautiful baby girl, Paisley. I had to work that day and the only way I could get them to stay an extra night with us was to have a party for them at our house. It was a win-win situation because I love having parties anyway. Amber and I made a lot of really good food, and The Halls were able to see some old friends from the ward. As an added bonus we stayed up way too late playing the train game, eating more food, and talking, just like old times.

Sweet baby Paisley. Isn't she beautiful!

We miss you, Treycen!

Becky B, Amber, and me with our baby girls!

Adam and some of the YW. He's such a nerd!

You know, Halls, your house is still right next door and still available. You really should just come back. Please come back!

Fieldtrip to the Fire Station

2009-02-01T11:16:00.004-07:00

For one reason or another, Brooklyn has missed out on the trips to the fire station for the past 2 years of preschool. This past weekend we were lucky and got our own personal tour though because her good friend, Sydney, has a firefighter for a dad. Fireman Shultz invited us to come up and hang at the firestation for an afternoon and we had so much fun!

Tallan was the only one who would put the helmet on and it was so heavy he could hardly hold his head up.

The kids spent the whole time making this stretcher go up and down while they were sitting on it. They even wore out the whole battery! I think the entertainment would be worth the investment in getting my own!
Tallan got hooked up to the heart monitor and we even got a print out of his heart beat!

They were good little students in the ambulance!

Thanks, Shultzy!

My First Wedding!

2009-01-17T10:54:00.002-07:00

Check out the post on my food blog to see how my first wedding cake turned out!

Where does the time go?

2009-01-04T10:46:00.006-07:00

I'm going to repeat the words of my sister and say "I suck at blogging"! I really do though! You would think that this past two months I have been absent in the blogging world meant that I have been able to spend lots of quality time with my kids who are all healthy and happy, my house is spotless with all the past blogging time I have now spent cleaning, I have lots of yummy dinners and treats on my food blog, and I have solved world peace. Probably none of the above are true though. It is like I have blinked and two months have gone by. I don't even have any pictures! But, here's as much as I can remember...

We spent Thanksgiving in Gilbert with my sister's family and my mom and Brian. SO fun! Did lots of shopping and eating. Spent way too much time on a 2000 piece puzzle of Las Vegas. Who knew it could take 6 adults their full attention while 6 kids were neglected for hours on end to complete the darn thing. Oh wait, I forgot it took us twice as long because my little angel boy, Tallan, pulled it off the table in one of his fits of rage. But it was fun nonetheless. Did I mention my sister and I ate a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes single-handedly? We vote that Strawberry is the best! (Jenn, I still need pictures from that week!) Thanks for a super fun week as always!

After a 12 hour drive home, I was ready to get the Christmas tree out and decorated, laundry done, and ready for the week. Tim moved his office home and we swapped places. I started back to work full time while he works from home/takes care of the kids. We switch after my shift is over and he goes into his office while I'm home. As hard as it is for me to be away from the kids, you do what you have to do. I was able to be a stay-at-home mom for 4 months, and now we are lucky we both have jobs with good insurance.

Here are a few of the fun things we did during the Holidays though...

Decorated gingerbread houses

Drove through the Festival of Lights at Thanksgiving Point with the Shultz's. (The kids took the pictures so this is what we get from that)

We had a great Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Flinders. They had a sleepover on Christmas Eve and we watched a movie about Christ's birth, had treats, read Christmas stories, and got cookies and carrots all ready for Santa and his reindeer. Tim woke us all up to open presents before 7am so yes, it is still dark outside.

We have gotten a TON of snow already this year which makes for a lot of fun being pulled around the neighborhood on sleds by the 4-wheelers. The dads and kids have spent hours doing that.

Brooklyn and Tim also went skiing up at Alta and Brooklyn got some awesome war wounds from a fall on her face to prove it.

Tallan wanted his picture taken too, but only appropriate since I gave him a haircut this morning and really messed up, so he doesn't have much hair left. Whoops!

And I can't forget Keslie. She is almost 8 months and I can't believe it. She hates baby food but will eat anything we are eating for dinner. She get her first tooth finally and survived me pulling her elbow out of it's socket and getting it put back in place. She is taking her time with mobility which works out great for me. She is such a sweet little girl though and we just love her like crazy!

We have loved all the time we have spent with family and friends. It's been a non-stop party for about 3 weeks now but we are ready for whatever is closest to normal around here.

Here's to a great '09 and being better at taking pictures and blogging!

happenings...

2008-11-08T20:14:00.005-07:00

The snow is here...

at least the kids like it.

Keslie hit her 6 month mark.

Is she not the cutest, happiest, baldest girl you have ever seen?

Brooklyn loves being twins with Keslie...

...and Tallan is still a monkey!

Brooklyn's Observation

2008-11-07T11:37:00.001-07:00

"Mom, every time I see you come down the stairs you are throwing away a diaper"

Is it over yet?

2008-10-31T10:07:00.006-06:00

Okay, I know you are all probably shocked that this is my 2nd post in a week, but I'm really trying to spend less time baking and a few more minutes with the blogging thing.

What a crazy week this has been though! I'm so ready for Halloween to be over and we haven't even gone Trick or Treating yet! It's been one party after another and the good news is that we got more than our moneys worth in costume usage this year.

Brooklyn's friends and neighbors, Chayce and CharlySyd, Brooklyn, and Kate at the Primary Halloween party

Here's what Tallan thought about his chicken costume...

...he's a much happier monkey!

One of the best things about not working is that I get to do things with my kids that I missed out on before like helping at Brooklyn's preschool Halloween party.
decorating sugar cookies
Dry Ice Root Beer

Let's not forget about little Keslie! She is almost 6 months old already and I really can't believe it! She is a little lazy, if you ask my opinion. She is perfectly content for now just laying around watching her big sister and brother play as long as they don't get to close to her. Kind of like how most kids are with dogs. It's all fun and games until they start running right towards you! She is just adorable though and such a good natured and happy baby.
Happy Halloween!

Hello Friends, are you still there?

2008-10-28T19:58:00.006-06:00

Does anyone even come by my blog anymore to see if we are still alive and kickin'? I bet everyone has given up on my completely! No time for family blogging at all anymore around here. My food blog is off and running and I have a hard enough time keeping up with it, but it's been so much fun! My neighbors have all really appreciated the treats they keep getting everytime I show up on their porches. So, real quick in hopes that someday I will be able to look back and laugh at my crazy life, here is what we have been up to...

A trip to Cornbelly's with the Youngers. The cornmaze this year was shaped like David Archuletta and while I think he's great and all, it took us FOREVER to get out of the dumb maze and they played only his songs the whole time! I was never happier to get out. The kids were hungry and tired and we lost all daylight so the last picture was just a guess as I really couldn't see anything!

It's a really good thing they had this speed limit sign in the parking lot. I'm sure it was easy for cars to keep to it!
Trying to keep the kids busy with Oobleck while I made a really good dinner one night. (Check out the Lemon Chicken on my food blog) I know, I totally encouraged this mess, but it still didn't prepare me for what was to come next. Let me just say that Tallan took things to the extreme.

Tallan has been giving me a run for my money lately and instead of having it stress me out every day, I've decided to try and laugh at all the trouble he has been getting into and focus on the positive instead. Here are a few pictures of some of the small events in the past month.

pink fingernail polish on the back of my bathroom door and all over the floor. could have been worse...at least it wasn't on our cabinets!

popcorn all over the floor and couch. could have been worse...at least it wasn't red punch!

this is my really cute Halloween bowl that I have had ever since Tim and I got married. tallan and brooklyn have broken it open twice already with 3 pounds of candy all over the place. it was a good project for them to sort it all for me to put back in though. could have been worse...at least they didn't eat all of the candy after it spilled out because it's a few years old!

the mojawk wasn't actually tallan's doing. tim shaved his head like that. tallan has tim's hair in that no matter how much product i use, I can't get it to follow commands so it just does it's own thing, but on this day, while Tallan was supposed to be asleep in his room, he put desitin all over his hair for the 2nd time that day. that stuff just doesn't wash out very easily. could have been worse...since his hair is already white, people couldn't really tell it was a greasy mess until he went outside and had bugs stuck in it. that's a true story and at least now we found something that will hold his hair in place!

this is the view from the loft upstairs looking down at the front door. tallan thinks it's absolutely hilarious to drop toys down. i don't think it's too funny when i have to carry them all back up to the playroom. could have been worse... no one was actually standing there this time when he was dropping toys down and at least he hasn't tried to jump down yet either!this is just a small taste of my daily fun with Tallan. I don't even want to get in to some of the other activities he has been doing lately!
now before you all go and judge me for neglecting Tallan, wondering where the heck I was all these times he was getting into trouble, let me just say that he is one quick kid, and I have 2 others that I have to take care of too. Those of you with little boys will know that it's not my fault!

We had some fun visitors this month and took a trip to Gardner Village to see the witches with my mom and sister and her kids, my grandma, a couple of aunts and some cousins too.

Other than that, you'll have to read on my food blog to see how busy it's been in our house. I will post about our fun week of non stop Halloween fun soon too! I hope you all get more treats than tricks like I do!

Brownie Week and a Giveaway

2008-10-05T18:31:00.004-06:00

It's an exciting week on my food blog, Satisfying My Sweet Tooth! It's brownie week where I'll be featuring a new brownie every day and believe me, they are amazing! I'll also be doing my first ever giveaway. Leave a comment on Monday's brownie post by Friday, October 10 at 11:59pm and I'll announce the winner Monday, the 13th on my blog. Your comment must include what your dream brownie would be and the winner gets this awesome cookbook from Williams-Sonoma. Don't forget to come back everyday and see the brownie of the day and again the following Monday to see if you have won! (Anonymous comments will not be included in the drawing)

I LOVE this cookbook. It has SO many good recipes!
Good luck!

All in a Week's Work

2008-09-26T12:00:00.002-06:00

September is always a busy month for us, and this one was no exception. Among all of the craziness at our house, we have almost missed the leaves changing colors around here. One thing I do love about living in Utah is that we do get to experience every season. The mountains look like they are on fire right now with the red and orange trees. So beautiful! But, where did summer go? It seems like it just got here and now it's fall already! Why is winter the loooongest season ever??? Okay, before I start complaining too much since winter isn't even here yet...back to our week!

Fancy was full force at our house when Brooklyn had a Fancy Nancy birthday party to celebrate turning 5 last Saturday! We had 8 other little girls from church, preschool, and the neighborhood over to make wands and crowns, hit at a Fancy Nancy pinata, and blow out candles on Brooklyn's crown cake! Wow! Everyone had a great time and Brooklyn said it was the best party ever, which made me smile, but that was a lot of girls though! Tim left towards the end to go to the BYU game but luckily Steph was there to help me out or I don't know what I would have done! Tim felt bad later and took me to Spoon Me! He can leave anytime he wants as long as that is how he makes up for it!

Monday, Tim and I celebrated our 7th anniversary! I'm getting old! I have a 5 year old (plus two more) and have been married now for 7 years! Don't be jealous girls, but Tim planned the ultimate romantic getaway. He actually won a party at Noah's, which is a way cool reception hall type of place, for us and 5 other couples to watch Monday Night Football. I know, what better way to celebrate our anniversary than with football and Tim's closest guy friends. I can't even tell you who played because the boys sat on the sofa and watched the game while the girls sat around the bar area and did some girl talk. But hey, the kids were with Grandma and Grandpa, and The Pie donated pizza and drinks for the event. We even got free t-shirts! Tim always has been good with gifts! Happy anniversary, babe! You are the greatest and I love you!

Tuesday was Brooklyn's actual birthday so we went with The Haws Family to the new Frozen Yogurt Junction. It's a little place with do it yourself frozen yogurt and toppings and then you pay by the ounce. Genius idea, if you ask me! I can load up with whatever I want and give the kids just a little bit without paying for a whole size. I'm pretty sure the owner wanted to kick us out though. Wouldn't you if some irresponsible parents chit chatted the night away while their 7 kids destroyed the place??? Happy Birthday my little princess! I can't believe you are 5 already! What a sweet and beautiful little girl you are growing up to be. I love you!

This is one of the many reasons why I love Brooklyn: here are some pictures of the treasure hunt she sent me on a few weeks ago. Just imagine her little mind going as she put this together. It took her forever to do, and even longer to clean up! She was so excited about it though. She is this creative little girl who is a little OCD when it comes to coloring in the lines. She literally spends hours every day coloring and is a really good artist for her age. She is a brilliant little girl who loves life. She is such a good big sister and loves her grandmas like crazy.

The treasure hunt started in the loft...

...it went all the way down the stairs...

...and all the way to the front door...

...and this is the treasure box at the end of the trail...yes, she did paint and decorate this herself!

And look at my treasure! The letter "I" and some little hair clips!

Wednesday was bitter-sweet. The Halls came down, which was SO exciting for us, but they just came to clean out the rest of their stuff from their house, which was SO sad for us. All the more official that they really aren't coming back like we had been hoping. It was great to spend the day with them while we helped them get everything loaded into their trailer to take back to Idaho and we were greatly rewarded with a trip up to Spoon Me later that night. Can't get enough of that stuff!

Oh yeah, here are some pictures of my cute Keslie-Boo and her war wounds. Brooklyn accidently dropped her this week. I was unloading the dishwasher and she was holding her on the couch when I heard a BIG thud. I still don't know exactly what happened, but Brooklyn said her hands slipped and she felt awful. Poor girls!

They still love each other though!

Thanks for sticking around through that never-ending post!

And don't forget to check out my first Daring Bakers Challenge on my food blog:

Satisfying My Sweet Tooth

Poor me, GTU, and Hubby of the Year!

2008-09-16T15:05:00.004-06:00

So, I'm normally not one to complain to the blogging world, where everyone probably thinks my life is just one big party. The kids are cute and happy all the time and we do lots of fun stuff together as a family and with friends. But, the truth has to come out...sometimes, my life is less than perfect. Shhh, don't tell anyone!

I had a horrible week last week. Monday after getting my booty whooped at Turbo Kick, I decided to call the dentist about my sore tooth. An hour later, I was in his chair getting a root canal! Yuck! I happened to get sick too. I had the worst cold I have ever had. I know, a cold, wah wah, cry me a river. But really, it was bad! So, when I woke up the next day, not only could I not breath, but I was swollen and bruised from the root canal. Half of me looked like I did after my jaw surgery when I was 18. Some of you may remember that wasn't the best look for me.

(warning: totally embarassing picture coming up, but I had to put it in for the full effect of the story!)

Anyway, I was just out of it all week. I don't even think I talked to my sisters for at least 2 days in a row! I had to go back to the dentist to get some antibiotics, had to fight with them a little about paying for that visit, etc, etc. The kicker is that Tim left Friday to go on a "posse" trip down to Mesquite for their first annual golf tournament. I'll complain about that later, but after my really hard week, I still wasn't feeling good, and then I was left for the weekend with the kids by myself. Poor me, huh! But, I survived and I was proud of myself. I even did my weekly coupon sense shopping trip to 2 different stores with all 3 kids and was feeling so good about our outing and saving tons of money that we went to get frozen yogurt for dinner! I got everyone bathed and ready for church on Sunday, got dinner in the crockpot, and still got to church with 10 minutes to spare. (You have to in my ward on fast Sunday if you don't want to sit in the foyer the whole time. We have so so so many baby blessings every month!) I survived church and even had the house clean and dinner ready when Tim got home that afternoon. I sound like super-mom, don't I?

I know I made Tim sound like the bad-guy in this story, and there were a few moments over the weekend and the days leading up to it, where I was a bit frustrated. How would he feel if I picked up and left for 3 days and left 3 kids with him? How come it seems like he has all the freedom in the world to do stuff like that? It's not like I can pick up and go golfing, or shopping, or anywhere at all with my friends without arranging for a babysitter, pumping some bottles, packing snacks and diapers and treats and toys, etc. But, long story kept from being too much longer, Tim more than redeemed himself today...

I got two tickets to go to the live taping of Good Things Utah and my neighbor, Steph, was coming with me. It wasn't very easy for Steph to find a babysitter, and I wasn't willing to pay for one for me, so we were going to suppress our excitement and not go, but then Tim stepped in. He volunteered to stay home from work and not only watch our kids, but Steph's two kids as well! Granted, Brooklyn was going to be at preschool, Keslie and Benny would nap, and he would only have Abbi and Tallan for the majority of the time, he was such a saint to take on 5 kids! I know! Husband of the year right here in my house! So, Steph and I had so much fun at the show! We were totally star struck with the girls and they were SO nice. I feel like they are my friends now! I even answered some trivia over the commercial break and won an awesome workout DVD featuring latin dance with Cheryl from Dancing with the Stars. Watch out! I'm going to have her body in just a few weeks! We took advantage of Tim's generosity and stopped at our two favorite places on the way home...Orson Gigi, a baker's dream store, and of course, Red Mango. Mmm Mmm Mmm!

Thanks, Timmy! You are absolutely the best ever! You totally redeemed yourself and more! I love you so much!

I love to laugh!

2008-09-15T20:18:00.002-06:00

If you are looking for an out-loud, belly achin', tears rolling down your cheeks, laugh, this is where you can find them...

A couple of my girlfriends told me about this blog that just makes them laugh, and today, I needed a good laugh so I checked it out. I'm addicted! I think this girl needs to be my friend because she's just hilarious. I have been reading her blog on and off almost all day and from what I've gathered, she's LDS, probably lives in Utah or Salt Lake County, prego with her first baby, and so in love with life. Her writing style is just awesome. You can tell it's exactly what she's thinking. Anyway, I can't do it justice, just start reading!

Seriously, So Blessed

My sister, Jenn, makes me laugh a lot too and her posts are great. Here's one inparticular that is close to my heart these days...

A Letter to a Long Lost Friend

So there you go, have a good laugh on me!

Back To School!

2008-09-07T21:39:00.002-06:00

Yay! Brooklyn went back to preschool last week! She was so excited to go, but probably not as excited as I was. It's great to get back into routine and get her mind stimulated by someone other than me. She is going to Little Meadow Preschool with Mrs. Ockey, who is in our ward and we just love her. We were a little bummed that Brooklyn missed the kindergarten cut-off by just a few weeks, so she didn't get to start kindergarten with her friends from church, but we know she will have good friends no matter when she starts.

She also started dance, which she was very excited about. After her first dance class she said to me, "mom, I liked dance, but preschool was way more fun!"

I said, "Oh yeah, why is that?"

Brooklyn replied, "Because at preschool you get snacks!"

This girl knows what is important!

My Buddy Turned 2!

2008-09-07T21:02:00.008-06:00

Words can not describe how much I love this little boy. He is very mischievous at times, a little rough with other kids, but mostly, just so sweet and lovable.

Tallan loves to be the best helper whether he's at my side while I'm cooking, cleaning, or taking care of Keslie. As soon as he hears the garage door open when Tim gets home from work, he stands at the door so excited for him to walk in. Tim sits on the couch to take off his shoes, and Tallan takes them to the shoe closet. It's their little routine and it's so cute! Brooklyn loves to ask, or tell, Tallan what to do all the time, and he does it with a smile.

This kid makes us laugh SO hard too! He says the funniest things and makes the most hilarious facial expressions. He LOVES hats and shoes no matter what size or color!

Tallan loves to snuggle and although there are quite a few things I can't wait for him to grow out of, I hope that is never one of them.

I love all that Tallan teaches me about boys. Like the fact that anything can be made into a weapon, and it usually is.

I can't wait to watch Tallan continue to grow and constantly put a smile on our faces.

We love you, Buddy!

SHE WON!!!

2008-09-01T20:39:00.002-06:00

GO JESSICA!!! She totally is the first million dollar winner on Deal or No Deal!!! It honestly couldn't have happened to better people and I am so happy for them!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Ross and Jess Win!
watch the video

Deal or No Deal?!

2008-08-31T20:55:00.003-06:00

We just had such a fun weekend with old friends that I haven't seen for years. Jason and Elaine and their adorable twins came to stay for a few days and then tonight, Ross and Jessica and their cute girl, Brooklyn came over for dinner. I grew up with these guys and there is just something about old friends that are special. No matter how much time has passed, it's like we pick right back up where we left off...just with our spouses and a few kids!

Silly Faces!

So, here's the story...see, Ross' wife, Jessica, decided one day to go to an open casting here in Salt Lake for Deal or No Deal and she made it through all the rounds of interviews! They flew her and her "supporters" out to LA for a week and taped the show. Her show airs tomorrow, Sept 1, so be sure to watch and find out how she does! She basically signed her life away that she wouldn't say a word about it, so I'm really anxious to see it! She is in the commercials for possibly being 1 of 6 that gets the million dollars!

Go Jess!

My House is Quiet!

2008-08-25T10:19:00.002-06:00

Do you hear that? Me neither! For the first time, and probably the last time ever...ALL 3 of my kids are asleep and it's only 10:20am! SO strange to not have kids climbing on me, throwing toys down the stairs, or asking for a snack. I would go take a picture of all of them sleeping, but I don't want to disturb anyone. Instead, I'm going to go read my book in peace and quiet! Can you believe I still haven't finished Breaking Dawn??? That's life with 3 kids of my own, and usually a few neighbor kids in the mix too.

Happy Monday!

M.I.A.

2008-08-14T15:40:00.005-06:00

We have been having so much fun that we haven't had time to blog about it at all! Here is a not-so-quick update of what we have been up to the past two weeks now that I'm a stay at home mom...

A hike to Stewart Falls with Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Flinders (I actually stayed home with Keslie to clean, grocery shop, and to start reading Breaking Dawn)

A trip to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point

LOTS of playing with friends (Brooklyn, Benny, and Lucy at the Primary Olympics)

Meeting up with Dre and Luke at the Children's Discovery Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was absolutely beautiful, but way too hot!

Brooklyn started (and finished) soccer. She loved being goalie best "because my legs get too tired". She really did awesome though. She is actually a very good runner and did really well at blocking goals and chasing after the ball when she wasn't too busy dancing around and daydreaming.

A super fun day in Huntsville with Laurel, Avery, and Ashton. We swam in the pool, took the jet skis out on Pine View Lake, and just played and played. The kids had a lot of fun together and Avery and Brooklyn are just so cute together! They are such good little friends considering they only see each other a few times a year. Hopefully they will move back to Utah sometime soon so Avery and Brooklyn can grown up closer together like Laurel and I did.

(of course Keslie didn't get in the water, but why let a cute little bathing suit go unused?)

Yup, it's been fun! We have really worn the kids out so they sleep really well at night. They even sleep really well during lunch!

I love my life!

FOOD BLOG!

2008-07-27T20:23:00.004-06:00

Remember way back when I was thinking about what my new hobbies were going to be now that I'm not working and have so much time on my hands as a stay at home mom of 3? Well, my food blog is up and running! Everyone be sure to check it out and add it to your list of blogs to visit regularly! I'm very excited about it! Thank you!

Satisfying My Sweet Tooth

ps...this is my 100th post! I'm supposed to announce that, right?!

It's so hard to say goodbye

2008-07-27T20:19:00.005-06:00

I have to give a quick shout-out to our neighbors, The Halls. I have mentioned them in so many posts before because we pretty much do just about everything with them. They have been our neighbors for a year now and with just about 2 weeks notice, they had to pack up and move to Idaho for Adam's job and I'm so so SO sad!

Goodbye, Paisley!
We only got to know you for a short time, but you are such a blessing and a miracle. I was able to share all of the nervousness, anxiousness, and excitement with your mom because I was with her when she got the phone call that you were needing a family, when she got the phone call that you were about to enter the world, and when you finally arrived home. I got to see you at the hospital and I even got to take care of you while your mom and dad were busy packing up the house. Keslie will miss you lots!

Goodbye, Treycen!
We had so much fun with you over this past year! I loved that you would wander away from your house to come knock on my door. As soon as the door opened you would come right in and go straight for the basketballs and start shootin' hoops. Thank you for being such a good sport when Tallan would push you around. You have such a contagious laugh and smile and because of you, your mom got to stop working and be home all day so I could hang out with her!

Goodbye, Noah!
Oh, I mean Adam...thanks for helping Tim get out the door every Wednesday night for basketball. Thanks for all the sweet deals from Best Buy and helping us get the Wii and Guitar Hero before they all sold out. Thanks for making us laugh and for letting us beat you at every game we ever played together. Thanks for having the deacons dig sprinkler trenches in our backyard for their service project. You are great, but I don't think I can ever forgive you for moving your family away from us! How do you like that picture?

Goodbye, Amber!
Where do I begin? Thank you for being my babysitter, Brooklyn's Primary teacher, and our photographer. Thank you for shopping with me and eating junk food with me. Thank you for playing games with me and exercising with me. Thank you for letting us use your backyard for all of our parties and for letting us use your garden. Thank you for hanging out with me all day, every day, when I stopped working so I wouldn't go crazy. Thank you for being an amazing neighbor, and even better friend. What are we going to do without you??? (and why is is that I couldn't find any other pictures of you? I'm so lame for not taking more pictures!)

Good luck in Idaho and don't be surprised if I show up on your doorstep a few times! We already miss you like crazy! (And I'm still praying the job falls through!)

24th Celebrations

2008-07-27T20:04:00.004-06:00

It's true...I have come to accept the fact that Utah has it's own special holiday on the 24th of July. But hey, as confused as I was when I first moved here as to why the 24th of July is almost as big of a celebration as the 4th, I won't complain about a day off work with parades and fireworks.

This year my sisters and I all met in Panguitch to hang out with my mom and Brian. Panguitch isn't exactly a very exciting town (no offense, Brian) so luckily Jenn found these cool rocket toys at the local "everything" mart and that kept the kids busy for hours. We went to the fairgrounds though to see the animals before the rodeo, celebrated my mom's bday with a beautiful cake I made, and headed down to main street to watch the Panguitch town parade in the morning. I can't forget the awesome breakfast my sisters and I had at Brian's cafe while my mom and John stayed home with all the kids. Thanks guys! After the parade, my kids and I headed home so we wouldn't be late for the Spanish Fork Rodeo with Tim's parents, and his brothers Matt and Jon with their families. I have to say, I love rodeos! They are so much fun! Maybe I'm really am a small town hick at heart.

Here are some pictures from our exciting 24th celebrations:

Emma and Keslie meeting for the first time

Spoon Me

2008-07-26T09:13:00.004-06:00

Although I have lots I could be blogging about with all the excitement that goes on in our household, I had to first give Spoon Me some love.

Spoon Me is an all natural frozen yogurt. It's not your typical sweet, ice cream tasting yogurt. It is healthy and the texture is so perfect. You should see the beautiful toppings they have to offer too. I have never seen such a variety of colorful fruit from berries, to mango, to kiwi. They do have some sprinkles and chocolate chips in case that's your style, but it's so good I can even eat it plain, or "topless" as they call it. The best part is that it's now open in Provo on Bulldog Ave, across the street from Provo High School and right next to Subway. (Location in Sandy now open too and St. George is coming soon) It is absolutely amazing, so take the drive and try it out. I'm sure you'll be addicted just as I am!

Priceless...

2008-07-12T14:06:00.003-06:00

Flowers from nursery that are being stepped on: $10.00
Lawn mower from Costco: $100.00
New sod: $$$$lots!

Daddy's little buddy helping him mow the lawn: priceless

Keslie's Blessing

2008-07-12T13:57:00.004-06:00

We had a really nice 4th of July weekend (where I didn't take any pictures) with the balloon festival Thursday morning in Provo, a neighborhood pancake breakfast that Amber, Steph, and I hosted for about 50 people on Friday morning, and BBQ and fireworks that evening with the Whitfords, of course! (Melissa, I will have to get pictures from you)

Sunday, July 6th, we blessed Keslie and we were so lucky to have both of her grandparents come along with lots of other family and friends. She was a very good girl and looked beautiful, of course, and Tim did a very nice job with the blessing.

We of course ate some really good food afterwards and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon in the Hall's backyard as usual.

Here are some cute pics of Keslie at 2 months old

Such a sweetheart!

San Diego

2008-07-12T11:17:00.013-06:00

What a great excuse we had this year to get together for a family reunion. My grandma turned 80 and my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! Wow!

We drove down a day early to see some old friends...

This is Paige. I was her nanny for a very long time and she is very special to me. Now she is 13 and all grown up. I hadn't seen Paige in over 4 years and she is such a beautiful and sweet young lady now. It was so good to see her!

And of course we had to get together for a quick visit with the girls from USU. Kristin, Dre and her adorable boy, Luke, Laura, and me with my 3 kids (I was obviously distracted by something in this picture). We were able to do a little catching up and reminiscing. We missed the other girls and hope to finally get a reunion together soon.

Thursday we went to SeaWorld with Grandma Ehorn-Foy, and my sisters with their families. Look how big our family is getting and look at all the strollers! It was like a parade walking through the park. (We missed you, Joel!)

Here are the older kids. They had such a good time together going on all the rides and seeing all the shows. We lost Grandma and Brooklyn for a few hours, but other than that, no major disasters.

A side note about SeaWorld...they have really made things more family friendly which we all really appreciated. Air Conditioned nursing rooms with rocking chairs throughout the park, and child swap so we didn't have to wait in line on the Atlantis Ride. Tallan threw his $18 SeaWorld hat down under the ride, and they even went down and got it for us. We were very happy with our visit that day!

Friday we played at the beach all day!

That night we had a yummy BBQ on the lawn to celebrate my Grandma's birthday!

(From left to right: some of the "greats", 80 candles on the beautiful cake,
we each made a square for this quilt for my grandma and my mom put the whole thing together. Isn't it amazing?!, my grandparents with their kids (minus my dad, of course), grand and great grandkids, the "greats")

Saturday was more of the beach. The kids couldn't get enough!

Saturday night was a very nice dinner and program for the anniversary celebration. The theme was Polynesian, and we couldn't get over how adorable the kids all looked!

My family, Grandma and Grandpa with their granddaughters

learning a dance for the program

The great grandkids

the girl cousins and the boy cousins

We had such a good time spending time together and watching our kids play on the same beach, and in the same hotel where we played when we were their age. What an amazing legacy Grandma and Grandpa have started!

Summer Fun

2008-06-10T16:52:00.004-06:00

I had to do a quick post about what our neighborhood looks like these days...

Lots of kids playing!

Benny and Tallan seriously have ALL the same clothes...here they are in matching bathing suits

The dads getting really competitive in a game of botchi ball. This has become a Sunday evening ritual in the Hall's backyard.

Tim and Warren started the addiction of "HORSE" with Tallan's basketball hoop and the excitement has spread. You wouldn't believe some of the shots these guys come up with. I'm just glad the game moved outside instead of in my family room.

You've heard of wild horses, wild coyotes, and a bunch of other "wild" animals, but have you heard of wild peacocks??? Our neighborhood has a few running around and I finally had my camara close enough to catch a shot of one before the kids chased it off. Sure, they are pretty to look at, but they are LOUD at all hours of the night. And they have a few favorite houses where they like to hang out on the roof. I'm glad ours isn't one of them because they are MESSY!

Yes, this post is to show a few of you how much fun we have and try and convince you to move here and be our neighbors. There are only a few lots left and you know who you are!

Keslie's Milestone Weekend

2008-06-10T16:40:00.005-06:00

Keslie had a great weekend!

She turned 1 month old! I can't believe it!

She officially grew out of newborn diapers!

She smiled at me! Thank you!

She slept through the night! She's slept through 2 nights in a row so far...what a good girl!

On Sunday she wore this purple dress to church that was Brooklyn's and I had a flash back of Brooklyn wearing it about the same age...

Brooklyn ---------- Keslie

They really do look alike!

My Mom is Cooler Than Your Mom

2008-06-07T10:39:00.003-06:00

My mom came to stay with us for 10 WHOLE DAYS to help me transition back to work and watch the kids while I was gone. I haven't spent that long with my mom since before I was married and we had so much fun! She was the best though. When I came home from work each day I was completely exhausted from lack of sleep, and my house would be clean, the laundry would be done, Tim's shirts had been ironed, my kids were happy and still alive. She would keep them entertained for an hour or so while I fed Keslie and got to take a nap. It was great! We did some quilting, shopping, eating, gardening, and watched a few movies. We were all so sad to see her go...the 10 days went by way too quick. We can't thank you enough, mom! You are absolutely amazing and we love you!

(we didn't get any pictures until the last day, and Brooklyn was up in Montana with Tim's parents)

One Expensive Cookie Recipe!

2008-06-04T07:48:00.002-06:00

I got this email and had to share it, not just because I love cookies, but I thought it is a pretty funny story.

Happy baking!

A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a veryexpensive store; I.e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00.

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe inDallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us aresuch cookie lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie.' It wasso excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and thewaitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid not, but you can buy TheRecipe.' Well, I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty -it's a great deal!' I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to myTab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-MarcusCharge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two saladsand about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of thestatement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe-$250.00. ' That was outrageous!

I called Neiman'sAccounting Department and told them the waitress said it was 'twofifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty dollars' byany reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because,according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the Recipe. We absolutely will not refund your moneyat this point.' I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the State of Texas . Ithreatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told,' Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back.' I just said, 'Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I' m going to have$250 worth of fun.' I told her that I was going to see to it that every Cookie Lover in theUnited States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free.She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do this.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you ripped me off!' and slammed downthe phone. So here it is!

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz. Chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups sugar
1 - 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream thebutter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, bakingpowder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll intoballs, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10minutes at 375 degrees.

Makes 112 cookies

Nothing but Fun!

2008-05-27T21:52:00.008-06:00

Keslie's first 3 weeks of life have been extremely exciting in our family! Here is our month in review...

A trip to Hurricane to visit Grandma, Val and her family, and GG

As we were getting ready to leave Hurricane, Brooklyn decided to give herself another haircut...guess she didn't learn the first time! So, she has bangs again as well as some other random layers throughout the rest of her hair.

Brooklyn graduated preschool! I'm so proud of her! They sang some really cute songs for the parents to show us that she did actually learn something this year even though every day we ask her what she did at preschool she says, "I don't know" or "I don't remember". One more year of preschool until kindergarten. I can't believe how old she is getting!

We went to a little party for a neighbor's birthday. What do you get for an adult on their birthday??? I looked everywhere for fun gift ideas but only found some for Christmas. My sister finally told me about this one. "Pop! Pop! Fizz! Fizz! Oh what a Happy Birthday it is!" (Attach popcorn and soda to card) If anyone else knows of any cute ideas, I would LOVE to know about them!

My first cookie decorating attempt, and I'm kind of proud at how they turned out. They were really yummy too! I need a lot of practice, but this is going to be a fun hobby for me!

Avery and Brooklyn "Jeepin" in Huntsville at the Holt's house. Isn't it absolutely beautiful?! We had a great visit with Laurel and her family Memorial Weekend while they were here from NY. The kids are SO cute and really enjoy playing with each other.

What would we do without a visit from The Whitfords? So glad they decided to make the looong roadtrip for the weekend! These kids can never get enough of each other. Before they came over on Memorial Day, Brooklyn asked me, "Mom, after I grow up and marry Parker, will I be a Grandma?" She also made sure to wear her favorite "butterfly shirt" that she is going to wear when she marries him. Cute!

Last but not least, some of my favorites from Keslie's first photo shoot. Here she is at 2 1/2 weeks old. Amber and I had way too much fun with this, but the little princess would not cooperate and go to sleep for us, so we'll be trying again soon. Is she not just so adorable though?! I love that face of hers!

Guess that's about it for now, but there's always more to come...

Keslie's Story...

2008-05-09T11:53:00.003-06:00

Our precious Keslie arrived on Wednesday, May 7th, and here's the story of her journey so far...

10 pm Tuesday: after sitting outside on our back porch talking with neighbors for awhile, I decided it was time for me to go to bed. I stood up to go inside, but felt so much pressure I didn't want to move!

10:30 pm Tuesday: Started feeling contractions, called our neighbors back over to be with our kids until Tim's mom could get there

11:00 pm Tuesday: Arrived at American Fork Hospital, got all checked in, hooked up to monitors, etc.

12:15 am Wednesday: Got an epidural...yeah!

12:30 am Wednesday: Doctor broke my water...dilated to 4+ (is that too much info? sorry!)

1:00 am Wednesday: I told the nurse I didn't think the epidural was working because I could still feel a lot of pressure. I pushed the button a few times to make sure I couldn't feel anything at all! Love that button! But, she thought maybe I was dilating too fast for the epidural to catch up and she was right...I was at an 8 already!

1:30 am Wednesday: Keslie makes her grand entrance into the world!

I was lucky that she was so much smaller than my other kids! She only weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19 inches long. Two pounds really makes a HUGE difference at that size! It's so fun to have such a tiny baby!

We are both recovering great and are very glad to be home from the hospital! Here are some pictures and I'm sure there will be lots more to come!

Holy Cow! I have 3 kids!

Such a proud big sister!

ps...thanks so much to the Halls for watching our kids that night and for the yummy dinner they brought over last night when we got home. We have the best neighbors ever!

In the past month...

2008-05-01T15:08:00.004-06:00

So the past month has been pretty busy which is why I haven't posted about it, so this will be a long update in the lives of the Flinders...

We got the kid's rooms all situated for the new baby. Tallan is in a toddler bed and the crib went in with Brooklyn. Tallan had a little too much freedom in his toddler bed and would be out 4-5 times per night for the first week. My favorite memories of this include finding him in the bathroom at 4am with his toothbrush and toothpaste saying, "teeth, teeth", waking up to a little slap on my face, or the best yet, waking up to him sitting on the floor next to my bed with my cell phone calling my boss on her cell phone at 1am...twice! The next night we put a child-proof door handle on the inside of his door and we've all been getting a lot more sleep.

Does this look like a little boy who could get into so much trouble?!

We had a baby shower at my house for Keri, who I work with and who is due a month after me. We ate some really good food including these pretty pink and white strawberries I made and the cheesecake-pops I wish I could take credit for. My neighbor and good friend, Steph, is an amazing chef and has her own food blog. Check out her link from my blog! Anyway, they were amazingly good and so pretty too. Thanks again for sharing, Steph! We played some fun games too, but of course I only really remember how good the food was!

Enjoying a little taste of spring in between snowstorms. We have had the craziest weather in Utah! It will be 70 one day and we will wake up to snow the next! We even woke up to snow this morning and it's May! I'm done! But, we sure have enjoyed being outdoors with our fun neighbors helping them in their yards since we aren't ready to do ours yet, having snow cones ( I got to purchase a shaved ice machine to hold me over since my dentist said no more ice chewing for me), and playing at the park lots!

Brooklyn and I, along with a friend from work and her two daughters, went and had a fun little spa day last week. A friend in my ward was doing an open house for her little salon in her basement and we had so much fun! We got our nails done, facials, and eyebrow waxing and tinting for me. The girls each got a little gift bag with lip gloss, nail polish, and their own little mani/pedi kits. Brooklyn loved being pampered! What girl doesn't?!

Brooklyn decided to take a picture of me while I was cleaning the play room and it's probably a good thing because I don't think we have any with this pregnancy. No, that's not a beach ball in my shirt, just our growing baby girl. One more week! I think I'll make it afterall!

I think that's about it for the month of April for us! Next week, a more exciting post with some baby news and photos!

Tagged awhile ago...

2008-04-08T19:51:00.010-06:00

So Melissa tagged me awhile ago but I was putting it off because I couldn't think of anything exciting to say about myself let alone 6 things! Besides that, anything I could think of revolved around food, which I guess is about right for me, so I guess that's what I'll write about.

1) I'm totally and completely addicted to ice and my addiction has rubbed off on my kids. I LOVE the ice from Sonic and for anyone wondering, it's $.22 to get a large cup of ice. The problem is I can't just get one anymore because both of my kids eat it all. We all even get several cups of crushed ice from the fridge each day. Another little habit of mine is to go to the drive through during Happy Hour and stock up on slushes. I keep them in my freezer and just get one out whenever a craving hits! Everyone at work thinks I'm crazy!

2) I love anything with peanut butter and chocolate...peanut butter chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins, peanut butter m&ms, and Reeses, especially the ones that come in different shapes for every holiday. Don't know why, but they taste better!

3) Since I sold my vinyl business and won't be working much longer, everyone is asking what my new hobby is going to be to stay busy...I think I'm going to take up cooking! Afterall, the Food Network is one of my favorite things to watch. I love to bake and try new recipes and I would love to learn to decorate cakes, cupcakes, and cookies too. My favorite new dessert that I can't stop thinking about is the pear cobbler from Pizzeria 712 that we had a few weeks ago. (Thanks for the double date Brian and Sarah! Good pick! Probably the best restaurant I have been to in Utah!)

(This cake is from Dippidee's website. They are one of my very favorite local bakeries. Isn't it awesome?!)

4) The last thing I can think about doesn't totally relate to food, but still to my senses. I LOVE the smell of cleaning products. This started at the end of my pregnancy with Tallan too, but I clean everything these days just so I can smell the cleaners. My favorite is bleach so I love it when any of us spill on white clothes so I can bleach the stain out, but I also really like the smell of the Kirkland powdered dishwasher detergent, so I run the dishwasher every night and just smell the detergent a little before I put it in. I know, I'm totally weird, but at least I don't eat it!

I think that's it! Now that everyone knows how totally strange I am, keep in mind that I am at the end of my pregnancy and most days really think I'm losing it anyway.

Hopefully if I get tagged after I have this baby, my obsessions will lean more towards exercise!

I now tag my sisters since they never post anything anymore!

SO tired!

2008-03-26T16:48:00.006-06:00

Have you ever been so tired you felt like you could just cuddle up in a laundry basket and go to sleep? Brooklyn has!

Easter Egg Hunts

2008-03-26T16:41:00.006-06:00

We had a fun Easter weekend with the annual Creer egg hunt on Saturday and then another egg hunt and an amazing dinner at Uncle Mark and Aunt Terri's house. Here is a little collage of the egg hunt pictures...

ps Please excuse the growing belly of mine. It's HUGE!

Easter Eggs!

2008-03-18T21:42:00.006-06:00

We decorated Easter Eggs for family night this week but Tim and Brooklyn had more fun with the camera than they did with the eggs!

Notice Brooklyn posing with two eggs, and then just one with a pretty sad face...she dropped one and it was done for!