The Fish!!

Emma for her birthday got a gold fish from my mom, which she lovingly called "shark". We had him for 2 whole days before he got flushed. Emma loved shark. She loved to watch him and feed him. She would see his food on top of the fridge after the flushing and she would ask. "shark? food?" Tyler had fish growing up and loves them and I am not opposed either so we thought about getting an aquarium and some more fish. My sister in law to be Stephanie came to our aid this last weekend when she asked if we wanted her fish. (thank you Stephanie!) YES! We bought an aquarium and added the fish. It has been so much fun. The are very pretty fish with a variety of colors and they are very relaxing to watch. We put the aquarium in Emma's room. She LOVES to feed them. She never lets me forget to feed them. And she hasn't been getting to bed on time, because we just sit in there with her and watch the fish instead of putting her to bed. It's fun. Here are the pictures of putting the aquarium together and putting it in Emma's room. She was soooo excited she just kept squealing and talking gibberish the whole time we were getting everything ready. Welcome Shark II, Shark III, Shark VI, Shark V and a Sucker fish to the family!

The Cookies

I got this email yesterday of a story I wanted to share:

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport.
As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies.
She sat down in an armchair in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace.
Beside the armchair where the cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading.
When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought: “What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!”
For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene.
When only one cookie remained, she thought: “ah…what is this abusive man going to do now?” Then the man, taking the last cookie, divided into half, giving her one half.
Ah! That was too much! She was much too angry now! In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed to the boarding place.
When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to get some gum, and, to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!
She felt so ashamed!! She realized that she was wrong. She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse.
The man had divided his cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter while she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself…nor to apologize.

Being in a thoughtful mood when I read this email, plus there were pictures so it went by fast (I don't normally read everything I get via email) :) I really enjoyed this little parable, if you will, you may have gotten something totally different out of it, maybe just thought it was funny. But I was so touched by the man in this story who willingly and selflessly gave of his cookies. I hope that I am that man who shares, even in the simplest ways. That is easily to forgive and not quick to judge. I can't say I always am, but I want to be. And I hope when I am in a situtaion where I need to be a little more Christlike I will remember the cookies and love.

Happy Easter!

By The Way...

The benefit concert turned out great - by the way!
Thank you for all you who came and supported the family!
We made enough money at the conessions stand to pay for the cost of the candy and water and made an additional $250 for the family! It was a lot of fun. Here is Emma helping us out. She was a big helper. And me and her by the poster. By the way, I cut my hair. :)

Making a Tent

Tyler made a tent with Emma a couple Sunday's ago while I was "trying" to take a nap. They were having a great time, and it wasn't very quiet, but I can't complain I love it!
Here are the pictures, they say it all. Thanks for being a wonderful Daddy, Tyler! I love you!

Potty Training...

So I have decided to be brave and potty train Emma.
She loves to get out of the tub to go "potty". Here are some pictures. We have been slowing going potty for a while now, mostly just before we get into the tub, which is why I think she likes to get out and then go. So between that and her knowing and her being 2 I thought we would give it a whirl!


I am welcome to any tips or advice! Please share! It's Wednesday now and we haven't actually pee'd in the potty yet. We keep missing it and today I didn't even try, yesterday was a long day for me :) I don't want to push it, so if this doesn't work I will take a break for a while. But I do have treats for her when she sits on the potty. (Resses Pieces) and a Sucker when she actually goes and she wants one of those suckers. But hasn't made it yet! I haven't been going the full day in panties, because things get busy. But I think once we figure things out, it will be okay. But we both are just beginners in a way...

Emma Can Count...almost!

Emma was counting away in the bathtub the other day. It was so cute! By the time I got the camera to film her she wasn't doing it as much or as well. But she was still cute!

Our St. George Trip

This last weekend my cousin Amy got married in the St. George Temple. We went down and enjoyed the wedding and the beautiful weather! Here is a picture tale of our trip.


This is a palm tree just Emma's size. I wanted her to stand in front of it so I could take her picture in her pretty dress...



...this is what she did instead...it probably had something with her going to bed at Midnight the night before! :)



This is my cute brother Eric and and his cute finance Stephanie! I haven't had a picture until now! Eric and Stephanie are getting married May 10th in the Bountiful Temple!



There was a cute little dog hanging out on the temple grounds and Emma being no respecter of dogs ran right up to it. She loves dogs! They even let her take it for a little walk, her other favorite thing to do. And no, we don't have a dog and no, we won't be getting one any time soon...that is what little brothers are for...oh, no we don't have one of those either....:)



Here is the happy couple Amy and her husband Tyler. We couldn't like him more, and not just because of the name! :) Isn't she beautiful?!



Here is Emma looking up at the huge palm tree on the Temple grounds. Yes, Emma that one isn't your size like the other one! So I did finally get a picture with her by a palm tree. This would be Emma's first time seeing one!



Here is Emma with her second cousin Kylee. They are just a few months apart and they loved to explore. Kylee was a little more obedient than Emma to come back to Mom though. I know that is hard for you to imagine. :)



Emma and more cousins sitting in the shade! Who would have thought that 70 degrees would be hot! We obviously haven't felt that in a long long time! It was beautiful though!



Emma was fascinated with this hedge, I am not sure if she could see through it or what. But she stood there like this for a long time. :)




Having fun with Daddy! "Again!" "Again!" was always her response after the ride.




My cute cousin Amanda. She loves the sun, and didn't think the 70 degrees was hot at all.



Alissa, my Mom, her brother Karl (father of the bride) and his wife Deb.




Tyler's brother Ryan moved to St. George in November, so we also got to visit with him. Here he and Emma are feeding their pet beta fish. Ryan is going through the temple for the first time next month in the St. George Temple and we are excited to visit again!

We also stopped by the outlet stores, but didn't find any great deals....and then we headed home. It was a quick trip, but a nice one. Emma was pretty good for us in the car. We borrowed James' DVD player and that saved us when she got really board. She slept some and cried some. But we made it. We were super tired when we got up Sunday morning, especially with getting in late and then having Daylight Savings time. Yuck!

While we were gone....

While we were on our BYU date, Alissa watched Emma. And this is what I found on my camera today when I downloaded everything. This is how much fun they had while we were gone! :) Thanks "Sissa" for being the best Aunt ever!

Benefit Concert - TMINUS5 and Jessie Clark Funk

A family in my ward are struggling with Cancer and my cute friend CarolAnne Knight decided to throw a benefit concert to help them with the huge medical expenses they are facing. As I am sure you can imagine this has thrown everything in their life for a loop. They are self employed and don't have medical insurance, and neither of them are working right now as Mark (husband and father) goes through the usual cancer treatments.
If you want to do something fun next week - come to the concert! It is for a great cause and it is cheaper than a movie and probably better for you too! :)
A family fun event! Bring everyone! Emma will be running around the halls! :)
Tyler and I are running the concessions stand, so come stop by and see us and buy a candy bar or bottled water! All proceeds go to the family! :)

TMINUS5 and Jessie Clark Funk
Thursday, March 13th
7:00 PM
Bonneville High School
Ogden Utah

More South Ogden 3rd Ward Birthday Party Pictures

There were just so many to choose from, I had to post more...mostly because my ward friends are the only ones who look at my blog! :) Here is your moment of fame! :)

South Ogden 3rd Ward Birthday Party

The last 2 weeks have been full of
Birthday Parties! If Emma didn't understand a birthday party, she does now. We had Tyler's, Rulon's, Emma's, Grandpa Dube's and the Wards all in one week!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE!
Here are some pictures I took at the ward birthday party. We were going to take pictures at every activity this year to make a video to show at the Ward Christmas Party... BUT....Tyler was the Activities Chairman as of last week, but on Sunday he got called to be the 2nd Councilor in the Young Men's...so humm...nevermind. :)
But here are some cute pictures anyway...
Tyler made the Oscar the Grouch cake for the Cake Decorating contest. Not to shabby eh? Good Job Tyler. I made the cake and it was delicious, our diet went out the window as we nibbled on it bit by bit till it was all gone! :)
The cute boy in the Super Man shirt is Tate DeGroot...he loves Ranch Dressing!
There's my cute Emma enjoying her Pizza!



And Lillianne Bailey sucking
on her sippy of Homemade Rootbeer...right Janna? :)


And the cutest little girls around! Emma and Jenysen Parker!

BYU DAY!!

Saturday was Tyler's BYU Day!
For his birthday I got him Basketball Tickets to the BYU vs AirForce game, and also wanted to take him to the Legacy Hall Museum, BYU Bookstore and Dinner before the game.
We left Saturday afternoon and had a wonderful time! I felt like we were on a real date! :)
We really enjoyed Legacy Hall seeing all the sports memorabilia that BYU has. Steve Young and Ty Detmer stuff and lots of other things. We watched some cool video clips and one of the BYU Locker Room, it is pretty amazing. Tyler had a big grin on his face the whole time. He loved it.

We ate at the Legacy Grill and had the most amazing hamburger I have had in a while. It was on a lightly toasted kaiser bun and it was DELICIOUS! We even saw Bryan Kehl at the grill, he was just passing through and signed a couple of kids shirts there, and Yes, Ladies, he is just as cute in person! :)

We then headed to the BYU bookstore for Tyler to browse and get him a new BYU T Shirt, but we were 4 minutes too late! They closed at 6PM! I was totally bummed! He wasn't as bummed because he wanted to get over to the game as soon as possible. :) We found great parking. It couldn't have worked out better. And we enjoyed the game. They slaughtered Air Force, it was a fun game. We shared a Cougar Tail, and if you don't know what that is, it is heaven for me, it was a 12+ inch long maple bar donut!!! I haven't had a donut in so long, I was in heaven. It was delicious! And yes, I ate most of it. :) It was a wonderful night out. Emma was super good for Alissa, which makes Mom relax even more. Thank you Alissa for watching her for us so we could have a day away!
I forgot my camera, but took these two pictures of Tyler at the Game on his cell.