The Groves Family

Jacob Today

2010-03-04T22:12:00.003-07:00

These are the pictures I took of Jacob today. He will be 9 months old in 2 days. He has a smile that just brings a smile to your own face. Cute gap between his front teeth. He has 6 teeth now! And the most beautiful big blue eyes. He is my little sweetie. Isn't he darling? He is so busy. Crawling everywhere. Pulling himself up on everything.

I'm Back!

2010-03-04T20:57:00.002-07:00

One of my many goals this year, was to start updating the blog again. I saw a friend of mine who turned her blog into a book. There is this program/website that will print and bind your blog for you. That inspired me! That is the perfect solution to my scrapbooking problem. ;) So here I am in March, starting the blog. I have no idea where to start, so I guess I will just start off where I left off. Jacob.

Jacob Update Birth - 2 Months

2010-01-29T17:00:00.009-07:00

Blue Eyes - 3 Months
Cool Cat - 2 months
Blessing Day - August 2, 2009 - 2 months
Loves to smile with Sister - 2 months
Loves his swing! Loves to nap! Sweet Boy
Emma couldn't hold him enough. Still can't Weeks Old!
Look at that boy! 7 Days Old
First Smile, caught on camera by Emma. One monthish

Sweet Boy a couple days old. In Daddys Arms

Jacob Ver Groves

2009-06-07T12:47:00.003-06:00

He's Here!
Jacob was born Saturday, June 6th at 7:07pm.
8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long.
He is so little I can't believe it. I love it when he opens his eyes and looks at me. He has been perfect so far. Sleeps and eats and never cries. I hope that stays, but I know I may be just dreaming. :) And let's just let me dream okay. :)
He has lots of dark hair, with an old man hair line. :) Not a lot of hair on top of his head. :) He has super long fingers and feet with long skinny toes. He is really ticklish too. I think he is beginning to look more like Emma, just some features we can remember from her, but he is his own little guy. It is going to be exciting to watch.
The delivery went really well. So much better than Emma's. Not that I loved every moment, but it was good. I went really quickly and I only threw up 3 times. :) It only took 2 pushes and he was out. Amazing.
Emma is the proudest big sister ever!!! She was so excited to come up to the hospital and see him and "hold him". I hope the newness wears off a little, becuase the poor guy is going to be mauled! :) She just stood at the window as the were cleaning him up and watched him with her nose pressed right against the glass.
Daddy is one proud dad and loves having a little boy to hold. This morning at 5am we couldn't get him to wake up to eat, so we just touched every little part of his body and checked him all out. I loved touching his soft skin, it was amazing to just look at him in the quiet of the morning and marvel at his perfectness. After rubbing him down for a hour he finally woke up and ate. He was just so content and peaceful, we loved it! Much different than our vocal, active 3 year old! :)

Easter Message

2009-04-12T08:56:00.000-06:00

Kyle got his Mission Call!!!!

2009-03-26T13:36:00.004-06:00

Kyle got his mission call yesterday!!! I know!!!!!!
We all got together last night to open it!
He is going to the Knoxville, Tennessee USA Mission and reports on June 24th. He is really excited and I am so proud of him. He is such a great little brother. It has been so fun to watch him grow the past year or so.
Congrats Kyle!!!

Before - opening the call!

After the call!!! Yea!!!

Emma got to hold her little cousin Dimitri. (more than once) She loved it! She was all over him! "I want to hold that baby!" She would tell me. Poor guy! :) I can't wait for her little brother to come. It is going to be so fun!

Eric and Stephanie closed on their new house yesterday too! It was a big day! Congrats guys! AND Stephanie got into the WSU Dental Hygiene Program last week! SO AWESOME!!

One more shot of cute Dimitri. He has gotten so big! He is almost 2 months old. They are blessing him this Sunday!

Emma's First Hair Cut

2009-03-26T13:32:00.005-06:00

Yesterday we got Emma's hair cut for the first time.
It was a hard decision to make, but her curls weren't so curly anymore and it was getting so hard to comb because it was so long. She asked our neighbor who cuts hair to do it for her and was so excited, so I just went with it. It turned out so cute. She isn't my baby anymore that is for sure, and now her baby blonde curly locks are gone too. :)

Emma before her hair cut!

See how long it is!? All her little blonde bottoms are going to be gone!

Getting her hair cut! She held still as well as a 3 year old does. )

Delena cutting Emma's hair! Thanks Delena!

After! I know it doesn't look much different, but it looks so much cleaner! Daddy didn't want too much cut off, and I still wanted to do cute things with it too. But here she is!

After!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Emma Updates

2009-03-17T14:31:00.005-06:00

Here is my little Emma enjoying her Green Pancakes and Green Eggs and Green Grapes in her somewhat green shirt. :0) We don't have a lot of green in her wardrobe I found out this morning. What a fun day! :)

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Last night for our FHE activity we pulled out the butterfly kite Emma got for her Birthday from Trevor and let it fly. She loved it! It is a pretty cool kite. Love this time of year! It is finally starting to feel like spring! Yea! I even have one little yellow crocus that has bloomed in my flower garden, now that is hope! :)

The other day Emma brought some playdough into me in the computer room to "show" me. She had made a face with her playdough. I don't know if someone else had helped her and it was still in the can, but I was pretty impressed. And she was pretty proud. She layed it all out perfectly for me to see. I have a feeling Aunt Alissa helped her do this. :)

Here is my little girl with her backpack on. This was a great $4 investment! (Love Target clearance) :) She is so excited to go to Preschool in fall now that she is "three". She puts all her valuable toys - the ones she doesn't like to share, of course, inside and then tells me she is going to school and walks around the house with it on. So cute! Oh, and notice the balloon tied to the top of the backpack. Another treasure she has to take with her wherever she goes. :)

Boutique!

2009-03-17T14:21:00.004-06:00

My friend April is having a boutique at her home on Friday, April 3rd. She is so creative and knows a lot of creative people, it is going to be really fun to come and browse. She even convinced me to put a couple of things in the boutique to sell.
If you are needing a girls night out, come along! If you want more information (like where it is and more details on what they are selling) please call me or email me. My email is on the left hand side of my blog. Hope to see you there!

Spring Fling Boutique

Come help us welcome in Spring with

Food, Shopping, Giveaways, Friends, and Fun!

Friday, April 3rd6:30-8:30

Our Vendors Include:

(To pre order or place a custom order so it’s ready for pickup that evening, please visit websites below)

Sweet Ruby- Baby & Children Accessories sweetrubyblankets.blogspot.com

Scentsy – www.scentsy.com/saras safestcandles@gmail.com

Pampered Chef - www.pamperedchef.com dal.pass@gmail.com

Addie Jane Embellished Words www.ajembellishedwords.blogspot.com ajembellished@gmail.com

Beaded Watches

www.skye-thompson.blogspot.com

Bows, bow holders, tutus, wands & more www.thechicbowtique.blogspot.com

Photography

ashleymcfarlanephotography.blogspot.com

Simple Expressions Vinyl

www.chelseys-simpleexpressions.blogspot.com

Holiday Blocks

Decorative frames

Jewelry and dish scrubbies

First Trip to the Dentist

2009-02-25T16:04:00.004-07:00

Emma had her first Dentist appointment this week. We went on Monday and she couldn't have been better! She loved to get her teeth "tickled" and all clean from "sugar bugs!". She got to watch The Incredibles in the chair while they did it and she was so good. I was so proud of her. Her happy personality came out and everyone there thought she was a darling, smart and polite little girl. Little do they know... :) The Sleeping "Loody" toothbrush was also an added bonus, plus she got a bouncy ball for being good.

First trip to the dentist tooth brush and all!

Emma being silly when I was trying to get another picture of her and her toothbrush.

Look at those clean white teeth! She thinks she is so funny! :)

Emma's Birthday!

2009-02-19T19:45:00.004-07:00

Now Emma's Birthday was a total kid birthday and she had the greatest day!
It sure was long and she slept really good that night because of it and I am grateful for that.
She had her little friends over for a crown sugar cookie and once again I didn't even take a pic! What is wrong with me! But she had a great time. Thanks for coming everyone!
That night we had her Little Mermaid Cake and opened her Princess Scooter and her Cinderella Doll "that sings!" she would tell you.
On Saturday we went to the Groves' family for the combined birthdays of Rulon and Emma. Rulon's is on the 18th and Emma's the 20th. She was spoiled rotten and got some fun things! Thank you to everyone for loving my little girl and having fun with us.
It was a "Martha Speaks" party and we played some doggie games and had cake. A fun night for sure. Here are some pics that I actually took of the events. :)
It's hard to believe that Emma is 3 years old! She is so excited to be 3 because that means she gets to go to preschool in the fall! She got a backpack for her birthday and is walking around the house with it full of her toys as I type this. She is so excited. She is getting so big! I should go get a picture of it and I also need to get one of her riding her scooter. She loves it!

Emma with her presents, can you tell which one is the scooter? :)

Emma and her Little Mermaid Doll Cake - Mom sure tried to make it cute. :)

Happy Birthday to Emma!

Emma and her Cinderella doll! She loves it!

Her Martha Speaks coloring page. Looks good Emma!

Playing Pin the tail on Martha

Playing "doggie" by moving one doggie toy with your mouth from one bowl to the other.

Me explaining how to do it. :) Rulon looking at me like I was crazy! :)

Grandma made the awesome Martha Speaks cake. Thanks Grandma Groves!

Emma and her backpack! Mama did good with this buy!

Me and my sweetheart! Happy Birthday my little 3 year old! Where has the time gone?

Tyler's Birthday

2009-02-18T15:34:00.001-07:00

I didn't take one picture of Tyler's birthday. How bad am I?
We went and saw Taken on President's Day. His choice of movie of course. It was actually pretty good and very intense. We went to dinner on his birthday (Feb 17th) to Red Robin - his favorite and then had cake with his family. He is a whopping 27 years old! :) I know, I robbed the cradle. And he reminds me of that all the time. I got him David Foster's new CD Hit Man and a Tent Fan for Camping and the Caulk Pro - yeah the one you see on TV. It's pretty cool. I can't wait for him to use it around the house...not that I got it for him for that reason. The poor guy had to go to the dentist on his birthday (he HATES the dentist) and it snowed like crazy so he shoveled a lot, so he said it wasn't the greatest day, but isn't that how birthdays are? Not the same as when you were a kid?

I love my hubby so much. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Happy Birthday Tyler!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T15:17:00.002-07:00

Here is my little Valentine Sweetheart.
I made her this little shirt for Valentines day with my friend April.
Doesn't she just melt your heart!?
Tyler spent last night at the Klondike Derby with the Scouts - it snowed all night long and is still snowing this morning, I bet he is having so much fun! ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-02-10T15:18:00.003-07:00

When they announced the Open House for the Draper Temple, I was so excited and couldn't wait to take Emma. I don't know about you, but when I first had Emma, I wanted to take my baby with me to the temple. I feel so at peace and close to my Heavenly Father and Savior there and wanted to have my precious baby with me. I can't wait for the day when she is old enough and we can go. Until then, this was the next best thing.
She always wants to go with us when we tell her we are going to the temple. "I want to go to the temple!" she says. Well, this time, I told her "yes you can go!" It was fun to hear her talking about going to the Temple.
We went last Friday and it was a slow time I guess, because we got right in no waiting (a blessing with our busy Emma) and she loved it. It is seriously one of the most beautiful temples I have ever been in. It was fun to show all the pictures of Jesus to Emma and all the pretty lights. She loved the font too. We parked at a close by church and took a bus up to the temple. The bus was pretty exciting too. It was a cold day, as you can see, so here are some far way pictures of the temple.
Leanne, I wish you were still here in Utah so I could take you! I promised myself I would the next time there was a new temple in Utah! You would have loved it! I thought of you! If they ever build a temple in Texas, go to the open house!

Rewards for Emma

2009-02-10T13:38:00.007-07:00

With the new year I wanted to do some new goals with Emma too. Plus I was really needing some help with her to get things done without whining and crying over everything. So I started a Sticker reward chart. It has done wonders!!!! She brushes her teeth by herself in the morning and makes her bed and says her morning prayers. It is good for mom to have the chart too, because then I remember to do those things. One day I was in the shower and I told her go and make your bed so you can get your sticker. I just mostly told her that so she would leave me alone. I got out of the shower and and looked in her room and she had made her bed all by herself!! I was so proud! She sure is getting big.

Emma's Sticker Chart!

Her first making of bed alone - GREAT JOB!

We also moved Emma to a big bed right after Christmas. If I could do it over again, I would have done a lot of things different - like never move her from a crib! :) It was no fun, but the pain is mostly over and she sleeps in it fine. It wasn't really getting her to fall asleep in it as it was getting her to stay asleep all night. Sometimes I felt like I had a newborn again! After much trial and error I finally got some advice from my neighbor who would reward her child if he stayed in his bed all night with a prize the next morning. The $1 or less for a prize is well worth a good nights sleep for me!! It also was the key. We still have some bad nights, but she doesn't get a prize the next morning, and that really hits home with her and she is doing much better.
Here are some of the more humorous pictures of her sleeping and her first bed making all by herself. Oh, she has only fallen out of her bed one time, and it didn't even phase her, she was still sleeping on the floor. Tyler and I heard the THUD! and went to see what it was, we couldn't stop laughing. :) I should have taken a picture!

The first night in her big bed. We were so proud and thought "That wasn't too bad". Little did we know... as always...

Emma falling asleep the wrong way.

Her daddy sleeps just like this with his hand on his face!

New Baby in the Family

2009-02-06T13:15:00.002-07:00

James and Vicki had their baby boy on January 30th.
He was a little miracle, as they had a few complications. We are sure grateful he got here safely.
He is beautiful! He was 7 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.
They named him Dimitri James Zollinger Young. James and Vicki and baby are doing great!
Emma loves having a new baby cousin! She was devastated I wouldn't let her go to the hospital to see him. So when we stopped by when he came home, she was all smiles and ready to hold him. She is going to be a great big sister!

104 Years Old!

2009-02-04T15:12:00.001-07:00

On February 2 Tyler's great Grandmother celebrated her 104th Birthday!
I know! Can you believe it? It's a good thing I got a few years on Tyler for he has longevity in his genes! :)
She is a darling 104 year old. We celebrated with her and went to Red Lobster. Her favorite. She always gets the coconut shrimp. She obviously still has good taste too. :) She immigrated here from Holland after WWII. When she talks she shares her Dutch with her English. I wish I spoke Dutch! ;)
Here is Tyler, Emma, Great Grandma Rynsburger and Tyler's mom, Michelle. Emma and Great Grandma are 101 years apart! Pretty amazing!

It's A........

2009-01-08T14:32:00.002-07:00

We found out what we are having yesterday!

It's a BOY!!

We are really excited. Tyler is thrilled! Baby is healthy and doing great!
We told Emma as we were putting her to bed and she took it really well. She has insisted that it is a baby girl this whole time. She will be a great big sister!

Still love the Swing...

2009-01-06T16:34:00.003-07:00

Even in the snow....

Thank you Uncle Ryan!

2009-01-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

This is the darling outfit that Ryan gave Emma for Christmas. Ryan lives in St. George, so I am posting this so he can see how cute she looks in it. She loves it because it is almost like a dress! :)
Thank you Uncle Ryan!

Of course she had to take a picture of me taking a picture of her! :)

Building a Snowman

2008-12-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

With our first big snow storm this year Tyler and Emma built their first snow man together.
She thought this was the neatest thing in the whole world!

A White Christmas Day!

2008-12-27T19:09:00.004-07:00

We had a busy yet wonderful Christmas. I am going to have to do something about the busyness, but I might have been super tired because I'm pregnant, I dunno. But it was a long day. We were really grateful for 4 wheel drive as we tried to get around in all the snow! What a white Christmas!
Here are a few pictures of our Christmas morning. Emma was so excited. She woke up at 8am and called from her crib. "Get Presents!!" She remembered. So fun! She pulled us to the living room to open them.

BEFORE

Her pretty dress ups! See Daddy in the back with her pink camera!

Sleeping Beauty jacket - or as she calls it Sleeping Loody!

Her Snap n' Style Doll! She can put the clothes on by herself! Mom is excited about that! :)

Here she is! What a happy Christmas Morning!

AFTER
(That is the recycling pile :)

Christmas Eve at the Groves

2008-12-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Groves family.

Emma loves her cousins; Rulon and Peyton.

Here is Peyton getting into the Christmas Tree.

Emma tickling Rulon

Rulon getting back at Emma and tickling her!

PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa Groves! She loves them.

Santa also visited us that night. When Emma was sitting on his lap telling him what she wanted for Christmas, she looked over at us and said "Hims Trevor!" :0) It was Trevor all dressed up. But I think it just confused her. Because she said "goodbye Santa" and talked about him all night. I don't think it even sunk in. :) I got it all on video, but the file is too big to post on here. :(

Emma's Christmas Dress

2008-12-22T17:09:00.002-07:00

Here is our Pretty Princess. She LOVES her Christmas Dress. It "twirls" you know! :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Making Christmas Gifts

2008-12-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

I made a lot of jewelry for Christmas gifts this year...
I also always had a little helper.
I will let the pictures describe themselves - thanks Tyler for photo documenting this. :)
Let's just say a lot of time and work went all over the floor.

Singing to Baby Jesus

2008-12-19T19:22:00.004-07:00

So I caught Emma singing, "Once upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping "Loody" according to Emma) to Baby Jesus and Mary the other day. We have been trying really hard to teach her the real meaning of Christmas and she loves to play with the Nativity scenes. I hope it means that she loves Baby Jesus to sing him her favorite song! So cute!

Santa

2008-12-18T16:58:00.003-07:00

Our Ward Christmas Party was last night.
We had the BEST Santa there. Emma was so scared to talk to him, even though she really wanted to. Santa just talked to her while she sat on Daddy's knee and then asked her what she wanted and asked for a high five and a hug and she promptly gave him one and we quickly took a shot of her on Santa's lap! Now she isn't so scared of him. Even waved to him goodbye! Yea!
The other side of the story is we were preping her before we left on Santa being there and telling her that he will ask her want she wanted for Christmas. We hadn't even asked her that. "Hey Emma what DO you want for Christmas?" "Humm...let me think...I want candy, toys and a camera!" says Emma. "YES!" says Mom quietly, becuase she did get her a camera, knowing she would L-O-V-E it! :)

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-15T16:25:00.005-07:00

Emma sure loved putting up our Christmas Tree! I wasn't feeling very good so I was really grateful for the help - especially when she put all her ornaments on one branch. :)
She sure is proud of her work though! :)

My winter Garden

2008-12-10T20:00:00.003-07:00

It is December 10th - just a titch of snow and it has been so mild and unseasonably warm....
I went to my garden while Emma was swinging and I found my spinach is still growing and thriving! I had no idea. There was even some flowers still blooming on my rock flowers. WEIRD!

The Swing Set

2008-12-10T15:13:00.003-07:00

So, I have been wanting a swing set all summer. Emma loves them. She was constantly over at the neighbors all summer (whether they were there or not) to play on their swing sets. It's a great entertainer. Then you say, "Why don't you get one?" Well, one word. Tyler. :)
Tyler is a little obsessed, a perfectionst, and a hard worker, when it comes to his yard. I do believe he got it from his dad. (Love ya Kevin!) And I am very grateful for it, but in this situation it does have it's drawback. So he has flat out refused to get one. ("Do you know what those things will do to my grass? They are pain!")
Well, a couple of weeks ago, a cute lady up the street asked us if we wanted one. Her grandkids don't use it anymore and she wanted to get rid of it. So I told her my dilema with Tyler but I would let her know. I went up and checked it out and it was a nice swing set and even had that swing teeter totter on it that Emma loves. I told Tyler what had happened and told him not to make a decision right now and to keep an open mind. But this summer when I have a baby and Emma I am going to need that kind of an outlet. I told him I wanted to give it a try and if he didn't like it I would compromise and we would get rid of it. And I left him alone to think about it for about a week. I was really proud of myself for not making him feel guilty or anything. :) Well, just one time I did. :) Well, to my surprise he went and got it from our neighbor on Saturday while I was Christmas shopping. I was so surprised to see it in the backyard when I got home. I didn't think he would give in! I was all smiles as I got into the house and he just looked at me and said. "I hate it." But we have it! :) We'll see what happens this summer, but for now we have a swing set! Emma LOVES it! We went outside when the sun hit the backyard today and swung on it. She went from one swing to the next to the next. She had to try them all out! It's going to be fun. Just pray that the fun will last. :)

Look at that smiling, happy, beautiful girl! How could you take this swing set away from her! :)

Our Big News!

2008-11-10T20:51:00.004-07:00

Well, It is better when Emma tells it...but we are having a baby!!!
Emma is really excited! We took her to the doctors appointment with us and she was in awe to be able to see the baby! She points to my tummy all the time and says "You have a baby". She also loves to kiss my tummy too. She is going to be a great big sister. She also likes to look at the ultra sound picture. She wants us to show her where the head and everything is....which you can't see. The baby is so small we tell her, but she still wants to know, so we "show" her. She loves it. The first time we "showed" her she said "oh" and left the room then we heard her yell "I can't see it!!" We had to laugh, because we can't either. :)
We are due June 10th. I am super nervous. I hope I can be a good mother to another baby and Emma! Emma has been so, oh, I don't know the word....hard. :) I just feel so inadequate, but I want another child and I want her to have siblings, so here we go!! Just pray I have a quiet one next. :)
I have been a little sick. The normal nausea and my sense of smell is through the roof, but I am dealing with it. Tyler was out of town all last week and I thought I wasn't going to make it. I was not cut out to be a single mom. It was so hard. Being sick and being alone with Emma was tough. He came home on Saturday and life has been heavenly!!! I love him so much. He has been so good to me and takes such good care of us. He took this whole week off so I have him home and I am enjoying every minute of it. Oh, the joy! Absence makes the heart grow fonder and more grateful too. :)

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T16:52:00.001-06:00

We enjoyed another happy Halloween!
Emma was a Fairy Princess. Like her favorite book: "Alice the Fairy" by David Shannon.
Isn't she darling!? I made the tutu and her shirt. So fun!

Does this mean....?

2008-10-15T17:01:00.007-06:00

Does this mean it's time to move to a toddler bed?????? I walked in on her boycotting her nap (which is becoming more and more common) and saw her trying to get out and of course...grabbed the camera. She has never tried this before and this attempt wasn't successful... but I am not ready to move her out of the crib. I need her to stay in bed when I put her down! Mama needs her to sleep!!! :)

Our Summer is over...

2008-09-20T16:02:00.008-06:00

Our summer blog posts wouldn't be complete without a couple of honorable mentions of our experiences.

Labor Day weekend we also went camping with Tyler's Grandma and Grandpa Groves and family. When we were leaving the campfire to go to bed, Emma walked by the Colman Propane Lantern touched it accidentally. She was just playfully swinging her arms as we walked away and just got too close and barely touched it. It scared her too. NO FUN. You can barely tell from the picture, but she got such a big blister on her pointer finger. Thank goodness she was so tired, because after the ice and Tylenol did all it could she finally just fell asleep. I haven't felt so helpless as a mother in a long time. But she was so brave. And she knows to stay away from those lanterns!

We have a new addition to our house...a ceiling fan in our bedroom!!! With this hot summer and trying to save some energy and money, this was a lifesaver. I was sleeping so horribly until we got this and hooked it up! The first night I slept the whole night through! No uncomfortable hotness! LOVE IT!!!

We got Emma completely potty trained by the end of this summer also! We took that little potty with us to every camp out and it worked great! She is doing so good! YEA EMMA!!! And Yea to no more buying diapers! We aren't quite dry all night long yet...but we'll get there! (Love the Pampers Night Jams - they are the best - FYI) Emma has her Disney Princess Panties, courtesy of Grandma Young and she is loving being a Big Girl now!

And Last but not least...I have a few things I need to say about some encounters with some unfriendly neighbors this summer. The Bee Family. We got bombard by bees and wasps this summer at our house! I don't know if it was the beautiful flowers we had in our flower beds or what, but it was miserable for... ME!!!! I got stung 3 TIMES in a months time!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hadn't been stung by anything since I was a kid and I barely remember it! I have never feared bees but now I have a brand new fear. I hate them! The first one I was just walking up the steps to my front door and a wasp just landed on my foot and stung me! I wasn't doing anything! Thank goodness for my neighbor Janna and her Sting Ease!
The second time, a week later mind you, I was outside again in my PJ bottoms with my friend April and our kids and one got up my pants! YES!!! PANTS!!!! It was horrible. April and Trent may be laughing at this for the rest of their lives but I did a little dance when it stung me and dropped my pants and ran into the house screaming! It was awful! I tried so hard to not let Emma see my emotional stress of Bees because I didn't want her to be scared of them too, but it just kept happening!!! She isn't really afraid of them, but she knows how to mimic mom screaming and telling the Bees to "GO AWAY!"
The third time was while Tyler was at Scout camp. I was trying to be a good mom and so Emma and I had a picnic outside in the backyard. All of a sudden one bee showed up and then another and another. Soon there were at least 5 bees all around us! I gathered our stuff and calmly went inside and came back out to get Emma and her plate and as I walked across the grass, I had one again sting me on the top of my foot! They would just hoover on the top of the grass. This one was probably more traumatic than the one up my pants, because I could see it in my foot and it wouldn't get off!!!!!!! Janna and her Sting Ease weren't home, I was all alone and in a lot of pain. (I'm a wimp I know, but they HURT). I concocted some mixture of Baking soda and water and then meat tenderizer and water, but nothing helped but ICE. So word for the wise = ICE when you get stung and you don't have any Sting Ease! Thankyou to Delena my other wonderful neighbor who's husband saw me crying outside as I came back from Janna's house and sent her over to see if I was okay. She almost cried with me. She hates bees more than I do! :) It was nice to have someone else understand how frustrating this was! There are no missing Bees in the Groves' yard this summer! Let's hope for a less bee yard next year.

So, there was our summer! Never a dull moment!

Lagoon!!!

2008-09-14T15:51:00.005-06:00

For my mom's birthday we all got together and went to Lagoon! Thank you! to Stephanie and her discounted tickets! We sure are glad Eric married her! :) It had been forever since we had been. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been to Lagoon. James and I started talking and we figured out it was at a Institute Lagoon Night and that was the first time he met Vicki!!!! She was there with her family (Her Dad was an Institute teacher). It made us laugh to remember that and look how life has turned out! So it was at least 6 years ago!

It was one of our "Fun" goals this year to take Emma to Lagoon. She loved it! We knew she would. We all had a good time...minus going on the Wild River Rapids ride right when we got there and getting SOAKED and being wet for a long time. I will never do that again. :) Tyler was smart and stayed behind and took pictures. :) This was part two of our Young Family Vacation together. Camping last weekend, Lagoon this and celebrate Mom's birthday.

Here's a little slide show of our fun!!!

Young Family Campout!

2008-09-08T15:46:00.003-06:00

For the first time we all got together and went camping with my brothers and sisters this last weekend. We just went up Weber Canyon and spent the night. I have no pictures, because my camera is DEAD. Did any of my siblings take any? Let me know, then I will know if you even read my blog. :) Going so late in the year it was super cold, but we managed alright and stayed warm by our campfire. We popped popcorn with my nifty camping popcorn popper! Ate good food made by Tyler and enjoyed everyone's company. In the morning we braved the cool air and even took 3 runs down the Weber River in tubes! Someone I know took pictures, and I can't wait to see them! It was so cold and the water low, we kept hitting our bottom's on rocks! OUCH!
It is definately a tradtion, and next year we will go when it is warmer and I will have a camera! :)

Groves Family Campout

2008-09-05T15:13:00.008-06:00

Last week we went on our Groves Family Campout. We went up into the Unitas to Smith and Moorehouse. We had a great time. It is so beautiful up there! We saw lots of wild life and relaxed. Emma loved it! Here are our memorable pictures!

Emma and Rulon relaxing in their chairs by the fire.

All of us chillin' by the the fire...pit. Don't you love Emma with her leg over the arm of the chair?
This is the only way that we can get Emma to take a nap when we don't have her bed. A walk in the stroller. This tree was perfect in the shade and propped back.

Emma and Peyton. She sure loves her little cousin!

The kids got sooo dirty! Here's Rulon showing us his dirty hands and Emma just looking at hers. "What? They are dirty?"

Emma went fishing for the FIRST time with her Grandpa!! She was sooo excited!!

Wading our feet in the cool water, waiting for the fish to bite!

Holding the fishing pole with Grandpa!

Just waiting for the fish...come here fishy!

Emma loved to throw rocks into the water. Waiting for fish to bite can be quite boring for a 2 year old. :) Thank goodness this didn't bother the fish!
Here the fish comes! Reeling it in!
There he is!!

Here it is!!! She wanted to hold this so bad, but as soon as she did she was DONE!

Labor Day Weekend and Happy Birthday!

2008-09-03T15:16:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was my 31st Birthday! Wow! Where did the time go? Thank you to everyone and their well wishes on my day. You made it very special!
It was a very nice day. My cute sweetheart loves me and made my day very special. We went to breakfast with Tyler's dad that morning. Thanks Kevin! And then I had a nice picnic with some of my girl friends. Tyler let me take a nap. It's been a long time since I had one of those. I also got to take a HOT long shower with no interruptions or visits from Emma. That was the best present that day. :) We then went to dinner - Cafe Rio - surprise, surprise, I know. Then had the family over for cheese cake that Tyler made himself! He did SUCH a good job! It was sooo yummy! And there was even some left over and I can't wait to enjoy some tonight! It was a very nice day. I love that Tyler can take the day off and spend it with me. He has actually been off of work since Friday and we have had a great weekend camping, shopping, and just being together. He went back to work today and we are back in the swing of life again. We have a bunch of tomatoes we are going to freeze and that has to be done tonight. And we both have other projects and assignments that need to get done. And we are going on our last camp out of the season this weekend with my family. So we have that to prepare for too! Busy Fun Busy! We'll keep you posted!
PS
We went kayaking a couple of weeks ago also. SO FUN! And we took our camera, Not so fun, it got wet and it just isn't the same. It takes pictures, but that is about it. No zoom, no viewing previous pictures, it is like an old point and shoot. :( Bummer...so pictures are going to be few and far between for a little bit. It's just not as convenient anymore. :)

Cafe Rio - eat your heart out!

2008-08-28T15:58:00.004-06:00

Dear Adam and Krysta,
This post is for you! With our wonderful coupon it only cost us $5!!!
Wish you were here and yes, it still tastes great! :)

To Everyone Else,
We really like Cafe Rio and with a coupon we LOVE Cafe Rio!
And Emma's "Casidilla" (Napolian Dynamite) is FREE!
YUM!!!!

Pioneer Trek 2008

2008-07-24T15:52:00.001-06:00

"Maybe it was for us to come here and remember the faith of our fathers?
Maybe it's not a story of suffering but one of rescue?"
- Michael Spainhower

I just read an article that Tyler's non member boss gave to him from the Salt Lake Tribune about Pioneer Treks. The author, Jessica Ravitz went along and documented her experience and found out "What the heck is up with trek?!" She hit it dead on. After reading the article I really felt like I needed to update this post. I still haven't gotten pictures yet, and that is okay. I will add them when I do. But that quote above from the article hit home for me. Why did all the suffering and tragedy have to happen? I don't think there was one answer. But after what I experienced on my Trek Experience, I couldn't be more grateful for their legacy, their faith and how they endured to the end. Period. I don't think it was a story of suffering but a story of rescue. They found God in their experiences. And in mine I did too. I don't have the words to even express what I felt. But I am so glad I got to go, and if you ever get the chance, do it! It isn't that bad, and even if it is, you won't remember the bad parts. I had countless experiences that kept me going that I will keep forever in my heart. I learned about what sacrifice really is, what love really is, and what it means to know your Savior. The stories and places I visited have touched me for the rest of my life. I hope I can be as faithful, and show love and sacrifice for others as the pioneers did and how our Savior does for us. I have been still devouring pioneer stories since I have been home, they mean so much more to me now. I just cry as I read them. Amazing faith. The Pioneer Trek I experienced for me was definitely one of rescue. My rescue.
Did you know that the Rescue party from Salt Lake came upon the Willie Company first? They were ahead of the Martin Company. But not in any better condition. They were starving, they were cold, they were dying. The kids were licking the inside of the flour sacks for anything. The fact that the rescuers even found them in the winter storm was a miracle in and of itself. And when they did, they killed all their cattle and ate and found hope that it was almost over, the rescue party was just ahead. And then they told the rescue party to go on and help the Martin Company. As awful and hard and as miserable as they were, I cannot even comprehend, they showed love and sacrifice and said, no go on, we'll be fine, help the Martin Company, they are worse off then us. In so many ways that touches my heart. Being on the banks of the Sweetwater river where that occurred was so sacred for me. What an experience and one that I hope I never will forget. Pioneer Trek 2008. I don't have any other words to describe but...amazing. 8/28/08

Day 4 - Home again

2008-07-23T15:48:00.003-06:00

Sunday morning we went to church and watched Matilda be blessed. It was so good. Emma played with Leah next to us and it was one of the more enjoyable Sacrament Meetings I have had in a long time.
I neglected to get a picture of the cute Matilda (Shelley and Cory's little one). Shame on me! Or I would post it here.
Our last night there, we put in a movie for Emma to watch and she was out in no time at all. She slept pretty good on our drive home Sunday. But boy were we all happy to be in our own beds that night.

Day 3 - Lake Tahoe

2008-07-22T16:29:00.003-06:00

On Saturday July 5th, we went up to Lake Tahoe. I was really looking forward to seeing it, because I had heard so much, and I wasn't disappointed. So beautiful! The surrounding towns on the North side were also so romantic and cute. I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind going back with Tyler and enjoying it someday.

Isn't it beautiful? Not the same blue as Bear Lake, but still beautiful!

The water was amazingly clear! I couldn't believe it. It could have been the Carribean if it hadn't been so cold! :) The beach was just little rocks, that were a little uncomfortable on the bear foot. I told Tyler we could get a great pedicure exfoliation just by rubbing our feet in the rocks. I really wanted to get in the water and play, but like I said it was cold water, and the temperature wasn't that warm outside either (High70s') and I knew I would regret it. Next time, I will have a tube and water shoes and then I will be ready to play!

Michelle and Derek met us up there with Leah and Charlie (their cute kids) and we just hung around for about an hour and then hiked back up to our car. Did I mention that? It was a hike down to the beach and then a harder one back up. I told Tyler I wanted to go on a little hike, and I got my wish. I saw Tahoe, played in the water and got a hike. Mission accomplished.

This is the greatest picture. Emma hadn't had a real nap or gone to bed at a resonable hour for a 2 year old for almost 5 days and boy was she tired. Tyler and I looked back at her to see why she was being so quiet and this is what we saw. We laughed so hard.

Reunion - Day 2

2008-07-22T15:48:00.006-06:00

The actually family reunion was on July 4th and at this park called Bower's Mansion. I should have taken a picture of the mansion, but I didn't. It was old and basic and I hear really extravagant inside. It cost $5 for a tour, and I just wasn't willing to pay for it. Apparently the Bower's were one of the first silver mine people in Nevada and made a lot of money off of it. But had a tragic life also. The state now owns the land and have turned it into this beautiful park.

Day 2- The reunion

This is Leah, Emma's cousin. They got into a little scuffle over Leah's bag of Doritos. Leah didn't want to have anything to do with Emma, until I got Emma her own bag. Then they were best of friends. They are only a few months apart. Aren't they cute?

Emma getting a ride from Uncle Chad. She thought this was fantastic!

Leah wanted on too! Fun fun!

Riding with Annabelle too!

Water fight! For all the "kids"! Lucas is getting Emma and she is getting him right back.
Emma squirting. Her dad was so proud of her squirt gun skills. :)
Leah running away from Emma again. For good reason, she's got a squirt gun!
The squirt guns got old, so why not just get all the way wet in a bucket of water?
My cousin Quintin (in the middle) just had twins! His wife is on the right - Rhiann. His brother Johnathan is on the left. (There you go Cadence and he is holding a baby!) They sure have their hands full. But what cute babies! Quintin is a great father and person. When I was at my wits end with "no nap Emma" he was right there with a smile. I know inside he was saying. Try having 2 babies and a 4 year old! :) Thanks for your love Quintin!

Michelle was proud of the picture she got of Cadance (the one holding the camera) well, I am proud of my shot too, becuase she is even smiling!!! Cadance was the camera guru and she took a ton of pictures I didn't. Be grateful or you would be looking at them all right now too. Hey, Cadance do you have a link for them yet? Eh, Eh, more picture posts! :) I really want some of Emma pulling the boys in the wagon. Rhiann got some good ones but I can't steal them off her blog. Shoot!
I dunno if you can see her expression well on her face, but I wonder what she was telling Uncle John L ? Humm...

And finally!! She fell asleep! When Emma was little this is how I used to get her to sleep. A ride in the stroller. And it only took a few swipes in this one and she was out! Isn't she cute when she sleeps? It was a fun reunion!

Family 4th of July before the 4th

2008-07-22T15:10:00.004-06:00

Since we were leaving for the 4th of July, we all got together at my mom's for FHE on June 30th and lite fireworks and ate donuts! It doesn't get much better than that for me. :)

Cute Emma watching the fireworks.

James showing off his sparkler talents.

Ooooh!

Emma with Aunt Stephanie!

Young Family Reunion - Day 1

2008-07-22T15:08:00.004-06:00

We took the 8 hour drive to Reno, Nevada for the Young Family reunion (my side) at the beginning of July. It was quiet the ride! Emma did pretty good considering she didn't have a nap that day and only slept about 2 hours the whole time! We ran around at every gas station stop to get her wiggles out. So by the time we when rolled in at 1:30am and we were super tired.
My wonderful cousins Shelley and Cory put us up in there house for 4 days. I hope they don't regret it. :) They have a beautiful place and we enjoyed staying there.
Here is a picture journal of our events.
Day 1 - "The River" in downtown Reno. The river that is named a cool name Waggogie or something like that runs through downtown Reno and it is a quite the place to play and hang out. Emma loved the water and Tyler and a few of my cousins went body tubing (no tube just your body) down the river's current. They had a great time.

Tyler, Danny and Susan waiting for the rocks...

Shelley and Susan my cousins

See Tyler coming down into the rocks and white water?? He said it was fun, and I just took his word for it. The scraps and bruises and torn swimsuits weren't enough to convince me! :)
I am glad I stayed in the shade with the baby and took pictures. ;)

Fireworks!

2008-07-22T14:47:00.005-06:00

We went to the South Ogden Days Fireworks show. We were out of town for the 4th so this was our fireworks show of the year.

We brought games and snacks and snuggled down for the fireworks.

Emma got tired of us taking all the pictures so we let her have a shot at taking pictures of us.
It was a good time. She would hold the camera and say "3, cheese!" And then somtimes she would just take the picture. It was a challenge to move with the camera to try and get in the shot. She loved it and laughed and laughed. We got some crazy shots. It was so fun. Here are a few of her better ones. ;)

This one says it all! She took one of herself!

She was a little unsure of the fireworks and only watched them for a few seconds then wanted to hide under the blanket by me. She's never been bothered by them in the past.
Emma hiding from the fireworks.

Ward Camp out

2008-07-22T14:40:00.003-06:00

End of June brought our ward campout.
Emma had a great time!

She saw her first snake

AND TOUCHED IT!!!!

She threw lots of rocks into the water.

She sang songs with Ben Joe around the campfire

And she slept pretty good in with Mom and Dad in their sleeping bag, not hers.
Mom and Dad slept....well....you can imagine. :)

Where to start? How about at the very begining...

2008-07-22T14:38:00.001-06:00

June -JULY 2008 will live in Groves' family history as the busiest month ever!
Here is what we did:
South Ogden Days
Ward Camp Out
Young Family Reunion
Stake Youth Pioneer Trek
Groves Family Campout
I have so many pictures I want to post and share with you. I hope you will be patient though them all and know that this isn't even all of them, so be grateful. :)

The Parade

2008-07-01T15:30:00.006-06:00

We also attended the city parade this week, and even better, Tyler got to participate. He drove a sweet truck (I told him to not get too comfortable) for a friend of ours who was in the parade. Here's Emma and me waiting for the parade to start.

Here's Tyler in his sweet truck...

Emma loved the parade, she got a little scared at the loud firetrucks, and then this Troll. I can't really blame her, he looks weird too.

But she got lots of candy and even a roll of Toilet Paper from Costco that as soon as we got home she threw our good, soft, plush, Charmin in the toilet and put "her" Costco thin as paper T.P. on the handle! :) She was proud!

We went to the park after the parade and got dinner. So nice not to have to cook! And then let Emma ride the train. She has been in love with Trains since the zoo. So we spoiled her and let her have a ride. She loved it! And of course wanted to go on it again. Daddy bought her a little train whistle instead and we went home. What a fun evening together!

The Annual 5K!

2008-07-01T15:19:00.003-06:00

So the City Days 5K was last week. I really tried to be ready for it and did great for a couple of weeks, then didn't do so good. Tyler who is now exercising almost every day at work did fantastic! (Did I tell you they pay Tyler to exercise? How great is that?!)
Tyler and I kept up together most of the race, but then I let him go, he had more energy than I did.
Tyler did it in 42.36 and I did it in 46.21. We both beat our times from last year (49.02) and that is pretty fantastic, but I wonder if my time is better because this year I wasn't pushing Emma in the stroller...hum. My great neighbor and friend Janna offered to watch Emma while we did the race and that was sooo nice.
There were A LOT more people who participated in the race this year and for the first time I can remember I felt a little bit of an anxiety attack as we were waiting for the race to start. Maybe it was nerves, I dunno. But it was crazy. I am pretty sure I just felt so intimated by all the "pros" that were there.
But the highlight of the whole experience was when I was coming to the finish line Emma came running toward me. So cute. I carried her down the stretch and she just waved at everyone who was clapping and cheering. She was so sweet I couldn't believe it. She would even change hands and wave with the other one. Who taught her to wave like a beauty queen? I have no idea. So fun though. I love that little one of mine. Here are some pictures a friend took of us. You can see Emma waving barely in my arms. :)

Bonnets, Bonnets and more Bonnets!

2008-06-30T15:01:00.000-06:00

Our Stake this year for Youth Conference is going on a Pioneer Trek.
I am in the Stake Young Women's Presidency and got the "opportunity" to be over the clothing committee. We decided since the girls are making their skirts for trek and have to take care of everything else, we would make their bonnets. We got the Relief Society involved and they donated the material and helped us make them. But that also meant that I had to pull out my rusty sewing skills and make some too. After it was all done we made 76 bonnets! Emma loved to help me (she would lift the presser foot up and down for me) and try them on, well, only the first couple of times then she didn't want to have anything to do with it and wanted me to wear them and to take my picture. She loves to use the digital camera now. Here's how it all turned out.
I am so glad it is over and they are all made and almost all handed out to the women of Trek 2008. Trek is in 2 weeks. And Tyler and I are going as a Ma and Pa. AHHH!! 20 miles on the Wyoming Plains in July...we'll have stories! Stay tunned!

June Update!

2008-06-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

Holy smokes, I almost made it one whole month with not one post. I've been lazy, but not really we have done lots this month. Here are some of our comings and goings...

Our Anniversary Weekend

2008-05-31T16:34:00.003-06:00

Tyler and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this weekend. May 29, 2004. It is has been 4 years! Here we are on that day. Doesn't Tyler look so young and me so skinny!? :) And look at all of Tyler's hair! :)

I love this shot because you can see how much I love him. I am so lucky and blessed!

For our anniversary we splurged and spent Wednesday night at the Alaskan Inn Bed and Breakfast up Ogden Canyon and watched movies all night. We watched 27 Dresses it was good, but then we watched Dan in Real Life -soooo good! I loved it! It was so much fun. Alissa came up to the house and watched Emma for us that night. Tyler's parents took Emma for us on Thursday and we just stayed at home and watched another movie - August Rush - SOOO GOOD! and the LOST season finale! Holy Cow, that was intense!
It was weird being without Emma for so long, but much needed. We got pedicures (our tradition, yes Tyler too, he says "don't mock it till you've tried it! It's the bomb jiggity!") and ate dinner at the Timbermine Thursday night - a first for us. It was so yummy. We got the deep fried mushrooms that we have heard are to die for, and they were pretty darn yummy. It was a nice couple of days.
I love my sweetie. He is so patient and good to me. We did a lot of talking about the future and how things have changed from 4 years ago. It is amazing to look back and see where we have come. The next 4 years will be even more life changing I am sure...

Tyler's Day off

2008-05-27T14:47:00.005-06:00

Tyler took Friday off of work, and despite the rain, he pulled down our awning bit by bit all by himself! It took about 5 hours and 2 trips to the dump. He is a MONSTER! He started with the Roof, then the slats on the roof, then the "supporting beams". They weren't very supportive...
The awning was in pretty bad shape but we didn't realize how bad of shape until we pulled it down. We can't believe it has kept standing all this time. Tyler found a dandelion picker and a nozzle for the hose in the awning. I told him to find a wad of $100's but he couldn't find any. :) We only had one injury to our favorite rake. When Tyler took off the roof there wasn't much holding the beams to the cement, in fact one side of the awning just fell over and landed on our rake and broke it. :) It was a crazy experience! It has opened up are backyard tons! I have sunlight coming through my kitchen windows I didn't have before! It's amazing.
Tyler got some metal awning for free that we are going to put up in it's place. This is our summer home improvement project. I will keep you posted on how it all turns out. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to replace the siding.
Before...our sad dead awning...
The roof is off, as are the wood slats....
Now all that is left are those "supporting beams". ..
Do you think there could be ANY more nails in this beam? You're right, maybe a few...
It's gone!
Relaxing and looking at his handy work. I love this guy! He amazes me! He is also very tired and sore! :)
Look at all that SUNSHINE!! Also notice my decorated kitchen, I have been meaning to post it. I finished it in September and have been meaning to show you the stripe and shelf and other decor..

Barbie Jeep Fun!

2008-05-22T15:18:00.004-06:00

One of Emma's little favorite friends is Natalie. She loves Natalie. We can't walk by her house without Emma telling me that this is Natalie's house and she wants to play with her. We think Natalie's parents are pretty great too. They are moving to Maryland this weekend and we are so sad. I don't know how to explain to Emma that Natalie doesn't live there anymore. We got together this week for some icecream and let the girls play. Natalie has this cool Barbie Jeep and they rode around in it till it got dark. They loved it. Aren't they so cute!?

Playing in the Pool with Rulon

2008-05-22T15:13:00.003-06:00

Rulon (Emma's cousin) came over on Tuesday to enjoy the warm weather and to go swimming. Emma loves the water and I have been looking forward to doing this all year. It was suppose to be 94 degrees on Tuesday so we pulled out the pool. It was a little cooler than that, but Emma didn't mind one bit.
I left the pool up, which was a mistake because as soon as we go outside she wants to get in it. But the rest of the week has been very cool. Maybe in the 60's and raining. We are ready for summer!

The Zoo!

2008-05-22T14:39:00.005-06:00

We took Emma to the Zoo for the first time last Friday ( May 17th). It was Tyler's first down day at Hill Air Force Base, so we got out and did something fun. We had been planning and looking forward to it for a long time. Now that school is over and Tyler gets every other Friday off, we are looking forward to doing somethings together. Emma LOVED the Zoo. And that is an understatement. She still talks about it to this day and starts to cry when I tell her we can't go today. SHe loes animals, so to seethem was quite a thrill. SHe knows all the signs for the animals we saw, so it was fun to do the signs and see the animals for her first time! As much as she loved the animals, she loved the train most of all. She sat so still and looked at everything as it went by and then when we got off, her first words were "Again!" and then there were lots of tears when we tried to go look at more animals. ( Lagoon is also on our list of things to do this summer, she is going to love it! Fun!) Here are some pictures of our trip. My mom came with us too. She took a much needed day off and spent some time with her granddaughter. We all had a great time. Cute sweet Emma on the train. She was all ready to go! She sat there like such a big girl!
This is the white alligator. It is good luck to see one of these, because they are so rare!
Emma taking a drink in the lion's head at the Zoo.
This turtle wanted out! Can you see him hanging onto the net? The sign said that they get anxious in the spring to go outside. But it is still too cold yet. Poor guy, I am anxious for warm weather too!
Emma and Daddy sitting on the lions.

Mama and Emma sitting by a Gorilla, Emma was too scared to go by herself, so I went with her, and I am glad, what a cute shot! I love my little girl!
The sign says "Do you measure up?" Not quite, but she sure was trying!
Eating lunch on the grass. Yummy!
Waiting for the train to go! Choo Choo!
This was the baby giraffe. Emma loved him Giraffes are one of her favorites.
Penguins are her most favorite. She loves them! She wanted to see this 2 times. :)

Doing the sign for Monkey. They were hard for her to see so she just did the sign instead. :)
And here we are at the Zebras. They really are quite pretty animals I think. It was a beautiful day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. 78 degrees and sunny with a nice breeze. And with the crazy spring we have had in Utah, we will take it! ;)

Emma at the Wedding

2008-05-20T16:05:00.013-06:00

Emma Dancing to the music...in her pretty dress....
Emma singing to the music with her hands full of bubbles...
Emma and Mama dancing together. I am wearing Emma's wreath, because she didn't want to wear it anymore. I thought some reverse physiology would work... if I wore it, she would then want to, but no it didn't work. So I just kept it on so it wouldn't get ruined. :)

Emma was so cute at the wedding in her beautiful dress.
Here is just a bunch of pictures of her. She was so good at the Temple when we were taking pictures that I had the photographer take a family shot of us. I hope it turns out. We all looked so good in our best dress!
She loves to dance, and there was music playing the whole time and she loved it. She is so cute. Here is a video of her watching Eric and Stephanie and dancing...

****Blogspot is having a problem posting videos, when it is up and working I will post this video, check back!*****

Eric and Stephanie's Wedding

2008-05-20T15:39:00.006-06:00

My brother Eric got married on Saturday May 10th in the Bountiful LDS Temple.
It was a beautiful day! The Temple Ceremony was wonderful. The bride and groom looked great, they are so happy. I have no pictures - yet, at the Temple. But it was quiet and nice. We then rushed to the church and started preparing for the luncheon. It turned out great also. Minus a few not all the way cooked chicken cordon blues. :) But I think Alissa, Emma and I were the only ones that got those, so that was a total blessing. The reception was beautiful. Here are some pictures of Emma, Me, My cute family and one picture of Eric and Stephanie, I wasn't a picture taker until the end, and so I missed everything else. Eric and Stephanie are still on their honeymoon and are somewhere in the Caribbean on their cruise! Lucky! :)
And can I also mention with all the jealously I have that James and Vicki are also on a cruise to celebrate James' graduation in Mexico, Belize and other wonderful places I have never been! So fun! I guess I will just stay home tonight and play the Wii. :)
Me and sister Alissa
Eric and Stephanie, the happy couple. Can you tell the took only a few pictures that day?
Me and my cute brother James
Me and Vicki, my sister in law, James' wife.
Me and my sweet little brother Kyle
Me and My wonderful Mom
Me and My best Friend Kim
Me and my Sweetheart (he was tired :)
Vicki and James (aren't they cute!)

Emma Loved the bubbles that were all over at the wedding...

All the Boys Graduated and even the Sister!

2008-05-20T15:16:00.009-06:00

Not only did Tyler Graduate, but so did Eric and James! Alissa even got her Associates degree. (Those are all my siblings...)

Eric graduated from the University of Utah in Mechanical Engineering. A week before he got married! He has a job lined up in Salt Lake City working for a subsidiary of L3 Communications, designing Simulators.

James graduated from Weber State University in Computer Science (I don't know what the actual degree was, but I will find out and update here) and I believe a minor in Spanish also. He also got a job already working for America First Credit Union in Ogden doing something with their computer/networking systems. (I know will rebuke me for this, I bet none of it is computer accurate. :)

Alissa got her Associates Degree (2 yrs) from Weber State University. She is going to BYU on June 20th to study Italian for the summer and earn some credits to finish her Bachelors Degree. She is going to be living in the Italian house on Campus and speaking Italian 24-7! She's excited!

As I am sure you can imagine, it was a very happy day for my mom. She is one proud Mama!

Here are some more pictures of the graduates!

Graduation!

2008-05-20T15:00:00.009-06:00

I threw a BBQ for Tyler Friday Night after graduation (May 2nd) in our backyard.
We had a lot of family and Friends come. Thanks to all for your love and support! It was a lot of fun. Here is Tyler with his yummy cake. Congrats Tyler!

After a lot of deliberating I finally found Tyler a graduation gift. I bought it and then had many sleepless nights afterward! :) I am not a spontaneous shopper, nor a big spender. Here's the video and you can see what he got and his reaction. It was a total surprise!

Yes, I got him a Wii! Can you believe it!? It was a miracle it even worked out! ToysRUS was having a huge shipment come and and you could pre-buy it and then pick it up on Monday. So I did! He was so surprised and so happy and that was the best part. He set it up that night and we played bowling with my Mom and James until midnight! :) We are loving it. It is so fun to play something interactive. I told Tyler this was his Graduation gift, Father's Day gift and Anniversary gift. :)

Updating you on our eventful May!

2008-05-20T14:47:00.001-06:00

May has been a very eventful month and it isn't even over yet! On May 2nd Tyler graduated from Collage! YEA!!!

Isn't he so handsome! Tyler graduated from Weber State University in Supply Chain Management (A Business Administration Degree dealing with Logistics) and a Minor in Spanish.

Here we are, our little family. I was so proud of Tyler, and I am still am of course. He worked full time, married me, and had Emma through his collage career. He did great! I love him so much! Onto the future!

Emma was a little unsure of Tyler in his cap and gown, but eventually she figured out it was her Dad and gave him a kiss. What a sweetheart!

Here are some pictures of Tyler's parents, sister, and nephew that came to see him walk.

Emma's Sandbox

2008-05-05T15:31:00.002-06:00

We landed a Turtle sandbox for Emma a couple of weeks ago (Thanks Allison!) and Emma LOVES it! She loves to play in the sand. I would never have thought! It entertains her for minutes at a time! It is fabulous! It's going to be a great summer! It is finally starting to feel like spring around here and being outside has been great! We have had a lot of kids over at our house lately and they have enjoyed it too. It has been such a lifesaver. Here are some pictures of Emma enjoying the sand and getting dirty. She loves to take off her shoes and socks and get right in and cover up her legs and feet in the sand. I think we need to go to the beach this summer, what do you think? Send subliminal messages to Tyler that say "San Diego on President Bush! Sea World! The Beach!" We got our stimulus package last week and we are trying to decide how we want to stimulate the economy... it's a tough decision.

Ryan's Temple Day in April

2008-05-05T15:21:00.003-06:00

Tyler and I went to St. George almost a month ago (April 10) to go through the Temple with Ryan (Tyler's big brother) for the first time. It was so wonderful! We are so happy and proud of Ryan, he is a fabulous guy! St. George was beautiful of course. The weather was perfect and we didn't take Emma with us! :) So it was just an overnighter for Mom and Dad. We left Friday night and came home Saturday Evening. It was so quick, but so nice. Here is Tyler with Ryan and the family all below. Can't you tell that Tyler and Ryan are brothers? Funny huh!
(sorry guys, I know this isn't the most fabulous picture, but it was taken so far away, an in the file was so small I couldn't tell that everyone wasn't looking at the camera well. Sorry!)

Who do you think Emma looks like?

2008-04-23T15:15:00.003-06:00

So I am wondering what everyone else thinks...
On the side bar there is an option to vote on who you think Emma looks more like. We'll see what your results are compared to the Heritage Meter. :)
Can't wait to see what you think!
P.S.
Don't you think Tyler was adorable at age 2!? He still is, but what a cutie!!!

Bath Time Tip

2008-04-18T14:37:00.003-06:00

It seems that Emma is getting more and more independent and stubborn lately. I think it is just this week, but if the 2's are like this, and from what I hear about 3's, I am nervous!!!!
We seem to fight about everything, not really, but it feels that way today. It's been a long week with only a few days to go outside. The Bath is sometimes the hardest thing to get done in our day. I know, what kid doesn't like to take a bath? Well, sometimes it is Emma. I don't usually push it, she can go a day without one, but she is not a two dayer. :) I know you would probably say, just pick her up and throw her in there, but guess what? Emma is super strong! Have you seen her 35+ pound body and those legs! I have a hard time "making" her do anything. :)
So, my wonderful friend Allison gave me this great idea. FOOD COLORING. Yes, I said Food coloring. 4 drops of whatever color she would like to have motivates her into getting into the tub. And it is so educational! She will tell me "yellow" or "green". And we count the drops, she swishes the color around and we have a pink bath or a blue bath. It is so fun! I can't wait to start mixing colors and making purple and other great colors!
And to you worriers out there, no it doesn't stain and no your tub will still be white and it is perfectly safe!
Hope this helps someone else too!

Weather in Utah

2008-04-04T15:17:00.002-06:00

Cadence asked me a while back if I was enjoying the weather in Utah, cause she is basking in the sunshine in Arizona. And she deserves it, she just moved from Washington State. Well..here's a little of what we have been having this "spring". It snowed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. These pictures were from Sunday's storm, not a lot of snow, but it was sure cold enough. Monday's storm produced a little more snow. Emma loved playing in it. It has been pretty nice the past couple of days, the sun has been out at least. Typical Utah weather. We need the water so I try not to complain! :)

Flying Kites

2008-04-04T15:11:00.003-06:00

We flew kites last Friday at a park by my mom's house. It was a lot of fun. Emma loved it. It was fun to do something together as a family. Life seems so busy we don't always have time to do fun stuff like this. Tyler and I bought these kites before Emma was born and are finally enjoying them. Spiderman and Veggie Tales; Emma's favorite, it's got Bob on it. :) She was so cute. She would just follow us wherever we went to catch the wind holding onto her kite too.
Here's the pictures.

A day in Emma's life

2008-04-04T14:58:00.003-06:00

Don't ask me how she did this...okay you can ask. I think she was trying to climb up on to the counter. And somehow her toe got stuck between the two CLOSED drawers! She was in a little bit of a panic and was saying "stuck". I told her to pull it out, but honestly, she couldn't. I took a quick pic, and then went and saved her, she really did have it stuck, I had to open the bottom drawer strategically with the top drawer to get her toe out! Too funny! **giggle,giggle**

Groves Look-alike Meter

2008-04-04T11:31:00.002-06:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

I thought this was pretty fun. We are always getting told who Emma looks more like. Most people say it is Tyler - well...pretty much everybody! :) And some people say she is a good mix between the two of us, and apparently that is what this meter thought too. 5% more me, that isn't much! She is a good mix!

The Fish!!

2008-03-28T14:30:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-27T14:44:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-03-26T17:46:00.003-06:00

By The Way...

2008-03-26T15:18:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-26T15:13:00.002-06:00

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...

2008-03-12T15:52:00.006-06:00

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!

2008-03-12T15:45:00.004-06:00

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

2008-03-12T15:11:00.015-06:00

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....

2008-03-12T15:03:00.002-06:00

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

2008-03-04T14:20:00.004-07:00

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

2008-03-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-03T17:00:00.005-07:00

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!!

2008-03-02T15:05:00.002-07:00

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.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2008-02-20T22:10:00.004-07:00

Today was Emma's 2nd Birthday!
We had a great time opening presents and eating her Curious George Cake.
I bought Emma a lot of little $1 presents and while she was napping I wrapped them all individually, she was in heaven. She loved to unwrap them and would say "more?" after each one. She was so serious in her opening quest also. Grandma Young gave her a gold fish that her Uncles named Shark for her, and she loved it too. She loves to watch Shark and feed Shark "lunch". :) I found some paint with water books, and she was in heaven doing that at the table while we ate cake. She's not a big cake eater and didn't touch hers. I mean would you eat cake when you had a gold fish to watch and feed, and paint with water books to do! :)
Here are some of the pictures of our evening.

More Brithday Stuff

2008-02-20T22:00:00.001-07:00

Here's Emma's Curious George cake that I made for her. It didn't turn out quiet like the picture, but Emma knew who it was, so that is all that counts, right?

Emma and Grandma Young and Aunt Alissa looking at one of Emma's new books.

We got Emma a bunch of Balloons for her birthday that she loved. We were hoping they would last longer than one day, but they didn't. What is up with that? I guess you can't ask for much when it costs .50 cents. :)

Have you seen the bubbles that don't spill? That is what is on the ground. They are amazing! They have a little wand that goes in and out of the bottle but the bottle won't spill out the soap when it is tipped over. Whoever made that KNEW what they were doing. It is so nice! Emma loves to be able to blow the bubbles by herself and Mama loves not worrying about a mess!

Emma in her Princess Shoes!

2008-02-19T15:23:00.003-07:00

Aunt Peggy gave Emma these darling Princess Shoes for her birthday and she loves them. She can't quiet walk in them yet, but she loves to try and puts them on her feet all the time. Here are some pictures of her. Thanks Peggy for knowing what a little princess loves!

Dancing with Aunt Peggy

2008-02-17T23:36:00.002-07:00

After we opened presents Emma and Aunt Peggy jammed out to the Primary Colors CD. Emma was so tired, (no nap, it was Sunday) she looks like a zombie to me, but she still got up and boogied. She normally has so much more energy than this. Too funny!

Happy Birthday Tyler

2008-02-17T23:09:00.001-07:00

Today was Tyler's Birthday!
We had his parents over for cake and opened presents.
We had Tyler's favorite cake: Heath Bar Cake. Yummmy!
He got 2 tickets to the BYU vs Air Force basketball game on March 1st. We are going to have a BYU day out together! We are going to visit the BYU sports museum and the BYU Bookstore and get him something he wants and then go to dinner and the game. He was very surprised and happy. It was fun to splurge and do something for him that I knew he would love. I love him so much and he deserves it!
Here are the pictures of him reading the paper and tickets and his "surprised" face. Emma was so excited to give him his presents. She screamed as she handed each one to him. I can't wait for her birthday in a few days!
Happy 26th Birthday Sweetie!

Groves Family Birthday Party!

2008-02-16T21:55:00.004-07:00

Today we celebrated Emma and Rulon's Birthdays! (Tyler's too!)
Emma's birthday is the 20th. Rulon's is the 18th and Tyler's is the 17th. It's crazy fun! So we combined Rulon and Emma's into one. It was a Curious George Party and we had a lot of fun. Here are the pictures. Grandma Groves made their Curious George Cake. Emma loved her clothes that she got. She held them up to herself to make sure they looked good! :)
We had make your own mini pizzas, salads on a stick and cake and play dough ice cream. Grandma and Grandpa Groves, Uncle Trevor, Great Grandma and Grandpa Groves, Aunt Jan, Cousin Brittany and Mark, Aunt Peggy and of course, Rulon, Aunt Neisha, Peyton and Chris all came. Thank you everyone for spoiling our little Monkeys and for coming and having fun with us! We love you all!

My Little Singer

2008-02-15T14:31:00.005-07:00

Emma loves to sing. It has been so much fun to sing with her in the car and at night before she goes to bed. She "knows" and sings with us: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I am a Child of God, The Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, and The Bee song. But lately she has started singing along to "Veggie Tales". For those of you who don't know, "Veggie Tales" is a cute animated Bible story cartoon show that is a Young Family Tradition. We used to watch them together on Sunday evenings all the time.
I borrowed some from my mom and Emma loves them. Here is a video of Emma singing along with a song from one of the shows. She is saying "Believe In, Believe In," and "YOU!!" really loudly. I Love how she holds out "you" nice and long, like they do on the show. I hope she is listening to the words and learning to do what "your parents say". :) Don't you love the spoon and pj's with her piggy tails coming out? :)

The things we say to our kids...

2008-02-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

I had to laugh at this! Ah, the challenges of being a mother!

My First Ever response to a "TAG"

2008-02-08T14:18:00.001-07:00

I have been tagged loads of times, but I have never responded, because I usually don't have anything to say and I feel really boring and uninteresting after reading my friends TAG that sent it to me. But Claudine send me a personal invite for this, so I am going to give it a try. Don't laugh.

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B: Each player answers the questions about themselves. C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago:
I was 20 years old, attending Weber State University, working at Northern Reflections in the Layton Hills Mall and very involved in the LDS Ogden Institute and falling in love for the first time.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1- Get Emma and Rulon's birthday party invitations in the mail 2- Clean the house 3- Play with Emma 4-Eat Healthy 5- I have a huge list of things I should be doing, but not today. :)

I Enjoy:
Being with Tyler and Emma and doing something fun. I love to be outside, going on walks, seeing new things. I enjoy reading a good "get lost in it" book, and anything crafty that makes me feel like I am talented. (stitching, beads, crocheting) I also really enjoy snuggling on the couch and watching a good movie.

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire:
Pay off the house, donate it to lots of causes, help others, save it, retire, travel. Spoil my family and Emma and me! :)

3 of my bad habits:
1. Worrying about things needlessly 2. I hate dusting (maybe that isn't a habit but I rarely do it and in my old house, it needs dusting A LOT and that drives me crazy) 3. I hate going to bed at night. Too much to do to get ready for bed, and I have a hard time falling asleep, because I am a worrier...
(I thought of one to replace the dusting...I love to eat a bowl of cereal before I go to bed!)

5 places I have lived:
1- Cedar City 2- Bountiful 3- Layton 4- Provo 5- South Ogden

5 jobs that I have had:
1-Clearfield City Summer Program 2-Kids Mart 3- Northern Reflections 4-National Fitness Financial Systems 5- Transportation Alliance Bank (aka Flying J)

5 things people don't know about me:
1-I have been to the Goonie House and met the owner. 2-I got my front tooth knocked out by my brother playing lazer tag 3- I have never broken a bone 4- I love the Harry Potter books and I have ready them all over and over. (Depending on the book, I would say 5 times, the latest only 1 time) I really want JK Rowling to write something else! 5- I over 120 Children's picture books (not including Emma's) that have collected over the years. If I could I would buy a new book everyday! I love them!

5 people I am tagging... I can't do it! If you want too, please do! :)

Four Years Ago...

2008-02-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Four Years Ago today Tyler asked me to marry him.
It was a very snowy day and year for that matter. We went to the Bountiful Temple and did a session and then he asked me outside in the snow. I had no idea and was very surprised and of course I said YES. It was an eventful night and I will spare you the details, but we got married a few months later and we are very happy we did!

Tyler brought me home a beautiful rose tonight to remember that day! I was surprised once again! I hadn't even thought about what day it was! It was so sweet of him to remember and do something for me.
I put it in a vase and put it on the kitchen table to admire. And yes, you guessed it, Emma admired it too...a little too much. She loves to pull the petals off of flowers, I have tried to teach her, but obviously I haven't been effecitve. I came down the hall to her on the chair at the kitchen table with rose pedals in her hands. The funny thing is that the rose petals weren't loose, so she tore them more than she pulled them out. I am proud of myself for not freaking out on her, but she did get sent to her room. And now the rose is on the kitchen counter. I would like to enjoy it for a few more days... :)

A Post for Tyler

2008-02-05T15:47:00.001-07:00

It seems like I always have a picture of Tyler sleeping on the blog. He would agree with that, but he really does more than sleep. :) Here are some pictures he wanted me to post of him and my brothers shooting a couple of weeks ago (Jan 19). I personally don't get this, it was cold and wet, but they had a great time.
Cory, these are for you too! Kyle bought him a shot gun and they tested it out. They wish you could have been there! They not only shot the 2 liter bottle, but an orange too! They didn't get video of that, but they will for sure next time, they said it was "awesome!" Enjoy!

Nap Strike!

2008-02-05T15:37:00.001-07:00

Emma went through a nap strike last week. It was hard, but apparently harder on her, this was her finally crashing with Daddy on Saturday. You know she had to be tired, she NEVER does this! She is now back on a nap schedule...yeah!

Snow Before and Today

2008-02-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

This is a before and after shot of the snow totals in our yard. The first shot was 2 weeks ago and the second is today. Crazy!! We don't have anywhere else to put the snow. It is so high, our neighbor can't snow blow anymore, because the snow blower won't shoot that high! :) Too funny! One more storm tomorrow, then a warming trend, maybe some will melt! :)

Snow Snow Snow!

2008-02-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

As I am sure a lot of you know, Ogden has been getting A LOT of snow. I need to go take a picture of what it looks like right now.
But after the 13 inch storm we got on Sunday/Monday, Emma and I went outside to clean off some snow while the sun was out. Emma had a great time. And so did I because we had a snow fence all around the street so I didn't have to worry about her, she couldn't go anywhere. Even the driveway had a wall from the snow plow cleaning the street. Here is Emma enjoying her chair and slide in the snow!

"Paper!"

2008-01-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Emma has been learning what it means to color on paper lately. She has been coloring on everything else BUT paper. Her toys, the entertainment center, the walls, the furniture, etc. I know this is something all kids do. But here is the funny part. Emma also knows that she is suppose to draw on paper. And she tells us "color on paper" all the time. "Yes, Emma, Paper". So today, she comes to me and she has pen all over her face. (Daddy left his pen on the floor) I laughed, picked her up and took her into the bathroom to show her what she had done. I turned her into the mirror and pointed to her face and said. "Emma, what is that?" and she positively responded "paper". Tyler and I just laughed, because of course you draw only on paper, so your face must be paper! :)

New Year 2008

2008-01-23T14:23:00.001-07:00

So have you noticed I go in spurts with my posts?
I am at a loss for things to say lately. So I am just going to give a little update. Plus, nap time is almost over. Darn!
Tyler is in week three of his new job at Hill Air Force Base and his last semester of school! YEA!
Work is going good. It has been a big adjustment going from the corporate world to the government world. It is a totally different pace and experience. But he is liking it. School is good and he cannot wait for May. For one SPRING and for two to be done with school! He is only taking 12 credit hours this semester and that is nice. He is taking his last Spanish class which is Don Quixote through film, which I think could be very interesting. I told him he had to come home and tell me all about what he is learning.
It has been sooo cold and snowy here in Utah and spring is no where to be found. It's been a long time since we have had a winter like this, and frankly we have been spoiled. My thermostat hasn't been turned up this high in the winter since Emma was born! But we need the water, so we are trying to be grateful. We got another 7 inches of snow on Monday. You should see our little street. The snow is pilled so high you can barley see our driveway. And there is another storm set for this weekend. Ah, the blessings!
Emma is still a sweet little energy ball. I have lots of funny pictures to post. I will get to that, eventually. Her latest thing this week has been wanting to go to "church". She loves nursery and loves playing with the kids. We had a Play group there today and that made her very happy. She is a social little thing and really gets sick of me all day, I think. When Daddy came home yesterday she just ran around so excited!
And Me...well, I started Yoga up again and I love that. I have lots of crafty things I want to be doing, but for some reason my job as a Mother always takes priority. Tyler and I have made lots of goals for this new year and I am excited about the future and accomplishing them. That will be another blog entry also. And the days seem to go by really fast. I am blessed and what else can I say?

HOLY COW!!!

2008-01-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

We got 12 inches of snow today in South Ogden! It was crazy! It snowed ALL day long. And it just started snowing again. It is crazy and so welcome! We need the water and what a blessing! We had so much fun playing in it. Emma was in heaven to get to go outside. You can see the snow is to her knees. We sledded with the neighbors later in the afternoon, and she doesn't say "ahh ohh" any more when she sleds, she says, "again!" :) These pictures were taken at 1:00 pm, when there was about 9 inches. By 4:00 there was 12!