Christmas Cards

Alright, I've decided that I'm officially grown up enough to do my own Christmas cards this year. It helps that we finally have a cute family picture:) So if you'd like one, and you've moved since you received a wedding invite, or you didn't get a wedding invite, sine that's the last time I updated my addresses, leave a comment with your address or email it to me at nicoletay3@gmail.com

I love the holidays!!!

Halloween

Lots of pictures - few words - little time - crazy life:)








Highlights of Halloween this year:
Frankenstein walk - arms out, slow, moan
Joy School Parade - which Josh did by himself when the other kids decided it wasn't their thing
Anna discovering suckers
Justin and Josh doing the Frankenstein walk together
Visit from Kays and beautiful day at the beach
Dreaming about escaping to another country for a couple of months like they did
Trick or Treat at retirement home - Many of the residents loved the kids, many were not so excited
Disney Store Halloween party - NEVER GO! way too many people and cranky moms
Trunk or Treat - Food, Friends, great candy.
Little Monkey - anna hated pretty much every aspect of her costume
Josh not letting me wash his face or hair and looking pretty scary at the park with a half green face and gray hair.

Best - don't have to paint skin green or dye hair black for a little while.

I know I know...

I go in spurts it's true.. post a lot then nothing... for weeks as my sister tells me. However, I don't have time to do a long post now although it's on my to do list this week. I just had to put a plug out there for my extremely talented friend Paige. She's a clothing designer and has just launched a new kids line that I love. She hand makes all of the clothes and they are so different from other stuff I've seen. So check her out at rockerroos.com. If anyone felt the need to order any of my children some of her clothes I definitely wouldn't complain.

More fun pics and stories coming soon....

Famous

Justin and Josh went camping last Friday with some friends and ended up getting interviewed about the state parks getting closed as a result of budget cute. For all of you who want to watch Josh picking his nose on T.V.

Go here:
http://cbs2.com/search/Link.ashx?R=http%3a%2f%2fcbs2.com%2fvideo%2f%3fid%3d115078%40kcbs.dayport.com

There will be a commercial and then the clip will start.

Cute little boys

Phone Charger Saga

Yes I finally got my new charger in the mail.
No it doesn't work.
Yes I got the right one.
Yes I will order another one today.
No I'm still not getting a land line.

Until then, I still have Justin's phone - what an awesome husband.

September 11th

I meant to do this yesterday and got distracted. On this day, or yesterday, I just want to say how much I love our country, and how important it is to remember what we have here. I spent many years in the Middle East and I still get teary eyed whenever I hear certain patriotic songs. I remember when we were living in Saudi Arabia my Mom would make us recite the Pledge of Allegiance and learn the National Anthem when we were little, to make sure we knew where we came from and didn't forget. And there was at least one occasion where she kissed the ground when our plane finally touched down in America.

I hope to pass down this love and appreciation to my children, despite all the cynicism that's out there. Josh already knows the words to I'm Proud to be an American, and can point out every American flag.

Yes there is a lot wrong with our country, but the wonderful thing is that we have the freedom and the ability to fix what's wrong. So on this day I would say be grateful, for all that we have, and if you want to change something, educate yourself and work to do it. Get involved and leave a legacy of freedom.

I read a friend's blog where she asked everyone where they were on September 11th, 2001. I'd love to hear where you were as well - so I totally stole the idea :) Please leave a comment and tell me what you remember about that day.

I had just started my freshman year of college and was in my dorm room when it came on T.V. I didn't know my roommates very well yet and I ran over to my next door Arizona buddies apartment and we watched it together. My family was planning on moving back to Saudi Arabia on the 25th of September. I remember how deserted campus was that day, and I remember going to President Hinckley's address. Mostly I remember that it didn't feel real. I tried to have a normal day and it just couldn't happen.

I didn't write much in my journal unfortunately - but these are some of the notes that I took during the devotional:
"There is no reason to fear for lives of loved ones if they were not there- the terrorists are hoping for panic"
"Be respectful of all people"
And the over arching message was that it is possible to feel peace in troubled times. "Do you young people understand that you have the world's power of peace in your hands?" The question of a prophet.

The Birthday Boys

Josh's party was at Crestview park. Which was perfect, although slightly farther than I'd anticipated. I was a slightly nervous wreck before the party started. I think I was almost as nervous as I was at my 15th birthday party. Would people come? Would there be enough food? etc. It was slightly ridiculous - but it turned out really fun. The above picture was what the boys did after the festivities and below is what the girls and the babies did.

The cake - I hate decorating cakes with a passion and I'm not enough of a perfectionist to do it well (something I'm trying to work on a little bit). Luckily Josh wanted a spider man cake. So I talked him into a chocolate sheet cake with purchased spider and spider man decorations. He was thrilled - although I was a little self-conscious when I brought it out, you see I let him put the decorations where ever he wanted. I do love how all little kids gather around the cake and the presents, it's almost as exciting for them as the birthday person.The highly anticipated pinata - no my party did not have a theme - hence the pirate ship pinata and the spiderman cake - all picked out by the birthday boy.

Luckily Eva was there to break it for the kids - who were all satisfied with one piece of candy.

Josh was dying to open his presents - it was really bordering on rude. Just look at the longing in that face. He was polite after opening them though. He loved them all - we had way too generous of friends! After opening presents he stood on the table and yelled, "I love you all soooo much!"








We also had a little party for Josh at home on his actual birthday - just check out the snowman cake... ya I didn't even do that - all Justin.

Justin's birthday. I really really wanted to surprise my husband. I never get to - he always wants something complicated that he has to pick out - oh and I'm really really bad at keeping secrets, I get way too excited. But this time I was determined to pull it off. I had money that he didn't know about, and then told him with wanting to do his own business thing we really didn't have the money to buy a TV but we could put money toward it. Then I threw him a little surprise party - just me and the kid, the day before his birthday - genius I know. He was honestly surprised about the party and really excited, but my sweet Josh had already told him about the TV. They were talking about birthdays and Josh said, "We already wrapped you a present Daddy, it's behind the piano." and apparently looked horrified after because he knew he wasn't supposed to tell. oh well. I can say Justin was quite pleased though. He also got, "tickets to take me to the big theater just me and you" from Josh:)
Utes decoration although you can't see the red balloons. Justin admitted he thought I used black because he was old - it was because now he can actually see the Utes games:)
Happy happy Dad! We also got to go out for Thai food and to Disneyland the next day thanks to some amazing babysitters!!

Things Currently Missing From My Life

Things Currently Missing:
Glasses
Justin's Keys
Cell Phone Charger

Things in abundance:
Bugs - AGAIN!! Seriously! Guess every 6 months I have a wonderful excuse to clean out my kitchen thoroughly. I think they're crawling over from my neighbor.....

Buzz and Scissors

We fulfilled Josh's dream and for his birthday he got Buzz Light Year AKA "The talking Buzz"And this was his face!


However a couple of days later this was his face. I asked him why he wasn't playing with his new Buzz very often and he replied, "Mommy-O I wanted a talking Buzz Like Andy has in the show that walks and talks all by itself". Understanding dawned and I informed him that the Buzz only walked and talked by himself when Andy was out of the room. Everyone knows your toys can't come to life while you're in there. This seemed to satisfy him somewhat.
Then today I came home from buying supplies for his Joyschool class and he spotted the kid scissors.
And made this face. He cut paper and "tickets" and "surprises" for us all afternoon. I'm pretty sure he would have slept with them if I'd have let him. I was also informed that since he had big scissors his was big and he needed to go to a big school like Uncle Adam. Hope he's not too disappointed when I teach him on Tuesday. Really no need to ever buy kids toys - don't know why I continue to do it. He's much happier putting on his pretend costumes.



Although for his birthday he also got this real costume and it's still a hit:)

Beach House

In an attempt to be somewhat chronological I thought I'd put up pictures of our fabulous beach vacation before doing the boys birthdays. And as lame as it is this is the only picture I have of where we stayed - downloaded from their website:) None of us brought our cameras to the beach ever so all my pictures are from one of the first nights were we threw Justin and Josh a little birthday party.
Grams trying to be fair and let everyone have a turn blowing out candles - I love the look in little Natalie's eyes.
What a good grandma - She liked to eat on the balcony with the little ones.
This random pictures is included because it was in with the beach house ones. Josh was using his underwear as a holster and it got "stuck" you can's see the total panic on his face. I thought it was hilarious.
Drove down to Sand Diego and saw a few sights - rolling down this fabulous hill was a must - especially when all rolled up with your dad or one of the uncles.



It was soo much fun! Would highly recommend it to anyone. Sleep was not in great supply but I've discovered with two children it's slightly over rated - only slightly though:)

Sweet Hour of Solitude

I have again rediscovered how getting up before my kids makes me a much happier person throughout the day. Not sure why I have to keep rediscovering it, it's way too easy to get out of the habit. I don't manage to pull it off everyday - but when I do I always find myself praying and thanking Heavenly Father for this time. I usually either read my scriptures or workout - and give Justin one word answers when he attempts to talk to me. I attempt to do both but my kids are like their Mom and like to get up early, let's be honest sometimes I only get 10 minutes, but every little bit helps.

So here's to alone time! I hope all of you manage to find some on a regular basis.

Coming soon: the boys birthdays!

Getting Married and Adam Visit

So I've been meaning to post some pictures of our fun visit from Uncle Adam for quite some time - don't want him to feel left out since I know he reads my blog daily. And here's my 365 pages from the days that he was here:) Kill two birds with one stone.


I also have an announcement. Josh has informed me that he's gotten married. He's been quite fascinated with the concept ever since I explained my wedding ring to him - he really wants his own ring. He began by asking me who he could marry since so many of the options are already married. He started with Auntie Jessie, but I had to kill that one fast since there's a good chance she'll be married in the next year or so and he would be crushed. Then he decided on maybe Ms. Natalie - don't ask me why he's not into marrying girls his own age. Then.... he saw the Little Mermaid. Really liked the show. Then.... as a special treat Justin and I took him to see Fantasmic at Disneyland (worthy of another post in and of itself). Ariel happened to have a small part in the show. The next day he informed me that they were getting married and he showed me his finger where his imaginary ring was. Depending on the day you ask him, sometimes they live in the ocean and sometimes they live on land. :) Cute kids!! What did I do before I had them to entertain me?

Best Buds

Anna completely adores Josh - which is why I think she started crawling so early - to follow him around. And he is loving his big brother role and is always ,"keeping Anna safe". by making sure there's nothing little on the ground, making sure she doesn't fall off stuff etc. I hope it lasts:)

Some Reccommendations

If you're trying to lose weight - and since about half my friends just had babies I know some of you are.... not that you need to:). There's a really cool website Justin found and that I've been using :
dailyburn.com. Basically you put in your current weight and your goal weight and then it gives you how many calories, carbs, proteins, and sugars you need to eat to lose a pound a week - without exercising or anything. It takes about 5 minutes to input the food you've eaten - the program does all the math. It's been really helpful for me to just be more aware of what I eat. I was really frustrated because I was working out everyday and not losing anything and when I put in what I was eating it became obvious why I hadn't made any progress. You can also use it to track exercise goals and... it's FREE:)

Also is you haven't seen Marly and Me yet I'd highly reccommend it. It's such a good, clean, uplifting show about a real marriage, not the courtship, not the break up, but a marriage:) - and the dog comes into play too:)

Aubree's Wedding

Fun although exhausting week with family. I honestly can't believe that Aubree's married, when I first started going to Justin's house she was in 8th grade, man I feel old now. This first picture is of Josh's new spiderman fishing pole from Papa and Grammy. Josh got super sick before we left but he still insisted on going to try it out for real. The second one is not the one I meant to upload but it's of the fabulous Sarah and Robby who kept my children happy and whom they absolutely love. Josh called Robby the "boy Robby all week" and Aubree the"girl Robby" quite entertaining.

Weddings always make me want to get married again - I have such wonderful memories of that day. We had a great time with cousins and family.







































It was crazy hot waiting outside the temple. I laughed when Justin's Dad suggested we bring umbrellas for the heat. I was soooo grateful he brought one.
















































































Fun at the hotel. The bottom pictures are pictures of the dress that Aubs wore in the temple - it was her Mom's wedding dress. Nifty huh.

And I have to say Aubree's reception was decorated gorgeously and the food was delicious!!