ABC's of me

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd break it up a bit. I tag ANYone who hasn't done this to do it on their blog!

A - Age: 29. (Ok, technically 30, but I'm planning on staying 29 forever, so there)

B - Bed size: California King. It's funny because for the first 4 years of our marriage, we slept in Jason's old full-size bed. It was fine because we are big-time cuddlers. When we got our huge California King bed, it was like the Grand Canyon! We still don't ever use the whole thing!

C - Chore you hate: Laundry. NEVER-ending laundry. And cleaning showers and tubs. Not so fond of sweeping or mopping either.

D - Dog's name: Tundra & Sydney. Our dog growing up was named Taffy.

E - Essential start to your day item: Prayer

F - Favorite color(s): it was purple growing up - still like a deep purple. Love green, too.

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'5 (thank goodness it didn't ask for weight...it gets SCARY when I'm pregnant!)

I - Instruments you play: Hmmm...my singing is fair. That's about it.

J - Job title: Mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, etc. When I worked for the Forest Service, it was Data Systems Specialist.

K - Kid(s): McKinley (almost 4), Ireland (2), and one due the end of Oct.

L - Living arrangements: We own a home right now & really love our neighbors, though we are still looking for small-town opportunities.

M - Mom's name: Patricia

N - Nicknames: Hmmm. I don't think I ever had any that stuck, although they did call me 'pothead' in highschool (no - I wasn't a pothead, but my last name was Potts)

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: I don't think I've had any other overnight stays, although I've had probably 4 or 5 outpatient surgeries - adenoids, ankle, lip, toe

P - Pet Peeve(s): Those kind of people who just go off about every issue like they are the ultimate authority.

Q - Quote from a movie: "SAMSONITE! I was waaaaay off!"

R - Right or left handed: Righty

S - Siblings: 1 older sister, 2 younger sisters & 1 younger brother.

T - Time you wake up: Usually by 7:30am

U - Under your bed: memory stuff, scriptures, journals, articles, tissue, elastics, and I'm sure many, many dust bunnies.

V - Vegetable you dislike: I'm not so much of a squash, cauliflower, or avocado person.

W - Ways you run late: I usually blame it on my husband and his inability to hurry.

X - X-rays you've had: After a gymnastics injury - my foot. And, of course, the dentist.

Y - Yummy food you make: I am a master french toast-maker and rice crispie treat chef as well.
Z - Zoo favorite: I love to see the bears - and the seals and otters. And I still love to see the old Lion water fountains at the Hogle Zoo.

Sevier County Events & Adventures

Whew! What a busy past week & a half! I haven't had time to blog memories because we've been too busy making them! Jason went to a Flaming Gorge scout camp Wednesday the 8th to Friday the 10th. I was left with the super-fun (!) job of getting packed for the next week - including clothes and supplies for going to a baptism, blessing, wedding and 4 days of camping clothes and gear for me and all my family. We got to Richfield Friday night.

Saturday morning was our nephew, Payson's, baptism & confirmation. It turned out that he was the only one in the stake to get baptized that day, so it was pretty special. We are proud of him! After the baptism & confirmation, Canyon (our new nephew) was blessed. It was great to be there for all of these family events. That afternoon, we had Navajo tacos at the Reed home, and they rented a HUGE (19 foot!) inflatable water slide for the kids. It was a bit rainy, but it didn't stop them from having a great time!

We stayed at Jason's parent's home on Sunday and Monday and enjoyed the family's company (and went to see their cabin lot) & also got ready for camping.



Tuesday morning, we headed up to 7-mile for camping. This was our first camping trip with just our little family, so I was excited, but not sure how it would turn out. All-in-all, we had a GREAT time! Probably the biggest factor in that was that Jason's brother, Jeff, let us borrow his toy-hauler trailer & that made our camping experience 100x better! Thanks Jeff & Keeley! We left Friday afternoon and I was kind of sad to go. We had such a great spot up there. My heart & soul sure belong in the mountains!

Here are some camping highlights:
-Finding a great spot - so much shade - and right close to the 7-mile stream!
-Riding on the Rhino (thanks Dave!!)
-Fishing (I think Jason ended up catching about 6 perch and 3 nice brook trout)- and Jason taking the girls out on his pontoon to fish!
-Hanging out around the campfire - talking, singing, eating
-Swinging in the hammock - Ireland even fell asleep once
-Eating camping meals (we do need a little more practice in the dutch oven dept, but all-in-all, most of our meals turned out really yummy!)
-Enjoying the AMAZING stars at night & singing twinkle, twinkle and I am like a star...
-Going on little hikes
-Jason went on a nice, long dirt bike ride
-Going to Fishlake Lodge & then playing in Fishlake and throwing rocks
-Watching movies in the trailer
-Grandma & Grandpa Devenish came up for a little visit
-Tundra & Sydney being able to run around all over




And a few "lowlights":
-MUCHO mosquitos
-A few really bad cases of the whinies, mostly from our crazy sleep schedules
-Our poor dog Tundra got his paw stuck in Dave's truck bed earlier in the week, and then on our camping trip, he found a porcupine. Oh boy... it was probably an hour of pulling out the quills before he felt a lot better. We're still finding them here & there...
You can't really see, but his left paw was also full of them

We also got to hang out with our good friends, the Sorenson's on Friday night, & then on Saturday Jason went to Kevin Costa's Manti Temple wedding while I watched the girls, did laundry & got ready to finally head home!

June Slideshow & newsletter

I know I'm going back in time, but I was behind with my June slideshow & newsletter, so here it is now...

Slideshow...

Girls Adventures...

McKINLEY: Here’s some of McKinley’s adventures this past month:

-McKinley had her last preschool party this month! She had fun acting out the 3 little pigs, doing an obstacle course, swimming in the backyard, playing in the sandbox, singing Happy Birthday to Jack, having cupcakes, and getting a certificate. Great job this year McKinley!
-McKinley still has a hard time saying Sydney. We keep trying to go slow Syd…ney! But every time she says Syn…dy!
-We were driving to Smith’s one day & drove by a house with some horses. McKinley said she wanted a horse - she said “Mom…if we got a baby horse, I’d be SO proud of you!” Mom told her that they were really big and hard to take care of. McKinley didn’t relent. She said “Mom – I would take care of it! I neeeed another pet because my fish Dezi died!”
-McKinley likes to talk & sing to & tickle the baby in mom’s tummy
-McKinley seems to have gotten more in tune with time lately. She asks why things take forever. One time we were driving home & she said “mom – why does life take forever?”
-We got doughnuts from Krispy Kreme & dad hid some of them in the microwave. Mom told McKinley that she couldn’t find them, so McKinley prayed “Heavenly Father, please bless there to be more doughnuts.” Sure enough, mom found those doughnuts about 30 minutes later!
-One day, McKinley asked “Dad- do I have honor?”
-We decorated dad’s card for Father’s Day & McKinley drew a stick figure on the back. Mom thought it might be dad, but McKinley said it was “Lizzy! She’s dancing!”
-One day out of the blue, McKinley said “Mom – I hate the Laminates!”
-McKinley is really starting to get the hang of the days of the week. She knows Sunday is church, Monday is Family Home Evening, Saturday is cleaning, etc…
-Mom was asking where dad was going. McKinley said “To Jerusalem”
-We’ve been working a lot with McKinley this month about tattling. She tattles quite A LOT on her friends & sister, so we’re working on only having her tell us if it’s a big mess or someone is hurt.
-McKinley’s sense of smell has apparently gotten fine-tuned recently. She will tell us the things she smells all the time. One day she said she smelled something. Mom asked what it was & she said “…a spider!”
-McKinley has started to wipe off our kisses :(



IRELAND: Here’s what our cute girl was up to last month:
-Mom heard her say to the dog “Sydney, NO NO! Time out!”
-We were at the Riverton Arts Festival & having lots of fun, but at the end, Ireland fell back on the metal bleachers & hit her head. She had quite the goose-egg and was hurting for a while. Poor girl L
-Ireland loves to chew on almonds, but for some reason will NOT swallow them. She waits until she can spit it out all chewed up.
-Ireland has started to close doors – AND OPEN THEM!
-When Ireland colors, she usually says she’s coloring a rainbow & will sing the Signing Time rainbow song.
-whenever we talk about the baby in mommy’s tummy, Ireland wants mom to lift up her shirt and show her tummy, so Ireland can blow on it.
-Mom asked Ireland what she was doing one day. Ireland said “Makin’ a mess!”
-One day at the table, Ireland said “Mom!” Mom said “Yes?” then Ireland let out a HUGE burp!
-Ireland has decided that she needs to be equal at the dinner table. She would rather sit at a regular chair with no booster, eat with big utensils, not have a bib, and not have a lid on her cup.
-Ireland still likes to get in the dishwasher. One day we forgot to close it & she put all the dirty utensils in with the clean ones in the drawer.
-Ireland likes to say “Whatcha doin’?” and “Come baaaaack!”
-Ireland wants to help cook right along with McKinley when mommy makes meals. She says “I syrup!” which is really “I stir it!”
-One day mom had lots of errands & places to go & she heard Ireland in the hall bathroom. She tried to open the door and realized that Ireland had opened the drawer & she couldn’t get in. She tried everything she could think of to get the drawer closed, but in the end, after about 20 minutes, Ireland finally figured out how to open it herself. We were worried, though!
-One day mom walked outside to find Ireland sitting, fully clothed, in the dog’s water bucket. Her little bum was stuck & she couldn’t get out!
-Ireland enjoys turning the lights on & off – especially at church!
-One day at dinner, Ireland looked at mom & said “Heidi!”

4th of July/Ireland's Birthday re-cap

We headed down to Richfield this weekend for the annual 4th of July festivities. Ever since I've known Jason (10 years), I think we've gone every year except twice (one of those I was in labor with Ireland).

Anyway, we got down there to his mom's on Friday afternoon. The kids had fun running around with their cousins in the backyard & Jason had fun going on a long ride with his brother on their dirt bikes. It was great to see everyone. Ireland went to sleep at 8pm, which was terrific! McKinley on the other hand...she has always had a hard time sleeping anywhere but home. Plus she has had this dry cough for like a month, so she just tossed & turned and talked & coughed while I laid in bed with her for an hour & a half before she finally went to sleep. NOT FUN! We made a midnight run to Walmart to get her some medicine for her cough, so that helped a little, but the fact that she didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm was really frustrating, because I knew that she was going to be tired & ornery & overtired the next day.

Saturday was the 4th. Ireland woke up at about 6:30, McKinley woke up @ 8am. Jason made his yummy pancakes for everyone & then we all got ready for the big parade. Grandma Devenish gets matching 4th of July shirts for all the grandkids & they were all so cute. The parade was fun - the kids all love all the candy & we were all grateful for Jason & Jeff that they had set out chairs for us the night before so we could be in the shade. McKinley was tired by about 10am. Looking back, I probably should have taken her home right after the parade, but we went to the park & they played on the playground while Jason found & caught up with some old high school pals. We went back home at about 12:30 & I tried to get the girls to sleep with no luck, so I went for a drive & they both zonked out, but when I tried to get them back in the house to sleep, they both woke up! Grrr. Oh well. Later on, we had a great BBQ, slip-n-slide, pool, & water balloon fun! Ireland went to sleep at 7pm, but woke up at 9:30pm when the big fireworks were going on, which was rigth about the time McKinley said she was tired & wanted to go to bed, so I took her, but she didn't fall asleep until about 10:30. She slept between us that night & was kicking & coughing most of the night. Irleand went to bed about midnight. So... you can see we were a bit off-kilter with our sleep schedule. I sure wish my girls would sleep better away from home :(
It was a great time with family, though, and we got some fun pictures!



Sunday was Ireland's birthday & it started with our traditional crown & breakfast. We went to sacrament meeting & then she took a nap & we woke her up about 3pm & had her birthday festivities, complete with a slideshow DVD from her past year, yummy cake from grandma (thanks again!), ice cream, & presents! She got wonderful gifts including cute dresses, a baby with a car carrier, a stroller, a puzzle, more cute clothes, and some small dolls. We took off for home about 7pm & McKinley fell asleep about 8:30. Ireland stayed awake ALL THE WAY HOME - and was still jabbering when we got home about 10. Here's to hoping we get back to a regular sleep schedule before our next trip this weekend.

Below is a slideshow with scrapbook pages from Ireland's birthday book and pics from her birthday.