it's a boy!

we are now the proud

grandparents of three

beautiful little angels...two girls and a boy.

i was lucky enough to fly to utah thursday night to be here

when laura and blue had their second baby.

little ryder was born friday, right after noon...19"...7 lb, 2 oz.

the doctor was only here for maybe 10 minutes!

the baby was already crowning and it only took

one push to get him here.

then he proceeded to pee on the doctor twice

and on phil once! good one simba!

cambria loves her new little brother...calls him "mine".

loves to kiss him and pet his hair.

what a terrific big sister she will be.

we are getting tired of our long commute

and want to move back to mesa...closer to

everyone and everything we love!

plus, why are we paying twice as much

for rent as we could be paying to own our own home?

so when i get back, i will start trying

to get a loan and find us a house to buy.

wish me luck. life is great!

vita bella!

we are getting ready for

cody and krystal's wedding...

just two weeks from today!

yikes!

now that we live in b-bfe

( beyond-beyond freakin' egypt),

saturdays are the only day for running errands...

and that just doesn't give us much time

most of the time.

we are happy to have krystal

joining our dysfunctional family

...she's great.

all of our sons and daughters-in-law are great!

we love them all so much!

they have each been such a great "other half"

to our own children, that we just feel like

they have been ours all along!

wish us luck.

welcome to the family krystal!

i am actually feeling a little betrayed at the moment. for the past number of years, i have been hearing all the hype about the play"wicked". i even started getting hyped myself and had hoped to someday go see it. can i now say that i am SO glad i never wasted my time or money on such trash! people who's opinion i trusted, i now question.
to clarify...i had bought the book several months ago, but forgot i had it. then when we moved, i came across it. so when i needed some fun reading the other day, i took it off the shelf and started to read. i was never made to care about a single character and i was completely offended at the crudeness and vulgarity of the author. but i told myself, "there must be SOME redeeming quality to the story, because SO many people love it SO much" so i forced myself to keep reading...you know, give it a fair chance. but after 4 chapters, i was SO offended and SO disappointed, i put the book down and swore to never pick it up again! i had not found ONE redeeming quality or reason to spend precious time on one more page.
in those 4 chapters, we have drug addiction, adultry, promiscuity, vulgarity, cannibalism, to name a few.
the green baby has to have her mouth taped shut so that she doesn't eat herself or anyone else. her mother is afraid to nurse her, because she is afraid the baby will bite her "ti*s" off. the mother is a drug addict who has sex with every traveling salesman that comes along, because her husband is a soft, boring man who is "unimaginative" in bed. the mother doesn't even know for sure who the father of the green baby is, and her own nanny tells her that she noticed how many times a day she changed her "perfumed underwear" when she was a teenager to try and hide the fact that she was sleeping with all the boys in the neighborhood.
the father/husband is beat up and poops on himself and doesn't even get to clean himself until the next day. the midwives try to decide the best way to murder the newborn green baby. the mother is jealous of the green 2-year-old, because she is crawling around between the legs of a traveling salesman and that's what SHE would like to be doing...so ten minutes later, she is doing a WHOLE lot more than that! later, the green 2-year-old pees on the floor and then proceeds to bend down and smell her own urine.
phew!! should i go on, or do you get the picture? i mean, seriously...who writes this crap? and why would all my friends tell me how wonderful it is? i can honestly say that i was MORE OFFENDED by those 4 chapters, than by ANY of the R-rated movies i own!!
in fairness, maybe this garbage is left out of the play...but then what does that leave? i guess i will never know. so if you, like me, have not seen the play or read the book, at least you have been warned! i will not be the one you blame...that honor can go to someone else.
and next time i want a good book to read...nora roberts, nicholas sparks, or david gemmel, here i come! the rest of you can have gregory maguire all to yourselves. i have no use for him...

well, we did it.

we got evicted (landlord lost the house), found a house, moved, unpacked, put up the christmas tree, and enjoyed a wonderful christmas day

with family and loved ones.

we now live in queen creek...halfway to florence! lots of car time, but otherwise, nearly perfect.

we have plenty of room for all the kids and all our crap!

we dug through boxes that had been in the attic for 10 years!

no joke! and i would think, "heck, if i haven't needed this thing in ten years do i really need it now?" so much dust and mouse pee mixed with the memories. but we took a bunch of it to the dump, and a bunch of it to DI, and are trying to find a home for the rest. not a lot of storage in the new house,

but are managing...one box at a time!

laura and blue are here and we are loving the chance to bond with cami.

what a treat to have her in living color!

we were awakened this morning by another frantic call from krystal,

our almost daughter-in-law. these 6:oo phone calls are never good

and really need to stop!

anyway...cody and his friend were on their way to go snowboarding and hit a slick spot in the road. cody over corrected and ended up rolling his truck! the truck was totaled. daniel was fine. cody was taken by ambulance (he refused to get in a helicopter!) to scottsdale-osborn hospital to be treated for head trauma. his cat scans were clear and they stitched him back together.

we had a family prayer and grabbed the consecrated oil,

before heading to the hospital. but by the time we got there, he was getting dressed (in borrowed clothes, because they had literally cut his off of him!) and being released. he will be sore for a few days and have some funky scars to tell his grandkids about, but otherwise, he is fine.

in fact, he is in the family room playing rockband!

i am grateful for the priesthood and the power of prayer.

i am grateful for family and friends.

i am grateful that we are able to provide for our family.

i love the gospel of jesus christ.

i love the whole freakin' world (well, almost).

i hope you all had a fabulous christmas!

life is good!

I am: embarrassed about my weight
I want: to build my house
I have: been to italy!
I dislike: pickles, onions and mustard
I miss: playing games with the blues
I fear: i will NEVER get to build my house and live ANYWHERE but where i live now
I feel: worried about the future
I hear: clark kent TOTALLY making out with some chick
I smell: bbq meatballs
I crave: to eat anything i want and still be a size 6
I cry: all the time...i'm a total boob!
I usually: get out of bed when the alarm goes off and then lay down on the couch for another 30 minutes!
I regret: letting my big mouth get me into trouble
I search: for time to do all the fun things i WANT and still get done all the things i MUST
I wonder: if good people will vote and make sure the best man wins
I love: my car!
I care: what my house looks like (cute, clean, tidy...)
I always: eat chocolate while i scrapbook/design/create
I worry: my husband will die before he builds me my house!
I am not: skinny
I remember: losing the spelling bee in 6th grade...i will NEVER mispell the word "restaurant"!
I believe: you should always tell the people you love that you love them...don't assume they know!
I dance: by myself, because my husband won't dance with me
I sing: whenever i feel like it! singing is a soul's greatest expression...don't even think about telling me to stop!
I don't always: like obeying the rules...if it is a stupid rule, i WILL find a way to bend it...not break it, just tweak it a little!
I argue: often...but i CAN/DO admit when i am wrong
I write: in print and usually all lower case...i don't like my handwriting much and my cursive is even worse!
I win: when my kids feel safe enough to talk to me about their hopes, fears, accomplishments, dreams...
I lose: too much time playing spider instead of doing "more important" things
I wish: i was decorating my new house
I listen: to many kinds of music...especially songs you can sing along with
I don't understand: how the government can ask the working class poor to pay for the greed of the spoiled middle class...they made their beds, now let them sleep in them!
I can usually be found: reading, watching a movie, scrapbooking, or folding laundry
I watch: movies that make me laugh or make me cry...and if they are really good, i watch them over and over
I need: to have more confidence in my own creative ideas and not rely on others so much
I forget: to be grateful for what i DO have, instead of worrying about what i don't have
I am happy: to be going on my first business trip! i feel like such a grown-up!!!

there you have it...a little more than you probably wanted to know!
i tag: jenn, julie, amy t

driving home today,

i was listening to the "mamma mia" soundtrack...again!

the song "slipping through my fingers" came on.

as usual, it had me in tears.

when i hear it, i think of

my three beautiful daughters.

the times we have shared.

the laughter. the tears.

the good times and the bad.

they are truly three of my best friends. but this song makes me realize that i could have been

so much better as a mother. i should have done so much more

with them when there was plenty of time to do it.

now i see the future closing in and i have to admit that before long,

they will all be grown and gone and living on their own.

they will be wives and mothers and i will no longer be the center of their lives.

two of them are already married

and one of them is already a mother.

so i am even closer to being the only girl in the house than i care to admit.

but my intent is not to whine or seem entirely morose.

my intention for posting this is to

remind the rest of you

to make the most of every single minute you have your children near you. don't wait for "later"...it comes far too quickly.

and then "later" becomes "too late".

children are so precious, and once they grow,

they are grown ups forever after.

so love them. play with them.

read to them.

take them all the places you dream of going.

hug them. kiss them.

and never, ever "send" them to bed...

always tuck them in.

and always tell them you love them!!!

sarah, laura, jessica...i love you!

ps...you can hear this song by choosing it

from my playlist to the left!

or here are the words:

schoolbag in hand
she leaves home in the early morning
waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
i watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
and i have to sit down for a while

the feeling that i'm losing her forever
and without really entering her world
i'm glad whenever i can share her laughter
that funny little girl

slipping through my fingers all the time
i try to capture every minute
the feeling in it
slipping through my fingers all the time
do i really see what's in her mind
each time i think i'm close to knowing
she keeps on growing
slipping through my fingers all the time

sleep in our eyes
her and me at the breakfast table
barely awake, i let precious time go by
then when she's gone
there's that odd melancholy feeling
and a sense of guilt i can't deny

what happened to those wonderful adventures
the places i had planned for us to go
well, some of them we did
but most we didn't
and why i just don't know

slipping through my fingers all the time
sometimes i wish that i could freeze the picture
and save it from the funny tricks of time
slipping through my fingers all the time

it's that time again!
shabby scrappin

is

tues, august 5

at 6:00 pm.

here is a sneak peek at the

project...an altered composition

book/day planner.

hurry...sign up today!

last chance!