6 Things About Lee-Lee

Grammie tagged me so here are 6 things about me:

• My dad called me Lee-lee when I was little


• I'm taking Math right now in college. I don't like it one bit. BUT, if I can suffer thru it and a few more classes I will have my Bachelor's in Marketing and Business Management in April!!!


• I like to call my littlest girl Ella either Gal or Cal-Feefers


• For some reason, Orange is becoming a new favorite color of mine


• I like to play the guitar, cook, tickle my kids, discover new things, eat lots of candy corn, and many more things - I like to like things....


• I have a really big crush on my wife, Lara!

So...that's me in a nut shell. Now I need to tag 6 people. Looking through my Romper Room looking glass I see Tess, Cordin, Tayli, Beau, Gavin, Livia, & Shea - so that's 7...But I want to hear 6 things from each of them!

I've Been Tagged

On her blog, Julie my sister in law, tagged me. This means that I have to tell 6 things about myself and then tag 6 people who have to tell 6 things about themselves and so on. Julie, what did I ever do to you? ;) Anyway, here goes...

• What makes me happiest is laughing with my kids. It's during those moments that I remember "Life Is Good".
• I just finished reading "A Walk To Remember" by Nicholas Sparks. Loved It! It's a teer jerker but so worth it.
• One of my lifelong goals is to run a marathon. I am currently dealing with an old injury and am contemplating surgery but have not given up hope. As soon as I can fix that dilemma, look out world!
• One of the hardest things I ever had to do was sing in Sacrament Meeting. We were asked to sing as a family as part of the Primary Program. Most of you know, I CANNOT SING! I endured it and afterwards thought, "If I can do that, I can do most anything!"
• I am laying on a deserted island with a hot bod and a stack of good books... That daydream is what gets me through most hard days.
• Lara's Favorite Things: My Swiffer Vac, the Twilight series books, all Jack Johnson CDs, hot chocolate, yummy smelling lotion, flowers, my Ugg slippers, photographs, and sleeping in.

Ok, so there are my 6 things. Now because I can only think of a few of my peeps who blog I will only tag 4... Cheryl, Chrissie, Marissa and Mom. And as for the rest of you, start a blog. It's not as hard as it may seem.

Happy Halloween!

This year we had so much fun carving our pumpkins. I think it was nice that everyone helped out. It wasn't just me doing everything for once. Even Lee got in on the action this year!

And this is after...

Jack The Pumpkin King, Mummy, Cat, and Spider and then our BOO!

As far as costumes are concerned, Ella was a Bumble Bee Princess and Ben was a Mummy. He new he wanted to be a mummy for quite a while and I found a cute idea online. It was so easy and so cheap to make. And when Emma and Eva saw their costumes (U.S. Divas) at the store they "just had to have them". They all turned out great and so cute! The Vampire was a friend of Emma's that went Trick or Treating with them.

The kids all had a great time and they got lots of candy! They went to bed really late but were such good sports about getting up for school. And they were even early!! Way to go guys! I am so happy that you had a Happy Halloween!

Hockey Night

Friday night we all went to see the Utah Grizzlies start their season. I wasn't sure how the kids would like it but they had a blast! They were all screaming as loud as they could to cheer them on. Ella was even cheering on the fights.
They ended up beating the Idaho Stealheads in overtime. It was a fun and exiting game. But what made the whole night for Emma and Eva was that they got the Grizzlies mascots autograph.
We all had so much fun that I have a sneaky suspicion we will be back soon to cheer them on again.

Chicken Waldorf Salad Recipe

I have had a few people say that they want this recipe so I decided to post it. Here it is...

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple in juice
2 cans (12.5 oz) chunk chicken
1 Gala apple, cored, chunked
1 granny Smith apple, cored, chunked
1 cup cashew pieces
1 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup sliced green onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
8-10 crescents

Drain pineapple well, pressing out excess juice. Reserve 1/4 cup juice. In a large bowl, combine pineapple, chicken, apples, cashews, celery and onion. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, reserved pineapple juice, poppy seeds, vanilla, and lemon peel. Pour over chicken mixture and toss well. Serve in crescents. Makes 8-10 servings.

This recipe was originally from Janai Ott. I changed it up a little though to appeal more to my family.
It is also great as a low cal/fat recipe. Just use light mayonnaise instead of regular and pita bread instead of crescents.

Our Little Secret...

The other night after being on the phone for quite a while, I went to check on Lee to see what he was doing. He was watching TV...

...This doesn't sound unusual, but I will let you in on a little secret. He was watching High School Musical 2!!!! That is funny enough, right? But also notice how close he is AND that he is holding a blanket! Should I be alarmed? Should I be seeking professional help for him? :)

We'll Miss You, Debbie!

This week I (Lara) flew to Cali for my aunt Debbie who passed away a week ago. Her memorial service was Wednesday. My mom, dad, and myself took a quick trip and I am so glad we did. It was so nice to be there with the fam. Debbie had been suffering with Alzheimer's Disease for over 10 years. She was only in her early forties when she was diagnosed which is SO young!

She was such an amazing person. No one ever saw her without a smile. She was so happy and lived life to the fullest! She instantly loved you, no matter who you were, unconditionally. She was such an example to me of kindness and charity. And what a wonderful mother she was! Jack, her husband and my uncle, said at the service that he had the most perfect 30 years being married to Debbie and it was so obvious! They were such love birds and so obviously in love with one another.

Seeing Debbie slip away little by little over the years was devastating to everyone. No one expects to have to take care of their mom at such a young age. But unfortunately that is just what Coral had to do. She has been so amazing with her mother and I just cannot imagine how difficult that must have been. Debbie was not the first in her family to die from this dreadful disease. Her grandmother and mother passed away as well, and her brother was just diagnosed.
My father spoke at her service and he concluded with a poem:

God saw you were getting tired, and a cure was not to be...

So He put His arms around you, and whispered, "Come To Me."

With tearful eyes we watched you suffer and saw you fade away...

Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating; working hands were put to rest...

God calmed our hearts to show us that He only takes the "BEST".

This picture of Ella and Debbie was taken right before her health started to really decline fast. It was so sweet. I just had to include it.

What a perfect poem for Debbie. She was truly "the BEST" and how comforting it is to know that we will see her gorgeous smiling face again! If I had only one word to summarize Debbie, I think it would be LOVE, because she loved life, she loved people, and she loved the church. And we love you, Debbie! We'll miss you!

What a "Gal"

In case you didn't already know, our nickname for Ella is Gal, hence the title of this post. I have been so sad lately because she is growing up so fast. I think it has hit me harder than the other kids because we are pretty sure she is our last. Emma the other day said that she wished Ella could stay this age forever, and I so ditto that. She is just in the cutest stage right now!
No matter how hard of a day I may be having, Ella always knows how to make me laugh. I love her cute vocabulary. I love her cute sense of humor. I love her sparkly, happy eyes.
I even love her when she makes a mess. And boy is she good at that! She is our only one that has colored on walls, dumped whole bottles of conditioner on the carpet, and finger painted with toothpaste all over the bathroom counter. But for some reason, that is what makes her so endearing to me. I love you, my little Gal!

Good Times

This weekend was so nice. Nani and Christian came to visit. We always look forward to their visits. We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It is sort of becoming a tradition to go there and celebrate Papa Z's birthday. And that's just what we did. After dinner we came back to the house and talked and talked about Papa Z and what an amazing man he was. So many of the good qualities that I see in Lee, he got from his dad; pure selflessness, charity, and the ability to treat their wife like a Queen, just to name a few. The one thing that could have made the night better was if all the brothers were together. :( We missed you David, Gary, and John.

Christian was nice enough to get some tickets to conference so he, Lee, and Emma were able to attend the last session. Thanks Christian, for that amazing opprtunity!

This was Emma's first time actually attending General Conference. I can only hope that she will treasure this experience for a long time. The sun was in Emma's eyes, but it is a great picture nonetheless.

Grammy and Papa Rex were able to make it down to watch Conference with us. After Lee, Christian, and Emma got back, a jam session on the Piano got started. I heard "Heart and Soul" like I have never heard it before, and many different renditions at that. I only wish Grammie would have played "Come, Come Ye Saints". Ryan and Eric, does that bring back memories? It should, given the fact that that is the only song she played for each and every family night growing up. Grammie, we love you. Thanks for the sweet memory.

We were so excited that Julie and the kids stopped by Sunday night, during their trip to Park City, for a quick visit. Cordin, Gavin, and Shea are so sweet and it was so much fun seeing the cousins play together. They may live hundreds of miles away from each other, but you'd never no it when you see them playing. Love it!

I just had to add this picture. It is so cute to see how Ella acts around Papa Rex and this picture shows how much she adores him. Who doesn't, really? I just LOVE her tiny little hand on his thigh. Moments like this are truly priceless!





Thank you Nani, Christian, Grammie, Papa Rex, Julie, Cordin, Gavin, and Shea for a very memorable weekend!



Good Times!

Oh How Observant

Ben has always been quite observant. These binoculars he made at preschool were his favorite toy for a long time. He notices everything and asks about everything. So I shouldn't have been surprised when he came up to me the other day. This is what was said...

BEN: Mama, do you have a baby in your tummy?

ME: No.

BEN: Then why do you look that way?

ME: (speechless)

Some moms (Julie) get darling little notes from their kids. This is what I get from mine. :)

So, I am taking that as a not so subtle hint to hit that treadmill again. Thanks Ben, for the motivation!