Men Are From Venus, Women Are From Mars

Valentine's Day was great for us. We decided at the last minute to do a little mini golf with our good friends Chris and Chrissie and their family. We had a fab time. . .

We also thought it would be cute to squeeze all six of us into a photo booth. That didn't turn out as good as we had hoped. We are missing little Ella and most the time Ben. But it sure was fun trying...

Lee and I also had some fun alone time (Indian food and a movie) but the real reason behind this post is to tell you all how awesome my husband is, although I am sure most of you already know that.

Some of you may be thinking that I got my title all mixed up. Shouldn't it be the other way around...Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus? Not at our house.

Lee was the reason behind this picture. In fact Lee is the reason behind pretty much all the cutsie, mooshy stuff that goes on in our home. If it weren't for Lee there would be no cutes and no moosh. I am the one sitting on the couch, belching, beer in one hand, the remote in the other...figuratively speaking of course!

He wants to talk while I just want to go to bed. And I turn to him for important dates like what day was our first kiss or what day did we get engaged?

This is just one of many endearing qualities that my husband possesses. He is also very good at gift giving. You may remember my favorite gift of all time, the gift that keeps on giving, the paper plates at Christmas. Well, he has out done himself this time. Notice the framed dollar bill on the counter in the picture. I told Lee that he was only allowed to spend one dollar on me for Valentine's Day. So what did he do? He found an old frame that was in the basement and framed a dollar but that's not all. Before he framed it, he wrote one reason after another of why he loves me on the bill. LOVED IT!! How do I beat that? I actually have given up trying to beat his mooshy gifts. But one day I will enlist the help of many of you to give him the best, most mooshy gift I can muster up.

I love you Lee!! You never cease to amaze me!!

8 Going On 100

Eva got to dress up like she was 100 years old yesterday for her 100th day of school party.

I must say that she had way too much fun acting crotchety and was waving her cane with attitude at everyone saying, "You rotten kids!"I love Eva at 100 but I am glad my nice, sweet little 8 year old Eva is back.

Nighty Night

The kids are always wanting to sleep together. I have let them in the past but it never goes well. They end up either fighting or getting along so well they never fall asleep. So lately I have not let them.

I always peek in on the kids when I go to bed and over the past few nights this is what I have seen...

Lately during the night Ella has been sneaking into Ben's room to sleep with him. There is something about Ella wanting to sleep next to her big brother that just pulls at my heartstrings. Does he make her feel safe? Does he comfort her when she has bad dreams? I know I have said that I don't allow this, but at the same time how can I not allow this? I have to admit I was tempted to climb in with them. I also secretly was hoping to wake them with my flash so that I could tell them how much I love them and how much I love their sweet little relationship they have with one another. That didn't happen so I was forced to put my camera away and climb into my own bed, but I did so with a giant smile on my face and a melted heart.

Forever Families

For Family Night last Monday we talked about Temples and the purpose of them. We also discussed eternal families and what that means. We told the kids we were going to take them to the Draper Temple Open House later in the week and there was definately excitement in the air. The kids had a hard time sleeping all week because they couldn't wait for our little family field trip.

On Friday we pulled the kids out of school and headed south. During the car ride we explained to the kids why this was such a special day.It is not everyday that anybody can get to go inside. Before going up to the temple we watched a short video at a chapel we parked at about Temples. There were many beautiful pictures that the kids loved. What stood out the most for me was what Elder Holland said:

“I don’t know how to speak of heaven in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal beauty that we speak of heaven…I wouldn’t know how to speak of heaven without my wife, or my children. It would not be heaven for me. Now, you can say that’s wishful thinking, you can say, ‘ Well that’s just because you love each other and you’ve gotten cozy here on earth and you like each other’s company.’ It’s a lot more than that. There is something eternal in the statement that neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord. That isn’t just good sociology it’s good theology, it’s eternal” (Holland, Between Heaven and Earth).

Elder Holland's words hit me hard. He's right. Heaven would not be heaven without my husband and children. What an amazing plan, the Plan of Salvation, our Heavenly Father has laid out for us. There is nothing that brings me greater joy than thinking of being with my family for ETERNITY. Forget this "til death do us part" stuff. We're talking FOREVER. Amazing!!

After the video we boarded a bus that took us up to the Temple. Can you see the excitement in everyone's eyes? After the tour we asked the kids what they thought. These are some words we heard: pretty, reverent, sparkly chandeliers, big, they felt the spirit, Heavenly Father and Jesus' house...

On Sunday Ben must have still been feeling the spirit of the Temple because he decided he wanted to give the lesson for Family Night the next day. I don't know if he got this idea from Primary or what but this is what he came up with. It is kind of hard to see but he drew a bunch of footprints leading up to a picture of a Temple. We all had to draw cards that had numbers on them and whatever number we drew that is how many spaces we moved closer to the temple. Pretty soon we all made it to the Temple and everyone cheered.

At the end of the game Lee asked the kids to tell him one way we can all make it to the Temple. Ella raised her hand very proudly and said, "The bus". It was a cute little moment.

I am so happy for this past week that we had to reflect on the importance of Temples. It has helped us all remember that families really are forever.

Our New Dog

For Christmas back in 2007 Santa surprised the kids with Nintendo DS'. One of the games that Santa brought was one called Nintendogs. It is a game where you can adopt a dog from a shelter and take care of it, all on the video game of course. The kids decided on a Golden Retriever puppy which they named Max. And that is as far as they got. After that the game started to get a little too complicated for them and they never played it. Fast forward to last week. I decided to break out this game and learn how to play it so I could help the kids learn how to play it. After I turned it on I saw a little puppy (Max) trying to lick me through the screen. I figured out how to check her stats. This is what it showed:

Coat - Filthy

Hunger - Famished

Thirst - Parched

I looked at this dog and saw fleas jumping off of it and it was itching and scratching like crazy. I immediately felt so absurdly awful for this blasted video game dog that I quickly figured out how to buy food and water for it. I also figured out how to bathe her and walk her. Every day since I have felt like I need to check on Max and make sure she is doing OK. THIS IS A VIDEO GAME PEOPLE!! Why in the world am I getting so worked up about a video game?! I haven't been able to figure out the reason behind my odd behavior...until today.

This is Brock, the dog my family had growing up. We all loved Brock but boy did we neglect him. When my brother Ryan purchased him as a puppy we were around to take care of him. Then life happened. I had school all day and everyone else worked a lot. This poor dog quickly became overweight and underplayed. We all would take turns walking him which ended up being about one walk a month. He was constantly filthy and just slept all day long. We all felt bad about having this huge dog and not properly taking care of him. To this day I still have guilt about it. I think my guilt has resurfaced in the form of the video game. All my childhood memories of Brock have come flooding back and I can't stand the thought of putting another dog through what Brock had to go through even if it is a video game dog. I have this picture in my mind of meeting up with Brock in Heaven. Would he tell me I was the worst owner and that he would never forgive me and my family? How pathetic am I? I think I need some counseling for this. What do you think?

It Still Feels Like Christmas At Our House

Ella refuses to except the fact that Christmas is over and done with. She sings this song, both verses, at least three times every day. I am trying to stop and listen and soak it all in every time she sings because I know that this moment will only last so long and then it will be gone, and I will long for these days when Ella sang Picture A Christmas over and over.

My little Gal looks so big in this video. I need a Time Freezer! Can somebody invent that please...quick?!

Snow Stinkin Fun

The kids have been trying to get as much snow play in as they can.

Dentures and Depends

Do you see an old woman or a pretty young lady?


We had a fantastic lesson in RS yesterday (thanks Mechelle) about "Enjoying The Journey". I'd like to think that I have done pretty well with this throughout my life although I have had my share of pitty parties. Even so, this was a great lesson for me to hear because I have been struggling with something lately...the realization that I am not getting any younger.

Most of you who see me have probably been wondering what is going on with my hair. In an effort to once again cut back on spending I had decided to grow my natural hair color out. I am a natural blonde. I just like to make it a little lighter than it really is. I have to say that it has been kind of a shock to see just how dark my hair has been coming in. That is why I got excited when I saw some really light hair coming in with the darker hair only to discover that these hairs were not only light...THEY WERE WHITE!!! Oh how I tried to pluck them as quickly as I could but then I discovered something else...there were too many to pluck! I think I would have been half bald if I would have stood there, plucking all of my white hairs.

I have been a food lover all of my life. I would wake up and crave some mexican food for breakfast or some curry for dessert. I might even have had pancakes for dinner with a side of tuna. Whatever I wanted, my stomach would welcome it. Well, sadly that is no longer the case. Over the holidays I over-indulged much like the rest of us. Only this year was the first year my stomach started talking back. It would tell me that it didn't like certain food combos. It told me not to have whatever I want at 11:30 at night or that it didn't like chocolate and soda for breakfast. My whole body actually has been talking back. I get a headache when I don't eat. I get a headache when I eat too much. And Tums has become my new best friend.

And did I mention I have a bum hip and wrinkles in abundance? What's next - dentures and Depends?

I think the above picture is a lot like my life right now. All I see when I look in the mirror is an old woman but with a little work and new perspective I will be able to see the pretty young lady again. And in so doing, I will be sure to find Joy in the Journey of Aging.

Happy New Year Fom Our CRAZY Family to Yours...