This is interesting. I am not sure I agree with the description, but then again I think I would be a Jeep over a sports car any day. Try it out!

I'm a Honda S2000!

You live on the edge, and you live for the adrenaline rush. You don't need luxuries, snob appeal, or superfluous gadgets. You put your top down, get your motor revving, and take all the curves that life throws at you at full speed. So what if you spin out occasionally?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

We went to David and Nina's for David's 30th Birthday Party / Housewarming party. Nina asked the girls to dance for David and they took it so seriously. I loved catching Violeta (Nina's mom) in the hallway teaching Jayne some new dance moves. She is adorable!
Thanks for inviting us! We had such an amazing time!!! :-)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We went shooting on Saturday with Kathy, Mike, Mike (Kathy's brother) and her son. We had a blast! :-)
Willie loved the AK-47.
GUNS + FRIENDS = A GOOD TIME

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The girls and the pups...

(Rachel is upset because her puppy was going to the bathroom on her pants. Poor kid.)

Aren't the puppies getting big? Don't you want one? :-) hahaha

Below is the link to the church newsroom. The article tells about President Gordon B. Hinckley who passes away last night. There is a great array of pictures. Enjoy and remember, I am always open to answering questions.

We are sad at the loss of our wonderful prophet, but we are relieved that he is finally able to be with his wife, Marjorie, again. We are grateful for his service and especially his sense of humor! He will be missed. We look forward to being led by President Monson. He is a man who has also dedicated his life to our Savior's work.

Thank you President Hinckley! We love you!!!

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

52 Blessings Project:


Week 3

Rachel Alysse

How can you look at this cutie and not know that she is one of the greatest things to happen to me! She brings so much joy into my life. She is just so goofy and fun. She is intelligent and very mature in her conversations. My dad just laughs at the fact that he can have such a deep, complex conversation with a three year old. She constantly amazes us all!

She has really taken dance seriously. She's only been taking classes for a few weeks, but it has become her life's purpose. Last night we were watching ice skating and she decided that maybe she would give that a try, but only after her career as a ballet dancer is over. :-)

Rachel loves so many things, including irritating her big sister to no end. I think that just must come from being the little sister. They get along great most of the time though.

Rachel is allergic to red dye (mainly number 5). It makes her "crazy" as Sara says. She turns into Hammy on "Over the Hedge". She's wild enough anyway so we have learned to check the ingredients on everything! Rachel is so cute. She has started asking so many questions to be sure not to eat anything she shouldn't. "Do apples have red dye? Do strawberries have red dye?..."

Rachel helps me babysit. She earns a quarter everyday if she is helpful (as opposed to beating up the baby). It has turned out to be a great experience. She is learning to take more responsibility and help more around the house. Now, she still is three so that only goes so far.

If you knew my sister Katie as a child you will instantly see that Katie has influenced Rachel in the following pictures. Jay took Rachel on a date and she insisted on dressing herself. The hat and the shoes are my favorites. Just picture blonde hair and blue eyes and you have Katie.

I LOVE YOU RACHEL! MY LIFE WOULDN'T BE THE SAME WITHOUT YOU!

Many of you have received these emails. It's the 2008 Getting to Know You Questionaire. Here are some of my answers:

1. What is your occupation? Eternal House Cleaner and Bum Wiper! :-)
2. What color are your socks right now? Dirty - Just went shooting at Sycamore
3. What are you listening to right now? Jayne yawning. Such a relaxing sound!
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Strawberries 'n Cream Oatmeal with orange juice
5. Can you drive a stick shift? I drove one for about six years, but I am not so sure I could jump in one and look like I know what I am doing now!
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Rachel on my mom's cell phone - always an interesting conversation!
8. How old are you today? 26 and 1/2
9. Favorite drink? Lemonade
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Olympics - any sport, I also like watching for injuries in football games. I am weird, I know.
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Never. I have virgin hair!
12. Favorite Pets? Fifteen fabulous dogs / puppies! Any takers??? :-)
13. Favorite food? Tacos
14. What was the last movie you watched? Hunchback of Notre Dame - it was my girls first time seeing it.
15. Favorite holiday of the year? Christmas, but I don't like prepping and taking down, just the celebration itself. I live to sing in the sacrament meeting program each year.
16. What do you do to vent anger? "I scream inside my head. And I imagine I am going to throw something at the wall and it is going to shatter into a million pieces. But I know I would be the one to have to clean it up and patch the hole in the wall, and that would not really make me feel any better. So I don't." Wow Karen, you read my mind! Ditto to that!
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? GI Joes, I also had a lot of barbies (my parents were trying to make me realize I wasn't a boy) and my grandma would sew matching outfits for me and my barbies. I still preferred the GI Joes!
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring
19. Hugs or kisses? I love hugs! Hugs from almost anyone will make my day! Kisses are great from my little girls too. I prefer to just be held tight by Jason (nothing against his kisses!).
20. Cherries or Blueberries? BLACK Cherries.
24. Living arrangements? A "Patio Home" in Mesa. I actually lived five houses down when we moved here 17 years ago. Funny.
25. When was the last time you cried?? Friday. I had a rough week and the baby that I watch came over with her dad. I just held her and all my emotions from the week hit. I love babies!
26. What is on the floor of your closet? Dirty clothes basket, shoes and gun cases. That's right. I am a pistol packin' mama!
27. Who is the friend that you have the most in common with that you are sending this to? Wow. Someone sick and twisted, a little dimented and sardonic. I would have to say Beth or Kalet. :-) Hope you're not offended!
29. Favorite smells? Pepsi - I wish they made Pepsi scented candles
28. What did you do last night? Layed on my couch and tried to breathe. Asthma is so fun.
30. What inspires you? Strong women who don't realize their strength. Women who have faced some of the worst things this world has to offer and are still standing. Women who get up each morning not knowing why or how they will make it through the day, but do it anyway.
31. What are you afraid of? The ocean. I am freaked out by the thought of being out in the ocean, even on a cruiseliner. (I do go to the beach, but I don't go out farther than I can stand.)
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese!!!!! Bacon too!
33. Favorite dog breed? I guess Beagles and St. Bernard / Lab mixes!
34. How many years at your current job? 5 1/2!
35. Favorite place you've ever been? Hawaii and Kentucky. Nauvoo too!
36. How many states have you lived in? 2. AZ and UT
37. Favorite day of the week? Saturday... I get to spend time with my hubby!
38. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? Dirt bikes. I have not been brave enough to hop on the machinery Jay tries to get me to drive... yet.
39. Who's your favorite NFL team? Wow. Whoever has the prettier colors. JUST KIDDING. I would have to say that I will be rooting for the Giants in the Super Bowl just because I think Eli Manning needs to be as good as his brother. He's not as good looking so he deserves something, right?
40. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? Yes, but we use it as a baby toy.

Here's Jay's 2008 Getting to Know You Questionaire:
(I deleted some of the questions - they didn't seem important)

1. What is your occupation? Caliber Signs---Head fabricator,install manager
2. What color are your socks right now? none on - just sitting on the couch in my jammies
3. What are you listening to right now? Kids watching sunday morning cartoons
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Malt-o-meal immitation of "POPS"
5. Can you drive a stick shift? OF COURSE!! Real 4X4's take a stick!!
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? brown
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Scout master ( I am the asst. scout master)
8. How old are you today? 28
9. Favorite drink? root beer
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? 4x4 competitions
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? not in the past seven years
12. Favorite Pets? Shiloh and Dude
13. Favorite food? Hamburgers
14. What was the last movie you watched? Stardust--(I think it could be the new princess bride, ok maybe a close second)
15. Favorite holiday of the year? paid holiday!!
16. What do you do to vent anger? Bottle it up
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? remote control trucks.
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring- all the trails are in bloom
19. Hugs or kisses? hugs OR kisses ?!!?!??
20. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries (Especially marchino cherries)
24. Living arrangements? Garage, (it came with a house attatched)
25. When was the last time you cried?? I don't remember
26. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and guns
27. Who is the friend that you have the most in common with that you are sending this to? Nate
29. Favorite smells? new tires
28. What did you do last night? Watched SNL re-runs
30. What inspires you? Dad
31. What are you afraid of? Ocean (I'm a Land Lubber!!)
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? No Cheese!!- maybe a little spice
33. Favorite dog breed? Weimaraner - way too expensive though
34. How many years at your current job? 3/4
35. Favorite place you've ever been? Kentucky
36. How many states have you lived in? 6 NY,TX,NM,NV,KY,AZ
37. Favorite day of the week? Sat- garage day!
38. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? Several dirt bikes, 1 crotch rocket (not a good experience), Allterain forklifts, Back hoes, skip loaders, Boom/crane trucks.
39. Who's your favorite NFL team? Cowboys- ever since someone gave me that mug when we lived in san antonio.

52 Blessings Project...

I am behind, but I plan on catching up quickly!

Week 2:

Jayne Marie

My little Jayne Marie has been one of the biggest blessings in my life! She is everything I need! I love this picture of her because it shows how much spunk she had even as a one year old. She was the badminton team mascot in 2003 and was even in the Westwood yearbook that year. As you can see, her Cerebal Palsy had an effect on her left arm, but it never slowed her down!

She learned very quickly that "Mimi juice" was the way to go. So much for my kids never drinking soda! They're addicted to the "hard stuff".

What am I most grateful for???

• Jayne's determination to accomplish her goals.
• Her adorable personality.
• Her style - it's all her own
• Her tolerance for pain when it's for her good. She has put up with a lot with all of the therapy and botox and doctors, etc. She does most of it without complaining.
• Her ability to make friends. Jayne will walk into a room and have a new best friend within two minutes.
• Her creativity and artistic ability - we don't know where it came from!
• Her musical abilities
• Her ability to dance!
• Her love for animals
• Her love for her sister
• Her OCD - it's hard to deal with sometimes, but I am grateful for the challenge
• Her love for education
• She is very compassionate
• Her love for her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
  

I LOVE YOU JAYNERS!!!

A Big Dilema...

How do you say no to this?

Over the past week I have pushed the limits with my respiratory system and after a very serious visit with my doctor yesterday I have been faced with the fact that we will probably have to get rid of our dogs. That's right - not just the 13 puppies, but Shiloh and Dude as well.

I feel like crying every time I think about it. I feel like I am tearing my family apart. Jason says he is fine with whatever we have to do, but I know it's killing him. Just a few months ago we went through this when we realized we probably won't be able to have more children. I feel like I am destroying all of his dreams. He has always wanted a big family with man's best friends at his side playing with his kids. Now he's stuck with a sick wife and not much else. Ahhhh! I just want to scream.

I keep having Dr. Kagie's words going through my mind, "You have reached a point where any contact with your dogs could kill you. Do you understand? The Epi-Pen is going to keep you alive long enough for the parametics to arrive and hopefully save your life." The conversation just went on and on. She definitely scared me this time. It's so easy to just live in denial. I can easily justify not going to the ER... "I can still breath a little bit..." I am just so stupid.

So, what do I do? Any advice? I am listening... finally.

Wow, it's been a while. A lot has happened this past week and I haven't been able to do much other than just hope it all gets better...

Our dog, Shiloh, had a litter of 16 puppies last Wednesday. 13 survived. That's a whole lot of puppies! I helped with the 5 hours of delivery and had a really great, educational experience. It's too cold outside for the puppies right now so we had them all in our living room. Thursday night I had my first anaphylactic reaction to them. (I have always been allergic to our dogs, but they stay outside so it's not a big problem). As the weekend went on things just kept getting worse and worse. By Monday morning I was so sick my parents came and kidnapped me and my girls and moved us in to their house. We stayed there until the couch and carpets were cleaned and the house was "de-dogged" enough for me to come home. I came home last night and it's been wonderful! I have been living on Benedryl, Inhalers & Prednisone... so fun. hahaha These next five weeks are going to be interesting.

Jay installed a doggie door in the garage and built a bed for the puppies so I don't have to be near them at all. He is so wonderful!

Please don't think I am complaining... I am just sharing some more fun moments in our life! I should be able to post some pics later this week. I will include two for now...

These were taken when the puppies were just a few hours old. So cute!!!

We had a fabulous New Year's Celebration. It was really low-key which was perfect for us!

We went over to Damien and Kalet's and played games with Kalet's parents and siblings. Raylene was visiting from Chicago so all five siblings were there. We had a blast.

We played "Mafia" which is my new favorite game. Then we played Apples to Apples. Kalet's nephew introduced new rules to us and it was much more fun. We played with two or three green cards each time. It actually worked. Try it!

Scott played with the girls a lot. He is Kalet's oldest brother (he's single ladies!) and is fantastic with kids. He played baby unicorns all night with them.

We had appetizers and floats and the kids went to sleep before 10pm.

Here are a few pics.

Jayne and Cyanah
Scott and our "baby unicorns"
Jayne
John, Jay and Damien
Ryan and Valine
Cynthia, Kalet and Raylene

We were making so much noise and Kalet's dad is out cold on the couch. Priceless!

Brad & Cynthia, Raylene, Valine and Ryan

I love this picture! Rachel keeps asking to play "kill the ducks". We have told her that it's duck HUNT and that people only hunt things that they are going to eat.

This version of the game has a little addition that wasn't on the original Nintendo version. Game D is "Dogs". Check it out. We all hate that little dog that laughs at us, right? I do NOT let my kids play or see that game. :-)
Here's the link:

http://www.reallyfunarcade.com/games/classic/duckhunt/

Enjoy!

So here's the question of the day...

Do you think it's unsafe to put our last name on this blog?

My cousin Holly had some creepy guy leave a couple comments on her blog telling her how easy it was to find out all of her family's personal information on-line once he got her last name from her blog. She has taken her last name off and doesn't want to have to take any other steps because the blog will be inconvenient if she does.

What's your opinion? I really want to know what you think???

52 Blessings Project

I ran across this idea on my friend Crissybug's blog. She is posting a picture and a description of something she is grateful for every week this year. President Hinckley has said that the sin of this generation is ingratitude. I think this is a great way to overcome the weakness of looking for things we want and not being grateful for what we already have been blessed with. Thanks Crystal!

Week 1:

That's right - my man in orange! He is the best husband I could ever dream of. He is so supportive and he treats me like a queen. Well, not a prissy queen but you get the idea. He respects me for who I am. He is so patient, especially when I have friends who need my time to talk things out or get a good cry in. He is incredibly smart (shhh, he doesn't like anyone to know that) and he is a jack-of-all-trades. I love this picture because it's one of his "live and learn" moments. It took him all day to clean the sludge off of the driveway. And yet he is still so happy.

Some of my favorite things about Jay:

• He is always so willing to serve.
• He is a worthy priesthood holder.
• He loves his calling - Assistant Scout Master
• He spends time with the girls every night before bedtime. He sings with them and puts them to bed for me.
• He is always willing to help around the house. No chore is beneath him. He never says anything about working all day and then coming home to work some more. (That is what I would be saying!)
• He loves to take his girls on dates.
• He loves to spend time with me doing anything. Even if it's not his favorite thing to do.
• He loves working outside with the dogs or in the garage. He really takes pride in his work.
• He is always willing to take groups rappelling, shooting or off-roading even though he's not a social guy. He would rather do everything by ourselves but he respects my need to socialize. :-)
• He isn't against getting dressed up by the girls and playing prince with them.
• He cooks some mean spaghetti.
• He has dealt with so much of my garbage over the last six and a half years and he is still sticking around. That says it all! True devotion!

I LOVE YOU JAY!!!

I am so happy! The girls are back in school and life is getting back to normal. The holidays are over and even though we had such a marvelous time with family and friends I am glad we are getting back in our school groove. We are counting down the days until Disneyland. We are going on February 15th!!! The girls are really excited, but I think Jay and I are even more excited to see their faces when they go to the "happiest place on earth". All they care about are the princesses of course. I am hoping at least Rachel has a love for rollercoasters like mommy and daddy do.

On a different subject, we had the best experience at church on Sunday. Jay and I are taking a class on the "Preach My Gospel" manual from my dad. (He is the ward mission leader). As I was studying on Sunday morning and fasting for answers and blessings for certain family and friends my testimony of Joseph Smith was strengthened. I am always amazed at how wonderful I feel when I am studying truths in the scriptures and I feel the witness that they are true. We are studying the Teachings of Joseph Smith this year in Relief Society and our lesson inspired me to share what I know with others.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the gospel truths that were taken from the earth after Christ's death were restored through Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. If you are interested to know why I can say "I KNOW" click on the link at the top of the page on the right side and read Moroni 10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon. If you do what is asked there you will know.

I only share these things because I know that they bring true happiness that can't come any other way. If I seem preachy today it's because I have realized once again what drives me in this life. I just want to share it with those who might be looking. :-)

Have a great week!!!

If you are looking for a way to test your knowledge of the Book of Mormon, take this challenge. It is a game set up like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" It's very fun. I haven't been able to get past level 8 yet. Let me know how you do!

http://www.bookofmormonbattles.com/More/BoMCgame/index.html