made my day

This conversation made my day today.

Sydney: Hi Mom I missed you

Me: Hey baby, what did you learn in preschool.

Sydney: Oh Oh Oh we learned about Dinosaurs and how they all died because they stinked.

Me: Cause they what??

Sydney: Cause they xstinked.

Me: lol lol lol lol. That is so awesome. yes the dinosaurs are Extinct.


I love you Sydney. Thanks for making my day.

nothing new

I wish I had something exciting to post. Our lives tend to be slow lately. Sydney is growing up. whimper whimper. I know they have to grow up but boy it is hard letting them. She has brought me so much joy. What a blessing she is. Rowyn is wonderful too but she is a hurricane...always moving and fun and lovable. The two of them are still adjusting and getting to know each other. I think in time they will be best friends.

We got Snow here last week. Snow in early Oct. No...it isn't supposed to snow until at least Halloween. Right. Nope we got several inches of snow and sleet. It was crazy...power was out for 14 hours in some parts of PA. Sydney was so excited for the snow. I started getting ready for Christmas. I got my lights out. I love decorating for Christmas. I won't be going to UT for Christmas so I think I will go all out so I have more distractions for my homesick self. I miss Utah. Never thought I would miss Beaver so much. :)

Pre-school

Our first few days of preschool have been fun. Sydney really loves having something fun to look forward to. She has enjoyed learning and is a very fast learner. She is only one of 2 girls...she has been complaining a bit about a boy who doesn't share and is a little too aggressive. Oh well, We can't shelter her forever. We have been trying to teach her to talk to the teacher and tell her her feelings. I think it is good prepareation for school and not being afraid to stand up to rude kids. Any suggestions?? All is good and extremely wet in PA this month. 90% humidity and thunder storms every day this week. My hair is crazy from all of this humidity. Half of it decided it wants to be curly while the other half is limp and lifeless. needless to say we are all wearing ponytails at our house. Life is good and all is well.

:)

Worked my tushie off this past week pulled of a super sweet baby shower for a friend here at work. I started by making some Mashmallow fondant and making the baby butt first...then the next day I made the cake. It was a super yummy quadruple chocolate ding dong cake. It was so so so so yummy....but.... the super gooey chocolate ganache that I put on as Icing didn't like the white fondant that I tried to put on the top. I learned a special lesson that day. Fondant doesn't go over gooey iceings, only greasy butter creams. So I went to the store and bought a pre-made sheet cake and put my little baby on top. Here is the final results. Still so cute but not all homemade. I am now focusing on makeing a really good cake. I think I will then focus on makeing it cute. Good lessons. The best part....we got to eat the super yummy quadruple chocolate ding dong cake. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. No losses here.

We miss the horses.

Not much new. Life has been throwing us some obstacles. Mark did not get the job we were hoping for in Cedar City...but our home needs a lot of work before we will be able to sell it and we feel that perhaps the Lord has given us this time to prepare. In the mean time we are having Yard Sales to get rid of excess and are taking on big projects....even painting the house... we will see if that happens before it gets to cold.

Life is good though. Mark's back is beginning to feel better and the house is recovering from the hurricane Rowyn that hits it on a daily basis. Sydney is wonderful as usual and Life Moves On.

Hurricane Rowyn moves in on a few unsuspecting ducks.

good things are coming our way

I love these mountains.

As life moves forward after our amazing trip to Utah...I have realized how much of my heart is there. It is like I am only living day to day with half of my heart when I am here in PA. I do things Half-heartedly....I don't really devote any time to friends and rarely spend much time focusing on extended family. I feel that I have just been coasting by as far as serving others especially outside of the church realm.

When we were out west I felt invigorated. I felt it was where I functioned the best as a wife as a friend as member. I am not saying I am a terrible person here....I just feel that I have been unhappy here. Not miserably, just unknowingly going from day to day. I love my family...when I am home and with them...my cup overfloweth. When I am away from them, I am a bit lost and in a daze.

I am secretly praying daily that Utah will be the place for us. Mark is working toward this as well. All I know is that change is coming and we are trying to prepare for it.

My heart yearns to be near the people who add to my selfworth and whom I can be myself with. I miss my dear friends....you all know who you are. Thank you for being true friends. Hopefully we will see you again soon. :)

Enough of that....here are some great pictures from our trip. We had such a wonderful time.

amazing vacation (few pictures)

We went to Utah from the 5th of Aug to the 18th of Aug. We had such a good time that I forgot to take very many pictures of us. We have plenty of the mountains. Luckily Mark is my full time professional photographer. It is almost like having the paparazzi following us around when we vacation. He usually gets amazing pictures. I will have to post more as I get them from him.

I will document the amazing vacation....mostly so I can come back and relive it when I am so sick of work.

Day 1 Aug 5th

We woke up at 4 stinkin am to get to the airport. Sydney and Rowyn were such troopers and actually pretty happy to get on the plane. Crazy rearranged flight schedule. State College to Detroit.....Detroit to Chicago.....and Chicago to SLC. We lived....that is all that I really want to say about it. Lets just say the last leg of the trip was a bit frustrating and I will encourage all mothers to rock their second child to sleep every night to get them to fall asleep in your arms regularly. We thought it was so great that Rowyn...unlike Sydney....would let you put her right in her crib and fall asleep without any snuggling or rocking. Now Rowyn will not fall asleep anywhere but a comfy crib. I rock and rock and rock....and she fights and fights and fights. oh well. We made it to SLC and my wonderful Sister Cheryl picked us up.

We went to Cafe Rio to pick up some yumminess and straight to her house for relaxing.

Day 2 Aug6th we traveled to Midway Utah to stay in a huge house that my parents rented for 4 days. All my sisters and all of their families were there. It was a blast. We spent the afternoon getting relaxed and unpacking. Then we went to Park City where we rode all of the rides. My cousins loved the slide....Sydney and I loved the Coaster that takes you to the top of the mountain and lets you just sail to the bottom. (we almost touched a fawn that was inches from the track) I loved the bungy jumpers where I relived the acrobats we did in Peter Pan.

Day 3 Aug 7th Four Wheeling. Fun Fun Fun. We spent hours up in the mountains in Park City Four wheeling all over the mountains. My father and I had a water fight and it ended with us both being drenched in a stream. lol. Then home for dinner and relaxing and swimming.

Day 4 Aug 8th we Went out on the boat at Deer Creek. It was very windy and we didn't stay too long. I got to catch up with my best friend from High School, Monica. She has a lot going on with her hubby's new job and moving to CA. She has 3 beautiful daughters and it was so great to see our girls playing together. I have missed her. I wish her the best of luck with everything. Soon it was time to go. We traveled the rest of the evening and returned to Beaver.

Staying at the Homestead in Midway was the funnest time we spent with my family.

Day 5 Aug 9th was a special day for Mark and the girls and I to go to St. George to our best friends Baby blessing. Lelah Riley Scott. We had a blast with the Scotts. They are such a happy family and we always feel so at home with them and their family. The blessing was beautiful.

Day 6 Aug 10th we went to the splash pad in St. George. It was uber hot and super fun. The girls loved it. They ran and ran and ran. Rowyn had a blast trying to catch the kids and playing in the water. We also got to see some old friends Mike and Emily Malliard. Mark lived with Mike in College and eventually baptized him and then did the blessing to make him and elder and then we both attended the sealing where Mark was a witness. It was great to see them.

Then we went to Cafe Rio (I know.... again) we took it home and ate with Josh and Jalee....Then we went to Cedar City. We had Dinner with our old friends Dennis and Karen and their daughter Michelle. Boy we miss them.

Day 7 Aug 11th. This was our Cedar City Day. We spent the whole day applying for jobs and visiting old friends. Then home to Beaver

Day 8 Aug12th Teeth time. My wonderful father and personal dentist checked out teeth. Sydney did awesome with one small cavity. Rowyn's teeth are great no odd balls. Mark had a perfect score with no cavities and kudos for flossing. I did not get a perfect score....2 cavities and I need to floss or I will have a lot more. oh well. I walked around looking goofy for the rest of the day...only half of my face would smile. My good friend Shandra came by this evening and we caught up on each other's lives. She has a beautiful girl sydney's age. They tried to out do each other all night.

Day 9 Aug 13th More Four Wheeling in the Beaver Mountains. Some of the tallest Mountains in Utah are in Beaver. We rode the ATVs as far as we could and then we hiked. Our two favorite peaks are Baldy and Belnap, they are both around 12,500 ft above sea level. It was beautiful and we kept missing the rain. What a blessed day.

Day 10 Aug 14th My Cheryl and her family came to visit again. We had a nice dinner and relaxed.

Day 11 Aug 15th Mark and Martin went fly fishing and Cheryl and I went Yard Sale-ing. Then Mark and I got tickets for a play in Cedar. We went to Secret Garden. It was great to see it again. Mark and I were both a part of this production when we were in College. He was Dicken...and I was a stage Manager, and back up singer. It was so much fun. We dated and some of our best memories come from spending time together during this and other productions. Seeing it again brought back wonderful memories. Although the Dicken was not even close to as good as Mark was (voice and all) and the Martha was no where near as good as Melinda was. We enjoyed it overall. Mark overheard a girl tell her friend that she had seen the same show years ago when the college did it and the Dicken was tons better. It made him feel 10 ft tall. :)

Day 12 Aug 16th. Sunday.....Church..... Dinner.....Relax. Then Mark Took Family pictures for my Sister Debbie and her family. They were super cute. Then we relaxed with my Uncle Dale and Aunt Louise.

Day 13 Aug 17th. We went to Lehi to stay with my sister. Big family barbeque and then a big family photo. I will post it soon. Then a lot of tears as we all said goodbye for another 2 years. LOTS and LOTS of tears. I am pretty sure all of us are praying that Mark and I will move back to the west soon. :)

Day 14 Aug 18th. Wake up at stinkin 4:15 AM. Get to the airport....my bag is 3 lbs too heavy. Boo. All those extra clothes we got at DI. We don't have a DI in PA so Mark and I always end up looking and buying and then having more than we took. boo. Oh well...I took a few things out and ta da!!! Grumpy airline workers. Sydney flew like an angel. Rowyn was a crazy drunken fool since I tried giving her benadryl and it made her a drunk. it was pretty funny. Overall it was a nice trip with only one layover in Detroit. We landed just minutes before a crazy crazy wind and rainstorm hit. We were lucky to have missed it. We missed our little home and Sydney missed her big girl room. What a great trip with amazing memories made.