Family pics...

I've been pretty bad at blogging lately. I guess I'll blame it on the "winter blues" that I've got. I'm seriously so sick of winter! I don't take any pictures of the kids, because usually we're all just hanging out at the house, still in our pajamas (or "chubbies"... that's what Josie calls her jamies) and not lookin too hot for a photo shoot. So, I realized that I haven't posted our family pictures that we had done a couple of months ago. Our friend Natalie took them for us and we were really happy with how they turned out. We didn't get too many smiles out of Josie, which is fine, because that's totally her personality. She makes you work pretty hard for her smiles. Jonah looked like such a handsome little boy, as usual, and we were glad that we got some great pictures of his smile with his little missing front tooth. I love my sweet family so much.
I feel so lucky to have them!

Response to Gina's tag...

A to Z about ME

A--Attached or Single: attached to Mark. We'll celebrate our 6 year anniversary this June.

B--Best Friend: Marky

C--Cake or Pie: Brownie Sundae Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory

D--Day of Choice: probably Saturdays when Mark doesn't work

E--Essential Item: Diet Dr. Pepper- I usually have an open can at any given time

F--Favorite Color: pink!

G--Greatest Accomplishment: I think having 2 kids is quite an accomplishment!

H--Hometown: West Jordan

I--Indulgences: Candy! I love the big sweedish fish, starbursts, skittles, plain Hershey bars, peanut butter m & m's--- my candy cupboard is usually stocked pretty well... yes, I have a candy cupboard!

J--January or July: July for sure. I can't stand the cold.

K--Kids: Jonah will be 5 in March, and Josie will be 2 in April

L--Life is incomplete without: my sweet family

M--Marriage Date: June 3, 2003

N--Number of Siblings: 6 brothers and 1 sister (thank heavens for Gina!)

O--Oranges or Apples: apples, preferably with some caramel on them!

P--Phobias or fears: all the morbid stuff we're never supposed to think of, of course, but also I get really scared when I'm home alone. Oh, and I absolutely HATE mice.

Q--Quotes: "The belly is ungrateful--it always forgets we already gave it something."-Russian Proverb
THANKS FOR THE QUOTE KARLY!

R--Reason to Smile:When Mark puts the kids to bed while I take a hot bath and watch my many hours of Reality TV that I've recorded. Seriously, what did I ever do before Ti-Vo?

S--Season: Summer

T--Tag 5 Friends: Lindsay, Heather, Carrie, Julie, and my niece Annie Banannie

U--Unknown fact about you: I used to have "tanorexia"- I think that's a real disease! I used to go tanning SO MUCH when I was in High School. Not like "a little healthy glow" tanning either. Like "full on crispy fried" tanning. I even went twice in one day one time. How gross is that? I'm sure I'm going to have to start paying for it soon with all the wrinkles and cancer.

V--Very favorite store: I like Target because I feel like it's a step up from Wal-Mart! - and I really like Boutique stores for clothes for me, but they are usually way too expensive.

W--Worst habit: Drinking too much Diet Dr. Pepper. I'm embarrassed to say how much I drink a day.

X--X-ray or Ultra Sound: I've only had ultra sounds, and I love them. It's so awesome to see the little baby inside of you! So cool.

Y--Your favorite food: I like homemade lasagna with nothing special in it. Just lots of cheese, meat, and sauce.

Z--Zodiac: Scorpio

SiLLy KiDs

When I checked on Jonah one night last week, this is how I found him sleeping.



I hurried and took his picture, and he kind of woke up. In the morning I showed him the picture and he said "I was wondering what that bright light was!" Poor kid, I wonder what he thought was going on.

I had to add this picture of Josie and her baby. Although, I think I hold that baby more than she does... she's always putting me on babysitting duty.

And one more picture of sweet Jonah before church.

St. George

My best friend Kristin and I went down to St. George this past weekend to run the Painter's Half Marathon and we had such a good time! It was perfect weather to run in. We finished in just over 2 hours and are excited to do another one soon so we can try to beat our time. We're planning to do the full marathon after we do a few more half ones. We stayed in a house that her Dad just bought down there and it was really nice!
It was a perfect weekend and we had a blast!

Before the race! We were so excited! Our friend Kelsey has been training with us too.

We were so happy to be done!

Part Two...

This is Part Two of our Holidays-
The kids had so much fun with all the snow that came on Christmas! Well, Jonah
had a blast... Josie wasn't quite sure what to think. When I asked her if
she wanted to play outside with the boys in the snow, she shook her head
and said "No. Snow. Cold." Her and I usually sit inside and watch the boys
play in the snow in our nice warm blankets! Grandma Jody
got Jos her first snowsuit for Christmas, so we bundled her up and
sent her out. (I still watched from inside!)

Josie is really good at sharing. She loves to get things out of the
pantry and pass them out to everyone in the family.

Both kids ended up getting sick over the week. And NO... I don't think it
has anything to do with me letting them eat a whole box
of cookies- Well, at least I hope it doesn't! I
really didn't let them eat the WHOLE thing.
Anyway, Jonah had croup and Jos just had a cold. They're both better now!
(And I hid the cookies)

HoLiDaY Re-CaP!

We didn't even attempt to take Josie to sit on Santa's lap. Now I wish we would have because the picture with the screaming baby on Santa's lap is kinda cute!
I'm sure she'll still scream next year.




The kids in their Christmas Eve Pajamas!

I wish this picture wasn't so blurry because this is Josie's "pretty smile!"


Waiting to see if Santa came!!!



Josie looks a little worried while she waits to see if Santa brought her anything...
she knows what a stinker she's been!!!

Josie's trying to give two bottles to her new baby at the same time. She's really into this "mommy" thing. She takes such good care of her babies... always taking them on walks, putting them in their cribs, and putting lotion on their faces.

We had an awesome Christmas! We loved spending so much time with our families. We were really happy to see my brother Ryan's family, who visited us from Wyoming. And it was special to have my brother Nick home for a few days on a break from training to be an Air Traffic Controller in Great Falls.

Mark gets the "Husband of the Year" award for getting me tickets to see WICKED when it comes to Salt Lake, and he made me cry when I opened DVDs he had made that had our home videos ever since Jonah was born.

Can't wait to make more memories in 2009!

Star Student!

It was Jonah's turn to be the STAR STUDENT at Preschool today. We made a poster for him to take to school to show all the kids. I printed up a bunch of pictures and let Jonah choose what ones he wanted to put on. He loves school so much and it's so fun to hear him tell us all the cool things he learns. We love his teachers and have already put Josie on the waiting list to get into his preschool for 2010!


One more thing...
Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart Mark. Eleven years ago today, I remember coming home from school and making a birthday cake to take to Mark's house for a party that his Mom was throwing for him. I even remember sitting at the table in his kitchen with my best friend Kristin, and giving all of the other girls that were there dirty looks! I didn't want any other girls to be at his house! It amazes me to think about everything that we've been through, and how we've been able to grow up together. This is exactly how I pictured my life, and I have been picturing it with Mark ever since I fell in love with him and we were just 16. I love you Sweetie, and hope you have a great Birthday!