My Eight

8 Shows I Watch:

Heroes

Criminal Minds

Life

Grey's Anatomy

The Office

Lost

Good Eats

What Not To Wear

8 things I did yesterday:



Walked on treadmill for 45 minutes-15.0 incline.
Helped Jared do his homework packet
Ordered our Christmas cards
Registered for the Mesa Turkey Trot
Taught art masterpiece for 6th grade
Cleaned my shutters
Read scriptures with the kids
Watched TV with Doug

8 Favorite places to eat:

Oreganos
Famous Dave's
Qdoba Grill
In and Out Burger
Rumbi's
Elephant Bar
Chuy's
Rudy's BBQ

8 things looking forward to:

Going on vacation (planning to go to S.A.)

Ragner Relay
Spending time with Doug

The feeling I have AFTER exercising.
Snuggling in bed and reading books with my kids
Going to bed (sad but true)

Having a week night free of activities.

Taking my kids to see the Arizona Temple lights.

8 things on my wish list:

Having a pool in my backyard (or even some landscaping)

Pictures to hang on my blank walls
Laser hair removal
SLR camera and to take classes
I could go back in time and walk with my double jogger again--I miss pushing my boys together!


Run a marathon.

Finish working on my blog book and print it.
Learn to drink more water.

Now, it's your turn!

SPT--SERIOUSLY considering

Sunday Six

Obviously, I haven't done so well in keeping up with my day to day posting. Here is a quick summary of what we have been up to this past week.

1. My dear friend Courtney was sweet enough to take our family photos Monday. (this is the teaser) Thanks to my husbands creativity and idea they are going to be a lot of fun. The hardest task is done (the actual photo) Now if I could just find the time to find the time to upload and order them!

2. I am finding that even though we live only 20 miles from our immediate family, we still don't see them very often. My SIL Kathy called me the other day and invited me to lunch with her. I am so glad she did and really wished we saw them a little more.

Ryker with his chicken

3. At first I was a little weary of being a den leader, but surprisingly it has been a lot of fun. This months theme was seeds of kindess and one of the requirements was learning about farm animals. What a perfect opportunity for Ryker to share his farm with the boys. They had a blast chasing chickens, feeding the horses and riding the goats.

Magnus and Luke

4. We survived another season of sports. This was Luke's first time trying soccer. It took him a while to catch on, but once he figured out to run with the ball and keep going he was on fire. The best is when I asked him his favorite part his reply, the trophy!

Amber, Scott, drunk Doug, Jenny, Julie
(missing from photo Erik)--who conviently got up to go to the bathroom--stinker!

5. It was opening weekend for James Bond so we hooked up with some friends and headed out for the movies. It didn't disappoint and talk about keeping you on the edge of your seat. There wasn't a dull moment.

Finishers!
Greg and Angie

6. Our best buddies sent this via phone today. They just ran the PF Chang half marathon in San Antonio. How I wish I was there running it with them. I have Angie withdrawls on a daily basis. We miss you and congratulations on a job well done!

Chili Fall Festival

Our ward opted not doing a Halloween party this year (which I am still sad about) However, they went above and beyond putting on a fall festival last Saturday. It was our first official gathering since the split and was tons of fun. We started off with massive amounts of chili which ranged in variety from very hot, to mild to wild game. Add that with corn on the cob, cornbread and any type of pie you could eat--I was stuffed.

Slow steady line feeding approximately 200 people.

Taylor, Mikayla and Luke
Enjoying the grub

"Official Judges"
The Bishopric
Tomlinson, Brown and Barney

If you volunteered to bring chili it was automatically placed into a category and judged by these men. The lucky recipients left with the aprons they were wearing. (click to enlarge)

Nicolina, Tiffany and Monika
Monika won the chili contest with her mean green chili verde

Miss Julie brought her mini farm for the kids to have a petting zoo.
This included a Shetland pony, a goose, some baby goats and a rabbit.

Hanging out in the petting zoo. Look how cute those baby goats are!
All the littles loved it.

The Youth keeping warm by the bonfire
(yes, it was a little chilly)

A scarecrow contest
The Hawaiian was my favorite

The Live Music
By: Jinx

A little Cotton-eyed Joe

Tisha, baby Chloe and Amber
Masterminds behind the party--aka Activity Committee

Stephanie and Carrie (mastermind number 3)

Proof I was there. It was such a blast, my favorite watching Doug learn to two step. Priceless.

SPT--Storybook Photos

1. 5:30 am wake up call to make a 7am session. Walking up to the temple watching the sunrise. Hence why we look a tad sleepy and a little dark.

2. Running over to mom and dad's to borrow a Pioneer book (in preparation for our upcoming trek). who offer to make a fabulous breakfast.

3. Came home to realize I didn't make my bed and decided to heck with it. (it's currently 3:15pm) Yes, miracles DO happen. AND, today IS a Federal holiday.

4. Displayed our flag, albeit small. My kids may look at this as a "holiday" from school, but we did talk about the importance of Veteran's Day. Thank you Veteran's of America, how blessed I feel to be a part of this great country.

Five For Friday

photo courtesy of Janet's blog

1. What a huge difference a week makes. Last Friday was Halloween. And it was WARM-this morning it was 40 degrees!! My poor little nephew had to shed his costume after a few houses. But, he still looked adorable even if it was just for a photo. We opted to stay in our neighborhood which only consists of about 4 streets. I am amazed they still were able to come home with over 3-5lbs of candy each! I allowed them to pick out about 20 pieces each and donated the rest to the elementary school.

2. My kids ended up dressing up as different characters than our party the other night. I am certain I do have a photo of them in each of the costumes in that box, therefore I didn't even attempt a photo. They were too busy wanting to roam the neighborhood anyways. It's all about the candy--right? Doug sat on the porch with our candy and came up with this Axel/old man look. Quite scary if you ask me.

3. Monday was Taylor's first orchestra concert. She still continues to enjoy the violin which I am thrilled about. She also continues to improve each week on the piano and has even surprised me by playing some primary hymns. Thanks to connections, we have the BEST piano teacher (even better she can walk to her lessons). I am beginning to think she will hold the musical talent in our home because we all know Doug or I don't have any!

4. We survived 3 nights in a row of baseball games. Fall ball has been a little disappointing in that I am not sure Jared really got to improve his fine skills as much as I would have liked. I also can't decide if he just plays better when we are not around or it's a fluke. Last night I had to get Taylor and Doug had to run into the hospital and we missed the most exciting play of the night. Jared was pitching and ended up holding the game striking someone out, catching a pop fly and tagging another kid out. What in the world?? We haven't had that much excitement all season!
At any rate he was so excited last night telling us about it. His face was priceless.

5. This weekend Nascar is coming to Phoenix. I am not a huge fan, but it reminded me of this free song that Kidd Rock did for the military featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. Have you heard it? Kidd is also not my favorite, but this song is one of my new favorites. It is AWESOME to run to.

My Mountain Biker

Doug's 36th Birthday

To this day I tease Doug about our first birthday celebration together. We had only been dating a little over a month and my birthday approached. I am sure it was a difficult decision as to what he should buy me. After all, we didn't know one another THAT well. At this stage in the relationship he didn't want to be sentimental (for fear we wouldn't work out) but felt the need to get me something. That something was a baseball hat and a frame. I remember it clear as day. He didn't have any wrapping paper and used the Sunday Funnies (perhaps to show some festive color). I can't even believe I don't have a photo graph of it. Of course I thanked him, but deep down I remember thinking a hat---really?? Sadly, I have no record of it and by now it's long gone, but do have a birthday dinner photo. And yes I picked out that vest and made him wore it. Gag!

July 1995
We are stylin'!!

I often bring that first gift up and hold it over his head because that same year I made him a quilt. (Granted we were engaged, but still). As most of you know a queen sized quilt takes more than just thought. It still happens to be one of his favorite things. However, I do question now and again because he also enjoys his bike. When I met Doug he was a mounting biker.

We purchased his first mountain bike back in 1996. It was used more as a vehicle to get him back and forth to work, but it was a bike. This bike got him through several years of use including rain, sleet and snow. The bike traveled with us to Louisiana. He used it as transportation to the church and back in New Orleans where he would spend long hours studying for his medical boards.

Fall 1996

Again it moved with us to San Antonio and after the first year being in Texas it literally fell apart. Doug had an itch to get another bike, but being students a bike wasn't in the budget. During his chief year of residency his Chairman offered to sell his gently used mountain bike for $100. Truthfully it was an offer he couldn't turn down, PLUS his birthday was approaching.

Fall 2006

Unfortunately, Doug didn't have the leisure time he would have liked having trails literally in our backyard in Texas. Once again a few years later (2008) Doug had an itch for a better bike that could handle Arizona's desert terrain. His birthday was quickly approaching and I was really at a loss what to get him. Doug wasn't of any help in this department. Each time I would ask him I got the "nothing" answer or I don't know response. We all know that everyone always has a wish even if you are a 36 year old boy at heart. He took me over to Cactus Bike which was recommended from several guys he spoke with. I could see the look on his face as he sat and stared at the row of mountain bikes in the store. The rest is history and once again Doug is in mountain bike heaven, let's just hope this one lasts a LOT longer than the last one.

Fall 2008

This year was pretty low key. He went riding that morning to test out his new wheels (his only request of the day).

Dinner at the Keg

Later that evening Doug and I went out to dinner followed by a little cake and ice cream the following day. Looking back over the years we have never done anything extravagant for our celebrations, but that doesn't mean each birthday wasn't special in it's own way. So, happy happy 36th birthday Doug---we love you!

Happy birthday Super Dad!

SPT ---Wordless November

The beauty of early voting ballots is avoiding the annoying lines and crowds. (even though my husband CHOSE to deal with them wanting to be there THE day of). Whatever. I happily mailed in my vote 2 weeks ago and mine counts just the same. Tuesday's are my days to take advantage of 2.5 hours of kid free errands. Unfortunately it didn't entail anything exciting, unless Sam's Club is at the top of someone's exciting list. I was on a mission for one thing (milk), but somehow it turned into several.

We go through about 2.5 gallons of milk a week. And NO I don't drink them all by myself with my chips ahoy but probably could. Ha.

I can never stock enough grapes and juice boxes in my house. Purple grapes are a household favorite!

I have no idea how much of this liquid we go through, but it seems I am CONSTANTLY having to refill my fridge with it. Let's just say that this stuff keeps Doug very happy.

After learning Angie's secret recipe for extra hot yummy salsa I tend to also make this on a weekly basis. And that folks is what I spent my morning doing. I have to say that seeing a full refrigerator does make a person smile.

And now I am off to the ball fields for a late game. Let's hope these boys get at least a win, we have three games this week. Go Red Sox!