Happy Leap Day/Year

Trying to explain Leap Year to Carson turned out to be totally IMPOSSIBLE......After confusing him royally I decided to let his teacher do the explaining.

To most of us it just means we get one more day of pay in February....right?

What goes around~Comes around!

I had to give this picture a post of it's own. I don't know about you, but I know when I deliver meals into families homes while they are down, they never look like this. My Mom's visiting teachers brought her dinner in on Sunday and it was beautiful. Looks like a Martha Stewart add to me. I guess I need to step it up in the visiting teaching department. Really though, all of her meals were wonderful. It made me realize how strong the Relief Society and Visiting Teaching organizations are in the church. It was amazing to see the love and support that was shown towards my Mom. It goes to show, What goes around~Comes around!

MY TRIP HOME TO UTAH

My trip home to Utah could be summed up in two words. Quiet and Relaxing. It was nice to escape my crazy, loud lifestyle back home and enjoy some quiet time in Utah. I'm happy to announce that my Mom is recovering remarkably well. What woman has her chest opened up, her heart removed, stitched up a thousand times, and then tries to do the dishes a week later???YEP-That would be my Mom!

5 Hooper's, 4 decks of cards, 2 tired pregnant women, 1 game of Nerts,

PRICELESS.
Here we are enjoying one of our favorite restaurants, The Pizza Factory. Gotta love those bread sticks!
YAY, Snow! Being away from the snow for a while has actually caused me to really miss it. I know you Utahn's have had enough, but I loved it!

Young Women's President

Today I was called as the first Young Women's President in the Collierville, TN. 2nd ward (our ward just recently split last sunday) and all I can say is WOW!!!!! I'm still a little overwhelmed and quite scared actually. Most of you who know me know that standing up in public and talking to others is a huge fear of mine. Hopefully that will change soon though. I'm way excited for my new calling and am looking forward to all of the new learning experiences that I am going to have. This is all so new to me but I'm up for a good challenge and grateful for this wonderful oppurtunity. I love the Young Women and I love the organization.

wooooo......that superman!

NBA ALLSTAR SLAM DUNK CONTEST WINNER DWIGHT HOWARD

Holy cow, did any of you see this guy on TV last night? He's amazing. I'm glad Dave talked me into watching the slam dunk contest. It was very entertaining and if I wouldn't have sat down to watch I wouldn't have seen Dwight Howard literally fly through the air like Superman. I think he's right up there with MJ now. As Soldier Boy would say............yooooooooouuuuuuuu, SUPERMAN!

GOLDILOCKS.....not today!

This picture is so funny to me, because this is SOOOO not Ryleigh. She's usually my quiet, calm, shy girl. I had just straightened her hair and she was so excited. People are constantly stopping and touching her curls and commenting on them, so I think this was a fun change for her. Her hair is so naturally curly though that it didn't last long-(as you can see from the pic ). About an hour later it was frizzy and sticking straight out. It was cute while it lasted and I couldn't believe how long her hair acutally was. It grew about 4 inches. It's funny what straight hair does. I think she aged on me a couple of years.

Happy V-day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

A big big thank you goes out to The University of Utah Hospital and it's staff. My Mom is doing well and is on her way to recovery. She is in a lot of pain but I did get to talk to her last night and she seems to be doing well, a little loopey of course, but well. I'm so glad the surgery went well. The doctor told my family that this will be the first time in her life that she has had a normal heart. They repaired her valve and a chamber. All I have to say is thank goodness for modern day medicine. Once again thank you for all of your prayers. In the end we know that, that is what helped her get through this.

MY MOM

My Mom with my girl's. This picture is a little old, but I only found it fitting due to the big hearts on my girl's shirts and the BIG heart that my Mom has for her family. Mom our prayers are with you and we'll be thinking of you. We love you!

So today is the day of my Mom's open heart surgery. I have to admit I have a million thoughts running through my head. I'm anxious, nervous, scared,......and there's really nothing I can do. It's driving me crazy that I'm not in Utah right now with my Mom and the rest of my family. My Mom asked that I come out next week for her recovery though, so that's what I'm doing. I will keep everyone posted on her results and how everything went. Thank you so much for all of your fasting and prayers. I know she'll be watched over and I know that the Lord will be with her.

CARSON'S BAPTISM DAY

Today was a big day for Carson. He was so excited to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was lucky enough to have his Grandma MaryAnn and Grandpa Jim out for the occasion. We were joined by friends in our Ward and our new bishop, Bishop Roy Stambaugh (picture above). One of the things that was pretty special about Carson's baptism, was the fact that he is the very first member ever~ baptized into the Collierville, Tennessee 2nd ward. That's pretty neat and hopefully something he'll remember forever. Dave and I are pretty proud of Carson and were so blessed to be given such a special son. Carson we love you bunches!

I've been tagged!

Okay so I've been tagged before, but I was new to the blogging world so I had no idea what that meant. My sweet friend Shauna tagged me so I decided to give this a try. Okay 6 things you may not know about me~

1. I love Levis. If I see a good deal on a pair of levis and they fit, I buy them. I love a good bargain especially on jeans. When I moved to Memphis 2 years ago I unpacked 42 pairs of levis. Okay now it all makes sense on why we owed the moving company so much money. Have you ever tried to pick up a box holding jeans? I did purge a few pairs of them, but like shoes I'm having a hard time giving them up. Maybe I should join in on "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

2. I mow the lawn or as they say in Tennesse cut the grass, at our house. I love it. I love changing my patterns and I love the workout I get from doing it. My lady neighbors have begged me to quit. Their husbands all wonder why they're not out mowing the lawn too.

3. I (along with my sis Natalie) am totally grosed out by "clumps" of things. Example~ Large clusters of birds, bees surrounding a beehive, cheerios in a cereal bowl, maccaroni after it's been boiled, and the list goes on. OOOOO.....getting grosed out just thinking about it. Yup, I'm an oddball!

4. My dream job would be to work in Times Square as a bartender. Yep, I said bartender. It's not that I love the party action that comes with it, but I love the chemistry of it. I love inventing new drinks, mixing, pouring, shaking, decorating the glasses,etc. Yes, I'm sure my Mom is so proud! Luckily for her, Chili's is as far as I got and with the lifestyle that I choose to lead, I should probably just stick with mixing chocolate milk for my kids.

5. I secretly want to be a cowgirl. Always have. I love the style, the culture, the music, the dancing, the care-free lifestyle, and maybe one day just one day I could get my husband to get his handsome self into a pair of Wranglers. Not gonna count on that one though. Have you met my husband??? I'll just keep day dreaming that I'm a rodeo princess riding in on my horse doing the cowgirl salute to the folks in the stands.

6. I compare myself to my siblings. Not with material things or physically more so with personality. I always wish I had just a little of each of them in me. Natalie's energy, Alyson's drive, Aaron's sense of humor, and Reiley's optimism. Sounds a little like jealousy, but it's not. I just have the perfect siblings and I wish I could be more like each one of them.

Okay there's my 6 "Quircky" things about myself. So now it's your turn. I tag Natalie, Alyson, Aaron, Mom, Kelsey, and Ginger. Can't wait to see your posts!

Mitt Steps Down

It didn't quite work out in Mitt Romney's favor, but he sure did try hard and ran a good race. If anything maybe it helped SOME people to realize that us Mormon's aren't so crazy after all!

Tornado Tuesday

Thank you so much to all of you who have shown concern for me and my family within the past 24 hours. We are fine and extremely lucky. It was kind of a stressful night with the thunderstorms and tornadoes. The sirens are pretty much in my backyard too so that can make things a little more hectic. Luckily the tornadoes that came through Memphis took a turn and ended up missing Collierville where we live. Collierville is kind of the same distance to Memphis as Sandy to Salt Lake for all of you who are familiar with Utah. There was a large amount of damage done in Memphis and hopefully those families that were affected will have help on the way soon. Once again thank you for all of your concerns. It means a lot! So I guess this will go down as Tornado Tuesday instead of Super Tuesday~ at least for us.

SUPER TUESDAY

Have you voted????? You can't complain unless you vote. If I can do it, you can too!

Carson's First Pinewood Derby

Today was the big day. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears had gone into this sweet ride of Carson's. Okay so maybe not tears, but for sure sweat and blood. Mommy cut her finger while helping hammer the wheels in, and Dave, well he's always sweating when he 's stressed out. This was actually pretty fun though and was definitely a family event. Even Cara helped sand the car in the beginning stages. We didn't come in at first place, but after all the races were over we averaged out at second place. Not bad for our first Pinewood Derby. The best part for me though, was watching the excitement on Carson's face. When some of the other boys were dissapointed or crying from losing, Carson kept his high energy up and a smile on his face. Way to go Carson!

Go Giants!

Three great reasons to watch the Superbowl~

1. The Manning Brothers-some handsome dudes

2. Great food loaded with calories

3. The commercials

Our favorite commercials-

Dave's favorite-the Pepsi Max

Nicole's favorite-Budlite ad with the foreign pick up lines