Fairs and hairs and family - oh my

It has been a busy couple of weeks here with us. We have done so many fun things that we have needed time to re-adjust after it all. It all began with the Washington County Fair. Amber, Elle and I met up with Amanda and her little girl Rosalynn to go and see the farm animals and exhibits. Amber had a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy looking at, holding, and brushing the different animals. She also got to sit in some tractors and pretend to drive them. I guess some of my county side is in her too.

The next big thing for Amber was getting her hair cut. J and I had scheduled haircuts together so that he could watch the girls while it was my turn. I had asked Amber at least 3 times if she wanted her hair cut and each time it was a resounding "NO." So as we were finishing up Amber pipes in that it is her turn to get her hair cut. Kandice, who cuts our hair, said she had time so Amber climbed in the chair and was good. She kept saying "I am getting my hair cut with no crying." I guess I should mention the last time she got her hair cut - over a year ago - she cried pretty much the entire time.

Then we had about a week of spending time with family. First off we went up to Beaver Mountain for a family reunion with the Arnold's (my mom's side). After I told Amber that we would be sleeping in a cabin up in the mountains she kept telling me and anyone who would listen that she was going to "sleep on the mountains." On Friday, August 15, as we were getting ready she kept asking if we were getting ready to go to the cabin. She asked J at least 10 times. She was very excited. We didn't get to the cabin until around 10PM but she was still wide awake and just happy to see people she knew (my siblings and parents). The next day she woke up and wanted to be with anyone but J or me -well, except the male cousins (guys are still scary to her for some unknown reason). She especially enjoyed being with my mom or Bonnie. J and I were even able to get out for a 4 wheeler ride for about an hour. It was a nice break.

On Sunday we headed up to Heber to spend the next couple of days. On Monday, August 18th, J and I had tickets to see Jack Johnson in Salt Lake. J put a couple of good songs he sings here if you are interested. It was my first concert and I really enjoyed it (click to see J's take). Then on Tuesday Amber and I went to Seven Peaks with my mom, Bonnie, and my oldest brother John and his family. Amber loved going down the big rides with me and didn't want to leave. On Wednesday we went to the Hogle Zoo with my mom, Bonnie, Paige, Zach, Natalie, Lauren and Camdon. It was a little warm but we had a good time and all the kids were good. On Wednesday night J and I went boating with Bonnie and Kirby. J and I were the only ones that actually got wet though. I was a little rusty water skiing because the last time that I had been was over 8 years ago. I was able to get up on my second try, though. We also went on the tube and knee board. It was so nice to have family around to watch the girls so that we could go and do these fun things.

Now we are back in St. George getting back to normal life. J is teaching two classes at Dixie State College, one of which I am trying to get things arranged so I can take. It is Photoshop, which I have always wanted to be able to use.

*I will put up some pictures of J and me boating if or when I get them from Bonnie.*

Interesting

Just something I found interesting.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 11 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Pictures through the years

Here are the pictures I promised. I was only going to add a few, but I got carried away looking through all our pictures. There are a lot. It was fun looking back and remembering all the things that J and I have done together.

Seven!?

I can't believe that today is my 7th wedding anniversary. Seven years, how did it go by so darn fast!? How can someone stand to be around me for so long? Poor J, he has put up with me for over 2,555 crazy days and nights. He has had to suffer through all the emotions, drama, and insecurities of me going to school, working, being pregnant - twice, being a first time mom and being a mom of two. There has been ups and downs, high and lows, but he has managed to put up with me. He has had to give up a lot of thing that he would like to do for our sweet little girls and me. I just want to take a minute and remember how we met. It was 2000 and I decided to move down to St. George to go to Dixie College. I moved into a small apartment complex called Bluestone just across from the college. There were only ten apartments so not that many people lived there. The first time I remember seeing J was on Halloween. He came running into our apartment, without knocking, and ran around the room shouting something that I can't remember. I just remember thinking that he must be weird. After that he would come over occasionally to talk to my roommates Tara and Lisa. I was dating someone else at the time so I didn't pay much attention to him. The first time that we hung out was on Thanksgiving Break when everyone had gone home. I was meeting family on Thanksgiving day at my Uncle and Aunt's house in Paragonah so I stayed and worked the other days. J invited me to come over and watch a movie with him. I was bored and lonely so I agreed. We talked a little and watched Jerry Maguire. After that we talked to each other ever once in a while. Then around Christmas times he came down to "asked to borrow my vacuum" but really he wanted to ask me if I would go to breakfast with him the next morning. I agreed and then he asked me to his work Christmas party. After that we started hanging out more and more. I am going just leave it at that. I am sure that he would go on about how I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to be more than just friends. But as you can see I did and now we have been married for seven years (still unbelieveable no matter how many times I say it) and we have two sweet little girls that adore him. I love you my honey honey and look forward to the years to come.
*I will be scanning a few pictures of us to put up I just ran out of time today. *

Memory Lane

My friend had this on her blog and I loved the idea...so leave a comment!!!. Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! I guess good or bad, but be nice!!!!!!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Sisters

People are always saying that Elle looks just like Amber. I thought I would pull some pictures of both of them at the same age and let you judge. All I can say is that I think they are both pretty darn cute.

Heber Adventures

For the 4th of July weekend we ended up going to Heber. It was a lot of fun for most of us. Amber really had a great time being spoiled by family and friends. She thinks Heber is this magical place where:

• there are fireworks
• she gets to stay up late
• she gets to sleep with papa
• she gets to ride horses
• she gets to go down a really big slide with grandma
• she gets candy and other goodies all the time
• she gets to go outside during the day
  
• she gets to play with the cats, dogs, and horses whenever
  

As you can tell by the list above she/we did a lot. Friday we had a more relaxed day and then we had a BBQ at my parents house and stayed up to watch the fireworks. Saturday was a busy day. Amber rode Duke, my dad's horse, for as long as we would let her. She had to take turns with her cousins Zach and Natalie. Then in the afternoon she went swimming with the family at the Kamas Rec Center. My mom was kind enough to get in with her so I could take care of Elle and visit with Lauren. Amber loved the big slide and had a lot of fun. Then straight from there we went to a BBQ at Aunt Bonnie's house in Kamas. Amber visited with everyone and loved all the attention. Elle didn't seem to mind that we were in a different place, she was happy as long as she was getting her naps and food.
The hard part about the trip was Amber sleeping. It was hard on her because we were in a new and strange room that wasn't hers. She would cry and cry until J (mostly) or myself would go and sleep by her. We are still trying to get her back on schedule and back to sleeping by herself again. It was fun but it is nice to be home where we can get back to normalcy.

Here is a video of Amber on Duke