Life and times of the Upshaws

Big News #2!

2011-06-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

If that title didn't make you wonder, then perhaps this will February 24, 2012....9 months from now....yes, that's right. We are having another baby! Woah...tap the breaks a second. I know, some of you may be thinking "I remember you saying it's going to be a couple of years before you get preggy again" Before I turned 30 that's true. But in April, that changed. I turned the big 30 and Ernie turned 35. I kept thinking to myself that I didn't want to be one of those women who dropped their kids off to kindergarten and her daughter had to hide her face in shame because one of her new little friends asked why is her grandma taking her to school and not her mom. Ouch. Anyway...we decided to have another baby. Too exciting right? We told the kids and Jonathan proclaimed that he "DOESN'T WANT ANOTHER SISTER" When we asked Sabrina what she thought we were having, she said "It's time for Jonathan to have a brother, so that's what you are having" Ha ha. I hope she is right. Boy or girl? I'M stoked no matter what. I'm not too far along only about 4 weeks, but I knew at 2. We were dropping the kids off to visit Joyce for the summer. We drove to Montana and I was incredibly sick the whole time. I couldn't quite figure out why. I do get car sick, but this was on the ridiculous side of car sick. I wanted to take a test right then, but didn't. On the way home, Ernie had to stop the car by a river. I was so sure I was going to puke and feed a colony of fire ants. I didn't, but I was so sick. I told him I thought I was prego, but he didn't believe me. Oh yea of little faith. A woman knows. Especially after being pregnant once before. I took a test a few days later, but it was way too early. Then on Tuesday, June 14th, I couldn't wait any longer. I took a test and then resolved myself to not look for 3 minutes. 3 MINUTES?! Are you kidding, that is an eternity when waiting for something potentially life changing. I didn't make it 2 minutes....2 pink lines. WHAT DO TWO PINK LINES MEAN? I'm pregnant! I jumped up and down, called Ernie, who was in shock, and than ran upstairs and promptly started balling when I saw my mom. I had a weird sense of de ja vue (sp?) I did this same thing when I found out about Aleyah. So, any how! We are having another baby. This time around I am hoping for a boy. 1 girl and 1 boy. Perfect. No matter what the sex, I'm super stoked. Now, yesterday I went garage selling. I love it. I wanted to purchase some newborn boy clothing. I know, it's much to early to tell what I'm having. Here is my reasoning. If this baby is a boy, I will have a ton of clothing that I didn't pay very much for. When babies are newborn, they don't stay little for long, so most of the clothing I find for newborns are nice and haven't been worn down. If I find out that we are having a girl, then I'm really not out anything because I have a million girl clothes and I can sell the boy clothes at my yard sale next year for the same price I paid. Anyway, like I said, I was out garage selling yesterday and I found a killer one with tons of boy clothes in great condition. I also found a couple Maternity shirts for $1.00. I brought them up to the lady so I could purchase them. Aleyah was in a stroller in front of me. I was making a comment to mom about the short sleeve onesie won't work because it will be Feb when this baby is born and too cold. The lady took one look at Aleyah and then looked at me and said "You are pregnant?" I said yes. Then she said "Is that baby yours?" I said yes. She then replied "And you are pregnant already?" Ha, the gall of some people. I said yes, she is nearly a year and by the time this baby is born, they will be 18 months apart. I wanted to tell her I'm a Mormon mom, but I don't want to lump all of us together. After I told mom what she said (we were getting in the car), she told me I should have told her my eggs were drying up fast and I had to get all my kids here. I didn't think that was wise because that would insinuate that I'm getting old. I'm not. 30 isn't old. 90 is. I had to chuckle over this woman's comments. They aren't the first I've gotten, nor will they be the last. Oh well, I don't care! We are having another little baby!

Student Led Discussion

2011-04-23T07:58:00.001-07:00

We went to Jonathan and Sabrina's Student Led Discussion on Thursday. Proud to say that Sabrina knows 73 letter sounds, well above average (and everybody else in class). To show everybody in class how well they are doing with this, Mrs. Davies made a Huge palm tree that is from kindergarten desk height to the ceiling. Sabrina's monkey is at the very top. Everybody else is floundering around 55-60! What a smart girl. As for Jonathan, He's in the 100's club. This is a club for those students in the second grade who are reading 100 words per minute. Jonathan proudly informed us that night he is reading 121 words per minute. Wahoo! Kids are doing great in school! They were so excited to show us the work they have been doing in school and it was great to see how well they are adapting to circumstances beyond their control. You should have seen Jonathan. For the first few minutes he was so shy. It was too funny. His teacher, Mrs. Commons was a little shocked because he ISN'T a shy kid. As for Sabrina, she had to show us everything. Didn't matter if it was on her list or not. Everything. She is one smart little cookie for sure. As for Jonathan, he is doing such a great job. He loves science and math. He is so very smart and such a big helper in his class. Mrs. Commons loves to teach him and is doing such a great job.

TLC's Extreme Couponing.

2011-04-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm at a little loss for words when It comes to this show. At first I was stoked. I DVR'd it and then watched as each of those ladies (and a husband) saved hundreds of dollars on even more items. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days! I want to get the same deals that these women do. I want to have a stockpile in my basement that could last my entire family a year. Realistically though, what some of them bought didn't make any sense. 70 or so bottles of Mustard? Stating that it never goes bad? Sure, if you are a mustard lover, go for it. However, most of us in the real world will NEVER use 70 bottles of mustard before it goes bad, and it will eventually. What they didn't show on the TV was that hopefully, some of these products were donated to a food bank or some sort of charity. Do we really need thousands of toothbrushes? Unless you are OCD and need a new toothbrush EVERYDAY, what are you going to do with them all? Now, as I was saying, I was so happy that TLC was doing a show on couponing. I love to coupon. It's not just a necessity for me anymore. Even if I had a million dollars, I'd probably still coupon. It's fun and I love to save money. But at what cost are we willing to save a few pennies? Would you be willing to commit fraud? Some people think that coupon fraud is no big deal. To those, I say you are wrong. It makes everybody suffer. Because of the fraudulent ways of some, our grocery prices get hiked up. Gee thanks. Some of you know who I am talking about. One J'amie was featured on TLC's Extreme Couponing. Shame on her. She denies doing anything wrong. It's sad really. I'm sure she is a really nice person. I'm sure she thinks she hasn't done anything wrong. IF she hasn't, I will be the first to apologize, however, the evidence is pretty compelling that she did in fact commit fraud. In essence, she has stolen hundreds, perhaps even thousands, from unknowing stores. I wonder what will happen now that these stores know her name? I also wonder how adversely this will affect coupon ladies who actually follow the rules. Sure, I've saved money. Who doesn't like doing that? However, if it came down to it. Would you cheat a store out of money and product? I sure wouldn't. Jail house orange doesn't suit me and that's what will happen when you steal.

Extreme Couponing with TLC!!!!

2011-04-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

How sad is this? I am sooooooooooooooo stoked for TLC's new series, Extreme Couponing. I've got it recording on my tv and I will tune in tomorrow, with a bowl of free popcorn (thanks to a coupon) and happily watch. It's a little sad and a little funny all at the same time. I know to some this seems lame. My dad has told me that I'm obsessive. I'm not. If I was, I would have gone to Fred Meyer or Smiths today and purchased all the Oral B toothbrushes that are FREE!!! I already have 10 toothbrushes. I don't need any more for a while. Why not get free items? If I have never used it before, I probably wouldn't purchase it. HOWEVER, if it was Free, I will go pick a couple up and who knows? Maybe it is something that I won't be able to live without. Right now, I am starting to run out of room. I'm going to have to move my cleaning products to a different place. Probably upstairs underneath the bathroom sink. We are also looking in to building a new pantry upstairs in our kitchen where the current waste of space we now call a pantry is. So anyway. Thus is my life. Some may call it an addiction (in my opinion it is) Some may call be compulsive or obsessive...perhaps. However, I will be laughing my way to the bank in a years time when I have saved $10,000 and the doubters are still lamenting over my .50 box of cereal and their empty wallets.

Couponing

2011-03-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

I know, I said I would post everything that I bought and how much I paid for them, but I just don't have the time. I put all of that up on my facebook page already...sorry ladies. Just know that I saved over $900.00 and I've only spent about $275.00. Keep in mind that I only purchase things that I use. Also note that my stockpile has been a work in progress over several years. I did not just accumulate all of our products in 1 months time. We have a garden and because of that, I have been canning everything in it for over 3 years now. Happy couponing!

2011-03-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

My newest addiction

2011-03-22T12:45:00.003-07:00

What a title right? I guess I could be addicted to worse things that couponing...drugs, alcohol, facebook(oh wait, I'm addicted to that too)...I guess I should tell the story of how I became a Krazy Coupon Lady. So, about a month ago I saw a show on TLC about extreme couponing. Last year I had already bought a binder and the stuff to put in the binder, but then with no direction, I just didn't move forward. But that Tv show changed everything. Ever dream of having a wall full of FREE toilet paper? I do, but not because I think that's awesome. I have 3 kids and right now, two of them use sooooo much tp that it's unreal. I would just like to never run out. The other day, Jonathan had to buy toilet paper with his own money because once again, he had used tp to clean the bathroom. I have patiently tried to explain that tp doesn't just grow on trees...he told me, no, it comes from our storage room. So, long story short, to show him just where it comes from and how much it costs for tp, he had to bring his piggy bank to the store and buy tp with his own money. I'm pretty sure he's learned his lesson on how expensive things are and that they don't just magically "appear" downstairs in our store room. Any how, free toilet paper. A myth right? Nope. It is attainable. I have yet to get it for free. My least expensive tp trip was $1.99 for 6 rolls. I was stoked. That is freaking cheap and it wasn't for the "cheap" brand either. (Hey, some of us have values) How about free cat food? I just bought 6 boxes of Purina Beyond One cat food and I paid only taxes on it. This week at Smiths, I'm going to get free pasta. How is all this possible? Coupons. I kid you not, billions of dollars are out there floating around in the form of coupons. Once I was like many Americans. I carelessly threw them away, thinking they weren't worth my time or effort. Now, I'm discovering that they are worth just that and sometimes they are worth up to $10.oo off a product. A couple of my friends along with thousands of strangers think that coupons are only for junk food. I will tell you what I told a friend of mine last night when he said just that. I got a coupon the other day for $2 or $3.00 off pork. That stuff is good for you. Today I just bought a bag of salad and it had a $1.00 off coupon taped to it. I combined that with the sale at the store and paid .89 for the bag of salad. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First I need to explain why I have decided to coupon. There are many reasons. The funnest reason is I like to see just how high my order gets before I give the checkout lady my coupons. But the biggest reason of all is, I want to save money. This year our family has gone through quite a change. We now have 75% custody of the kids and because of that, they live with us through the year. Now, we have always had enough money to feed the children, however, we now have to come up with an extra $600.00 so that we can drive them halfway cross country so they can visit their mother. With gas the price that it is (and it keeps getting worse), we need to save every penny we can. This is why I coupon. Why pay $2.99 for toothpaste when you can get it for free? Sounds illegal doesn't it? Well, it's not. Again, manufactures print out coupons for their products. As long as they are valid coupons from them, you can use them on the products they specify. If you happen to use those coupons with a sale that some store is having, you could wind up getting those items for free or close to it. So, apart from saving money, I said it was fun. It really is too. Sure, sometimes I get tired of clipping coupons, sometimes it would just be easier if I could just go to the store and not worry about those little pieces of paper. But then I look out the window and see the new car I am driving and realize that because I have made it a priority to clip coupons and save my family some money, I can now drive a new car, it makes it all worth it. Now, some are skeptic about the amount of money you can save by clipping coupons. Let me let you in on a secret that not many people know. You can save over $10,000 a year just by clipping coupons. How do I know this? Well, I read it in a book....here we go right? We shouldn't believe everything we read in a book or see on tv right? Wrong. With the amount of money I have saved over the last 4 weeks using coupons (for things I only use and need), if I keep going like this, in one year I will have saved my family of 5 $10,800! That's just on food and household supplies. Crazy right? I give all the credit of learning this secret to The Krazy Coupon Lady. (Jonie Demer and Heather Wheeler) Those two ladies are amazing. Jonie was on that TLC show and that's what really got me started. A few days later, one of my friends had a picture of some items bought at a store. I read the totals and tried to figure out how she only paid pennies for a million items. I had to ask. She sent me to The Krazy Coupon Lady site (KCL for short). The site is amazing and makes couponing so easy. my first day, I saved a ton of money. As I have progressed, I have saved hundreds of dollars on items that my family uses. Some may think that I am crazy...I tell them to make sure they spell it with a K. I am Krazy. I love to save money. Let me give you some examples of how I have saved money over the last month on things I regularly use. Today Albertsons is having a sale on Kraft bbq sauce. 10 for 10(that doesn't mean you have to purchase 10 of them though, just 10 participating items. However, when you find out how much I paid for them, you would buy that many as well.) When you buy 10 participaing items, you automatically save $5.00. Win right there. But when you add them with, say a .75 off one kraft bbq sauce, it's a win win situation. If you buy 10 bbq sauce it lowered the price from $1.49 to .99 each. I had 10 coupons for .75 off. That means I paid .24 for each bottle. If I had more coupons, I'd go back and get some more! The other day I had 6 coupons for $3.00 off Purina Beyond One Cat food. At Albies, the cat food was only $2.68. That' means I got them completely FREE! Who doesn't love free?! Anyway, the savings are huge, but you still have to invest time into clipping coupons. I do this Sunday evening while we are watching a movie or while the kids are taking a nap. You have to be willing to drive to several different stores on a weekly basis (maybe even a daily basis). Some are willing to to that. I am. If you are serious about saving money, this is the thing for you. I suggest to go to the KCL site and read what they have to say. IF you are interested in saving money by using coupons, I also suggest that you download their coupon binder and then USE it. It's free. If you are interested in reading the book, you can buy it or borrow it from me (I want the book back though). If you need help after you have made the decision to save your family literally THOUSANDS of dollars, call me and I will help you out. We can teach each other and become KRAZY together. Happy shopping!

P.S. I'm going to post picture of my shopping, the retail cost of everything and then how much I paid for it. I will also post a picture of my stockpile.

2011-03-22T12:45:00.001-07:00

My sweet little "smooch"

2011-03-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting on my couch the other day eating a golden chocolate oreo (food of the Gods) and Aleyah was sitting next to me. She kept looking at the cookie I was eating. Poor thing wanted one so bad. So, I thought why not? She is 8 months old and that should be fine. No choking hazard here (mom!). I gave her one. Here are the pictures from that cookie. I should have sat her in the highchair, she was making such a big mess. I had to take the cookie away from her once because she got one of her hairs on it. you'd have thought I was taking away her life. She heaved such a pitiful sigh and got huge tears in her eyes. Too cute. Half way through eating the cookie, she fell asleep. Too bad she didn't get to stay that way. She was way to messy and had to be changed. Later that night when I gave her a bath, she had cookie between her toes! How on earth did she manage to do that I wonder? Anyway, here are the pictures I took of her while she was munching on that cookie. I tried to take a video, but my camera wouldn't let me.

2011-03-22T12:41:00.001-07:00

Jonathan's 8th Birthday and Baptism

2011-02-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

So time has once again gotten away from me...geez! Jonathan celebrated his 8th birthday on January 14th. It was so much fun. We had family and friends over for cake and ice cream and then played Guitar Hero. It was so much fun. A few weeks ago, our bishop came over and we had a discussion about being baptized. Jonathan just sat there with his face turned away, bright pink. It was so funny. I can't believe that he is 8 and was baptized today. It was a huge turn out. 2 other kids from our ward got baptized as well as 4 other children from the stake. We had to open the doors to the overflow to fit all the family members that came to support the kids. It was great. We only got one picture of Jonathan with Ernie. It was so crazy and crowded. After everything was over, we had a family lunch in the Primary room. My parents as well as Ernie's parents came and so did Garrett, Krystal and Kamron, our good friends Tim and his three sweet daughters, Cami, my soon to be sister, my grandma, our other good friend Michelle and Ron, Ronda and their three daughters (Ernie's Brother and sister in law from his first marriage.) It was a ton of fun with good food and great memories. We gave Jonathan his first set of scriptures and he seems to be excited about using them, but they are a little big for his tiny little hands to hold.
Other news in the family, Jonathan and Sabrina are at the top of their classes for school. They are so smart and such great little helpers at school and at home. We are thrilled that they are home with us more now.
Aleyah is growing like a weed. I can't believe that it's been 7 months and 7 days since her birth. She lights up my life and is the greatest little baby...except for the last two nights! She feels she needs to be up every 45 minutes, much to her sleepy parents dismay. Ernie has been really great about that. He helps me feed and change her in the middle of the night because I feel like a zombie when I wake up still tired. She is such a sweet little girl and so very happy. She had her flu shot last week and the week before that, her immunizations. She didn't cry longer than a minute COMBINED and only had a fever after the flu shot. What a great baby girl, we really lucked out of such a sweet heart.
Other than that, not much has happened. We may get a new car within the next couple of weeks. We are looking for a van since we will have to make cross country trips a couple times a year. I'm not thrilled with the mini van idea, I'm more of a truck kinda gal...don't let Ernie see that I wrote that. He wants a truck and I am as opposed to that as I am to a mini van! I guess we will see what happens. Hope you are all well and happy!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!

Since this will be the first year I’ve written a family newsletter, I have a lot to share. Ernie and I were married nearly 3 years ago in the Bountiful UT, Bountiful Temple. It was a wonderful day shared with family, friends and lots of laughter and love.

During the last three years a lot has happened. Ernie moved from downstairs working with my brothers to upstairs working with clients. Jonathan started kindergarten and I nearly died when we had to take him to school. Now he is in the 2nd grade and Sabrina has started kindergarten. They are both the smartest kids in their class. They love to help their teachers and their teachers love them and can’t say enough good things in return. Both kids are good helpers around the house and love to sing and dance. It’s been interesting being thrust into motherhood. I’ve had a few ups and downs but I’m getting better at it and speaking of…

The biggest change just came into our lives on June 29, 2010. Aleyah Annie Upshaw joined our family. She is the sweetest little girl! I love being her mommy. It was quite a surprise since from a young age I was told I’d never have children. For once, I am glad the doctor was wrong. This little girls is such a bright ray of sunshine. She was born at 4:44 am and weighed 6lbs, 9 oz and was 18 ½ inches long. She decided she needed to make a grand entrance into the world, so after 2 days of labor, she came by emergency c-section. Just a little side note about Aleyahs middle name. It’s a very special name that I share with my sweet little grandma Buttars. From a young age I had always wanted to name my daughter Annie. I am proud of that name and I am sure that Aleyah will be proud to carry it on as well. Anyway, both Jonathan and Sabrina are great older siblings. At first Jonathan was a little disappointed that it was another girl, but after a while, he was ok with it. Now he is the best older brother a girl could have. Aleyah loves them both so much and the kids do their very best to make her smile and laugh. Ernie is a great father and you can tell Aleyah looks forward to when her daddy comes home from work. He enters the room and she starts cooing and drooling. It’s the sweetest thing.

So, that is our life over the last three years. We love you and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Brooke, Ernie, Jonathan, Sabrina and Aleyah Upshaw

4 1/2 months

2010-11-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast time flies when you are having fun! I sure love being a mommy to Aleyah! She is the best little girl in the ENTIRE world. I'm not biased either. At first I was prepared for long sleepless nights, LOTS of crying and being cranky because of it all. Not so. I enjoy it all! I don't even mind the nights of no sleep....ha kidding. Aleyah has slept through the night since 3 days old. Sorry all, I got it lucky. During the last four and a half months, I can count on one hand the times I've had to stay up all night. She is such a sweet joy. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she just lays there and coos so sweetly until I come get her. When I walk in, she smiles and those big blue eyes just make me very happy! As for the crying, she really doesn't do that either. Not even as a new baby did she ever cry that much. I can count of my two hands the times she's cried. The worst so far was when she had her first set of immunizations. Poor little girl didn't stop crying for hours. It was so frustrating because there was nothing I could do about it. I felt bad, but I really feel that immunizations are a necessary evil. I was also impressed with myself. I didn't cry when they gave them to her. I didn't really even get upset. It was sad true, but I was brave. She had a slight fever for the whole day and then slept like a rock that night. She also cries when her diaper is dirty or she feels like she is STARVING. Because she gets so upset when she is wet, I am hoping she potty trains earlier than normal. A girl can hope. Since coming into our lives, Aleyah has been such a joy. The kids really enjoy having a little sister around. Sabrina is always trying to make her smile and Jonathan is always there to help whenever we ask. For Jonathan's first school show and tell, he had us bring Aleyah. The class was so cute. The just ooh'd and aah'd over her. Mrs Commons had to remind them to stay quiet when they started to get too loud. Then they whispered. It was sweet. As the time goes by, more and more of her personality shows itself. She is an independent little girl. She loves to sit up on the couch by herself and look around the room. She doesn't want to be held like a baby either. She wants to be sitting up facing the room. She smiles and laughs and coos to anybody who looks at her. She tags along when I go to work in the mornings and all my customers think she is just the sweetest and cutest thing. I agree. She loves to listen to her daddy and big brother and sister read books to her. She smiles when I sing her songs and tickle her belly. I blow raspberries on her neck or tummy and she giggles. The other day I was holding her and she blew a raspberry on my arm, then last night she blew one on my neck and giggled. Oh so sweet. Nothing better in the world than to hear my little girl laugh and speaking of little girl, she is awake so I had better go....

Aleyah's Photo Shoot

2010-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we had our friend Jordon take photo's of Aleyah. What a great time we had. Aleyah was so very happy to have her picture taken...well, for the most part she was happy. We have a few pictures where she is royally ticked off. Those ones are pretty precious. Jordo did such a great job of capturing how sweet our baby is. I recommend JHoffman Photography to all my family and friends. She does a great job and is priced well. Thanks go out to my momma for making the tutu that Aleyah is wearing. She did such a great job. Also, thanks go out to sister Christeansen for making the white blessing dress and thanks to Krystal and momma for making the white slip that went under her blessing dress. You guys ROCK! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

2010-07-17T10:51:00.001-07:00

Fish Pond

2010-07-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, we've been working on our back yard fish pond for over a year now. It's taken a ton of work and a little bit of money. Ernie and the kids have been outside nearly every night this summer working on it and the garden. We had to take a week off when the baby was born, but finally it's done. It looks so nice and it's wonderful to hear the water running in the back yard. We have a waterfall, 1 Koi, several goldfish and 5 tadpoles. We also have several different water plants and have plans to get a few more. The kids are crazy about it and love to feed the fish. We have to remind the kids to not get on the rocks because we don't want them to fall in. We also have to tell them they can't use their fishing poles on the fish. If we are nice to them, they will feed out of our hands. I will post pictures of the pond soon.

2010-07-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

More 5k runs

2010-07-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry about taking so long to update the blog. I've been a tad bit busy. Here are some pictures of 2 more 5k runs that Ernie and Jonathan did. One was at the Portneuf Medical Center (the old Pocatello Hospital) and the other is at the park by the Holt Arena. I'm so proud of Jonathan and Ernie for running! They are doing such a great job and I think Jonathan will continue to run in the years to come. Enjoy!

2010-07-05T10:33:00.001-07:00

Aleyah Annie Upshaw

2010-07-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

After 9 long months of anticipation Aleyah Annie Upshaw made her appearance into this world. She was born Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 4:44 am. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and is 18 1/2 in long. She was delivered by emergency c-section.
All day Monday I had been having contractions. I went in for my weekly appointment with the midwives and they stripped my membranes. They were pretty sure I was going to have a baby that night. By 6pm or so I was having steady contractions every 6 minutes apart. They didn't hurt too bad and I thought I can do this. Ha! At 11:57 pm they were 2-3 minutes apart and still didn't hurt...then POP, my water broke and THEN THEY HURT! Holy crap! I've never hurt so bad in all my ENTIRE life...including that nasty episode with pancreatitus.
Midwives were informed and they said to stay home for a couple of hours but that wasn't in the cards. As it turned out it was very important for me to get to the hospital fast. She was ready to come out and in anticipation of that, already had a bowl movement. They didn't want her to breath that in.
We made it to the hospital in record time. I remember we passed a few cops on Arthur St and nothing happened. I was pretty surprised.
Anyway. Why the c-section? I was laboring for quite sometime. 20 minutes into it I do believe I asked for a c-section. Holy cow the pain, I could hardly speak or think. I didn't really want one but I did want the epidural. (I'm a chicken when it comes to pain. God made the epidural available for a reason you know.)
Baby's base heart beat was only 120 and every time I had a contraction, it would dip lower and then stay there, then dip lower, you get the picture. It dipped to below 100 and Tracy called in Dr Dyer.
At first they didn't want to do a c-section but I was dilated to just over a 5 and he said I had hours to go and baby's heart beat was too low. Emergency C-section here I come!
They prepped me and I was taken to the O.R. Holy crap it was cold in there. I remember shaking so bad I couldn't hold still. Then they needed to give me a spinal. The man told me to hold as still as I could and curl into a ball. Ha, that's a funny joke...not only am I dealing with mind numbing contractions, I'm shaking so hard that my teeth were jolting together AND in case you haven't noticed sir, my belly is HUGE. There is no room to curl into a ball! The nurse holding my hands really helped me though. We got the spinal done and within seconds I was numb from the chest down. I turned to the guy who gave me such relief and told him I loved him. I'm sure everybody laughed but by the time the pain stopped, I was so tired I could hardly pay attention. Of course the nurse tattled on me to Ernie. They guy grinned and said he was quite popular with the ladies. I can see why.
Ernie came in just moments after they started cutting. Probably a good thing I couldn't see because Ernie said they were pretty rough trying to get her out. She was born at 4:44am and just as precious as anything I've ever seen. She did look green, but it didn't matter. She was beautiful to me. They cleaned her off, weighed and measured her and then let me look for a few seconds then took her and Ernie away.
Now time for stitches. 8 LAYERS OF THEM. Oh boy. It took longer to stitch me up than it did to prep, cut me open and pull her out. By the time they finished and I got out of recovery, it was nearly 7:30 am.
I saw my family waiting in the room but I only had eyes for my little girl. She was beautiful. I'm not biased either. Some babies just aren't pretty. Mine is.
Yay she's here! What a sweet little girl God blessed our family with. She hasn't cried...yet and she is just sweet as can be. She is so alert and loves to look around at everything. I call her my little bird....probably because she is always hungry and has her mouth open.
She has been such a joy and the kids are so in love with her. They have been such a great help. Sabrina takes the dirty diapers to the garbage and Jonathan is always turning the mobile on so she can listen to the music. Both kids want to hold her and they are so very gentle. They are going to be such great older siblings.
Ernie has been awesome. From the moment my water broke to right now he has been so supportive. He helped me keep calm when the contractions were at their peek and when I was in surgery. He's helped in the middle of the night when I am so sore I can't get out of bed. He gets Aleyah out of her crib and brings her to me so I can feed her. He is such a great father. Just talking about it makes me cry. You can tell Aleyah loves him so very much.
Grandma and Grandpa Lish, my parents, just think the sun and moon revolve around her. For sure, they are going to spoil her rotten. They just can't get enough of her and love to hug and kiss on her forehead.
Papa and Gigi, Ernie's parents, came up and visited in the hospital. I do believe that Aleyah has them wrapped around her little finger as well and will be spoiled rotten by them too.
Aunts and Uncles on both sides of the family think she is beautiful and I can't help but beam in pleasure! Uncle Morgan is already lost. He grins at her and she just stares at him.
Krystal, my sister in law, was a HUGE help in the delivery room. She helped rub my back when it hurt and kept cold wash clothes ready for when I got too hot. Thanks a ton! I love you!
My mother was also a blessing. When the contractions hit their peak, she rubbed my legs and feet so they would relax. It helped so very much and I love her too!
My dad came up and helped Ernie give me a blessing. I don't recall what it said, but I know it helped me calm down and breath better. I love you daddy.
So, that is the story so far. She is a blessing straight from heaven and I will thank God the rest of my days for her.

2010-07-05T09:04:00.001-07:00

Mini Vacations

2010-06-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

I love vacation time. Since we didn't really want to travel with me being so hugely pregnant and the baby due any day now, we decided to take a mini vacation over Memorial Day weekend. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, went swimming, watched cartoons...kids...and ate at the restaurant. kids had a ton of fun in the pool. I got some great pictures of Jonathan drenching all within his splash/swimming range, that included people NOT in the pool. Sabrina seemed to swallow the whole pool. She hasn't quite grasped you aren't supposed to breath underwater yet. We are going to have to sign them up for more swimming lessons. Soon they will be like little fish. Despite Ernie's hatred of pictures, I got some of him helping the kids in the pool. No, you won't find pictures of me, I hate to swim with a wicked burning passion. Wrinkly fingers and toes for fun? No thanks! Perhaps in a few years we will take a real vacation. Ernie and the kids have never seen an ocean. I think they'd like that. It would be fun to start at the Oregon Coast and drive down through the Redwoods. I've never seen that part of the Cali coast. Then a little trip to Disney World or Lego Land...Hmmm...I'll have to save my pennies. Anyway, hope you all are enjoying our "summer" weather and you get a little mini vacation or the real thing. Pictures soon to come!

2010-05-01T12:45:00.001-07:00

5K Law Day Run

2010-05-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Ernie has been on a kick to loose weight for the last few months. I am so proud of him. He goes to the gym nearly every day and has lost lots of weight. The most noticeable thing is the inches. He is getting skinny. I tease him that he lost it and I found it. I have a good excuse though so I don't feel so bad. Molinelli's Jewlers hosted a "Biggest Looser" event for all the employees who wanted to get healthy. The pot was $200.00 and I must say Ernie kicked butt. He won the money and lost the most weight. Every body did such a good job though and they are all looking so skinny. They are going to do another one in a couple of weeks and I'm excited to see how everybody looks at the end of those 12 weeks. Now for the 5k run. Brecken, Carole and Jeff all run. Ernie decided to try his hand at it. Then Jonathan found out what he was doing and decided he wanted to join in on the festivities. They went for a practice run last week and They ran it in 38 minutes. That's 3.2 miles. Jonathan is 7. I was quite impressed. His feet hurt after and so we decided he needed better sneakers. He broke them in all last week and this week. Today dawned WAY TOO EARLY! They got up at 6am so they could eat a good breakfast, stretch and go for a small walk before all the running began. Sabrina and I met them at the City Offices, where the race started, about 20 minutes before. It was a zoo. So many people were there. We met up with the others in our party and took some pictures. Then they were off. The shot made Sabrina jump. We left and got some hot chocolate because it was so very cold. Then we drove to Ross Park and waited on the side of the road for Ernie and Jonathan. We just made it in time to get a good picture of them. I tried to get a picture when they were crossing the finish line but my stupid camera decided to act up RIGHT THEN. Oh well. They did it! I'm so proud. Their time was 40 minutes and 2 seconds. Bet next time they beat that record. Ernie has signed up for all the 5k runs this year. Jonathan has caught the bug and I bet he will want to do it too. He has more energy than Ernie and I put together and this is a good way for him to burn it. As for Sabrina, she wants to try but she is still a little too young. We might try the 2 mile walk that's going to happen in a few months. By next year she might just be able to do the 5k. So here are the pictures. I'm so proud of them all!

Ernie's 34th Birthday!

2010-05-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

So Ernie officially thinks he became an old man on Saturday April 24th. I assured him that he was well past an old man :) We had the kids that night and so they decided that we were going to make Homemade Lasagna and Brownies for his birthday dinner. I must admit that I over did it because we had so many leftovers we couldn't eat it all. But oh was it yummy! It was nice because that is Ernie's favorite dish. The kids got him a new wallet. He really needed a new one and I had been trying to convince him to get one. The old one was over 12 years old I believe. I gave the kids a couple of different options but I was secretly hoping for the wallet. Got my wish. The kids colored on computer paper and then we wrapped his gift in that. It was nice. On Wednesday night I took him out to dinner at Riggios. I even let him order steamers. For those of you who don't know, I am anti-seafood eating. He enjoyed his dinner and I must say it was SOOO good.

My 29th Birthday

2010-05-01T12:27:00.001-07:00

Can you believe how time flies? I remember sitting in Senior Choir my senior year and seeing friends who had graduated come and visit. I thought they were so old. Ha. Not that I am old. I'm not. Ernie constantly reminds me that I'm still a baby. Compared to him, perhaps I am since he will be 34 on Saturday ;) My birthday was pretty great. Nothing better than sleeping in past 7am. I made a Red Velvet Cake that actually turned out super yummy. I spent the entire day reading after my doctors appointment (baby is doing just fine despite the 5lb weight loss this week). Ernie took me out to dinner to the Sandpiper. Never been there before and it was soooooo stinking good. Our neighbor Rod is the manager there and he recomended the best food. We had roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes with brea cheese and crusty bread. I want to eat that every day for the rest of my life. It was so good. We had steaks and then I got Creme Brulee for my birthday dessert. I was so stuffed by the time I got home that I didn't even eat a piece of cake. I ate it for breakfast though. It's got all the food groups from the food pyramid right? I just have to keep telling my self that. I'm great-full for all the birthday wishes from family and friends. You guys are the best a girl could have!

2010-05-01T12:26:00.001-07:00

Monster Trucks & Pocatello Hicks!

2010-05-01T12:25:00.002-07:00

Sabrina and I were driving to the post office and listening to Star 98.5. The DJ, Kelly Martenez said the next person to come to the UPS store and donate $5.00 to some charity would win 2 tickets to the Monster Truck show. We were at the stop light so I decided to do it. I had been thinking about buying tickets to the show because I knew the kids would enjoy going. We stopped and donated and got our tickets. I bought two more tickets from ISU and on Saturday April 17th we went to the show. The kids were crazy all day with waiting. We got to the Holt and there they were. The biggest trucks. Jonathan couldn't hold still. Sabrina was just as excited. We found our seats, unfortunately we couldn't sit together. We stayed a couple of hours. It was pure chaos there. We had ear plugs in but that didn't prevent us from hearing the roar of the engines or the screaming HICKS all around. I've never understood the appeal of monster trucks, demolition derbies or wrestling. Apparently Americans love it because the dome was completely sold out. No empty seats. Anyhow. Here are the pictures. I'm glad we went even though it was a tad bit red neck-ish of us.

2010-05-01T12:25:00.001-07:00

My little white Dotty cat.

2010-05-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

I had to put Dotty to sleep yesterday. Probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I say that about every animal of mine that I've had to put to sleep. She was only 9 and my best friend. I really miss her a ton.

6 month baby updates.

2010-05-01T12:23:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe that 6 months has gone by. Baby is doing really well. We had another check up today and the heart beat is fine. She didn't much like the poking of the little wand thingy so she didn't hold still for longer than a minute. She moves often and likes to kick or elbow my bladder. It's the weirdest feeling but I love it. Makes me happy when she moves around, even when it's in the middle of the night and her jab wakes me up. We have another ultra sound scheduled for 4 weeks. Why you may ask? She wouldn't give us a picture of her face. She kept turning so her spine was in view. At least we know that part of her body is perfect for sure. We also need a better picture of her heart. Nothing to worry about though. The midwives are confident that everything is fine. Her heart beat is strong and sounds completely normal, they just want a better picture. I'm also going to have them double check to make sure she really is a girl. I'm still not convinced. Don't ask me why.
The nursery is coming together nicely thanks to our good friends Michelle and Greg. They've given us a ton of stuff including a crib and a carseat/stroller combo. They really are great! Howard and Eve have given us a ton of clothes and the cutest pair of red shoes I've ever seen. My dear sweet granny Buttars and aunt Kris have given us a ton of clothes as well. I'm going to have the best dressed little girl in the world...unless she is a he and then I'm screwed :)
Sabrina is super excited to have a little sister. She offered to let the baby sleep in her bed the other day. We didn't have the crib when she said this. I had to let her know that the baby would have her own bed and she wouldn't be able to sleep with her. She said she understood but the baby could if she wanted too. How sweet. I'm glad that she offered.
Jonathan is super excited as well. I think at first (about 10 seconds) he was sad it wasn't going to be a boy that he could play cars with. Then a big smile split his face and he was happy. He gets a big grin on his face whenever someone asks him about his new little sister. He'll be a great big brother and defend both of his sisters when they need it.
Ernie is the silent type but he seems pretty happy about the news. When we were at the ultrasound appointment he tried to look away so he wouldn't see the sex of this baby but he didn't look fast enough and baby was in a very accommodating mood. He thought he saw a boy. We had told the ultrasound tech that he didn't want to know what it was so she didn't say a single thing. After he had left she told me it was a girl and he had seen the umbilical cord. I tried to keep it a secret. He told everybody at Molinellies that it was a boy. I agreed then showed them a paper that said it was a girl and a secret. I announced it on Facebook with little concern that he would see it. He never gets on his page and even when he does, he doesn't get updates. The secret was out though because his ex-sister-in-law told him. Yes, I was and am more than a little irked. I mean really! I posted that it was a secret and to not tell him. Not exactly sure why she or any of her family was looking at my facebook page. Oh well. The cat's out of the bag now.
Mom has been a dear for the last 3 months...not me, my mom :) She just left today and I miss her already. It was fun to have her around. I've missed her over the last 5 years. She's been a great help and I can't wait till her and dad move back home. They aren't sure when that will be. Stinking railroad. They suck. At least I won't have to wait more than 3 months to see them as they will be rushing home the week I am due.
As for me...I am feeling more pregnant every day. I've got the stomach and all to prove it. Who would have thought that a tiny little baby the size of a mango (that's how big she is right now) would make a body feel so sick and so great at the same time? My sleeping habits have greatly changed. I swear I can't get enough of it. I go to bed at 8 or there about every night. Most of the time I get up at 8 or sometime right after that. I'd take a nap in the day if I could but I just can't fall asleep when the sun is shining. Not sure why. I finally got a body pillow and that seems to help with getting comfortable at night. I find that I'm really really grouchy. I'm trying to do better. I take time for just me. If chocolate is involved it's even better. I don't eat too much of it though because people say it's linked to heart burn and I've yet to have that. PLUS I don't want to get gestational diabetes. I really watch what I eat. I've had NO weird food cravings much to my husbands relief. I don't think he'd really like to go out for Chunky Monkey ice cream and corn nuts at 2 am. The only thing I can't seem to get enough of is Pineapple. I love it. But I've always loved it.
So anyhow. That is the update. It's a long one. I'm also going to post pictures from the ultrasound. They are pretty clear and one of them is so stinking cute. She is holding her finger up to her mouth. Looks like she is saying "Sshhh mom! I'm trying to sleep!" Hope you enjoy and hope all is well for you and your loved ones!

2010-05-01T12:22:00.001-07:00

Baby blanket

2010-05-01T12:13:00.001-07:00

So I decided a few months ago I was going to make a baby blanket. At that point in time I didn't know what I was having so I got some yellow baby yarn. I started the blanket but the motion made me so sick to my stomach I thought I'd puke....so I stopped. About 5 weeks ago I started again. I knew I was having a girl but I didn't want to make a pink blanket. So instead I decided to do a white one for her blessing day. It's taken a long time, but I finally finished it today! I'm really proud of myself for doing it. It looks good. Thanks to my good friend Mary W for teaching me the pattern all those years ago. Here are some pictures to go along.

Baby bump and Ultrasound pictures

2010-05-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd put some pictures of my ever rounding belly up. Ernie told me I wasn't allowed to complain about being fat anymore because I put the pictures up...that's what he thinks. So here they are.

2010-05-01T12:11:00.001-07:00

Boy or Girl?

2010-05-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

IT'S A GIRL!!!! Due June 25, 2010!!

It's about time!

2010-05-01T12:07:00.002-07:00

So...Life has been busy with our little family. I know it's no excuse for not updating our blog so I here I go. Jonathan got great grades in Kindergarten. No surprise there. He is such a smart little boy. Can't believe how big he's gotten since I came into the picture. We celebrated Sabrina's birthday in September. She's 5 now and getting so tall. It's so strange because when we met she was 3. So weird. I've got pictures of her birthday so I will post those as soon as I get the computer working again. During the year, starting end of January I got a 2nd job at Great Harvest Bread Co. So much fun. They have really really good bread. Darn it! It was lots of fun working there. I made a ton of good friends and met some really eccentric people. In October I found out I was pregnant. Surprise! Nobody was more so than I. For over 10 years doctors had told me it would be difficult if not impossible to get that way. Once again, surprise. Obviously the Lord had much different idea in mind. So glad he did. It's been great and very hard at the same time. When I found out I cried all day long. I wasn't sad. Just in complete shock and so very happy. The weeks since then have been difficult. I quit my job at Great Harvest. I found it hard to help people and then bolt to the bathroom to heave my guts up. Working at Pampered Pets has had it's obstacles too. Smells that normally wouldn't get to me now make me sicker than a dog...every pun intended. I still enjoy working with animals though. It's great because right now I am the boss lady and I can set my hours. My customers have been very understanding as well. Most of them are women who have been pregnant and understand mornings are hard. I also have gotten used to the stares I receive when I have to pull my car over, open the door and puke in the road. If I wasn't so sick I would find the looks completely comical. Especially coming from men. I decided to go with the Nurse Midwives for baby care. My sister in law, Krystal went with them and they did such a good job and came highly recommended. I must say that so far they have given me a ton of support. I'm on a ton of medicine to help with the constant throwing up and they have made sure that me and baby are well taken care of. I am confident in them and their care of us. When we told the kids they were pretty happy. When Sabrina prays she asks for the baby to come out, or to stop making Brooke so stinking sick, or that the baby will be strong. She also asked to give me a hug the other day...then she said "Hey Brooke, guess what? When I hug you I hug the baby too huh?" or she once said "Hey Brooke....you are either having a boy or it's a girl." She is so funny. She wants a sister but I think she'd be fine with a boy. Jonathan is more the silent type but he's still excited. He told me he doesn't want a stinking girl. He want's a boy to play cars with. So funny. Either way they are both excited to be big brother and big sister. Any way....I think it's a boy. Not sure why. Just do. I guess in February we will find out. Baby Upshaw is due June 27, 2010. Can't wait. On another happy note. Mom and dad got called home! Yay! That means no more Nebraska. I know they will miss the people there but this is what they have wanted for so long. They should be home by December 17th. When mom heard the news she started packing and had most of it done that night. I guess she's a tad excited too. I'm glad they will be home soon. I've missed them madly and it will be nice to have family for Christmas. Anyway, that's our life the last few months. I'll try to keep it up from now on.

2010-05-01T12:07:00.001-07:00

Lagoon 2009

2010-05-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Lance and Julie B gave us 4 tickets to Lagoon last summer. I know it's been a long time coming but here are the pictures from that day. It was so much fun and sooo hot. The kids had a blast. I thought Sabrina would shy away from the big rides. Oh no! She was crazy about them. Laughed like a loon. Jonathan got a little scared on the ride that shot you up and dropped you down. The look on his face was priceless. The kid setting next to him kept trying to calm him down. I didn't go on some of the rides because I am CHICKEN. Yes, I can admit it. After the long day at Lagoon we went and spent some time with my grandma Buttars and aunt Kris. It was really nice seeing them and they were so sweet with the kids. After that we went to dinner with Ernie's brother and sister-in-law Dwaine and Robin. We ate at the Lone Star. It's a steak place in Centerville. So yummy. By the time we left it was late and even later when we got home. Kids slept like a rock on the ride home. So did I. Any how, it was a great day and we are very thankful that Lance and Julie gave us the tickets!

BirThDaY fUN!!

2009-01-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

We ceLebratED JoNaTHans BirTHdaY On tHe 14tH Of JaNUarY. I cAN't rEalLy BeLieVE hOw biG He's gEttiNg! We SurPRised Him By drivINg To OUter liMIts wheRE we Ate DinnER and Then PlaYed. JOnAThan and SabRIna wEnt CraZy WheN tHEy Saw wHEre wE WerE HEadEd. We PlaYed FOr SevErAl HouRS. At THe End Of oUr tIme, wE toOk All THe tiCKets anD TraDEd tHEm in foR LitTle TrEats aNd toys. We thEN maDE it HOme JusT iN tIme For frIEndS tO joIn us foR caKE aNd IcE cReam. AlL iN aLl, iT wAs A preTty Fun eveNing!

Jonathan's 6th Birthday

2009-01-14T21:55:00.001-08:00

More Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-25T15:49:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-25T15:47:00.002-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! Here are some fun pictures of us opening our presents...yes, there are pictures including the cat, Dotty and the newest addition to our little family, Piper. She was one of the gifts we gave our kids. You should have seen the look on their faces when they came in and saw all the gifts and then they heard Piper's welcoming bark. I guess you will see that look. It's captured somewhere in the two slide shows I've made up. I took over 200 pictures but I only used 100 so you it's not too overwhelming. Just a run down of what everybody got. Jonathan: Wall stickers, LOTS of candy (darn santa...aka me!) a new bike(from Santa), a Helmet (thanks Papa and Gigi) A new shirt (thanks Uncle Garrett, Aunt Krystal and Kamron)A Nerf Dart Gun (THANKS Grandma Lisa, Grandpa Craig and Uncle Marshall), A Hot Wheels car set (Thanks Joyce's Small World and Staff) and Pj's, Puzzles, Slippers, a stuffed Bear(thanks Great Grandma Lish), and a stuffed Dog that sings annoying Christmas Songs...again, that's me. Sabrina: A dog that sings and dances to annoying Christmas songs, A stuffed Piggy(thanks Great Grandma Lish) Play dough(thanks Joyces Small World and Staff) A new shirt (Thanks Aunt Krystal, Uncle Garrett and Kamron) A stuffed Kitty w/bag (thanks Grandma Lisa, Grandpa Craig and Uncle Marshall) A bike (from Santa), Wall stickers, Lots of candy, A Barbie helmet (thanks Papa and Gigi), Pj's and slippers. Now for family Gifts. Garrett, Krystal and Kamron got us a family movie and game night. It had two movies, The Italian Job and Over the Hedge, 2 containers of Hot Cocoa (Krystal know me well) LOTS and Lots of candy, Popcorn and a bowl to put it all in, the game Hungry Hippo (yay because Jonathan was just asking about it. Ours Mysteriously dissapeared ), and a super sweet soft blanket that is purple and matches our living room walls. You guys Rock. Thanks so much. That's the first game we opened and played. Michelle, Greg and their family bought us a movie, Horton Hears a Who, which we are watching right now. Thanks a ton and your gift is sitting here on my table but we can't get down from the mountain because of the snow. Our neighbors Rod and Kathleen brought us homemade fudge topping, 2 ornements, and hot chocolate. These guys are seriously the best. We are in the middle of the biggest snow storm in the History of Poky and they helped me shovel the walk and the drive. They've done this a couple times this winter already and a couple of times last year too. Love you guys! The Curzons brought over this yummy popcorn loaf that we are eating while watching Horton Hears a Who. Thanks guys and I need that recipe. We also got a family present that we all opened. We got a V-Motion with two controllers and the game Kung Foo Panda. It's such a cool toy. I don't have to worry about the kids playing video games because they have to get up and move around to play the games. It's great. The other part of our family gift is our new puppy, Piper. She is such a blessing and a sweet animal. She's only 9 weeks old and is a pound puppy. We adopted her a week ago today and she has been such a fun little animal to have. We aren't sure exactly what she is. They think that she is a schnauzer/lab cross but she is pretty small so I think she will take after the schnauzer. Yay! She loves to play in the snow. I thought it was going to be hard to potty train her because of it, but she loves to go outside and play in it. That doesn't mean she doesn't go potty outside. She does. She isn't going to be too difficult to teache her. The kids don't quite know what to think about her. She is just a puppy so she is really excitable and licks their faces. We will work on that. Ernie gave me some long wool socks because my feet are ALWAYS cold, a pair of flat brown fuzzy boots that I love and a book light and I gave Ernie a Engraveable Tie Tack, a man Bracelet, and a year pass to the shooting range. Anywho. Enjoy the pictures.

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-25T15:47:00.001-08:00

Decorating the House 08

2008-12-19T17:43:00.001-08:00

A Gingerbread House and Homemade Card

2008-12-19T17:42:00.001-08:00

Last night we made a gingerbread house for Family Home Evening. The kids were so excited! They could hardly hold still. The kids helped decorate (and eat) with the candy and then they asked if they could throw snowballs at each other. You can't tell but the little clumps of frosting in the little gingerbread boy and girls' hands are snowballs. The kids thought that would be fun. Also, here is the card that Jonathan made me in Kindergarten. I'm not going to lie, I cried when I got it. I never thought that I would ever get one. It's so precious to me and I will treasure it as long as I live and perhaps into the Eternities. More pictures to come of Christmas. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Decorating the Tree 08

2008-12-19T17:41:00.001-08:00

Decorating the Tree

2008-12-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

Finally! Here are some of the pictures from decorating our tree. My camera is holding out on me when it comes to the flash so the pictures are dark. They are still pretty cute though. The kids were so happy that it was finally time to get the ornaments out. Enjoy. I posted some other pictures of the tree during the day time in the Gingerbread slide show. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Light Parade 08

2008-12-19T17:38:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 08

2008-12-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! It's been so long since I've updated so here goes...Thanksgiving was awesome. This was my first Thanksgiving with Ernie and the kids. We got the kids early and that was nice. We drove up to Ernie's parents house that Thursday and spent the day with "papa and Gigi" We ate Turkey and stuffing and all the good things that go along with that. I made cranberry sauce and it was divine. Thanks aunt Kris for the recipe! It was late when we got home. The kids just fell asleep in the car and we had to carry them in. The next day aunt Jolene and all the kids came to Pocatello and watched the Christmas Light Parade. It was so much fun. Jonathan and Sabrina were so excited to see all their cousins. We went to Butterburrs for dinner and I'm sure the waitress was stressed at the sheer number of people who were there. 18 is a large number to serve. Our friends Michelle and Greg and their kids went to the parade and dinner with us. It was way nice seeing them too! On Saturday we were going to go up early to see everybody, but they decided to come back to Poky and shop. We spent a couple of hours at Mollinellies, that's where Ernie works. Then all of us, Me,the kids, Jolene, her two grandkids, Ralph, Idella, Duane, Robin and their two kids went shopping at Walmart. Wow there were a ton of us! After Walmart, all the men got sick of shopping and when they heard we were going to Head over Heels in the mall, they bailed on us...all except Jonathan that is...he's tough enough to handle a bunch of women in a shoe store! We finally made it home 4 pairs of shoes, 1 skirt and 1 shirt later. We had so much fun laughing and talking and watching the kids. We made dinner and it was so nummy! We let the kids stay up super late and they enjoyed playing games and watching movies and playing with their cousins and the dog. We almost got Duane to play Phase 10...almost but not quite. We were satisfied when he sat at the table and bs'd with us. Finally everybody settled down and went to sleep. Whew! It had been a long day. We spent the remainder of our Thanksgiving weekend visiting and of course, eating. We left late Sunday afternoon and we can't wait to see all of our cousins again soon. We missed my family. They were stuck in that awful town in Nebraska. Poor family. It was a good thing we sort of celebrated early when they were in town earlier November. It wasn't the quite the same as my younger brother Marshall was still in Nebraska working. We spent the evening eating yummy turkey and dressing that my momma made. She is such a wonderful cook. I made a cherry pie from scratch...ok, it was semi-homemade, but it still tasted good...well, that's what the boys said. I don't eat cherry pie or any other fruit pie for that matter. Anyway...It was nice to have most of my family there. I really miss Marshall and can't wait to see him again. Here are some pictures of the Light Parade and Thanksgiving. Sorry my Camera isn't so good when it's dark. I can't get the flash to work. So...enjoy!

ISU vs Weber State

2008-11-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors Rod and Cathleen gave us 4 tickets to see the ISU/Weber game today. We've been planning our day for several weeks now. The kids were so excited when we told them! For those of you who know me, you know I LOATHE football, actually, I loathe just about every sport that is played with a ball, but I went along with it anyway. The look on Jonathan's face when we pulled out those tickets made it worth it. We got a couple of cute photos of the kids going wild when ISU scored and one of Jonathan waiving his arms wildly while they were trying to score. He was so funny to wach. It looks like we've got a little FB buff on our hands!

ISU Game 08

2008-11-08T15:08:00.001-08:00

Destroying of the Great Pumpkins!

2008-11-02T08:28:00.002-08:00

Jonathan had a great idea the night we were carving pumpkins. The night after Halloween he wanted to smash them up. He couldn't decide how at first. He thought maybe throwing it, and then he thought cutting it up but in the end he used a hammer. In one of those pictures Ernie has one of his fingers holding it while Jonathan smashed the hammer down. He's pretty lucky it didn't get squished. Sabrina and daddy cut hers up with a freaking huge knife that made me extremely nervous. The knife is almost bigger than she is! I threw my pumpkin down on the ground and broke it. Poor thing. Ernie used the knife again and with one swoop split his in half right down the middle of the eye he carved. Gives new meaning to "Smashing Pumpkins!"

Smashing Pumpkins!

2008-11-02T08:28:00.001-08:00

Playing with Silly String!

2008-11-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Jonathan and Sabrina were so helpful. They cleaned their bedroom and helped put away all their toys in the living room. Then we went to run a couple of errands and they were so good doing that too! So, we decided that we were going to play with silly string. I don't think Sabrina really enjoyed it too much because Jonathan had a Spider man web shooter and she thought they were real spider webs. We explained that it was just silly string. Jonathan went CRAZY! He thought it was the best ever and got everyone and everything. So much fun!

Silly String!

2008-11-02T08:10:00.001-08:00

Party Time!

2008-11-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jonathan had his kindergarten Halloween party and Ernie and I went to school to help out. It was so much fun! We helped kids make a spooky box and a ghost. Jonathan made a book and read it to his teacher, a spider hat and his snack was goblin lips made out of caramel, marshmallows, apples. He was a fearsome pirate but didn't master the Aaaarrrrgggghhh! Next year maybe. After their snack, they went on a costume parade to show all the school kids their costumes and then to the Library for reading time. After school was over we went to pick Sabrina up from kindergarten. Pictures from that party will come later. We went home, ate lunch, took a small nap and then got ready for Trick or Treat the Old Town Streets. So much fun. The kids got soooooo much candy! The next couple of weeks are going to be filled with SUGAR! After that we stopped off at our friends house for Hannah's Birthday party. She turned 1 and it was so exciting for her. She was dressed as a little pumpkin. Her mommie and daddy did such a great job. They had a ring toss with witches hats, pop bottle bowling, and pin the nose on the pumpkin. Then the kids' favorite was making a spider web. They got different colors of yarn and wove it in and over each kid making a spider web. A couple of girls got really excited and tangled themselves up really good. So much fun!

Jonathan's Kindergarten Halloween Party 08

2008-10-31T17:17:00.001-07:00

Halloween Time!

2008-10-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

So I finally took pictures of our decorations. I will put them on tomorrow sometime because I'm going to be taking a butt load of pictures tomorrow. We get to take the kids downtown to trick or treat and they are sooooooo excited to do that with us. We've been planning it for a while now. I guess tomorrow you will see. Hope all is well and we love you!

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-24T18:47:00.003-07:00

Tag your it!

2008-10-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tag!

5 years ago…

1. Living in Twin Falls, ID.
2. Working on the weekends only...oh the days!
3. I wanted to be a nurse, and a chef, and a singer.
4.Realized that I HATED school.
5.Jumped into a freezing cold lake fully clothed...brrrrrrr!

Things on my list for today-

1. Wash dishes.
2.Wash kitchen cabinets.
3. Re-organize the pantry.
4. Make dinner for the family.
5. Decorate the house for Halloween.

Snacks I enjoy-

1. Cheesecake.
2. Chocolate
3. Fresh Fruit
4. Coconut
5. Twix Candy bars.

Things I would do if I was a millionaire-
(I couldn't narrow it to just 5, sorry)

1.Put all of it into a couple of different banks and live off the interest accrued.
2. Pay tithing
3. Buy a nice house with a permanent housekeeper.
4. Buy my families houses with permanent housekeepers.
5. Set up trust funds for my kids for missions, college and marriage.
6. Clothes and shoes and a HUGE closet to put it all in.

Places I have lived:

1. Pocatello, Idaho
2. Twin Falls, Idaho
3. A really gross apartment up on the hill full of spiders.
4. A place on Washington.
5. My house.

Jobs I have had:

1. Kitchen help with an assisted living place.
2. Continental Bistro a long time ago.
3. Convergys...something I will never do again!
4. CSI as a math paper corrector...I liked my professor. He was nice.
5. PPets. I love it!

Tag:
Krystal and Stephanie

Wacky Upshaws

2008-10-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

We were playing on our blog last night if you couldn't tell. It was lots of fun. We didn't get to decorate for Halloween yet because we just had too much fun playing outside AGAIN! Next week we will post a blog and pictures. Just wait. We have 14 pumpkins to decorate with. It's going to be great!

Biker dude!

2008-10-11T19:58:00.001-07:00

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Unicorn

2008-10-11T19:32:00.001-07:00

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Wow are they limber

2008-10-11T14:12:00.001-07:00

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Halloween

2008-10-11T13:17:00.001-07:00

Tonight we are going to decorate for Halloween. The kids are super excited. We will take pictures and then post them for you on here. Hope all is well and we love you all!

Snow!

2008-10-11T13:16:00.001-07:00

This is a little video clip but it's not very good. I accidentally zoomed in when I hit the record button so you can't see them very well.

Snow!

2008-10-11T13:15:00.001-07:00

It's begining to look alot like Christmas!

2008-10-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Snow this early? Can you believe it? I sure can. I told Ernie two weeks ago, after that cold spell we had, that we were going to have snow before Halloween. I should've bet him something. I would have won. The kids were so excited when they woke up this morning to snow. We just had to go outside right that minute to play in it. We didn't. We had to get their snow gear and then eat lunch with daddy THEN we could play in the snow. I guess that wasn't fast enough. They had so much fun outside. Our yard was one solid blanket of snow. As you can tell from the pictures, they soon had little trails from running through it. Snow men were attempted and snow angels made. Oh how much fun! BRRRRRR!!!!!!

First snow of the year!

2008-10-11T13:07:00.001-07:00

Picnic Time

2008-10-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

So it's become a bit of a tradition to have a picnic with daddy every Saturday. We make a lunch and take it to work and sit in the back room of Molinellies and eat. Usually not alot of eating gets done. Jonathan and Sabrina are usually busy looking around. By the end of lunch Ernie has food hand prints on his shirt and pants from all the hugging. It's a fun tradition and we are thankful to Uncle Lance and Aunt Julie and all the other people who work there who let us come and picnic!

Picnic with daddy!

2008-10-11T13:01:00.001-07:00

Disco Diva

2008-10-08T10:24:00.002-07:00

So I saw this on my friend Steffanie's blog and I just had to have it. It is sooooooo freaking funny and easy to do. Have fun watching it and then have even more fun making one for yourself! I just watched it again and I think if Ernie made any of those hip wiggling moves he just might break a hip or two. Hee hee hee!

Our Disco Days

2008-10-08T10:24:00.001-07:00

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My fluffy wuff kins and I :)

2008-09-30T13:24:00.001-07:00

1)What are your first names?
Ernie and Brooke

2) How long have you been together?
Almost a year.

3) Do you have any children together?
He has two and I've "adopted" them.

4)Do you have any pets?
A cat named Dotty.

5) Did you go to the same school?
Nope.

6) Are you from the same hometown?
Nope. He's from Missouri and I'm from Idaho.

7) Do you live in the same town now?
We even live in the same house and sleep in the same bed.

8) Who is the smartest?
He thinks he's smart. Heeheehee. He's pretty smart.

9) Who is the most sensitive?
Me

10) Where is the first place you went to eat as a couple?
Applebees I think.

11) Do you wear matching clothes?
Nope. He doesn't have the best sense of style. Sorry honey.

12) Where is the furthest you have traveled as a couple?
Utah. That's so sad.

14) Who has the craziest ex[es]?
BY FAR he does.

15) Who has the worst temper?
Both of us.

16) Who does the cooking?
Me but he is soooo much better.

17) Who's more social?
Me.

18) Who is the neat freak?
Neither one of us. We don't like living in mess so we keep our house pretty clean. I am a little OCD about the bathroom though.

19) Who is the most affectionate?
Both of us are except in public. No PDA's here.

20) Who is the most stubborn?
He is.

21) Who hogs the bed?
Me. He constantly is having to tell me to scoot over.

22) Who wakes up earlier?
I do. He doesn't fall asleep until late.

23) Who said "I Love You" first?
I did.

25) How did you spend your 1st year anniversary?
We haven't had a first anniversary yet. I wonder if he will be creative on our first date anniversary.

26) Who has the bigger family?
Me.

27) Do you give/get flowers often?
Nope. Not a big fan really.

28) How do you spend the holidays?
With family.

29) Do you think you will ever get married?
It's been almost 7 months now

Bri's Birthday Party

2008-09-30T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here they are, the long awaited pictures from Sabrina's 4th Birthday party. It was fun. Our friends Tim and Heather and their girls, Lilly and Loren and our parents, Ralph and Idella came to celebrate with us. It was so much fun. She wanted a big pink cake, so I got her the Barbie Fairytopia cake. It had a little toy on it and she loved it. You should have seen the huge grin on her face while we were singing to her. She asked for princess stuff so that's what we got her. She got a Cinderella crown, a princess puzzle and princess/polly pockets. She wants to be a princess for Halloween at our house so the crown was perfect. I can't believe how big she is getting! She is so tall and turning into such a beauty. She is just 4!! Stay young! I can tell when she gets older she is going to be a heartbreaker. I hope her daddy is ready for that. I'm sure not!

Sabrinas 4th Birthday

2008-09-30T12:41:00.001-07:00

A little about Ernie

2008-09-28T12:12:00.001-07:00

1. What is his name? Ernest Dale Upshaw
2. Who eats more? By far Ernie does. He gets angry at me when I don't eat.
3. Who said, "I love you" first? Me.
4. Who is taller? Ernie. I'm short.
5. Who is smarter? Me...or Ernie...I think we are both pretty smart.
6. Who is more sensitive? I am .
7. Who does the laundry? Since we both hate it equally, we do it together.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Ernie. I love the left.
9. Who pays the bills?Both of us.
10. Who cooks more? I do.
11. Who is more stubborn? Paging Ernie!
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? ME!!!
13. Who has more siblings?I do.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We are partners so we both do. No, that's not wishful thinking.
15. What do you like to do together? Go out on dates, go for drives, take walks, and watch tv.
16. Who eats more sweets? Both of us. Can you say brownies?
17. Guilty Pleasures? Guns, Computer/video games, kids, brownies....
18. How did you meet? We first met when he started working at Mollinellies Jewlers. He was still married at that time. Our first date was in October of 08 after his divorce was finalized.
19. Who asked whom out first? Ernie did.
20. Who kissed who first? Ernie did. It was such a shock.
21. Who proposed? Ernie did. It was again such a shock to both of us. At first I didn't understand what he was asking. I made him say it again. Later Ernie confessed that he didn't know he was doing it until he said the words.
22. His best features and qualities? How much he loves the kids, his eyes and hands and how he is so patient with everything that is going on.

Bri's Birthday

2008-09-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

We didn't get to celebrate Sabrina's birthday on the 21st of September because she was with her mother. We gave her the option of celebrating it early or after she gets back. She decided after so...We are celebrating it tonight with family and friends. We will take pictures and post them either tonight or tomorrow.

My Autobiography

2008-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Your Autobiography

Part 1: The Birth of You:

Were you a planned baby?: Kinda but no. My parents wanted a baby but mom was still on the pill.

Were you the first?: yes

Who was present at your birth?: Both my grandma's my momma...heeheehee and my daddy.

Were your parents married when you were born?: For over a year.

What is your birthdate?: April 19, 1981

Part 2: The Family

How would you describe your family?: disFUNctional...lol

Are your parents married? For 28 years now.

Siblings or an only child?: 3 younger brothers.

If you have siblings are you oldest, middle, or youngest?: Oldest

What are your siblings names and ages?: Garrett 26, Morgan 23, Marshall 18

Which parent do you get along with best?: both, but I know my mom better than I know my dad

What do you fight about?: Nothing really.

Do you have step parents?: Nope.

Part 3: The Friends

Do you have more than one best friend?: Yes. My husband Ernie and Lindsy.

Who are your best friends?: See above answer.

What do you like to do when you are together?: Me and Lindsy do icecream and french fries and Ernie and I have "family home evening" HAhahahaha!

Do you share the same interests?: Yes

Which friend can you tell anything to?: Both of them

Part 4: Your Personality

How high/low is your self esteem?: Average, whatever that means

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?: A little of both. I keep a lot of things in, but I'll speak out if I really need to.

Are you happy?: Yes. I have the best family in the world and friends to go along with it.

Do you live life to the fullest?: For me, yes.

Part 5: Appearance

Are you comfortable with the way you look?: I wish I weighed a million pounds less...ok just 30 then.

Do you have any piercings besides your ears?: Nope.

Describe your hair: Light brown. All natural.

What make-up do you wear?: Some foundation, Mascara and lip gloss. If I'm going somewhere fancy then I wear more.

How do you dress?: jeans and a nice shirt.

Part 6: The Past

Were you a strange child?: Sure I was. I really haven't change either.

What did you use to love that you no longer do?: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barbie, Beef Ravioli, New Kids on the Block...

Do you have the same friends?: Lindsy is the only one that I regularly talk to. Some of my friends from high school still stay in touch every once in a while.

Was there anything in your past that was traumatizing?: Just the long stint at the hospital.

Part 7: The Future

What is your ambition?: To be a mother.

Are you scared of growing old?: Yes but no at the same time.

Do you want to get married?: Not really. I'm already married.

Part 8: The Outdoors

Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?: It really depends on the weather.

What is your favorite season?: Fall weather.

Do you like walking in the rain?: love the rain... its the best

Part 9: Food

Are you a vegetarian?: No. I love beef!

What is your favorite fruit?: Strawberries.

What food makes you want to gag?: Head.

What is your favorite dessert?: Creme Brulee. It's so yummy and I love to make it.

What is your favorite restaurant?: Anything with meat.

Are you a fussy eater?: Yes I know what I like and what I don't

Part 10: Relationships and Love

Are you single or taken?: Taken

If taken who is the lucky guy/girl?: Ernie, my husband.

Do you think love is the best feeling in the world?: Love is a beautiful thing.

Do you believe in love at first sight?: Nope.

Part 11: Experiences

What was one of your greatest experiences?: My marriage to Ernie in the Temple.

What was one of your worst?: Dying in the hospital.

Have you ever done drugs?: Nope.

Have you ever thought you were going to die?: Yep. I was dying in the hospital.

Have you ever suffered from depression?: Not really.

Sweet words.

2008-09-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sabrina wants to start calling me mommie. It's the sweetest thing. She asked if that was ok. Of course it is ok with me. I'm her mommie too!

Kindergarten

2008-08-19T15:46:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that Jonathan starts kindergarten on Monday. It's so weird. It seems like just yesterday they were calling me over to eat cold spaghetti and meet them.

Graduation 08 photos

2008-08-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Jonathan's preschool Graduation

2008-08-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

My little 5 year old just graduated preschool. It's kinda weird! He goes to Small World and they are so wonderful with the kids. For graduation the kids put on a skit, Wendy Wonka and then sang and danced to 10 songs including Jonathan's favorite Bad to the Bone and Sabrina dancing to the Chicken dance. It was so precious. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I took over 175 so I edited them down considerably.

Family pictures summer 08

2008-08-12T20:01:00.001-07:00

Family pictures!

2008-08-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Oh yay! They are finally here. I'm so excited to show you. Our friend Jordon Hoffman took our pictures and she made it so easy for us. The kids loved her and were so good during the hour it took. We went to two different locations. Ross park zoo and a little place behind Hot hair. Thanks to the lady who owns the salon, we found this little jewel of spot for pictures. If you need any type of pictures, I suggest you call Jordon. She's great. Here is her website just incase.

http://www.jhofmanphotography.com

Hope you all enjoy!

Pocatello Zoofari photos

2008-08-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

The zoofari experience

2008-08-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the zoofari. For those of you who don't know, that's the ice cream fest at the zoo at Ross Park. The kids had been looking forward to it all week long. It's a good cause. The money goes toward the zoo. We got there and the music was blasting. There were so many people. And a TON of ice cream. Pretty much every flavor you could imagine and as much as you wanted. We walked around looking at all the animals. Jonathan made a new friend and they were running everywhere looking at everything. Pretty much it was the best $20.00 spent this weekend. We went with Uncle Garrett, Aunt Krystal and Kamron. It was his first zoo experience and as you can see he was so wildly fascinated that he slept through the entire thing. I guess that's ok as he's only a few weeks old.

Comming soon to a blog near you...

2008-08-09T09:16:00.001-07:00

COMMING SOON...

Pictures of our family. Our good friend Jordon Hoffman from J Hoffman Photography (http://www.jhofmanphotography.com) took our family pictures. She's an awesome photographer and a long time friend so naturally our choice was to ask her. She made things so easy and comfortable for all of us. Thanks Jordo! We love you!

AND...

The Pocatello Zoofari experience. Our family as well as Lindsy, Jamie, Kurt, and Eve's family will be joining us for a fun filled night of zoo animals and icecream. Hmmmm....wonder if I can get Michelle and Greg to bum along with us?

AND...

Jonathan's baseball pictures. We've got several pictures from grandma Lisa and then his team pics. As soon as mom sends me the pictures, I'll put them up. HINT HINT MOM!

ALSO...

I got bored the other day and decided to redo our blog. I put everything in the order that it happened. Hope you enjoy it.

At the McKees petting zoo! Photos

2008-08-06T18:03:00.001-07:00

The petting zoo

2008-08-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the petting zoo. Jonathan and Sabrina were so excited. They got to see their friends Paige, Leah, and Tanner and I got to see my friends Lindsy and Eve. It was a great afternoon. We were there for about an hour and we enjoyed petting the animals and talking. The kids were wild and crazy with excitement. Jonathan was so exuberant over the ducks. He kept saying "hey, look what I found!" It was pretty cute. After the petting zoo we decided to go get lunch and have a "picnic" at daddy's work. It was a great afternoon.

American Idol Frenzy photos

2008-08-06T17:58:00.001-07:00

American Idol part II

2008-08-06T17:54:00.001-07:00

I tried out for American Idol!! I have wanted to do so for a couple of years and I did it. What an experience. I'm not going to say I'll ever do it again, but it was an experience. We left Poky at 11:00 pm on Monday Night. We got to our hotel around 2:30 am and a half hour later we were dead asleep. My alarm woke us up at 4:15 but my cousin was already up. We'd only slept for an hour and a half. I was so tired but so charged at the same time. We had to be in line as close to 5 am as possible. We walked the 3 blocks to the Energy Solutions Arena (formerly known as the Delta Center) It was dark outside but there were hundreds of people already up and about. When we got to the arena it was crazy! SOOOOO many people. We waited in line until 8 am and they finally let us inside. We did camera work for a couple of hours and then learned a couple of songs. It's pretty great being surrounded by so many talented people. They started auditions around 10:30 am. I knew it would be several hours before it was going to be my turn. There were at least 1,000 people there. Perhaps more. It was hard to pay attention because it there was so much energy in the room. It wasn't loud even though there was singing going on all around us. Everybody practicing their individual songs. It only got loud when we were doing the camera work and they asked us to scream. And then the host came in a people went crazy. One girl yelled out at a quite moment, " I want your babies!" they got that recorded and so we had to start all over again. It finally became my turn around 2:30pm. They had it set up that one section at a time would go. Doesn't seem like a lot but when each section had a couple hundred people auditioning it ended up taking a long time. You auditioned 4 people at a time to a couple of producers. When it was your turn you would step forward, sing for 20 to30 seconds or whenever the producer would put their hand up to stop you and then you would step back and let the other people in your group sing. The producers would discuss privately and then your fate would be decided. If they didn't like you, you would go to the left and your wrist band would be cut off and you would exit the building. If you were chosen, you were given a sticker with a number on it and a "golden ticket" and you exited on the right. Of course I didn't make it. There were so many people in my section alone that were amazing. They thanked my entire table for auditioning. They said I had a beautiful voice but just not what they were looking for. I'm ok with that. I didn't go expecting or even hoping that I would walk to the next audition. I did it so that I could say I did it. Would I do it again? Probably not. Going there I realized that my dreams have changed since I got married. I still love to sing and will continue doing it until I no longer can. I've got a great voice and I'm not going to waste it but I'm not going to waste my marriage or my family. They are my dream now.

American Idol part I

2008-08-06T17:53:00.002-07:00

So, I randomly decided to try out for American Idol. I still haven't picked a song yet but I'm leaning toward an Avril song or one from Sarah Evans. I need three songs so I guess I could do one from each of them and choose another song. Hmmmm. A couple of years ago I was going to try out when they were in Seattle Washington but unseen events made it impossible. I know that there is little chance that I will make it but I think it will be fun. After all, how many people can say they tried out? Plus this is my last year to be able to do this. Once you turn 28 you are too old. So, wish me luck!

4th of July photos

2008-08-06T17:53:00.001-07:00

4th of July with the kids.

2008-08-06T17:52:00.001-07:00

We didn't get to spend the 4th with the kids, so on the 5th is when we really celebrated. We picked them up early and went to Ernie's parents home where we spent the day with their cousins. After they left we went fishing at Hawkins Reservoir. The kids were so excited. We went to pick up some new fishing gear earlier that morning and they could hardly keep their hands off it all day long. I picked up a fishing license for myself and made a discovery. I HATE to fish! My personal mantra is: Fish are our friends, not food. I did, however, love to watch the kids fishing with their father and grandfather. It was a blast just watching them throw out a line, wait three seconds and then ask their daddy if they could reel it in. Then the entire process would start over again. I don't think Ernie got much fishing done. I lasted about 20 minutes and then I was done. I will keep going if only to capture more moments on my camera.

Slip "n" Slide! Photos

2008-08-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

The greatest present ever!

2008-08-06T17:50:00.001-07:00

When grandma and grandpa come to visit it never fails that they bring a present. This time it was a slip 'n' slide. I wasn't sure how this would go over because I didn't know if the kids had ever done it before. Boy, was I wrong. Jonathan was fearless as he ran and dove at the yellow slide. He was so excited that he didn't want to wait for us to set it up. Sabrina wasn't quite sure how to work it. She would run as hard as she could and then when she got to the slide she would stop and drop to her stomach and then shimmie through the water. It's really the cutest thing ever. Ernie went and got a long white dishcloth and tied a big knot in the end so that Sabrina could hold onto it and he would pull her along. Who cares about a swimming pool when you can have a slip 'n' slide? Thanks grandma Lisa and grandpa Craig!

Random Questions

2008-08-06T17:49:00.001-07:00

What REALLY drives you crazy?: When the toilet paper isn't dispensing the right way. No, I'm not kidding. it drives me CRAZY!

Favorite breakfast cereal:
By far it has to be Cinnamon toast crunch.

Do you talk about sex in a group of people?:
Not usually. I guess it's not really considered an icebreaker. I mean how comfortable would you feel if someone asked you, "so, when is the last time you had hot sex?"

What movie do you know by heart?:
She's the man...Oh for the love....It burns!

White or wheat?:
Sarah Lee whole grain white.

How many kids do you want?:
Right now I want four.

What is your dream job?:
A stay at home mother who can keep her house and kids clean.

Name three of your very favorite things in the whole wide world: Ernie, Kids, and chocolate.

"So You Think You Can Dance" or "American Idol": If I have to watch one of em, I'd choose American Idol. It's the lesser of evils.

Favorite food: Indian (from India) or chocolate.

Least favorite food: Fish our our friends not food.

Does the energy, money, gas crisis scare you?: Yeah, but the Lord loves us so it's all ok.

Would you rather be deaf or blind?: Blind. I don't think I could sing if I were deaf.

Favorite baby names: I'm pretty much open to them all.

Fireside or poolside: Fireside.

What are two things you would change about yourself?: Nothing, I'm perfect....it really doesn't do well to dwell.

What are two things you love about yourself?: My voice and my feet. They're cute.

Would you rather be too hot or too cold?: Cold. You can always put more on to get warm but there is only so much you can take off until you are naked and hot still.

What is something quirky, gross, weird, or random about you that few people know about?: The only thing I can think about is my hatred of wrinkly fingers and toes on myself. Unfortunately if you know me you know that.

Have you ever given in to peer pressure and what was it?: Is it bad of me to say I was usually pressuring others?

What keeps you up at night with worry?: The kids when they aren't with us, Money and the ex.

Taste in music?: I'm a country girl, but I also enjoy musicals, classical and some of the "stuff" my husband listens to.

What makes you the happiest?: My husband, a good book and chocolate.

If your house was on fire and you could only grab two things what would they be?: Pictures and my cat.

Most annoying sound in the world: The music on the video game my husband is playing right now. It's horrid.

What household chore is your favorite and your least favorite?: You mean which is the lesser of evils. I do the kitchen, Ernie does the bathroom.

What's your kryptonite? Chocolate...this seems to be a re-occurring theme for me.

Favorite kind of weather: Any day in the fall. It's cool but warm at the same time.

What's your idea of a perfect day?: Sleep in, no work or pressing matters. My entire family around me, in the mountains with lots of food and or chocolate.

Where is the most beautiful place in the world according to you?: I spent one week with a friend on the Oregon coast. It was the 2nd week in March and everything was green and lush and beautiful. Then you see the beach and every thing is amazing! If you are ever able to go, I suggest Multinomah Falls right outside of Portland Oregon.

Favorite person: My husband Ernie. He's amazing to me.

Favorite color and why: Purple. I'm not sure why. It's just relaxing to me.

If you had one million dollars what would you do with it?: Put it all in a high yielding savings account and live off the interest. With the interest I would pay off all our debt. Save for the kids' future and our retirement. Vacation!! Give to our parents and one more word...SHOES!

Oh baby!

2008-08-06T17:48:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

So, today I get to babysit for our friends, Greg and Michelle. These little girls are soooo stinking cute! I'm glad we've made friends. Right now Caitlyn is running around playing with left over plastic easter eggs. She wants me to open them and then she closes them. She is 100% cute. Little Hannah is just as precious. She is just a tiny little thing and all smiles. I love it. Hmmmmm.....I'm so grateful that we've become friends and that they've entrusted me with their little kiddos!