Happy Valentine's Day, yesterday! I hope everyone had a day filled with the love they deserve. We had a wonderful day together. Jason came home for lunch so we could spend some time alone during the day because we knew the afternoon would be dedicated to the kids. We also exchanged gifts after we ate lunch. I got Jason the new Fall Out Boy CD and a gift card to Itunes so he can fill up his new shuffle with music. He gave me the most beautiful white gold and diamond necklace, I am wearing it today and keep getting compliments from everyone at work.

After Jason got off work we exchanged the gifts from the children, Cassidy insisted that I take her and Zack shopping to get something for Jason and he take them both shopping to get something for me. They gave Jason a six pack of the gourment rootbeer he loves and a couple of Snickers hearts and they gave me a miniture rose bush. Then we loaded the kids in the car and headed to Salt Lake. The plan was to go to Chuck E. Cheese's but the traffic was so bad by the time we got to the city there would barely be enough time to eat and no time to play so we went to Joe's Crab Shack instead. The kids loved it and ate so well, that always makes me happy. Cassidy loves coconut shrimp so she was in heaven. They danced with the waitresses and the manager gave them a free twisty straw when we left so I think they forgot about the change in dinner plans by then. Well, we hopped back in the car to head to the Jazz game and got caught in traffic once again. We got to the game about half way through the first quarter. It was an awesome game and the Jazz even beat the Cavs in the end by one point, take that Labron. The kids had a great time too and were so well behaved the whole game, I love that too. We didn't get home until 10:15 so the kids were beat and actually asleep, I had to drag Cassidy out of bed this morning to go to school, myself too for that matter. Aside from the traffic it was the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

It is so crazy to think that 10 years ago yesterday Jason asked me to marry him. It is fun to look back and reflect on the last ten years and evrything that has happened in our lives together. It is hard to believe it has been that long but I still believe now like I did then that Jason will be my Valentine forvever, cheesy huh? :)

Have you ever had one of those days that you can't figure out why but you just feel like chewing someone's head off? I am so onry today. I really have no reason to be but from the minute I woke up this morning I have just been "on one". I am hoping that by venting my feelings somewhere I will be able to change my attitude a little bit so I can make it through the day without hurting someone. Wish me luck.

Nothing very new and exciting to report here. I did eat my weight on Sunday at our Super Bowl get together. It was a beautiful thing! Also, my date with Jason was great. We left at about 1:45 and had a late lunch, delicious. We went to one of my favorite places to eat, Red Robin, and I had the biggest burger ever. Then we decided to go shopping because there really aren't that great of movies out right now. We went to Old Navy so I could use a gift card I have been packing around with me since Christmas, then over to the mall. I could shop all day but I could tell Jason was at his limit, and so was our bank account for that matter. We decided to head home about 4:30 so we could spend the rest of the evening with the kids before Jason headed to his friend's house for a guy night.
Parent/tecaher conferences are FINALLY over. I am so glad I don't have to do it again until next school year. It is exhausting and frankly I run out of things to say to fill a fifteen minute conference with every parent. The ones that you need to see don't bother showing up anyway.
I need to start running again at the gym. I have been going to the classes that they offer because it is just easier to go to those then do my own thing. I alternate between step, kickboxing, total body, and and abs and buns class. I would like to run some 5K's this spring/summer so I really need to run at least once a week. I weighed myself last night and have lost another pound, yea me. I bought new jeans in October and they are all too small now. It is a wonderful feeling but a cramp in the budget to buy new ones. I need to find someone who can alter them for me so I can wear them longer. My goal is to be comfortable enough with body that I can feel good in a two piece this summer, wish me luck.

Well, my husband made up for his manly ways last weekend. I came home from the gym the other day and he had called the sitter to reschedule for this Saturday so I get my date after all. I don't know however if he did it out of guilt, because he wanted to actually go out with me, or because he wanted for me to be OK with his Saturday night plans of a guys night playing poker and pool with his friends. Whatever the reason I get to go out to dinner and a movie with my hot husband! :) I thought I might include a couple of pictures this blog. They are of Zack, Jason, and I playing dress-up (one of Zack's favorite things to do). It has been the year of the pirate for this boy. He is all about swords and watching The Pirates of the Carribean. It is so funny!
We are planning on heading to our friend's house for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I am excited to watch the game but more excited for all of the food. Well, happy weekend to all.

Well, Saturday did not go as planned, lets just say that. On Thursday afternoon I printed a movie schedule and wrote a little poem inviting Jason on a date with me. I stategically laid the papers on our bed knowing that when he got home he would see it all when he went in our room to change his clothes. Well, instaed of going upstairs he came home and excitedly told me about how a friend had invited him to go night skiing on Saturday and how happy he will be to finally break in his new boots. I simply went upstairs, changed to go to the gym, handed him the paperwork I had been working on and left to go work out. After running three and a half miles, anger is a great motivator, and doing a ton of situps I returned home to make dinner. When I got there he had already begun the dinner preparation, thank goodness for him. We sat down and I told him I was disappointed after all of my planning but understood why he wanted to go boarding so bad, hoping all the while that he would see things my way and decide to go with me anyway. Needless to say, the kids and I had a very uneventful evening on Saturday while Jason went night skiing. MEN! Arg! The weekend didn't get much better. I spent Saturday morning scrubbing my house so I could get the last of the germs from all of the illnesses out of my house. Well, Jason spent all of Sunday working on the basement, mudding and taping and sanding, and my house now looks like a large package of cocaine burst and left a white residue on everything. It is lovely, I am so glad I spent Saturday cleaning.
This Wednesday and Thursday are parent/teacher conferences, my least favorite part of being a teacher. I have tried to reorganize the schedule that the secretary gave me so that I am not here until 8:00 both evenings and can make it to Cassidy's conference as well but it has just been a nightmare. I have breaks everywhere in my schedule and parents that haven't confirmed yet. It is crazy. I can't wait until it is all over.
Not much else to talk about, man I am whiny today! Sorry if I brought you down with all of my negativity. I promise I will take a moment and breathe.

It has been awhile for me but I do have an excuse. My computer at work is where I like to post my blogs because it has a faster connection than my home computer. Well, my computer at work is broken and they have to order a part to fix it, it is so upsetting. So here I sit in my freezing cold basement trying to get a blog up at snail speed. Sniff, sniff.
Not much new to report here anyways. We are all recovering from a nasty flu that started through the family about this time last week. Cassidy got sick in the night Wednesday night-early Thursday morning. She was awesome and made it to the bathroom everytime. I would just hear the toilet seat fly up and go running to help her. She was so sick at one point she laid on the bathroom floor and cried, "Why me? Why am I so sick?". It was one of the saddest things ever. Well, Thursday night-early Friday Zack caught the same flu, only he wasn't as good about making it to the toilet. About 3:00 in the morning he comes running into my room very excited. "Mommy, come here, I need to show you something." He goes running back into his room with me dragging behind to show me the throw-up in his bed. He was so proud. Needless to say I spent the next thrity minutes changing sheets and pj's, starting a load of laundry and getting Zack back to bed (Jason slept through the entire thing, or course). I took a sick day and stayed home with Cassidy and then Jason stayed home with Zack on Friday. I scrubbed the house good trying to get every little germ and Lysoled every surface I could think of but the inevitable happened. Sunday evening, after devouring a delicious Coke roast, thanks for the recipe Ronna, I caught it too. I was up most of Sunday night as sick as I ever remember being. Jason was a saint! He went to the gym at his normal 5:30 but came home and got the kids ready, on the bus and to the sitter's house. This gave me 4 hours of quiet time to relax and sleep. Then, he picked Zack up at the sitter's, came home to make sure I was OK, then went back to work for the afternoon. He was home by a little before 4:00 so I could rest some more. I was awestruck. I think that is the first time as a mom I have been allowed to be "sick" with out having to take care of the kids at the same time. Jason didn't catch the flu, per say, but he has had a nasty headache and felt a bit queasy the last few days. Not that you wanted to know all of the ins and outs of our illness, but now you are all up to date.
As for last weekend goes, Jason had two friends over to help him get the mud and tape started in the rest of the basement. All we have left to finish is the laundry room and the room we have decided to designate the kids playroom. They worked at it for about 5 hours then Jason spent most of Sunday doing the same. He had to go and buy some more mud but hopes to be done with this step soon. I hope so because I need to get my washer and drier hooked back up in the near future because the laundry is starting to pile up.
This weekend I thought it would be fun to surprise Jason with a date night between all of his mudding and taping. Don't tell him but I have a babysitter all lined up for about 4 hours on Saturday so we can get away and go to a movie and get dinner. I thought it would be fun to think of a creative way to ask him out but I don't know if I am going to go that far or not. Other than that there is nothing new and exciting to tell. I will try to take pictures of something to include in my next blog. Til' then.

I think this is the last of the pictures I wanted to catch up on my blog. These are from Casidy's dance recital on December 18th and Zack's preschool program on December 19th. They were both awesome little performers who seem to love the stage, I wonder where they get that from. The little girl with Cassidy is her friend Stacey who is the oldest child of one of my best friends, Dalyce. For those of you who don't remember she was my roommate at Dixie and her husband was Jason's mission companion in Pennslyvania (Yes, we set them up). They live in Roy but we don't see them nearly as often as we should. Isn't it scarey how much Cassidy looks like me, it is almost spooky!

Two blog posts in one day, am I insane or what. I have to catch up to my sister-in-law, Jill, and her lengthy blogs the past few days. I wanted to include some more random pictures of the holidays for everyone to see. One is of Cassidy jamming to her new personal CD player that Grandma Ronna gave her for Christmas. Another is of the kids hanging out with Uncle Dale on Christmas Day. We always get so excited when they invite us over because it always means yummy food and fabulous company. We love going over to their house and being able to see Kathy, Ty, and their kids as well. Another picture is of the kids with Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Barbara, Jason's dad's parents, while we visited around Christmas time on our way to Page. Rudy looked awesome and Barbara is still a spitfire, as always. We had a wonderful visit with them and look forward to seeing them again soon. The last picture is of my niece, Kaydence, my little sister's first child. She absolutely loves Elmo and everything that he is in or on. Well, she has a life-sized Elmo that she loves to wrestle so this is a picture of her doing just that. Trying to pin Elmo. It is hilarious. I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

I have had a problem the last few times I have tried to get pictures on my blog so I thought I would do a few at a time. These are a few pictures from our four-wheeling fun while we were in Page, Arizona for New Year's with my family. Cassidy is climbing on one of the jumps which she eventually fell off of but isn't that how it goes with kids. The other is of a fish that Jason caught while ice fishing with a friend on the 2nd of the month. He had the day off to mourn President Ford's passing but he sure had a weird way of paying his repects. He wanted to make sure that people knew that this was the smallest of the four fish that he brought home. We ate two for dinner a day later and it was delicious. I was surprised that the kids were willing to eat any after they saw daddy clean them. YUCK! That was the first time I remember seeing anyone do that either. Speaking of fish, Cassidy's fish died just before Christmas. We didn't tell her, just flushed him and went about the festivities. Well, while Jason was cleaning his fish she asked where Swimmy was. She cried when we broke the news but Jill, I can totally relate to the happiness in your head at the death of a fish. I hated cleaning the fishbowl so much! I tried to sympathize the best I could. No more pets at our house for a while. In fact, we figured out that we can probably never have a dog. Zack is always sick with a runny nose, cough, sneezing, and eventually ear infections when we go visit my parents. This time we took Zyrtec with us and gave him some everyday we were there, nothing. I guess it is an allergy to the dogs my parents have so no dogs for us, Jason is thrilled. Well, I think I will try to post one more blog of pictures today to get all caught up, so here goes.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and was able to ring in the new year happily. We had a wonderful Christmas. It was the first time in the nine years that we have been married that we have had a Christmas at home. It was so great for the kids because they actually got to play with all of their toys and not have to put them in a box in the corner until we get home. It was nice for Jason and I because we didn't have to load everything up take it somewhere then bring it all home again. It was so great that I am going to have a hard time traveling for Christmas ever again, maybe we will just have to go family and friends for New Year's from now on. We did go over to Dale and Jill's Christmas day for some food and lots of fun. Kathy, Ty, and family were there as well as Dale's son Jeff. Jason got some new snowboarding boots to support his wounded achellies while he shreds on the slopes this winter and some gift cards and money, which he has already put to good use buying an IPOD shuffle while we were in Page. Cassidy got the Heelies that she has been begging for but needs a lot of practice on them before she will be able to wear them out and about. She also got some cute clothes, a Barbie house and a personal CD player that she spend lots of time jamming to. Zack got a huge pirate ship, the Black Pearl for those of you that are familiar the Pirates of the Carribean, pirate and knight dress up stuff, and Superman action figures. I got some beautiful silver earrings, gift cards and money and Jason got me a credit card sized digital camera to take pictures for my blog, which has been awesome already. I am always that person that says, "I wish I had a camera right now". Now if I can just remember to bring it with me. :)

Well, after a nice quiet weekend (I did get the house cleaned) we had one of the busiest Mondays EVER. Jason and I both took yesterday off and spent the morning finishing up all of our Christmas shopping for the kids without the kids, Cassidy went to school and Zack went to the sitter like normal. We got every bit of it done, even gifts for the kids from my mom with the money she sent up. Then, while Zack was napping, we got every gift wrapped. Talk about Santa's workshop! After that we checked Cassidy out of school early to head to Salt Lake City. It was my six month check up for my eye surgery. My right eye is 20/10 and my left eye is 20/20. It is so funny because even though my left eye is esentially perfect it seems blurry compared to my "bionic eye" (as Jason calls it). After that we rushed to the planetarium in The Gateway, and outdoor mall, to watch a 3-D movie, Santa vs. The Snowman. Cassidy and Zack had never been to a 3-D movie so it was hillarious to watch them. After a bit of shopping and some dinner we went over to the Energy Solutions Arena, the old Delta Center, to watch a Jazz game. They ended up creaming the Mavericks so that is always worth the tickets. We got home at around 10:00 so, needless to say, we are all a bit tired today. I told you it was a crazy Monday!

Here are some candids from our trip to Montana for Thanksgiving. I don't know Zack has his hand over his mouth in the picture with Kaden, just a three year old thing I guess! They were so fun to watch, they were best friends the entire time we were there. Very cute! Not the best picture of me,
but it looks as if I am having a great time tickle torturing the kids. Always a pleasure to make them giggle uncontrollably! The final picture is of Cassidy. I think she is Voguing or something. :) She loves the camera and striking poses, good thing she is so photogenic in the process. Jason and I took our camera to Helena with us but we never took it out of the case. I don't know what we were thinking. The only pictures we have are these that Rex took, thank goodness he got his camera out or we wouldn't have any pictures to share from the entire trip.
Jason and I went to my work Christmas party at a very yummy Mexican restaurant, Javier's, it was a really good time. They did a gift exchange, those are always funny, to see what people brought and steal one anothers gifts. We have our ward Christmas party tonight at church and I have Bonco tomorrow night. That means I don't have to cook dinner for three nights in a row, YEA!!!

WOW, I am obviously not very good at keeping this blog updated. When the idea was new I had so many things to say but now I guess I am afraid I will bore the reader with the details and everyday comings and goings of my life.
We had a wonderful trip to Montana for Christmas. The weather got really cold and snowy while we were there. It was 7 degrees when we left, BRRRR!!! We came home to about the same thing though, it hasn't been over 32 degrees since. The food and family made the trip worth while though. Zack and his little cousin Kaleb were inseperable when they were together, it was very cute. I felt bad for Cassidy, she is always sad when we go to Montana and her cousin Madelynn isn't there. She spent most of the time drawing pictures for everyone. Zack was also best friends with Grandpa Rex. He was the only one allowed to bathe him the entire time we were there, I bet Rex misses that. Linda made a delicious family dinner on Friday night and then Ronna made a Thanksgiving feast on Saturday night. I ran on the treadmill at Ronna's twice while we were there, I hope that counteracted some of those holiday calories.
This past weekend we had to do some much needed grocery shopping, we hadn't been in about three or four weeks, and went to the mall on Saturday. That was a mistake, it was CRAZY! I forget what holiday shopping looks like. We took the kids to see "Flushed Away" at the theater in the mall, they both seemed to really like it and Jason and I even had a laugh or two. Just the usual on Sunday, 9:00 church then laying around relaxing the rest of the day. We did have our friends Mike and Rachelle and their kids over for Sunday dinner, thanks for the yummy porkloin Ronna, before he leaves to go TDY to Pennslyvania this morning. Always fun to have friends over to mix it up a bit.
I keep promising pictures but the truth is I usually update my blog at work while my students are doing their morning work and I keep forgeting to bring the memory card from the camera so I can actually do it. I will do it sometime soon, I promise :)

Well, we are here in Montana and we found where winter has been hiding. It is here! It is supposed to be 46 today then get gradually colder until Sunday culminates with a high of 27. Shesh, I hope we can make it home. Not much to tell about the vacation yet. We are staying at Jason's dad's house for the trip so we have been mostly just hanging out here while him and Linda are at work today. I did manage to make it over to Jason's mom's house to run on her tredmill for 2 1/2 miles. It feels great that I felt the need to be dedicated to working out even over the break. I decided that I need to work off all of the calories that I plan on eating, I hope it proves to be a good system.
Cassidy has been sick so that has not been very much fun. I took her to the doctor onMonday, I had to get a sub that day, and they did a rapid strep that came back negative. She has had quite a nasty cough and ran a fever up to 103 on Monday. The cough still lingers but she seems to be feeling better, I hope we don't spread disease in Montana.
The musical "Sweet Charity" was amazing! I have never seen such fabulous choreography in my life. I was mesmorized the entire time, and Jason seemed to not hate it as well so that was a bonus. Molly Ringwald proved to be a great actor and singer but her dancing was a little weird. The other actors made up for it though.
Well, we are finally out the door. Headed to The Ox of course. We will miss Jill and family terribly and wish Matt, Cassi and kids could be here as well. Happy Turkey Day to all.

Well, I didn't make it a full week. I am so mad at myself for not going to the gym yesterday. Cassidy had a dentist appointment right after she got off the school bus. She has been grinding her teeth at night just like her mom and has made divits in her molars that needed to be filled before she ground down to the nerves. They gave her nitrous to keep her calm and she was hillarious after. She was kinda ADHD after the procedure for awhile. I had to have impressions done for a new mouth guard for myself, speaking of grinding, my old one broke back in August and I have been grinding so hard I wake up with a aching jaw. Anyways, by the time we finished it was almost 5:00 so I thought I should probably start dinner and after that I lost all motivation, I hate going after I eat. I am hoping to make it today. Jason is hunting, the extended archery hunt, and says he will be back by 3:00 (we'll see about that). I have a doctor's appointment at 5:00 and then Bunco with my girlfriends at 7:00. I don't know if I will be able to squeeze the gym in there anywhere, I'll try though. I will have to definately go Saturday morning if not.
I need to make sure I have time this weekend to get everything I want to get done and still make it to the play Saturday afternoon. I want to get the good ol' house cleaned and all of my Christmas decor up so I can actually enjoy it for a while. I thought it might be nice to come back from our Thanksgiving trip to a clean and festive house. We'll see if it actually gets done. I also need to wrap all of the gifts to go to Montana. I am having a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit so maybe that will help.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

No new pictures to post yet, I promise I will take some soon. I am sure I will take some over the Thanksgiving holiday if not sooner.
We had a very productive weekend. We got all of our shopping done for Jason's side of the family, that way we can take it all with us to Montana over Thanksgiving and not have to ship anything, and a couple for my family are done as well. Jason and I have decided we will both take a day off after Thanksgiving sometime and do the rest of our shopping kid free, we may even go to lunch together and make a date out of it (imagine that). I will be glad when that is all done.
The weather has cooled off drastically here, it is so depressing. Have I mentioned how much I hate winter and being cold? Cassidy and Zack can't wait for it to snow. They talk about how they will make snowballs and throw them at daddy, I'm sure Jason can't wait for that.
I am anticipating the weekend very much so. I have one more day this week then only a two day week next week, that is how it should always be. Who created the two day weekend and the five day work week? That guy should be shot! Jason and I have tickets to "Sweet Charity" in Salt Lake City on Saturday. I am so excited, and Jason is coming because he doesn't have a choice, I have been waiting to see this musical forever. The main song in it is "Big Spender" and that is the song that I used to sing in pagaents and use for auditions. I love it. An added bonus is Molly Ringwald is playing the lead, who doesn't want to see her perform! Jill's daughter (of Dale and Jill in Clinton, UT), Heidi, will be babysitting for us so we can go. I hope she is up for the 5 hour challenge.
I have gone to the gym everyday this week and it is the best feeling. I am really sore from working muscles I forgot I had but I feel awesome, I just hope I don't undo everything I have done over Thanksgiving.

Well, I learned how to put a picture on my blog but unfortunately I don't have any new pictures, so is life. Here is a picture of me with my Pink Ladies on closing night of the play Grease I did this past summer. From left to right are Kami (Marty), me (Frenchy), Pam (Jan), and Emily (Rizzo). This was one of the best experiences of my life. I decided to get back into one of my favorite hobbies ever, and my college major before education, but I never realized the fun I would have. I turned the big 3-0 closing night of the play but the adrenaline and the excitement of performing with this group of actors made me feel ten years younger. I would love to do another play but I will have to wait for the right one, I mean it doesn't get much better than Grease, and have the time to dedicate to another production. I was gone all of the time during rehearsals and performed every Friday, Saturday, and Monday night for two months. I wouldn't trade the experience or the friends I made for anything though.

Not much new today to tell. It is Veteran's Day and here at the school they had an hour long assembly to celebrate. I love an assembly. It cuts my four hours of work down to about nothing. I learned some pretty cool things about Veteran's Day too so that was a bonus. Jason is off today, lucky guy, so I called to see how he was doing during my recess and he was already at a huge sports store (Smith and Edwards). I guess that is one way to pass the time. I just hope he doesn't come home with any purchases.
No big plans for the weekend. We are going to Jason's cousin's house tonight to play games with her and her husband while the kids run wild. It should be fun. On Saturday we need to do some Christmas shopping. We want to take all of the gifts for Jason's family with us to Montana for Thanksgiving so we don't have to ship them. I think Jason has a guys night planned on Saturday night but we'll see about that!

It's here dang it! Winter has reared its ugly face. I woke up to the sound of rain at about 3:30 this morning and it hailed on me all the way to work. Zack was hiliarious when I dropped him off at the babysitter's house this morning. When he heard the hail hitting the car he said, "Oh my freakin' heck mom!". Where do they come up with this stuff? He was afraid to go out in the hail so he ran to the door, banged on it and cried until they let him in. I had to hold him for a minute to calm him down before I left. I guess he hates winter almost as much as his mom.
We went to Cassidy's Parent/Teacher Conference last night and she is doing so awesome. She is such a great student and enjoys learning so much, I am glad she is so excited about school it bears well since I am teacher and all.
Jason is so lucky, he has tomorrow off because it is Veteran's Day. You'd think they would cancel school as well, but no. He really needs a long weekend though, work has been exhausting. He has been having to attend a lot of classes on base lately so he is out of the office a lot. When he shows his face at his office everyone more or less attacks him with their computer problems and insists on him fixing them right then. He has barely been to his desk in a week.
I joined a gym on Saturday. They built a Lady Fitness near our home and I decided I would rather do that than drag the kids on base twice a week so I could go to the gym there, it was more hassle than it was worth. The classes at this gym are awesome. They have a body sculpting class that I enjoy as well as a buns and abs class that I go to. I have also been to a step class but figured out I really need to work on my cordination before I try that again, I looked like an idiot. I love running on the tredmills there because they acually face a TV instead of drywall like ours at home. It is amazing how fast the time flies when you watch Ellen while you run. I am planning on running a few 5K's this summer, maybe even a 10K, but I think a marathon or even a half-marathon was a stretch. I am kinda glad Jason's sister Jill couldn't make it to Provo in August to run the half-marathon we had signed up for. I am thinking it would have probably have been the death of me.
Off to face the first real day of winter here, hope all is well where you are.

I still don't know how to do pictures on my blog yet, I will bug Jason this weekend so he will teach me how to do it. That way you can all see pics of my cute little family.
The weather is still unbelievable here. It was 70 yesterday and is supposed to be 67 today. I just love it. I'm sure it will end soon because it is November in northern Utah after all. I need to get Jason on the roof to put up the Christmas lights before the snow starts to stick so he doesn't have an excuse not to put them up.
One drastic change, I dyed my hair completely brown. It is crazy to see myself in the mirror. Back to my origional color. Jason thinks it is funny to have to dye my hair back to get it the color it is supposed to be, but hey what woman knows what color their hair truely is. I'm sure some of you can relate.
I promise pictures soon.