late night snack

I was taught that after you finish your dinner you could have a small treat. Like splitting a chocolate 3 ways. Very normal thing for my family. So, today since I got a LOT done, I am treating myself to some Blog Time! yes, go ahead and look at the time, it's 12:35am.

Not a lot of words, just photos:

day out with Grandad to visit the trains.


A shower for little aunt S. Hard to believe that she is getting married!


Grandma Great and Miss Jane at the Reunion.


Hy practicing his letters at home.


Miss Jane rolling all around and loving those toes. They make the best mobile yet.


Mini-E taking a little quiet time..."this little piggie went to market..."only with her fingers.



And last but never least....8 days, NO 7 days now, until Farmboy comes home. We are thrilled!

little sis

Ooooh love is in the air.


Farmboy's little sis is getting married. Check out more here.


We can't WAIT to go down to AZ again! In AUGUST. Hopefully this time Farmboy will be there.

So not funny

How long it's been since I've blogged. But I've got lots to tell.

Today I sold my couch and love seat on KSL.com in 9 hours. Pretty excited about that. They were good couches. Hand-me-downs of course! But good. They brought us some comfy times over the past 3 years. And of course, I experimented with them a little over year ago when they were driving me crazy. But to no avail. Tonight is the last night that they will be with us. I'm glad the girls are going to a good home and that they'll be able to stay together!

I really love Spring Cleaning. Wish I had more time to do it. I'm finding all sorts of things in my house that I just don't use. And my growing addiction has been for KSL.com and Craig's List. I just can't help myself. Not to worry. Haven't purchased anything yet.

Last week Farmboy's brother and sister were in town. I know I mentioned this on the last post which was sadly over a week ago. And I'm just NOW getting around to talking about it. But...last Friday, we took TRAX up to Salt Lake and had a great time. Half the fun is just the ride. But of course Uncle D and Aunt Little S made it do-able. I couldn't have done it alone.

Looking at Mini-E and Aunt Little S makes me realize that Mini-E could definitely be HER daughter and not so much mine.

Now, what else have I missed? Oh yes...this.

Proof of Spring. And yet this week it snowed 3 days. Not exactly a good start. But I trust that I'll be enjoying my happy friends soon. They are one the best parts of living in Utah.

Picture after picture-

my life keeps chugging along. I feel like I'm all sorts of behind on everything, but I suppose that's a typical mommy feeling. I wouldn't want to forget this:

Mini-E loves to take showers and baths. If anyone is in the shower or bathtub, she wants to be involved. She's become quite proficient at stripping down to her nothings. It's actually nice when the baby can do a lot for herself. I even ask her to go throw her diaper in the garbage! Love that. She's very good at putting away the clean silverware & will do just about any chore to get a "point"-I had no idea the points would be such a motivator for her. At any given time she has 20+ points in her savings. I don't think she's learned how to "spend" them.


Yesterday morning I did a bit changing of the guard with the clothes. You know, where you bring up the buckets of hand-me-downs from the basement & see what fits and all that good stuff. It's always a bigger task than I hope it will be. But, I am so grateful that we have hand-me-downs to wear. Can't imagine what we'd do without them. Go naked I guess! HY gets so excited about all his new clothes from his nephews. I was surprised to see Mini-E get quite involved--she wanted to wear all the new clothes. I put her in this darling yellow dress on Sunday. It was a bit big on her, but I really hate it when I think it's too big and so by the time we try it on it's too small. We don't ever want to miss the window of wearing opportunity. It's so small for my little growers.


Since it's Spring Break in AZ, Uncle D and Aunt little S have come to play. We love having them around to help with the kids and wash the occasional floor (thanks uncle D).

Yesterday we made it out to Wheeler Farm again (this time it was truly warm, not just seemingly so). And we took Uncle D with us & daddy met us for another pb& j picnic.


if you are wondering why there's a big open space on the left it's because this little man wouldn't get in the photo.

More ducks, only this time we didn't feed them. They are plump enough without our help.

Our favorite part (other than having our 2 special guests) was seeing the pigs blow bubbles in their water. Who knew?

It was fun to be out in the sun and together with family.

Top Ten Tuesday

These are the Top TEN reasons that I LOVE living near family:

10. Aunt Lala lets us "drop in" whenever we want. And look at what these 3 boys are doing. Cowboys with plastic hangers. I guess that where HY learned this as well:

9. We get to hang out with these kiddos & make lasting memories in a wet pumpkin field! Can't beat that for fun.

8. Built in Babysitters: Lovin'H just loves our Mini-E. And HY can't wait to see Super-K!They are always willing to watch our little ones at a moments notice. Even if it means putting off homework.

7. On Friday we got to go to a Bridal Shower & visit Grandma & Grandpa Great F. I love that Mini-E & HY not only have Great Grandparents but get to see them on a regular basis.

6. Play Dates with Cousins: Today we hoped in the car & visited Aunt Lala & her kiddos. (We had so much fun the last "pop in" that we decided to schedule an appointment for FUN. And that's exactly what these 2 boys had...F-U-N!

I love that I got this picture of Boy-O.
It's rare to find him pleasant for the camera.

5. GRANDAD! Need I say more. We love to visit Grandma J & Grandad Grey up in Midway. This past week we had a blast Carving Pumpkins with him & Aunt CC's kids. Oh the drama.

4. Parties Parties: There's always a party when family is around. We try to celebrate every chance we can. Wether it's dinner on Sundays or Birthdays at the Lodge, we are always up for a PAR-TAY! And that means FOOD! Yum.

3. Lots of Mothers: Here's a classic picture of Aunt CC & HY. He just loves the extra mothering he gets from her. And Nonna can work miracles with HY in church.

2. We get to see Aunt Little S now that she's going to BYU. Which gives Grandma Suz & Grandpa S just one more reason to visit us!

And the #1 Reason I love living near family:

Makes me feel like I'm home.

I have always considered myself an AZ girl.

But home is wherever the family is! (unless they decide to move to Alaska)

Catch me up!

I have really good reasons for not posting until now. Here are JUST a few:

Last Thursday, Farmboy & I showed Little S around BYU. We even ran into a few of Farmboy's cousins. These girls are "official BYU students".Here's a picture of Little S & here new roomie ---Sweet C. She is such a nice girl. These girls are going to have so much fun together.

On Friday, we went up to Midway to SWISS DAYS! Seriously, so much fun. Last year was the first time that I'd been. We couldn't resist the urge to go again this year--only this time, we brought along another set of grandparents. Grandad Grey showed us around & made sure that we ate all the right food. Here's a picture of us (& A-cousin) in some silly hats. The booths at the Swiss Days are to die for! Grandpa S couldn't believe how much things had changed since he'd lived there as a boy. Here's a sweet picture of him protecting Mini-E from that hot sun!

Saturday & Sunday were filled with running around & spending time with family. Here are a few of my favorite moments: {Aunt Little S & Mini-E showing off that red hair. HY playing peek-a-bo with Grandpa S in the background. Grandma Suz swinging HY one of the million times she did! & giving Mini-E lots of kisses.}

Special thanks to Grandma Suz & Grandpa S for spending so much time with the yahoos--especially HY. It gave me a moment or two to relax & more importantly, he loved every minute! We miss you & love you.

Ra-ra-rarara....

Goooooooooooooo Courgars.

Totay, Aunt Little S is going to embark on the greatest journey EVER (or I guess I should say--thus far in her life)! She's off to college! Farmboy is picking her up from the airport in a few minutes, & we (yes, the yahoos are coming too) are going to take her down to campus & "get her set up". This only makes me reflect on my own college experiences at BYU. I went deep into the basement & dug up this old scrapbooking page. (Before we had digital everything...you actually had to cut the pictures out & place them on paper! Ah! The agony.) Despite the fact that I look about 10 years younger because I was---this page a good memory. I've decided that you have to appreciate EVERY time in your life. Don't look back too often & don't project out too far. Enjoy where you are & the people that are with you.

And so to you my little sister--Aunt Little S---I wish you the very best. Enjoy the moments that life give you. They are a gift. Make new friends, for they will be with you longer than you think. And don't try too hard to find yourself, the Lord will help you stumble upon her! Wish I could do it all over again---but I'm too happy where I am right now!

Little S at the Prom!

Auntie Little S and her date for the prom! Look how goregous she looks in that dress. And soooo modest! Love it. Hope you had lots of fun. We sure hope that she comes to BYU next year so that we can have the "most" fun!

Too tired to think of a clever title...

I love it when my sisters kids are on Spring Break! We get to spend time together and HY gets to play with all the cousins. He is simply in love with Aunt CC and her kids. What would I ever do without my family. Today we went to the dollar movies and saw Night at the Museum. We thought it was fabulous. Even little HY enjoyed it, until the very end when he zonked. Thanks Aunt CC for being one of the best sisters, mothers, and aunts I know. I can hardly imagine what you'll be like as a grandmother. Here's a picture she took of HY and his new buddy Puppy "Caseys."

Speaking of grandmothers...Grandma Suz and Grandpa S are coming into town late tonight. With them will be Uncle D and Aunt little S. HY will be so happy when he wakes up and sees all the new faces in our house. Goodnight!