Memorial Day

June 10 2009 10:39 AM

Every year on Memorial Day, we head down to Nephi to visit the grave sites of family members that have passed away. My aunt’s headstone had been finished and put in place, so we stopped to see hers first. My first thought was that she would have approved of what it looked it. It was beautifully simple.

Next, we stopped to see my mom’s grave site, as well as those of my Grandma Greenhalgh, my Great-Grandparents Greenhalgh and my still born brother and sister. I’ve had mixed feelings as how to explain to my children that my mom died as my dad remarried when I was 6 as my step-mom is alive and well, and I call her mom. But I think they will eventually understand.

After we were finished with the cemetery, we drove by the house that my dad grew up in. My grandpa sold it several years ago, and it looks incredibly different from it did when he and my grandma lived there.

We brought along our camera and wanted to make use of it so we drove around some fields to the north west of town and got some really fun pictures.
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My Birthday!

May 12 2009 10:24 AM

I celebrated my 28th birthday on Sunday, May 3. It was such a good day. After I’d woken up, Matt and the kids sat me down and each surprised me with a gift. Matt had taken all the kids to Target to let them pick out something for me. From Collin, I got a pair of really stylin’ sunglasses. Annie gave me an earring and necklace set, and Michael gave me some of the darkest chocolate I’ve ever eaten (it was actually a little too dark for my taste at 86% cacao) and an iTunes gift card. Matty gave me a bookshelf for some of my books and a Paula Deen cookbook.
The biggest surprise was on Friday, Matt came home and told me that he’d gotten a bonus and could buy me a new computer (my old one has been having troubles for a while, besides it was turning into a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 4)!
Matt made some pancakes for breakfast, and we got ready for church. Afterward, we went to my parent’s house, and my brother made some killer taco salads. They were delicious. My grandpa and his wife came to celebrate with us, and it was so good to see them. My brother and sister-in-law gave me a Rachel Ray cookbook (I am not really a fan of Rachel Ray, but dang some of those recipes look good), and my Dad and Mom gave me some decorations for my kitchen and my grandparents gave me some Avon Bubble Bath and some antibacterial soap both in the cucumber melon fragrance. After presents, we had strawberries and angel food cake with whipped cream. Yummy! I got pretty spoiled on my birthday, but the best part was being with my family and enjoying a wonderful day with them.

Michael's Birthday

May 05 2009 09:51 PM

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this one yet. INSANE how quickly time really does go by. Mikey turned 2 on April 1! We had a little dinner for him at home, and then in the evening my parents came over for a little party. I made little cupcakes with oreo dirt and gummy worms. It was the only thing I could think of that would be even closely related to an April Fool’s motive. We’ll have more fun with that one when he is older.

Matt brought home a big bouquet of balloons for the birthday boy, because balloons are one of Mikey’s favorite things! He would not let go of those all night. It’s a bit difficult to open presents when one hand has a tight hold on 24 balloons.

The next day, I tried to take some pics of him, and he wasn’t too thrilled. He really looks like he is doing me a favor by holding his balloons.

A few days later, I was able to get some pretty cute shots of him riding around on his trike. He just a joy to have in our family. mikestrike

****BINKY UPDATE

So it turns out that taking away the binky was more difficult then even I imagined it to be. After not having it for two weeks, Mikey was getting mean and cranky! He’d scream and scream at nap and bedtimes. He was meaner to Annie and Collin. It was awful. I just couldn’t take anymore, so, I caved. Call me what you will, but at least I am still sane.

Tags: Michael

Farewell to the binky

March 27 2009 10:39 AM

A while ago, I was asked by Michael’s pediatrician if he used a binkie. I confirmed that he did and was told that I didn’t need to worry about taking it away until he was two and a half. “What a relief” I thought, because I certainly was not in any hurry to get rid of that tiny piece of silicon that brought me so much peace, quiet and full nights sleep most every night.

After a trip to the dentist this week, I was told to ditch the bink ASAP!

Not what I wanted to hear! I’ve hidden the two surviving binkies out of the hundreds that I am sure we’ve boughten , and basically gone cold turkey. We’re no longer sleeping through the night, and while I did errands yesterday, I rushed a screaming Mikey out of a few stores yesterday.

I love ya, Michael. But let’s end the pacifier withdrawals really soon, okay?

First Trip to the Dentist

March 27 2009 10:24 AM

I finally got my kids off to the dentist! Not ever having taken my kids to a dentist, I felt like trying to find the “right” dentist was going to be like taking a shot in the dark. Matt and I decided that it would be in our kids best interest to go with a pediatric dentist and there happened to be one on main street. After going, I think it was a good choice.
I was a little nervous about the possibility of cavities and other problems, but, luckily all three of them had perfect teeth! I was advised to start saving for the braces that Annie will need, and to take away Mikey’s pacifier (I’ve been dreading the day!) They all did really good. Mikey kept biting the assistant and didn’t especially like getting the x-rays done. All in all, it was painless. We were in and out of the office in less than an hour, and most of that was spent filling out paper work!

Warm at Last!

March 25 2009 09:55 AM

The weather last week so beautiful that I just had to get the kids out. We took a picnic to Vivian Park up Provo Canyon and a wonderful time. Although there was still a bit of snow, it was warm and wonderful. The air had a deliciously clean, fresh pine scent. It was wonderful to be outside!

Collin was working so hard at being able to get across the monkey bars on his own. He got really close!

Mikey had a good time exploring and eventually sat right in the middle of the puddle to the left and just splashed.

Annie just had a good time running around, playing and pretending. Maybe she’ll run marathons someday.

My favorite part was taking pictures of the kids in the box car. I can’t wait to go back up there and really get some good shots.

St. Patrick's Day

March 25 2009 09:53 AM

The extent of our St. Patrick’s celebration was to eat green chocolate chip pancakes, and drink green milk. At one point, I did have everyone dressed in something green, but only lasted until Annie began her daily routine of changing outfits every half hour.

Matt's Projects

March 25 2009 09:49 AM

Matt has been working hard on getting the yard ready to pour concrete in a couple places. Last Saturday, we got it all poured and we got our fire hydrant drinking fountain in. Yay! One Saturday, while Matt was still getting things ready, we had a little neighbor boy come over to play with Collin. Matt must have been feeling rather strong, because he started lifting kids like they were 10 pound weights!

Still Winter, but so in the mood for Spring!

March 25 2009 09:45 AM

My in-laws live in Elk Ridge, of the places in Utah County where the winter lasts until May (or so it seems.) We were up there a couple weekends ago, and the sun was shining, and it looked warm. All the kids got their bathing suits on because they wanted to get into the hot tub, and they all ran outside! Crazy polar bears!

Valentine's Day

March 25 2009 09:26 AM

I might have a good excuse for waiting more than a month to blog about Valentine’s Day, but I don’t want to think that hard right now.

I loved that Valentine’s Day was on a Saturday. Matt got up and helped me make a special breakfast for the kids and we gave them little presents in celebration of the day. Collin got a “tiny animal”; Annie got a pink My Little Pony, and Mikey got a Fisher Price Little People set.

The night before, we got babysitter, and Matt and I went to Happy Sumo. I don’t remember which sushi roll I got, but I do remember that it was good, and I’ve been craving more ever since. Since there was a 45 minute wait for our table, we walked around The Shops at the Riverwoods for a bit, and we went into one of my favorite stores, Williams Sonoma! I love this store, I just can’t afford it. We did find some really cute cast-iron pancake molds in the shape of an elephant, monkey and lion. They really make darling pancakes, and we used them for our kid’s Valentine’s Day Breakfast.
After breakfast, we all kind of did our own thing. But later, we went to our neighbor’s house to make sugar cookies. That was the best. The kids cut out heart shapes from the dough, and after they were cooled, they frosted and decorated to their hearts content. There were candy decorations in bowls all over the table. It was a child’s candy paradise!

After we got home, Annie was hungry and wanted some “soup” (it’s what she calls Ramen Noodles, and only Ramen Noodles.) Matt decided to have some as well, and I just couldn’t resist getting out my camera!

Caution: Keep Sharp Objects Away From Children

February 18 2009 02:25 PM

After lunch last Thursday, I went upstairs to lay Michael down for a nap and to change out of my nice clothes that I wore to work. I left Collin & Annie downstairs watching a movie. A little bit later, I hear Collin crying, and honestly I didn’t think anything of it. He and Annie have been fighting and arguing a little more than usual lately, and I thought maybe Annie had bonked him on the head or something. Collin came upstairs, still quite upset, and I told him to calm down because Mikey was trying to sleep. I asked him what had happened. He cried, “Annie cut me!” That was when I started to get concerned. As I looked at his right hand, he told me that Annie was cutting strawberries when he’d gotten cut, and sure enough, there was a deep, angry gash between his thumb and forefinger. It was bleeding pretty good, and I knew immediately that he was going to be getting stitches. I grabbed a washcloth from our bathroom and held it tightly to his hand and instructed him to hold it tight, and don’t let go. I ran to my friends house who lives behind me to see if she by chance could sit with Mikey and Annie while I ran Collin to the doctors. She wasn’t home. So, I ran back upstairs, grabbed shoes for everyone, woke up Michael and got us all ready to go. I had been trying to call Matt several times, but he wasn’t answering. I was having a difficult time deciding whether I should take Collin to the Insta-Care in Springville, or to his pediatrician in American Fork. The difference in co-pays was going to be about $50 and by the time we all got in the car, the bleeding had slowed down quite a bit. So, Matt and I decided that we’d take him to American Fork, and Matt would meet up with us in Lindon. I called the pediatrician’s office to let them know that we were on the way. It was quite the experience and quite literally took the entire afternoon. From the time Collin got cut, to the time we got back home, it took four hours. Although we did stop at Marley’s afterward to get some rootbeer float custard, because Collin is the bravest kid that I know! At the doctor’s office, they put some cold gel on his hand to numb it before shooting lidocaine in his hand, and that must have worked really well, because he didn’t cry once. He wouldn’t look at his hand when they were injecting the lidocaine, but wouldn’t stop looking at it when he was stitching it up. He flinched once, but that was all. Anyway, long story I know. His hand is healing well, and I will probably be taking his stitches out tomorrow or Friday.

Tags: Collin, Annie

Nicknames, Courtesy of Sawyer

January 23 2009 03:13 PM

Matt and I have been religiously following Lost since it’s 2nd season when Matt discovered it. We were really into 24 at the time and I never thought that anything could take the place of 24 on our TV watching schedule. Well, Lost did it. During the 2nd season, we downloaded the 1st season and whatever episodes we missed of the 2nd season until we were all caught up. Wednesday was this seasons premiere. I am glad that it is on again so we can get on with the story, but as always, after the first episode, there is no end in sight. I was really hoping that this would be Lost’s last season, but I don’t think that my wish will be granted. Anyway, last night, Matt was playing around on his laptop and went to ABC’s site, where they had a Sawyer nickname generator. For those of you into watching LOST, you’ll remember that Sawyer has gift for bestowing nicknames on a few of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. So on ABC’s website, they have a Sawyer nickname generator. After putting in all our information a couple times, Matt and I found some nicknames for ourselves that we think are pretty funny. Matt has had the name Scruffy bestowed on him (which totally fits because he hates to shave and usually is quite scruffy). My nickname is Cueball. Go figure.

lost-sawyer-fp1996

Here’s the link, go find yourself a new nickname courtesy of Sawyer.
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=nickname

That Was So Exciting!

January 22 2009 07:42 PM Filed in: Collin

Today I went to Macey’s with my friend Steph to get some cereal and chicken because they had awesome sales on both. While I was there, I ran into my Great-Aunt Vee. We chatted for a bit before going on our way and continued our shopping. After she’d gotten done checking out, I was near the front of the store looking for Steph, when Vee approached me again and gave each of my children a dollar for a treat on her. I thought that that was so sweet. So before I put my groceries on the belt to be scanned by the cashier, Danielle, I let the kids pick a candy bar and pay for those first. Since the candy was three for a dollar, I gave Collin Michael’s dollar and let Collin pay for the candy. Danielle scanned it and Collin gave her $2.00. Danielle then handed Collin a receipt and asked Collin if he wanted his change. She dropped several coins into his hand and as she did this, Collin let out a very loud excited sound that I could only describe as a “WHOOP”! He was so excited to have that money! Danielle and I just busted up laughing! It totally made my day! Later, I told Steph what happened. She then told me that Collin had showed her his receipt and told her that “That was so exciting!”

Tags: Collin, Steph

The Wii-ner Dog

January 22 2009 07:39 PM Filed in: Pets | Wii

I love my dachshund Jessie, but the bad thing about having a dachshund, is that they often get called wiener dogs, which I think sounds absolutely awful! I hate it. But the other day, she was laying on the couch with one of our Wii remotes, and I figured that as long as I thought of her as being a Wii-ner dog, it wouldn’t be so bad!

Annie's Birthday

January 22 2009 04:10 PM Filed in: Annie | Cake | Party | Matt | Cinderella

Our little girl turned three last Saturday. The first thing that she got was her own room. Matt and I had been trying for a few weeks to get it all together so she could have her own room, and I think that she really likes it. It was so fun to decorate in pink and make it all girly.

Annie trying out her new bed in her own room.

Annie went to Macey’s and picked out her birthday cake. Last year, she loved Ariel. This year, it’s all about Cinderella.

We decided it would be fun to have a little BBQ this year for Annie’s birthday. We invited my family over (we’d have invited Matt’s family over, but there were some other things going on) and had a little party. It was very low key. No stressed involved. Isn’t that the best kind of party?

1st present (besides her room of course) a giant stuffed unicorn! Annie loves this!

We gave Annie some boring clothes and a Cinderella Barbie, which I think went over okay.

My family gave Annie some really cute clothes, a Tinkerbell doll and a gift box full of lip gloss. I think that the lip gloss was a favorite. She carries that around all day, putting different fruit flavored glosses on her perfect little lips. I love it! After lunch and presents, we turned on Twister and I think everyone enjoyed. Characteristically, my dad fell asleep, while the rest of us watched the movie or did other things. If I’d been sitting in our Love Sac, I probably would have fallen asleep as well. My brother Corton had been on a klondike camping trip and was still gone when my family came over, but after awhile he called and said that he was home, so my dad ran back to his house to get him. After they came back, Annie blew out the candles on her cake.

I loved watching her blow out her candles. Just look at that face!

On Sunday, the 18th, we went up to Matt’s parents house to celebrate the birthdays of Matt’s mom, sister and Annie.

Katie and Spencer gave Annie a Belle doll and accessories.

Stacey and James gave her some Princess fruit snacks, and a larger bag of m&ms.

Teri had made a lady bug tote for Annie. It’s so cute!

And Grandma and Grandpa gave her a VTech Cinderella computer and a pink hamper and toy basket to go in her room.

I think Annie had a pretty awesome third birthday! I can’t believe she is three already, but in some ways I can’t believe she is only three. I just love my little girl!

The Garage Shelves Are Done!

January 15 2009 09:03 PM Filed in: Matt

Last Saturday, Matt finished building his shelves in the garage. We’re both pretty excited about them because it means a clear garage floor and allows us to easily park both vehicles in the garage without tripping all over everything to get to the door. It also means that we have a way to organize tools, yard equipment, and some food storage without having to put everything in the crawl space.

Matt's New Years Project

January 07 2009 02:34 PM

For the first time in quite awhile, Matt took some time off over the holidays besides Christmas and New Year’s Day. It was wonderful having him home. Since we closed on our house on the 18th of December, we figured it was time to start making this house our home. The project first on our list was to give the garage some more useable space. Matt accomplished this by making a very large overhead shelf. He and Collin worked very hard on his project, and although it’s not finished yet, he’s got a good start. The kids and Jessie all enjoyed sitting on the shelf after Matt finished putting up parts of it.

Tags: Projects, Matt, Collin

. . . and a happy New Year!

January 02 2009 08:25 PM

On New Years day, we celebrated with good friends. We watched Dark Knight (or rather everyone else watched Dark Knight, while I made Baked Ziti for dinner so that I could avoid the movie as much as possible. It’s not my favorite.) It was fun to spend the first of 2009 with dear friends.
We have such fun neighbors. We were invited to an adults only New Years Eve party at the home of our neighbors two doors down. The evening began with Guitar Hero World Tour. I got up the guts to sing to two songs, Just Beat It, and Hotel California, accompanied by jeers and heckles from the peanut gallery.
Next we played a rousing game of “Do You Love Your Neighbor.” In this game, some unlucky individual stands in the center of a circle of seated friends, walks up to someone and asks “Do you love your neighbor.” If the person answers yes, they the neighbors have to trade seats while the person who asked the question also tries to take on e of the seats. The person without a seat has to stay in the middle and ask the questions. If the answer is no, then the person who is being asked the questions has to say something like “ . . .but I love everyone who has ever had braces” or something like that. I spent so much time in the middle, it wasn’t even funny. I don’t know how many people I sat on or bruised. I hit my head on something hard at one point and bruised my thigh another time, but I had a fabulous time.
When that game was over we played something else where you write a sentence at the top of a piece of paper and hand it to the person next to you. That person has to draw a picture of the sentence and then fold the top of the paper over so that only the picture is visible and then you hand that to the next person who has to write a sentence about the picture, and so it goes until the paper is filled up. Then, when all the papers are filled, you read them. HILARIOUS!
By the time we were finished with that game it was time to watch good old Dick Clark and the New Years Eve party at Times Square. We counted down and at midnight, we drank Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider and kissed our spouses. I love having someone to kiss on New Year’s (and any other time of the year for that matter.) After all that, we played Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus and I think that I now know my neighbors a bit better than I did before in ways that I probably wouldn’t have imagined. It was a very fun night, and I hope that I didn’t do anything so stupid that would bar me from being invited again next year!

Merry Christmas. . .

January 02 2009 08:24 PM

For Christmas this year, we really tried to keep things simple and I think that we succeeded for the most part.

Early in the month, we took a trip to Temple Square. On the east side of the grounds up around by the Church Office Buildings, there were different nativity scenes from all around the world. Collin liked those. We’d taken a stroller for Michael and Annie and it was a very good thing because it was a very cold night. They were wrapped up in their blankets and coats. The best part was that they weren’t interesting in moving from their comfortable seats, which made our visit to Temple Square more enjoyable for the rest of us. We saw the nativity and I hope that Collin understood a little more the Christmas story and after which, we went up to see the Christus. I love the walk up the ramp to see it. It’s like getting a small taste of the immensity of space and how truly small and insignificant we are.

Here in Spanish Fork, they have what is called the Festival of Lights. Every year it’s held at Canyon Glen park and there are thousands of lights in different forms. They’ve got dinosaurs, penguins, frogs, deer, figure skaters, fishing polar bears, skiers, a light house, beautifully lit trees, a nativity scene; it really is beautiful and every year they add something new. It’s been a tradition in my family since I was 12, and now it’s fun to be able to continue this with my own family. The line was a little long, but since we’d didn’t have anything better to do we got in line, and it actually went pretty quickly. The kids loved the lights and became more ecstatic with every new thing that they saw. I loved their reactions. I think this tradition is a keeper.

For Christmas Eve, we went up to my Uncle Dennis’ house in Sandy. We weren’t able to go last year because of sick children, but we made it this year! I haven’t been to his house since the day that my aunt died in October, and in the days preceding Christmas Eve, I was getting a little anxious and emotional about going up there, mostly because I didn’t want to cry in front of everyone on Christmas Eve. As I walked into their house, the buildup of emotions rose to the surface and presented themselves as hot tears running down my face. I stood in the hall for a little bit to count to 100 and gain my composure so that I could be happy for everyone. I really did have a good time, there were cousins there for our kids to play with and it was so good, as it always is, to visit with family. We always start the evening with appetizers. My aunt Laurie made a puff pastry wrapped brie with cranberries and apricot preserves. It was very mild and oh-so-good. For dinner, we had sweet and sour meatballs; that is the tradition. Since my aunt always made them, Dennis and my cousin Candyce got to try their hand at making them, and they did a fabulous job. There were yummy homemade sugar cookies for dessert. This Christmas Eve tradition is my favorite. We stayed and visited until 9:30 or so and then went home to get our kids to bed so that Santa could come.

We usually open pajamas on Christmas Eve, but by the time we’d gotten home, all the kids were sound asleep. I opened Michael’s and got him dressed for bed, Matt opened Annie. As soon as Collin heard the word present, he was wide awake. We asked Collin if he’d like to leave milk and cookies for Santa. He told us that he wanted to leave cookies and hot chocolate because it was so cold and because on the movie The Santa Clause, Santa doesn’t drink milk. So we left out some cookies, and got the kids all in bed and began the work of setting out all the gifts. I love that part.

Since Collin is a little older, I anticipated a few interruptions throughout the night, but they slept until a little after 7:00 am, and even then, Matt had to go wake them up. We had things to do and people to see. Collin was excited about a Star Wars ship and action figures, Annie got some new dress ups or “dancing ones” as she calls them and Michael got some sports balls. They got a few more things than that, but that is what they were most excited about. Matt gave me a shake blender, a digital thermometer and some cooling racks and then totally surprised me with a 6 quart kitchen-aid stand mixer and a new set of kitchen knives. We’d talked about the kitchen-aid for quite a while and the price on Amazon had dropped really low. I’d almost considered buying it myself, and then decided against it. A while after that, the price went up by about $100! At that point I was positive that it was going to have to wait awhile. Somehow, though, Matt got it for a great price and it was the best surprise of my Christmas. We’d gotten Matt a 48” LCD TV in November, because our other TV died. He also got a Blu-ray player and some movies to go with it.

After presents, we made bacon, eggs, sausage and pancakes for breakfast, then got ready to go to my parent’s house in Provo. First, we had to track down my brother and give him the gift that we’d gotten him (Annie drew his name.) After trying in Mapleton, we found him at his in-law’s house in Springville . It was snowing and really windy and the crazy kid was wearing shorts! Hello! It’s not exactly 80 degrees outside. Gotta love my brother.
We made it to my folks house and had Christmas all over again. Collin got some Power Ranger action figures, (he doesn’t even know what a Power Ranger is, but they play well with his Star Wars guys, and he loves them) a pack of giant Star Wars coloring pages and some markers, and a magnetic Book of Mormon play set to take to Church. Annie got a really cute outfit, a magnetic Cinderella kit, a color magic Disney Princess coloring book and markers. Michael received an outfit, and a tractor, and I swear he got something else, but my brain is gone. He loved the tractor though and has had a lot of fun with that. We stuck around for some lunch. They had crab cakes, mini corn dogs, spanikopita, seafood dip and crackers, mini pizzas, giant muffins, it was quite the spread.
After Christmas at the Greenhalgh’s, it was time for Christmas at the Shelley’s and we headed up to Elk Ridge. We were having soup for Christmas dinner, and I had made Chicken Tortilla, my mil made Cheesy Potato soup and Matt’s grandma made something that I’d never heard of until I met her, and not since, called French Hunter’s Dinner. I’ve googled it to try to find the recipe, but without luck, and actually, that is okay, because it’s one of those things that I really have to be in the mood for. I think that that has actually happened once. It is made with canned spaghetti, ham, canned mushrooms; actually, Matt just informed that it’s basically got everything in it, so it’s a bit of a joke in his family. Dinner was good and so was the company. We were waiting for one of Matt’s sisters and her family to get there so that we could all open presents together. She’d just had a baby on the 22nd, and so was trying to make the rounds she needed for Christmas with a newborn. By the time she’d gotten up to Elk Ridge, she was tired, worn out and on top of that, sick with a stomach flu. Not good, especially when recovering from a caesarian section birth! Poor girl. We opened presents after she and her family arrived. They’d drawn our family for Christmas and she gave each of my children a homemade fleece blanket. She made Matt and I a magnetic F.H.E. board with magnets made with our pictures to indicate each assignment everyone has. It’s so cute! I couldn’t wait to hang it on my wall. Matt’s parents gave us a gift card to Happy Sumo (I am so ready for some sushi!) and his grandma gave us some food storage.
One of the best parts of Christmas was that I got to hold a sweet three day old baby boy. He is just so cute. He was dressed in a little Santa outfit, perfect for Christmas! It’s a lot of fun to receive and even to plan and give presents, but it’s most important to remember why we celebrate Christmas. The greatest give we were given was a baby boy who’d grow up to be the Savior of the world, and for that knowledge, I am truly grateful.