July Activities

These are pictures from our family reunion hike that we did in Ogden. It was only an hour up and an hour back, but it was alot for the little ones. The waterfall was worth the effort though.

This was my Birthday cake. mmm.... Costco cheesecake topped with Cherries. My favorite!

Time is Flying, must be having fun!

Well I need to catch up, but this month has been alot of fun and has gone by so fast. It started of course with the fourth of July, and then Dan and I went to Zermatt in Midway for an overnight retreat for his work. Then next monday the 14th I celebrated my 33rd Birthday, and then this last weekend we had the Stimpson family reunion followed by our 13th wedding Anniversary. This will all be finished up by celebrating the 24th of July tomorrow. Wow! That was July 2008 in a nutshell. I'll post some pictures soon.

July 4th Celebration

The Husband Tag...

What is his name? Daniel Jack

How long have you been married? Almost 13 years

How long did you date? 1st date was January 29, 1995, proposed in march, and married in July. Wow!!

How old is he? 35

Who eats more? Dan, if its hamburgers, Me if its snacks or chocolate.

Who said I love you first? Probably me, but I honestly can't remember.

Who is smarter? On an ACT or SAT, Him

Who does the dishes? Me

Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but he helps and does his own ironing.

Who pays the bills? Him!

Who cooks dinner? Me

Who drives when you are together? We both do, it just depends

Who is more stubborn? We both are, but I'm probably more stubborn.

Who's parents do you see the most? His

Who proposed? Dan did, at his brothers Jr. High band concert.

Who has more friends? Probably me, only because I try harder, I think he is naturally more likable.

Who has more siblings? We both have 8 children in each of our families.

Who wears the pants in the family? Both, but it really depends on the issue.

I tag Tara, Sarah, Lisa, & Rachael

One Word List

My Sister-in-Law had this on her blog and I thought it would be fun to do.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? Lucky

3. Your hair? Brunette

4. Your Mother? Loving

5. Your Father? Hard-working

6. Your favorite Thing? cheesecake

7. Your dream last night? Wierd

8. Your favorite drink? Diet

9. Your dream/Goal? Finish

10. The room your in? Office

11. Your children? Girls

12. Your fear? the unknown

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? M's Graduation

14. Where were you last night? Neighbors

15. What your not? Sad

16. Muffins? Costco

17. Wish list item? Shop vac

18. Where you grew up? Farm

19. What you read last? Evans

20. What are you wearing? capri's

21. Your T.V.? Reality

22. Your Pets? Snail

23. Your computer? useful

24. Your life? eventful

25. Your Mood? Happy

26. Missing Someone? Family

27. Your car? Ford

28. Something your not wearing? Socks

29. Favorite Store? Target

30. Your Summer? HOT

31. Like Someone? Dan

32. Your favorite color? Red

33. Last time you laughed? Today

34. Last time you cried? ?

We finally achieved perfection with this Self-Levitation trick. DO NOT TRY THIS!

Summer Time

I decided I'd better do a quick catch up post of things that we have been up to for the past few weeks. I can't believe that we are close to the end of June already. We are having alot of fun and keeping busy. The end of school was celebrated with the dance festival and Allison performed her spring spectacular the same night for clogging, Nikki had her Birthday party on the 6th of June, we celebrated Fathers day with a life size hulk cut-out, and the girls are now in their second week of swimming lessons. And we still have alot of summer left!

Memorial Day Weekend

This is something to me that is amazing. I never thought my little hometown would ever get a temple. With another temple only 30 minutes away, and so many other places in the world that are still waiting for a temple, I was surprised and elated when I found out that Rexburg would be getting there own temple. This weekend we were in the area for memorial day and we decided to get a closer look. So beautiful!!

Drama Performance

Megan and Nikki are finally finished with their 4-H performance. They chose to do drama this year for 4-H and the play was Taming of the Shrew. They did a really great job and worked really hard memorizing the lines. It was alot more work than any of us anticipated. I'm really proud of them and all their hard work.

Another year older and wiser too...

Celebrate!

Allison turned 10 yesterday. It's wierd how I can't believe that she is 10, but when I think back I really do have 10 years of memories. It all goes by so fast. We had a pretty crazy week so we are planning her Birthday party for this coming week. She is excited to have something more to look forward to.

Nikki's Choir Debut

I signed Nikki up for the Scera Sprouts in Janary and she had her performance last night. It was pretty cute. They sang some fun songs from the Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. I'm really proud of her and all her hard work. The class was twice a week for 45 minutes. She loved it!

Allison's Solo

This one is dark because of the open pavillion, but the little figure is Allison.

Allison at Nationals 2008

I didn't get a very good still shot picture of Allison at Lagoon so I figured a little video clip would do her more justice. Too bad I didn't get more of this one. They really did do a great job!

Check out my Slide Show!

Family Fun!

I'll post pictures soon so that everyone can see what we have been up to all week. In a nut shell, we spent two nights in Las Vegas and saw the Tournament of The Kings Show at Excalibur. Then we went to Zions and stayed one night and hiked through the grotto and down to Emerald pond. Then one more night at Bryce Canyon and hiked the Navajo Loop. Thursday night we got home around 5:00 p.m. The girls went back to school Friday and then we got up Saturday and went to Lagoon for Allison's clogging competition and more fun on the rides. She did GREAT! She took first in both advanced team dances and her Solo.

Spring Break & a Baby Shower

Last weekend I went to Idaho for my sister Lori's baby shower. The girls and I left Thursday, even though the shower wasn't until Saturday. It took most of Thursday to get there. We didn't get away until 11:00 am. and then I realized that I had cleaned the car out and washed it, but forgot to get gas. So we went and got gas & drinks and were on our way. I realized at the gas station that I had forgot my perfume, but decided I didn't need it. Then I remembered that I had forgot my deodorant, and I did need that so.. home is just on the way to the freeway, we detoured and went back to the house. Now we were on our way. We stopped in Roy and ate at Panda express and then went over to Ben Franklin (a craft store that I worked at while we lived there). That wasted a good couple of hours. So, by the time we got to our destination it was around 4:00 pm. We unloaded our stuff and then went to see an old high school friend. I haven't seen her for about 5 years. It was really fun to get to meet her family and talk to her again. By this time we were hungry, so we found our favorite pizza buffet, Craigo's and stuffed our faces full. It's about 7:00 pm. so I called my only brother that lives nearby and asked if we could come visit. They have 2 year old triplets that are sooo cute. We spent the next couple of hours with them. On the way back to Grandma and Grandpas house(they were away so they were nice enough to let us crash at there house) the girls spot Dairy Queen. And since we no longer have a Dairy Queen were we can get our Blizzard fix, I pulled in and we each ordered our favorite flavor of blizzards. So off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to get into P.J's and enjoy our ice cream. We finally got to sleep around 11:00 pm. The girls woke up around 7:30 am. (who needs an alarm when you have kids?) We got up and got ready. Packed up our sleeping bags and headed out to get breakfast. Nothing other than McDonald's will do. After breakfast we head back to Grandmas and packed the car. We then headed back to the other side of town to see a 12:35 showing of Nim's Island. Megan had read the book and they all wanted to see the Movie. It was a cute movie to see with the girls, and we almost got the entire theater to ourselves. When does that happen? Two older ladies came in about 5 minutes before the movie started, and a family of 4 came in 5 minutes after it started. Not bad, 10 people in an entire theater :) After the movie I called my younger sister, who offered to have the shower at her house and told her we were on our way. I asked her if there was anything that she needed since her house is about 15 minutes North of where we were. She said that she had found a little shop in down town that had "Baby Legs" and wondered if I had time to go over there. So we found the cute little store on B street(a one way street). Who knew they had so many cute baby things now days. It was about 3:30 when we finally got to Deena's house. She made us baked potatoes with all the fixings and a yummy salad. We talked and talked and talked some more. She helped me fix the chicken salad and raspberry desert for the shower that could be made ahead, and the girls went to bed. Deena and I should have gone to bed, but when you don't see each other more than 2 or 3 times a year, you have to catch up right? So it was 2:00 am. before we hit the sack. Needless to say I was very tired, but I don't regret it. That's the great thing about having 6 sisters. You always have someone willing to listen and someone to talk to. So the next Morning we all get up and get ready have our cold cereal (because it was fast and reminds the girls of home :)) Megan helped me chop cashews for the salad. I cut up apple's Deena vacuumed and cleaned. And all was ready by 11:30 am. The shower started, more talking, eating, presents unwrapped, games played. Lots of Laughs.... When things were winding down my Dad and my brother came by to see everyone. My only regret is not getting a picture with everyone this time, but we were lucky enough to fit a shower in on a Saturday and only mildly interrupt other family plans so I was pretty pleased. When my brother showed up I was pretty impressed. He has two little girls and one little boy. (triplets) He had the two girls hair done, in cute little dresses, and his little boy looking sharp. No stinky bums and all of them smelling of stinkum(perfume). Pretty good I'd say. It must come from the example of living with 7 girls. He He.... He's lucky he survived. Crazy maybe, but alive. We had intentions of leaving around 3:00 or 4:00 pm, but we didn't leave until 6:00 pm. We (Me, my girls, and my sister Tara) stopped in Pocatello for Dinner and met up with Lori again. Around 9:00 pm we finished up and headed home. Needless to say it was midnight before pulling in the driveway and about 1:00 am. before I crawled into bed. Tired, but happy! It was a really fun weekend.

Next Best Thing

These pictures were taken over a month ago, but I saw the commercial again the other day and it reminded me of this. Nikki saw the commercial on T.V. about a Dad going on a trip and the Little girl gives him her stuffed animal to keep him company. Nikki decided that this would be a good idea too. If she couldn't be with Dad, then her monkey was the next best thing. Dan played along and got a couple pictures for her. It was fun for her to see where her monkey had experienced while away with Dad.

Another gem from the past. Stimpson family June 1980. Just about everybody sporting the Grandma Stimpson haircut special.

It was fun to learn how to keep the kite in the air. The wind wasn't steady so you really had to pay attention to the tension of the string.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

For Easter, we gave our girls a kite. So of course they wanted to try it out, but we had to wait for some wind. Over conference weekend it was pretty windy so we took the kite to the park. We were there for a little over an hour and everyone took a turn. We all had a lot of fun.

This is one of my favorites. Dad's 1973 mustachioed face is awesome. That's a Burt Reynolds face if I ever saw it. Anyone know what happened to James' mug here and what exactly Mark and Sheri are wearing?

Dan and James sledding. I never realized how much I resemble Doug Heffernan!

An old pic for Stimpson family enjoyment. Check out Jared's clothes and James' hat. What's with James and all the hats? Can anyone read what it says? I also think my shades are a timeless style that would work even today.

A bit of an obsession!

O.K., So I avoided the twilight series for quite a while, but when I found out that the movie was coming out I couldn't help myself. I went to the public library to check out the first book and not only were they all checked out, there was a hold list a mile long. I knew that I had seen at least the first two books in the series at costco. So I drove over to costco and purchased the first book in the series. Big Mistake! So the rest is history. I finished Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse in less than two weeks. I think my husband thinks I've lost my mind and wonders if I'll get back to normal and quit ignoring my family. Lucky for them, the fourth book doesn't even hit book stores until August. I guess I better reserve my copy. I'm hooked.

The Good Old Days - 2002

Nikki and cousin Jessie. This is just something funny that happened at Max and Cheese on Saturday(which by the way we will never go back to, not the greatest food and pretty pricey) They had a riddle of the day, which was... What has holes and still holds water? After a little thinking I remembered the answer was a sponge, so Nikki decided that she wanted to go up and tell it to the owner/manager to get a prize. After telling her that the answer was a sponge, we went back to the table to finish our lunch and Nikki says, "What was the question?" We all just broke out laughing because we had already discussed it in quite a bit of detail. I guess she missed the train.

Who knew?

So Dan has a hidden talent. The girls love to watch this video of Dan and think it is so funny. A little sneak peak of his humorous side. Love it!

Dan as Andrea Bocelli