We love Mr Potato Head....

Mr. Potato Head is one of Jaxon's favorite toys  He has a wide variety in his collection from Optimus Prime Transformer to Storm (Spud) Trooper to the Easter Bunny and even Santa.  We would like to get a shelf and display them for him when he gets a bit older.  My favorite part is when Jax brings me the back to close the storage area and asks, "Mom will you put his bum on?"  

Jeron now has Ashlin's cold and they are getting quite grumpy with lots of tears (all 3 Jax is having sympathy for the other 2)!   Wish us luck!

No day off for us!

It has been very cold for us here in Conway.....freezing rain and winter advisory's galore.  Each evening our heart was filled with hope that school would be cancelled for the day and each day it was dashed.  For those of you laugh (especially the one's in Utah) at such a foolish wish, you can't fault a girl for wishing!

Overall, classes are going smoothly.  They have a better sense of humor this semester.  I even played them the Daniel Powter song "Bad Day" to add a little fun because I  am sure they wanted class to be cancelled even more than me!  

Classes might not have been cancelled for Shawn and myself but Ashlin played hooky today.  Poor little thing has a very bad cold.  We never know with Ashlin if it is bad because with her Asthma everything sounds bad.  It has been nice for a few more snuggles than normal.

Last night, we had Shawn's research assistants over for dinner.  Despite the weather the majority of them came.  We had a taco/fajita bar.  It was quite yummy.  There was tons left over.  Come on over if you want one!  It was nice to have a chance to meet the students he has been telling me about and seeing them in a relaxed atmosphere.  The kids loved them.  They had all of these people that they believed thought they were the center of attention.  What more can you want when you are 2, 3, &4! 

Make it a great day!

The words of a great lady, Sally, Have a laugh on me……..laughter is the BEST medicine…….make it a great day….

Our little Chorister

This morning we were practicing the Primary song for the month and then Ashlin asked if we could watch our primary sing along DVD.  She went and picked up her I am a child of God book  and began singing along  with the video while leading.  Jeron wanted to join in as well.  

They really are adorable most days!

Our very own Cinderella

Ashlin decided she wanted to play Cinderella the day of our snow storm or snow flurries.  She walks up to me and says, "Mom, you are the wicked stepmother."  She then proceeded to tell me she needed a mop and a bucket.  We made do with a bowl and a dry cloth.  This is her being poor little mistreated Cinderella.  Afterwards, she said, "Now you're the Fairy Godmother go get a fancy dress!"  I must not remember the story correctly.  I don't remember Cinderella being so bossy!  

Since primary is a family calling.  Ashlin was assigned to give the closing prayer.  I had forgot to tell her.  It was almost time for closing exercises and I was helping out in the hallway.  So, I asked Lindsee to let her know where she would have some warning.  Lindsee walked up to her and asked her she said, "OK but I can't sing the closing song I need to save my voice for the prayer."  She definitely thinks she is a princess.  Thanks Lindsee for sharing the story!

Too many kids in the bed...

Too many kids in the bed,

I scratched a behind that wasn't even mine,

Too many kids in the bed!

Credits for these lyrics: Brooke Woolums Speer

My Old College Roommate

Hopefully, Brooke you will get a big kick out of this. Jeron has had a hard time adjusting to bedtime since we got home. He just sobs at bedtime and wants to stay up late. The last few evenings he has crawled into Ashlin's bed with the other two. Ashlin has not loved this. She suggested we buy some kids for Jeron to snuggle with at night. While this might help Jeron transition, we are pretty sure it's illegal.

Let is Snow!

Ashlin ran up to me, pointed out the window, and said, "Mommy look it's snowing!"  My heart was so happy.  I said to myself please keep this up where there is no school tomorrow.  Boy am I in tRoUbLe......I have not even been to class yet and I am already wishing for a cancelled class!  No luck by the way only a few flurries!

We're Home!

We made it home yesterday safe and sound!  Of course, not without a little frustration.

We left Logan early due to the weather.  We were leaving just as we had arrived....with lots and lots of snow.  We did manage to have a yummy lunch at Red Robin. 

Our original flight was schedule to leave at 4:30 pm  to Denver, have  a short layover, and arrive in Little Rock at 10 pm.  We got our luggage checked in all 4 bags and our car seats.  We thought we were incredibly lucky 1 bag was over by a couple of pounds and they said it was alright.  We had Shawn's mom there just in case, our bags were overweight.  We went through security no problem.  Shawn went to check on our flight it wasn't listed.  Uh Oh!  So, he went to the gate.....yep it's delayed by an hour.....our layover was only an hour.  We weren't sure we could brave another sprint through the Denver airport especially when it was quite likely we would not even make it.  United's solution was to stay the night in Denver on our dime of course, leave at 6 am Wednesday morning for Chicago and then fly to Little Rock.  There was no other flights to Little Rock until late Wednesday evening.  After our flight was delayed even longer, we were finally able to get on a flight to Dallas with another airline.  We stayed the night at Auntie J's and Uncle Ronnie's (they only live 20 minutes from the airport) and flew out the next morning.  14 hours later than expected, we arrived at our home with a sigh of relief.  Amazingly enough our luggage made it to Little Rock Tuesday night and was waiting for us when we got here.  

Shawn's mom was so sweet to take us to the airport in the nasty snow.  On her way home the freeway was closed because of a wreck.  She didn't make it home till much later than expected.  She had her own adventure as well.  

We are very thankful for the play areas in the airport which helped with the stress level immensely.....the majority of the time anyway!  There was some older girls playing with Ashlin and one of them walked up to me and said Jaxon is distracting us after being there for 3 hours I told her deal with it he's not hurting you.  It's probably a good thing their parents had ditched them.  They might have been slightly annoyed with my abrupt response.  

We are also very grateful for those who helped us along the way listening to our adventures, turning up our heat, picking us up, and so on and so forth.  Although, it was quite stressful getting to Dallas.  It is always a joy to see my Aunt!  She is the best and always takes good care of us!

A Mayan Adventure

Yesterday, we drove to Salt Lake and had dinner at the Mayan Adventure restaurant. The restaurant is spread over three floors and resembles an ancient Mayan temple in a tropical rainforest, complete with foliage, thunderstorms, and a few talking animals. There's a waterfall cascading 35 feet into a pool along with cliff divers! The kids absolutely loved it! Jaxon kept asking for the waterfall today. We got great seats.....Close enough we got quite a splash from one of divers.


In case you were wondering what came of the ring incident. They repaired my ring and then gave me the option of keeping it or getting a new one (they no longer carry they style I had). After much debate, we decided to get a new one. Shawn said this is the style he wanted to get me originally....of course he could have said that to make me feel better. We did keep the wedding band and had it welded to the new ring. We wanted to make the band thick and strong. One wedding ring breaking in half is enough. Thanks Jenae and Michelle for all of your help getting our original reciept to us to make the exchange possible!

Cherished Friends!

We were so fortunate to be able to visit with a few of our favorite people during this time in Utah. It's been 3 years since we have been able to visit....way too long!

This is Sarah. She was one of my favorite student's from San Diego. They moved to Utah a couple of months before we left San Diego.
We really loved her family. They were so good to help out with our kids when we needed someone to watch them. We use to love to got out to Saturday afternoon lunches with them.
This is Brooke, one of my college roommates. I actually convinced her to come live with us in San Diego for a summer. She met her husband during this time.
I met Amy when I worked in the psychology department on campus. She is so creative! She helped me tons with my wedding.
This is Deneil, one of my first friends I made in Logan. We both worked at A&W. She use to walk up to me when I was taking and order from a cute guy and saying something that would embarrass me. She loved to watch my face turn red!

Thanks for new fun memories and being my friends through the years!

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas. It was the first time in 3 year's that Shawn's parent's and his siblings have all been together. Needless to say Shawn's parent's home was crowded with love and treasured memories. In addition, it was also brimming with good news. Shawn's brother and his wife are expecting their first child and Shawn's sister was just recently engaged. We were able to spend a little time with her fiancee. He survived laser tag with the brother's. He is definitely a keeper.

This year the kids were even more excited for Santa than ever. They got lot's of fun things from Santa as well as family. We will be mailing a huge box home. We would never get it all on the plane.

Jeron loved everything. I think his favorite thing was to play with his siblings toys. Aren't they always better?
Here is Ashlin with a huge smile on her face. She loved her jewelry boy her brother's got for her. It has a ballet dancer and plays music!
Jaxon was thrilled. Uncle Cade and Aunt Andi got him an Indiana Jone's hat and whip.....what more could a boy want? He also got Indiana Jones underwear and legos for him and Dad to put together. He loves his Dr. Jones!
Here is Jaxon with his Dad and Uncle Cade. They were wearing their outback hats from their parent's Australia/New Zealand cruise. Don't they look like they are ready for an adventure?

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis