I've been wanting a firebowl for a few years now but have kept putting it off because of the prices. Well, last week Kohls had these cute little ones on sale for $39.99 and I could not pass them up! It is quite small but I think it will serve our needs well. I also thought my kids might enjoy it a little but I was shocked at HOW MUCH they loved it. Their enthusiasm far surpassed mine. I had bought hot dog and marshmallow roasting sticks so we had a full on cookout. Nephi was at scouts so I was on my own. It was borderline out of control. I wasn't prepared with good chopped wood. Nephi had managed to split a few skinny branches before he had to leave and I had a big old log. It was so smoky and newspaper ash was blowing everywhere. I needed John at that moment. But hey, the kids were loving every second of it and as they were roasting their ash covered hotdogs over a lukewarm fire they kept exclaiming that they couldn't believe they had a campfire. All night long they marveled over that fact. When it was time to eat the hot dogs I zapped them in the microwave when they weren't looking. I don't think they even actually like hot dogs really but they were eating them with their camper enthusiasm. Before we do this again I need to have Nephi split me some wood so I'm prepared. It was fun!

Happy Mothers Day to me!

Nephi was out of town the four days leading up to Mothers Day so on Saturday, in an effort to do something fun with the kids, I took them to Fred Meyer to decorate a cake. They do this every year. You pay $3 for a cake and they have a table set up for the kids to decorate them. They thought it was really fun and you can tell from the picture they're proud of it!

Laci hamming it up

What can I say.....

We live in a zoo

Tonight when the kids and I got home there were ducks sleeping in our front yard. A mallard and gray one ( I'm not educated about ducks). The kids were pretty interested. Brigham had to chase them up the street a little bit just to check them out. After Brigham returned they turned around and waddled all the way back. They stayed in my yard for some time. I think the main attraction was the fallen berries I have in my yard.
There's also about 20 vultures that are in and around our neighborhood. When they first arrive it is very exciting. The neighbors all get out their binoculars and we watch them land high in our trees and circle above our heads. They are very large so it's quite spectacular. Apparently they come through for a few weeks in the spring and then come back through in the fall.
We also watch 4-5 rabbits that roam the connected backyards. They don't really belong to anyone and they have survived 2 winters now. I had no idea that rabbits were so social. They run and chase each other all the time. I feel bad for all the rabbits that are caged in the world because when they're free they are very happy and playful animals.
On nice days we can often hear monkeys. That may sound strange but the zoo is close by and monkey noise seems to carry very well. I get a kick out of it.
Our next door neighbor swear they had a porcupine in their backyard last fall but Nephi doesn't believe it.
Last of all, birds and chipmunks are our constant companions. Birds of course are always fine, but those pesky chipmunks drive everyone a little crazy. They are a little agressive when they want something and they're noisy little things. Oh well, I wouldn't give any of it up, I love our little wild kingdom.

Laci making her daily visits

Laci has begun making it a daily ritual to go across the street to our neighbors, David and Karen. She likes to go and "visit". If they're outside she just hangs out with them and if they're not she stands at the door and knocks. She will stand at the door until they come. I mean that literally. The other day nobody was answering and I started feeling sorry for her so I started to shout to her to come home. She shouted back that she was just going to keep knocking. And that she did. For some time. Eventually the garage opened up and they came driving home. I think they played frisbee with the dog, Jack. Today, I was doing lawn work in the back yard and she left to go visit. Brigham was at school. She went in their house and was gone for some time. It was so long that I started to feel guilty about it. Just as I was about to head over, out comes Laci with souveniers and all. She'd had a great time. I always feel a little guilty but I know they like my kids. They have no children of their own so obviously no grand kids. Maybe Laci and Brigham actually irritate them and I'm clueless but I don't think so. David got my kids a bird feeder, filled it, and hung it up in the tree for them, and when they went on vacation they brought my kids money and souveniers for "picking up the mail". (I mostly did it) So I think it's a genuine affection. Thank heavens for good neighbors. They make life for young families at home so much more enjoyable.

Twilight

This is a little long, but if you're interested in Twilight, this is fun to watch. I can't wait! I will actually pay for a full price movie ticket to see this. Now that's unusual....

Oh yeah, I'm all over this...

I'm pretending to be a photograper

Jake gets married.

Jake is Nephi's cousin. We went out to Gooding to attend the wedding. It was nice and Jake is clearly in love!

Laci's half birthday (Joy School)

Laci's birthday is in June so she got to celebrate her birthday in March, not exactly half way, but close. Only one girl had her birthday during the school year so the rest of them took turns having what they called their "Special Day". The girls loved it! Pictured left to right: Brillan Laird, Ella Shirley, Sydney Sleight, Jennalee Lewis and Laci!

Who knew? We just met and would later be family...

Okay, so this was in our Ricks newspaper the first week or two of school. A little background on how we met.... I met Nephi the day before my college career literally began. We met at a dance. His roommate stopped me to meet me and Nephi ran up to shake my hand. So I met him then. They even gave us a ride home in the car. I honestly don't remember much of him after the handshake though. The next day I am sitting in my sociolgy class, my first day of college. Well, in walks Nephi. It was like a lightning bolt hit me. I instantly knew that this was the guy from the night before and he WAS HOT! I had him sit right behind me and much to my delight he asked if he could come visit me that evening. That was it! Literally the first day I arrive in Rexburg I meet my future husband and the next night he is at my apartment! I was crazy about him from then on out. I met other guys, but really, it was all about Nephi for me.

okay, so in this picture...it was after our sociology class, probably lunch time and he asked me if I wanted to study with him. We're sitting out in the courtyard and a photographer asked us if he could take our picture for the school paper. So here we are, pretending to read our sociology books....

I'm going to have a little fun with my scanner too.

Like Marta, I don't have a whole lot to talk about on my blog right now so I decided to join the fun and break out some old pictures. I will be looking for my childhood pictures but it's 10:30 at night so not today. However, I did have a couple albums in my office. I went through one. But first I wanted to show you this cute sign Brigham had on his bedroom door. He is obviously telling Laci to stay out. I suppose only a mother would see the artistic talent in a keep out sign. But it really is cute!

Okay, so here's a picture from the first dance I went to with Nephi at Ricks. This was my first year at Ricks probably only a month and a half into the school year if that. I was already completely in love with him at this point. Of course he was not in love with me at that point... I doubled with my roommate Chanda. We had fun. I mean I literally did not want the night to end. I know it wasn't actually love since I didn't know him that long yet, but seriously, on my end at least there was a magnetism towards him that was crazy. I think Heavenly Father probably knew that I needed to be with him. Heavy...Anyhow, to lighten it up a bit....we saw Chanda and her date making out that night. We found it very funny because I didn't know my roommate was such a player! She would come across as so molly mormon. I would later learn that he was also a "mack daddy" as we used to say! ha ha! I was still at least a month or two away from a kiss and there's Chanda making out in the ally with her date she barely knew! ha...those were the good old days.....

Pictures from Jared's runway show, L.A. Fashion Week

Scroll down to see more about Jared. He was just at our house tonight and he brought some newspapers that covered his shows. He did this show in the Union Station in L.A. He said he's pretty sure it took 10 years off his life. This building is a historical landmark so there are a million rules and it was a complete headache. But it turned out to be incredible. The newspapers gave him really good press. The majesty of the building was really spectacular in that setting and Jared's shows are anything but ordinary. Way to go Jared. We are proud of him.

Jared Gold Union Station show

Jared is Nephi's brother. He's a clothing designer. This is a clip from his L.A. show that was held at the Union Station. This clip is actually a little strangely done but I thought a lot of you would be interested in it anyway.

This Kiva website is really cool.

Did you notice the Kiva ad on the right side of my page? I didn't put it there to earn any commission or anything like that. I stumbled across their site and looked into it. It's a non profit organization that helps impoverished people all over the world obtain small loans for business or home improvement needs. You can look through all of the profiles and pick someone you'd like to help. Then you donate as little as $25. After a bunch of different people contribute and fulfill the requested amount the loan is completed for that individual. Then over a predetermined amount of months they repay it and your $25 goes back into your Kiva account. At that time you can choose to help another person or withdraw your $25. Their repayment stats are very, very good. I contributed to a loan for a young man in Tajikstan (where the heck is that?) who supports his mother and siblings with a taxi service he provides with his car. He needed money to repair his car. It was so inspiring to watch his profile over a couple days time. People from all over the world joined in and the loan was fulfilled by the next day. What a great idea this program is. Check it out. What a fun and inspiring way to make a difference.

Dancing the jig

Brigham showing me the dance he learned in school. By the way, he can't ever know that I posted this! :)

Brigham playing

Brigham was unaware that anyone was watching him so I took some video of him displaying his active imagination. As you can tell by the serious topic in the background, General Conference was on the tv at the time.

New Kids On The Block are back?

Anybody out there a childhood fan of the New Kids like I was? I was OBSESSED at one time. Mom you may remember the year I got Birthday money and the only thing I wanted to do with it was go to the St George mall and buy New Kids stuff. New Kids merchandise was everywhere for crazed fans like me. I wrote the longest story of my life in a notebook, that I think I might still have in a box somewhere, about the fictional saga (I'm wasn't that lucky :0) of when I met and of course became great friends with the guys. I was pathetic I know. I went to the concert in Las Vegas and actually cried when they announced that Joey was sick that day and would be a no show! Oh, the injustice! Anyhow, obviously a lot of people have a LOT of this nostalgia because they are daring to make a comeback. I know many will roll their eyes, but I am excited! I can't wait to see what they do! I know they're doing it to cash in but I still love how this gets me in touch with my childhood a little bit. I will definately be watching their live performance on May 16th on the Today show.....Can you believe it? :)

I've been busy...

I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy I guess. Now that I'm finally feeling like myself again I have started the Body for Life program to get in shape fast. I feel like I've been spending all my free time cooking double batches of recipes and freezing them into portions (thank heavens for my foodsaver) for later meals. I think I'm ahead of the game now for a little while. I haven't had any treats since Sunday! I'm actually doing really well. I am already able to button my pants again! :) I know that's because I'm not bloated anymore from overeating and eating poorly in general. Saturdays are my free days and I get to pig out then. This plan really works. I use it whenever I need to trim down and get some good muscle. Once a couple weeks pass I'm able to cheat a little and still get good results.
I've also been reading the old classic, North and South. The BBC miniseries is my new favorite movie. I can watch it on "Instant Play" on Netflix whenever I want. I LOVE IT! All hail Netflix!! :) The book was pretty good since I knew the characters well from the movie. However, the books ending was such a let down that I cannot recommend it. I was so mad at the ending, I could've thrown the book. But I love the story too much to mistreat it!
All right, I've got to go. Laci's begging for attention....