Ha ha ha!

The funniest thing happened this morning. Gracie woke up with her hair really really messy. She looked up at me and was just giggling and said, "Mom, my hair is on backwards!"

Home

Yes, we are finally home. My house seems strange to me, almost unfamiliar, although I still remember where most things are. I have forgotten how to get into my voicemail on our phone however. It seems very quiet here after having been surrounded by family for weeks though. We love living here and have made many friends, but after having been with family so much lately it was almost too hard to leave. I was almost ready to unpack my bags and just decide to stay!!! The trip home was LONG, but not to difficult. Gracie woke up really really crabby Thursday morning. She was flipping out over tiny little things! We got on the plane and she started throwing a tantrum because she couldn't put her tray table down (you know how you have to wait until you are up in the air...). I finally had to put her in time out because she was so out of control (as much as you can put someone in time out when they are already buckled into a seat on an airplane). I hugged her to my side and she fell asleep within about 3 minutes and slept for 3 hours. Sammy was a little more difficult. David had to take care of him most of the time though since Gracie wa asleep with her head on my lap (he he he). They had so much fun in St. George playing with their cousins and seeing their grandparents and aunts and uncles. We want to tell all of our family thank you! Thanks for letting us visit, thanks for not getting mad when we got everyone sick, thanks for all the fun times, thanks for all the food, and thanks for being our family. We sure do appreciate and love you. It is good to be home, but we miss you every day!

Sup?

We have been here for a little over two weeks now and things have been so exciting! First my beautiful sister LeAnn had a bouncing baby boy on May 4th. Why do they call them bouncing baby boys? I was just curious. Anyway, his name is Tait and he is the sweetest little bundle ever! Congratulations Sister!






Here is my baby sister Mary on her wedding day. She is wearing my mother's wedding dress. She looks so beautiful! She and Jake were married for time and all eternity on May 10th in the St. George temple. I am so happy for you Mary Ann. Life just gets better from here.
Here are Gracie and Sydney at the temple. They looked so cute in their matching dresses. Gracie kept trying to hold Sydney's hand and hug her, but Sydney didn't like it very much. Gracie has been so excited to see the temple! She kept asking to go inside. And once she saw the wedding cake she wanted to go even more!!! My sister Caralee told her when she got married she could have a wedding cake. So Gracie decided she wanted to marry her Grandpa and even asked him if he would marry her.




But of course Mary couldn't get married without all of us going to get pedicures first so we would have cute toes for the wedding. We were so sad that LeAnn couldn't come because she was still recovering from having a baby, but we gave her a pedicure at home the next day.
(Don't I look so hugely healthy (fat) in this picture. Oh well...

Anyway, as you can see we have been having lots of fun. This last week things have slowed down a lot. Sammy and I have been sick (thank goodness it came after all of the excitement!) We still have a couple of weeks ahead of us to be here and play with all of our family. So if I don't update for a while you will know it is because I am just having too much fun to turn on the computer!

I thought these two pictures were funny because the kids are about the same age in them (give or take a few months), they both have spaghetti all over them, and neither one of the really seams to care. Tomorrow is the big day! Gracie and Sammy and I are flying to visit our extended family. We are really really excited. I told Gracie today when we got home from church that I needed her Sunday shoes so that I could pack them. She didn't want to give them up. Then I reminded her that we were taking them to Grandma's house and she handed them right over and her socks too! Then she went and got her pillow and blanket and wanted them packed in the suitcase too. No matter how you slice it, no matter how naughty the kids or during the flight tomorrow, no matter how much I want to pull my hair out, or cry at the end of the day, no matter what... who can stay mad at a couple of faces like that.

I also want to take a second to tell David just how much I love him. I love you sweetheart. I will miss you, and my bed will be awfully lonely at night without you to cuddle with. Hurry up and come out to see us!!! We can't wait!

HELP!!!!

I need help! My trip to St. George is looming very close, and while I am so excited to be there and see all of my friends and family, the getting there part is scaring me to death!!! I have never flown on my own with two kids before. The flight is 4 hours with several hours in the airport. I got some great ideas from Emily (thanks Emily!) but I thought I would see if anyone else has any ideas to go along with them. I know that some of you have a lot more experience than I do with the whole traveling alone with kids thing... So any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! I guess I can be grateful that one of my kids is still safely tucked away in my tummy instead of like the lady pictured below huh? Still I worry I am going to feel like her...

He loves me, he loves me not, he LOVES me!

This is the tree in my front yard. I just want to go out and pick the flowers and play he loves me, he loves me not. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but I really love it. I didn't always love it. Last summer it was just a great big shade tree that made the grass kind of grow patchy underneath it. When fall came the leaves all turned an ugly brown and fell off in one night. During the winter it always had these fuzzy brown buds on it that never fell off. But then this spring it bloomed into the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. I was thinking about that and, you know, it was always the same tree. The only thing that has changed about it is the way I see it. It made me realize that so many times in life, I don't view things they way they really are. I forget when the kids are being naughty or when David is really busy or when the house is messy, how blessed I really am. I have a lot to be grateful for... probably more than my share of blessing actually. I have two great kids with another one on the way. They make everything better and brighter. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and our kids and honors his priesthood. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have great wonderful parents who taught me as a child (and who continue to teach me). I have the beauty that is all around me (including my own front yard) and that is only naming a few! Sometimes when things in life are hard, or when times get busy, or when kids get sick (or when moms get pregnant and feel sick!) I forget to remember my blessings. I am just very thankful for all that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

My not so private, private life...

So this has been a hard decision for me. I have wavered between going private and staying public for quite a while, and last week I was all geared up and ready to go private. I do have a few reasons for doing this which I have told some of you about, but I also have reasons for staying public. I don't remember where I heard it, but Elder Ballard gave a talk about sharing the gospel through the internet. He even specifically mentioned blogs... I know that my blog doesn't/ hasn't necessarily helped anyone to know that the gospel is true, but he also mentioned putting good things on the internet, and making the internet a tool for good rather than evil. I have stayed public, because I believe that family blogs are a tool for good. They can show the joy that comes from being a parent, raising a family, and living the commandments. So maybe you can see my struggle here... Anyway, like I said, I was all geared up and ready to go private. Then I went on splits with the missionaries last week. We went to see a family that Sister Swain and Sister Cramer are teaching. They are a great family!!! Tom, the father in the family, googled the sister missionaries by name while they were trying to find out more about the church online. And they found my blog. They saw a picture of my family with the sisters. It was just a random entry of an encounter that we had with the sisters, and while I am sure it didn't change this man's life or give him a testimony, still it was something positive out there on the internet about our great missionaries. So, yes, my blog is private for the time being, but I am going to do some housecleaning on it, take off information about where we live, and what our last name is, and then I will be going public again. Thanks for being patient with me and also for reading my ramblings on how I feel about my blog. And thanks for making your blogs such a great tool for good and one of the many positive things about the internet.

Private :(

Yep, I am going private. I really like being public, because I have been "found" by a few of my fellow blogging friends over the last year, and love getting back in touch with friends I may not have seen for a while. But I have been thinking about going private for a while and because of several different things have decided to just break down and do it... :( So please, if you, want to be able to view my blog leave your email address in a comment. Sorry and thanks...

I love you Tolman! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Tolman! I can't believe that you are 5!!!! And I can't wait to come and see you in 18 days!!!!

Can we go to the zoo today?

We went to the Zoo again, in fact Gracie begs me every day to go to the Zoo. We are hoping that it stays sunny enough that we can go again today! Gracie thought it was really fun to watch the polar bear taking a bath! They have this really fun kids zone at the zoo where you can see in the picture above Gracie is watering some plants (yes they are fake). We actually spent like an hour in this one little room and neither Sammy or Gracie wanted to leave it even then! The only way I could get Gracie to come with me was to tell her she could go jump on the chimes.




I totally want one of these in my backyard!!!!

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I wanna see the elephant!

I had a great idea today. Okay, actually I kind of stole the idea from the ward's playgroup (sorry we didn't make it in time to go with you girls!) David got off school early (at 1:00) and even though he really needed to study we decided to kidnap him and take him to the funny farm. Okay actually it was the zoo, but still we had a great time. We bought a zoo pass (I know it is about time!) and took a picnic. Actually it worked out perfectly. We met the missionaries there minutes after we finished eating. It was P-day and they decided to go visit the zoo. We hung around with them almost the whole time we were there. It was so fun (except for the scary ruffed lemurs that yelled at Gracie and me). The zoo isn't open in the winter here, so it just barely opened again and the weather was a balmy 55 degrees and the sun was shining (mostly). I think because the zoo is closed all winter the animals actually might have gotten lonely because I have never been to a zoo where the animals actually came to the front of their cages so much! Gracie kept running from exhibit to exhibit looking for different animals. She kept asking where the elephants were (sadly there were none). I don't know, but I hope the missionaries had fun hanging out with us. I think going to the zoo is so much more fun with children because you get to see everything through their eyes. Like this HUGE daddy Orangutan that walked right up to the glass and pulled his blanket up over his head so only his face was showing. Gracie LOVED him. He kept putting his face against the glass on one side and she was putting hers against the glass on the other side. I don't know how many of you have seen great big daddy Orangutans, but this guy was HUGE. His face had these jowl-like things on it that were... the only word I can think of to describe them is HUGE!!!! (Sorry, I am still kicking myself for forgetting the camera). But it was so fun to see him kind of playing with Gracie. I am looking forward to many more trips to the zoo this year! Wish you all could have been there with us.

5 running steps ahead of me...

So I think my kids have been running 5 steps ahead of me lately!! I have just been so TIRED with this pregnancy! There was one day last week when I really wasn't sure that by the time David got home from school were all still going to be alive and well. Sammy's new favorite trick is getting a box of cereal from the pantry and pouring it on the floor. After barely keeping the new box of Life from spilling on the floor about 3 times I had to give Gracie a little talk about keeping the pantry door shut. Gracie stuck her fingers all through the german chocolate brownies. She got sent to her room for that one. But she won't stay in. Those child proof door knobs don't work for her. Sammy stuck his hand in the toilet and tried to grab Gracie's poop (ewwww so gross... that one almost made me throw up)! Then the straw that broke the camels back... I went to change Sammy's diaper in the bedroom. Gracie had been playing with her toys in the kitchen. I heard a crash and about 10 seconds later Gracie started crying. I called her in to me and when she came in she was totally naked! She had taken of every article of clothing she was wearing. I asked her where her clothes were and she said they were in the kitchen. Then I noticed that her skin was all wet and shiny and... oily! I ran into the kitchen and there on the floor was a big puddle of oil and an empty vegetable oil bottle. And not only that, she had tracked it all through the kitchen, down the hall and into the bedroom. I took Gracie into the bathroom, dropped her in the tub, put Sammy in his crib (I needed some place that he couldn't escape and come get into the oil). Then I mopped the floor. Twice. It was not a happy mommy moment. It reminded me of the naughty little Pace twins that lived down the street from me when I was a kid. They put socks on and then skated on sticks of butter while there mom wasn't home. I have to admit, I wasn't very patient about it either. I made Gracie go to her room and stay there for like half an hour after I was finished. I was so mad that I couldn't even take a picture (sorry). I wondered for a few hours what I was thinking wanting another little munchkin! But as always, a big hug and kiss and an I love you mom is all it took and I forgave her. I mean who can resist?

Sammy has been really grumpy today. His first molar just broke through today. Poor kid! He wanted me to hold him every second this morning. It makes it hard to get anything done. I was feeling a little stressed about it this morning because I was trying to get ready to go to a humanitarian aid project that the relief society is doing in our ward. Anyway, when I got home I was laying on the floor so David could pop my neck. Sammy kept coming up to me and just laying on me and hugging me. It was so sweet and I just love him so much!

Really, I am truly blessed! We really have a great life. What more could a mommy want then a wonderful husband and two sweet, brilliant, fantastic children?

Details...

Okay, so a lot of you have asked me for details. Yes we are expecting a baby (not fish). Sorry, I didn't mean to throw people off with the fish thing. I am due at the end of October (the 30th or 31st depending on the pregnancy calculator that you use). That puts me at almost 9 weeks along. I know that isn't very far, but I am starting to show (curse you lax stomach muscles) and it was either tell or have the people who see me start gossiping about me or think I am just getting fat. Anyway, we are really really excited! Sammy just turned one last month which will make him about 20 months older than this baby. Oh, another exciting thing! I don't want to find out the gender of this baby during the ultrasound! I tried to talk David into not finding out with our other two children, but he really wanted to know. This time I am putting my foot down. We have one of each, which means that we have stuff for both, so we are going to be surprised! I love watching those movies where the lady has a baby and the doctor holds it up and says, "It's a ____!" I know sometimes that can backfire on you. My mom didn't find out with her first 5 (not because she didn't want to, but because they couldn't tell). She was so sure that one of my sisters was a boy that she thought the doctor was lying to her when he told her it was a girl! The doctor had to show her before she would believe him. But I really really want to be surprised. Anyway, my birthday is October 25th and I think I will be getting the best birthday present ever this year! I mean seriously who could ask for more? Ü

If I had one wish than it would be a happy happy birthday to you from me!

So it was my sister's birthday on Saturday and it is my Mom's birthday this coming Saturday. I was always a little jealous of you two having your birthday's so close! Maybe I will get that with my own baby! ;) I hope you both have great ones and I really really wish that I could be there to celebrate with you. Love you tons!!!

Guess what?

David

Julie

Gracie

Sammy

The Fish

Tag your it Gracie and Sammy!

Gracie took this picture of herself.

Gracie Deloy
1. We got the name Gracie from a family group sheet I think. I like family names. She is named after someone so far back on a group sheet that I don't even remember where or who, but still it is a family name. Deloy was my maternal Grandmother's name. She passed away about 15 years ago, but she was an AMAZING woman!!!

2. Gracie is a couch potato! She loves movies!!! If I am not watching she will go down and turn on her own movie and she will turn it on over and over if I am not paying attention. Because she loves movies so much we got a couple of princess movies and use those as incentives for using the potty every day. We like to get a movie from the library every week too for this. The only problem with this is that she tells everyone at the library every week "if I go poop in the potty I can watch the Barbie movie!" or whatever the movie happens to be. It is SO embarrassing to me.

3. Gracie thinks she doesn't like dinner foods (except pizza). I have to coax and threaten to get her to eat. Funny thing is that after she tastes something she will eat more of it. She just thinks she doesn't like them.

4. Gracie put me to bed last night. She got me a blanket and sang me part of a song. When I asked her to sing me the rest of the song she said, "Sorry, I'm too busy."

5. Gracie loves to play with Sammy. She was sent to her room today, and she coaxed Sammy into going in with her so she wouldn't have to play alone. Maybe not as effective, but it gave me a rare 10 minutes of peace!

Sammy is always smiling!!!

Samuel Stephen
1. The name Samuel came from the Book of Mormon, Samuel the Lamanite is a hero of mine. I guess I wanted him to be named after someone he could emulate. Stephen is David's middle name and his Dad's middle name. I really like that tradition. It is pronounced like steh-fen.

2. Sammy can climb on the TABLE!!! He is so determined to climb! He actually cries out of frustration if he can't climb on what ever is before him. He goes up to the table pulls out a chair climbs on it and then turns around and climbs on the table. Then he dances his little bob-up-and-down dance.

3. Sammy likes Barbie cereal (don't tell him that it is girl-ie though. Then he might not eat it anymore!)

4. Sammy's feet are too fat to fit in his size of shoe. I had to buy size 6 shoes for him. There is close to an inch of empty space where his toes are, but his feet were too wide to fit in anything smaller.

5. Sammy gives the biggest most slobbery kisses I have ever had! I ask him for a kiss and he opens his mouth wide and plants one right on me! Then he kisses me again. Over and over! I love it. They aren't little quick pecks either. Sometimes they last about 5 seconds or more!

I love my kids so much!!! I know this blog is really all about them, but what can I say. They are my life. I have been so blessed to have such great kids!

We are tagging anyone with kids who reads this and wants to participate! Just tell us about your kids!

m-i-c-k-e-y-m-o-u-s-e and birthday cake

Ok, Caralee. I am finally putting up some of the pictures from Sammy's birthday. We got him this Mickey Mouse plane and he really likes it (although it already needs new batteries... it is sounding a little sad). Gracie wants to ride it more than Sammy does, but Sammy likes to push it around and put the blocks in the sides. It plays lots of songs (including the mickey mouse song) and it lights up and the propeller spins. Sammy's eyes really lit up when he saw it. Doesn't it make you wish you had the money to buy your kids all kinds of toys just to see the happy grin on their faces and the light in their eyes! Oh yeah, Gracie calls this mickey toy Sammy's "birthday party." She asked me this morning, "Can I play with Sammy's birthday party?" How can I say no to someone so cute?!?!

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So, I am kind of embarrased to put this video up. I am in it, and I didn't put any make-up on or do my hair all day (we just stayed home and played mostly except for a quick trip to the library). Sammy doesn't care how I look. He loves me anyway! But anyway, here is some of the video we got of Sammy with his very own birthday cake. He wouldn't actually touch the cake part. He did pull all of the gummy worms off (much to his sister's distress). Once we got a fork our and actually fed him some of the cake he did eat it, he just wouldn't dig into it with his hands. I find that pretty funny actually! The last part of the video is him growling, yes I said growling at his Dad. He is so funny. He sometimes does this when he is mad at us for not letting him do something. Sometimes he just does it because we growl at him. What a funny kid!

Happy Birthday Sammy!

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Things I love about Sammy...
Sammy can always make me smile! No matter what kind of mood I am in a hug and a grin from him can always make me smile.
Sammy loves to hug his "Sam" bear. He just started doing this, but I love to watch him cuddle with his bear.
Sammy thinks Gracie is hilarious. He loves Gracie so much, he always wants to play with her.
Sammy pats my back when he hugs me.
Sammy will eat anything I feed him for dinner (almost).
Sammy loves me the best (I think we mothers deserve to be loved the best...don't you?)
Sammy is always happy, unless he is tired or hungry, but lets face it, those two things get all of us down sometimes.
Sammy loves buttons. He loves the phone, the remote controls, the computer and computer mouse, anything really that beeps, lights up, or plays music.
Sammy growls!!! It makes me laugh so hard!
Sammy likes to look at other babies. He wants to touch them and hug them and kiss them too.
Sammy loves to cuddle (especially with his mommy).
Sammy is very easygoing. He puts up with a lot from his older sister (she ties scarves around his neck and pretends he is a dog on a leash).
Sammy loves to play with the pots and pans in the kitchen.

I love you Sammy! I am so greateful that you are a part of our family. You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. You are my angel and my joy. Thanks for being my son!

We love the Missionaries!

So here is a picture of the Sister Missionaries in our ward. Actually Sister Soto (the sister next to me) left our area a couple of weeks ago. She had been in our mission since our family moved here last July. I have gone out with the sisters a few times, and have totally loved it! Gracie calls all of the missionary's Mrs Soto now. I just can't seem to help her figure out that they actually do have their own names. But she absolutely LOVES the missionaries. Sister Swain (on the left end) is so funny. I had this conversation with her a couple of weeks ago.

Sister Swain: Gracie was SO quiet last Sunday in church! We were so amazed.
Me: Gracie wasn't there. She was home sick.
Sister Swain: Oh. It was a lot quieter.

Yes, my daughter is noisy in church. I think the week before that she was singing "O Christmas Tree" during sacrament meeting... (sigh). Actually she is doing a lot better (in my opinion... I guess I could ask the sister missionaries and see what they think). This last Sunday she was very funny. She has a set of princess lacing cards (a quiet toy that she is only allowed to play with during church). In the set there is a Cinderella card, a Belle card, a Sleeping Beauty card, a glass slipper, a coach, and a castle. She got them out after the sacrament and decided she wanted to share. She gave one to Brother May and two of his daugters, and Brother Brown and his daughter. She made sure that Brother May and Brother Brown laced their cards too. It was hard for me not to laugh out loud during the meeting.

Sammy is as ever my little angel. He is much much quieter than his sister during church. Maybe because he can't talk yet... maybe because he gets to sit on his mommy's lap as much as he wants to (and sometimes his Daddy's). He is getting big enough that the last two hours of church are getting hard though. He is too active to sit quietly on our laps during our meetings, but not big enough to go to the nursery yet (we still have 6 months!). I can't believe his birthday is going to be tomorrow!!!!

Love, Lust and Infatuation

So I saw this on my friend Heather's blog and really thought it was fun and funny and was inspired (tis the season you know) to do it on my own. So here it is, my history of Love, Lust and Infatuation.

Kindergarten: This is the first time I remember being "in love" with a boy. His name was Brandon Clough and he sat at the table next to me in Mrs. Woods class. One day for "rotations" I made sure he and I were sitting at the same table (of course I couldn't sit next to him... that would have been way to obvious! I think I sat across from him). We were coloring lifesize bears. Mine had a bow on its head, lipstick and eyelashes. I was feeling very proud of myself and trying to make my bear the most beautiful so Brandon would notice. Then I looked over at his bear. It had snot running out of its nose and blood leaking from the corners of its mouth and from one eye. That brought a swift end to the infatuation I felt for Brandon Clough.

1st grade: First grade was Zane. He was the only boy in the class that was taller than me and I still remember he was oh so handsome!

2nd grade: My best friend and I were both in love with Anthony Timpson. He was the fastest boy runner in the class and I was the fastest girl. You would think it was a match made in heaven right. I do remember him chasing me on the playground, but I think he liked my best friend better.

3rd grade: Andrew Buchanan. He was so good at art! I used to watch him draw and try to do the same thing. But he was the shortest boy in the class and I was the tallest girl so that didn't last very long.

4th, 5th and 6th grade: I new that I loved Aaron Day in 4th grade. I think I loved him in 5th grade and 6th grade too. Funny though, that is all I remember about him.


7th grade: A boy named Brandon whose last name I never found out. We danced at the school dance and my first stake dance. I was smitten, but I never dared to go talk to him again (what a chicken I was). I followed him around to his classes just so I could look at him and figure out his schedule. I think I was just getting up the nerve to talk to him when we moved to St. George.

8th grade: I don't remember the name of the boy I loved in 8th and 9th grade (it was the same boy). I remember him being tall and skinny and painfully shy (as shy as I was). We would smile at each other from across the room, but we didn't exchange very many words. His friend told me he liked me, but I think that just made me avoid him more. Then in 9th grade we had the same science class. I remember the teacher had us correct each others tests in that class and I somehow got lucky enough to get his. If I remember right he failed the test, and that is where my feelings for him ended (what a jerk I was and a snob). I have to admit, I like the brainy guys.

9th: see above

10th: In 10th grade I got stuck sitting next to Adam Hinton in Honors History. At first I was vastly annoyed with this. He was always talking to me and bugging me. And then somehow even though he was still talking to me, it didn't bug me anymore. He was my best guy friend until we graduated from High School. There was lots of infatuation with other boys during that time: Jake Johnston, Thad Seegmiller, Kellen Wilson (have you seen that boy juggle fire?!?!) Jason Ellsworth, Sam Anderson, Neal Sullivan, I am sure there are others, but their names escape me right now. But I just kept going back to Adam Hinton (I know he was a nerd, but I guess I was too). He was my first LOVE until we graduated from High School.

I didn't meet David until my second year of college and really that story is pretty funny. My older sister was two grades ahead of me in school. She and her boyfriend Reeve, and her friend and David went to a dance together (David went to Snow Canyon his Senior year). LeAnn was cold and David at the time was really "in" to reflexology (what can I say... I like nerds). He knew there was a pressure point in your ears that if you rubbed would make you feel warm. He reached up and started rubbing my sister's ears. She really didn't like it! She came home and told me all about this boy that rubbed her ears at the dance!!! Years passed. David went on a mission and came home. He and I were in the Institute's show choir, "Inspiration." We were also taking CIS 100 together (that boring computer class that everyone is required to either take or test out of). I had no idea that this was the same boy that had rubbed LeAnn's ears. He and I were sitting together and all of a sudden he said. "Come on, I need to take a break!" So we bought sodas from the soda machine and went outside. As we were sitting out there, I got cold. He told me about the pressure point in your ears that makes you feel warm and reached up and rubbed my ears!!!! I kind of started freaking out. I pointed at him and excaimed, "You are the ear rubber!" He looked at me kind of puzzled and I said, "3 years ago you rubbed my sisters ears at a dance!" And the rest as they say is history. I do remember though that I went home and wrote to my sister who was serving a mission in Brasil at the time and told her that I had found the ear rubber. She wrote back to me and told me to stay away from him because he was strange.
And now 7 years later, I am married to him, the true love of my life! We have 2 beautiful children together and I am so grateful that he is my husband. I love you David. Thank you for loving me enough to stick with me through the hard times and for making the good times sweeter than the most beautiful dream. Happy Valentine's Day Babe.

Mom, I want the jungle song!

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Gracie loves this song by Jack Johnson. She asks to listen to it a million times a day. "Mom, I want the jungle song!" I don't know why she calls it the jungle song. It is from Curious George, but we don't have the movie, and I think it has been 7 or 8 months since she has seen the movie. On it you can hear her calling me Annie (one of her friends) while she is dancing. She makes me laugh every day! I love to watch Sammy while he is dancing too. He makes me laugh because he falls over in this movie. I am such a lucky mommy! Sorry about when the camera gets a little shaky. I was dancing too...

Happy Birthday Ryan

Happy Birthday Ryan (last Saturday)! Sorry I didn't get this up on your birthday. We were gone most of the day, but we were thinking of you and hope you had a great day!

Nick-names

So Emily tagged me and wanted to know all of our nicknames. I am afraid she is going to be disappointed because we don't have very many, and they really aren't that inventive, but here goes...

Julie
Julie-girl- David's name for me... it makes me feel young :)
Julieo
Jewels
Sister -my mom calls me this... kind of strange since I am not her sister, but I like it
Fred -don't ask
Julie Bulie
Some variation on "Julie Bulie rides a mulie to schoolie" -the dentist called me when I was little
Julie Bulie Flower Power
Julie Ann -this is actually my real name, but only my grandma calls me this
Mommy, Mama, Mom -I answer to all variations of this name and LOVE them all!
Gracie -Gracie calls me this sometimes... she tells me she is mommy and I am Gracie. It is so funny because she gets right in my face and says "Gracie, Gracie, Gracie!" and she won't stop saying it until I answer, "What Mom." The mom part is very important. If I just answer "what" then she keeps saying "Gracie" to me until I anwer correctly.

David
Dave- He will answer to this, but doesn't really like it
Lover-Lips
I use all kinds of pet names for him (you know: Lover, Babe, Honey-pie, Sugar Booger (just kidding on the Sugar Booger) but I don't know that he really has any other nick-names... maybe he did when he was a kid, but he isn't home for me to ask right now.)
Daddy, Dad, Dada -I even call him these names sometimes, and it was something I never thought I would do... hmmm

Gracie
Gracie Girl
Gracie Lue -and occasionally Gracie Lue Freebush... I suppose it can't be helped after the Miss congeniality movies.
Baby Girl -I call her this a lot even though I know she isn't a baby any more... :(
Grace
Gracie Deloy -when she is in trouble
Baby
Daughter Plant -it's a LONG story and kind of an inside joke... sorry
Mom -see Gracie under my name
Bubba or Bubba Lou -I really don't like this one, but I can't really stop other people from using it-sorry, you guys know who you are :)

Samuel
Sammy-actually we call him this more than Samuel
Sammy Lamby- I call him this one
Sammy Lion- David calls him this one (he doesn't think "Lamby" is masculine enough
Sammy Boy- Gracie calls him Sammy boy. She sings him the "Sammy boy" song (just his name repeated over and over to the tune of Welcome Welcome Sabbath morning)
Son- Gracie calls Sammy this when she is saying sorry, "Sorry Son." I call him this too.

Sorry, no really exciting nick-names. We do use a LOT of pet names, but those aren't really nicknames.

Anyway, I am tagging Jamey, Heather, Jolene, Tara, and really anyone who wants to do this (if you don't want to that is ok too... I recently tagged my sister and she HATED it so if you don't want to do this I won't feel bad.)

Look Mom, I'm a baby!

I sent Gracie to her room yesterday because she hit me. When I went to get her out I found her wearing this "dress." It is an 18 month girl outfit that was given to me a while back but it was WAY to small for Gracie. I was going to give it away as a baby shower present, and I had it just hanging in the closet in Gracie's room (I guess that was my first mistake). The thing that totally shocked and amazed me was that she was actually able to get it on!! If fit her like a shirt and a pair of panties should! I walked in to her room and was trying to be all stern with her, but I just thought it was so funny I couldn't help but laugh. And you know once you have laughed about something you can't get after them for it...

Tag! You're it!!

Two Names You Go By: 1. Julie 2. Mom (the best name ever!)
Things You Are Wearing Right Now: 1. Jeans 2. purple t-shirt
Two things you Want (or have) in a Relationship: 1. romance 2. honesty
Two of Your Favorite Things to do: 1. play with my kids 2. Read
Two things you did last night: 1. It was Friday so we had our weekly pizza/movie party 2. made cookies for our neighbors
Two people you Last Talked To: 1. David 2. Gracie
Two things You're doing tomorrow: 1. Going to church 2. Visiting teaching
Two Longest Car Rides: 1. SLC, UT to Missouri and Illinois 2. I think there have been lots of second place longest drives...
Two Favorite Holidays: 1. Christmas 2. Thanksgiving
Two Favorite Drinks: 1. Water 2. Orange juice
Two Things About Me you may not have known: 1. I want to have 10 kids (ok, maybe not 1o, but a lot!) 2. I can touch my nose with my tongue
Two jobs I have had in my life: 1. Mom 2. Internet Banking Rep.
Two Movies I would watch over and over: 1. Pride and Prejudice (A&E version) 2. That Thing You Do
Two Favorite Foods: 1. tomatoes from the garden in the summer 2. soup in the winter


Ok, I am tagging Cicely, LeAnn, Kelli, and Caralee. Just copy and past this into your own entry and change the answers.

Goodbye Dear Prophet

David and I just heard this morning that President Hinckley passed away last night. How grateful I am to know that that life doesn't end with death. And even though we will miss him, he is in a happier and betther place and is with his dear sweet wife again. I know the best thing that I can do to pay tribute to him is to live more fully the things that he has taught. We love you President Hinckley!

President Hinckley's Testimony

Kimball is 3!!!!!

We love you Kimball and we hope you are having a great birthday! Kimball is Gracie and Sammy's cousin. It is so funny to hear Gracie say, "I want to play with Kimbo!" She recognizes him in all his pictures and loves to talk to him on the phone. We miss you Kimball and wish that we could play with you today on your special day.

Give me your hands.

Today Gracie came up to me and said, "Mom, give me your hands." I held out my hands to her and she bent over them and kissed each one like a prince in a movie or something. Just yesterday we got a Barbie movie as a potty treat and I think she must have seen it on the movie. It was so unexpected and funny and darn cute. What will this girl think up next.

We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. This is by far the coolest aquarium I have ever seen. They had a 4D theater where we watched the Polar Express. It was so cool. It really snowed on us and we could really smell hot chocolate during the hot chocolate song. David loves fish and aquariums and he was like a little kid at Christmas taking pictures of everything there. We spent the whole day there and it was fun for everyone.