Clark

3 months

2010-07-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

They love each other so much :)

As you can see, Isabella is growing bigger and bigger. She is so much fun and I love waking up to her smiling face every morning. Abby can't get enough of her little sister too. Most of the time I have to tell her to give Bella some space b/c she loves to get right up to her face and smother her :) Some things that Bella is doing now are:
She plays copy cat. If I stick out my tongue, make noises with my lips, or get wide eyed and raise my eyebrows, she will do the same.

She HAS to fall asleep with her entire arm over her face. She does NOT like the sunlight in her eyes when she's tired.

She absolutely loves baths now. It took her a while to get used to but she will kick and splash when she gets in her tub and she LOVES have warm water poured on her belly.

If she doesn't have her binky, she will stick almost her whole fist in her mouth! pretty impressive :)
Abby is almost writing her name by herself. This picture was with minimal assistance (me placing the marker on the board so she knows where each new letter starts)

Straight A student

2010-06-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to have a "school lesson" with Abby everyday for as long as her tiny attention span will allow me to. She already knows the alphabet, shapes, colors, and she can count to 15. Now i'm trying to teach her to write her name. She is such a quick learner! Here is her accomplishment from today :)

Take me out to the ball game......

2010-06-15T22:01:00.001-07:00

Since I FINALLY got my camera working, I decided to go a little camera happy today. We went to Jesse's baseball game and even though he hates taking pictures, I got him to pose for one with the kids and his brother :) (their team won 20-3)

One of Jesse's besties from high school came and played as well. Here is Abby playing with Bryan's 2 kids.

Even Isabella is getting into the World Cup. I think she was fixated on Christiano Ronaldo from Portugual. It's ok Bella, he's a hottieI loved this outfit on her today. Holla to Brandon, Lindsi, and Crew for it!

I love these little girls :)

Video of the day

2010-06-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

I know I have been posting a lot these past few days, but she was in such a good mood I had to share!

This is the first time she has taken a binky other than the HUGE one that they give you at the hospital. Yippee!

8 Weeks

2010-06-07T08:58:00.001-07:00

Isabella is getting so big and is so alert! I love that she is starting to smile when we talk to her. She also will track me around the room and will start grunting or crying if I leave her sight. It's a curse and a blessing :) I love my little girls! I am such a lucky mom!

7 Weeks

2010-06-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

Isabella is getting so big! She is starting to smile a lot more and is more aware of her surroundings. Her eyes will follow me as I walk around the room and sometimes she even fusses if I leave her sight. Abby is still a great big sister and still wants to hold and kiss her all the time, which is a blessing and a curse, especially when she is sleeping of eating :)

Sunday's Best

To my family members who see this. i am not responsible foe her outfit. Also, she does not have ANY Red Sox outfits so feel free to send them my way! :)

5 years

2010-05-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

Wow how the time has flown by. I can't believe we have been married for 5 years! My parents took the girls so that we could go spend a few hours together. Much to Jesse's delight, all I wanted to do was play outside, something I hadn't done in a long time! So we decided to go play around of golf. Considering I hadn't played in a year, I did rather well! We had such a wonderful time together and it really was a perfect day. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such a wonderful man to spend eternity with. I love you more and more as each day passes. I can't wait to see what our future brings us.

Two Peas in a Pod

2010-05-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

Abby loves her sister so much! I was so worried that Abby was going to be jealous but she has just been an angel to her sister. I am so thankful to have such a beautiful loving family.
Since my parents are taking back their awesome camera, and mine is broken, I figured I would take and post as many good pictures of the girls as possible. So here ya go!

First Doctor's visit

2010-04-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

I had been dreading taking Isabella to the doctor ever since she was born. For the first 2 years of life, almost every doctor's visit involves shots. It was time for Isabella's second PKU test (aka the heel prick test). Within 2 weeks she had grown to 9lbs 5oz. She was still 20 inches long. She was such a trooper during the test. I also wanted to mention our new Dr. We love Dr. Bosworth, who was recommended by one of my bestie's aunts. He specializes in child respiratory issues which is perfect b/c our last doctor didn't have a clue why Abby was always getting sick in the winter time and having a cough that sounded like she had been smoking for 20 years. Horay for good doctors! Here is cute little Bella before the doctor's appointment.

Isabella's Blessing

2010-04-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

Isabella's blessing day was very special. We had a lot of family and friends in attendance and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Jesse was able to get Bella dressed and all ready to go. I was stressing out and running late as I always do. Both of my parents were in town and I was also giving a talk in Sacrament meeting. My talk was about faith (see the end of the post for the talk). I had also asked Mama Teri (who has an AMAZING voice) to sing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives." Jesse of course gave our daughter a beautiful blessing. After church we had a brunch at the house. Unfortunately, we forgot to take out the camera so there are not a lot of pictures, but here is what I have.

The first 8 pictures were her professional ones. Kinda stinks that they wouldn't post th pictures that were edited with all the special effects but here ya go!

The beautiful tulips that my friend Lindsey donated for the blessing.

Dad's Birthday

2010-04-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

For my Dad's birthday we went to Chili's. My mother and I went to the store and got some special candles for his dessert beforehand. When the waitress came to bring him his birthday cake, he thought it was for someone else and was happy that someone else shared his birthday! His reaction when he realized it was for him was priceless. Again, we didn't have a camera with us so here are some cute pics with him and his little princesses. Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!

Abby's first haircut

2010-04-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

I took Abby to the Helquist Salon for her first haircut. My friend Britney, who goes to my church, has her own mini salon in her house. Her hubby turned part of the basement into one! It's so snazzy! She took about 2-3 inches off to we got some really cute locks to go into her baby album that I have yet to start. Yes I know i'm terrible!

Isabella meets her great-grandparents

2010-04-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Pearce came to meet Isabella for the first time. She is wearing different outfits in the pictures because she had a not so little accident in her diaper :)

Bath time

2010-04-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

She eventually learned to love the water, but it wasn't all splish splash at first.

And then there were 4

2010-04-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

After 6 hours of labor, here she is! Isabella Jean Clark was born on April 12th at 7:20pm. She was 8lbs 2oz and 20 inches long.
There were some minor glitches in the labor but everything turned out fine. I was a little dehydrated so my veins get blowing when they tried to administer the IV. It took them 5 tires and honestly it hurt more than the IV. I don't remember the needles being as big as they were either! Then the epidural wasn't working properly too. It only numbed my toes so they had to take it out and put it higher up my spine. I didn't feel a thing the second time so that was a relief. by the time I was completely numb, I was at 8cm (I came to the hospital at 6). From then on I just waited patiently for little Bella to arrive while I ate 3 popsicles :) (the best part of the delivery!). Isabella had a little bit of fluid in her lungs but within the hour it had cleared. The rest of our hospital stay was great and before we knew it, we were going home! Here are some pictures from the day.

I look awful but it's the only picture of the 2 of us before the baby came
The Mom's waiting to see their granddaughter

First time I held little Isabella
I love it that Jesse's hand is in there!
Isabella and her Papa
Isabella and her Mima. Abby couldn't stop looking at her
Isabella and her Nina
My beautiful family!

Isabella the morning before we left

Easter and Abby's Birthday

2010-04-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors were nice enough to host a Easter egg hunt in between Saturday's conference sessions. Of course it was FREEZING because Utah doesn't understand that it's not supposed to snow in the spring time! Abby still had a blast with all of her friends.

Sunday morning I took my Mom to a Easter Mass at a Catholic church in town. We met up with Josh and Alexza. When we got home, we went to work on cooking for Easter dinner. My mom made a delicious Portuguese dish and dessert. We went to Jesse's parents house and had our basket hunt. Jesse as always was the first to find our basket since he knew every hiding spot in the house :) After dinner we had Abby's birthday cake. We got a strawberry cake from Cold Stone and it was probably the best ice cream cake I have ever had!
Abby got some wonderful presents from the family as well. Auntie Rachel got her these Disney figurines that Abby LOVES, Uncle Josh and Auntie Alexza got her some awesome converse shoes, and Grandma and Grandpa got her a brand new dress (that also included a mini one for the new baby). Grandpa had one last surprise for Abby. He had built her a crib to put her dolls in. Abby of course loved it! Thanks to everyone for making her birthday so special!

Flying a kite with Papa
Due in 12 days!
Our awesome basket!

Opening presents with DaddyShowing Nina her new doll
Yummy ice cream cake!
New shoes
Disney figurines
The crib her Papa built for her
Showing off her Disney Princess Birthday girl pin :)

Happy Birthday Jesse!

2010-03-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

For Jesse's birthday he just wanted a home cooked meal, so Abby and I went to work. Abby was more than willing to help me make a confetti cake and 28 brownie cupcakes, and of course, we had to re-light all of the brownies so that she could blow them out herself :)
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and father in our family. We love you Hunnies!

Day of Love

2010-02-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

For Valentines day, Jesse and I went to the Outback Steakhouse. We had a very delicious meal and I loved spending time with him just the two of us. I forgot how nice it is to have a grown up conversation :) Even though Abby wasn't with us, we still talked about her a lot. How much she was growing and how different it is going to be when we have our new little addition.
On our way to pick up Abby from the sitter's we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and Jesse decided to take his blood pressure. I thought this was funny because my brother's and I would always play with these machines growing up :)

Play date with Crew

2010-01-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

We figured before the baby came and life got even more hectic, that we would have an Abby Day. We knew that she would want nothing more than to spend time with her little boyfriend Crew so we took them to the Kangaroo zoo. They both had a blast!

Christmas and Palm Trees

2010-01-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

We had the best time in Florida this year for Christmas. There was a lot of family, food, friends, parties, and TONS of fun. Abby was a complete angel on the plane ride to Tampa (thank goodness for laptops and Disney DVD's!) When we got to Tampa, my parents greeted Abby and I with chocolate (which I refused to share with Abby since I was craving something sweet :) ) and a BIG Minnie doll for Abby. Abby's reaction to seeing her Nina and Vovo was very cute. She's used to seeing them on the webcam so it was a special reunion. She couldn't get enough of my Mom and was a little timid around my dad. That night we just hung out at the house and I enjoyed my mother's divine cooking.

While in Florida, I got to meet up with my besties. Lyndrea has 2 kids now and Lyndi was pregnant and due within a few weeks. It was so good to see them and catch up. Of course we are still very immature when we talk about the good ole days and embarrassing stories, which ironically enough are always about me :)

The only glitch in our vacation was the scare that I got with my dog Hope. She is getting old and already has bad hips. There was one morning that she was acting very strange and I got worried so I took her to the Vet. He said that she may have a tumor and they could do a ultrasound. If they found something, they could do surgery but with her age, it was unlikely she would survive. He gave us some pain meds to help, and we basically spent the rest of the day at her side and said our goodbyes. With the pain she was in, we didn't think she would make it through the night. I thought it was bittersweet that she would wait until I came to Florida to say goodbye to her before she passed. I spent most of the night by her side but had to get up at about 3am because being 5 months pregnant and laying on cold tile wasn't good. The next morning, my dad picked her up to take her outside to go to the bathroom and she had urinated all over the floor (she hadn't gone to the bathroom in over 24 hours), because she had a kidney stone the size of a coco puff! Once it had passed she was back to being her cheery self, minus the weak hips :) I love my doggy!

Jesse joined us in Florida Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, he could only be there for that weekend because of his new job but we were going to take whatever we could get! Christmas morning was a lot of fun. I was so happy to see that Abby was treating my mother a little better at that point. After Christmas morning, we all got ready for the BIG party at my parents house. There is usually around 30+ people that show up. It was great to see all my relatives. Towards the end of the night, we had a game of guesstures. My family made the mistake of putting Jesse and I on the same team. Big mistake! We won....naturally :)

Saturday my dad took us to the Boston Lobster Feast. It has become a tradition in our family to go there whenever we have family in town. Jesse had lobster for the first time and seemed to like it. Not as much as the crab legs though :) Sunday I had to say goodbye to Jesse since he had to be at work Monday morning :(

My aunt Etel and her family from Kentucky came to visit as well. For the Christmas gift, my dad got us rooms at the Gaylord Palms resort. Apparently there is someone who works there that my dad knows because we got sweet room upgrades for free. We Cape Verdeans stick together! This place was amazing. There were different themes to each section of the resort. Each theme was based on a different part of Florida. We stayed in the Key West part. Our balcony overlooked a indoor pirate ship that was used as a restaurant. Other awesome accommodations include: mini water theme park, mini golf course, shuffle board, and volleyball. That night my Aunt took me and my parents out to dinner. They are sushi guru's so they ordered me some that I was allowed to eat. Probably some of the best sushi I have ever had!
The next day we went to the Ice Show that was at the convention center. I can't believe what these people were able to do with the ice! The pictures speak for themselves!

My aunt Etel, uncle James, and their kids, Shayne, Ian, and Max

Of course the big fat prego woman gets stuck on the ice slide!

Abby walking Jameson, Andrew's girlfriend's dog
New years was awesome! I had some cousins from Boston that I haven't seen in years come and visit. My cousin Peter, who was my dance partner growing up, had his little girl Eva with him. She and Abby were best friends the entire night. We had to leave the party early since we were flying back early in the morning, and I was a little tuckered out from all the dancing. I would have danced more if my elderly relatives weren't freaking out about me busting my moves while being prego. :)
It was a wonderful Christmas in Florida. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the great memories!

Christmas Pics taken at JCPenney

Pre-Christmas Festivities

2009-12-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Before Abby and I head to Florida, we got together with Jesse's family. It was great spending time with them before we left for our long vacation. As usual there was some yummy food and even better company. Abby got her big surprise, a new Jeep! She was so thrilled by it and she had to ride it right away. Despite the cold weather, we bundled her up and she went riding! She loved the radio that was in it and surfed the FM frequencies until she found something she liked.

She's listening to some good music

She loves her Daddy so much!Riding outside even when there's snow on the ground. She almost hit her uncle Josh's car. We will work on her driving skills.
Grandpa and Grandma Pearce with Bonnie

St. George and Baby Isabella

2009-12-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted a blog so this is about a month in the making :)
A few weeks ago Jesse, Abby, and I went to St. George for some warm weather. We heard it was going to snow in the Salt Lake Valley and we weren't ready for the snow, so we made a run for it. Before we left, I had my ultrasound to find out what the gender of my little kicking machine was. Most of you have already heard that it's a girl :) We have decided to name her Isabella Jean. Jean in Jesse mom's middle name, and despite what most of you are probably thinking, Isabella has NOTHING to do with the Twilight books. I've loved the name since I was young. Abby was actually supposed to be Isabella, but Jesse wasn't sold on the name quite yet. He finally warmed up to it and said that if this baby, and this baby only, was a girl, we could name her Isabella.
We got to St. George late Thursday night and just crashed. Friday morning we took Abby to the park right by the house. She had a blast and I was amazed at how fearless she was. She loves to climb and do basically anything the older kids do. She really liked the see-saw and swings.
Later that night, our friends Jeff and Molly joined us fro Salt Lake. I don't think they were ready for the snow either. Saturday morning, the boys wewnt golfing (shocker), and the girls went shopping. Most of you know that I hate shopping with a passion. I'm such a froogle person and not keen on spending money. We went to the outlet stores and they were having the best sales! I actually had a good time shopping considering I was getting really cute shirts, both dressy and casual, for $5! I was all about it ;) Jesse was even proud of me because he knows how hard it is foor me to look for clothes. Later that night, we ordered some food from the Brick Oven and watched some UFC fights, and the movie "Up."

Isabella waving to us :)

This one is kind of freaky. You can see her eye if you tilt your head to the left

Isabella's profile

Supergirl to the rescue!!!

2009-11-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

We took Abby to "Trunk or Treat" at our church. Everyone was in the parking lot serving candy out of their trunks. It was great to see all the kids having fun and it was especially comforting knowing who was giving my child candy :)

After that, we took Abby to see her Papa and Mima. Unfortunately, she fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep for the first 30 minutes we were there. Being a superhero is tiresome! When she finally woke up, she wanted to eat all of the candy at the house and loved going to the door when the treaters came to get their candy. As always, there is never a trip to see her Mima without a lot of reading.Sleepy Supergirl
She thought the baby needed a lollypop too :)

Birthday in St. George

2009-11-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Jesse and I went to St. George to celebrate my birthday. His parents got me tickets to see Aida at the Tuacahn Theater on Saturday night. We arrived Friday night and met up with Lindsey and Nate who drove up from Las Vegas. Saturday Morning we went to the St. George Temple. It was AWESOME! Afterward, we went to get some yummy smoothies from the Orange Peel, went home and watched some football, went out again andplayed mini golf, then went back to the house before we had to get ready from the show. It was a wonderful weekend spending time with friends and especially Jesse :)

Trying to fish their ball out of the water :)
Some of the cast from Aida
Footloose was one of the other shows that were playing this summer. I don't think I would make a very attractive blond.

And I thought Abby had moves!!

2009-10-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Week 13 Ultrasound

2009-10-13T20:48:00.001-07:00

The baby is growing big and healthy :) The doctor thinks the baby was sleeping during the ultrasound b/c the heart rate dropped and he/she wouldn't move when we poked them. Finally with the last poke, the baby rolled over. A classic mommy move. Jesse can attest that I hate being bothered when I am sleeping.
So I had to take a picture of the ultrasound pictures with my camera phone so it's not great quality but you can still see the profile :)

The white blob on the upper right side is his/her leg

the white line in front of the nose is his/her hand

Feeling older

2009-10-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

This past Monday, I turned 26. This was the first birthday in a long time that I felt older. I'm blaming it on the fact that I am about to have my second child and i'm tired ALL the time. That and Abby keeps me going all day to the point of exhaustion :) Regardless, I feel so blessed to live the life that I live. I have wonderful friends and family who love and support me in all aspects of my life. I got a lot of phone calls, emails, and facebook messages from people that I wasn't even expecting to hear from. Thanks to all of you for loving and supporting me. Here are some of the things I got:

Lindsey hand painted this family rules board for me. She had one in her home and I loved it so she made me one with me own set of rules. It's a lot bigger than it looks and i'm so grateful to her for spending all the time she did on it, especially having her 2 twin girls and Gunner to take care of. You have to click on the picture to see it up close. It's SO cool!

I know a lot of you are saying "go figure Kimmie gets something related to Twilight. I didn't have the "New Moon" book so my friend Candice got it for me along with a twilight magazine with some hottie pics of Edward and Jacob :)

Many of you may not know this but I'm a HUGE Smallville fan. I really like Superman growingup so it was only fitting that I like this show. Plus, Clark Kent is a HOTTIE! Jesse is such a good sport for getting this for me.

I think this is self explanatory :)

I read "The Davinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" so I HAD to read this one. So far I am enjoying just as much as the other 2 so hopefully it will stay that way. I really like books that take anything historical and turns it into a mystery/thriller.

Bonnie and Jerry (Jesse's parents) got us tickets to go see Aida at the Tuacahn outdoor theater in St. George. I am so excited to go! I LOVE St. George and it's going to be so nice to have a mini vacation just me and Jesse. HORAY!!

Fun with the Smyths

2009-10-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I went to the killers concert with Lindsey and Adam and it was a blast! I had no idea who they were, but Adam being the good sport that he, sang one of their popular songs to me. I recognized the song immediately from our "Guitar Hero" game, but he looked like he was having a lot of fun singing so I let him continue :)
Not only did Adam's company hook us up with free tickets, but we got to sit in the luxury box fully equipped with with drinks, snacks, food, couch, etc. Basically a hungry pregnant woman's dream :) Considering I had no idea who the performers were, I had such a great time, and the music was FANTASTIC! And to top things off, they had a "k" in the front of their stage that had lights on it. I was thinking of ways that I could get my hands on it, but when I saw the mosh pit that was forming in front of it, I decided it wouldn't be worth the risk :)
Lindsey has the really good pictures of us in our box but here is what I could get from my phone

First Dr. Appointment

2009-09-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

I had my 8 week appointment today and I got to see the little one :) Unfortunately, my doc's machine was broken so I didn't get any pictures this time. Luckily, I had my camera with me so my doc recorded the ultrasound. Here's is Baby Clark!

3rd Trailer

2009-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Meet Jacob Black

2009-08-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

Baby Clark

2009-08-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I found out yesterday that we will be having our second baby!! We are so excited for the newest addition to our family! I do not have a official due date from my doctor, but according to americanbaby.com, my due date is around April 19, 2010. WAHOOO!!!

Who knew that seeing a little blue line could make someone so happy?

New Moon Sneak Peeks!!

2009-07-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos from the Comic Con convention where 2 scenes of New Moon were shown! Can't wait!!

A much needed family vacation

2009-07-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Jesse, Abby, and I went to St. George. We had a blast! It was so nice to be able to spend time together just the 3 of us. We arrived on Thursday night and just crashed. Friday morning we made plans to go swimming, have lunch, and then see Harry Potter.
The pool was AMAZING with the water being the perfect temperature. With St. George being at a comfortable 113 degrees, the 2 hours we spent in the pool was time well spent. I got the tan that I wanted so my trip by Friday morning was already well worth it :) For lunch we went to this yummy cafe called 25th and Main. They have the typical sandwiches, soups, and salads...but people come in for their cupcakes! they are the most delicious little cupcakes I've ever had! People will come in and just order BOXES of these :) We thought that if we filled Abby up on food and kept her up until the movie, she would nap through it. We even got her a little box of popcorn, candy, and a drink. She was good for about 30 minutes then it was terrible from then on. She would sing, try to talk tot he guy next to me, and try to run out of the aisle. Jesse was a champion and would tend to her little fits since he knew I was a huge fan of the books and movies. So needless to say, we will never try to bring Abby to a movie ever again.
That night we just ordered some chinese food and stayed at the house to play with Abby. We watched "Push" when she went to bed. It was a mediocre at best.
Saturday we took Abby to Jumping Jacks. I've never seen Abby have so much fun. I'll admit that I got teary eyed watching her run around. Time goes by so quickly. Abby impressed us even more than she normally does when she fearlessly climbed up steep, slippery steps all by herself. Most of the kids that we on these were at least 5 years old but Abby insisted on climbing. Again, very impressed.
Jesse and I had our own little bit of fun trying to beat the other in completing a mini obstacle course in the least amount of time. After 3 times each, I had the best time of 6.66 seconds, however, I paid a price for my victory. Whiplash and a dirty look from a 60 year old was the reward for my W. We had some pizza that night for dinner as we watched Bully Beatdown on MTV. Neither of us had ever seen it before but we enjoyed it quite a bit. Bully's were given $10,000 to fight a professional MMA fighter. In the first round they had 3 minutes and would lose $1k every time they tapped. In the second round, which was also 3 minutes, they would lose the last 5k if they were knocked out or if the ref had to stop it. It was hilarious to see these bully's actually think they could win, then eat a big slice of humble pie when they had to hand over the $10k to the people they always picked on.
Sunday was mostly cleaning and getting ready to leave. The drive back was really fun with Jesse and I singing songs together and watching Abby sing her own songs :) Thanks for the wonderful vacation Hunny! I Love you!

A warning: The picture quality is really bad. My camera broke so I had to use my camera phone.

Cinnamon Buns Ice cream....SO YUMMY!

Our mini obstacle course

Showing off her strength
Abby wanted to punch the scary dinosaur

Raging Waters

2009-06-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, we went to Raging waters with the Tripp Family. Brandon and Jesse have been friends since they were 5. It was really cute to see them walk around the park holding their own kids knowing they have been friends for so long.
Abby had a blast and wasn't afraid of the slides. We were a little worried about her and the water but it was warm and she loved it! She walked around the park holding hands with Crew (her little boyfriend) the entire day and everyone that past them made some sort of comment about how cute they were. Crew also went around the park picking flowers for Abby saying, "so pretty Abby!" Lindsi and I got to lay out for a bit. It really helped since I was 3 different colors and haven't seen my natural skin tone in forever! Thanks Brandon, Lindsi, and Crew for a great day!

Abby Update

2009-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of Abby and a little update as to what she is doing lately.
Abby is as sassy as ever. :) She has got such a fun personality. Sometimes it gets a little much but for the most part I end up laughing or smiling at her all day. She loves to play with Lily, her cousin that I nanny for. However, she is TERRIBLE at sharing. Even if it's Lily's toys, Abby won't let her touch it and will usually throw a fit when she does. We are working on it :)
Abby is also potty training. I never thought my patience would be tested as much as it has been these past few weeks. I am very proud of her though. She went to the bathroom at her Mima's house for the first time last week, but unfortunately hasn't gone since. I'm trying to entice her to going by offering her candy but it isn't working. She goes on the toilet, does a little pushing sound and says "All done! Lollypop?" She is getting better about letting me put her there so I'll just keep trying to be patient. We got her some Disney princess pull ups and she loves them! Hopefully it won't be a big deal when we move her from the pull ups to regular underwear. Hopefully I can find some princess undies to make the transition a little smoother :)

Relay for Life Update

2009-06-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

So in case anyone was wondering how the relay went, it was interesting to say the least. The relay was in front of Immigration Canyon and the weather was AWFUL! I thought the wind was going to blow people away. My scheduled time to run/walk was from 12-1am. The weather was so bad that the officials ordered everyone into their tents until it calmed down. The course was wet, muddy, and cold. Heidi (our team captain), her fiance Ryan, and I were the only ones there from 12-3am when I left. We got out and did a few laps around when we could. It was a good thing Ryan brought his tent that could have survived the Apocalypse! We stayed relatively warm and comfortable in our little fortress of solitude. Later that morning, the officials announced that the relay had raised a little over $41,000!! Thanks to all of you who supported me with this wonderful cause!

New Moon Trailer

2009-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so stinkin excited for this movie! HECK YES!

Relay For Life

2009-05-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to join a friend's team for the Salt Lake chapter of "Relay for Life", and I couldn't be more excited. "Relay for Life" partners with the American Cancer Society in raising awareness and funding research. I will personally be running for my grandfather who passed away from cancer when I was young. If there is anyone who you would like me to run for, let me know and I will add their name to the shirt that I will be wearing at the event.

As a team member, I pledged to raise $100. I have set a personal goal of raising $500. If you, or anyone else that you know, would like to make a donation, please click on the link below and it will take you to my donation page. Your donation can be made in honor of someone that you know, it can be anonymous, or you can add your name to the "honor roll" where your name will appear as having made a donation. Thanks everyone!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GW?px=11381571&pg=personal&fr_id=14933

7 Years

2009-04-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

So today is 7 years since I was baptized! I know it's lame but I love to celebrate it as if it was my birthday :) My life has changed so much since that day 7 years ago.

My baptism day was a hectic and pretty funny one when I look back at it. I had just finished my exams at USF and I had to unpack my entire dorm in 5 hours. My Norweigen roommate was a gem and helped me! I didn't plan the move very well b/c I basically had to fit my entire dorm into my little 1994 Mitsubishi Galant.

So if you can picture this.....I had a mini fridge, TV, computer, dvd player, vcr, a bike, my stereo, a toaster oven, and ALL my clothes in the car. The car was packed so tight that I had to make the 30 minute drive back to my hometown, for the baptism, with my bike wheel in my face and my arms went through the wheel to steer my car. Yes I know it wasn't safe, but it worked. Another interesting thing that happened on this day 7 years ago occured in another country. Jesse was on his mission and he had a important decision to make. He prayed about it and got his answer. He remembered becuase it was exactly 1 year into his mission, April 30, 2002. His prayer was about his future, particularly his future wife.

I'm not going to get all mushy on this post (i'm saving my mushyness for next week when it's our 4 year anniversary :) ) but I will say that I know my life has been extremely blessed by the gospel and I feel so much closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior because of it. Here's to 7 years!

Update on Swine Flu

2009-04-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNXb-h9sXUU

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-04-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Today is my daddy's birthday and I just wanted to tell everyone a little bit about him. I have the greatest memories of my dad, mostly on the soccer field. He was the most supportive dad and my number one fan. I don't remember one gane that I had where he was not there. He took me to all my soccer games growing up and he was definitely the loudest. It is funny how your perspectives change as you grow up. When I was younger, I thought my dad was goofy and embarrassed me all the time with his loud vocals at my games. Now it is one of my fondest memories of him. Even when I went to college, he still attended all the games that he could. I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa, but he would still make drives to almost every college in Florida. I even remember him driving over 4 hours to see me play in Miami. Although he didn't necessarily agree with my decision to transfer to BYU, he still managed to fly out for my birthday, which happened to be inbetween 2 of my soccer games. He flew to BYU both years that I played to see some of my games. One of the memories that has stick with me the most is when I finished playing soccer in high school. We had this grand banquet because we had won the state championship and at the end of the banquet, my dad presented me with a scrapbook that he himself had made. There were pictures of me playing soccer starting when I was 4 or 5 years old, and he had cut out every newspaper clipping that I had appeared on, pasted every patch (which was probably close to 30), and cut out every action shot of my career up until then. Later he added everything that he could get his hands on that had my name or picture on it from high school. He recently came to Utah for Abby's birthday and had the chance to watch me play in a alumni game. He was just as excited to watch me play in that game then in any other game I have played. Dad, I don't tell you often enough but I am so grateful to have had you be my father. You have been my biggest support and number one fan in everything that I do. I know I have always complained about not having a sister growing up but now that I am older, I'm kind if glad that I didn't. I am daddy's little girl and I would not have wanted to share you with another girl :) I love you so much! Have a wonderful day Daddy :)

(unfortunately, I didn't have any photos with me and my daddy on my computer so here are pics of him and his SECOND favorite person :) haha!)

The Best Husband and Father

2009-04-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking about all the blessings in my life and the one that I have thought about the most is Jesse. I could not have asked for a better companion and best friend than him. We have known each other for almost 6 years and I fall more and more in love with him as each day passes. The best part of my day is when I hear the back door open and I see Jesse peak around the corner and Abby runs to him and yells "Daddy!" He has the most beautiful smile when he sees her and I can't help but smile too. Jesse is the hardest worker I know and the best provider for our family. He gives us everything that we need and more. I am so grateful that I have the chance to be with him for time and all eternity and I am especially grateful for the way he honors his priesthood and the blessings my family receives from it.
Eu te amo Jesse. Você é meu grande amor e eu sou tão afortunado ser sua esposa.

Mom and Dad's Visit

2009-04-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

I really have the best parents in the world. Every April and October, they make it to Utah for me and Abby's birthdays.
They got here on the 3rd at 8pm and we stayed up for a few hours talking and watching Abby booty dance. They then opened their suitcases and revealed all the wonderful treats that they brought for us from Florida. They only stayed 10 days but they packed like they were moving b/c they always bring us a TON of stuff whenever they come. This time, the bought us new dishes, they brought my favorite Portuguese food, and they brought what they thought was a waffle maker for Jesse, but when he opened it, he found a Christmas decoration. My mom forgot that she used that box for Christmas storage..HAHA! We laughed for a good 5 minutes then my mom felt really bad because she knew Jesse was excited for it. Jesse and I were still laughing about it when we went to bed :)
The next day, Abby's 2nd birthday, my mom and I went shopping for her birthday party. With her birthday falling on Conference weekend, we decided to have a party for her primary friends in between sessions (for my non LDS readers, Conference is every 6 months where we get to see/hear our church leaders give inspirational messages.) Abby was overjoyed to see all her friends at her house!
We had the family party on Sunday, again, in between sessions of Conference. She loved her birthday cake which was the Disney Princesses. Her favorite princess is Ariel and she flipped out when she saw her on it. Personally, I don't know what she sees in her. She is immediately smitten by Eric and shows no sense of independence or sass. My favorite is Jasmine, now that girl can stand up for herself!
I had to work Monday-Wednesday so my parents were happy to take Abby. Jesse had Monday and Tuesday off so he went shopping with them and took Abby to the park. On Wednesday night, my parents and Jesse met me in Centerville (where I work) to watch 2 indoor soccer games that I played in. Considering my parents haven't seen me play since my days at BYU, I was a little nervous. I had actually been training for about a month beforehand for this occasion and my alumni game.
Thursday we drove down to the St. George home with Bonnie and Jerry. We stopped in Filmore to have a late brunch. It was awesome because the 2 hour drive that we took from Salt Lake created a drastic change in temperature so we were all very happy. Jesse of course called for a golfing time the day before so within 30 minutes of us getting there, Jesse, Jerry, my dad, and I were on our way to the course. Bonnie, my mom, and Abby went on a walk and took Abby to the park where she apparently made some friends with kids who were twice her size going down a slide.
Friday was the highlight of my parents trip. We drove down to the St. George home with Bonnie and Jerry and went to Zion's National Park. My parents couldn't take enough pictures of it! My dad, bless his heart, still has a 35mm camera that takes the roll films and ran out half way through the trip, so, Jerry and I took the rest with out wonderful digital cameras and their 300+ photo capacities :) We hiked the Narrows, Weeping falls, and Emerald pond.
Saturday morning we went to a Easter egg hunt that the city was putting on for all the kids. My friend Jaime, who lives there, told me about it and Abby had a blast. Jaime brought her son Hudson with her and Abby was immediately smitten. Granted it was only the second time they have ever met, she wasn't shy to give him her signature tongue kiss :) It really was like a scene from a movie watching them run into the open field together holding hands. We left St. George right after that so that I could get back to Provo for my alumni game.
It was so great to see all my friends again and kick the ball around. We had so many alumni show up that we could play a full 11 v 11 game with just the alumni (the current team played 2 games earlier that day). My team won 2-0! I know it is strange, but I felt so great looking down at my shins and seeing them scratched up and bruised again. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I haven't felt since I stopped playing :) After the game, there was a dinner that we went to and they showed old film clips and photos where we reminisced of the glory days. Good times!
Easter Sunday, My parents went to church with us and they got to see Abby in her primary class playing and singing songs. For dinner, we took some yummy food that my Mom made over to Bonnie and Jerry's and met the family. We also did our traditional Easter basket hunt. Jesse, being the punk that he is, put his parents basket on the roof of the house. It was pretty entertaining however watching Jerry get a pole and fish it from the roof :)
My parents left on Monday morning and Abby was so sad to see them leave. When they left the car at the airport, she cried for a good 10 minutes screaming "Nina!!" and "Vovo!!" (both of those being Portuguese nicknames for grandma and grandpa).
Thank you Mom and Dad for coming to spend time with us! We love you and miss you already!

Twilight

2009-03-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

My in-laws neighbor, Charlie, told me that one of the actors from "Twilight" was going to be at Walmart signing the DVD's that would go on sale at midnight. Of course I had to go considering my unhealthy obsession of everything that is Twilight. My friend Candice and I got there around 10:30pm and found Charlie in line. She had been there since 8pm and let us cut in front. Apparently, more people showed up to that location than any of the other locations in the nation! The woman who played "Victoria" was the actress that we were goign to meet. A lot of people were thinking that Edward was goigng to surprise everyone so I decided to play a mean joke and shout out "Oh my gosh!! It's EDWARD!!" as loud as I could. Some people laughed, most gave me the death stare...I thought it was funny :) When I finally got to meet Victoria, I was a little star struck. She was only supposed to sign for the first 200 people but she was so grateful to everyone that showed up that she signed for 1000! I thanked her for coming and asked her how her hand was. She replied "It's actually my cheeks that hurt the most. I've never smiled this much! I have everything int he world to smile about right now. Thank you so much for coming!" I couldn't believe how friendly she was to EVERY person that same up to her. Suffice to say, her picture is currently the background on my cell phone :)

Sick Nasty

2009-03-24T08:57:00.001-07:00

My little brother Andrew (who isn't so little anymore) and his girlfriend Lauren, came to visit us and we had a blast with them. There were only 2 things Andrew wanted to do while he was here, go snowboarding for the first time, and go to eat at the Rodizio Grill. He likes to call it "the place that serves meat on a sword." Since I had to work on Tuesday, Andrew would drive Jesse to work so that he could have the car and not be stuck at home. He and Lauren went shopping and saw a movie. When I came home, Andrew was jamming out on guitar hero. I like to think the only reason he is better than I am is because of his long Edward Scissorhands fingers, but he is just better than me.
Wednesday afternoon, we got ready to do the night boarding at the Brighton resort. We got there around 4pm when it starts but it took us FOREVER to get all of our gear on, especially Andrew's boat-sized boots that made his toes hang over his already extra large board. After about 3 runs on the bunny hill (slope for beginners), we went up to the top and had some good runs. Lauren had gone boarding before so she was doing great. Andrew....not so much. He ended up falling a lot, but he has the Martins blood in him so he kept chugging along. He tried to do the hell-toe carving but wasn't too successful. On top of that, he wasn't very good at putting on the brakes when he found himself going to fast. See the video at the end of the post to see what I'm talking about. Jesse and I did a few runs together while Andrew and Lauren took a break. I took my first "jump" and got my board a whole 2 feet off the ground! How about them apples Shawn White! Our last run, I decided to go through some trees. I thought Jesse was behind me but he went through a different set of trees. I ended up flying through what I thought was good path and ended up knee deep in powder, pitch dark b/c I had stranded so far from the slopes, and scared out of my mind. I had to dig myself out, unlock from my board, and hike my way back. When I found my way back to the actual slope path. I locked back into my board and made my way to the bottom. The anger I had at Jesse for leaving me soon went away when I found out that he went hiking back up the mountain scared that something happened to me.
Thursday was Jesse's birthday and he wanted to stay home. We played an intense game of monopoly. I really don't know how I lost considering I had the most property in the beginning. It might have something to so with the fact that I didn't land on any purchasable land after I had 4 properties!
On Friday, Andrew and Lauren wanted to go boarding again so they went by themselves. I warned Andrew to go slow and be careful. About 2 hours after they left, I get a call from my dad saying that Andrew was injured and at the urgent care facility. He had a 3rd degree tear of his AC joint in his shoulder and his arm was in a sling. The xray was pretty bad. You could see and feel his bone sticking up!
Saturday's events were limited b/c of Andrew's shoulder so we just went to Rodizio to eat and stayed home. Jesse wanted a rematch in monopoly after losing to Lauren the first time. After having more money than the bank, Jesse ended up winning. I came in second place this time so I redeemed myself!
We spent Sunday morning helping them get ready to leave and driving them to the airport. We had a blast with them and hope they come back soon!

Ants Marching

2009-02-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

One of my best friends from high school came to see me this past week. She came with her family to go skiing in Park City and even though I only got to spend 2 hours with her before I had to take her to the airport, it was well worth it. We haven't seen each other in over a year so it was a fun reunion. We mostly end up laughing at each other the entire time, and reminisce about the good ole days (since we are so old now ;) ) Great to see you again Lyndi!!

Our Day of Love

2009-02-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's Day, we decided to stay home and just spend time with each other, and it ended up being the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Jesse worked until 6pm, but as soon as he got home, he started on the delicious dinner that we had. He made us fillet mignon with salad and a baked potato. He also had a fancy shrimp cocktail set up as a appetizer :) YUM! Abby had some homemade mac and cheese with some chicken. We had a lovely candlelight dinner and Abby was on her best behavior (probably because she constantly had food in front of her!) I was in charge of dessert and I made some strawberry roses and a strawberry shortcake and ice cream dessert. The picture really doesn't look all that apetizing but it was really good.

After pigging out, we played with Abby and enjoyed each other's company. Abby did this weird but funny head shaking thing that we laughed about for a few mintues. Her hair was down so she would shake her head vigorously so that her hair would whip her in the face. I guess that feels good? We also watched a few episodes of "Friday Night Lights", a show Jesse and I have come to enjoy quite a bit, so we bought the season on DVD :) I wouldn't have traded this day for anything.

Abby loves Nemo and has learned the song that Mr. Ray sings when you first see him. In case you can't hear her, she tries to say "Let's name the zones, the zones, the zones, let's name the zones of the open sea! Mr. Ray!!"

2009-01-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

Casey's Trip to Utah

2009-01-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

This blog is dedicated to all my friends and family who have not come to see me in Utah yet. You are missing out on some good times!
Casey, a good friend of mine from Florida, came to visit me and we had a blast! The pictures basically say it all but i'm just going to make a list of things that we did:
Watched the BCS bowl game while eating a delicious dinner from Cafe Rio
Made Alfred the snow man
Snowboarding at The Canyons
Shopping in Park City at the outlet malls
Tour of downtown Salt Lake City (lunch at The Sky Box Sports Grill)
Shopping at the Gateway Mall (outdoor mall)
Ice Skating
A LOT of games on the Wii (tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and baseball)
Apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Our Holiday Season

2009-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

After Abby and I got back from Florida, the fun and activities continued. Josh and his girlfriend Alexza came from California and we had a blast!
We went tubing at this place where you would attach your tube to a line that would take you to the top of a hill. We had snowball fights up the hill, but I wasn't very smart and threw snow that was more like ice. At one point I hit Jesse in the face while he was laying on the tube with his eyes closed. He didn't speak to me for a while but I deserved it. Another stupid moment that was my fault :( Up until that moment, everything was hunky dorey. We attached our tubed together and went down the hill, all 6 of us. Jesse decided to get off his tube and climb on top of Josh on the way down. It was funny when the ride was done but I was freaking out on the way down.
We had a wonderful dinner at Jesse's parents house for Christmas Eve. It's a tradition in the family to read the Christmas story and sing songs. Christmas morning we all woke up and opened our presents and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, another family tradition.
For New Years we went down to the house in St. George. I forgot my camera but we had a great time. Jesse took me out to dinner while Bonnie and Jerry took care of Abby. It was so nice to spend some alone time with Jesse. When we got home, we started watching "Eagle Eye", but we all fell asleep. The next morning, Jerry, Jesse, and I went to play some golf. It was so beautiful in St. George and the perfect weather for it.

Florida

2008-12-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

My sweet parents flew me and Abby into Florida before Christmas. I like to think that they missed me but who am I kidding. Anyone who has children know that you take a back seat to your kid when they are born. Your child becomes their pride and joy, and why not? They are too young to do anything to disappoint them, they can spoil them rotten and not have to deal with any of the consequences later, I mean the list goes on and on!
We arrived on December 13th and stayed until the 21st. Our first whole day there, we went to go visit my uncle in Miami. I was a little worried about Abby and the 4 hour drive that we had to take, but she was wonderful the whole way there. As soon as we got to my uncle's place, he gave Abby an early Christmas gift (shocker!). She got a tickle-me-Elmo. WOW this thing is obnoxious! I understand why kids like it but geez! We then ventured off to South Beach and had a scenic walk down the strip. I got to see Versace's home. It was cool so I took a picture but I refused to stand in it. Something about standing where his body was found got to me. We also took Abby to the beach and let her put her feet in the water. She didn't like it at all. Granted it was 75 degrees outside, the water wasn't as warm for her! After the beach, we went to eat at this little cafe on the strip..it was so yummy! After we left, my dad was thinking about the bill and how high it was. He mentioned it to us and we were all thinking about why it was so high. Apparently in Miami, the gratuity is already added! No wonder the waiter was so thankful to us as we left, he got a sweet tip! We laughed all the way to the car :)
We also went to the Florida aquarium while we were there..wow this was a pill to swallow. With all the cool animals that were there, Abby only wanted to see Nemo and Dory. As soon as she found them, nothing else mattered. Forget the huge sharks, or the fun rays and sea otters...nope, it was all Nemo and Dory. At the end of the day, we went into the gift shop and Abby saw a clown fish and of course said "Nemo! Nemo!" She put one in each hand and started running around. My parents told her that she could have one, so they took one away from her and she decided to throw a fit in the shop. Apparently she had to have 2 of them! Well, that wasn't going to happen so we just bought her one and eventually she calmed down. The rest of the day, she would not let ANYONE touch Nemo, and she gave him kisses all the way home. One of the coolest things I saw at the aquarium was the biggest fish I have ever seen. I passed by it and thought it was a large rock. It was the ugliest thing I have ever seen but man it was huge so I thought it deserved a little credit.
On one night, we took a trip to Orlando and went to a all you can eat lobster place, The Boston Lobster Feast, aka HEAVEN! I will not divulge how many lobsters I ate, but in my defense, I don't have lobster very often so I felt I had to take advantage of the opportunity. After dinner, we went to downtown Disney and walked around a bit. We met the toy soldiers that were over 10 feet tall and they were booty dancing with a college basketball team. That was pretty entertaining. Abby busted a move or two but my camera had died at that point.
We also took a trip to good ole Clearwater beach. There are a bunch of street performers there but as soon as Abby saw the little monkey, she didn't want to go anywhere else. Of course you couldn't touch the monkey unless you gave them money so Abby held out a quarter and the monkey would walk over and take it from her. What a joke! There was also a street performer there that I had seen a few years back. He was doing the same act that he did when I last saw him. You would think that if this was his only source of income that he would come up with new tricks!
We spent the last night in Florida at my brother Bryant's house. He was such a good host! When we got there, he had the BYU football game on for me, since it was their bowl game. He made everyone delicious fried chicken and salad, and we all talked and enjoyed each others company. I stayed late and we watched "What happens in Vegas". We did a lot of other things but I didn't have the pictures for them. Thanks to my family for a wonderful time in Florida!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-10T20:22:00.001-08:00

Jesse's Dad took some pictures for us at the Murray Park. Abby was not being very cooperative and she rarely looked into the camera so these were the best we could do :)

My first Gingerbread House!

2008-12-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors and good friends, the Smyth Family, invited us over for some yummy dinner and activities. They surprised us with the gingerbread houses that we got to decorate. I did the icing and Jesse decorated with the candy. I was so proud of our little house :) After we were done, Jesse and Adam ate all the extra icing by sqweezing it straight into their mouths. Lindsey, who is prego with twinners, was not amuzed and looked like she was going to blow chunks. We then went downstairs where we played Taboo while Abby watched Nemo (again) and Gunner (Adam and Lindsey's son) ran around and demonstrated his leaping abilities from sofa to sofa :) Thanks for the good times Smyth's!

Palmer Salon

2008-12-08T21:47:00.001-08:00

In preparation for going to Florida this Saturday, I decided to get my hair done. My friend Lindsey is a very talented beautician and did an awesome job. I've always wanted my hair to look like Shakira's when she had red low lights in her hair. I figured that I already had the outrageous curly hair so might as well give it a shot. Lindsey's hubby, Nate, came to help and keep Jesse company. Nate has done Lindsey's hair for her a few times and I must say I was impressed :) Here are some pictures to document my adventures!

she had to bleach some of my hair first before putting the red in so my hair looked really funny after the bleaching was done.

Ummm....ya I don't think i could ever make it as a blond!
The Palmer Salon at work!
Jesse getting his hair did :) It looked SOOOO good afterwards. Pictures of my hottie hubby coming soon!
It took me forever to get a picture where you can see the red...these 2 are the best I could do.
Thanks for doing such a great job Linds! Love ya !

Invisible Mothers

2008-12-07T12:22:00.001-08:00

This was on one of my friends blog and I just had to share. Get a tissue ready! To all the wonderful mother's and future mothers.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to somewhere. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Can I have some money?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' or I'm a car to order, 'Right around 8:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated college- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. Initially I had thought, oh she remembered I wanted to travel this year. Until I read her inscription: "With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no button you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

A t times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the girlfriend he's bringing home for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies', that would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to bring his friends home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

Jesse's favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving is play football. He gets a bunch of his friends and play for like 3 hours! I went to the field and became the embarrassing wife snapping photos. Oh well...he will appreciate it one day :) Afterwards, we had our wonderful family dinner at his parents house. We all took naps as we do every Thanksgiving after eating all that food, then continued the tradition by going to watch a movie that night. We usually see Harry Potter but since that isn't coming out until this summer (piece of crap), we settled for Transporter 3. Jesse and I thought it was AWEFUL! The fighting scenes were cool, but the acting was sub par. The Russian chick bothered the crap out of me. I wouldn't mind it if I never saw her in a movie again :)
Dan (baby blue shorts), Josh (red beanie), and Jesse (white pants)

Dan just tackeled the quarterback...GO DAN!
Boys after playing football...time to go eat!!
Abby and her auntie Rachel playing with the doctor toys
We were all playing a game and we looked over to Abby, who was watching Finding Nemo for the millionth time, and her butt cheek was haing out! HAHA! isn't it the cutest butt cheeck you have ever seen?

Abby's LONG hair!

2008-11-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

In case anyone was wondering what Abby's hair would look like if it was straight, here ya go! In my defense, it doesn't look fantastic b/c she was moving a lot.

Playing at the Park

2008-11-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

It was such a beautiful day today that Jesse and I decided to take Abby to the park. She had a blast! Her favorite part was the swing. She just laughed the entire time she was on it. She followed a little girl around the park for a little while. She was happy to see a "tiny person" like her :) She really liked going down the slides and was fearless when she got to the big ones. We insisted that she stayed on the little ones but we couldn't keep her away. We have yet to find something that Abby is scared of! When it was time to leave, Abby was NOT happy. I feel kind like a mean mom for posting the video of her temper tantrum but it was too funny to pass up. Enjoy!

Look at her hair form the static! HAHA!

Fight Night

2008-11-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

We got together with some of our friend's to watch the UFC fights. The whole family wore UFC shirts that Josh (Jesse's brother) sent to us. Abby of course was so happy that Crew was there that she really didn't pay attention to anything else the entire night. Lindi (Crew's Mom) and I played with the kiddie's and talked about twilight. We had such a good time! Crew and Abby were giving each other a lot of kisses (see video below) so Jesse gave Crew "the talk" and Crew didn't kiss Abby anymore. Unfortunately, he gave Crew the talk during the video so we only have one kiss on the video. The they decided to have a cell phone conversation with each other. They just kept passing the phone between each other saying "HI!" It was so cute! Crew is talking a TON and he can sing "ring around the rosie" really well. You can hear him singing in the video.

Shopping with Abby

2008-11-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

So the next few posts actually happened a few weeks ago but I have been lazy and haven't updated in a while.
My parents wanted to buy Abby her first snow suit so we went to the baby gap where Jesse said he saw a really cute suit for her. Then we saw a sale on jeans at the Childrens Place so we HAD to get some of those :) As we were checking out, Jesse found the CUTEST little hat for Abby....to bad she will only wear it for a minute then pull it off!

TAH DAAAAH!

2008-11-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out how to put a twilight picture for my background! I know that it's lame but I LOVE the books and i'm so excited about the movie (hence the twilight countdown clock on my blog.) I'm a sucker for romance and vampires....especially that Edward. YUMMY!

Gimme some candy or I'll sting you!

2008-11-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

So after a few costume ideas, we finally got a costume for Abby that we liked. Jesse has been wanting to turn Abby into a gangster rapper/pimp for Halloween since last year, but I still vetoed the idea. Something about a fur coat, cane, and chains around her neck threw me off :) For a day I thought about making her Renesme from the Twilight books but that might be a little difficult and a lot of people would be asking who she was. Then Jesse found a Superwoman costume that I was ALL excited about, but the costume was too "fancy" for a few hours of dress up. A friend of ours had a bumblebee costume that was too cute to pass up when we had Abby try it on. So......I present to you, my little baby bumblebee :) (The witch costume at the end was a little fun thing that Bonnie saw and thought Abby would like to play dress up in)

Talking Machine

2008-10-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

More St. George Pictures from Lindsey

2008-10-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Showing off our awesome prizes from the fun center

Another wonderful weekend in St. George

2008-10-12T20:23:00.001-07:00

Once again, we had a grand ole time in St. George! We left Thursday after work and stopped in Fillmore to grab a bite to eat (about 2 hours into our 4 hour trip) at this cute Mom and Pop diner. We were tempted to get their delicious shakes but decided to get them on our way back home, completely forgetting that they would be closed on Sunday. WHAT WAS I THINKING!! We rode down there with Jeff and Molly and would meet Nate and Lindsey there early Friday afternoon.
Friday morning, Jesse and Jeff made us some yummy french toast and bacon. But we couldn't eat until we got the new silverware out of it's packaging. This sounds like a normal house to cute it so and easy task but it was packaged ridiculously tight! There was no room to slip scissors or a knife to cut the cords holding the utensils. There was nothing small and sharp in the house that we could use so we had to use the BBQ knife that looked like a masheti knife. After 20 minutes of carving and Jesse cutting himself, we were able to eat our breakfast. To try and pass the time until the Palmer's came, we went to the bowling alley where I dominated in 2 games, and won in pool :)

Nate and Lindsey met up with us there and we went to the "Fun Center" where we had a lot more fun and I dominated in put put golf (it was my weekend, what can I say). I even got a hole in one! holla! Lindsey and Nate got a hole in one too :)

We had dinner at Olive Garden and then went back to the house to hit up the hot tub! It was a bit nippy in St. George this weekend so the hot tub was fantastic. The boys showed off their manhood and jumped into the freezing pool. Let's just say I've never seen anybody get out of a pool that quickly :)

After tubbing, we went to Cold Stone and had some yummy ice cream. I know it didn't make much sense with it being cold but it was so worth it! We went back home and my domination of games continued. We played Sequence (boys vs. girls) and we are still undefeated! You think they would have learned by now :) We also played Cranium and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Jesse had to act out Queen Elisabeth without saying names or places. So this is what came out of his mouth...(in a high pitched voice while putting is fist in mid air like he was holding on to a rod): "Hellooooooo! I am someone of great importance! Come on in.... serve me! HAHAHAHA!!!! After guessing royalty, he finally said he was a woman and I guessed it right. The game was halted for a good 5 minutes while we all laughed until our stomachs hurt. It was about 2:30am and none of us were really tired (except Molly) so Lindsey and I tried to go rent a movie at the red box down the street. That one was broken so we went across the street to McD's. Only the drive through was open but we were determined to get a movie so I knocked on the drive through window and the guy came out looking at me like I was crazy and told me he couldn't let me in to get the dvd. So Lindsey and I went home and watched Notting Hill on a tiny VHS tv. It was awesome :)
Saturday morning the boys went golfing and the girls went shopping. After shopping, we went back to McD's to get a dvd to watch while waiting for the boys to get home. We ended up watching "Made of Honor" and I was disappointed to say that I wasn't really impressed. The boys came home half way through and it was funny to see how each of them took the movie. Nate fell asleep, Jesse watched uncomfortably, and Jeff waited until the end to sing sarcastic praises that it was over.
The girls started getting ready for the dinner and the Les Miserables show we were going to see at the Tuacahn theater (Lindsey and I had already seen it, but it was so worth going again). Lindsey had colored my hair a deep auburn color a few days before our trip and she did my hair again for our ladies night. I'm so mad I didn't take pictures of it after she was done b/c the weather ruined it by the time I got to take pictures. So we all went to Chili's for dinner and "surprisingly" enough the BYU football game was on! Coincidence that the boys picked Chili's??.... I think not!
The weather for the show was FREEZING but we brought enough blankets and Lindsey got us all hot chocolate. We wrapped our feet with one blanket and our bodies in another one. I couldn't feel my toes the first half of the show but was nice and toasty the second half. Molly put on socks when we got there to wear with her flip flops. We sat in the second row this time and it was awesome! I got to see all the actor's faces this time! Jaime did a amazing job as usual. She played one of the lead roles the week prior and I was bummed that I missed it but the show was still amazing!

The boys bought the 4th season of "The Office" and were watching it when we got back so we joined them for a few episodes and went to bed.
Sunday morning was mainly cleaning and laundry. We watched almost all of the Office while we were waiting for the laundry to be dried. Nate and Lindsey left about 5 minutes before we did and we ended up passing them on the freeway about 15 minutes into the trip home. We even stopped for a potty break and gas fill up and we still were about 5 minutes ahead of Nate and Lindsey for lunch. Jeffry is kind of a fast driver :) We all stopped in Fillmore for some lunch at Larry's Drive In and reminisced about our great trip and how sad we were that it was cold. Jeff was trying to convince everyone to turn around and drive back to St. George :)
Thanks Jeppson's and Palmer's for a awesome weekend! We Love you guys!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-10-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say thank you to all my family and friends that left me messages for my birthday :) Being away from my family isn't always easy so days like this where I get to hear from a lot of you makes it a lot easier.
The day was pretty relaxing, being Sunday and all. I got my favorite show on DVD so I got to watch it in between conference sessions while Jesse was sleeping (from getting home from work so late). After the final session of conference, we went to my in-laws house where they had a birthday dinner for me. It was a great day! Thanks again everyone!

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-09-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

With all 29 pictures and 34 videos, this will probably be the longest post ever. As a early birthday gift, Jerry and Bonnie got me 3rd row tickets to go to the "So You Think You Can Dance" concert with Rachel. It was AMAZING! It really should be illegal for people to be able to move like that. On top of that, it's unfair that they make it look so easy. I won't write a lot about my experience because you can hear my screaming in most of the videos below, so it is pretty obvious that I had an awesome time. There were 3 dancers from Utah. Chelsea the blond ballroom dancer, Gev the break dancer, and Thayne the contemporary dancer. Gev was hilarious! He was dressed in women's clothing at some points in the concert. His argument was that the girls outfits were always more flattering :) HAHA! WARNING.....EXCESSIVE SCREAMING. (In my defense, it wasn't ALL me. Some of it was Rachel, and as a punishment I still have a little bit of a froggy voice.)

Play Date with Crew

2008-09-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today we had a last minute play date with Abby's boyfriend Crew. My Jeep was getting some maintenance done and my friend Lindsi was a saint and picked me up from the shop so I wouldn't have to wait there 2 hours with a toddler! Abby was so excited to see Crew. She gave him a open mouthed kiss. It was a little promiscuous but still cute :) When you are looking at her pictures, check out her new DC shoes....they are so stinking cute! Later, we gave her a bath and she put on a show. Here are the pics and video to document the day. Enjoy!

What I Love About Sundays

2008-09-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

I love how relaxing Sunday's are. Today we went to church and took our usual nap. Abby decided to be awesome and nap for 2 hours, so me and Jesse followed suit. Jesse and I decided to make cookies because we both had a sweet tooth. Well, in the middle of the baking, Jesse challenges me to some golf and horse shoes. We have a horse show pit that we try to chip golf balls into and whoever gets closest to the pin wins. It sounds lame but it really is a lot of fun. well we forgot about the first batch of cookies that were in the oven so you can only guess how those came out. The second batch came out perfect but my neighbor Lindsey told me that I could only return the plate that I borrowed if it had some treats. So, the second batch went to her. When I got home, the third batch

was seconds away from being done, but I later found out that Jesse put it in 2 minutes longer because it looked gooey (not knowing the perfect 2nd batch was gooey, then cooled and settled to perfection.) So, the 3rd batch stunk too. So we had a total of 4 good cookies out of 36 that we made. I probably would have had more if Jesse didn't keep sneaking into the kitchen and stealing the raw cookie dough :) Gotta love Sundays!

St. George Fun!

2008-09-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend we went to the St. George house for the first time since it's been completely done and furnished. It was so much fun! It was definitely a change from the Salt Lake weather. We were lucky that it had rained before we got there so it cooled down a bit, but it was still burning my poor chocolate skin :( So suffice to say, my nice even tan that I got in my 2 week trip to Boston has now been ruined by 3 days in St. George!
Jesse and I drove down with his dad (Jerry), Josh, Jesse's older brother, was already there from LA, and Jesse's Mom (Bonnie) and his brother Dan and his wife Jodi drove down later that day. We got there around 3pm and I got to go to lunch with an old friend (Jaime) from my singles ward in Tampa, who just so happened to be in the Les Miserables play that we would be seeing on Saturday, and her son Hudson. We ate at this cute little cafe and Abby loved the cupcakes they had there. I'm mad because I forgot to take pictures at lunch! It's a shame too because Hudson is ADORABLE! He's about 4 weeks older than Abby and she was trying to give him kisses while sitting next to him in the high chair. I really don't know where she gets it from ;)
That night we went to eat at the Pasta Factory (YUMMY!) and then we went home and basically crashed for the night to prepare for our big day.
Saturday morning, Jerry made his famous pancakes. I will not divulge how many I ate, let's just say I'm ashamed. Afterwards the boys went golfing for 5 hours while the ladies went shopping at the fabulous outlet stores. I picked up my first modest bathing suit since joining the church (don't judge me) and I'm quite pleased with it.Of course we bought some baby clothes! The one thing that I love to shop for :) After our quick but successful hour and a half shopping excursion, we went home, ate lunch, and watched "Definitely Maybe", a movie I recommend if you haven't seen it yet. Abby laid with grandma for a little while reading before she would go down for a nap.
The boys came home and Jesse gave me the rundown of the day's events. So proud of him for coming in first :) (Wouldn't have happened if I was there but whatever.) Poor Josh got a nasty burn on his arm but was a trooper the entire weekend.
We went to a Mexican restaurant in town for dinner and it was delicious. Abby was admired by some old ladies in the waiting area. It was pretty funny hearing them talk about her hair like it was a 9th world wonder.
After dinner, Bonnie, Jodi, and I went to the Les Miserables show at the Tuacahn theater. I've never done anything remotely close to theater or broadway in my life so this was an awesome experience. I knew before the show started that I was going to have a good time because they had frozen pink lemonades! I was already full from dinner, but once again, I made the decision with my eyes and not my brain. I was hooked on the show from the first opening act. The beautiful mountain behind the theater served as a backdrop for the stage. Everyone in the show was so talented and I was so proud of Jaime. The only disappointment was that she was going to be one of the lead roles a week after we would leave, but she did an amazing job in the ensemble. She was a performing artist with her sister Andrea (group was named AJA) so this seemed like a piece of cake for her. Anyway, if anyone is going there at anytime, HIGHLY recommend the play.

Me and Jaime. My hair poofed so much I looked like a poodle but this was the only picture I took of her so oh well.

Sunday we went to Zion's National Park, much to Josh's dismay. We couldn't do much hiking or see many of the sites because we had Abby, but Bonnie was insisting we take a family photo so we went up to the Weeping Rock and after a few tries, got a pretty decent one.

Monday morning we went to the St. George Temple before we began our drive home. It was so beautiful!

So that concludes me first ever post. Sorry it was so long but it was way overdue. I mean who makes a blog in May and doesn't touch it until September??...oh wait...that would be me :)

Ticked!

2008-09-02T20:30:00.001-07:00

So....I was trying to get my playlist on my profile and somehow my entire blog changed and was no longer viewable. After 2 frustrating hours of trying to restore it the way it used to be, I had to delete it :( So I'm still trying to get our pictures from St. George up and I'm working on it right now. I just didn't want my blog to be completely bare so here is my first posting for my second blog! grrr!