More Christmas Pics

Here's a few more Christmas pics. I know our tree looks pretty pathetic, but all you mommys out there know that this is the way it goes with Christmas trees when you have kids that are Elizabeth and Sydney's age.
All the ornaments have to be on the upper part of the tree. Funny!
I had to take a picture of Sydney on the coffee table. She was awake and I go in my room, and when I come out, she's fast asleep right there!
Then this is our Gingerbread House Elizabeth and I made. It's another one of our fun traditions.

Christmas 2008

My Favorite Christmas Things!

This one is for you, Jacque!

My Favorite Christmas Movies:

1. It's A Wonderful Life(hands down the BEST ever)
2. Home Alone
3. The Snowman
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
5. A Christmas Story
6. How The Grinch Stole Christmas...(the real one, not the Jim Carrey one)
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas(I LOVE the music in this movie...I have the soundtrack)
8. You've Got Mail( I know this isn't really a "Christmas Movie" but in the movie it's Christmas at some points and I just love the way Meg Ryan decorates her little bookshop with the tree and everything.)

My Favorite Christmas Books

Now, I havn't read a lot of Christmas books, but these are great ones that are kinda more in the "children's" category...
1. The Polar Express (now actually, this book is wonderful for all ages.)
2. Snowmen at Christmas
3. A Very Marley Christmas
4. You are My Miracle
5. How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
6. A Very Snowy Christmas
7. Snowmen at Night
8. The Littlest Christmas Tree


My Favorite Traditions

1. Breakfast with Santa (I think my parents started this when I was about 7 or 8 years old and we kept it up every year. Now I do it with my girls!
2. Getting our own ornament and hanging it on the tree (again, another one that my parents started with us and that I keep going with the girls. It's so fun to get them all out year after year. Gotta be careful though, you can really start adding up and the tree can get crowded. I guess that's why people have more than one tree.)
3. Going to The Lion House and then to Temple Square to look at the lights.
(It's always so amazing every year...those Temple Square lights!)
4. The Fish Pond (Only the closest of family members will know what this one is. A Christmas Eve tradition that my grandparents started. We all take turns putting a "fishing pole" over a big bed sheet and getting a present. Like we are going fishing. We usually get a bunch of Dollar Store gifts. They are very useful though! Elizabeth loves this one now.)
5. Making cookies and putting out a glass of milk for Santa.(Then I'd always get a Thank You note from him!)
6. Going to The Festival of Trees
7. Going to The Nutcracker (The music!!!! Oh my)
8. Listening to my dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures at the Christmas Eve party. (It always creates such a special, quiet feeling in the room after an evening of total chaos and loud talking and laughing...it's always one of my favorite parts of Christmas.)

That was way fun to think back on all my Christmas memories!
I know the holiday season is almost over, but I challenge anyone who wants to or who has time to do this, to do it, too.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, this comes at such a great time, but my camera BROKE! Again!
So, no pics for me this Christmas. Unless I just go out and get one of those little disposable cameras, but I can't load them on here and show them on my blog.
I'm the biggest klutz. I broke my other camera in California Adventure while we were waiting for the Bug's Life show...dropped it on the ground. Yay! Got a new one later. I think it was this one that I just busted. Anyway, so I thought it was the perfect picture to take. Elizabeth standing in the snow outside in my parent's front yard. I get the cam and take one picture...of course I have to take one more just to be sure and it slipped out of my hands! OH MY HECK! I'm such a dork! There goes another camera. I don't even know exactly how much it was because it was a gift from Mark. I'm the photographer in the family. Therefore the one who breaks the cameras!
So, there will be no new pics for a little while. Perhaps I'll get lucky and get a new one for Christmas. Wonder how long it will last.
Well, as you all know, I wasn't on the ball to get out cards this year.
So, just wanted to say to whoever reads this...
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas season and Happy New Year.
I know I have so much to be thankful for. So many blessings. I wish I could do more for those who aren't as fortunate as me. I love this time of year. It reminds me of the fun times I had when I was growing up. All the great things we did as a family.
My parents really made it special for me. I have started those same traditions with my own family now and I hope I can keep them up each year. Then maybe someday Elizabeth and Sydney can do them with their own families, too!
We love you all and Merry Christmas!

Temple Square

We always go to Temple Square to see the beautiful light display at Christmas time. Elizabeth called my dad and asked when we were going. We went Thursday night and it was a perfect night for it.
First we go to the Lion House for dinner and then head over to the lights.
Since I stopped working there, I don't get to eat the YUM food anymore. So, I look forward to going every Christmas...it was so fun and Elizabeth had a BALL!

Thanksgiving Pics

I've Been Tagged!

My cute friend Jacque tagged me, so here we go:

8 TV Show I Watch

1. The Office...(this is pretty much my ultimate favorite show!)
2. Simpsons
3. Golden Girls ( I can never get enough of Dorothy saying "Maaaa!")
4. My Name Is Earl
5. American Idol
6. Seinfeld
7. Curb Your Enthusiasm
8. the news

8 Restaurants I Love

1. Curry In A Hurry
2. Red Lobster
3. Outback Steakhouse (the one in St. George)
4. Little America Coffee Shop
5. The Lion House
6. Robintino's
7. Benihana's
8. Sky Box

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

1. Went to Costco
2. Went to Gap
3. Saw the new James Bond movie
4. Colored pictures with my girls
5. Ate dinner at Sky Box
6. Watched the Suns game and the Jazz game
7. Bought a new Hemp Body Butter at The Body Shop
8. Sydney talked some more...her speech is amazing!

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. Christmas!
2. Festival of Trees
3. Making a gingerbread house with Elizabeth
4. Seeing Harry Potter 6...in freakin' JULY! Can't wait!
5. Sydney's 2nd birthday
6. Going to Benihana's for my anniversary...of course this is in February
7. The movie Angels and Demons...I have to read the book first though.
8. I look forward to sharing everyday with my family...cheesy, I know, but true!

8 Things On My Wish List

1. Healthy girls
2. Healthy me
3. No more violence
4. A good President
5. My own art studio
6. Go to France to see the Mona Lisa painting
7. Go to Sydney, Australia
8. To meet Sarah McLachlan


8 Things I Can't Stand

1. Spiders!
2. Driving in the snow
3. Being sick
4. When people can't spell
5. Prejudice
6. A movie I'm super excited about seeing doesn't come out until July, when it was supposed to come out in November
7. Reality shows
8. Mean people

8 Things I Love

1. My family...Mark, Elizabeth and Sydney...and of course all my extended family
2. Art and being able to create whatever I want with such pretty paper, paints, and fun tools and supplies...I LOVE art!
3. Animals
4. The smell of the air when it's raining
5. The moon and stars
6. Going to the gym
7. Music...I don't know what I'd do without music
8. Curling up on the couch with a hot chocolate and watching a good movie

Well, there ya go....this was fun to do! I always enjoy reading when other people have been tagged and finding out a little more about them and their personality.

I tagg...

1. Lindsay
2. Rachelle
3. Aubrey
4. Micah
5. Kim

Florida Pics

Getting Sick Sucks!

I knew this post would be draining to write and I've been avoiding it, but I guess now is the time to vent it all out. I'll feel better...this blog has taken over and has basically become my journal and the place where I can get things out. I still have a regular journal, diary type book...(I always have kept a journal since I was 8 yrs old)
Anyway, Mark and I planned a trip to Florida to go to Disney World, Epcot, and everything else out there. We got a deal through T-Mobile last November, so a year ago, and they gave us a list of all the places we could go. We, being Disney fanatics, chose Florida, because we could easily go to California anytime, but Florida sounded wayyyyyy fun and I had never been there. My parents were going to watch the girls and we were going to be able to play, play, play and go on all the rides and have a grand old time, right? WRONG!
So, the trip was planned for November 6th through the 9th. Oh, how fun...I'll be at Disney World on my birthday! How exciting.
I started feeling sick at the end of October. I started getting dizzy spells where I'd feel like the room was spinning and my eyes couldn't see straight. Then I got really stiff muscles and achy pains all over my whole body. Sore throat, and then the cough started. I knew something was wrong.
Elizabeth's birthday was drawing nearer and I needed to plan the party...sorry, no friend party this year...so I made the family party as good as I could with feeling so sick. Her party was fun. She got a ton of cool stuff!
Next morning we leave. We had to first fly to Chicago. Then get on a different plane to get to Orlando. Feeling sick and cough is getting worse...but still I plug along.
We get to Orlando and take the shuttle to our hotel which is so awesome! It's called Pop Century and it's all about the different eras from the 50's to the 90's. We were in the 60's. Everything hippie! I LOVED it!
But I was feeling worse and worse all the time. I still went on all the rides and everything, but I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker all the time. I felt so tired, too.
The main thing was the COUGHING! I have never coughed so much in my life. I couldn't stop! I was constantly sucking on cough drops which make me GAG! I hate cough drops. We were constantly buying water and drinking water, so I was constantly in the bathrooms. Oh, I was a wreck. Coughing on all the shuttles and waiting in lines was sooooo hard. Plus the weather in Florida sucks. It's so humid! So, I was always sweaty. One of the days we went out and came back to the hotel and I fell asleep and stayed asleep. I was so tired all the time. And the coughing was unbearable. My ribs started to feel like they were all bruised up. I thought I would break one! It hurt so bad. It was fun all in all. Epcot was very fun. I never knew so much was there. I loved the Around The World place where you go to all the different countries. It felt like we were actually there in France and Germany and China and England! It was so cool! My birthday was very fun and we had a great time in Epcot. It was just hard being so sick.
Finally we flew home. Had to first fly to Dallas. Then Salt Lake. Ok, I have never felt pain in my ears...I never get ear infections...never. When we were landing in Dallas...the landing...oh my gosh!...it felt like a million knives were piercing inside my left ear. I was dying. It went away after we actually had landed, but WOW!
Then of course, we had to fly from Dallas to SLC, so, I had to go through it all over again!
That was on Sunday. So, we get home and get the girls. They had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a good break for them. It was the first time for us being away from them.
The next day I went to my doctor.
She looks in my ear...You have an ear infection!
She listens to my breathing....And pneumonia to go along with it!
THANK YOU!
I knew something was up. I couldn't stop coughing...oh I couldn't believe it. Never had pneumonia before. She got me on some antibiotics.
So, not only did I miss some work from being on the trip...I was also going to miss the entire week for this. Mary didn't want me anywhere near the school.
So, my mom and Mark really helped out and took Elizabeth and Sydney to school for me on Monday. I took over on Tuesday and was able to do everything, but I just had to stay home for the whole week.
I've been back to work this week, but it's been very hard. I'm not over it yet. I'm still coughing and feeling dizzy from the ear infection. I'm still on my medication.
So, to make a long story short...hehehehe...too late...

Birthday Pictures

I didn't get a lot of pics for Elizabeth's party and I'm still hoping to do a friend party, but these are what I got. My birthday was of course 2 days later and Mark and I were in Orlando going to Disney World and Epcot. That story will be for laaaater!
But now the Scorpios have had their birthdays! Yay! 5 and 32!

Look Who's 5!

Elizabeth turned 5 today!
You have grown up so much this past year, sweetheart! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You are such a wonderful big sister to Sydney...she loves you so much.
I'll never forget the day you were born. It was kind of just like today with the snow falling and the sun peeking through the clouds every now and then. It was an extreemly exhausting and joyful day for me. I couldn't wait to meet you! You are such a beautiful girl and you have the most amazing light inside of you!

More Halloween Pics

Halloween 2008

Gardner Village

Fun Family Visit

This past week/weekend Elizabeth and Sydney's cousin, Meadow and Aunt Candace came to visit. It was so great to see them again. We last saw them in February, but it was only for a few hours and we never got a good chance to do stuff and visit properly. So, we did tons of fun things. All while the girls were fighting colds and stomach flu...oh well, that's life!
We went to Red Butte Garden After Dark...we go every year. The girls loved wearing their costumes.
Then we went to Gateway to the Children's Museum, and then rode the Heber Valley Train. I think the train was probably the highlight. The girls did SO WELL! I was so proud of them all and how well behaved they all were. Sydney took a nap...
Then we had a lot of play time-down time at our house to just sit and talk and hang out. Candace is such a sweet girl and I'm happy that she's my sister-in-law. It was fun to visit with her.
We had a Halloween themed dinner over at Mom and Dad's house for their last night here. Mom really went all out and decorated her dining room. It looked so cute!
Meadow and Elizabeth really got attatched to eachother and it was hard to say good-bye to her and watch Elizabeth and Sydney say good-bye, but she's coming back in February to play in the snow.
So, we had a wonderful time with Candace and Meadow. We love you guys!

October Snow

We can't remember when we got this much of a snow storm this early. I mean...it's barely Fall and we got hit pretty hard a few weeks ago. Elizabeth had to get bundled up and enjoy it for a little while. She looked so cute.

A Proud Moment

You know, being a parent is the hardest and most frustrating job I think you could ever have. And then just as much as it is hard and frustrating, it is so beautiful and the most rewarding job in the world. There's nothing like seeing and hearing and smelling your child and knowing that they came from you and they are your heart.
So, little by little, day by day, you try to help them learn and grow and become good people so that one day they can become well adjusted adults and have their own families and hopefully be good parents because of what you taught them and the way they were raised.
Anyway, my point is....today a man came over to appraise the house and Elizabeth and Sydney were just playing in their rooms (it's UEA weekend so no school) and we were just hangin' out...then Elizabeth went outside to collect pinecones and play in the front yard. I went out with Sydney and the man told me how polite my girls are! I was flattered and said that I try and instill that in the both of them. He said he could tell and that I do a good job with them. I was just like wow Thanks!
It made me feel good and very proud of the girls. Sometimes I wonder how I'm doing as a mom...I mean I know the girls are happy and well taken care of, but you know, sometimes it's like...What am I doing? Are they going to be "normal" and well adjusted? am I doing the right things? and are the girls going to remain close to one another as they grow and change and have their own interests and their own lives and families? I want them to always be able to go to eachother if they need someone to talk to and confide in...I want nothing more than for Elizabeth and Sydney to become strong women and be the best of friends, but then when a perfect stranger tells me that he can tell I'm doing a good job, even if it's just a little thing, that was a big compliment. So, we made an impressions on him and I think that's pretty cool. It was a very proud moment for me and I'm very proud of my daughters!

More St. George Pics