Gratitude

It is 1:00 in the morning. Dave and my Dad are slaving away on the roof trying to get the AC in. I'm trying to stay awake because I figure it would be rude of me to sleep while they are hard at work-I know dinking around on the computer isn't much better, hehe. Anyway, I got to thinking how extremely blessed our little family is. Tonight we had family, friends and neighbors all show up to help us put in the AC. A few of them stayed very late even though they have to get up very early. We are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so many people who are so willing to help. It touches my heart. I started thinking back to all the highs and lows and happy times and hard times we have had. In each case there has been someone if not many to help us, support us or celebrate with us. It really inspires me to reach out and give more. I don't give enough, not nearly enough. So to all of you who showed up to help tonight...Thanks. And to all you wives who stayed at home and put the kids to bed by yourself because your husbands were off at the Millers...Thanks. We really, really appreciate it :)

*Side note-I found a new biking buddy!!! Stay tuned for more details!*

What a girl wants!

I am a firm believer that the most important things in life are the relationships we form with our family and friends and the knowledge we gain along the way. After all, those are the only things we will take with us when we die, right? Every once in awhile though the materialistic side of me emerges......I have to admit I have been coveting road bikes all summer. When I have gone on rides I have had to borrow Dave's or my sister-in-laws (thanks guys). Well, I did it, I finally bought my own. Look how pretty!!!



My budget for a bike was small, very small. In fact when I went into a local bike shop and told them my price limit and what I wanted in a bike they pretty much laughed at me and told me their cheapest-very basic-non recommended bike, was a couple hundred dollars more than what I had. Ouch. I was discouraged, to say the least. I turned the problem over to my dad. He looked around and found me a steal of a deal, what I wanted, for what I could afford. Thanks Dad! I can't wait for it to get here, its been a very frustrating week and I can't wait to get out and pound those frustrations away, ya know! I crave riding, I really do.

Differences

I like strong, slightly exotic flavors. I love rich, decadent desserts. I enjoy experimenting and trying new recipes. Dave, on the other hand, likes good ol' fashioned basic meals followed by a simple dessert. Our differences were really apparent tonight. I tried a new recipe and LOVED it. A wild rice salad (I'll post the recipe on the side) with a side of grilled chicken. Dave ate his chicken, took one bite of the salad and pushed it away. His comment, "Hmmm, there are a lot of different flavors in there." I didn't understand, how could he NOT love it!?! At least he tried it though, right? Gotta love him for that! I'll have to make him some poor man's stroganoff or lasagna later this week to make it up to him. Anyway, tonight's dining experience got me to thinking about our food preferences, they are quite different.

Dave: Fruity pebbles or Captain Crunch Berry cereal
Me: Bran flakes or Oatmeal

Dave: Juice, Juice, Juice
Me: Water-with ice please.

Dave: White bread
Me: Whole Wheat bread with plenty of healthy add ins

Dave: Carrot sticks, corn and peas
Me: Squash, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, fresh green beans, Asparagus etc.

Dave: Red meat...big juicy steaks, hamburgers, ribs etc.
Me: Chicken, if any meat at all.

Dave: Hamburger helper, Mac and Cheese with Tuna Fish in it.
Me: EWWWW!!!

Dave: Dessert made with fruit (apple crisp, peach cobbler, strawberry shakes etc.)
Me: Anything with chocolate

You get the idea. It makes me wonder what my kids will end up liking. So far they eat it all. Although Emma has starting labeling food as "Mommy food" or "Daddy food." It makes me laugh that she is already picking up on our differences.

Can you tell I'm awake and bored while my whole family is fast asleep?!? Maybe I should go find something productive to do :)

Catching Up

Man what a fun, busy week!!! I know I said I wouldn't blog until I was caught up on Ali's scrapbook but I'm pretty much done with the pics I have and am waiting to pick up more that I had developed before I can finish. Besides, my blog has been a huge asset as I have been scrapping. It has all the dates and journaling so its important to stay caught up! Anyway, this past week has been filled with

• A lot of scrapbooking


• Cherry Hill Adventures-Ali has learned how to sit on the edge of the pool and dive in. She LOVES it and wants to do it over and over and over again. She barrels head first into the water and I pull her out giggling. Nut.


• A lot of Dates-Emma was all dressed up in her princess dress one morning when Dave came home from work. She told him to take her on a date. It was funny. So Dave took our little princess to get a blue donut at Krispy Kream. Dave and I were also able to do a temple date and then grab some burgers and shakes with our good friends/neighbors Brock and Kelli. We were also able to get out on a good ol 4-wheeling date so keep reading for more details.


• Little Valley Days!!! I look forward to Little Valley Days all year. Its just good ol small town fun. We are able to catch up with lots of good friends and hang out with family. I love it. We missed the parade because Dave had to work the night before and had to get a few hrs. of sleep in. We made it in time for the shooting competition though and....DAVE WON!!!! Awesome huh. We then went to the square for lunch and to let Em and Ali play for a bit. Dennis and Paula then watched the girls so Dave and I could go on a 4-wheeling ride with Adam and Mindy. It was so much fun. It was beautiful and relaxing and just....so much fun. That night we had dinner at the square and then came the fireworks! What a great day.


• A Drive/Hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Sunday evening we set out on a scenic drive that led us to Big Cottonwood canyon. Emma started to get car sick so we found a good hiking trail to get out and explore. It was beautiful, wildflowers galore, dense pine trees and brush and a clear river. Emma took 50 pictures on her camera in the first 1/4 mile. Ali insisted on using all of her senses and tried eating flowers, leaves, dirt, sticks, pine cones, anything she could get her hands on. Well enough rambling, time for some pictures. I'm warning you there are a lot!

We took the girls out on a short ride on the 4-wheeler so they wouldn't feel left out. Emma loved it. She insisted on "driving her motorcycle" to lunch, dinner and the fireworks.

Getting ready to head out on the 4-wheelers with Adam and Mindy.

I must stress it was SO much stinkin fun!

Dave let me drive for a bit. I did pretty well....until the 4-wheeler got away from me, hehe, whoops.

Did I mention the ride was a dusty, dirty, oh so much fun one!

Sexy Mamas!!! We found a nice little stream to cool off in. We had to convince the guys to join us though.

I tried luring Dave in with a kiss.

It worked...but then he wanted another one. Greedy Boy!

Don't they look like twins?

Ahhhh so refreshing. Notice the flip-flop? Yup, that's Adam wearing his wife's sandal. His feet was "too sensitive" for the rocks. Hehe, go ahead and laugh, I did.

Waiting for the fireworks and while mom was away. I could have KILLED Dave! Good thing there were only a few drips left in the can.

Watching the fireworks! Shown here is Kay (Adam's mom), Adam, Mindy, Me and Dave and Little Als. Not shown is Emma, Dennis and Paula and Catherine and Jason. It was a fun bunch!

If looks could kill!!! Ali was lying on my lap, sucking her thumb and enjoying the fireworks when Mindy snapped this picture of her. She did not appreciate it hehe.

Poor Memma Bear, she had such a long day. You can see how tired she is in this pic.

If you have made it this far I applaud you. I would have just done a slide show but Dave isn't able to view them when he is at work. Other news-We sold the firebird!!!! It was a bit sad, but definitely time!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

This is a fun post from Mindy

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, if you feel so inclined, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you!

Getting Down to Business

I realized the other day that my baby will be a year old in two short months, yes I cried. Anyway, I also realized that she has a grand total of 5 (2 pg spread) pages in her scrapbook. What the heck?!? I'm on the verge of having to cross scrapbooking off of my hobby list, after all I feel strongly that you cannot claim something as a hobby if you don't do it ATLEAST a few times a year. My solution......I am going to focus solely on scrapbooking until I get Ali's book caught up, which means, no more blogging, no more lazy afternoon naps (I promise these are few and far between) and no more reading (this will be hard I just started a dang good book). I was tempted for a minute to give up cleaning and workouts but decided Dave wouldn't like that too much, hehe. I don't have a ton of spare time but the spare time I do have I am going to use. Wish me luck! Also, please send any cute layouts or fast scrapbooking tips my way!

A "BEAR-Y" Grand Adventure

Ah, what an amazing weekend! We spent the last few days in Yellowstone with the Miller side of the fam. It was a blast. We were in BEAUTIFUL surroundings and were able to relax, explore and hang out with Dave's family. I really had so much fun. It was hard to pack up the car and come back home. Dave and I took advantage of camping with grandparents. We left the girls with Dennis and Paula and set out to explore Yellowstone on our bikes (sorry no pics). It was amazing! It was fun to be able to spend time with just my honey and to see the sights from a slightly different perspective. Dave commented on how, from a bike, you can really hear all the sounds of Yellowstone.

Did I mention....WE SAW A BEAR!!! A black bear with two cubs to be exact. I'm so scared of bears. Other sightings included Elk, Buffalo, A Bald Eagle, Lots of little furry critters and on the way home, a Moose.

Shown here are Brad, Kati (with baby George in the tummy), Hyrum, Paul, Dave, Paula, Dennis and my two little orange monkeys in the stroller :) For one reason or another we haven't been spending very much time with Dave's family lately so it was so much fun (seriously) to be able to hang out with them for 3 days. Jess and B...we missed you!


Out on a walk. So stinkin cute!


I love this picture.....I just love it.

Playing in the river.

Oh Ali, she sure wanted to get out and explore.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. Meet Princess Apple Juice (Emma) and her Prince, Railroad Tracks (Hyrum). Emma came up with those names all on her own, hehe. Emma had so much fun playing with Hyrum and Paul.

and finally....all wore out, packed up and ready for the long ride home.

We took a ton of pictures so if you haven't gotten your fill yet here are some more for your enjoyment :)

The world through Emma's eyes

We recently bought Emma a little camera of her very own. Well, she saved up all her change for it and Dave and I helped her out with the rest of the cost. Every time we have gone hiking or on drives in the past Emma would constantly yell, "stop, stop I need to take a picture." She would then hold her little fist up to her eye and "click". So you can imagine how she is absolutly LOVING her very own, big girl camera. Enjoy some of Emma's pics. Keep in mind that we set the resolution on low so that she can take more and that the camera doesn't have a flash, after all it is a very cheap, durable, just for kids camera :)

At playdate the other day she chased this poor little boy around saying, "say cheese friend, I need to take your picture."

Who doesn't love a slide?!?

I thought this picture was actually really cute

We have a million pictures of Emma's horses.

Meet Pinky.

It is interesting when I look at the pictures Emma takes to see what catches her fancy. A lot of nature pics, pictures of her toys horses and tons of Ali and Howie. Most of them turn out pretty blurry though because as she is clicking one is she already looking around (and moving the camera) towards something else. Silly girl. Emma and I are putting together a "scrapbook" just for her where she can put all her favorite pictures. Kids are the best, they make everything fun!

All Grown Up!

Ok, so maybe not quite but little Als is certainly one milestone closer. I was blow drying my hair this morning when Emma came in to tell me Ali was awake. I asked her if she would please go "read" Ali a book through the crib (both girls LOVE to do this) while I finished. Next thing I know Emma is running back in yelling, "Mommy, come see, come see, baby Ali is standing up!!!" I go running, yes running, into the girls' room clapping my hands like crazy and hollering loudly with glee. Poor little Als, I scared her a good one, her eyes went wide as can be, her arms started flailing and she fell backwards stiff as a board. I told Em to wait with Ali while I ran to get the camera. When I got back poor Ali was sitting, still a bit stunned and scared in the corner of her crib after her encounter with " the crazy mom". With a little coaxing and encouragement from Emma and I, Ali pulled herself up again and then stood there proudly waving her sweet little wave and smiling as big as can be. I was so stinkin happy. You would think with Ali being my second child and all I wouldn't get so excited over each and every milestone. Its weird, but it makes me want to have 10 more kids just so I can witness these simple yet HUGE achievements. I love being a mom. I may get carried away with it sometimes, but really, can ya blame me?!?

All About My Man

I was tagged by Kati and this time it's about the husbands...

1. What is his name? Dave AKA Honey

2. Who eats more? Usually Dave but I have my moments

3. Who said "I love you" first? Dave, thank heavens

4. Who is taller? The boy has an inch on me.

5. Who is smarter? Its hard to compare, I'm book smart but Dave is very logical in situations and can think on his feet and is great at problem solving etc. I would say he is street smart for lack of a better word.

6. Who is more sensitive? Ahhh, this is a funny one. Totally me.

7. Who does the laundry? In my house, no one, hehe j/k I do, most of the time, hey it gets done!

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

9. Who pays the bills? Dave makes the money I just distribute it.

10. Who cooks more? I do because I love to but Dave is really good at it.

11. What meals do you cook together? Crepes, he makes the crepes I make the filling. Kabobs, I put them together he grills them, Mac and cheese-not sure why we just always happen to make it together.

12. Who is more stubborn? Oh man hands down....Dave.

13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? We are both pretty good at that. We can't stand to have any friction between us, it just ruins the whole day ya know, so we work it out.

14. Who has more siblings? I win that one

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Hmmm Dave.

16. What do you like to do together? Snuggle (stop gagging I'm being truthful), Put the kids to bed and curl up to a redbox video, go biking, hiking, camping, fishing, diggin....you getting the idea? We love being together and being outside.

17. Who eats more sweets? Mmmm sweets.

18. His guilty pleasures? The Oregon trail game on his cell phone (grrrr), rootbeer floats, a good bike ride, a day off.

19. How did you meet? We met at a nursing home. We both worked there but worked different shifts so had never really met. Dave saw a pic of me in my Grandmas room, fell head over heels (I'm sure) and insisted she set us up. She gave him a firm "NO!" With no help from my grandma he petitioned co-workers, they helped the poor kid 0ut. He came in while I was working, had a mutual friend/co-worker introduce us and six years later here we are with a house, a dog and two kids!

20. Who asked who out first? Dave

21. Who proposed? Dave, it was real romantic too :)

22. Who kissed who first? Once again, Dave, it was a good one.

23. His best features? Man oh man how do I narrow this one down? His laugh, when he really gets going and he can hardly breathe, it makes my day. His legs, he his biker legs...yum. How much he loves our little girls, anytime we talk about going on a date or an anniversary trip he always says, "lets bring the girls, they will have so much fun!" Thus our last "true" date was in Jan., I wouldn't have it any other way. His Determination, once he puts his mind to something there is no stopping him, this quality has seen him through a marathon and two century races. It has also gotten him through school while working full time +. His ability to keep calm in any situation. His love of the outdoors, His desire to stay healthy, his impulsiveness, how he isn't afraid to work hard, alright alright I'll stop, he is just such a great guy, I'm a lucky girl.

24. His greatest quality? I kind of covered his qualities in the feature section. However I would have to say his best quality is the love he has for our little family. He works really, really hard to provide for us, but never complains. He also always finds time to spend with me and the girls and always lets us know, by words and actions, how much he loves us. He is a great husband and father. That's the quality that touches my heart the most anyway.

I tag...Michele, Mindy, Jessica, Tania and Kelli (yes Kelli, its time you updated).

A Happy Fourth Of July

Great friends, Cherry-hill, lots of laughing, the best BBQ ever (or certainly close), Fireworks. That pretty much wraps up our fourth, it was such a fun day!!!

The perfect daddy-daughter date

My dad took me on the best daddy-daughter date yesterday. I need to start at the beginning of our day though, as to not leave anything out.

Me and the girls met my parents at the beginning of the Logan river walk. It is about a mile ride/walk on a nice, shady scenic path that takes you over to Willow park. We went on a nice leisurely ride with my mom, dad, sister and little brother. Emma started out riding her own bike but crashed so she ended up in the trailer with Ali. It was really funny actually because Ali was so happy and excited to have the trailer all to herself, when we put Emma in with her, her little lip popped out and she just started bawling. We met up with Brittney, Ashtyn and Carter at the park and all played for a bit. Here is a pic of the happy crew. After that me and my dad took off. We left the girls with my mom and sister. They had an absolute fantastic day feeding fish and ducks at the park and then going back to Grandma's house to swim in the pool and have pizza.

My dad and I had originally planned on a fun ride out to Benson Marina but were cut short on time so we took back roads out to Mendon. Most of the time we biked next to each other and were able to talk, and talk and talk. I bet my dad will stick to biking with Dave and Ty from now on, girls are too chatty, hehe. We passed big old fields and cows and horses and a IIama. It was just.....perfect. The highlight though was when we climbed a big ol hill (big to me anyway) into Mendon. There at the top was a bored little boy manning a lemonade stand. My dear sweet dad bought me a lg. Koolaid. Ahhhh, so refreshing.

I loved being out biking. I tell ya, road biking is addicting. Between the exercise and the company I didn't even mind the 95 degree weather. My dad's bike computer broke but we are guessing we got in just over 20 miles. I was so proud, that is until I realized Dave was biking 30+ that day and it was no big deal to him. Man. Oh and I must say, my dad is in KILLER shape. He was trying to teach me the art of drafting and ended up dropping me by over a 1/4 mile. I was pushing it as hard as I could to catch him and couldn't even get close. What a great guy. What a great day.

A family favorite

This weekend we were able to do one of our favorite things ever. We loaded up the truck with camping chairs, firewood, bug spray, smore makings and then we were off. We took a beautiful, scenic drive up Farmington Canyon, found a good spot to make a fire and spent the evening laughing, playing, relaxing and of course indulging on smores. I figured out the main reason I love spending time with my family in the great outdoors.....there are no distractions.

These pictures are from a game Dave and Emma decided to play. The object, trying to fit through the tiny, tiny back window of the truck. It kept us all entertained for, really, longer than it should have, hehe.

On an ending note poor little Memma bear had too many mallows and fun. On the windy trip down she barfed what resembled marshmallow creme. She was so proud though because she threw-up in a bag like a big girl.