temple square lights

Kathy (Ike's mom) came in on Sunday to await the arrival of the newest grandchild and we went to Temple Square to see the lights. I have never been and it was so pretty. There was also a nativity with commentary from the President Hinckley. We took some great pics, so here they are.

New Do..

Since I am celebrating a new decade of life in a week and a half, I decided for new hair do too! I had the stylist straighten it for me (since I am not very good at it) and I will try a curly style tomorrow. I have never had a true "bob" style, so I thought I'd go for it! Hey...you only turn 30 once, right?

New Traditions??

We decorated the Christmas Tree last night and Dane started a new tradition.....Naked Decorating!! Sometimes he just really wants to hang out in his birthday suit. It was the funniest thing! He kept putting the ornaments on the tree in the same spot, so it was very uneven...but cute. (Mom fixed it when he wasn't looking) Merry Christmas everyone!

5 Great Years

Yesterday (the 16th) was our 5th wedding anniversary. Since Ike had just gotten home from a team trip, we celebrated tonight. It has been 5 great years and I can't wait for the next 5 or 15 or 50. I love you Ike!

My "SWEET" Son

I have to preface this picture by saying that I LOVE MY SON, and he looks so precious in this picture, but he has been a NIGHTMARE lately. I took this picture because it is funny, and it represents a SANE time for Ike and I. He was really sick a few weeks ago with ear infections and croup (sp?), but since he has gotten better he is a changed boy. He has OCD I think because he will only drink out of a certain sippy cup with a yellow lid (not blue), he will only wear one jacket and one pair of shoes, and he only wants to wear the diaper with the green blue's clues dog on it. Today was the last straw. It is now 5pm, and he is sleeping, but for the last few hours we have been fighting diapers with him. He will not wear one, and when Ike gave up, I decided to try letting him go "au Natural" (thinking he will go to his potty when he needs to go). He didn't and peed all over the ottoman he was sitting on, then came to tell me about it. (At least he owned up to his mistake). After punishing him and fighting with the diaper some more, I guess he realized he did wrong and kept the diaper on....then fell asleep on the stairs. He must have been really tired (hadn't had a nap all day until now), because if you look closely he is biting the stairs.

Anyway....if anyone else finds this story funny because they have been in similar situations with their kids....Please email me....maybe you will have suggestions on how to handle this TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TWOS behavior. (I thought I was going to miss out on the really terrible stuff...but ha ha...think again.)

Oh, and Thanks God for trying to teach us patience, but don't you think you've gone a little overboard? We get it!!

My Dad's Visit

My Dad and Step-mom, Kathy, came to visit two weekends ago and we had a blast! Here are a few pics of the weekend! Love you guys....Thanks for coming...We miss you already!

Beautiful Fall Colors

Last weekend, Ike, Dane and I went up to the Sundance Resort and rode the lift. It was a beautiful day and the sights were awesome! I had missed living in an area that has changing seasons. I just don't want any more snow just yet....if it could stay this nice for another month, I would love it!

Brrrrrr..

So, I knew the forcast for this weekend was rainy (which is a nice change ... and i like a good fall rain), but little did I know it would be SNOWING by late afternoon!
I let Bo out to go potty and it was raining, then 5 min later Ike calls and asks if is is snowing at the house, so I look outside and, sure enough, it is! Since it is so wet, I figured it would melt (plus it doesn't really feel THAT cold out), but 20 min later I look out again...and it is actually sticking! Wow! Sept. 29th...the first snow....this is Utah everybody..no fall, no spring...just winter and summer!

Here are two pics taken days apart (earlier in the week on a bright, sunny, 75 degree day, and today....cold, rainy, and yes...snowy! Click on the lower two pics to see the snow in more detail.

Ok, mom...this should fulfill the "house pic" you requested, too. I will work on getting some inside shots for you later!

The only good thing about seeing snow is that it means CHRISTMAS is getting closer (and my non-birthday, which I am not celebrating this year because I will never be older than 29....right SImone????...yours is just around the corner...SORRY! Oh, and Aubs and Lana...you guys are nearing, too...Oh, and how can I forget my best friend from high school....Holly...sorry babe....I missed your big 3-0 this week...I still love ya, even if you have entered the next decade of life!

Train 'em early

The other day, Dane brings his mini shovel out of the garage to the front yard and says "Poo-poo". Come to find out, he wanted to shovel the poop out of the front yard. Since he had seen me do it many times, I guess he figured it was his turn or something....this kid is all boy....dirt, mud, poo, whatever...he's into it! So, I had to take a picture of him carrying the poo to the trash can. Since he was so enthusiastic about it I decided he could help with the back yard as well.

If I play my cards right I may just be able to get Dane and all other future kids trained enough to that i don't have to do any dirty work....the trick...making it seem cool and grown up! I guess we will have to start working on producing some more of those kids soon....it's a nice thought anyway!

Annoyed...

Ok, so i just spent like 20 min uploading these two vidoes of Dane on the blog, and nothing posted correctly.....so if anyone has some advice on the best way to post videos, I would greatly appreciate the info! Thanks!

Dane's Ride

Here are some videos of Dane in his F-150 and his other set of wheels. The truck was his birthday gift that all his grandparents bought him (with the b-day money)....thanks grandmas and grandpas! The other one was a gift from his "Nana" the last time she was in town. His legs are finally long enough to touch the ground and propel him forward, so now he loves it. By the way, the fall weather is AWESOME lately. It's beautiful (as you can see) during the day and a little chilly at night, but that's ok with me!

Okay, Simone...Here I go..

My friend, Simone, "tagged" me with this, so here are my responses....(by the way, I usually don't respond to these but I will humor my favorite OBX resident for this one!)

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Jobs I've had:

(in order??)
Johnny's Frozen Custard
Water Country USA (Fun times with my girl, Brooke)
NAU Counseling and Testing Center (for fun money in college)
Coldwell Banker, Narico in Flagstaff (where I worked with a secret snowboarder crush)
Tuscon Parks and REcreation (My sis, Meg, and I rocked that job...the kids loved us)
Margarita Middle School (my first "real job" after college)
Kahuku High and INtermediate School (on the North Shore of Hawaii....what could be better???)
Lakeview Academy (currently...oh, and part time and loving it!)




Movie I could watch over again:

Goonies
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
The Great Outdoors (I will never forget the way my mom couldn't stop laughing when the bear gets its butt blown off)
Sweet Home Alabama....the classic chick flick
Any of the old Star Wars Movies
Pirates of the Caribbean (Black Pearl)
Jurasic Park (I or III)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
FRIENDS (Not a movie, I know...but it's still one of my all time favs)



Places I've lived:

(Again...In order???)
Leavenworth, KS (...no not IN the prison)
Yorktwown, VA
Flagstaff, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Murrietta, CA/Moreno Valley, CA
Hauula, HI....yeah baby! (not for the Hauula part, but for the Hawaii part)
Las Vegas, NV (Yuck)
Spanish Fork, Utah (currently)

I'm sure I have missed a few places I lived for short periods of time...but these have the most significance!


TV Shows:

Friends re-runs
The Bachelor (or almost any dating reality show...Ike HATES them!)
House
Lost
Grey's Anatomy
My Name is Earl
Las Vegas
Desperate Housewives (and no, I am not one!)
Private Practice...Ok, so it hasn't started yet, but I am predicting it to be a fav
American Idol
So You Think You Can Dance
Days of Our Lives (Ike hate's that I watch a soap...but I tell him I hate that he watches wrestling...it's just as fake as soaps..)
Side Order of Life...(mom, I think you would like this one...it's a refreshingly different type of show on Lifetime on Sundays)
Army Wives
Hogan Knows Best (so scripted, but funny none the less)
Rescue Me (kind of risque, but another different type of show)

So, it seems like I spend all my time watching TV, but TIVO is the greatest creation known to man and I record all these and watch them when I have time.


Places I've been on Holiday:

(Does this mean vacation??...the way it is written, I sounds like a Brit wrote it...not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Outer Banks, NC (Best beach family vacation memories)
All over Florida...Ft. Lauderdale, Daytona, Tampa, Orlando, the Swannee River
Denver/Tuscon ( when my sisters and I went to visit our dad in the summers growing up it always felt like a great vacation)
NYC... H.S. Freshman Year trip and Macey's Day Parade with my Fam in college
Mexico: Cuernavaca, Mexico City, Taxco, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Puerto Escondido...I could go on...when you spend a semester there there it's like a 3-month long vacation (Don't worry parents...I did learn a Lot of spanish)
Hawaii....Again, Living there was like a vacation (although Ike and I honeymooned there before we moved there.
Lake Mead (most recently)




Favorite Dishes:

Too many to list...I just LOVE food. My husband hates this because I get very upset when I order something and it's not right. It's just that I have this vision of what I want and I'm salivating for it, so if it is not what I expect, then I get disappointed. My favorite Ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Southern Pecan Pie (which I haven't seen in more than 5 years).

Websites I visit:

My emails
NCAA (for jobs for Ike every spring)
TV network sites (to catch up on things I may have missed with my fav. shows or to see sneak peeks)
Blog sites
Grand Canyon University (for my Master's Program)
Many others.....as needed or when I have a need to research something online

Places I'd like to be:

Any Beach at Sunset (preferably facing west)
At home with my Family eating dinner and watching our favorite shows
Anywhere where I can be in the Beauty of Nature (sounds so sappy...but as I expressed last weekend at Lake Mead while taking off from the marina at sunrise..."I love Nature")
Angels Baseball games when the Rally Monkey appears
Disneyland on a less populated day...always a classic and never gets old
I'd like to go to Europe one day and I love going to ancient sites (I'd love to see Machu Pichu in the Andes...it is in the Andes, right?)



Tagging:

Anybody....no pressure, but this was actually fun....if I only could have finished it faster....I'm tired!

Lake Mead

So, this weekend we were invited down to Lake Mead by Ike's Aunt and Uncle and we had a blast. We figured it would be our last chance to take advantage of what's left of the summer. We went tubing, wakeboarding, jet-skiing, and cliff jumping. Here are some pics of the weekend, including the great bruise I got jumping off of a 65 foot cliff (that I will probably never do again). It looks like it hurt, but it really didn't...I just forgot to pull my arm into my body befor hitting the water. Crazy, i know, but I had to do one more thing before I turn 30!!!! It was a great way to end the summer! Thanks to all the Quists!

Dane's Hero

So, for the past few months Dane has been obsessed with Ike. From the time he gets home from work until he goes to bed, Dane is attached to his hip pretty much. It's nice for me, but when it's time for Ike to leave or go outside or go upstairs even, Dane just freaks out! It gets really annoying, but there are some great things about him loving his dad so much....I get to capture moments like in this picture. I may be kicking myself later for allowing the family to just picnic on the couch in front of the TV every night for dinner, but it is worth it when moments like this happen. Dane just jumped right up on the couch, placed the towel over him, set the plate on his belly and started to chow! (Bad habits from dad, but we still love him). Like I said.....he's Dane's Hero!

Bye Bye Chip

We said bye bye to our mini schnauzer, Chip, today. It was sad, but for the best. We thought that having one outside dog and one inside dog just wasn't fair, so we thought we should give chip to someone who could give him an inside home. (We also thought that two dogs would be too much if we decided to get pregnant sometime next year...but that is a little ways off). Dane was so cute...he got sad when Chip left with his new mom. He said CHIP in a little whiney voice, while extending his arm toward the car. I was feeling that way inside, but it was best for Chip. Bye Bye doggie......

Labor Day

We borrowed a friend's boat and went cruising Utah Lake on Saturday. It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun. That lake is so huge...we rode out a lot further than we thought. The dogs came and loved stopping and playing in the water (especially Bo) I'm glad we got to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts...it will be gone before we know it.

My celebrity look-a-likes

Not sure I agree with these (I would love to look like Jessica Biel), but this was fun! Try it at myheritage.com

The Potty Prince

Here's a great blackmail picture! So, we bought Dane a potty because he keeps taking off his diaper when it gets too wet, and today he had his first successful experience. Dane wasn't dressed yet from his bath, and looked like he needed to go. Sure enough, he splashed my ankle a little, but stopped when I yelled....NOOOOOOO! I ran him to the toilet and he used the potty for the first time (and got lots of praise and a Popsicle)! These pics were taken a few hours later when he took his diaper off and said potty (too bad it was already after he went in his diaper). We have a magazine rack by the potty and the second he sat down he grabbed one and started looking at it....it was hilarious! I had to run and get the camera.

Oh, the joys and laughter that toddlers bring.........

I just found out that if you click on the picture...it gets really big...maybe too big, but you can see more detail!

Newport Beach Trip

I made the pictures smaller since there are so many...if anyone wants larger photos, let me know and I can email them to you........it was a much needed vacation after Ike worked so long and hard this summer.......


Dane loved the water until he got knocked over by a wave...then it took him a while to get comfortable again!









sand crabs anyone???
















I call this one the Paparazzi pic. Ike and his brother, Josh (unintentionally posing) didn't know I took pictures of them.









Havin' a ball at the beach!
This bathing suit will never be worn again.....the clasp on the top busted and everything popped open on the beach! Luckily I was sitting down and my sister-in-law Mandi came to my rescue!




These are my favorite pics....























Fun in the sand...
The kids giving high fives to all the walkers, joggers, and bikers on the boardwalk!
Our boat trip around Newport Harbor


I haven't made a sand castle in a long time....it brought back memories of the Outer Banks, NC.