My Favorite Books...and Then Some

I have a big announcement............I'm not pregnant........but I am starting an online book club. I have created a blog where I will, hopefully, post one book a month and anyone and everyone is welcome to read it and share their thoughts, and comment on the thoughts of others. The first few books will be some of my favorites of all kinds. Novels, self help, parenting, religous, memoirs, anything really. Hopefully it will be a fun thing for a lot of people. I have had a good time putting the blog together and deciding on which books to use. I never knew how many books I really loved until I jotted them all down. Anyway, visit the blog and read a good book.

www.myfavoritebooksandthensome.blogspot.com

Chicken Tenders

Thanks to the line from Kung-Fu Panda, "Oh my tenders," my girls now call certain parts of their bodies their tenders. When we got home from Costco the other day I had Cora carry in the bag of chicken tenders. She stopped and read, "ch..ick..en t..en..d..ers." Then in a startled voice, which she faked because she knew she was being funny, she said, "We're gonna eat CHICKEN BUMS?!" The girls laughed and laughed and kept asking me "Are we gonna eat chicken bums?" They couldn't get enough of Cora's little joke.

Billy Ray Cyrus Concert

Billy Ray Cyrus Concert at Sea World

Okay, so the story: Maggie was psyched to go to this concert and was absolutely determined to get Billy Ray's autograph. We sat on the front row and she stood on her seat holding her notebook and pencil, Hannah Montana of course, in the air the entire time. Towards the end of the concert I tried to explain to her that she probably wouldn't get his signature, but should be happy that we got to sit so close. What a "mom" thing to say.

This broke her little heart so I did another "mom" thing and politely helped her push her way through the crowd to the front of the stage. She ended up on the speaker and after his last song he came over and signed her book. It was awesome!

Billy Ray giving Maggie her notebook back

Close up of Mags' book w/the signature
Mags beaming when she got her book back from him

Cooper J at 3 Months

Cooper is now almost 5 months old, but these are the darling pictures we had taken at 3 months.

At the Ball Park

UVU vs BYU

Cora with Kevin's brothers Weston & Stuart

Mags with my sister Mandi and her husband Tyler

Grandpa-The-Great

I had to post this most precious moment that happened a few weeks ago.

My grandpa Jack, who we call Grandpa-The-Great so we don't get him confused with my dad who is also Grandpa Jack, has dementia. Most of the time he can barely express his thoughts through words. He knows what he wants to say but can't make the words come out. It is extremely frustrating and embarrassing for him.

Cora has developed a fascination for Grandpa-The-Great and all his oldness. It's quite funny, and he loves it.

Cora came home from preschool with a book all about spring. She read it to Grandpa-The-Great a few times, and then asked him to read it to her. He read that little book three times!!!! She coached him along and helped him with the words he stumbled on. It was truly a miracle and such a special moment. I'm so glad I made them start the book over so I could take a picture.

Mommy Daughter Dates

Maggie loves sports, especially basketball, and since her grandpa has been working at UVU she loves the wolverines. So, naturally we went to dinner and a Wolverines basketball game. (It helped that Grandpa had free tickets) We both put on our best green shirts and headed out for a night of fun.

The highlights of the evening were: the oreo milk shake at Fudruckers, meeting Willy the Wolverine, dancing in the stands, and singing the UVU fight song.

"Go..Fight..U..V..U! Go Fight UVU!"

All the way down to her socks Maggie wore UVU green. Go Wolverines!!!Maggie is the greatest! Whatever she does, she does it with all her heart. I think this girl could do anything and do it well. She loves basketball, she loves to golf, she loves to sing, and oh the drama! What a talented and fun girl.

I promised Cora for months and months that we would go to Chuck-E-Cheese and we finally did. We got there early and they weren't open yet so we headed to ROSS, of course. Because ROSS is the coolest! After trying on hats and looking at beach bags we headed back to Chuck-E-Cheese for the real fun.

Cora rode the rides, we played games (especially skee-ball because that's where we got the most tickets). In the end we earned 56 tickets and Cora left with 4 incredible prizes.

What a blast!

I love being with Cora. She is crazy, and fun and loves to cuddle. Since the day she was born she has had the most expressive face. She still pulls crazy faces all the time and we all love it!

St. George, UT

St. George, UT

LDS Temple

During our stay in Utah (Feb. '09 - May '09), my parents took a weekend trip to St. George, and invited our family to come with them. Since our children have never lived near their grandparents it was a special occasion to get to go on a mini vacation with Grandpa & Grandma!
While the men were golfing us girls, and Cooper, went shopping at the outlets and to see the beautiful St. George temple. We hiked around the red rocks and ate at In-N-Out..mmmm!
Needless to say, we had a blast and will cherish the memories forever.


At the Red Rocks.

Cora was the only one to make it up the narrows section. I'm too claustrophobic, Maggie must have inherited that from me because she turned around half way through. Kevin and his massive chest wouldn't fit so he had to turn around. Fearless Cora just kept on going and I met her at the top.

The picture of Cora smashed between two rocks is her emerging from the narrows. I like to call it "Cora in the Crack"

If you are curious about what a temple is visit this link:

http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html

Assignment Night & Pilot Training Graduation

On January 9, 2009 we attended assignment night for UPT class 09-04 at Columbus AFB, MS. After a year (or more) of pilot training each class member finally finds out which plane they will be flying and what air force base they will be going to.

Kevin’s first choice of plane was the B2 spirit, but receiving a B-2 straight out of pilot training is rare. So Kevin did what he does best and manipulated the system doing all he could to get a

B-2 in the drop for his class. After much drama of losing the #1 spot and finding out no fighters would be given to his class, on assignment night we walked away ecstatic.

B-2's at Whitman AFB, MO

Kevin recieving his roasting. Everything they said about him being cheap was just about true.

Why is he so happy? The B-2 does the Rose Bowl fly over every year!

If you want to learn more about the B-2:

http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/uswpns/air/bombers/b2.html

I don't have many pictures of the actual graduation. The day was a blurr trying to wrangle a

7 & 5 year old and take care of a week old baby. But it was a great day and we were so proud of Kevin!

The traditional breaking of the wings andKevin holding Cooper at the graduation dinner.