We're having a.......

GIRL!!! And we are super excited. Zachary has been saying for a while that he was going to have a little sister, and he proved to be right.

We are already very prepared in the clothing department. Whenever we would go shopping for Zachary, I would find myself more drawn to the baby girl's clothes, so I would of course buy some. I think we would always come home with more girl clothes, than clothes for Zachary. Curtis would always laugh at me and say, "what if we don't have a girl?" Well, fortunately we are, so I didn't waste all the money I have spent on girl clothes.

We are due March 21st, but my doctor said if everything goes well, he will induce me so I don't have another nine pound baby. Thank goodness!!! I do not want to live through that again.

I am so grateful that we are blessed to have another baby, and I cannot wait for her to be here!!!

Zachary's Adventures

We went camping a few times this summer with our families, and I am way behind in posting pictures. Over the 24th of July we went to Tony Grove with Curtis' family. We do this trip every year, and I would have to say that this year was fun but also not fun at the same time.

Here is a picture of Zachary sweeping the dirt. I think this was his favorite thing to do while we were there. Last year was easier for me because he couldn't walk yet, but this year he got SSSSOOOO DiRtY!!! and I hate him being dirty. It was quite disgusting.

The night that everyone is up there together, the boys hike up to a place called White Pines. The next morning the girls who want to, hike up and enjoy a few hours up there with the guys, and then they all hike back down and we eat lunch together.

This picture is of Curtis, Zachary and me right before the guys left to go on the hike. You will notice the bandage on Zachary's hand. You may be asking "why does he have that on his hand?" Well, I will tell you.

Curtis brother Brandon had gone fishing and caught some fish that he of course decided to cook over the fire on one of those metal grate things. (I have no idea what they are called). Anyway, we were sitting by the fire and Curtis got up to do something and didn't know Zachary decided to follow him. Zachary tripped and fell over the fire and put his hand on the grate. Here are a couple pictures of the result:

I was scared to death and Zachary was screaming like I have never heard before. A man from another campsite came over with some burn spray and we had ice on it trying to cool it down. I felt like such a horrible mother and could not stop crying. We gave Zachary some IbUprofen and Curtis, his dad and his brothers gave Zachary a blessing. Zachary continued to cry so Curtis and I took him on a walk down to the lake and we threw rocks in the lake and that helped Zachary calm down a lot.

I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood. I am grateful that Curtis, his dad and his brother's were worthy to give my baby a blessing.

Zachary now knows what the word "hot" means and whenever someone asked him to show them his "owie", he would look at his hand and say "ow". It was kind of cute.

We were really afraid that he would have scars from where he got burned, but his hand is perfect again. You cannot tell that anything ever happened, and I know that is because of the blessing Curtis gave to him.

I love this gospel and my family and feel so lucky to be so blessed.

Tarra's Wedding

Wow! I cannot believe it has been two months since I posted anything. What a slacker. I definitely have a lot to post about, but I will start with Tarra's Wedding.

Tarra married Dane Strader on July 18th in the Draper temple. It is really hard to believe that my little sister is married. Seven out of the eight of us kids are now married, and it's really cool because we have all been sealed in different temples. Imagine that!!!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding, and things couldn't have gone better. Here are a few pictures I thought I would share. Curtis' brother Daniel was the photographer and he did an amazing job.

These first two pictures are of my Zachary and I couldn't help but post them because he is so CuTe!!

The picture above is Tarra and Dane with my parents and

my Grandma (mom's mom).

All eight of us kids. My sister and her family were able to drive up from Nevada

for the wedding, so that was really special.

The above picture is of both families who were at the temple.

This picture is one of our favorites. This is all of the grandkids.

Aren't they cute?

This is the picture that meant the most to my mom. This is the first family

picture we have had in who knows how many years where all of

our family is together. Mom has wanted one of these for a long time.

We are so happy that Dane is part of our family!! We couldn't have found anyone better for Tarra.

HaPpY 4th of JuLy

I know that the 4th of July was almost two and a half weeks ago, but what can I say? I am a slacker. This year we spent the 4th with my family. Curtis, Zachary and I started the morning off by going to Denny's for breakfast. It was YuMmY!!!

That afternoon my family came over to go swimming in the pool at our apartment. We have not taken Zachary swimming since last summer when he was about five months old so we didn't really know what to expect. He LoVeD the water!!! We have a turtle tube that we bought for him last summer, and we tried to put him in it again this time, but he was having none of that. He wanted to be out of the tube............jumping into the pool. It was so cute. We would put him up on the edge, and he would jump to us without any hestitation. It was so fun!!!

This is Zachary trying to get out of the pool by himself.

That night we went to my brother's house for dinner and fireworks. Zachary loved the fireworks too!!! It is definitely a lot more fun to do these kind of things when your kids are older. I loved seeing his face when he watched the fireworks. This is him doing sparklers. The only problem was, he wanted to do it himself, and he kept trying to touch the fire.

These last two pictures are of the fireworks that we did. We had some pretty SwEeT fireworks!!!

I am so grateful that I am able to live in this country! We are so blessed to live here and have the freedoms we have. I hope we never take for granted the blessing we have of living in our country.

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!!

Today is my Curtis' 26th birthday. I told him this morning not to be too sad that he is now closer to thirty than twenty....what a scary thought!! The following are twenty-six things that I love about Curtis:

1. His smile
2. His eyes
3. This kind of goes along with #2, but I love the fact that he can never lie to me because his eyes give him away every time.
4. He can always make me laugh.
5. He makes me feel safe.
6. He always dishes my dinner first.
7. In the first two days we owned "Twilight", he watched it with me three times and didn't complain once (at least not out loud).
8. He understands my love for Edward. (Hee-hee)
9. I am definitely a "dumb blonde" sometimes, but he never lets me know it. He just laughs at me. (I guess in a way that is letting me know it, isn't it)?
10. He is terrific with kids.
11. His spirituality
12. His love for our Savior.
13. He sacrifices so much for our family. Not only does he get up at 5:00 to go to work, but he also goes to school full time.
14. He is truly a "kid at heart."
15. He watches chick flicks with me, even though I won't watch scary movies with him.
16. He lets me pick the ice cream.
17. He takes care of me when I am sick.
18. He doesn't get bored with me, even though at every restaurant we go to, I always order the same thing at that particular restaurant.
19. His "big" brains.
20. He truly listens to people.
21. He has a gentle and forigiving heart.
22. The fact that he tends to tell me the same stories over and over and over and over again.
23. His sense of humor.
24. He lets me tease him all the time. (He makes it SO EASY). Especially about the face that I asked him out on our first two dates.
25. He is the perfect daddy for our Zachary.
26. He was worthy to take me to the temple so we could be sealed for all eternity.

HaPpY bIrThDaY cUrTiS!!! I LOVE you!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!

I would like to say "Happy Father's Day" on Sunday to all the wonderful father's in my life. There are many of them, but I would like to focus on three.

First of all my wonderful husband Curtis. This guy is awesome!! I knew from the first time he came around my family he was going to be an amazing dad. When I met Curtis, he hadn't been around little kids much, but when we started dating I had six little nieces and nephews. They all fell in love with him instantly. He gets on the floor and he plays with them, and throws them in the air, and spins them around and they love him!!!


Curtis was amazing with Zachary right from the start. Zachary is so much like his daddy, and I cannot wait for him to get older and truly appreciate his dad for what he is.

Curtis, I love you with all my heart. Thank you for giving me Zachary and I cannot wait for more just like him. I am so blessed to have found you. Heavenly Father knew I needed you, and I am grateful to him for sending you to me. Thank you for being a great daddy to our Zachary!!

Next comes my dad. I think the greatest thing my dad ever taught me was the value of hard work. He has worked SO hard for most of his life. He would leave for work at seven in the morning and not come home until seven at night. This made him not be home much, but he provided for his family. I bet he will be the first to tell you it isn't easy to provide for eight kids, but he did it without complaint every day.

Him and my mom have also taught me something else these past few months. My dad is in construction and we all know how good that is doing in this sucky economy. Well, he has been without a job since February. There has hardly been a morning when I have dropped Zachary off at my parent's house that my dad hasn't been on the computer looking for a job. I know my parent's are scared about what the future holds, but they have FAITH that everything will work out for them. They have taught me that during the hard times, all we have is FAITH, and we need to hold onto that. I love you, Dad!

Last, but certainly not least, is Curtis' dad. He is my wonderful "second" dad. I am thankful to him and Debbie for raising Curtis to be the person that he is, and I am grateful Zachary shares a birthday with his Grandpa.

I also want to say Happy Father's Day to my Grandpa Sirstins who passed away October 6th of last year. I miss him terribly, but I know he is watching out for us.

Family Pictures

About a month ago, Curtis' family had pictures done at the International Peace Gardens downtown. Each "family" wore a different color and ours was red; although, Curtis' and Zachary's shirts look more like orange. Our photographer was Curtis' brother Daniel, and he does AmAzInG work!!! (If anyone needs a good photographer, I can hook you up). It was a lot of fun and we had a picnic afterwards. It was really great spending the evening with our family

This top picture is my favorite. Zachary is so

photogenic and Curtis looks HoT!!

And here is the whole family!!

You Can't Fix Stupid!!

So, I get a lot of FUNNY emails from my co-workers at Beehive. Every once in a while I get one that makes me laugh so hard I have to share. This one is HiLaRiOuS!!!! Hopefully no one gets offended by the title, but this is too funny to not share.

Warning: It is quite long, and there are no pictures, but I think you will enjoy it anyway.

You Can't Fix Stupid!!

#1. Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9, or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. 'We don't have half dozen nuggets,' said the teenager at the counter. 'You don't?' I replied. 'We only have six, nine, or twelve,' was the reply. 'So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?' 'That's right.' So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets.

#2. I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those 'dividers' that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the divider, looking all over it for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, 'Do you know how much this is?' I said to her 'I've changed my mind. I don't think I'll buy that today.' She said 'OK,' and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened.

#3. A lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the 'ATM thingy.'

#4. I recently saw a distruaght young lady weeping beside her car. 'Do you need some help?' I asked. She replied, 'I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a batter to fit this?' 'Hmmm, I dunno. Do you have an alarm too?' I asked. 'No, just this remote thingy,' she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied, 'why don't you drive over there and check out the batteries. It's a long walk.'

#5. Several years ago, we had in Intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, 'I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?' 'Just use copier machine paper,' the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five 'blank' copies.

#6. I was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in 'Twister.' I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the drive had set the 'cruise control' and then went in the back to make a sandwich.

#7. My neighbor works in the operations department in the central office of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems with their computers. One night he got a call from a woman in one of the branch banks who had this question: 'I've got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?'

#8. Police in Radnor, PA. interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message 'He's lying' was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the 'lie detector' was working, the suspect confessed.

#9. A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and it should be fine. The mother says, 'I just gave him some ant killer......'
Dispatcher: 'Rush him immediately to the emergency room!'



I hope you all find this as enjoyable as I did, and I hope when your life gets crazy, and you need a good laugh, you will come back here and read again!!!

If something's missing....check the garbage can

I make it a point every morning to make sure Zachary has his sippy cup before we head to my mom's for the day. Zachary had it last night, and the last time I saw it, it was mixed up with all of his toys scattered on the floor. Well, this morning I am of course packing his diaper bag, and lo and behold, I cannot find the sippy cup. Curtis and I are looking in the kitchen, the family room and Zachary's room for it, but we cannot find it!

After a few minutes of searching I say to Zachary, "Zachary, where's your water?" He takes a few steps, stops, looks around the apartment, and then he goes over to the garbage can and opens the lid and looks inside. I walk over and look inside and......there is his sippy cup!!! Curtis and I both just laughed. It was pretty funny. I was actually quite surprised that he remembered he had thrown it in there.

Our little adventure this morning makes me wonder how many other things he has thrown in the garbage can that we didn't know about and are now long gone to the garbage field.

There is definitely never a dull moment with our Zachary around!!

Nine Words Women Use

My sister-in-law emailed this to me, and I probably shouldn't find it so funny because I am a woman, but I think it is hilarious. This is almost 100% what I mean when I say these words to Curtis. Enjoy!

#1: Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

#2: Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

#3: Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

#4: Go Ahead: This is a dare, NOT permission. Don't Do It!!

#5: Loud Sigh: This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbal statment often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

#6: That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

#7: Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - this is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome'...that will bring on a 'whatever').

#8: Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying *!@% YOU!

#9: Don't Worry About It, I Got It: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response, refer to #3.

I hope this brings smiles to women's faces everywhere!!! (If it offended anyone, please forgive me.)

Mother's Day

I know this is a day late, but I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day! to all you amazing moms out there. I LoVe being a mom!!! Zachary has brought so much joy into my life and I wouldn't trade him for anything. I cannot wait to have more kids. (hint, hint Curtis).

I also wanted to say "I love you" to my mom. She of course won't read that, but I want to tell everyone how wonderful she is and how much I love her. She has been through a lot in her life, and suffers from severe depression, but she has gotten through the tough times and is such an amazing person. I could not have asked for a greater Mom or a better person to watch Zachary while I have to work. I love her so much!!

Once again, Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous mother's, and here's to many more great ones!!!

Happy Easter! (warning: lots of pictures)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Ours was so much fun this year with Zachary! It was fun with him last year too, but he was only 2 1/2 months old so he of course couldn't do the egg hunts or anything. This year Zachary was able too, and he loved it and it was so much fun to watch. I almost think it isn't a good thing to have kids around for Easter because you tend to forget why we celebrate this special holiday.

Saturday Zachary and I went to Macey's with my parents and my sister because Curtis was working, and we ran into the Easter Bunny! We didn't take Zachary last year to get his picture taken, so I was excited that we found the bunny there. Zachary loved him!

Sunday morning we spent together and gave out Easter baskets, and then after church we headed to my parents' house, and then after that we went to Curtis' parents house. It was definitely a long day. I was reminded why we alternate Sunday dinners with our families. Going to both in one day is TOO MUCH!

I bought these ears for him at the dollar store, and my brothers'

made fun of him. They said they were too girly. They're BLUE!!!!

I thought they were stinkin' cute on him.

This is Zachary and my sister's three kids (and my sister

because Ashlinn can't walk yet) with the Easter Bunny at Macey's)

Our Easter family photo: Curtis looks HOT!

Zachary is cute as always, and as for me....

I really HATE having my picture taken.

This is Zachary with his Easter basket. He got some cookies,

granola bars (boring), candy (which mom and dad get to eat),

and some sidewalk chalk. His clothes he is wearing are also new.

I think he liked the grass more than the other stuff.

This is during the Easter egg hunt for the nieces and nephews at my

parents' house. Zachary was so funny! There were enough eggs for each

kid to have eight, but Zachary would find one and be done, and

then he found his bubbles from my sister and he was really done!

This pink egg that he has is actually my nieces' real hard-boiled egg.

Zachary was playing with it for a while, and then he accidentally

poked a hole in it, and he kind of looked at the egg, and us for

a minute. I think he was confused because none of his other

eggs had done that. Then he kept playing with it and making the hole

bigger, until the whole thing was in pieces. It was HILARIOUS.

All in all, we had a very good Easter. I hope that we will try not to forget the REAL meaning of Easter. The easter egg hunts, the dyeing of eggs, the presents and the new clothes are always fun, but they don't last forever. However, the true meaning of Easter, our Savior's resurrection, will last Forever and because of him we will all live again!

Conference

I LoVe General Conference! We are so blessed that twice a year we are able to be taught by these wonderful men and women who are closest to the Lord. I love all our General Authorities and leaders, but I will admit I do have favorites.

I thoroughly enjoy Henry B. Eyring. It makes me sad to admit that I didn't used to like him. There was a time that whenever he spoke at General Conference, I would leave the room until he was done because there was something about him that I just didn't like, and I can't even tell you what that was, I just couldn't listen to him. I struggled with this for a LONG time. I prayed that I would be able to listen to him with an open heart and I prayed that I would truly be able to understand this man. I wanted to learn from him. I wanted to grow from him, but I needed help. I have grown to love him. It has taken time, probably more than it should have, but I truly love him. He is so wonderful, and I cannot wait to hear from him again.

I also love our dear President Monson. I had the opportunity to meet him about seven years ago, and I will never forget that day. It was a hard time in my life. I had friends who were falling away from the Church, and I myself was questioning everything my parents had taught me. I prayed to my Heavenly Father to help me know that the Church was really true, and not because my mom told me it was. When I shook President Monson's hand, I felt something that I have never felt before. A peaceful feeling came over me, and at that moment I knew that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church on the earth. Meeting President Monson saved my life, and I am forever grateful to Heavenly Father for sending him to me.

I know without a doubt that this Church is true, and I cannot wait until I get to meet my Savior again.

My Greatest Blessings

So, every once in a while I experience something or read something that reminds me how grateful I am to have not only Curtis in my life, but my beautiful boy Zachary. We have definitely been through a lot with our little guy. He has had tremendous eating problems pretty much from the day he was born. There were times when I would break down crying because I was so tired of feeding him and then having him projectile vomit everything up over and over again. I was definitely humbled today.

I love to look at other people's blogs. I love to look at the cute backgrounds and pictures and read about other's lives. When I read the blogs of those I am close too, I sometimes find myself looking at their friends' blogs (don't worry, I'm not a stalker), I just like to read about other people. Today I came across this http://babymckallister.blogspot.com/ and I cried my eyes out. How could I complain about my child having such horrible eating problems when this poor couple was going through something like this? I cannot even imagine the anguish and heartbreak this family went through. I was humbled and gently reminded that the trials in my life have been nothing compared to this.

I am so grateful for my Zachary. Prior to him, I must not have been a very patient person because I have had to learn patience many times all over again. He is such a joy in not only mine and Curtis' lives, but anyone he comes in contact with. I thank my Heavenly Father for him every day, and I would not trade him for anything.

Zachary's 1st Birthday!

We celebrated Zachary's 1st birthday on February 1st, and it was so much fun. I cannot believe how spoiled this little guy is. Both mine and Curtis' family were so generous with the gifts they gave him. He got tons of clothes (mostly from Curtis and me), stuffed animals, puzzles, balls, cars, a coat from Curtis' parents that he has needed for a long time, and so much more!!!

I think the best part about his birthday was watching him "not" eat his cake. Anyone who knows us really well knows that Zachary has had a lot of eating problems since he was born. This kid basically hates to eat. I know, I know, you are probably thinking "who hates to eat"? The answer to that is Zachary. There have been many times when he has cried and cried and cried when we have fed him. He has had really bad acid reflux since he was born, so eating time has never been fun for him or the person feeding him. So, we were kind of hesitant to get him a cake for his birthday because we knew he probably wouldn't eat it anyway, but it was his birthday and we decided he did need a cake. When cake time came, we took off all of his clothes, put a blanket on the floor, and gave him a piece of cake and............he didn't eat it. As you can see in the pictures, he really just played in it. Not one bite went into his mouth, but it was fun to watch him anyway.

I cannot believe he has already been with us a year. It has been a very difficult year with his eating problems, but I would not trade him for anything. I love him with all of my heart and he is a beautiful boy!

Oops....the pictures are going the wrong way in this post. The top picture is the last picture we took, and the bottom one is the first picture. I am still getting used to this blogging thing.

Finally here!!

Well friends, Curtis and I finally decided to catch up with everyone else and join the blogger world. I have a lot to blog about, i.e. anniversary, Zachary's 1st birthday and lots more but I don't have time to do it right now (because I'm supposed to be working) so don't forget to come back soon.