Gingerbread House

I made my first gingerbread house on Monday night. I remember my older sister(s?) making one when I was younger using graham crackers and homemade frosting, but I was too young...SO, the other day we bought a kit from Costco. It had everything you could ever need and then some...a HUGE tube of white frosting and a small tube of green, cookies for the house and a gingerbread Christmas tree and two gingerbread men and tons and tons of candy to decorate with. FUN!
So our friends, Amy, Scott, and Oliver, came over and they brought their own Costco gingerbread kit and it was so fun! :D Their gingerbread house, I'm sorry to say, didn't make it...but I think Oliver will have a wonderful time devouring the wreckage! :D
So we bought some deer antlers to take a picture of the boys for the holidays...this pic of Christian with Alan is the only time I've been able to get Christian to wear them...is he already becoming aware of what is cool vs what is totally humiliating? hhmmmm... ;)~

I love the Temple! :D

So Alan is currently at his interview at UW Medical School. AAHHHH!! I'm anxious to know how it's going!! :D Mainly, I'm anxious to know how it'll end up!, but we won't know that for a long while. :)
Yesterday a couple from our church watched our boys (they have a girl and a boy around the same age as our own) while Alan and I went to the Temple. It had been soooo long since we had gone it was like taking a breath of fresh air!! I'm so grateful for Temples...they're so peaceful and serene! And it was soooo nice to get out alone. Marcy, who watched our boys, wants to start a babysitting co-op, and I'm all for it! She's going to try and recruit a couple more couples...So we'd get to go out 3 Friday nights a month and have one Friday night of craziness watching everyone else's kids. It's a prayer answered!!!! Alan and I hardly ever go out together, but we really need to! :D Marcy seems super nice! I'm excited to get to know her (among others) better! :)
I just love my boys, even though they can drive me crazy sometimes. :S :) We have a large window in the front room and they love to sit and watch sometimes. I love to, also. We have a squirrel living in the trees outside our place and it walks around like it owns the place. HA! There are also so many birds around here!! They settle on the neighbors' lawns and eat, eat, eat. :) It's so nice and quiet here, I love it. I could never go back to an apartment!!...I wouldn't go quietly, anyway. ;)
I had to attach this picture of Christian wearing my shoes. HA! :D Standing in my heals right before peeing while standing up...There's just something so "Mrs Doubfire" about it. HA! :D He cracks me up! What can I say, I love the kid. ;)

Of Dating and Marriage

So Saturday night Alan's aunt and uncle came over and we had dinner then they stayed and watched the boys while we went and saw "New Moon". It was sooo nice to be able to go out together without the boys!! I can probably count on one hand (may spill over to both) how many times we've been out alone since Christian was born over three years ago. But it's so important to connect and do things outside the home together!! Relationships need constant nuturing...
So now we're in Seattle area, WA (Renton to be exact). Alan got a job here so now we're saving up to furnish the cute town home we're renting. ;) At least we finally have a bed! And a king size one to boot. ;) I love it! There's room for the boys to play in between us while we snooze during those early morning hours. ;)
Now we're saving for leather couches and a dining room table and a few other odds and ends. Alan is working as a technician for a pest control company. They pay their technicians really well! They get a guaranteed base salary each month, but can work extra and make extra money...it's nice!! :D
I like the area, although it's dark 15 hours of the day! HA! It doesn't bother me, though...and the sun hardly comes out. The overcast skies are slightly annoying, but it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. :) Maybe it will in time...
I just got extended a calling to be in the primary presidency...one calling I've never done yet. :) I'm excited! Especially since the president is a super nice and bubbly girl!! :D She's starting a "Mom's hangout" once a week with the Mom's in the ward. I'm excited!! I was going to start something similar, so I'll help her get it going. :) There're some awesome women in the area I'm excited to get to know!! :)
Alan has an interview with UW medical school on Sunday. We're hoping he gets in so we can stay in this place. The area is so cute and our landlords are the bomb!! :) I'm LOVING being in a neighborhood!! Apartment community life sucks, plain and simple, and here we have an older couple next to us (it's a townhouse/duplex) who are quiet and leave on the weekends. Nice! :D Plus, there's a yard that Christian likes to play in!! :D And there's something liberating about being in charge of putting garbage cans outside on garbage day. :)~
It's been nice living so close to Alan's aunt and uncle. They're so sweet and have lent us a bunch of stuff until we can afford to buy our own...And his parents live only 2 1/2 hours from us so we'll be able to see them more often, which is nice. :) Alan has an amazing family. :D
We had Thanksgiving dinner at Alan's aunt and uncle's house the Wednesday before. Alan's parents met us there and we had a wonderful meal!! :D Good food and good company...couldn't ask for anything more.
Thanksgiving day we had dinner with Alan's friend growing up, Kiel, and his mother and sister and her family. I have met Kiel several times and think he's such a great guy! (Let all the single girls know in the Seattle area!!) :D It was a fun time and everything was made from scratch and tasted wonderful!! :D
The day after Thanksgiving we went to downtown Seattle and watched the Macy's Holiday Parade. It was good times!! We got a lot of candy and Christian got a balloon from a large, scary-looking clown! We got to pet dogs (real ones) and afterward we walked around the mall and ate lunch. It was a fun day! :D
It's been good times here in WA and we've been blessed with great family and good friends...and I look forward to making more friends. :D
We had a lot of fun visiting my family. :) I have really missed them a lot and it was good to see them! I had fun with Jennifer, my sister just older than me. She treated me to a pedicure (thanks Jenn)! :) I love being around her because not only is she fun, but she reminds me that I don't need to take life so seriously!
Alan was pretty popular with the girls. HA! :)~
I hope we can see them soon!!

YEAH!!! I love the holday season!!! :D

So we said GOODBYE to Georgia at the end of September and, on our way to California to visit my family, we stopped in Dallas, TX and Mesa, AZ to visit Alan's sisters. First we saw Alan's younger sister, Stephanie, in Dallas TX. She has two beautiful boys and a sweet & loving man! :D We went to the Texas State Fair and had a blast! We took a picture in front of a nice looking train and I got a 10 min massage and we had alligator (yes, alligator) and fried butter (yes, fried butter) and saw tons of animals. It really was a fun time!! :D

It took us two days to reach Mesa, AZ with the two little ones, but spent almost a week with Alan's older sister, Kristina, and her family. They lived in Provo area with us until 2007 so we used to always hang out. We have missed them!!! We mostly hung out at home with them while the kids ran around in their backyard (a novelty for us), but one day we went to a park and walked around the lake. Then the kids played on the playground and had a blast. Christian and his cousin, Ethan, were stuck like glue to each other the whole time we were there...it was VERY precious. :D

Our mutual friends, the McCally's, stayed 2 nights while we were there and it was good to see them and their two beautiful children, too! :D One day they all decided to roll around in the dirt pile in Kristina's backyard. It was hilarious! HA! We had a very fun time...it was hard to leave!

The night before we left we went to see my mission president and his family...Only he and his wife and youngest daughter are at home now. It was so good to see them and get an update on all my fellow ex-missionaries! Miles LOVED playing with President Calton...He knows he's his third grandpa. :D

We're at my parents' house in Modest, CA right now. We went to a pumpkin patch that had a large area with pumpkins, a big pond with huge fish, a playground, and an area with animals like ostriches and horses and pigs. :) It was fun!! Alan left soon thereafter to go to Provo to finish some research he didn't get done during the school year. I'm so glad he graduated in April!! Now we're in limbo between graduation and trying to get into medical school in 2010...we're currently waiting to see if someone wants to interview him! In the meantime we're going to move up to Washington (this week) and Alan will get a job. Summer sales wasn't too great for us... :S


The week before Halloween our church put on a Trunk or Treat. Christian was a fireman and Miles a (VERY CUTE) teddy bear. My sister and her family were here visiting from Reno so we all went together. It was fun!! Christian got a lot of candy (respectively), but I accidentally sent it home with my sister. HA! Oh well, he got plenty more on Halloween. :D

We have had a lot of fun at my parents'. :D Christian is buds with his silly cousin Maren. She CRACKS me up! HA!! A character and a half, and she plays so well with my little man. He's going to miss her when we leave this week. :( I am REALLY, REALLY going to miss my family! :(

The other day Christian was playing out back and a springy thingy flicked him hard and made a deep hole in his cheek. I yelled, "Jennifer! Jennifer!"...I'm so glad she was there!! :) She went with me to the urgent care and helped take care of Miles while Christian got stitches. It would've been so much worse without her! :) I feel bad for my poor little man, but he has been soooo brave, even at the doctor's! He cried for a while after it happened, but then at the doctor's and since he hasn't cried at all! I'm so proud of him. :) I hate it, but I figure it has to happen to every parent, right? Well he is just so proud of his "itches". HA! :) He always makes me smile. :D

Christian's 3!!!!

Christian just had a birthday a week ago, Sept 8. I can't believe he's three years old, already! We took him to a hibachi place for lunch and he FREAKED out when the chef made the flames flair up. HA! He cried and said, "I need to go potty!" over and over and tried to jump out of his chair. It was pretty funny. HA! The food was SOOOOO good, though, and afterward they gave Christian a balloon and a plate with 3 pieces of cake and 3 scoops of ice cream. So sweet!! (And yummy!) :)~ We've been to the restaurant before and the food is SO good and the prices are reasonable! :) That's one reason I'll be sad to leave in a month. ;)
Then Saturday we had some kids over from his nursery class at church. We filled Christian and Miles' room with 100 balloons and they had the funnest time playing in there! I had planned a couple activities but they had so much fun with the balloons I didn't even bother. HA! We had yummy Costco take-n-bake pizza and a YUMMY cake I made (if I do say so myself)...it was my first attempt at a double layered cake. I put pudding in the middle and made a whipped cream frosting...then I tried decorating it like a baseball. You could tell it was a baseball, but it was lopsided! :)~ Well, it was my first time ever decorating a cake with frosting! :D So it was a fun experience and a fun time. His nursery teachers came, too, and they are a riot! He got some cool toys and LOVED having friends over. I need to have more play dates! ;)
Today we went to the animal shelter (as we tend to do a few times a month) and found the dog of our dreams...well, besides the fact that it's a MALE dog. I don't like male dogs for one unsaid reason, but he's so small it might not be so bad. HA! He's a chihuahua mix and has cool dark brown coloring and has a precious personality! He's not yappy (well, from what we've seen) and he was so cute cuddling up to us. We like him a lot and when we left we went straight to Pet Spart to see how much doggy stuff is. It's not cheap! ;)
We're still on the potty training train with Christian. ;) Some days he'll do great and the next day he'll have 2 accidents. He pees during his naps a lot and sometimes at night. He's dry in the morning if I've been really good and keeping liquids away from him a couple hours before bedtime, but mostly I forget. He's like me...he only thirsty at night! But I've been trying to give him more liquids during the day. He's such a big boy (41 inches, 37 lbs) and loves to mimic. He also LOVES soccer practice and playing baseball outside. Indoors he plays with his many hotwheels and other toy vehicles. He's obsessed with anything that has wheels!
Miles is rolling and scooting all over the place! We still forget that we need to have things picked up now, though he's been at it for a couple weeks. I can tell he LOVES his new freedom! He also loves to make us laugh. His most recent trick is to stick his little tongue all the way out right before giving us a kiss. It always makes us laugh so he keeps doing it, although it's pretty nasty to be licked all the time. HA! Silly baby. He always makes us smile and we love having him around.
He and Christian LOVE to play with each other and I can tell Miles goes crazy wishing he could run around with big brother. Soon enough he will! :)

Sept 4-6 we took a trip to Savannah, GA. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive that took us 6 hours. ;) The boys are such good travelers! We saw some of downtown Savannah and browsed the shops along the river. Saturday we went on a dolphin tour and saw tons of dolphins!! It was so cool!! Then we hung out at the beach. Sunday we went to church in Savannah and headed home. :) Friday and Saturday nights we had yummy bbque (at Sticky Fingers, YUM!). It was a fun time to celebrate our fifth anniversary, although we decided next year we'd do something alone! :) HA! Savannah was fun, but not as great as it's hyped up to be...That's our opinion, at least! ;D But is a fun memory we'll always cherish. ;)

Rock Band

So Alan always wants some new electronic toy and I am usually pretty resilient. We have to eat, after all! :) But sometimes, just sometimes (well, almost always, actually) he wears me down and gets his way...such is the case with Rock Band for the Wii (and the Wii itself!)...he's been looking at it--hinting he wants it and I was like, "Riiiiiight, when pigs fly."--and recently he found it for $99 at Best Buy. Well, after a 10% discount it was $89 so I guess pigs flew because I gave in. :)
It's all Christian asks to do and it became a little annoying, especially since he wants to switch instruments in the middle of each song. BUT, Alan and I played it together, alone, for the first time last night and it was sooooo fun! :) I like the drums and guitar...not such a fan of the singing part, but I do the best at it. :)
Another exciting thing is that I'm going to stay with my parents in Modesto for November and part of December. I'm excited! :) The lease for our apartment here in Cumming, GA is up October 15 and we'll head straight to Dallas, TX to see Stephanie, Alan's younger sister. She had a baby boy in November last year and we're excited to meet him!
After a couple days there we'll head over to Waurika, OK to see Alan's Grandpa & Grandpa Hendricks. They're the cutest! And it's fun to see them b/c my grandparents passed away many years ago.
Afterward we'll make our way to see Alan's older sister, Kristina, and her family. We're excited to meet their new dog and see all of them. We used to see each other a lot when we all lived in Provo and miss hanging out with them! :)
Christian continues potty training...I wonder if he'll ever catch on. He'll go if I constantly remind him and run to the toilet with him, but I wonder how long it's supposed to take before he feels the need and goes to use the toilet by himself. It's been a month, shouldn't he be doing it already? :) Well, I hear it can take up to 3 months so I'm not too worried, just impatient. Impatient is my middle name. :)
Today we signed Christian up for T-Ball and Soccer. SO cute!! I can't believe he's big enough, already!!!!! :( Kind of makes me sad, but the faster he grows the sooner he'll be able to get a job and move out, right? HA!!! :)~ Anyway, I can't wait to watch him running around without a clue what he's doing. HA! I'm going to take so many pictures! The boys continue to love each other and enjoy playing with one another! It's so cute!...and I hope it sticks! :)

Happy August!!

Alas July is already over and August flashes its smile at us. Too bad fire also shoot out of its eyeballs and burns us all to smithereens!! :) hehehe...It actually hasn't been too hot here at all, I'm surprised! But I know it is everywhere else. ;) Sorry! I'm sure it'll get more miserable soon. :) (At least I hear it's pretty miserable here in August.)
We've been well here in Cumming, GA. Christian has been enhancing his photo-taking skills. He took the picture of Miles and I...such a cutie! :) He's been potty training himself so well and we're so proud of him! There are accidents, of course, but I TRY not to get angry...it's always when I KNOW he has to go and I keep asking him and he keeps saying he doesn't have to...then I'm finally like, "Come on, let's sit ont he potty" and he follows and stops to pee on the way. HELLO?! It's hard not to get mad in that situation...but I'm trying to be more patient. :)
Last week we went to Lowe's Build and Grow...I guess every month they have a clinic for children where they build something and take it home, along with an apron and goggles. July's "something" was a helicoptor! It is actually really cool! :) We had a fun time building it together, although Christian peed right on the floor in the middle of it all. GOOD THING I was prepared, but it was one of those times I had asked him five times in a ten minute span and he kept saying he didn't needto go....well apparently he did. ;) Well, I know this too shall pass! I just love that I don't have to change his diaper anymore! I didn't even realize how much of a pain it was until now! :)
Miles is such a little bundle of love and happiness and I constantly want to hug and squeeze and kiss him...unfortunately he only wants so much of that and the rest of the time he wants to play. What's up with that?! :)~ He sits up perfectly and is on the verge of crawling...I'm not in any hurry! I don't want to have to babyproof while we're here! :) He LOOOOVES big brother! It's cute how he just loves to watch him and laughs at everything he does....soooo precious! Christian also loves to play with him, so it's nice! Miles also loves to make everyone laugh. He knows what makes us laugh and he does it, smiles at us as we laugh at him, and turns around and does it again. Such a ham!!! We love him so much!
The other day I had a flashback of an art project I had done in elementary school...we had collected leaves and such from the outside and we glued them on a piece of paper...then, with teacher's help :), we ironed wax paper on top...I had also done another project where we did rubbins of leaves and such...so really, I'm not sure if we ironed the wax paper over the leaves or the rubbings, but I thought we'd do both...so I took Christian in a fieldtrip around the area and we collected pretty leaves and returned and glued them on paper. It was a fun time! I have been blessed with a creative streak and I don't use it with my 2 year old for some reason! SHAME on me! >:l One day I vow to sit down and write down activities that we can do together to help him learn and just plain have fun! Anyway, this activity was a fun one about nature. :) I couldn't find my iron to iron on the waxed paper, but I'll probalby keep them so I can try it out and see how it goes! (Note: if you try this at home and want to iron on waxed paper, put paper towels between the iron and wax paper so you don't ruin your iron!) ;)
BE CREATIVE! HAVE FUN! DON'T TAKE LIFE TOO SERIOUSLY!!!~~~~Tam n fam~~~~

Take me out to the ball game! . . .

Yesterday we went to a Braves game. The Mets kicked their ba-tooties, but it was still a very fun time! We went with all the guys we work with and some of their friends. We had cotton candy and a hot dog and drink...it's funny because neither of our parents bought things at faires or ball parks or really anywhere. It's kind of liberating to do so within a modest budget. It's just something you have to do sometimes! Anyway, it was a blast. Afterward All American Rejects had a concert on the field and that was the perfect end to a great day. The lead singer was a bit odd, but the music was good enough to override that. :)~ Christian was soooo tired at the end of the day (no nap and going to bed late on top of going to bed late the night before), but he had a great time. Pics attached. One is of Miles spitting in Alan's face. It was pretty darn funny! :)~
We're staying busy around here. I'm still working and Alan is done with the MCAT so he's around a few more hours each day. :) It's so nice!
Christian has been going to the potty a lot these past few days. I decided to buy him suckers as treats because he LOVES them. It worked! I think he's really beginning to sense the "have to go" feeling. I'm so excited! I have a sticker chart up and everything. :)
Miles constantly dives forward to grab things. It's kind of funny unless he's in front of something hard. :) He constantly squeals and gabs on. :D He's also soooo grabby. His precious little hands are everywhere! :D
I just love my boys, all three of them. I am so grateful for family. Friends come and go, but family is forever. :)

Ode to July!

I love the month of July! I love the fourth with fireworks and friends. Three days afterward comes a day I can either love or dread: my birthday! :)~ This year it was a great birthday. :) I love the ice cream and swimming-time fun and coming from the heat to a cool, air conditioned home. Endless watermelon and chicken and potatoe salad and sprinklers and slip-n-slides. There's so much to like about July!
I do dislike that the weather gets even hotter. BLAH!...I guess that's the only con! But it's a pretty big one, especially around here. I am grateful that it's cooler and less miserable than Texas was the 2 summers we were there, though! And I'm grateful for the nice pool our apartment complex has. :)~ And the gym, which I have started frequenting again this past week! I stopped for a month b/c Alan was leaving early each morning to study for the MCAT, which he took btw. :) He says it was hard and feels a little nervous about his score...I'm sure he did just fine. :) We won't find out for another month or so. :S Drive ME crazy!
I've attached some of our summer fun pictures. Christian has a chocolate ice cream mustache in one of them. :)~ Silly kid. He is like his mommy where he LOOOVES his ice cream. HA!
My birthday was on the 7th and Alan got me a yummy, yummy, yummy Oreo cream pie and a silly card and that night he took me to dinner. It was so sweet of him! I'm impressed he actually acknowledged it this year. hehehe...It made me happy. My present will be shopping for an hour or two by myself with a budget. :) I'm excited for that! I'll probably go Monday morning.
We now have five guys selling here for the summer. I'm doing the office work for the sales team and it can be pretty stressful at times, though I am doing it at home. The worst part is I'm being paid hardly anything to do it. I'm trying to fix it so we'll see if I can work something out. :) It's nice that Alan's done with his MCAT, though, so we have him around in the mornings! For now, at least. I'll enjoy his company while I can. Christian LOVES playing with his daddy! Last night Alan got him a hotwheels motorized track and some more Hot Wheels...Alan said it was for Christian, at least, but I'm not so sure. He sure has a LOT of fun playing with it. HA!
All is well here in Cumming, GA. Just hot, humid and busy!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

I've been busy with the boys...They have a playground a couple blocks from us that Christian likes to go to. The other day we went and he was getting stuck on the slide. I taught him to scoot forward. It was funny! I had to include a video of it. ;)~
We also built a tent in their room. Christian and Miles both LOVED it. We made the sheet move and Miles and Christian would laugh and laugh. HA! I realized I don't do enough fun things with them! So, I've made a goal to do things to make Christian laugh every day. It's not like it takes much! I just have to use a little imagination!
They both sure keep me on my toes, but I love every minute of it. Even the bad times. I just love them sooooooo much!!!


We had a very fun evening last night. Apparently in this area they have city fire works on July 3rd...It's almost as if the holiday is seen as so sacred they feel that nobody should work on the 4th, not even the fire works setter-offers. :) We went to the fairgrounds in downtown Cumming and had yummy kettle korn and homemade ice cream and lemonade...Christian crawled through a tunnel of one of the many blow-up toys they had there and we looked at the many fun things the vendors were selling. We also had I.D. cards made for the boys with their fingerprints and everything. (The thought of needing them made my heart hurt!) Afterward we hung out on our blanket and chatted with friends we had met up with and at 9:30 p.m. we watched the city fire works. It was an all right show, though I've seen better. :) Christian was so tired he kept asking to go home and go to bed. HA! I was laughing...but he liked the fireworks and kept calling them big flowers and fell fast asleep at 10:30 p.m. when we finally got home. :)
This morning we went to a breakfast put on by our church. It was fun! There was lots of good food and everyone is so nice and fun to talk to! They had a slip 'n slide and cotton candy and pop corn and other fun games, though we missed out on that...We had to leave early so Alan could work. Alan bought a bunch of fire works for us to set off tonight and right now we're going to the pool. Yeah! I gotta go get greased up. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!