Lagoon!

Caitlynn, and Kaitlynn cruisin for a date! yikes! still a little too young for that girls!

Our good friends Max and Jamie!

Their daughter Jessica dancing... ( thats why we were all there)

Caitlynn and Kaitlynn drivin the boat!

Both boys were upset because they didn't want to drive the pink boat.. but it was the only one left! lol!

This makes me laugh soooo hard.. the worker trying to help Ammon out but.. don't worry he already had it all figured out!

Max when you see this... well what more can I say this is my favorite picture! LoL!

All in all Lagoon was a wipe out marathon day! But the kids had a blast and were so happy that they got to on so many rides!

My birthday!

Need I say more?? I am one yr older yippeee!

Children's Museum!

Ammon takes Mcall on their first date! hehehe!

Ammon climbing the rock wall... I would say he's doin pretty good!

Cait and Ammon go for a horse back ride!

Giddee Up!

Ammon decides that he wants to try the farmin' life!

Mcall, Liv, and Cait all makes some music together!

Emma, Ammon and Cait all try the life of a construction worker out...

All in all I would say the kids really had a good time at the Children's museum.. to bad my camera sucked and half of my pics turned out blurry... oh well next time..

The begining of much needed updating..

The Adventures of Cait and Livvy continue...

This time the setting is in the mountain by the river... ok seriously.. I am not sure how good I feel about them eating this blade of grass.. especially since I was not present for this event.. I have no idea where is came from and what animal had gone to the bathroom on it..? Lol I know.. either way I think these girls musta been getting hungry or something.. Liv looks like she's about ready to eating stick she is holding!

Lazy... to be or not to be...??

Well I am sorry I know I am just being plain lazy in updating my blog. We are just so very busy. We are currently trying to just get the summer going which seems to be harder than I thought. We had friend from Parawon visit followed by friends from Cali visit.. (at some point I will get those pics posted)Aaron took a trip to Colorado to see his dad who isn't doing very well health wise. We have Ammon's birthday coming up followed by Aaron's. Amidst all of this I am having some health issues. Not fun.. Long story short.... Originally we thought I was expecting again.. I am not. However, my dear friend aunt flow has decided to behave in a strange manner. So I went to see the doc.. he has ran some tests and yet again they show normal.. tyroid normal.. pituary.. normal ( they thought I had a tumor) they have thought maybe I miscarried... I now have to have a mammogram.. apparently some on my symptoms could be signs of breast cancer.. ok ok ok ... don't get all freaked out here I am ok.. I am sure that my test will come back fine they always do.. it seems to usually be an oversite of some nature or the other. Anyhow, in lou of all my headaches, nose bleeds and symptoms of being pregnant but not.. things have been a little haywire around here. I will try to be better and get the rest of the fun things we have been doing up on here. Soon I promise!
Our new house and neighborhood has been great and we are really loving it out here in Saratoga. So all is well in Spencer land.

As of lately!

Ok so I know I have way lazy in keeping my blog up.. so here is what we have been up to..
Currently we are working on our yard, we are digging up grass to make a new flower bad.. when its done it'll kinda have a rocky mountain feel to it. I have forgotten how much time yards take.. although I have to admit I am kinda enjoying working in the yard it wears me out and makes me soo sore, but the results are worth it.
Aaron will be going to Africa this summer for a month and then his schooling will be all finished up. Yeah! I am sooo PROUD of him, he has worked so hard! Thanks hon for all your hard work on our behalf!
Moi.. well there is not much to say there. I just had my birthday.. oh goodie I am one year older, at some point I am sure I will get the photo's from that uploaded on here. We have yet to start my salon in the house yet.. I can only begin to imagine the work that is going to take, but maybe in the fall we will start it. We shall see.
Ammon he is turning 4 here in a few weeks. WOW! that goes sooo fast! I can't believe this time next year I will be registering him for kindergarten! Anyhow, he is still way in to action figures.. ok ok mostly just spiderman which he has been obssessed with since I can remember( I blame Aaron for this)
Cait... well what more can I say other than she is 2 going on 16. Lol! She is so smart, and I think that she can out eat her her big brother any day of the week. I am begining to think she will eat us our of house and home long before Ammon does. She is all potty trained.. (I love that)
So I guess pretty much for now this is what we are up to. We are keeping super busy and that I do love. As much as I used to look at work with such hardship I now am looking at it like it makes my life nicer and happier. The little things aren't such chores anymore. I guess in a sense being a mom isn't so bad and being home gives me the chance to make life great for my little ones.. and that makes it all worth it.

Locked In!

Ok here is my scary experience...
Aaron came home a little early today to work on yard stuff and finish up final projects and stuff So after I finished mowing the yard and I went inside and took a shower. I wasn't in long but Aaron had fallen asleep while I was in the shower. I had put the kids in front on cartoons with snacks. Well I got dressed quick and went to check the kiddos...( we all know my children have a mind of their own) when I got down stairs Cait was still on the couch.. eating frozen rasberries mind you... upon me asking where she got them... she said" Ammon get them for me I hungry!" I questioned her further while taking away the frozen rasberries.. "and where is your brother" she then says "outside" now my kids playing in the back yard is not uncommon.. but usually they ask or should I say tell me. So outside I go... nope he is not on the play yard or the sad box where he normally is... I go to the side yard.. by now I am begining to panick! I am yelling loudly AMMON WHERE ARE YOU? I go back in side to check the basement... still yelling for AMMON TO COME OUT! By now I am like Aaron I can't find Ammon! I go to the other side yard but no Ammon... just as I am about to turn and go back and search the upstairs ( sometimes Ammon finds it funny to hide from me) I hear crying and a " mommy help me I am stuck" and I stop. I say ok Ammon where are you " I in here!" more crying " help me mommy" It then dawns on me that he is in Aarons car in the trunk... I try to open it and well its locked.. So I run inside get the keys and out he comes! WHew! I thought I was going to loose it! Now, the interesting thing here is that the car was locked! Aaron and I have no idea how he got in there? When we asked him he said " I push the button and get in there" we have no cue what he is talking about.
I am just sooo glad that he is ok ! Whew! much relief!

Easter Family Pictures!

We decided to attempt taking some family pictures on Easter morning.. ok ok by the time we actually got to take them it was after noon.. oh well.. anyhow, I think that they turned out somewhat nice and I am pretty happy at how nice we all look!

Easter was alot of fun this year! We really enjoyed it!... now if I can ever get Aaron to download the easter egg hunt footage you can see how much fun the kids had finding eggs.. if not well maybe next year!

Easter Morning!

The kids found their Easter Baskets that the Easter Bunny left them! Can you tell by their faces that they are happy about it?

Easter Weekend continued!

Caitlynn and Liv have been becoming fast friends. Friday night they got to have a sleep over and they had so much fun! These are some cute pics that Aaron snapped the next morning!

Easter Weekend!

Josh and Cait coloring Easter Eggs! Poor Cait she was soooo tired that night!
Check out this... Ammon trying to color the Easter Eggs with just the color on his hands!

Caitlynn shows off her colorful hands too after finishing up with Grandma!

Grandma and Cait intensly trying to figure our what color to do the egg!

Ammon concentrating!

Liv coloring as many eggs as she can! wow! look at her go!

Cristi helps Liv with her first Easter Egg!

The Fam all coloring Easter Eggs together!

Ok well I guess I will give a little back ground on this... The Friday before Easter we all got together and roasted hot dogs and smarshmellows with our fire pitt. ( first use since moving here) it was loads of fun.. by the time we were done it was getting late but the kids still wanted to color Easter Eggs. It was alot of fun! The kids had a blast and after cleanup was finished Ammon and Caits cousin's all got to spend the night here at our house!

A new Chapter of Life..

Ok so they always say when one door closes another one opens. Buying a house has been this crazy roller coaster ride. So many times when I thought we would be moving and it didn't happen. So many houses looked at, some many plans made over and over again just to have the door shut in our faces. Well, here is what I learn from this whole experience.... I have to learn to be happy with what I have and the stage of life that I am in. Wishing it to change just doesn't happen. There is and has been alot of blood sweat and tears that have gone into making this happen for us. But after a lot of things happening alot of fasting and praying, alot of things that did happen for us along the way. We are now in our new house. That doesn't mean its perfect now that we are here to this point.. it just means that working hard is going to have to continue, and praying that the Lord will continue to bless us. Life is never perfect, there will always be something standing in the way... but with a lot of hard work and a little help from up above anything is possible. Us moving and being in our new home is living proof of that.

So at this point we begin a new chapter of our lives.. Aaron and I have been married a little more than six years now, we have been blessed with two sweet children that we love so much, Aaron will be done with school at the end of the year and have his degree in digital media, Aaron is currently working for a company that has been really good to us. I am still working at Mastercuts but hopefully now being in our home some new doors will open and I will be able to put my salon in and work for home and stay home with our kids all the time ( hopefully the potty training with Cait will pay off here really soon). We have been blessed beyond what I think we deserve sometimes, but I know that we are where we need to be.

So this is the only pic that I have of the house so far.. so enjoy I am sure I will post more later on!

In Closing!

Ok well so we finally closed on our new house. We are really excited but we can't move until Monday due to a couple of minor complications. Its going to be a little bit of a head ache... so for those of you that can help please feel free to we are in need of trucks and or trailers to help us move... so if you know of anyone please let us know....
We should be having a house warming party here before to long.. I think somewhere after we get all un packed.
So the madness will go on with packing a cleaning till all is done and moved! Oh well this is life, we are really excited about this new stage we are entering into.
Thanks for all your love and support!

The Madness Continues!

Ok so here's the scoop... I have been a little on the busy side and haven't posted in awhile. My kids were sick for a bit and Ammon had a bad case of croup. We are now all well ( knock on wood) again. Whew! thats a relief...
We found a house that we love, its in Saratoga Springs, I don't know yet if it will all work out in our favor just yet but if it does we will be moving soon! Hurray! so on that note... the moving saga has to be continued till I know more.
Potty Training, Caitlynn turned two in Decemeber and I started trying to potty train her in January. I tried not to go back to using diapers like I swore up and down I wasn't going to do since I did that soooo much with Ammon. But alas... I did I gave in a week ago and bought more diapers... and then there was two days ago that I thought well gee I am almost out of diapers again, so I bought more. Which brings me to yesterday.. when I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day.
Cait( still in a diaper from the nighttime) : I need to poo poo..
Me( thinking yeah right): ok well lets go then
we proceed to remove the pjs and pee'd in diaper and place her on the toilet.
Cait: grunt
Poo poo actually comes out in the toilet.... she then begins to pee! HURRAY!
I am sooo excited I think I over dramatized it ...
Cait: I DID IT MOMMY!
Me: Yes and I am sooooooooooo proud of you Cait.
I go get a diaper to put on her thinking to myself that this would not surely last all day..
Cait: NO I want my little pony panties
Me: ok but you can't pee on your ponies
Cait: Ok I pee in the potty mommy.
Me: ok potty training here we come
Update: we did do the pull up at night, but this morning she got up and went potty and everything, we have only had one accident since yesterday. I can only pray that we keep going at this pace and no more diapers for us! YEAH!
So this is my life as of lately, I am happy alot and am enjoying learing how to be a better mommy to my kids. Life is incredibly busy for us right now, someday when things slow down a bit I am not sure what we are going to do. But for now life is good and the Lord has blessed us alot. I am so thankful for what we do have, and I know that this is all by the hand of God in our lifes.

Happy Annivesary to me!

Father Daughter Dance!
Right after we were married!

At the reception smooching!

wooohooo!

When Super Powers Fail!

I know, I know, I haven't been very good at updating this thing lately. Life has been a whirl wind of fun! House hunting, hubby doing school, work, applying for an internship, me doing ALOT of hair lately, sick kids.. you name it we have been doing it!

sigh..

The other new thing being that my sister in law and I have been trying to get a new blog up and going. YEAH! Its all about being healthy, enjoying life and keeping things simple.
So without further ado... here is the new link: whensuperpowersfail.blogspot.com
Please check it out and if you would like to add to it please do... we designed this site mostly because often times in our lives we feel like having super powers would help us accomplish much much more, but sometimes its not about the big things that we do but the small everyday ordinary things we do that make a difference in our lives. How we feel, think, and act.
I once heard a this quote and it has kinda stuck with me..
"Life is what happens to us after we have made plans"
So with that being said.. Please check out our site, comment and if you would like to add to our site I think eventually I will try to link things so more can read and so forth.

Writer's Workshop!

I hope that this counts. It says write about my favorite picture from last month and tell why. My husband is going into digital media as his degree. He makes these family movies for me from time to time. They are my favorite. So this is the most recent one that he finished. I hope you all enjoy!

Writer's Workshop: The Scary Encounter!

Beauty School!

Ok ok .. so I didn't actually go to college I went to beauty school when I was 17... I did my senior year of high school and beauty school at the same time and believe you me when I say it wasn't easy. When you attend beauty school it is like having a full time job and paying to be there. It's rotten but worth it. Imagine if you will over a hundred girls/women eight hours a day or more.. ok so you get the point.

I didn't really ever not get along with any of my instructors until I was about half way through school and they made this one instructor (we'll name her Carolynn) the cuttting instructor. She was the worst... if you didn't wear your name badge which consisted of you first name a number, then she would give you one of those stupid paper stick on ones that said Jane doe on it. Or whatever other lame name she could come up with. (One of mine even had the name Loser on it)That was the first of many irrtations. Soon that became offensive to my 17 yr old self esteem due to the fact that most of the instructors knew who I was. Well cutting class went ok until one day when during class she began to talk about wearing the best clothes and how shopping at stores like walmart and things meant that you probably wouldn't amount to much and that you weren't giving your all to school and what you wanted to become someday. Well after class that day I was pretty mad. Needless to say it took a couple weeks for me to actually go to that class again. I did all I could to avoid it. Well the next time I went I definetly regreted it. Carolynn began class like normal I even wore my name tag.. so I couldn't be harrassed. But eventually she started in on how we all needed to be giving 100% because her and all the other instructors were. Then she posed the question... does anyone think that we aren't giving our 100%? or something to that effect.. of course no one said anything... I sat at the back and was shaking my head ( I think it was an involuntary movement) of course by the time I notice I was shaking my head so did she... poor woman didn't even stand a chance.. she asked me ( not even able to remember or see my name tag from that distance) if I thought that they weren't giving their 100% and and if so to share an example.. so I did.. I told her that if she was really giving her 100% then why didn't she know my name and then I went on to later list someother things which she didn't believe. It was a brief agruement, and then she gave the class a break... she pulled me aside and said that she wanted to show me how wrong I was about the things I had told her.. she grabbed my arm to pull me into the office and show me and I told her "no" that I already knew she could look at it and get back to me but she insisted and pulled me in there anyways then told my two friends standing by to go away and shut the door in their faces. Well much to her dismay I was right and she was wrong ( triumph at last; ahhh I love being right) well she promptly fixed the mistakes and decided to quit making an example of me everywhere I turned. Needless, to say on graduation day when the instructors all line up and to hug you and tell you congrats.. she wasn't there but was out sick.. lucky me!

HAPPY YEAR YEAR!

It's that blessed time of year again. The time of year that we get to reset, make new goals, take inventory of all that we have accomplished over the last year. See how far we have reached to make our dreams a reality. I have to say for myself I believe that I am living the dream, my small family and I have done alot to say the least. My hubby of almost six year should be able to finally finish up school this next year. He is working for a really good company right now, and is doing really well at his job. We have two beautiful children who are learing and growing so much everyday, we actually have one that is fully potty trained... (goal for next year... have both potty trained) I am still working but intend to be working from home next year. All in all I would have to say that this year we have been truly blessed to be able to do so much, sometimes as I reflect on things I wonder how we were able to do so much but I know that all things are possible if we put our minds to it. I love this time of year, first with giving thanks, then with the birth of our savior, followed by being able to start fresh. I would have to say that life is good.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

My baby is two!

My baby is 2!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it! It really doesn't feel that long ago... but alas Cait turns two today. So allow my to indulge in remenicing just a little bit. If you ask Caitlynn... she will tell you that she's the baby. She is very mommy aware... if I am holding anyone else's baby she will drop what ever she is doing, to make sure that eveyone knows that that's her Mommy!... errrr... kinda cute I know but also kinda frustrating she gets so mean sometimes with other small children and or babies. I guess for now she IS the baby of our family and when that blessed time comes that she no longer will be the baby then we will have to address this issue more fully.

Cait was 6 lbs 2 ounces when she was born.. she was just sooo tiny and cute!

Here are a couple of pictures... hope you all enjoy!

Writer's Workshop!

A Family Christmas Traditions that we started...

I actually ripped the idea off of my sister in law. Every year she takes her kids to get a picture with santa. They then take it home and they have this really cute book with all the years in it. The front of it they cut out so that they can see that years picture in it. They display the book in their front room all through out Christmas time, and you can see how much her kids have grown each year. Its really cute. Sooo... I decided that we would do the same. Ammon's first picture with santa was when he was 6 months old. And yes for those of you who are wondering, he did smile. I can't actually claim I have ever experienced a "bad santa picture" though this is only our fourth picture. The down part is that Cait never smiles. But theres always next year I guess!

Wordful Wednesday Gymnastics!

My sister in law has started her own gymnastics program. I am helping her coach a few days a week. As I used to coach gymnastics ( oh so long ago, before my kids) well they are both learning alot and are loving it. They get to expand their energy, and they are also learning to tumble correctly with out getting hurt.

Ammon loves the bar best mostly because he likes to think that he is spider man, and can climb anything and so forth...

Either way these pics turned out way to cute not to post on here! And I am sure there will be more to come.

Wordful Wednesday!

Ammon prepares to jump. We went to the dino museum and there are some pretty big rocks to jump off of. And well since my son thinks that he is spiderman like 95% of the time.. he decided what the heck... jumping off this sure looks fun!

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Well what more can I say.. If I were a kid I think I would have jumped too! lol!

The True Spirit of Christmas!

For those of you who know me well, you know how much I love Christmas time. It is absolutely my favorite time of the year! I love the goodies, decor, caroling(even though I don't sing well or harmonize well with my hubby). I think my most favorite part though is giving gifts. I love to think of things all year long that I can do for others during this time of year. With money so tight sometimes I wonder how I can make it all happen but every year I find a way.

I think of the gift that our savior gave us. His life. It definetly puts things in perspective. All the hustle and bustle and holiday shopping that is done. It makes me stop and think often of how the savior would be if he were here with us. I love this time of year mostly I think due to the compassion that I feel for those around me. Those close, and those that need help, those that are far away,and those that I am not even aware of that I have touched their lives in someway or another. Christmas time can definetly be stressful if you let it. But I know that by letting the savior by apart of our lifes, it takes that all away.

There’s Christmas in the home and church,

There’s Christmas in the mart;

But you’ll not know what Christmas is Unless it’s in your heart.
The bells may call across the snow,

And carols search the air;

But, oh, the heart will miss the thrill Unless it’s Christmas there.

(Taken from a talk given by Pres. Monson)

Remember that we have all been given compassion and love at some point in our lives. Remember how you felt when it was given and give a true gift this Christmas; Love!

Know that we are all children of God, that he loves us all; and that someday we will all have to return and tell all that we have done, and it's not our jobs, and how much money we made, or what we were able to buy that is important. Its the time we took to help those around us, whether in own families, or around the world. Our thoughts, our actions, our intents of our hearts.

I am Flat!

You know it's going to be a good day when you wake up and get ready earlier than normal, so you can get to the store and get your shopping done, you load the kids and go to back out and realize that you have a flat tire!

sigh

yes! this was my day yesterday and bless my husband who finally came to my rescue after his meetings at work were over.. two hours later mind you.

Lastly thank goodness that walmart repairs tires I was able to shop and get my tire fixed at the same time, so I was much later in getting home and the kids were onrey because they were hungry. But no harm done.. all is well. And today has been better.

What you've all been waiting for....

Ok here is your last chance to catch a glimpse of 5 tips to help you survive Thanksgiving....

1- Be on time... and be prepared.. ladies I have already addressed this one.. (LATE LARRY) need I say more?

2- If you are reading this on Monday night its too late give up now.. you will be fighting other late shoppers to get your turkey dinner trimmings!

3- I am stealing this idea from my vt companion... if your families that are visiting or if you are visiting them and they drive you nuts..... come up with Family bingo... ( think of things that will always happen in your familyand mentally mark them off) make sure you bring rewards! It doesn't have to be bingo but something else that will help pass the time and help you keep your sanity.

4- If leaving town be sure to do laundry and other nessecary things in advance so you aren't rushing out the door and leaving behind a messy house, it's the worst to get home from a trip and not only have to put away all you brought with you and then some, but then to have to get to work cleaning your house you gladly tore up in order to pack in a rush!

5- Be Happy! no body like Sally Sour. Thanksgiving is almost here and well it is a time to be Thankful! So count your blessing put on your happy face, eat well and enjoy the holiday!

Fun Sunday Activities to keep your kids busy!

One Sunday after church and before nap time I was busy trying to get dinner partly ready(aka home made rolls) well the kids kept bothering me and driving my crazy while Aaron laid on the couch due to tiredness... so I finally came up with a bright idea and told the kids that they needed to play doctor with daddy and I gave them and ace bandage to help their daddy get better... Well I think that these pics speak pretty well for themselves... and well I did get things finished in the kitchen and there was an aweful lot of giggling going on the other room. Moral of the story, give them and inch and they will go a yard..er..something like that right?

My weekly writting assigment.

My weekly writing assignment: I am trying this writting assigment thing out so bear with me and I am early this week, normally to be posted wed. nights!
I remember when…
For those, of you who read my blog you know that the first 18 months of my marriage my husband was in Iraq. Well, I consider myself to be a fairly religious person, and I prayed daily (if not more) that my husband would come home safe. The first few months he was there were very hard. Communications were few and far between we could only write letters and those only take about two weeks or more to get. Needless to say that as time progressed we were able to e-mail and do more phone calls even at the end we were able to see one another on a web cam. At any rate he had probably been gone something like eight months or a little more, and I had been able to chat with him online the night before, it was then that he told me that he would get on there again the next day about the same time (didn’t really matter the time to me I had a laptop and it slept with me, so I knew when he was online) well the next day came and I wait, it was evening and I wait and waited and waited. I finally grew tired and went to sleep. After a couple of hours I awoke with such alarming clarity that something was wrong… I checked online wondering what was going on and why he hadn’t gotten on like he had promised to do… nothing. Just one big sinking pit feeling in my stomach, I tried to go back to sleep but each time I was met with such horrible dreams that I just couldn’t sleep. I finally got down on my knees and began to pray, I don’t know that I have ever prayed so hard in all my life. Well finally I was able to feel the peace I needed and went to bed (at this point 4 am) I woke at 7 am and looked to see if he was online and nothing. By 9:30 am I had to leave to go to work and so I decided to call my sis in law and tell her about my night. That I was really worked up and worried, well right as I called her my husband popped up online. He told me how sorry he was that he hadn’t been able to get online that he had been called out on a mission last minute because the gunner on the first mission and gotten hit by some shrapnel and they had to come back to get a replacement for him. So they had gotten my husband out of bed to replace the first guy. Out on their second mission, they came across another road side bomb and they had to do security things were pretty bad. They finally completed their mission and came back to camp. No wonder I had felt so worried. Sheesh! I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and that what could have been a very bad situation for my husband the Lord was there watching over him. I never really knew how in tune I was to such feelings before then. I do know now. Thankfully the Lord watched over him and the guys in his unit; every single soldier in his unit came home safe, a few had some injuries and things like that but they all came home alive. I am so thankful for the sacrifice our troops and their families make on our behalf.