... is everybody here?

Change the title

2010-11-04T11:45:00.001-07:00

Maybe I should rename this blog:

is anybody here?

Stitches for Halloween

2010-10-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

See that big mole under Ben's chin....

He got it removed on Thurs.

He was very brave.

Back to school

2010-08-23T21:50:00.001-07:00

Can you believe Ben is already in 4th grade and Roxy is in 2nd. I can't.

Lil' slugger

2010-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Baseball season actually ended at the end of June, but these pics are so cute I thought they were worth sharing.

Mom- I have a 5x7 for you, I just have to get around to mailing it.

24th of July celebration

2010-07-26T11:09:00.001-07:00

At the face painting stand Roxy wanted tire tracks across her face.

Our ward primary had a float, Ben rode his bike along side it. If you click on each picture they get bigger.

Do you see Roxy kind of squished in the middle?

Me, my mom, and sisters Robyn and April walked the 5k in the morning. April is the one in the tank top and she is 5.5 months pregnant with a girl.

Last Christmas...2009

2010-07-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

POST em!

2010-04-27T10:50:00.001-07:00

Hello!!! Where are the hawaii pix?

Benji"s pinewood derby race!

2010-03-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Ben's first pinewood derby race. He won 2nd!!!!!!

I love the intense look on both Ben and Roxy's faces.

Ben's car is the one in the middle, you know the one in the front :)

If you click on this picture and make it bigger, you'll love Ben's face.
Getting his certificate, not only 2nd place, also "most sleek".

Cute Baby

2010-02-16T10:36:00.001-08:00

So I know I sent you guys this picture but I wanted to post it on the blog so you can look at it as much as I do! Is he cute?? What a good profile. Dad said with all these pictures he is going to come out saying "Paprazzi"!! I have another appt today but I don't know if she is going to do another ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat or just check me out. I don't know, I have just been so blessed to have such a wonderful Dr that takes such good care of us!

2010-02-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is what 40 years'll do to you!

Watch out!
Oh, my goodness! It's the same hair-do!!

2010-02-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here are my beauty queens with me.

2010-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Daddy/daughter Ball

2010-02-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

Last Sat night at the kids school there was a daddy/daughter Ball. We were house/babysitting for the Trapnell's at the time, so these are pics of Roxy coming down their stairs to meet her daddy.

Doesn't she look old? If you click on the picture you can see it bigger.

She had a matching tie for him and he had a corsage for her. So cute!
She is showing him that the tie matches her dress.

hoarders

2010-01-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

I don't see the promise pictures of the hoarding. How is there going to be an intervention with no evidence??

Gobble, gobble

2009-11-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

Pretty please

2009-11-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Would somebody please share something from your life with me?

Katie, pix of your house, Am, halloween pix, anybody?

Halloween

2009-11-11T09:23:00.001-08:00

This is what the kids wore to school. They were studying vikings and egytians, can you tell. We bought Ben's vest in the ladies dept at Target. Funny huh?

Here are our pumpkins, and the neighbor kids who carved with us. Ben's is the first one, it is a witch's face in the moon, and roxy's is the bat.
These are the neighbor kids with us, we drove to the nearest bunch of houses, since our street is so spread out.

On halloween night ben choose to be the Joker, his costume from last year instead of a viking.

Trick or treating at my moms house. They wished they could have also gone to Grammy and Papa's.

It's not even Halloween yet...

2009-10-28T20:36:00.003-07:00

and it's already been a busy week.

These are pics from Blaine and Roxy's big date night on Saturday. They went to a place called Cornbelly's. It is a little Halloween carnival thingy at Thanksgiving Point. They had a great time.

What a great shot of her on the blow up tramp they had!
They had to wear these glasses in the fun house they went into. I love Rox's expression in this photo.
The same night, Ben and I went on a big date to a dance show called Thriller. It was really fun. He even got his pic taken with a zombie!
It was at the U of U in a place without very good parking, so we took the train up. He loved the ride, it turned out to be a major part of our date. He thought of Papa often while on the train :)

I think we look really alike in this photo.
On Mon and Tues of this week Benji got to spend the day with a group called the Young Americans. They are a song and dance group that travel the world performing for kings and presidents and such. They had a workshop at the school and Ben got to miss class and then on Tues evening they put on a show. It was fantastic. I can't believe the number of songs and dances they learned and put together in two days.

At one point they had dance solos for select students, this is a shot of Ben break dancing. He even did a back flip, he was AWESOME! He performed in front of so many people.
He also got to say a line, he introduced the upcoming performance. Keep in mind there were almost two hundred students in this show and he got TWO individual things to do. Some people only participated in the group things. It was nice for us that the Young Americans recognized his natural talents.
The next two shots are of some of the group dances they did.

He is in the middle of this one (in case it's hard to tell)

This girl is one of the cast members of Young Americans, during the training process she and Ben really hit it off. After the show we were looking for her in the crowd to take a pic with her and Ben, but when we found her, before we could ask, she asked for one, and her friend took a pic of them together for her to keep as well. Ben really has an amazing personality. These dancers meet so many people and kids, the fact that she wanted to remember him personally, really says a lot about Ben. They exchanged addresses and will be pen pals. Yeah, she is like 20 years old.
And sadly, that brings us to today.

This sad, sad pic was taken during the time Roxy was waking up from her surgery. You can see the fear and confusion in her face, I hate seeing her like this.

She was at the Orem hospital, they were great. You can see how they gave her bunny bear all the same treatment she had. When it was time for them to take her back, they wheeled her back in a wagon to make it fun. They even brought me a blanket and pillow while I waited for her. I thought they had tremendous bed side manor, then when we got home and I was looking through the paper work, I found a get well soon card, signed with a personal note by all the nurses who worked with her. How great is that?

Well, tomorrow Ben has dental work to get done, then all the Halloween stuff is coming up this weekend, so I'm sure I'll be posting again soon.

2009-10-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

Roxy's field trip

2009-10-13T20:31:00.003-07:00

Roxy's class went on a field trip to the zoo on Monday, I came along to help out.

I can't get over how cute she looks in her school uniform.

This was our group. They look innocent enough, but holy smokes, it was a lot of work keeping track of them.
Roxy is a bit smaller than an adult female gorilla.

2009-10-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly what the color looks like, but it shows the basic idea.

Sunday dinner in the living room.

What's it like in AZ today?

2009-09-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

This is what it's like in Mapleton:

That is snow on the trampoline. Crazy!

Snow!!! on the mountain tops.

it's time

2009-09-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

I recommend double clicking on these pics to see them better.

and it's time to post pics of Benji's baptism day

Hombre is eightre

2009-08-12T23:24:00.001-07:00

Bahama Mama

2009-07-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Poor Bentley, we hadn't told her yet that she didn't get to come with us.

We had such a great time on our trip~ We NEVER would have been able to go if it hadn't been a free trip since we nearly had to take a 2nd out on our apt just to pay for food. SOOOOO EXPENSIVE. SOOOOO nice though. We feel so blessed to have won! Our pictures don't do it justice. To get the appropriate amount of jealousy, you should google the hotel. It's called The Atlantis.

This is another part of the resort by the marina. We had a really fun night one night eating down there and walking around the multi million dollar yauts that we oh so amazing!!! The boats you see here literally look like dingys compared to all the ones that were there. The blur in the last picture is a bird. :) they were all over at the marina.
This is the ceiling in the lobby when we check in. The whole resort was just as amazing it is design and decor- so great!

This is the top of the aquarium called "the dig". It was supposed to replicate the lost city of Atlantis. Inside the aquarium, they had some of the most amazing fish and ocean life. They had built it with amazing artifacts and pieces to resemble Atlantis. They had some MantaRey fish in it that were at least 10 feet in diameter. AMAZING. We walked down in the aquarium every night before going to bed.

Part view of the HUGE MantaRey inside "the dig"

Here is one of the many many walls of the aquarium. Beside it, my hot husband.

More of the beautiful grounds and fountains around the resort.

They had a private acoustic beach concert for us the night we got there. Justin Moore is an up and coming country star apparently, he sang.

It was open bar, thank goodness...

This was our room. Our view looked out over a lagoon that had about 15-20 sting rey swimming it it. It was awesome!!

Two of the MANY water slides there went right through the shark aquarium. You can see the tube behind Cody in this picture. Cody was brave enough and in less of a fragile condition to go on it.

So many of the hallways and corridors were just so pretty. This one was all white. The tile in it was shimmery and so pretty.

One of the beaches from the hotel. The water was absolutely beautful and perfect temp for swimming.

One of about 20 different pools. None of them looked alike and they all had something like a waterfall or slide or artifact or something to make them unique.

We got to go the the Reba concert one night. We met her right before the show. They took our picture with her but I haven't downloaded it yet. I ll add it when I do.

They had a really neat 4th of July show on the beach. The fireworks were set off from a ship out in the ocean. It was great. We watched them from the water. They had cool bands come out on a big stage and dancing and picnic tables all set up for the show. It was really cool. The Dallas Cheerleaders preformed a couple of times. My cute husband is so sweet, he was really embarrassed when I ran up to take their picture.

They took us back to the airport in a limo. What service. It was a great trip and we have a million more pictures but this takes so long to post them so I just gave the highlights.

All about Roxy

2009-05-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Roxy graduated on Thurs night (we understand Syd did too!) It was a cute program, Roxy was very proud of herself, and we were proud of her too.

Her teacher, Ms. Parkins. We love her sooo much.

Then, tonight she lost her first front top tooth. She has lost four on the bottom already, so this is the first top tooth. Very exciting! It's a little sad for me though; my baby losing those cute little pearl baby teeth.

Five more sleeps till she's SIX!

Trying to make some lemmonaid

2009-04-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is the trailer I got for free. It looks pretty good from this side.Not so good from this side.Even worse from the back.
There are lots of goodies on the inside that are in perfect shape.

Every thing works. Everything folds down or up for storage of sleeping. I'm so excited by the challenge. I found some free siding and other free goodies. I'll keep you posted on the proses. I cant wait till we can go camping together.

Please send me some progress on your project!

2009-04-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

As usual, I put everything in reverse order. Do you think I'll ever learn how to do this?
Anyway...here are some fun pix from the last 2 months. Enjoy the memories.

Our new home...maybe literallly...if things don't improve around here.

On the Cruise...oh, dear!! Boys, reallly?

Wrestling on the asphalt? I never did know what prompted this rampage.

On our way to the "Surprise" Cruise...stopping off at Rich and Merrilee's.

Cute, cute cheerleaders!

Are these the three most beautiful women in the world?

Easter 2009...we were all sad that BC, TJ, BB, and RJ didn't join us for the first time in years.

Katie's ward Easter Egg hunt...complete with a visit from the EB.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll continue to be old. But at RealAge.com I'm MUCH younger than I think. That's nice.

My point, however, is what in the world is someone my age doing dressing up like the Easter bunny??

Ben says I look younger in this costume...I'm going to try very hard to take that as a compliment. :)

Blaine and Ted's excellent adventure

2009-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

I won tickets to the Coachella Music Festival this year on the radio. I was very interested in some of the bands playing, but not so interested in camping with thousands of strangers and sharing outhouses with them for three days. So I thought Blaine should go and invite Ted. But Jack showed up instead.

What good kids I have...

2009-03-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we all had the chance to go to the Draper Temple open house. It was so nice to have all of our family in the celestial room together.

Afterwards in the cultural hall next door they had an open house, lots of people were getting their pics with Christ, so naturally the kids wanted one also.

Ben got signed up for baseball the other day, it hasn't started yet, but he is very excited. Can you tell?
Benji is such a good, loving, thoughtful boy. This morning he got up around 8 and kept himself entertained for awhile. But by 10 when he was lonely, instead of just waking me and Roxy up, he brought us breakfast in bed. Seriously, he is wonderful.

After our nice breakfast and a couple of cartoons, we decided to go do some service. The other day we walked to Walmart and noticed along the way there was a lot of trash. So today we filled 2 whole garbage bags. What good kids to be willing to spend their Saturday morning picking up litter.

Notice Roxy's shirt.

Just some pictures.

2009-02-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Roxy's school picture, doesn't her hair look so much like Syd's?

Ben being Ben:

And my personal favorite....

I GET to have TODAY

2009-01-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

I have had too many friends in the not so distant past that have gone through unimaginable trials relating to their kids. In the blog world you can read about them and then you read about their friends that can relate and so on. It's hard to see how much sadness and unexplained death and grief is out there and in my very close friends lives. I feel so helpless! I want to say comforting words but have nothing that will dull their pain. Some of the feelings I have heard mentioned is "Why do bad Moms and teenage Moms and Moms that don't even want their children get to keep their kids and I have to lose mine?" I feel so badly for these Moms that have to ask these questions! I have no answers to these questions. The only One that knows is our Heavenly Father. In my daily prayers I often get stuck in vain repetition "nourish and strengthen our bodies" or thank thee for "today". Really? Today? What am I saying? What am i really thankful for? I want everyone that reads this to know that I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that I know our Father in Heaven has a plan for us. Today, I am thankful for TODAY! I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for TODAY! I complain about my trails that are legitimate sometimes...But I have 3 beautiful, healthy, smart and loving children that I GET to raise. I GET to be a Mom and I love that calling. I hesitate when I say this because I feel like it may come across as insensitive to those that have lost children but I think they would rather hear me saying how incredibly blessed I feel to have my kids rather than what a pain it was fighting with Sydney today. I don't know why some get called home sooner than others but I do know that I am thankful for TODAY and the fact that tomorrow I will be tired when my alarm goes off because I GET to wake up and listen to Sydney whine about me getting the tangles out of her hair. I get to clean up the toys after Joseph destroys my house. And when Parker pukes on my carpet and poops in her pants, I GET to be the one to clean it up. I am thankful for TODAY.

Brace Face!

2009-01-21T13:24:00.001-08:00

We look like such NERDS!

Sure? or Unsure?

2009-01-14T15:34:00.001-08:00

Christmas Decor

2009-01-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

I do realize I was the ONLY one to not post my decorations and I honestly feel awful about it! Instead I thought I'd post some "Winter" pictures. We went back to Traci's cabin and had so much fun as just our family of 5. We played in the snow, hiked down to the natural bridge, played games and went "exploring" in the back yard. Our little family needed a quiet vacation like this! I love you all and, again, I'm sorry about the lack of decor pictures.
Love, Amanda

ps. Is 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches what you would call excessive for one day? I had them for pre-breakfast, pre-lunch and post dinner/pre-bed. My hips seem to be fine so I'm thinking...a moment as a taste, forever on my waist? Unless you're Mom because in that case my waist is right below my under-wire. :) I Love you ALL! Goodnight!

Commandeered

2009-01-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

The family couch blog has officially been taken over. I thought since it was a failed attempt at a family blog that Cody and I would use it for ours! It's only fair since he set it up. I will try and update it as much as I can. Love you!

Pray for Hormones

2009-01-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well I guess no woman wants this except me- more hormones?? I got some blood work done and my hormones, both pregnancy and progesterone, are a little on the low end. Cody and I feel strongly about this pregnancy but we ask for faith and prayers that the hormones will rise quickly to what they need to be. Thanks! We love you! And TJ, how did you get that baby tracker thing on here last time? Can you do it again for us? My LMP was Dec 3 and my due date is technically Sept 11 but because of the grim thought of that day, I am going to say it is the 9th....I want to have it be 09-09-09 :) Anyway, we had a spiritual experience with Elder Worthland's last conference message. It is on the principle of compensation. He says that the Lord compensates us for our losses and the trials that we have to endure that are outside of our will or control. We know this to be true more than ever now- the month we lost our first baby is the very month that we will be having this one, almost to the very day. We love our Heavenly Father and are so thankful for the tender mercys He gives us. Love you all!

Christmas with Blaine's family

2009-01-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas fun.

Ben opening a lego bionicle. He is a whiz at putting them together.

Roxy had the biggest present under the tree. It was a really big stuffed pony from Ben. He was such a good sport about getting her something so big when he knew she only got him slippers so without Ben knowing, Blaine snuck a pony for him in with Roxy's. (Plus they were 50 % off)
Blaine surprised me for the first time in nine years, he got me an ipod. I seriously had no idea. It was actually pretty fun being surprised.
Some Christmas love:

Santa brought Roxy a new shirt that was perfect for her, it says less is more and has a recycle symbol on it.
Every year Santa brings Blaine hobnobs from England, then he shovels them into his mouth.
On Christmas evening we chatted with the Arizona crew via Internet. How very James Bond/Agent Smart of us.
The day after Christmas we went to Ben and Diannia's house and had dinner with Aunt Deanne and their fam. Here is Roxy and Finn laying on the love sac together.
Deanne and Chad
We had a great Christmas this year, everything was perfect. The kids really remembered Christ well even with all the Santa stuff. We hope you all had a great time too.

Merry Christmas from Dad and Mom

2008-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I have uploaded about 10 pictures of our Christmas decorations TWICE!! Both times, right in the middle of the process, my computer goes blank! I promise you it was not my fault. But I have been working on it for over an hour now and must stop. I will try again after my errands. You may be seeing the pictures on New Years', but I wanted you to know I did try.
Love,love,love, Mom/Grammy

Merry Christmas from Mom and Dad!

2008-12-24T09:08:00.001-08:00

My Santa collection in my kitchen clock. The top on is a Jim Shore that Katie and Cody gave us this year. The others are my little, round Santas collected over the years. The "Believe" sign is new this year and will stay up there...it is not just for Christmas.

The original creche and nativity that G'ma and G'pa built for us many, many years ago. It sits on the piano.

Family Room fireplace corner...I LOVE the mantle. We had our YSA FHE last night and lit all the candles. It looked so pretty!

Our little tree from our apartment living...2004...it has the family decorations on it in the Family Room.

Fireplace decorations

Dad's village...added a popcorn popping vendor this year

Celebrated Dad's and Joe's birthdays together this year! Fun times!

Our absolutely darling Papa and Grammy signs on the mantle.

The good part of snow.

2008-12-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Today we had a true Christmas vacation day.

Ben rode his snowboard some of the time and sledded some of the time.

What a cute snow bunny!

Benji flies by!

Uphill, uphill, uphill

Just takin' a little break.

Still just takin' a little break.

Group shot, my sister Katie was with us.

We had a fun, fun time, but sledding is a lot harder than I remember as a kid.

Late Christmas

2008-12-23T09:12:00.001-08:00

I apologize, but the gift from us is going to be late! :( I have been working a LOT lately which is a HUGE blessing but it has made it nearly impossible to finish your gift and get it to the post office! do forgive please! Merry Christmas eve eve.

Merry Christmas From The Zandts!!

2008-12-16T20:51:00.001-08:00

Oh Christmas Tree!

Thank you for our great ornaments! We put them on our tree as soon as we got it up. They were the first ones and only ones on it for about a week! Thank you!

The bells are hung by the doorway with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon will come here.......and buy our New Mexico house and pay of our student loans and get us a house here.....I am glad G'ma made our stockings stretchy! Thanks for the bells, Dad. We LOVE them!

These letters mom gave to me a while ago and I love them. We hung them on the wall last year but I like them on this shelf better I think. There are some other trinkets on this shelf too......limited apt space.....I am decorating still mom.

Here is a little guy from Germany that Walt brought back. You put insense in the middle of him and when you light it the smoke comes out of his mouth and he looks like he is smoking. Cute. For the record, all insense stinks.

More from Germany. The little windmill turns around on it's own when you light the candles underneath it. Cody literally spent DAYS gathering the right materials and fixing it so it would spin. It is pretty cool but the effort that went into it is cooler. Nutcracker, also authentic Germany.

I got this lantern at Ikea. I really love it. I think mom bought it for me- I know she was with me which leads me to believe she is the one that bought it......sounds about right. Thanks mom!

Cody got the whole Willow Tree Nativity set for me for our first Christmas. It is definately the thing I look the most forward to setting up each year. I just LOVE it! It is so beautiful! This picture doesn't do it justice!

Here is a closer look at Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus. I love how tender Joseph looks.

Finally, a decent snowfall.

2008-12-16T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hooray for snow!

Christmas at our house

2008-12-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our Christmas house:

Peek inside our window and see Santa Clause.

This is our pretty tree with red and white decor.

Santa looks on...
Behind Santa is my favorite little nook in the house.

I love to sit right here, read, and listen to Christmas music.

This little table makes me so happy. I love the Santa boot Mom Dickerson got me a few years ago.
This is where we put all our kid style ornaments. Next year I want to get an actual tree for these decorations. Notice my new Christmas gnome from Kate.

It's probably hard to see here, but the little kids on this pillow look like Ben and Roxy to me.

There's our bells and our magical key that lets Santa into our house.

Now please let me see your decorations.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

This is too funny. I found it off one of my friends blogs.

Halloween

2008-11-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have been patiently waiting for halloween pix of Ben and Roxy.....I am no longer patient. I want to see them!!!

Hobo pics

2008-10-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

We went out to Vivian park, just up Provo Canyon. We found an old railroad car that looked really cool. The light was starting to go away but we were able to get a couple of great ones before we left.

We have been blessed with such beautiful kids.

Please click on the pics. to see the detail.

Blaine- call COCO

2008-10-26T21:00:00.001-07:00

COCO's B-day

2008-10-26T13:15:00.001-07:00

I kept the crete paper tradition alive! He loves it.

Cody LOVES The King of Queens show. I got him the complete 9 series collection. I also made him choc. covered strawberries and got him a mondo case of his favorite gum....Trident Tropical Twist. He got hooked on this gum when we were dating because I always used to chew it. :)

Isn't this a cute picture of mom and dad. Parker is pretty cute too. This is at San Tan Flat. It is a western resturant that Cody wanted to celebrate his birthday at.

A very patient Joe, waiting for the time to light the candles and cut the cake.

Burger at San Tan FLats...$10, Decorations and treats for the tables....$40, Having fake smiles on after fighting to get all your kids in a family picture...priceless.

Cody and I at San Tan Flat- fun night!

There are lots more pictures that I will post. I have to get to church now. We wish everybody could have been there. The next time you guys come into town, we will have to come here. It was really fun atmosphere. Love you all!

Vivian park

2008-10-19T22:55:00.001-07:00

click on these if you want to see the detail, my boss is letting me use his million dollar camera.

we are so lucky to live so close to such a beautiful place.

Roxy wasn't so sure about climbing on the old train but she got the hang of it.

Doesn't it look like the earth is just cradling her?

No caption, I just love this pic of her.

She will center her chi anywhere.

looks like he could fall asleep.

Looks like he lives in the rail road car.

TJ caught the last few seconds or the sun before it finished kissing our mountains.

Sometimes he's more beautiful than he is handsome.

I was tying an apple onto some fishing line that she found cause we all know how fish love apples.

I think I'll call her Grace.

Ben made his fishing pole out of a branch and some stringy bark stuff. Just like the Indians.

Crazy kids!

That is like sugar on sweetness.

They are sooooo unified.

Check out the pinto bean in her braces....hot!

He is stunning!

We always find them together. This is not a posed shot.

Link to my friends blog

2008-10-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Loralee, it is pregnancy loss rememberance day, check it by clicking here.

I love the new topper...very classy!

2008-10-14T16:02:00.001-07:00

Our great trip to Utah and Colorado...Oct. 2008

2008-10-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

We flew to SLC and Dad was (easily) talked into upgrading the rental car to a Cadillac Escalade!

Cody, Curtis, and Blaine had the rare priviledge of attending the Priesthood session in the Conference Center...Priesthood and ice cream...a General Conference tradition!!

We got tickets for Sunday afternoon session in the Conference Cntr. What a thrill to be there in the midst of the Saints and see President Monson.

Cody, Kate, Brookie, Curtis, Blaine, TJ

Uncle Cody is always right in the middle of the fun!

Ben and Roxy showed us their jack-o-lantern smiles! So darling!

We had fun at the Children's hands on Museum with Lincoln and Jackson. I really think Dad and Cody had as much fun as the boys did! Such kids at heart.

Lincoln turns 2 on Oct. 18th

Jackson was 3 on April 6th

Grammy trying to read to Lincoln

Cody, Curtis, Katie, Jackson, Lincoln painting

Papa woodworking with Lincoln

Papa woodworking with Jackson

Cody woodworking with Jackson

Had fun at the park with Jackson and Lincoln! They are such cute boys.

Had a fun time at Casa Bonita with Ted, Jenni, Jackson, and Lincoln. It brought back great memories of living in Arvada. Watching the divers made me wonder if that's where Blaine and Ted first decided to try diving.

Came home to a smiling Parker Kate!! What a joy!

We had a great trip and even though we all came home exhausted, we loved every minute of it.
Love,love,love,

Mom

PS...this post has taken me about an hour and 1/2 !!! I've got to be doing something wrong! There has to be a quicker way to do this. Somebody help me!! :)

Be careful what you wish for

2008-10-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

The other day we went to the zoo (Thanks Mom.) and for just a second I kinda thought it would be nice to be a turtle.

Now look at me

What a fun trip!!!

2008-10-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Don't ever tell Cody he can't fit inside a kid's pretend log! He'll prove you wrong!
Cody at the Children's Museum in Denver.

conference weekend

2008-10-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend together!

This is Blaine and the kids version of watching Conference.

They needed three ottomans to fit. When Cody stands in our house our ceilings look low.

Aaahh, so cute.

This was pretty much all we ate all weekend.

I seem to be going backwards...

2008-09-23T09:48:00.001-07:00

Well, you need to scroll down to the very end of my pictures and come back up backwards to get it the way I meant it to be.
Sorry.
There has got to be an easier way to do this than the way I just did. Good grief! This took forever!
But you are all worth it!!
I hope you enjoy the photos.
Thanks Blaine and TJ for sending all the pictures of you guys and the beautiful Fall colors.
Can't wait to see you!
Love,love,love,
Mom

Dad surprised me with a new rooster! Isn't it great? I love it. It is supposed to have a candle on the top, but I haven't decided what color yet. It sits regally on the island. Picture taken to show Parker's hairline. She wants to look like her Papa! :)

Sydney holding a screaming Parker.

Me in the "RS Pres" hat that Katie bedazzled for me!

"Hey, Papa! Do you want to color with me?"

Joe "working" with Papa in Papa's office.

Parker Kate trying to make sense of this toy...

Recent picture of Parker Kate. She is an absolute doll baby.

Sydney and her teacher. Teachers sure dress casual these days! But she is very nice.

Sydney on Grandparents' Day. Both Darlene "Grandma" and I "Grammy" joined Sydney at her school and had a fun day of crafts and cookies!

And tennis shoes?? We laughed so hard that day!! We were standing outside the Christopher Creek Branch looking like hillbillies with all the nicely dressed saints walking past us. Cody waits until there are people all around and then looks at Dad and says, "So, how was it being Stake President?" Oh, my goodness!!

Everytime I'd pass someone I'd say, "At least we're here!"

Can you believe your father went to Sacrament Mtg in a jean shirt and levis??

I forgot my clothes and had to wear Katie's sweat pants and Dad's shirt! :(

Our bathroom...when the sun is just right you can see a lovely silhouette of the person using it.

We went camping with Cody and Katie...Dad's Indiana Jones hat.

Sydney took a turn, too. Here she is reading a story to Aunt Kaw

Uncle Coco! You are sure bigger than Parker!

Sydney gets a story from Joe, too.

This is Joe reading to Dad...on his lap!

Here is Joe reading to, and tickling, Mom

Mom is trying to do this...

2008-09-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is Joe holding Parker. He was trying to read her a story, but she kept slipping down. Then he wanted to read everyone a story...on his lap!!! It was so funny.

This is Paul and Cody leg wrestling! Guess who won! :)

It's Fall!!

2008-09-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

More Roxy stuff

2008-09-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

She gets babysat by the next door nieghbor, who happens to be the mom of Roxy's best friend, Paige.
Tonight she wanted to go back over and play there again, I told her no to play at our house. I said they play there all morning and after school, so now when I'm home, play here. So I can hear her sweet little voice playing in the background.
And this is what she said to me:

Mom, can't you just make an audio recording of my voice?

Destiny or Tragedy

2008-09-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

I read that talk by Spencer W Kimball on Monday before I went in for the D&C. I enjoyed reading it but it confirmed more than anything of how blessed Cody and I have been through out own little tragedy. I have realized somethings that sound pretty cliche but have become quite real to us. Everyone's situations in life are their own. Not to say that people can't relate or sympathize by any means, but that people will and do react to every situation differently no matter how similar it is to someone else's. Cody and I have been really really sad with the loss of our pregnancy but we don't feel angry or bitter or that our situation is not fair. We know this is what we "signed up for" and said we could handle in this life. We feel like our trials are very minor compared to some things others have to endure. We have had some really peaceful moments between the two of us the last few days that can only come through loss. We feel closer than ever to each other and to the Lord. We are still going through some dark times and cry every day but we know we are blessed and comforted by our family and the Lord. Thanks for all your support and prayers. We love you all.
Love,
Kate and Cody

Just another Roxy thing to say

2008-09-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Last night I wanted to go for a walk and Roxy protested saying she would be scared without me. I reminded her Dad would be home and she's not scared with him. So she said, "Yeah, I'll be fine, I'm not alone. I'll be here with Dad, Ben and the Holy Spirit."

The colors are starting to change here.

2008-09-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

I'll try to take some pictures and post them. I just thought you would like to know our ave. temp is now about 75.

Roxy's first day of Kindergarten!

2008-08-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Roxy's first day, doesn't she look grown-up?

Luckily, the little girl with her is her best friend/next door neighbor. It makes me feel better that she has a bus buddy and they're even in the same class.

There she goes, if you look closly you can see my broken heart following the bus.

Our Itinerary:

2008-08-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Here are our plans so far:
Friday, Oct. 3
Depart Phx.@7:10 a.m. Arrive SLC @9:45 a.m.
Rent a car, go to RS Bldg., go to WriteWise headquarters
Be in Springville when Ben and Roxy get out of school, do something fun (you plan), all go to dinner when TJ gets off work (you decide where...fun, different, not too $$)
Katie and Cody stay with BC/TJ and Mom and Dad go to Fay's.
Saturday, Oct. 4
General Conference
General Conference
General Priesthood mtg/GNO with TJ, Kate, Mom
K and C stay in Springville or SLC ???
Sunday, Oct. 5
General Conference
All meet in SLC for picnic in a park in between sessions???
K and C stay with us
General Conference
???
Return car, airport by 8:
Depart for Denver@ 9:55 p.m.
How does that sound??
Can't wait!!! So excited!

Think about it...

2008-08-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the most profound statements I've ever read:
"We can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more."
Bruce C. Hafen April Conf. 2004

We Are Coming!

2008-08-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

So we booked our flight Monday and we are officially coming to see you guys...and the Prophet of course, in October! We are excited! Mom and dad are staying at her cousins in SLC and they said we are welcome to stay there too but if you have a spare piece of floor, one night we might want to come spend the night there to spend more time with you guys. If there is not room that is fine too cuz we are planning on everyone going out to dinner one of those nights too so we can hang out then. We are just excited to be coming! We will figure it all out when we get there. Love you!

Remember this?

2008-08-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

Here are Papa and Ben and Roxy playing in the dirt!

We are so anxious to see you again!

Mom's an author

2008-08-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is me with Robert Allen and Richard Paul Evans, both NYTimes Best Selling authors.

My book is almost finished.

We can't wait to see you again!

2008-08-25T17:28:00.001-07:00

Welcome baby Parker Kate!

2008-08-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't Parker Kate beautiful?

Big sister and big brother LOVE Parker! Darling shirts that Aunt Kaw made for them!

Amanda won't like this picture, but I think it is beautiful! She has since lost all but 5 lbs. of her baby weight and looks great!

Look at precious baby Parker Kate! One of her first and LAST quiet moments.

This is what we did saturday...

2008-08-24T20:13:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we hiked to a waterfall with my Uncle Dave and my brother Roger. We had a really fun time.

Isn't she the cutest hiker ever?

Ben put his face under the water, it is glacier water, so it was pretty cold. His face is priceless in this picture, don't you think?

Yes, that is me shooting a gun. Is it frozen over down there in Arizona?

Yes, it must be frozen over in hell.
My logic with letting him do this is two-fold.
First, I want to take away the curiosity and mystic, so he doesn't seek it out on his own.
Second, I want him to experience the power behind the gun and get a good healthy dose of respect.
I really am anti gun still. I just hope if we keep it in a controlled environment Ben won't seek it out with his buddies as he gets older.

Roxy with Ben's BB gun. So cute and so wrong all at once.

Later, I was cleaning my closet and came across my dress. Roxy was radiant in it.

So was Ben.

Blaine was just scary.

BIG BEN!!

2008-08-24T13:16:00.001-07:00

That is nuts how old Ben looks! I want to see Roxy's first day pix too! What a stud BEN!! I hope we can come see you guys for conference!

Second Grade.

2008-08-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

Check out what a big boy Ben looks like. Click here.

Best View Alien Baby Zandt

2008-08-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

Head at the top then the little arms and chubby blob belly in the middle

Cody calls this view "The Punisher"

2008-08-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Arm sticking out in the middle with the head on top and body on bottom....naturally

Baby Blob Zandt

2008-08-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

The face looking directly at you slightly slanted to the right- really hard to see at first.

I made it!!

2008-08-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I had a bit of trouble signing on but I am here now and ready to contribute!! We have our first OB appointment today and will be posting the latest picture of baby blob Zandt. The update is that it's heart is now fully formed, it moves it's limbs/buds- too soon to tell distinct gender parts yet. Thanks to Amanda we have a day by day calendar of what is happening with development each day. I am 9 weeks and 5 days today. I will be 10 weeks on Wednesday. I started feeling sick around week 6, but I have been known to be a squeek of a hypercondriack (SP) so any symptoms that I "could be experiencing", I am . Some dumb girl at this office I worked at the other day asked "how far along are you again? 5 months?" Thank you sweetheart. Apparently she was judging my term by the number of chins I have accumulated. Whatever. I hope she gets bad stretch marks on her face when she is pregnant! No I am not hormonal....that is how I really feel.
More to come!
love,
Katie

Whyyyyy?

2008-08-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Is it that you're afraid some crazy internet guy will see Parker's pics and steal her? We can make the site private.

Please, I'm begging you.

2008-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

This would be a great place to show us pics of our new family member. Tell me what Syd and Joe think, maybe even a pic of Syd holding her. Please, I want in.

fun with carnival cones

2008-07-17T20:50:00.003-07:00

Ben & Roxy & I built some carnival cones then threw balls at them, it was great.

Please use this as a form of communication. (not the carnival cones the blog site.) It's our best way to stay all up in your loving grill. Make a comment. Make a post. Make a big tower of plastic cups then knock it down.

I love you guys.

Fourth of July in Utah

2008-07-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Blaine and the kids got the tent and slept out on the parade route on Thursday night. They didn't get much sleep, but they had a ton of fun. It was weird for me being home alone. I couldn't believe how much energy the kids still had after such a long night. They insisted they weren't tired.

My sister Katie, my neice Kiersten, and Benji.

The kids went to my moms house after the parade, they stayed awake all day, then when she brought them back around 6 pm they crashed hard.

At stadium of fire

We saw the Blue Man Group and MILEY CRYUS! The kids LOOOVE her.
That's Roxy's face showing us she didn't like sitting so close to the fireworks, our seats were great for seeing the stage, but we really were covered in ash at the end.

There was a colonial village set up in downtown Provo, it was really neat we saw a lot of period items, including a full size replica of the Mayflower. It was much, much smaller than you'd expect.

There were a lot of workers at the village dressed up like olden times, it was cool. The village was next to a printing musuem. They had old press thingys of the Book Of Mormon.

Later, the kids rock climbed at the childrens village which was free downtown.

As you can see, we had a jam packed weekend of fun. I really love Provo during the 4th. The whole community comes together and celebrates in a big way.

I hope you all had as much fun as us.

4th of july

2008-07-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

What's everyone doing for the fourth?
We as usual, are going to the parade and Stadium of Fire.
I love, love, love Provo during the 4th.

I want to...

2008-06-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

I want to be part of the team but I don't know how to get my name under "Team Members"...

I think I'm In??

2008-06-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sydney's Pre-School graduation! Paul hiking in the desert. He also likes getting up at 4am to mountain bike before work! Crazy!

Joe is our sweet thug!

Taking a nap together! They really love eachother so much...when they sleep.

Kate and Me...keepin' it real...

Me and Parker. 8 months pregnant!

This blog world is so new to me and so confusing but I will try it out for the sake of the family I love so much!

Seven Peaks (around my hips)

2008-06-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Seven Peaks today, it was really fun. Here are some pictures.

If you look closely, their facial expressions are so the same.

I missed the shot where he was actually on the rope.

Yeah, I look huge, but at least I'm still doing it.

Roxy doing her famous poses.

The tent Roxy got for her birthday is welcome shade.

That's Ben coming out of the slide.

If you look closely you can see both of them in the tunnel.

It never gets any better

2008-06-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

I live in Arizona.
Like many states, Arizona is extremely diversified geographically.
We have mountains, pinetrees, lakes, rivers, snow, rain, and exquisite sunsets.
We also have deserts.
Sadly, that is what most people concentrate on.
Actually, the desert is what a lot of people move here for; what they love.
Me? I try not to think about the desert. I really hate the desert.
But that's where I live.
Many people move here from lush green states and immediately put
gravel and cactus in their front yards.
No!
The desert belongs in the desert. Leave it there. Go out and camp, have picnics, hike, do
whatever it is that draws you to the dry, rocky, desolate, creature infested terrain. But
there should be grass in your yard!
I will admit I enjoy a simple hike before a simple cook-out on the desert in the Spring when
it is cool and pleasant. I would never do it by myself, but with my family it is quite enjoyable.
Of course, any time spent with my family is the best o f life for me.
I was born and raised in Arizona and I have never gotten used to the heat in the summer.
It is summer now. And it is HOT. It is 114 degrees today. We are breaking all kinds of
records and there is a heat advisory out.
A heat advisory? They are advising us that it is going to be hot? We live in what they call the
Valley of the Sun. That means the sun positions itself directly over this valley and sits there
for 24 hours, 7 days a week, for 4 or 5 months of the year.
At night the only thing that changes is that it gets dark. The sun is still there, baking us.
Sometimes it's bad.
Sometimes it's worse.
But it never gets any better. Ever!
I hate the heat. I never get used to it. Every year I say, "Let's move!"
But we stay.
We stay because have my family is here.
We stay because this is where my husband has a job.
We stay...because this is home.
And actually, about November...it really will get better.

We be-log together

2008-06-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Blaine and I feel a little isolated here. We wish we were involved more in what's going on at the homestead. And sometimes we even wish we shared what's going on with us better.

Tah Dah...Blogger.

I have created this blog intending it to be a team blog. That means we can all be contributors. Each of you just need to make a sign on name. If you don't know how, you can call me and I can do it for you or walk you through it.

That way if Manda takes a cute pic of Joe and Rella kissing and wants us all to see it, she can post it. When Katie and Cody want to make any BIG announcements, they can if they want. And Mom can post itineraries to each and every family activity. (And maybe even a few sticker charts)

I really am grateful to be a part of this family and I believe this a way we can stay in touch and share our lives.

I hope you join me.