The New Normal

2011--My New Normal

2011-01-04T20:59:00.002-05:00

I've Been Thinking...........

A while back I changed the title of our blog. To tell you the absolute truth I really can't remember what it was before. Now it's titled, "The New Normal" That phrase has become a favorite mantra for me as I maneuver my way through the "hoods" as in Motherhood, Parenthood, Wifehood and every other "hood" possible to the imagination.
I've slowly began to realize that I may never be exactly what I was when I was 20 years old. And slowly, but surely, but really slowwwwwlllllyyyy....I am becoming okay with that. I'm understanding that having three kids will never be like it was to have one, and I'm fine with that. "The New Normal" helps me to understand that the craziness that most times exists within my world is not so different than that of anyone else.
We are all figuring out our "New Normal." (Especially me)
And that segways into the following. I am not a big New Year's Resolutions person. I never have been. I've tried to be, believe me, I have. I would describe anything I try to change in my life in the following analogy. Picture me as one large rubber band. I can be pulled, stretched and expanded in many different directions at once. And then, just as a rubber band would do, I either bound back to my original, comfortable, safe self, or I break and snap others in the process. Either way it's not a pretty process. So this year I'm looking at 2011 as my year to slowly stretch myself.
So here are the ways I WILL do that
1. I will participate in my wonderful friend's challenge titled, The Balanced Life (Can't wait, Thanks Chris!)
2. I will make nutrition a priority and will exercise 4-6 times a week.
3. I will stop drinking Diet Coke
4. I will treat my family with the love they all deserve
5. I will read one book to my girls each night before bed and take time to cuddle, hug, encourage and cry with them. The dishes can wait, the laundry will always be dirty, but little hearts are growing and they need me more!
6. I will severely limit my Internet time. I mean really, it's pretty ridiculous lately =/

So far, this is my list. It's enough for me right now. There are some little things and there are some BIG things. But most importantly there are "things" =).

Happy Goal Setting!

The Turkey Did It, A True Christmas Eve Miracle

2011-01-03T08:13:00.006-05:00

I LOVE this picture. More than any other family picture we've had in a while. It only took 5 tries, It's only the from the chest up and I think my wrists look pretty and thin (can't say the same for my hips/thighs), the girls were happy, Christmas was fast approaching, Brandon wore polar bear jammies and I was about to prep our Christmas Dinner Turkey....*insert scream* Okay, so truthfully the Turkey has nothing to do with the reasons why I LOVE this picture, but it is sadly connecting to those fleece polar bear jammies.

A little background....and an embarrassing truth to be told, I've never cooked a turkey. How could that be after 10 years of marriage, three children, a million ward parties and twice as many Holidays? I've been avoiding Mr. Turkey like the plague. I was intimidated, nervous and quite honestly a little grossed out. So this year I decided to face my fears and stuff the bird.

It started out innocent enough...I even remembered to defrost Mr. T several days before, and had read up on all the latest T cooking ideas. I decided on the brining method, but lack a pan large enough to drown Mr. T in the amount of salt water required. EVERYONE said a turkey bag would have the same desired effect. So, I washed Mr. T, cleaned his innards (we got to be fast friends...) and delicately brushed his surface with butter and sea salt. Then I prepped the bag, introduced Mr. T to his new abode and filled it with water. I had a roasting pan prepared to house the bag and the bird, and then, out of nowhere Mr. T threw me out like an old gold necklace. As I gingerly picked up the bag and began the delicate transfer to the roasting pan, the bag BURST. Now I don't mean sprung a little leak, yada yada yada. No, it exploded! And I, and said fuzzy polar bears were drenched in salmonella juices. The kitchen was truly flooded and the counter tops were swimming. And Mr. T, well Mr. T took pity on me and plopped right back into the clean kitchen sink, and that my folks is why this is a true Christmas Eve Miracle.

Eventually Mr. T and I made up through the rewashing, rebuttering and rebagging (trash bags are much sturdier, but not food safe my mother tells me...too late), and 13 hr brining. And then just moments before our guests rang the door bell Mr. T performed yet another miracle and released the timer. Hallelujah, I could hear the choir singing. Mr. T was quite beautiful and juicy if I do say so myself. I rather enjoyed him. And so, in the future and the Holidays to come I'll never forget this Christmas Eve Miracle or Mr. T., or washing my Christmas Eve Jammies on Christmas Eve so they can really be worn when they were meant to be.

The James Island Light Display

2011-01-02T22:22:00.002-05:00

The happy faces say it all. We had just spent the previous evening at the light display at James Island Park in Charleston, SC. It's become a favorite tradition, up to see the lights, a night over in a fun hotel (more fun for the kids....less fun for the parents trying to force the kids to finally fall asleep), and an exciting drive home full of anticipation for Christmas the next morning.

The light festival is absolutely amazing, a child's holiday paradise. You can just drive all the way through the park and enjoy the light displays. But no visit is complete without a trip to Winter Wonderland and Santa's Village. While there you can roast marshmellows over numerous fire pits, brave scaling the climbing wall, visit Santa, ride a carousel, and take a journey through the lit-up forest in the Santa Train. So fun!

Waiting to see Santa. Notice Ellie's "worried" expression....and then.....

Santa!!! So okay, this picture is actually a few weeks prior to our Charleston Santa encounter. Yes, we made the poor child do it more than once. Three times to be exact and each time came with the same response. But I thought this one was classic, just look closer at Santa's expression. "What did I get myself into...."

So Remember That List.....

2010-10-28T20:46:00.006-04:00

The one that's 8 years long....well I began to labor on it today......and I have photographic proof....

Before: In all its chaotic beauty.......

And then a short 40 mins......two mini freak outs.......and one awesome discovery (missing pool bag) later........

AFTER:

Ahhh......peaceful, calm and serene. Since it's the only space in the house that currently is worthy of those characteristics, I may just unwrap my sleeping bag and crash there.

Next on my never-ending list...............................................................The frightning mess above the washer and dryer

In other news, I voted today (don't forget!)....took the kids to the park...seriously it was 90 degrees outside! Had us some addicting Chik-Fil-A food, and then enjoyed the Coligny trick-O-treat night. Did I mention that I woke up for 5am Yoga? It's off to bed for me!

So Remember That List....

2010-10-28T20:28:00.006-04:00

The one that is 8 years long!

I began laboring on said list today. And just to prove it I've provided photo documentation....

If you are at all quesy you might want to shield your eyes

BEFORE: in all its disgusting beauty.....

Just 40 short minutes later....................and two minor breakdowns...................and 1 really awesome discovery (missing swim toys....still warm enough to use them!!!!)........................

AFTER: So peaceful and calm looking I may just curl up there to sleep tonight. It happens to be the cleanest space in the house..

2010-10-27T15:25:00.002-04:00

La, lalalal La laaaaaa....and the diploma goes to....

2010-10-27T14:58:00.006-04:00

ME!!!!

That's right folks...after eight LONG years (11 if you count my original start date) I have finished by Bachelor's degree from BYU! I'm sure that I could pretty much be a brain surgeon by now. Hhmph...a little depressing, but overall incredibly SATISFYING.

I've spoken with friends and family about this accomplishment and the fact that I won't walk in BYU's graduation. How do I feel about that? Well, how would you feel about it? Seriously, I've gone back and forth, but I've come to the following conclusion...Here are the reasons I would want to walk next Spring

1. An 8.5 year old toeheaded amazing 3rd grader who's helpful, loving and kind.

2. A newly 5 year old with Fall-kissed auburn hair who's energetic, lively and incredibly loving.

3. A 19 month old stawberry blonde who's favorite activity is chasing down unsuspecting "babies" everywhere she goes.

4. A 30 something old, dirty blonde headed man who's been there for the bitter and the sweet, who has dried my tears and convinced me to look at the eternal perspective when finishing this degree felt impossible

5. An almost 30 year old (scary!) who's literally labored for 8 long years while trying to be the best mom and wife possible. A terrible housekeeper, and awful organizer, but a determined mama.

As I constructed these thoughts in my mind it occurred to me that the top 5 reasons I would like to walk in BYU's ceremony are sitting in my livingroom every single night. So, I've decided to walk....at HOME....That's right, I'm staging my own graduation, with cap and gown (hat and robe) and diploma (whenever it arrives by mail), commencement speech and even refreshments to follow.

I'm sure I'll tear up during my speech, and I'm sure my kids will be as restless as they would be at a real graduation commencement. My husband will snap pictures and take video and I'll cry some more. And then I'll cry even harder as I realize that the degree in my hand is nothing compared to the 4 people sitting restlessly on the couch.

So what's next? Well....hm....that's what I'm wondering. I have a list 8 years long (seriously) and so it's off to start on it. Organizing, entertaining, teaching little ones to read, go pee pee in the potty and read some darn amazing books....(I've started one such book, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society")

Just for fun: I'm curious.....what would you do with this bucket. The picture sums up the last 8 years of my life and I'm not sure what I should do with it. I don't want to burn it (I would have probably like 5 weeks ago), I'm not a scrapbooker, and I don't want it to be just another box in the mound of rubber tubs. Ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

It Snowed

2010-02-14T17:10:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I'm writing these words, but Friday night, IT SNOWED. Yes, here on an Island, it snowed. We had heard rumors that it might, but last time this happened it didn't snow and we had two very dissapointed little girls.

Brandon and I had gone out with some friends to dinner and a movie, when we walked out of dinner it was SNOWING. I hurried and called the babysitter and told her. So the girls got to play in it, their favorite part was eating it. Silly girls! Here on the island it didn't stick to the ground, but our friends who live about 15 miles west on the mainland had enough snow to make snowmen. Amazing!

It was fun to see, but we're all very glad that it's gone. Now if it'd just warm up a bit...40 is cold! I know I'm whining, but we are wimps now.

In other news, it's been 5 years since we moved to Hilton Head. 5 years! We have now more than doubled our old recored of 22 months (Anaheim, CA). I feel like I could live here forever, in this very house. I love it here, I love the comfort of our home. I know that it's probably unlikely that we'll live in this house forever. I realize now that when we leave here, if we ever leave here...I will be a mess. This is where two of my three girls were born, I brought them home to this home, this is all they know. I've watched Katelyn excel at reading, piano and rollerblading in this home. I've seen her grow from a toddler bed to the top bunk, I've kissed her skinned knees and cuddled her tight.

I've watched Anna crawl, run (she didn't do much walking) and grow up into the most amazing 4 year old ever. I've heard her sing, watched her dance and cried with her when she's gotten hurt. This is all she knows.

And Ellie, who is almost 1 (CRAZY) was brought home to this house. I've watched her crawl, and now stand and become close to walking. I've heard her sweet sounds from the corner bedroom and seen her playing in the toilet (yuck, not something I want to remember!).

Regardless. All this has happened here in this home....I know there will be many more incredible memories to come in this home. I am SO looking forward to every single one.

And in final thoughts: Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Beautiful Places, Smiling Faces

2010-02-05T18:45:00.003-05:00

When you come to Hilton Head,

Cause' we know you can't resist.

We'll let you sleep in our comfy guest bed,

And be showered by the beach mist.

And when you come to Hilton Head,

Ya'll won't be let down.

On a wonderful journey you'll be lead,

that'd wipe away any frown.

So when you come to Hilton Head,

Cause' we're sure you're on your way.

To Beautiful places ya'll be sped,

With smiling faces to brighten your day.

In other words....COME VISIT!!!!

My little sweet girl

2010-01-13T18:32:00.003-05:00

Is Growing Up!!!

What was I worried about...Ellie is CRAWLING and she is a master at it. Not only has she discovered her body can move in tandum, she has also discovered that her abs and arms are strong enough to pull her body to the standing position...no crayons or coloring books will ever be safe again!!!

Ellie's also realized that when she's REALLY LOUD someone will come to take care of her. And she NEEDS lots of takin' care of....

Ells has found the joy of solid food and I get to take care of the EVIDENCE every single day.

Ells has also found that she really really likes to INVESTIGATE. I caught her doing some "investigating" in my closet. I was 4 feet from her and this is what she did....

Ahhhhh!!!!!!

In other family news....Katelyn is doing great at school, piano and ballet. Anna has decided to try soccer and is giving ballet a break (mom really needed it, Tuesdays were miserable.) While watching a football game with Brandon Anna announced, "When I play soccer I'm going to do that..." referring to a quaterback sack...should we warn the other parents?

Ramblings

2009-12-29T16:01:00.002-05:00

It's interesting that the question of the day on my LDS Journal would be, "How has the Lord blessed me today?" The Lord blessed me today in a conversation I had a few days ago with my mom. On Sunday I called up, defeated and tired and overwhelmed. It is the same thing over and over again, the duties of mom, yw Pres., student, wife, housekeeper..etc..are daunting and sometimes they get to me.

My mom listened to me complain and then said, "lizzie, my biggest regret with you kids is that I didn't get down on the floor and play with you and leave the laundry and dishes to be done another day. They'll always be there, but your kids won't always be young."

Well, yesterday on Monday, I tried to do it, but I just couldn't. Then Brandon ended up home early and I ran some errands. I went to bed last night thinking that I really needed to spend quality time with my kids.

Now here is how the Lord blessed me. He gave me the desire to serve my girls today by having fun with them. First we cleaned up..they helped! Then we played Old Maid. It was so much fun, Katelyn ended up trying to sneak the Old Maid into my cards and it ended up in a ticklefest, which resulting in flying the girls like superheros. They lean their bellies against my raised feet and soar above the sky. Then we played monsters and I chased them around.

This afternoon I decided we'd have a great activity. We each drew a family member's name and went to the dollar store with the mission to buy a gift for that person. Anna drew Ellie and picked out a mini baby doll. Katelyn picked me, and spent 30 mins rumuging thru the isles trying to find just the "perfect gift". She got me a reed diffuser, I am so excited to try it! Ofcourse that meant that Ellie and I had Katelyn and Anna's names. I picked out two bottles of silly string and we were off. They had no idea what I had bought.

When we arrived home I had them go through a series of activities to earn their prize. When they accomplished the list I had them go outside, sit down and close their eyes. Then I proceeded to spray them with silly string. Then they sprayed me. We ran around chasing each other, spraying each other and laughing our heads off. It was priceless!!!!

After that I got the insane idea to build a fire in our fire pit and roast marshmellows. So we did. The girls had fun gathering tinder for the fire and I loved cooking marshmellows. It's one of my favorite things in the whole world!

It's only 4pm, they are sitting, playing in the bath. I smell like smoke and i love it. The dishes did get done, the laundry is put away, piano practicing accomplished. But also, my girls are laughing in the tub, Ellie is playing quietly by my side and there is a fort to get to downstairs in my living room.

Today the Lord has blessed me! He's blessed me to enjoy my children to love their laughter and twinkling eyes. To rejoice in their strong desire to serve one another and the love they have for each other. He's blessed me! Not only today but always to be a Mother in Zion. Which gift is one of the greatest gifts given to a latter-day saint lady.

When the days are long and hard and tiring and overwhelming and the dishes and laundry pile high to the sky, I hope the Lord will bless me to enjoy the silly string moments of life. They pass all too quickly!

Liz

Recitals, WiseWOMEN, Talents and Stitches

2009-12-21T07:55:00.003-05:00

What do all these things have in common? They've all taken place in our family in the past week. And just when I thought life was slowin' down...

1. Recitals

Katelyn had her first piano recital on the 12th. She played three songs, "Christmas Time" (think Alvin and the Chipmunks), a great rendition of "Up on the Housetop," and "Graduation Song." She did an awesome job with NO mistakes.

After the piano portion she made a quick clothing change and danced a ballet to "Who Would Send a Baby," sung by another student. Katelyn was so graceful, she did such an incredible job.
(Pix and video to follow as soon as I figure out the video thing)

2. WiseWOMEN

Friday morning Anna had her Christmas program at school. We were all trying to figure out what part she would play in the Nativity play.

Katelyn kept quizzing her, "are you a ______" with every part of the nativity. Anna kept saying, "NO!" Then Katelyn dragged Anna over to our nativity and proceeded to ask her the same question while holding each piece individually. Then Katelyn pointed to the wisemen and said, "Are you THIS one?"

Anna said, "Yes, that's me!! I carry a gold gift to Jesus." So Katelyn said, "See, you are a wiseman." And Anna said, "No, I'M NOT!".

Well this bantering went on for a minute till' I threatened with, "Santa's Elves are watching..."

When we got to Anna's school for the performance I brought Anna over to her teacher and her teacher said, "oh Here's Anna. It's our WiseWOMEN!"

Anna was right she wasn't a Wiseman, She was a WiseWOMEN. DUH!

3. Talent Shows

If you know Katelyn you know she is super super shy in most circumstances. So imagine my surprise when she announced she wanted to do the talent show. She did this last year too and did a wonderful ballet that she did not get to preform because we ended up being in Utah for Grandpa Weilenmann's funeral.

Anyways, this year she decided she wanted to play the piano. She did the same 2 Christmas pieces from her recital. She was second to last in 22 acts, and if you can imagine an entire elementary school waiting you'll probably figure out that it was less than quiet.

As soon as Katelyn sat down at the piano it got quieter. Then she pulled out her music--1 song was 4 pages and we had copied and taped them to make one long page. When she set that up there was a "Wow" that echoed through the gymnasium. She played each piece and did an INCREDIBLE job.

She's only 7 and she played her songs in front of then entire school, and parents how had come to watch!

4. Stitches

It was pouring rain on Friday when we came out of the school after the talent show. We were rushing to get the girls in the van and ourselves. Well Brandon jumped in the drivers side and started up the car. I ran to the passenger side and with my head down threw open the door. And I threw it open right into my forehead about 1 inch above my right eyebrow.

Instinctively I grabbed my forehead and thought, "Ouch!" Only trouble was in the process of grabbing my forehead I felt open skin, and then pouring blood. So needless to say we went straight to the Dr. and I received 4 stitches...there goes my modeling career =).

So after last week I'm sure this week will be more relaxing, starting with the craziness of our playgroup Christmas party which I'm hosting in T MINUS 4 hours...Ok, maybe the relaxation will begin tomorrow...

My daughters the photographers

2009-12-05T23:19:00.004-05:00

In our family we have 2 cameras, one point and click and one more serious one. I tend to lean toward the small camera because it's easy, point, click, walah...

I seem to shy away from Brandon's camera. Seriously I have anxiety attacks whenever I HAVE to use it. So many buttons, so little knowledge.

Recently Katelyn and Anna have developed an increased interest in all things photography. This is due in large part to Brandon. So lately I've noticed my small, uninteresting camera has grown legs and walked itself right off the countertop and hidden in some little place, under the couch, on the tv, upstairs in the girls bunk beds...I just can't seem to keep track of it.

So I downloaded the pictures and did a little investigating...lookey what I found. Silly Girls!!!

Yummy Taco Soup and Homemade Corn Bread

2009-12-05T23:06:00.004-05:00

So not too long ago I found myself in a cooking rut. Each day as the minutes clicked closer and closer to dinner I found myself deeper and deeper in despair. "What am I going to make for dinner?" Ugh...and then we'd end up with soup and sandwiches. And one a few occasions 1.00 burgers from Burger King.

Then I had an awakening. Maybe if I tried NEW recipes, and blogged about the successes/failures I might have more fun cooking. It worked!

Anna and I made this delicious slow cooker taco soup and homemade corn bread. Yum is all I can say, it turned out delicious.

In regards to the Book of Mormon challenge, I'm pleased to say I'm still on track. Only 4 days in, but it stills feels like a MAJOR accomplishment to me.

The 40 Day Book of Mormon Challenge

2009-12-02T21:45:00.006-05:00

This year I have suffered from the bah humbug illness. I've been neglecting my Christmas decorating and shopping and cooking. I know it's only December 2nd, but time goes by so quickly lately. The other morning I rolled out of bed and told Brandon, "you are in charge of Christmas." As late as yesterday afternoon I wanted nothing to do with it. Don't get me wrong I was excited to celebrate our Savior's life and birth, but I was having trouble figuring out just how to do that.

Well I happened upon a website that gave a great suggestion. It was to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days. So I committed to it, yesterday I read 1 Nephi 1-10. Wow, what an incredible read it was. I know it's only been a day, but guess what? This morning I woke up, remembered to say my morning prayers, hummed a quick hymn and wham...I thought, "hey I think I'll put up the Christmas stuff today."

So I pulled down boxes, set up trees, chased down 4 year olds with breakable ornaments and loving set up baby Jesus and his manger (my favorite decoration). In the midst of that I made a killer Taco Soup (recipe and pix to follow tomorrow, can't post pics from the laptop), created homemade corn bread, and baked a million dozen chocolate chip cookies. I shopped for the YW's activity tonight and refereed a playdate for Anna. WOW.

That is more than I have accomplished in one day in quite a long time. And to what do I attribute those super human powers? You guessed it; 1 Nephi 1-10.

My tree is decorated and lit, the stockings are hung on the banister with care, the soups in the freezer for another meal to come, and I'm about to read 1 Nephi 11-15 by the glowing lights of my Christmas tree.

Today I've come full circle. I added light to my house in many different forms. I added the light of Christ through my scripture study and prayer (sad to say but I've not done too great lately), I added the lights on the Christmas tree and because of all I accomplished today, tomorrow will be lighter.

So want to join me in this enlightening pursuit? Go Here.

Not Your Grandma's Chicken Soup

2009-12-01T19:17:00.003-05:00

This is so not my Grandma's Soup. If my Grandma were making this soup it would include a home roasted chicken, and delicious home made noodles. But as life would have it I've learned I'm terrible at roasting chickens and think homemade noodles are well, just an achievement I'll not tackle today....

So instead I cheat. I use frozen chicken breast and No Yolk noodles...

The List of ingredients is:
1. 1 lb of chicken breast
2. sliced carrots, celery and onion
3. No Yolk Egg noodles
4. 2 boxes of Chicken Stock
5. 2 cans of Vegtable Stock
6. Pepper, Salt and Italian Seasoning
7. 2 Tbsp Butter

Step #1

Boil 1 Lb of Chicken Breast, you can do this while the chicken is frozen. Boil until Chicken is slightly pink in the center. It will cook the rest of the way through in the broth.

While chicken is boiling chop up 1 cup of celery, 1 cup diced onion and 2 cups of sliced carrots.

Start water boiling and cook noodles according to package.

Step #2

Melt 2 TBSPs of butter with the celery and onion. Saute on Medium heat for 2-3 mins.

Add carrots and saute for 2-3 more minutes. Then add chicken breasts (chopped). Then add the 2 boxes of chicken stock and 2 cans of vegtable stock. Also add 3 cups of cooked No Yolk Noodles. Season to liking. Bring entire ingredients to a boil and then reduce to medium heat for 20 minutes.

STEP #3

Enjoy! We did with sour dough bread and it was delicious!

A Day In the Life Of....

2009-12-01T19:08:00.002-05:00

My Camera Crazy Children

Thanksgiving Part III

2009-11-30T11:12:00.003-05:00

On Friday we all went together to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, and it was fantastic. We couldn't resist snapping a quick picture of this handsome line of people. Don't worry we only used the flash before the movie started. We also learned how many buckets of popcorn it takes to feed all of us. It was the most delicious lunch and breakfast for some.

Friday night we had a friend gingerbread competition, a lovely italian pasta night and fun with funny nose cups.

On Saturday thanks to Missy and Jays great planning and Megan and Matthew's babysitting skills we had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Washington DC Temple for sealings. It was such a comforting, blessed experience. My highlight of the trip.

Later that evening Missy came with us to see the house I (Liz) lived in when I was born. It was fun to see. And then we made a night-time run to the monuments of DC. So amazing. Unfortunately this brought us to the end of our trip. And 10 hrs in the car got us home Sunday evening.

Now we are busy planning for next year. Thanks Again Missy and Jay you and your family are remarkable!

Thankgiving Part II

2009-11-30T10:44:00.005-05:00

On Thanksgiving Day everyone journeyed downtown to view the National Museums. (With the exception of Liz and Ellie who stayed back the Hotel while Liz was sick). But the rest of the family had a great adventure. If you ever visit DC the Museums are open year round and Thanksgiving day is the perfect time to go. They are usually not crowded, parking is easier to come by and you can see more than a few museums in one day.

On the way to Aunt Missys to meet the crew Anna bit into a glitter pen. I'm sure that's just what Brandon wanted to see when he was starting his day off as the lone parent of the girls. He couldn't resist a picture. I think Anna knows she's in trouble. The best news is we don't think the ink is toxic...she's currently doing fine...though a call to poison control might have been adventagious.

I called Brandon on his cell and found out that the girls were really really tired of walking and pretty cold so he treated them to an IMAX. I LOVE this picture!

Here's the whole crew. We loved getting to know Miranda, Dave, Milo and Kate and Eric better. Milo and Ellie are just a few weeks different in age, they were so cute together...Milo is such a little gentlemen. We learned that Kate is expecting their first later this spring. We are so excited for Eric and her. Dave and Eric Anderson are Brandon's cousins.

I felt bad to miss out on that fun adventure, but thankfully felt pretty good that night to enjoy the incredible Thankgiving dinner at the Livingstons. A wonderful feast included my very favorite stuffing balls, rolls, onion gravy and cranberry relish.

Thanksgiving in Virginia

2009-11-30T10:14:00.003-05:00

We had a great trip to Virginia/DC this past week. It was so much fun to see the Livingstons, the Andersons and the Andersons... Here are a few highlights from the trip.

This was our favorite exhibit of the entire zoo, the green tongued cuties. I think they are an endagered species, because they don't come any cuter than these 3.

On our entire drive from South Carolina Katelyn and Anna kept saying the only animal they wanted to see at the zoo were the elephants. When we first arrived at the zoo we found the exhibit was under construction and there were NO ELEPHANTS TO BE FOUND. Insert Parent Panic now!!! Thankfully on our way back to car we heard an incredible roar; truth that prayers are answered =).

So...we journeyed up the hill and what to our suprise should appear, but 3 giant African elephants and a 7 year-old grinning from ear to ear...

See the relief in my smile? That pink mound of blankets is Ellie Bells.

So precious...in front of the "Anna"condas.

The Nutcracker

2009-11-30T09:54:00.004-05:00

We love this time of year! The girls have the opportunity to dance in a great production of the Nutcracker. This year Anna was incredible as a baby mouse and Katelyn sure acted the part of the Toy Soldier.

more pictures from UT/CO

2009-07-14T22:52:00.002-04:00

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2582862&l=a99de52114&id=697296159

Our Summer Trip to UT and CO

2009-07-14T22:25:00.005-04:00

Well it seems like it takes the same force needed to move mountains to get anything posted on our blog. But I'm sure all 2 of our followers are patient enough...

Things are a bit crazy with 3 girls. Somedays I might manage a shower, and on a really good day I even get make up on, and on a really really good day (doesn't happen often) I get my hair done as well.

Anyways, enough with the insanity that is my truly loved life....

This summer we went home to Utah for Justin and Amy's Wedding (Welcome Amy!!!); Ellie's baby blessing; a trip to Pogosa Springs, CO with Steve and Carolyn; a 10 year class reunion; the Fourth of July in Blanding; and a few days in Midway, UT!

Our trip this year included a LOT of driving, some harrowing cliff face climbs, a few history lessons, and many other fun adventures...

Enjoy!

Brandon, Anna and Peter tubing down the San Juan River in Pogosa Springs...the guy at the tube shop said they weren't renting tubes because the river was too high. This guy was huge and he told us, "I wouldn't go down myself." So...being the industrious, smart people we are... we decided to rent the life jackets and buy our own tubes (yes we took one home...all the way to SC) and go down the dangerously high river with our young kids... We tried it out on Peter and Anna first. If they survived we knew we'd be ok....jk...the adults went first and then we took the kids. I say "we" in the loosest of terms, since I, myself, did not participate.

Ellie's baby blessing. Funny girl was pleasant the entire day with exception to during her blessing. She fussed the whole time. Brandon passed to her the most beautiful blessing.

Justin and Amy's wedding. Congrats guys! It was a beautiful day.

Ellie

2009-05-23T14:17:00.003-04:00

I feel bad that I haven't updated for so long. Here is a few recent pics of Ellie

Verizon Heritage PGA Tournament

2009-04-14T20:55:00.009-04:00

Brandon and the girls spent a day at the Verizion Heritage at HarbourTown golf links. They spent time gaining autographs and meeting with various golfers. Anna had one stint where she ran onto the fairway on the 17th. After a little negotiation she came back to the bleachers. Overall, the weather was beautiful and the golf was good.

Anna meets with Boo Weekley - former Verizon Heritage champion.

Brandon, Katelyn and Anna on the famous 18th

Katelyn and Anna with Ernie Ells (The Big Easy)

Photo with Brandt Snedeker - He had a big showing at the masters last year but hasn't done much since.

HarbourTown - pond on the 16th

HarbourTown - 15th fairway

Katelyn and Bill Lunde

Not sure what this guy's name is but he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express

Kateleyn and her collection of signatures

The first two weeks with Elaine "Ellie" Marie

2009-04-12T21:22:00.015-04:00

The first two weeks with Ellie have been packed full of exciting adventures and wonderful memories. She is such a doll. As you can see in the above picture Ellie is hardly without someone holding her, kissing her, patting her, and sometimes smothering her...But she loves it all.

The girls are doing wonderfully with Ellie; they help out a lot and are my runners (up the stairs) for many items. The above picture was taken today, post kool-aid...notice the red mustaches?
We were so fortunate to have Grandma Lou visit us. We took advantage of the time to visit the beach last Sunday between conference sessions. This was also Katelyn's 7th Birthday! Happy Birthday to my oldest baby...(still can't believe she's 7!!!)

We took Grandma to see Harbour Town--this coming week you can see Harbour Town on TV during the Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament. Look for Brandon and Katelyn also, they are planning on going either Wednesday or Saturday. We contemplated also sending Anna but figured if Brandon took Anna you'd for sure see them on TV, because Anna would be retrieving every golf ball for daddy's collection...she can run fast!

Grandma was such a great sport while she was here. After she fell the day Ellie was born she felt horrible but still did so much. When she returned home to Utah and saw her regular physician, they re-read the X-Rays and discovered she has two BROKEN RIBS. Feel better soon Grandma!!

We feel so fortunate to have such wonderful daughters. These pictures were taken today (Easter Sunday). On this Easter I am particularly thankful for the resurrection of our Savior, because these 3 girls you see are ours for eternity!!! What an incredible blessing.

This is Ellie's first trip to the beach. She was 10 days old and slept the whole time. She'll have many more visits in her future! I'm sure she'll be a regular beach bum like the rest of us.

So Precious!

Our Sweet Ellie Marie...Easter 2009

Words cannot express what a wonderful husband and father Brandon is. You can sense a small part of his incredible talent as a father in this picture of him with Ellie. He is so caring, so sweet and so loving to all his girls, me included. I know I could not live my life without him. He is the love of my life.

I have to continue to brag on him because yesterday he took Katelyn and Anna to Island Playground, out to lunch, to his haircut, on a much needed shoe shopping trip and then returned home and watched all 3 girls for 2 hours so I could get the grocery shopping done. He is truly amazing! I love him so much!

And here is Anna and her "baby Ells" She no longer refers to the baby as Ellie, she is just "baby Ells." Katelyn has preferred to call her "Ellie" at home, but whenever she writes in her journal at school or home she calls her "Elaine." I just call her whichever of the girls names comes out first, whether it be, "Anna, Ellie, or Katelyn." I swore I'd never do that to my children..sorry girls!

Fresh From The Oven!!

2009-03-26T15:24:00.005-04:00

We are so happy to announce the arrival of our newest baby girl. She was born at 8:30am this morning and weighed in at a whopping 7lbs 2ozs and 19 in long. She is our smallest baby, Katelyn was 8lbs 2ozs and Anna was 8lbs 8ozs. She is very healthy and is loving all the attention she is receiving from her two big sisters.

Anna is doing well, she is so excited to always touch the baby and wants to constantly kiss her all over. Katelyn is currently sitting in the chair holding the baby, she's been there for over an hour. I think her arms might be tired! She is so sweet telling us about all the movements the baby is making. She is such a great big sister We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts for our family.

I (liz) am feeling really well. The surgery went off without a hitch, we feel very blessed. The birth certificate has not been completed yet but the name will be Elaine or Ellie Marie Weilenmann.

A much needed update

2009-02-14T16:48:00.002-05:00

Well I've once again slipped into the black hole of no blogging. I just need to get back in the routine of posting regularly...oh wait! I've never been there. Any suggestions on how you all do such a great job of update would be greatly appreciated.

So I'm curious...what are all of your favorite girl names? We think we have one in mind, but I like to be fully informed before I make such a HUGE decision.

We are scheduled for a c-section (yes such a lovely thought) on March 27th @ 8am. We are blessed to have Grandma Lou coming for 2 weeks to be with the girls and help me get back on my feet. We are so excited for the baby to arrive and can't believe we have a little less than 6 weeks until she comes.

I am busy finishing up a class and playing room mom and YW's President. Somedays it feels like a ton to carry, but I am so grateful for the experiences I am growing from each and every day.

This year the YW General Presidency asked the YW and the leaders to do 3 things and I think they apply universally to all so I'm going to pass along the challenge to those who read this...

1. Pray morning and night
2. Read 5 mins in the Book of Mormon each day
3. Smile!!

I just love the 3 things. I am trying to do them everyday and the days I score 100% I feel like a different person. Give it a try!

Well I'll try to get some pictures updated soon.

Have a wonderful Happy Valentines!!!!

Christmas on Hilton Head

2008-12-25T23:23:00.004-05:00

Christmas is always a little different without extended family around to spend time with, but we filled our day with lots of family bonding and fun.

On Christmas Eve Katelyn was so excited she could not fall asleep, it was 12:30 am when she finally dozed off. Needless to say Brandon and I got to bed much later. Then wouldn't you know it, around 5 am Anna woke up and despite our best efforts to coax her back to sleep she showed up in our room around 6 fully dressed. At that point, being pregnant, slightly grumpy and very tired I retreated to the guest room and left Brandon to take care of Anna. (thank you!)

Thankfully with a "snuggle buggle" Anna was able to fall back to sleep and we ended up getting more rest than we originally thought we would.

Christmas morning was so much fun. The girls had a great time opening and playing with each present. We had a nice breakfast casserole and listened to favorite Christmas songs. Without family close by we've started the tradition of going to a Christmas day buffet (much easier on me!). So later that day we headed out to the buffet, it was delicious. I think Anna and Katelyn ate more dessert than actual food, but hey, it's Christmas. After the lunch we walked out to the beach. It was 75 degrees here in Hilton Head, beautiful beach weather.

The girls were dressed in their Christmas dresses for the lunch and wore them to the beach. They had a great time! We even ran in the water, it was COLD.

When you don't have snow you compromise. The girls made snow, I mean SAND angels and even engaged in a snowball, whoops, Sand fight. Just like being in Utah, but not quite as cold or wet.

It was so nice and warm out on the beach, I wished I had my shorts.

This sign is a tradition as well. We took their picture by it last year. This year they really hammed it up.

Christmas Eve excitement

All of our loved ones were in our thoughts and prayers on Christmas Day. We hope you all had a truly blessed season and that you felt the light and love of our Savior on this day of celebration of His life and His birth and His ministry.

I loved what Elder Uchtdorf said in the First Presidency Christmas Devotional about light. He said when he sees the lights of Christmas he remembers the light the Savior is to the world. The lights I saw this Christmas Season took on that same meaning. May the lights of the coming year continue to serve as the same reminder for all of us...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Weekend trip to Charleston

2008-12-24T23:16:00.007-05:00

Anna's Ladybug Birthday

2008-11-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

Anna had a wonderful party this year. The cake was quite the effort, well not so much the cake, more the tinting of the frosting. So instead of a nice deep red ladybug, we had a flamming flouresant pink one. And believe me, that icing had it's fair share of food coloring...

Me and My Girls

2008-11-04T14:47:00.004-05:00

Everyday I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children. They are a light to me in my most difficult times. This past week I burned my hand pretty badly on the curling iron (long story, I blame it on pregnant mushy brains) the minute I screamed (and boy did I scream) Anna came running in saying, "mommy, mommy are you ok?" I'm sure everyone expecting to see me severely maimed (which my hand kind of was). But Anna was just the sweetest. She said, "don't worry mom, i will get you a band aid." And brought me all her favorite toys and stroked my face as I lay on Brandon's shoulder and just cried.

Katelyn is incredible as well. This past week was parent/teacher conferences and Katelyn took me around to all her teachers. Her music teacher said if the school was full of student like Katelyn she would be the world's happiest teacher. Katelyn has a talent for obedience, she always has and I'm sure always will.

Funny things they do/say that I am grateful for as well...

After I burned my hand I commented to Brandon that it hurt so bad that I just wanted to cut it off, immediately Anna said, "Mommy! Don't cut off your hand!" She was so worried that I really would. Later that day we were driving to the mall for trick or treating and we saw an SUV with one of those plastic feet hanging out the back and fake blood all over it (gross yes!) and Anna said, "Mommy I want that for our car." When I explained that we didn't have anything like that and probably never would Anna wanted to know if it would be okay to just use her leg. Uh...NO! but we had a good laugh anyways.

Anna is always telling everyone, "my mommy is really sick b/c she has a baby in her tummy." And Katelyn is still telling everyone, "they think it's a girl, but they aren't positive" with an emphasis on them not being positive.

I also have to say how grateful I am for Brandon. He is such a hard worker. This past year he won an award for being BUSINESS PARTNER OF THE YEAR. I think he should also win in the following categories: FATHER OF THE YEAR and HUSBAND OF THE YEAR. Since I've started in on this pregnancy things have been really rough. I haven't felt good the majority of the time so things in the house have really slid off balance. Brandon has never complained about no dinner, no clean socks or ironed shirts. He has taken the girls to all the fun places I usually love to take them to and has even gotten them excited about fishing. And taking Anna fishing deserves an award itself. He has also been extremely tolerant of my rantings, emotional outbursts and downright rudeness. I'm sure he is thinking, "where is my wife and when will she return?" Anyways, not to carry on too much but he is WONDERFUL!!

Trick or Treating at the mall

2008-11-04T14:37:00.002-05:00

Anna opted for the cheerleader look @ the mall trick or treating. We had a great time and the girls collected way more candy then they'll ever need.

Katelyn's Halloween Party

2008-11-04T14:31:00.003-05:00

Katelyn had been begging me for over a month to have a halloween party. I just haven't been feeling particularly well so I didn't want to commit to something I couldn't follow through with. I was giving her the wonderful answer of "we'll see." A great out for any mom. Well the week of Halloween Katelyn was out of school (I'm sure it was planned so they didn't have to face the NO PARTY rule at school--see my fall festival post) so we decided to have a few friends over for a party. We ended up with 4 girls plus my 2. We had borrowed a little bounce house and set it up in the backyard. It was a really fun afternoon. We decorated cupcakes, played pin the nose on the pumpkin and just had a great time. I think it will become a tradition.

Our Annual Playgroup Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-04T14:20:00.003-05:00

We were so excited to visit the pumpkin patch this year for the following reasons
1. It wasn't 98 degrees outside, it was actually a quite nippy 58
2. Us parents weren't having to force or bribe our children to wear their long sleeved Hallween shirts in the blaring sun
3. We actually didn't melt or have to find an ice cream shop after we were done
4. Hay Maze
5. "Hay"tona Parkway on tricycles...
I can't wait for next year!!!

The Girls always love to feed the animals

Anna and her best friend

The "Hay"tona Parkway

Katelyn was so fast she was lapping Anna and Anna wasn't too pleasant about it.

Fall Festival

2008-11-04T14:14:00.003-05:00

I love Halloween!!!!

I'm not sure if all school districts are similar in the "no holidays" thing. It really drives me nuts to a degree. I feel badly that Katelyn will never come home with holiday centered crafts, or be able to have halloween, christmas, easter, or even valentines partys. I'm sure it differs from school to school and teacher to teacher.

This year her school celebrated by having a "fall festival" It was a great activity, only it was so funny b/c everything was basically "Halloween" themed, they just renamed it.

Katelyn went as a witch and Anna as a ladybuy. It was a blast!!!

Fun with Lizards

2008-11-04T14:11:00.002-05:00

A few days ago Anna and I were outside cleaning out the baby stroller and we found a friend living inside the stroller. It was this cute little baby lizard. We caught it and had a wonderful time letting it crawl all over us.

This was also Anna's 3rd birthday, so she felt like she got quite the prize.

I will post pictures of her Ladybug Party soon.

It's A ?????

2008-10-19T20:39:00.000-04:00

Girl!!! With a disclaimer though. It was still pretty early (16 wks) and they aren't 100% but they're pretty sure. We are so excited! Anna got to come with me to my last apt on Tuesday and even though we waiting 2 HRS! in the dr's office it was all worth it. When we got back into the room the nurse brought in the dopler and found the baby's heart beat and the minute she explained it to Anna, Anna's face just lit up. She smiled and was so excited. That made the 2 hr wait bearable.

And congrats to all the other preggos out there (Michelle!!! Ginger!!!) and anyone else who may not be announcing quite yet! Yeah!!!

September pictures from Hilton Head

2008-10-05T20:35:00.007-04:00

Food Food Food

2008-09-29T14:44:00.003-04:00

So coming along with all the JOYS of Pregnancy, I've lately developed this ravenous appetite, but it's so cravings driven, its insane. Right now I am seriously thinking of packing up my 2 sick daughters and hauling them to Publix so I can get the ingredients to make fresh lime salsa and a HUGE bag of lime flavored tostitos (IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED THESE, YOU MUST!).

So in all my food fascination I've come across some really awesome recipe blogs! Yes, they are great. Caution if you are at all a FOODIE, you might want to skip out, because I can promise you you will be heading out to the grocery store with a list a mile long. (i'm going tonight after FHE ofcourse).

My first, and favorite website so far is http://domesticationinprogress.blogspot.com/ or DIP in short. It is awesome! Check it out.

Secondly I found this one http://cookinwithfriends.blogspot.com/

and then there's this....http://becomingbetty.blogspot.com/

I'm sure there are a million more, so if you have a favorite please share!

We're cautiously excited

2008-09-19T14:13:00.003-04:00

Well.,...hm.. a lot to blog about actually.

I'll start with Tuesday afternoon. No mom wants to get the following call, and when you get your first one you're entitled to a little hysteria and crying right? So...I had just driven Anna's babysitter home, returned to my house and laid down on the couch (explanation for the tiredness to follow) and the phone rings...

Me: "Hello"
Lady: "Hi, Is this Mrs. Weilenmann?"
Me: "Yes, speaking" and I quickly check caller id to see who in the world is so formal...unavailable...hmm...
Lady: "This is Nurse so and so from IB, Katelyn's school."
Me: "yes!?!"
And here I think ok, scenario 1=Lice (insert me screaming here, too tired to deal with that)
Lady: "Katelyn had a little incident on the playground this afternoon,"
Whew...no lice...scenario 2=she had an accident, not incident and needs clean clothes...
Me: "Is she ok" of course I mean mentally b/c nothing could be physically wrong
Lady: "Actually Katelyn fell off some monkey bars and has split her chin open and we need you to come immediately b/c I am sure she needs stitches."
Insert wild panic, me jumping off couch, tears coming to my eyes and sheer fear. It wasn't until I picked her up and saw Katelyn calmly holding a pad up to her chin that I realized she was just fine. Phew....panic over...

Thankfully the great pediatricians here (seriously the best peds office I've ever been to) was able to dermabond it. As the dr was gluing it shut I was thinking of Grandpa Cook's response to my cuts after running through the window at good ole' SJHS. (K you can stop laughing now!! I seriously didn't see the window). My Grandpa had to come get me and he said, "you don't need stitches, you just need to super glue it shut, that's what I do." Too bad we didn't develop that technology...

So now to the part of why I was lounging on the couch. Drum roll please....the meaning of the blog titled now revealed....We are going to be adding a new addition to our family! Yes, I am expecting. I've made it to the 12 weeks and now feel cautiously excited. I've had some problems, I had a very common condition called vanishing twin syndrome, and b/c of that I've had to take it real easy and will continue to take it easy for the next month and hope that it has resolved by then. But it's an accomplishment for me to make it this far, so like the post title says, "We're cautiously excited."

More pics from our trip to Utah

2008-08-31T19:18:00.005-04:00

This is what Katelyn did first at the Blanding Pool. She jumped!
Again and again! What a brave girl. I think I was 12 when I finally dared to do it
Come to find out Anna snuck next door and kittennapped a baby kitten....
I love this picture! Grandpa Cook and the girls

This is from my grandparents cabin, we had a rainy day there. It was a blast. That's Grandpa Phil pushing the girls on the same swingset I grew up with...Yes family it's still there with some new wooden slabs for chairs, It's fixed by the great Grandpa Cook.

Grandma Cook and Katelyn pruning the rose garden

Anna, Katelyn, a friend, Josh, Keira (Bex's beautiful kids) and Grandma Lou

It was so fun to have a great playdate at the park with the "gals" Yes, we did bring our kids, ALL OF THEM see the next pictures. I am the only one there who had girls...maybe some boy genes will rub off on me...

Everyone looked great and it was so much fun to catch up! I wish I lived closer to you all. You're all amazing mothers and friends!

See all the boys?

This is what happened moments after that final picture. Ginger rode her bike home in THIS. Hope you weren't too wet!

Our trip to Utah

2008-08-23T20:58:00.003-04:00

Well we had quite the eventful time in Utah. It began 2 days prior to our actual departure. I was awoken by the sound of Katelyn vomiting. Aggh....poor thing, and did I mention, my worst nightmare. Katelyn seemed tired when Monday rolled around, but hadn't thrown up for over 24 hours so we figured we were "safe" and we left. Well Katelyn started vomiting again on the airplane (imagine all the other THRILLED passengars...) and during our layover Anna started in on the fun. Unfortunately the bug continued to grow and infect others. We hope one day our family will forgive us....by the way WE ARE SO SORRY....again!
Well after 1 week, yes one week of stomach illness our family was finally well. Then it continued through, cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and future aunts (so sorry Aubrey, we hope you know how excited we are to have you join our family...what a welcoming gift!).
We still managed to have an incredible time that week and so much fun in the following week. Please enjoy the pictures. Brandon is an incredible photographer!

Katelyn and Grandpa

Katelyn and Brownie

All the cousins...they had a great time (when they weren't sick!)

Aunt Lisa, one of the girls favorite people in the whole world!

Me and my angel!!!!!

Anna contemplating life and love at the old Park City silver mine

Justin

Katelyn and I on the Park City ski lift

Three brothers - Justin, Joshua, Brandon

24th of July celebration with family in Midway

Katelyn and Great Grandpa Dahl

Joshua and Aubrey

Blue Eyes!!

Family night at the baseball game

Annual trip to the Uintas

Katelyn and her cousin Jessica in Millcreek canyon

More Atlanta Pictures

2008-07-13T19:47:00.002-04:00

Amazing Atlanta

2008-07-13T16:49:00.004-04:00

The Georgia Aquarium

We arrived in Atlanta in plenty of time to visit the Georgia Aquarium. It is the largest aquarium in the world. Our favorite exihibit was the beluga whales. They were incredible and would come right close up to the glass. The girls were in heaven.

Behind us was a huge tank with a couple whale sharks in it. The marine biologist told us that a whale shark's throat is the size of a quarter. Thank goodness! If not it could swallow all of us alive at once!~

The Atlanta Temple

Our main purpose in going to Atlanta was to also visit the temple. Our closest temple in in Columbia, SC. It was really neat to visit the Temple in Atlanta. The girls loved running up and down the hill out front (for those in Utah, think Manti type hills). I remember visiting my great-grandmother in Manti and spending the afternoon rolling down the hill out front of the temple. It was fun to see my kids doing the same thing, except thousands of miles away.

The girls looks so small compared to the temple. They kept singing, "I love to see the Temple" And at one point they were trying to open the door to go in.

The flowers were so beautiful and the people there were so kind.

We loved Atlanta!

Update

2008-05-23T22:59:00.005-04:00

Well, I thought I was keeping current on this thing and then BAM it's almost been a month since I last posted. We've had some really fun things going on in our family this past month.

Katelyn performed in the Petter Rabbit ballet, she did such an incredible job. She is also playing soccer, which hasn't turned out to be her favorite thing but we are learning a great lesson in following through with what you say you'll do (I'm secretly counting down the days till' it's over). Katelyn also had her end of the year performance at school, she was a wave.

Anna is still as bubbly as ever. She has managed to keep us on our toes now for 2 and 1/2 years and I'm sure we'll stay that way for quite sometime. We've learned that time-out does not phase Anna, but taking away her 3 favorite dresses, (basically the only clothes she will wear) is VERY effective. All I have to do is say, "Ann if you make that choice you'll lose your dresses," and she makes a 180 degree turn. On Monday I had to take the dresses away and she was not happy, 20 mins later she came into the kitchen in a dress-up dress. I said, "Anna, mommy said no dresses." She just looked at me and matter-of-factly said, "Momma...it's not a dress, it's a dress-UP." Out of the mouths of babes....lol... Anna has started riding her little 2 wheeler bike, with training wheels, we enjoy riding down to see the goats just outside our neighborhood. It takes us quite some time, since we have to stop for every flower, or weed that resembles a flower.

We also celebrated Brandon's birthday on a dolphin ride, it was a lot of fun. We are so thankful for him and all he does....

The weather has been great, not too humid and not too hot yet. We are trying to take full advantage of it.

We are so excited for our trip to Utah!!!!! We hope we'll be able to see everyone!!!!!

Anna having family fun. She laughs so hard when she sees these pictures

Katelyn had to get in on the action as well.

Happy Birthday Brandon! We Love You!!!

Anna and her friend picking strawberries for playgroup. This is one the 3 dresses spoken about below in my post. Notice the smile? It's comes with the dress.

Verizon Heritage PGA Golf Tournament

2008-04-25T13:29:00.004-04:00

We had the opportunity to go to the PGA tour tournament here on the island. It was amazing. The golfers have such power and accuracy. It seems like most golfers have one or the other, and sometimes both, but never at the same time. (Not meant towards anyone in particular =).

We had an amazing time, we walked and walked and walked. It was a gorgeous day and we actually saw people we knew this year. I guess that's what happens when you live somewhere longer that 18-24 months. We have just hit 3 years on this beautiful island and we still love it.

Brandon almost got hit in the leg with a wild ball. Aaron Baddeley (ended up in 2nd place) hit a wild shot into the trees, it sliced right in front of us. We stood directly behind the ball, about 5 or 6 feet from Baddeley. We think we might have been on tv...but we forgot to DVR the event!!! Oh well, you'd probably just see our legs.

When we left the tournament I called the babysitter (no we did not take Anna, can you imagine?) and Katelyn yelled in the background, "NO DON'T COME HOME!!!" Nice to know we hired a great babysitter.

Katelyn looses her first tooth

2008-04-17T22:27:00.001-04:00

Our little family: Training for a 5K

2008-04-17T17:01:00.000-04:00

Our little family: Training for a 5K

Training for a 5K

2008-04-17T16:54:00.002-04:00

Well, this will truly hold me accountable. I just started training for a 5K. I've been doing a program Body for Life for sooooo long and was getting bored of it and haven't been too happy with myself for a few months. I decided I needed a workout overhaul, somewhere to focus my attention in a different direction. So I decided on a 5k, not a marathon, a 5k. I know it's only 3.2 miles and that's not horribly difficult, but it's just my start. After the 5k, I'll progress to a 10k, though I dont' see myself ever doing a marathon, who knows. If I end up loving it, I just might.

My race will be June 7th, on the beach. I am nervous already, I need to improve my speed drastically. If any of you have ideas please let me know.

And Blanding buddies, if anyone knows of a race during the first part of August, in that area will you please let me know. I would love to run something while I'm home in Utah. And maybe you could all join me!!! That would make it a lot more fun.

Liz

Fun times with family

2008-04-15T15:04:00.002-04:00

One thing that we wish we could change about South Carolina is the lack of family we have around us. We are always so grateful when they make the trek to come and visit us. In the past few months we've had two of Brandon's brothers, and Brandon's dad and Pam come and visit. We love to have them and hope that we spoiled them enough so they won't be able to stay away for too long.

Here's a formal invite to all of you to come and enjoy the treats of the southeast. It truly is a gorgeous place and is only made perfect by your presence!!!! So in desperation we are BEGGING you all to come for a visit. If you already live here and are reading this, let's get together for dinner sometime!

Enjoy the pictures of our family and our adventures with them....

Katelyn's birthday

2008-04-14T16:34:00.003-04:00

Wow, where did the time go?

Katelyn celebrated her 6th birthday and we had a blast. All the fun would not have been possible with out the precesne of "bapa" and "brownie" who flew in from Utah to be present at the wonderous event. (thanks you guys!) And thanks to my loving husband Brandon who puts up with my whims...

I can't believe Katelyn is 6. I can remember when she was born so well. The morning of her birthday I sat her on my lap and recounted just how wonderful the last 6 years had been. I love her so much and can't imagine our family without her. She is incredible!

Hello to ya'll

2008-04-02T07:25:00.003-04:00

Random pictures of the girls

Anna is a beach baby, (ok big girl, only I'm not admitting it!!!). She loves the beach and has only grown up here with the beach, if we ever move she might have withdrawls...

Katelyn also loves the beach. She is much braver this year and actually runs into the water, rathen than away from it. She got up today at 6:30am so we could go "pick out her cake." She turns 6 on Saturday....(where did the time go?)

This last picture is just kind of fun, Katelyn just said, "ahh...mom look at me I'm all green!" Happy Late St. Patty's Day =)

Pictures of the girls

2008-02-28T22:05:00.002-05:00

They are growing up so quickly!

The Past Two Months

2008-02-28T21:41:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to quickly update our blog. It's been a crazy past two months. Katelyn's been doing well at school, she loves it and is making a ton of friends. Anna is still Anna, just as adventurous and fun. Just a couple Sundays ago, someone came up to me after Sacrament Meeting and said, "I hope this won't offend you, but I didn't even know your family was here today because I didn't hear Anna." Offend me, no way, make me feel wonderful YES.

We've been taking a lot of walks on the beach, Brandon and Katelyn got stuck in the "sinking sticky mud" and had a wonderful time.

Yesterday I found two notes Katelyn had written Anna, the first one said, "stop kiking me, it is meen." and the second one said, "I frgiv you, love Katelyn" It was so sweet.

The sign that was made for.......?

2007-12-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

We thought this sign explained a lot. (don't worry, as you can see in the following posts, we approach them and more importantly, WE FEED THEM~)

Christmas Fun

2007-12-25T20:56:00.001-05:00

Christmas Brunch

2007-12-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

This year we went to a Christmas Brunch. On the way over Anna fell asleep. We didn't dare wake her since she's pretty unhappy if you do. So we came up with the solution of laying her on the (very clean!) floor underneath our table. It worked wonders, she got her nap, we got our dinner, and when she woke up she was pleasant and able to eat. Katelyn had a great time! She especially loved their desserts!
Anna still sleeping.......
Now eating and also enjoying the fresh desserts...so much sugar!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

More from Asheville

2007-12-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

Trip to Asheville

2007-12-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to travel to Asheville. What a wonderful trip. Please enjoy the pictures.
We went to a gingerbread house competition, it was incredible. One of the houses was featured on Good Morning America.

Here is the tree at the hotel we stayed at.

Katelyn's school concert

2007-12-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Good Job Cherry!

Katelyn's school held their concert this past week. It was fun to hear nursery rhymes pretty much rapped by kindergarteners!!!

"DESINEX'

2007-12-15T22:58:00.000-05:00

DESINEX

Bad News Vs. Good News

I am a total believer in hearing the bad news first so here it is. It's not really BAD news, just "OH NO WHAT DID ANNA DO THIS TIME" news.

A few days ago I received a call on my cell phone. It was Brandon, he'd been watching the girls. The conversation started out like this,

"Hey, What's going on?"

"Liz, how do you get DESINEX out of everything...." at this point it doesn't matter what else Brandon says I just get a kick out of "Desinex". Get it Desitin and Balmex, mix them together and you have "DESINEX".,....(by the way we don't have balmex, or desinex, we have DESITIN)

Brandon continued, "out of couches, cushions, rugs, wood floors, shoes, velvet dresses, hair, bodies....ok basically it's all over how do I get it out..."

"did Anna get Desitin everywhere?"

"Yes"

"Where were you?"

"I left for one second..."

"Okay," I think to myself I've done that before and have called poison control how many times now? Anna's name should be replaced with busybody or something like that.

"um....don't worry about," Brandon says, "I'll figure it out..."

So here is the proof of guilt....so cute. I wish there was more PROOF when I got home., but my wonderful husband had the house almost all DESINEX free.

More Christmas Fun

2007-12-15T22:48:00.001-05:00

The Branch Christmas Party

Tonight was our annual Branch Christmas Party. We had a great time. We ate a lot of good food, Katelyn really did eat a healthy dinner, but can you tell how excited she is for dessert?

I kept remembering last year. Anna got lost, and we eventually found her under a table in the nursery all alone. We she must believe in repeating the past, because she again ended up in the nursery, all alone IN THE DARK. She was fine, a little shook up but fine.

It's Christmas Time

2007-12-15T22:35:00.001-05:00

I Love December!!!!

Every December I am reminded of the love our Savior has for us. It seems like we do more as a family to center our lives around Christ during this time.

We also do really really fun things together. Today we had a full day. This morning we got up and went to Breakfast with Santa. We saw Frank the Elf (he was there last year) he was happier this year!

Only problem was we made the mistake of trying to get Anna to sit on Santa's lap before we ate. WHoopS! She was terrified and cried the rest of the time.

Katelyn's favorite part is always the craft. She loves to do art projects and glue anything she can.

Here she is with Brandon making an elf ornament. She asked me for help and I told her to check the directions first. She did it all by herself and did an excellent job.

Two Seconds after this picture was taken Anna decided she didn't want "milk" so she launched it across the room.

After Brandon cleaned it up we made our routine quick exit. From the front door to the carseats in 2.5 seconds...=)

We feel so fortunate to live in an area where this is a fun, uncrowded, one on one event. I think there were maybe 15 or less people there. Oh yeah and did I mention parents are free!

More Thanksgiving Fun

2007-12-02T22:35:00.001-05:00

Washington DC

I've always felt so blessed to live in a country where we have such incredible freedoms. Visiting our Nation's capital always reiterates those feelings in me.

Thanksgiving trip

2007-11-26T22:20:00.000-05:00

Every year we are so blessed to be invited to our loving family's home up North. We love sharing Thanksgiving with them. We had a great time again this year and look forward to seeing everyone again soon. Thanks so much for everything!!!

This first picture is katelyn asking "are we there yet?"
"No Honey, we just got on the freeway."

Anna loves her pacifiers...

At the Zoo

Nutcracker Time!

2007-11-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

Drum roll please.....Katelyn performed in the Nutcracker Ballet the week before Thanksgiving. Last year she was the cutest mouse around, and this year she was the cutest cook around. You already know from my previous post that she is also a magician in the kitchen so the roll she danced was a perfect fit.

She danced 3 performances and did an excellent job. Please enjoy the pictures. Her favorite part was getting to wear stage makeup.

Katelyn makes lunch

2007-11-26T22:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon when I wasn't feeling terribly well, Katelyn decided to "make lunch" for everyone. We had yummy concoctions, such as bread, covered in chocolate syrup and laced with m&m's and sweet tarts. We had fruit loops on the side, a little bit of left over mexican rice, and cheesy popcorn. YUMMY. Oh and for a second course, we had go-gurts in a bowl mixed with rice, popcorn, bread, water, and chocolate bars.

During the course of this I was upstairs unaware that Anna had ventured downstairs b/c "cherry" had offered her a "treat". When I came downstairs I was overcome with the smell of chocolate syrup. Anna had literally been drinking it straight. It was on the couch, the carpet, the floor, Anna's hands, hair and mouth. Needless to say Anna had quite the bellyache. But we all had a great time. And if you ever visit, we'll make sure Katelyn makes "lunch" for you too! That should be incentive enough.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T13:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween

We hope you all had a marvelous halloween. We had a great time.

Anna and Katelyn were both very excited about trick-or-treating. Anna was little red riding hood and Katelyn was Ariel (yes we spray painted her hair red). Even though Halloween is over Katelyn is sporting pink hair to school today. We hope the rest of the dye washes out very soon. After we sprayed Katelyn's hair she looked in the mirror and started to cry. I told her we could wash it out immediately. I was kind of nervous it wouldn't come out and was secretly hoping she'd want to wash it out. But she chose to have it in for the whole night. I was assured by many people, that, "yes, it will come out......eventually...." this was the verdict from a hairdresser in our Branch...

We've been greatly blessed to have such wonderful friends and loved ones here in SC. We were able to go to a Halloween party last night, full of kitty litter rice, witches fingers, bathwater to drink, eyeballs to munch on and many other fine delicacies...YUMMY

Anna Turns 2!!!!!

2007-11-01T13:40:00.000-04:00

She's two, wait feels like she's been 2 forever!
Any of you who know Anna, know that she is so lively and vibrant. It feels like we strated the 2's a little early, so we all needed the huge celebration of finally reaching the age 2 for reals!
We took the girls to Chuckee Cheese's, our once a year visit, and they had a marvelous time. Then after that we went to the Riverfront in Savannah Georgia. We went on a boat trip and shared a scrumptious ice cream cone. It was a perfect day.
On Anna's real birthday, a Sunday, we had a family party full with gifts and a great chocolate cake that the girls just loved.
Thanks to everyone who sent something for Anna, she loved it all!

Palmetto Bluff

2007-11-01T13:32:00.000-04:00

Palmetto Bluff

While my mom and dad were here we visited a fun place called Palmetto Bluff. The girls had a great time posing for pictures and running wild around the area.

updating some of our summer fun

2007-10-12T22:20:00.001-04:00

Ok, so if anyone is even reading this blog, you're probably thinking, this was a long time ago. But since I'm catching up I'm going to post about our fun summer.

This HOT summer, we had a great visit with Lisa and Spencer. It was so fun to have them back here in SC with us. I think it was the hottest week on record. It was the first time I noticed legs do sweat. It was really really hot.

We did a lot of time at the beach and the pool and had so much fun at that. We did most of our sightseeing by car, in the ac.

It's always hard to say Good-bye, this visit went by way too fast. We hope Lisa and Spencer and all our family get to come visit us again soon. take this as your open invitation.

Our Precious Turtle Sally

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Sally the Turtle. Well let me tell you the story, it's a good one. One Saturday afternoon Brandon took Katelyn golfing, around the time they got done I got a phone call. "Hi mom, it's Katelyn,"

I respond, "Hi, katelyn, how was golfing?"

"It was so fun! and guess what mom, we got a new pet!"

"Really? What kind of pet?!!"

"A turtle, we found it"

"Let me talk to your dad"

"Ok, mom. The Turtle's name is Sally."

Dad gets on, "Hi Liz, we had so much fun."

"What about a turtle?"

"We caught a turtle and we're bringing it home."

"Where is this turtle?"

"In my golf bag."

"Hm...ok, how big is this turtle."

"big"

"Ok, sounds fun..." notice my excitement

Well the rest of the story is, we put Sally in a tank, gave her yummy salad to eat and a tree frog for a friend, and all night Saturday night no one slept. Sally kept clawing at the tank to try and get out. So needless to say Sunday we had a "bye, bye, Sally party" at the docks and sent her to live with the other turtles. Oh and the fate of the frog? Let's just say that very hungry fish live in the water...poor frog.

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit. We had a wonderful time with them. We really hope they can come again soon.

Our trip to the sweltering pumpkin patch

2007-10-12T22:03:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!!!!

Ok not yet, but close enough. Katelyn had Tuesday off of school so we, and our playgroup hitched up the wagons and took off for a pumpkin patch about 45 mins away. I had bought these halloween shirts after season last year and was not going to let any opportunity to get my .75 cents worth out of them.

So even though it was 92 degrees (yes, this is Oct. in SC) I dressed the girls in their festive shirts. And like a good mother brought short sleeve shirts along just in case they started to melt. And yes these shirts are indicative of me...CANDY CORN QUEEN!!!

Miss Martha at the pumpkin patch was so wonderful, she had her staff paint the kids faces, almost all chose cats, and hitched up the trailer and truck for a hayride. The girls also fed goats cheerios, (Anna loved this), and threw the cheerios at the pigs.

Then we picked up our pumpkins while watching out for red ant beds. This pumpkin harvest experience differs greatly from past years...we were minus the coats, gloves, hot chocolate and snow....Toto, we're not in Utah anymore...
We hope you all have a wonderful Halloween...

Liz

A Nice Friday

2007-09-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

Today was a very nice day. I was able to help out in Katelyn's class, which I love to do, and I got a lot of errands done. Anna has been so cute lately, she is always walking about saying, "i lod you" I love you! It's so sweet. She's also learned the phrase, "Anna be soft on babies," I'll let you figure out how she learned that one...

Katelyn's first soccer game is in the morning, only I think she's more excited to go early and watch the boys play. Scary, well not really. She mostly wants to watch the two boys from our church, they are pretty good friends.

Tonight we went swimming at the outdoor pool, yes it's still like a trillion degrees here. We are hoping for a cool down tomorrow, atleast for a couple days.

Liz

Grandpa and Grandma come to visit

2007-09-27T23:04:00.001-04:00

We had so much fun with Grandpa and Grandma when they came to visit us in the south. We went a lot of places. I will download a few pics here.

Today Katelyn said the funniest thing. Another little girl on Katelyn's soccer team referred to Anna as a boy, and Katelyn said, "no, she's a she. I know she looks like a boy, but she is really a girl." Out of the mouth of babes. We'll have to save that one incase Anna needs any ammunition in the future.

I've been updating a webpage for Mark on his mission. It's www.dearelder.com/eldermueller/ I've been having a bit of trouble opening it up. Let me know if anyone else is as well.

Today I decided to haul Anna in the bike trailer to the park. Well since Brandon's bike was already hooked up I just took off on his. A few blocks away the chain fell off, ouch. It's horrible to just keep pedaling, thinking, "what's going on with this bike?" Duh! The chain is off...I still have my blond moments every now and then. Luckily we did make it the 1.5 miles to the park, felt like an eternity, but we made it. Oh, did I mention it was probably 90 degrees outside today?

Tonight at dinner Katelyn was sharing her version of my bike ride with Brandon. She said word for word what I had told her. Can you say, "play by play" ESPN watch out!

Anna has been talking a lot more. Yesterday while visiting teaching she kept saying, "Anna out pool" there was a pool in the backyard. So the kind lady I visit teach took Anna out for a walk around the pool, well for the next hour Anna kept going to her and saying, "Anna, out pool!" over and over again. She is persistant...

Well enough for now, I'll write more later.

Liz

Just started this

2007-08-31T21:08:00.000-04:00

Hi friends and family, if anyone ever reads this....ha ha..

I've decided that journaling is hard, but hey, I'm on the computer all the time, so why not journal this way. Now you can know the happenings of our crazy days here in the good ole' south. We miss you all and love you much.

So hm...today...I'm not sure where to start. I guess we'll begin at 12:31 am when I awoke to "cherry" coughing up a storm...I rushed to her assistance...and we ended up watching the last 15 mins of the tennis tournament on tv. I knew I couldn't complain about being tired when I realized this was the same game I turned off to go to bed at 9:30 that night. Wow, if I only had a percentage of that endurance....maybe I need to get myself some sports drinks...

Then a few hours later (literally) it was off to Kindergarten for Cherry. She loves it so much, but told me today that she misses spending time with me....(insert me crying here!) I told her she'll get use to it and then thought of all the times she shuts her bedroom door to play and have her "privacy" and then I cried even harder, she does love me.

Then it was off to the gym, those of you who know me well know this is my time, and some would say my obsession.

After that I took, "Apple" to the museum, which she loved. She was really well behaved today, she only pushed a toddler down twice. Hurrah, we are making progress. lol...Then we did some little things and got "Cherry" from school.

Tonight we went to a children's concert. "Cherry" had the opportunity to sing "twinkle, twinkle, little star" she did an awesome job, and all this after skinning her knee. When the artist asked her if she got to stay up late on vacation, she said, "I'm not on vacation" and then proceeded to sing. Hurrah for Cherry, she is really timid usually so this was HUGE.

Then she and I got to go out and get a treat and the "yummiest drink ever" carmel apple cider. As I write this she is sitting on my bed anticipating having her band aid "ripped" off, in her words. And cleaned out. OUCH. I don't really like doing this but it's better to do it and get it over with.

take care