birthday BABE!

If you know me at all you know I have two of the cutest sisters, and today I get to roast…I mean toast...one of them on her birthday...

happy birthday, linds!

So, a few weeks ago Linds (a.k.a. Wein) came with me to take my kids to their swimming lesson. It is initiation protocol for their swim coach, Mrs. Linda, to force any new-spectators to stand at the edge of the pool and let the little kids learning to swim use them as a target to be splashed. This is funny in and of itself because Lindsey hates to get wet. For that reason, I was loving the prospect of watching her get drenched when Coach Linda ruined it for me. Pointing at Lindsey perched on the edge of the pool she looked at me and said, “Is this your other daughter?”

Come on…seriously? Linds is six years younger than me…SIX!

In my defense, the day before at swim practice a little girl walked up at me with a smile on her face and said, “You are so pretty” and walked off. True story, I swear. I guess old ladies can be pretty too.

Anyways, Linds you are a smokin’ hottie and age is your friend (and apparently my enemy), you lucky girl!

LINDSEY IS...

Creative as all get out! Whenever I need to pick a brain, hers is on my speed dial. She is always coming up with cute and clever creations, and you should see her handwriting. Totally safe to say that I have genius envy.

An amazing organizer. When we moved into this house she came to visit and help me organize my kitchen and most of my closets. You should see her craft room! I am currently trying to steal all of her ideas for mine.

Not afraid to tell me that my sense of style is seriously lacking. But the good part about it is she always helps me fill in my wardrobe gaps. I want to just give her a credit card in my name and have her buy two of everything so I can be cool too.

One of the best friends I have

but it hasn’t always been that way. I was the worst older sister growing up! Thanks for hanging in there sis! I don’t know what I would do without you!

Spunky!

She and Jeff are always making us laugh at their quick wit. She is good at taking me to my happy place!

The softest talker I know, the most forgiving of my faults, the best peacemaker, the most natural first time mother I have ever seen,

and the woman least aware in the world of her beauty

and talent. All that packed into her little body- so small that I could have given birth to her when I was SIX…still not over it!

Happy Birthday, Wein!

I love you so much!

MAJOR family announcement!

If you thought this post was going to be all about bouncing Vest baby #4, then you probably haven’t talked to me in the past year…

OUR BIG NEWS:

LANDON IS POTTY TRAINED! Happy day! He was well under way when my dad encouraged me to get him started (with lots of his help…THANKS DAD!) while we were in Utah. Laugh at the picture all you want, I just had to get one of him standing on his tip toes so he can do it - 'wike Carter!'

He has only had a couple of accidents since we started, but we were having a rough time with #2. Anyways today while I was busy (asleep on the couch…shhh…) Landon came running over screaming, “Mom I went poop in the potty!” Wahoo! We immediately called dad and grandpa (who promised to send him a toy when he did the deed) and then he filled his pockets with Starbursts and m&m’s. I feel overwhelmed to be a diaper- less household after almost seven years! Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to wait so long for baby #4!?

Our other happy day bathroom news is that although Landon unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet, this time he didn’t flush! When I asked him why he did it, he said, “I didn’t do it. I was just kidding.” How can I be mad after that?

The last time he got in trouble for filling the toilet with paper it actually flooded the bathroom. Thank goodness we own a shop vac! I think it should be required equipment in the homes of everyone with a toddler boy. It has saved us both times Landon flooded the bathroom, and most recently was able to extract 12 pirates out of our clogged shower drain. For your entertainment, I am including pictures of his first bathroom (hallway, entry and part of the kitchen) flooding. However, take note that this incident was caused by leaving both faucets running full force and then joining the rest of us outside for an hour or so.

Are you ready for more happy day news? I got $67 worth of stuff for $8 at the pharmacy! How you might be asking yourself? My good looks and charm, of course! Ok, so it hasn't been that good of a day! (Coupons.) And while we are on the Optimist Express, I was sure I gained at least 5 pounds in Utah, but to my surprise when I got on the scale today I peeked through my fingers to find I had actually lost one! (This is happy news, I am currently not acknowledging the fact that muscle weighs more than fat.) To celebrate, Landon and I walked to the pool where he played and I got to submerge myself in the first chapter of Breaking Dawn. Happy day!

quilting cuties...

We were so excited to get Eden and Carter home! After our 24 hours on the road together I didn’t think I would miss them quite as much as I did, but their sweetness melts me! Poor Uncle Shayne had an eventful ride bringing them home. He left at rush hour, got stuck in traffic, had to make a pit stop for dinner, and then take two more detours for potty breaks. Obviously, he doesn’t know our road trip potty rules…so I will fill him in just in case there is a next time.

You hold it until: 1. you don’t have to go anymore, 2. you start to cry hysterically (kids), 3. you start to swear (me), 4. there is a generous shoulder and you can stand on the ledge of the car and pee out, 5. someone empties out a wide mouth plastic bottle (Damian), 6. we run out of gas.

After being in the car an extra two hours, they arrived with enough hugs to go around. Landon was clearly the most excited of us all squealing like a little girl, sitting on Carter’s lap, and smiles from ear to ear. Too cute! I wish I would have got it on video…never mind, touchy subject.

Almost before we even got hugs, Eden was proudly showing off the quilt that she made while she was with her grandma. She has been working on this quilt now for a few months. Kris let Eden pick out the fabric and said Eden sewed 99% of it herself. What was even MORE impressive is that Kris had an appointment for her to use a long-arm machine at a local quilt shop so that Eden could even quilt it herself!

Carter stayed at Jen & Shayne’s house two of the three days they were there, but on the last day Eden went to Jen’s and Carter stayed with Grandmother. When Kris asked Carter what he wanted to do, his answer surprised her. She thought he would say go get ice cream, play at the park, etc. But he told her he wanted to sew with her! So, he came home with a football quilt of his own and a pillowcase to match. Talk about being spoiled at Grandmas!

Jen and Shayne had their own way of spoiling them too! They love playing with their cousins, and Jen let Eden cook and Carter play with playdoh to top it off. It takes a whole village to raise a child, right? Thank you so much Kris and Jen for letting the kids stay! I am surprised they wanted to come home!

I stole thie rest of this post off of Jen’s blog!!!

I would have just linked to it, but she went all private on me! I had to have a copy because I thought it was so sweet, and if you don't know Jen you are in for a treat...she always cracks me up! Jen, I hope you don't mind!

Ava was in heaven. For the next2 days Carter and Ava played really well together... and have the cutest cousin connection with each other. I seriously swear that they knew each other before they came to earth.
They had fun wrestling, hiding from the camera, watching The Bee Movie, playing in the sand and on the the "swing sweat", playing with play-do, went to Tyler's for a playdate (and some sanity for me - thanks Carried!) on the Leapster (how cute are they cuddling?!!), throwing balls at each other... like I said, their little friendship is totally the cutest.

What I learned from my 4 year old nephew...

- 4 year old boys like, but only lick pickles
- pickles are "too expensive" for my sister in law to buy
- had my first experience with wiping pee off of a toilet in my own house - little boys will be little boys...
- learned that I am going to be giving birth to a transformer
- bribing with treats works - I could get Ava and Carter to do anything... even go to bed - in the same bed - with a promise of a treat the next day (of course, after lunch - I didn't let up on all of my rules)
- my sister in law, Megan, is "the most beautiful girl in the world!"
- big boys-boys still miss their mommy and daddy at night... either that or he was trying to milk his "uptime" for longer.

Then the night before they left, Eden came over to spend the night with us and play the next day while Carter went to Mimi's house. She stayed up "late" (9am) with Shayne and I watching the girls Olympics. And it was so cute of her because the commentators were totally critiquing them... and Eden was like "it's okay if they're not perfect, sometimes you can't do everything perfectly... they did really good." It was so cute to see and defiantly something that we need to be teaching our little kids at that age... but a different spin on it because after all, it is the Olympics.

The next morning Eden and Ava had fun playing and putting their creativity to the test. They played salon (and had all of Ava's little hair things in it's own cup) and kitchen. Then during Ava and Nolan's nap time we baked a sour cream coffee cake and she watched my cooking shows with me. We had fun drooling over Rachael Ray (appetizers and dinner) and Ellie Krieger's concoctions. It was so much fun to watch with her because she really appreciates good food - like me and her mom. And then we decided that the next time we got together, we could make those meals. And I got excited because I found something that Eden and I can do together that we both love.

What I learned from my 6 year old niece...

- i feel like I'm a better Mom to a 1st grader... i love that we were able to do more advanced things together and she was able to help me out. {{The baby/toddler thing is hard for me, but I'm sure I'll say this stage I'm at now is easier once they're all in school.}} - i had to learn to give up control because she can access any ole thing she wants in the house. {it's a good thing we are eased into this as parents - i love my control, and it's only good for me to give it up gradually}
- the creativity of this girl is mind boggling
- she could get my son to smile at her with the most googly eyes ever (top right picture)... and she got him to not grunt like crazy... i asked her if she'd move in with us just for that!
- even 6 year olds miss their mommy and daddy at night time (it made me wonder if Ava would ever miss me like that if we were gone)

Looks like it's time for me to STEP UP...

Damian had to leave early this morning because his boss was flying into town to meet with him, so Landon and I slept in…until 10:30am! I panicked when I woke up at 9:00am and tried figure out why the kids were so quiet, but then I remembered that Eden and Carter stayed in Dallas, so I hit my mental snooze button and I was out. We got almost everything unpacked and then laid down for a nap. Three hours later Landon finally woke up.

On a more heart-throbbing note, When I got home I found that Damian had been doing a little redecorating while I was gone. This is what I found in the doorway of our bedroom:

Nice, huh? It is no longer an option to close the door to the master bath, but I decided I might not want the option of privacy when I got a glimpse of my remodeled husband.

It is great to be home!

p.s. just kidding babe, we all know you look way better than this!

Deep in the heart of TEXAS!

We did it! Another cross country trip has been conquered, but instead of feeling victorious I feel exhausted and ridden with self-imposed guilt! I have no idea how Damian can stay awake and drive for so long. We made a 'pit stop' in Colorado Springs, (thanks to the Cars movie the boys were sure we were talking about our tires) where there was a yummy dinner and bull rides waiting for us…Thanks Dirt and Megan! Then, Damian drove through the night to his parents’ house where his mom had just pulled her legendary cinnamon rolls and strata out of the oven! Whoever said traveling makes you hungry hasn’t been this route! Thanks for spoiling us!

When I tried to keep Damian company the night before so that he would be alert, he asked me to sleep instead of staying awake with him so that I could drive the last four hour stretch home. Now that I think about it, that was probably just his excuse so he wouldn’t have to listen to me ramble, but it worked. I could do four hours no problem, right? Nope. I only made it 2 hours before I had to pull over to let my eyes rest. I felt whimpy pulling over, but terrible when he insisted that he drive the rest of the way home. So sorry, Damian! You are the man! Thanks for taking care of your precious cargo.

Our last day...

We spent our last day busy to the max! I couldn’t think of a better way to start the morning off than spending it having breakfast with Grandma Vest, Aunt Robyn & Uncle Gene. Damian’s grandma is an incredible woman who I love dearly and admire. She has always been such a sweetheart and strength to her family and ours. It was a treat to get to see her!

We then met up with the gang at Utah Lake for a few hours of boating. Damian was stoked with the sweet slalom ski Jeff hooked him up with, and the kids had a blast surfing and swimming. I stayed with Linds and Macy, eating up every precious moment I had to hold and kiss her chubby cheeks!

We made it back to Draper just in time for the girls cupcake decorating class, but when we got there it was cancelled. To ward off any disappointment, my dad said, “Well, Justice is right across the street, and I want to treat each of my granddaughters to a new outfit!” This man knows what a girl wants! He took the boys and sent us with some cash and a time limit; just enough to grab an outfit and eat some lunch. Grab an outfit, yeah right! I had picked out at least five outfits for Eden in the first five minutes and headed off to the dressing room. After trying on each one she politely said, “It’s okay, but I don’t want to buy it.” To make a long story short, over an hour later she and her cousins had finally picked out their OWN perfect outfits and accessories. These are pictures from their fashion show.

They rescheduled the class and the girls spent the rest of the night covered in frosting and with major sugar highs.

We concluded our last day by watching Michael Phelps amazingly win his 7th gold, stuffing our faces with pizza, and taking over grandma’s bed.

When our time in Utah is up I always have mixed emotions, and this trip was no exception. On one hand I am ready to get back to routine and having my little family together, including my handsome and very helpful husband. On the other hand it is always hard to say goodbye.

Being able to be here for such a long time has brought so many blessings! I know the relationships the kids and I have with my family are so strong because of the amount of time we have spent together. I am not always saying it has been a bed of roses, but it has been a time to jam pack memories into our family history, and a time to laugh, love, and cry together. I am grateful for a supportive husband and such an incredible family that I want to spend that much time with! Thanks mom and dad for loving us and putting up with all our mess and noise. Hopefully the hugs outweighed the extra stress and clutter!

"Hurry...Uncle Bean's coming!"

Uncle Bean visited us this morning! It was so cute to watch the kids scramble to make it up the stairs when the doorbell rang. They knew he was coming and they all wanted to be the first one to give him a hug. My kids love it when he comes to visit because he will just sit for hours and play with them.

They wrestled, played in the sand, threw balls, read books, got a ride in his truck and shared gum. (Well, Landon swiped Bean’s. Nothing like the refreshing taste of a little ABC gum.) The kids were in heaven!

I always love it when he visits too because we get to talk one on one. (Damian is not so good with details, well sharing details that is.) I am so thrilled that everything in his life is going so well, and I have never seen him this happy. I am pretty sure it has something to do with being in love with a beautiful woman…Go Jeff! Thanks for taking the time to come see us! Keep us posted on your love life!

she's crafty...

I had big plans for today, but we stayed home all day being crafty instead. Mel and I saw a cute way to organize hair bows, but we had a crafty itch and decided to scratch and save some cash. We sewed three ribbons around a metal ring, which served as the hanger, and then hot glued the flower and jewel on. I was happy that they turned out way cuter than the ones at the store selling for $36.
So, I guess I am a little selfish for telling my mom and sisters what I was giving them for their birthdays and telling them they had to help me make them. Oh well. They love me and their travel pillow and blankets anyways.


Two years ago I made Eden a nap mat cover with matching pillow and blanket. When she was done with preschool, I took it over and it has traveled with me ever since. My mom and sisters have been asking me to make them one, so I finally got around to it with their help! We cut and pinned and spent the rest of the evening covered in silk and fuzz. Inhaled fuzz and all, you are more than worth it! Happy early/late birthdays!

I had a photo shoot tonight with an adorable 2 year old girl named Andie. I had a hard time getting her to smile because she was busy checking everything out, but I got some really sweet pictures. When she put on the heels she said, "I happy now!" Girls will be girls!

Speaking of two year olds, apparently while I was gone I missed a minor home surgery. Landon stuck a button waaaay up his nose. Everyone kept telling him to quit picking his nose until he told them about the button going up there. It took a little pair of tweezers, Uncle Jeff’s steady hand and a cooperative toddler, but the stars aligned and the button came out. Moral of the story: Do not sniff buttons.

just call me Annie (as in Oakley)

Today was $2 Tuesday for all of the venues at Thanksgiving Point, so we loaded all the kids and gear in and caravanned there. As we exited the freeway I couldn’t figure out why there were so many more cars than normal on the frontage road, and then I saw them: lines. Lines of cars, lines of people, lines of animals, lines of strollers, lines wrapped around every building…lines everywhere! I can just imagine what Damian would have been saying as we crawled through the parking lot trying to get the heck out of there. Unbelievable! The things people do for a couple of bucks. You couldn’t have paid me to fight those crowds!

So, what do you do with two car loads of kids clamoring to escape? You call movie theatres, local aquariums, and Chuck E. Cheese to see if they are also experiencing ridiculous amounts of patronage. Then what do you do when they tell you they are? You drive .2 miles to Cabela’s! Yes Cabela’s the sporting goods outdoor store. There you can see dead animals and live fish for free without the lines! Brilliant!


The kids bought it and we spent a couple of hours wandering the exhibits and aisles of camouflage. They were as happy as clams and I had my game face on as my dad challenged me at the shooting range. We each had 20 shots. When the targets were hit they would change color and then trigger some kind of movement. Whoever thought of the skunk actually spraying when hit was pretty clever. I do have to give my dad credit for finishing mere seconds before me with a perfect score, but I was so proud when my last shot activated the target…20/20 baby! Just call me Annie!

Dumpster Dive

Eden and her cousins, Ashlyn and Paige, took a sewing class at JoAnn’s. They had so much fun learning something new. They each picked out their fabric and in the end came home with cute tote bags. Their teacher said they all did a great job but they had the most fun digging through the trash. On her dumpster dive, Eden came up with a bracelet made out of foam beads and a bouquet of greenery she plans to use at her wedding. That will save us a pretty penny in 15 years or so!

news flash:

After I finally got up the nerve to try to turn on all my camera equipment, I was thoroughly relieved to find that it works!

Unfortunately, our video camera is toast and hand foot and mouth disease has spread to Eden and Landon. Since Wednesday we have gone through two boxes of popsicles and a bottle and a half of Motrin. Three kids with 103 fevers is not fun.

Beijing 2008

I love the Olympics! During the finale of Beijing’s opening ceremony tonight while the torch bearer ran flew with the final torch, one of the commentators said, “The opening ceremony trophy needs to be retired right here.” I have to agree…seriously! I mean the bird nest itself was phenomenal, the detail that went into the ceremony was mind-boggling, and the precision of the participants...it was like scary weird precise. I wonder how many rehearsal hours they logged. What a show!

Check out these awesome photos captured during the ceremony:

Opening Ceremony photos

My favorite part was at the end when the cute 7 year old boy led China’s athletes out with their flag bearer,Yao Ming. He was one of the 10 survivors out of his class of 30 during an earthquake a few months ago. He freed himself from the rubble and went back in to free two more of his classmates. What a little hero.

The events I am most excited about are watching Michael Phleps covered in gold, diving, gymnastics, cheering on Dara Torres, and women’s beach volleyball. Although that one is not so good for my self esteem…bring it on!

I was lucky enough to go to several Olympic events in Atlanta 1996, and watching the summer games always brings back lots of those memories. I had never been to anything like the Olympic games. There were so many cultures represented in the crowd. People dressed differently, spoke different languages, but it seemed like everyone was happy and equally thrilled to be there. Instead of being just a faces in the crowd, people were amazingly determined to meet strangers and trade pins. It was one of the neatest experiences…until the bomb went off. I was right there for that part too, but that is a whole different story.

Anyways, let the games begin! Go team USA!

Good News or Bad News?

You know it is bad when the pediatrician says, “Oh dear, this breaks my heart. Here I need to draw you a picture,” and then proceeds to say words like ‘disease’ that you are not getting good news.

So, the bad news is that Carter has ‘Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.’ It is a virus that he picked up somewhere in the last week that has caused him to have a 103.5 fever and ulcers in his throat and down his esophagus. Poor kid. He is absolutely miserable and supposedly will be for the next week or so. Yuck. The bad part is that we have the hand and feet ulcers to look forward to, as well as the sharing of his disease for the last week that we are in Utah. Why do we always get sick when we travel?

Are you ready for some more bad news? Did you notice this wordy post has no pictures? Yesterday we were out boating on Utah Lake with the whole Dudley side of the family (minus my studly husband). Lindsey’s hubby, Jeff, is an amazing wake boarder and wake surfer so I thought I would take a little bit of video to show Damian. I pulled our video camera out of my camera bag, leaving about $2500 of camera equipment safely inside. I captured some awesome footage that unfortunately will never be seen due to a huge wave crashing over the front of the boat and into afore mentioned camera bag.

My cousin, who was driving the boat, was laughing hysterically at how soaked Kaylee and I were until I sprang up dispensing the contents of my bag to everyone who was warm and dry. I haven’t had the nerve to try to turn anything on yet. I wanted to give everything ample time to thoroughly dry. I am hoping my camera will survive, but I think the video camera is a victim of the tsunami since it still has condensation on the inside of the lens.

My good news might not give you a warm fuzzy like it gives me, but Damian got his ticket to fly out and help me drive home! 8 days and counting…I miss my husband!

My Big Bro

Since Todd, Kim and the girls drove in from Sacramento, we have packed so much in! We had a Hanna Montana birthday party for the girls (check out my cute invitation- yes, I am full of myself), Macy’s baby blessing, her luncheon, a trip down to BYU complete with bowling, a Rice family cookout, the kids and I visited with Grandma Hunt, all the kids had a blast at the Barn (one of those places with inflatables), we kept the dressing rooms hopping at Nordstrom Rack, and had sleepovers. I am tired already and tomorrow we have boating and an adults dinner on the agenda!

It has been so much fun to be together though. I don’t get to see my brother’s family nearly as often as I would like. It is hard for me to think of their older girls as teenagers, but they are, and amazing ones at that. All their girls are so sweet, but they are smart and talented as all get out- way more smarterer than me, and you should hear their list of accomplishments. Pretty impressive!
There is something about being with my brother that just makes me happy. I have pretty much worshipped him since I can remember. When I was little, I was convinced he could walk on water. Even though I know now that he isn’t perfect I still hold him up on a pedestal because I am so proud of him, all that he has done and continues to do.



He has the best relationship with all of his 5 girls. If you spent any time with them it would be obvious that they are his pride and joy, and he absolutely adores his wife. They make each other laugh constantly, but they also have PDA like newlyweds! Maybe it has just been too long since I have been with Damian, but I admit I am a little jealous!

I admire my big bro so much that when he dishes out a compliment it really affects me. Just like I would never want to let my dad down, I feel the same way about my brother. He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, and he lets me know that I am doing a good job just living life. Thanks Todd, your words bring me encouragement and your hugs reassure me of your support. I am so grateful for my big brother. I love and admire you and your adorable family so much!

Family Reunions

This evening we got to visit with Damian’s Grandma in Bountiful. My kids call her Grandma Great and even though we don’t get to see her as often as we would like, my kids were excited to see her! She spoiled Eden and me by sharing some of her beautiful quilts with us. She is a very gifted quilter, but she would never admit to it! The kids were thrilled when she showed them some of her treasures and let them take home two bags full of blocks. It was great to be able to spend a little bit of time with her. We’ve been blessed with such an amazing family!

Then we headed to the Rice family gathering at Aunt Jan’s. I loved seeing everyone together and listening to Kim wipe the floor with 5 guys acting like the University of Utah was paradise. Go Kim! The kids had a ball jumping, splashing and meeting cousins they didn’t know they had.

It was just awesome to have everyone together. My adorable Rice grandparents were the hit of the party and we all wanted recent pictures with them, so we took turns holding their chairs up so they wouldn’t tip backwards down the mountain.

You can tell from the pictures that some of us were more valiant than others. I am sure that has nothing to do with the amount of love we have for you, Grandma and Grandpa! Check out that group, and I think we are missing 18!