Don't ever do this!!!

Let me just say that again. Don't EVER do this. This is what my brand new dryer looks like now. Aaron left a pen in the pocket of his sweatshirt and it didn't come out in the washer so unfortunately it went through the dryer and exploded! Didn't make me real happy to say the least.

And to top off the situation I had just purchased a new spring wardrobe for Braden and I took all the tags off the clothes and wanted to wash them before he wears them. You guessed it! That just happens to be the load that was in the dryer at that time. What timing?? So now I have brand new clothes that are ink spotted so I guess he can wear them when he digs in the dirt and mud! Here is a picture of some of the clothes that were in there.

Ahhh, I've been tagged!

Okay so I am supposed to share 7 things that people don't know about me. This is going to be tough. I will see what I can do . . ..

1. I was engaged 2 times before I met Aaron and was engaged/married to him. (3rd times the charm they say, and he is charming!! Glad that I waited it out!)
2. I had a terrible rollerblading accident and ended up with stitches in my chin and lots of gravel in my. . . . . . well, let's just say I am lucky to be able to nurse my babies if you know what I mean. Yeah, it hurt when the doctors were picking the gravel out. (and extremely embarrassing too.)
3. I knew NOTHING about football before I married Aaron. Now that is my life - not totally by
choice but I enjoy it. It took me a while to understand 1st and 10. That was difficult for me!
4. I LOVE anything chewy/gummy. (Maybe that explains the jaw problem I have)
5. I don't like to lay out in the sun. Like the sun, but I can't stand to be hot and sweaty.
6. I never missed a day of elementary school (it's getting hard to think of things okay)
7. I get car sick every time I get in the car, unless I am the one driving. It makes me so sick to
even turn around in the car to help the kids. I am actually getting sick just talking about it.

Who knew?

I am always on the hunt for some type of cleaner that will remove those annoying marks from pans in my kitchen sink. I have tried dozens of different cleaners and none have been promising. For some reason I decided to try yet another cleaner that said it would take those marks off. I mean really ~ one product out there has to do what it says, right? It is called Bar Keepers Friend.

If anyone else is like me and those marks seem to stare at you every time you are at your kitchen sink and you hate hand washing pans because you know that will just add to the nice design in there . . . . wait no longer! It is the BEST! Really, it works like magic. I haven't seen my sink shine like that since we moved in. No more annoying pan marks! Yeah!!! Maybe everyone already knew of this great product because when I purchsed it, there were only 2 cans on the shelf. So maybe I am telling everyone old news. But it made my day. I was so excited. And for anyone who wants to try it out (who doesn't already know about it . . and if you did know about it, why didn't you share?!) you can just pick one up for only $1.67 at Wal-Mart. Yeah, not the greatest place to go buy it, but it gets rid of the marks so it's worth making the dreaded trip there.

I draw it up . . .

he builds it for me! It's that easy;) This is a picture of a shelf that Aaron made for me.

It is a little hard to tell from the picture just how much detail he put into it, but he always does a great job for me when I am in need of something to fill up wall space. I just found the hooks a couple of days ago that he still needs put on but he is so handy, don't you think? The only thing I did was buy the paint and draw (well, more like explain to him) what type of shelf I wanted and he did everything else. He does a fine job and I appreciate his efforts. I think it was more of a task to hang the shelf (and the picture frames) than to actually make it. And not to worry, it is hanging on the wall nice and straight. I guess I just took the picture crooked. Now I just need to find 2 more pictures to put in the empty frames. (NO! It doesn't mean we are going to have 2 more kids ~ not anytime soon at least!)

President Hinckley's Viewing

Aaron and I wanted to go say a final farewell to the beloved prophet. His viewing was going to be held on Thursday and Friday. We decided to go on Friday morning after hearing that the wait was no longer than 30 minutes and nobody had to wait outside on Thursday. We left our house at 11:00 am and headed for the trax station, which is only a few minutes away. We arrived in the parking lot and by the time we actually parked the car and got the kids out we were pressed for time. So here we are in our church clothes each holding one of the boys running through the parking lot to go buy tickets for the train. Well, needless to say our running efforts did not pay off (hey, it's been a long timesince those high school track days) and we missed the train by 30 seconds. No problem! It is only 15 degrees and the next train will arrive in a short 15 minutes. So here we are waiting so patiently. (Little did we know that this was only the beginning of the waiting we had to do that day.)

We arrived at the stop downtown and got off and started walking. We were just about there and I was looking forward to being in the warm conference center and getting the kids out of the cold when we look across the street and see the tremendously long line of people. What were they all doing? It couldn't possibly be the line to see the Prophet, could it? We cross the street and hear a gentleman greet us, "If you have a purse or any bags please go to this line, and if not feel free to go to this line." What was the difference you ask . . . . . oh, just an hour longer wait is all. I was willing to give the diaper bag away when I saw that line he was pointing us to. But, we are already into this outing an hour so let's just stick to it. Keep in mind that I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old (who has 3 top teeth coming in) in the freezing cold and NO food or water and the 2 year old is going on day 6 of wearing underwear. I was a bit skeptical. But thanks to aunt Brooke, some cheez-its and conversation hearts kept Braden satisfied. Braden didn't seem to mind the cold and loved looking across the street at the temple with the gold statue on top. He kept us entertained with all of his comments and his anxiety to see President Hinckley.

After only an hour and a half we made it inside the Conference Center where we were seated inside and again waited another hour and a half. It was amazing to see all of the people pouring in. We watched the Celebration of Life video celebrating President Hinckley's 95th birthday. Our section was next to be allowed to go up to the Hall of the Prophets and I had butterflies in my stomach. I was anxious, nervous, sad and happy all at the same time. We had one more escalator ride up before we reached the hall. They instructed us not to talk and stay in single file line until we exited. I can not even describe the feeling that I had at that moment. The tears started to flow as I reached the top and saw many beautiful flowers with a banner on them that said Grandpa and family portraits. Braden kept asking me when we would see him. I wasn't sure what he would think even though we had tried to explain to him the circumstances on which he would be able to be so close to the Prophet. The spirit was so strong. It was a feeling that I have never experienced before. I always knew that he was called of God and was a true prophet in our days, but it was a moment that the sweet spirit touched me and testified to me that he was a prophet called by God. He looked wonderful. It is an experience that I will never forget. I would have waited another 4 hours to be able to experience that precious moment again. I will always cherish that day. And to top it all off, Aaron was reading the paper this morning and turned the page and saw a picure of us in line. I got this picture of the Deseret News website.

Family ~ how great they are!

I am so very thankful for such a wonderful family. We are so blessed to have the majority of our family living so close. I just have to give a big THANK YOU to my dad. He is the best dad! Today he took Braden with him to run some errands. Braden loves to spend time with his grandparents! It is amazing how much I got accomplished this morning with out him. I love him dearly, but he wants me to constantly play catch or trucks with him. I can only play with trucks so many hours per day you know ~ it's a tough job! So after I put Austin down for a nap I got the whole house picked up and dinner started and even a long, hot shower! It was fabulous. Then to top it off, my dad just called and Braden wanted to eat lunch and take a nap at Grandpa's house! I don' t know how my dad felt about that, but that is fine with me. I am so very thankful that Braden can grow up with both sets of grandparents and have a relationship with them. We are certainly lucky that we can visit them every Sunday. Braden sure has a special bond with them. We or should I say "I" am spoiled too, because Aaron's mom comes to my house to watch the kids while I go get my nails done every other week. He looks forward to that day as well and it is not unusual for him to ask me when I am going to go have them done. He likes to play with anyone who will be bossed around by him. But just wanted to share my thoughts quickly about how grateful I am for such wonderful parents and in-laws.