For All Of Us Stay-At-Home Moms!!

I had to steal this from my friend Candice's blog - I hope these make someone else laugh like it did me!

A Small Glimpse Into Hannah's Day

All these pictures were taken today. Even though it wasn't a busy day, toddlers are always busy.

She wants to go outside and play sooo bad, just like the big kids.



She threw her raisins into the washer . . and then she high centered.


As I've mentioned before, Hannah loves to climb. She has figured out that if she uses presents, she can reach the ornaments even higher than the ones she ripped off yesterday. Like most families with little kids, our tree is not decorated with glass ornaments the last 2 1/2 feet from the bottom. Now she is helping to remove them even further up. What a little helper. Couldn't she just pick up toys?

Hannah Howling

For weeks we have been trying to get a video of Hannah howling like a coyote, but every time we turn on the camera she stops. Tonight she finally did it. This has been something that has been cracking us up for weeks, but few people ever get to see it. My favorite part is the way she puckers her lips while she's howling . .. or the way she cracks herself up after.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has much to be grateful for. I know I do! I have a Savior who died for me and loves me - faults and all. I have a GREAT family who loves me and takes great care of me. Plus I get to live in a small town in a nice home with horses. We even welcomed a new nephew to the mix this week! Congrats Aaron and Amy and new baby Owen. We enjoyed a great meal together with lots of family and had a great time. "Uncle" Matt even arranged a firetruck ride for all the little kids. They loved it of course and Hyrum insisted on his spot in the front with Uncle Matt.

Here's Amanda and Stacy - it was so great to catch up with both of them.

Cameron just couldn't bother putting down his pie for a picture.

Family Home Evening?

The kids love to wrestle with Cam as their "activity" after the lesson during FHE. Well, this week FHE was held kind of late and Cameron decided that the kids needed to be worn out before bed. So, during the closing song, which was "Do As I'm Doing", Cameron told the kids to run around the house until they couldn't run anymore. In the meantime, to make things interesting, he tripped them as they ran by each time. It became very entertaining for us. Terrible I know, but that's just our humor. This is mostly for my sister and Grandma who I inherited this horrible sense of humor from.

Brumbie gets a prize

We had an interesting experience last Saturday when we were on a family horse ride. Cameron saw the dog chasing a jack rabbit up a hill when she caught one right in front of us! She bit it in the hind end and then chased it into a bush and got it down. She killed it so fast that we were pretty amazed. I don't want this to be too gory for anyone, but around here, jack rabbits are like mice - no one wants them around and they are mean little things. I would post the pictures, but I think some people might protest. So, if you want to see what happened after, you can choose to watch the video.

Trip To Salt Lake

We went into Salt Lake last weekend for a 1 year appointment for Hannah. We ended up taking all three kids, which we usually don't because it's a lot slower with all of them. It actually ended up being a total blast. We got all of our shopping done and even visited with some old friends. The kids loved the trip. Poor kids - I really deprive them of some of the luxuries of the city. One is a mall. I never go and they've never been. They rode a merry-go-round and played in a play area. They thought it was great. So did I. Even eating out was a new experience as well and they loved it. Poor little country bumpkins!


One friend I visited was my nurse, Sherrie. She was my nurse after I had Hannah. Hannah was an emergency c-section and three weeks early. I think labor is always a little scary no matter which way the baby comes out, but this made me pretty nervous. Hannah even ended up in the NICU with oxygen on all the time. It was lonely sometimes because we ended kind of trapped in Utah when we weren't expecting it. We had come in for an appointment and a case lot shopping sale. I wasn't expecting a new baby. We had Hyrum with us (who was 2) who was quickly shuffled up to Cameron's sister's house in Salt Lake. Cameron was running back and forth to a motel and his sisters. Then my mom flew in and kind of saved the day for Cam and Hyrum. Sherrie was an angel sent from heaven. When no other nurse could remember my name, she was sneaking me goodies and spending some of her free time chatting with me. Sherrie kept me company and calmed my fears. You can always tell a nurse who has a few kids - they are more relateable and nurturing. I just felt bonded to her. Well, this weekend I was able to see her again and show her the little angel that we brought home last year. I started crying when I first saw her and can't really say why. It just brought back all of my thankfullness that I wasn't able to express at the time. So, thank you Sherrie for everything you did for me and thanks to all those great nurses who give so much without ever knowing how much you've really done. You cannot realize how much you are appreciated!!

Let The Terrorizing Begin!

Hannah has officially reached the age where she is going through the house and tearing it up just because she can. The morning we left for Salt Lake this is what I found as I went into my bathroom. First, half of the toilet paper was unrolled. Then, I found her binkie (that she's not even supposed to have outside of the crib) floating in the toilet. Nice, Hannah.

Random facts - I am completely random when I talk. I think they call it A.D.D.. But anyway - thanks Nici for this one it has really made me think.

1. I am always worried that I'm not a good enough mom. I'm always thinking of ways to interact with my kids and make them think. But I never feel like I'm doing enough.

2. Cozumel with my sister - most beautiful place I have ever been to and such a funny trip. Remember the crashed moped?

3. I secretly want to live in Driggs Idaho. I was once offered a job in a snowboard shop and I wanted to drop out of college so bad and just snowboard for a living.

4. After eight years of marriage, I still think about Cam at least 3 times a day while he's at work.

5. For me, cleaning relieves stress.

6. I have been out of college for more than 10 years and still have nightmares about being late for/ failing classes. Sometimes I still wake up in the morning and am soooo glad that I don't have to go to school.

7. I love serving in the church. Whether it's visiting teaching, when I was stake YW's president or teaching Primary - I just love it.

I tag Laura, Kiki (you had better do this!), Vilate, Stephanie, Christiann, Gayla, Jenica.

Look at this dirty kid! All just from playing outside . . .


We call Hannah "Hanny Goat" for a lot of reasons, mostly because she will climb anything. She's constantly weaving over and under the kitchen chairs. We also call her that because she's around a lot of little kids that can't say her name and call her Hanny. The hair in this picture is great - it's leftover from pigtails during church. Now she really looks like a "Hanny Goat" - complete with horns.


Here's Hyrum the morning of pre-school. He was so excited and so far, is still loving it! His shirt says, "what happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandma's" - I love it.



Goofy faces just make me giggle. My kids don't make normal faces very often - this is mostly what I get.

A Tag From Candice

What I was doing 10 years ago...
1. Well, as of Nov 17th - coming home from my mission in Eugene Oregon.
2. Knocking on doors.
3. Sharing the Book of Mormon
4. Stressed about if I did enough on my mission
5. Living with Gayla Eliason (now Mead)
6. Getting ready to come home.
7. Worrying about what to do next.

5 things on my to-do list today...
1. Clean the kids' bathroom (yucky toilet training toddlers)
2. Run on the treadmill
3. Make dinner
4. Wash Hannah's and my bedding
5. Visit some friends

5 of my favorite snacks...
1. Ice cream!
2. anything chocolate (now you know why I needed to go on a diet!)
3. fresh fruit
4. Popcorn
5. Wheat thins/ triscuts

5 Jobs I've had...
1. Vet tech
2. Waitress
3. Marine World
4. Microsoft
5. Testing center at Ricks College

5 things I would do with a million dollars...
1. Get a new house - with rooms bigger than these!
2. Pay off our parents' homes/ cars
3. Help Cam get started in a real horse business
4. Have a nice yard - complete with an in-ground pool
5. Secretly give money to those struggling (wouldn't
that be fun) and of course donate

5 things that made me laugh this week...
1. Hearing Hyrum tell me about fire safety in pre-school
2. Watching Hyrum and Parker decorate Halloween cookies - mostly just eating the frosting and sprinkles
3. Hearing Hyrum tell my dad that he "just didn't want to talk about it." (re: getting in trouble)
4. Uploading videos of my kids onto You Tube for my folks
5. Watching Cam wrestle with the kids - he's starting to meet his match with the 3 of them at once.

5 people I tag, to answer these same questions....
1. Laura
2. Andrea
3. Emma
4. Lacy
5. Leigh
6. Whoever else want to join the fun.

Hannah has found tomatoes! She loves them and when I put her at the kitchen table and turned around for a moment - she stole one and started eating like an apple. Later I discovered that it wasn't just one tomato, but there was another one that she took a few bites out of before gently placing back in the bowl.

One Liners

I love all the funny material that 3 and 4 four old's can give parents. Paige was hilarious, but fortunately Hyrum is giving us plenty. Today Hyrum had pre-school and they had a fire safety talk. A fireman came with a truck and ran the siren - he was very excited!! He loves riding in the truck with his Dad around town (who's a volunteer fireman). He came home with coloring sheets telling him to "Stop, Drop, and Roll". I asked him as we walked into the house, "So Hyrum, what do you do when your clothes catch on fire?". He quickly responded, "I put on my mask!". I had to laugh - I think he's spent way too much time down at the fire shed. Thanks Dad!

Eating and Sleeping

These are basic necessities, right? I think so, in fact I probably do more than I should of both. My children on the other hand refuse to do either. What is wrong with them? The only reason any of them ever eat is because I sit them down and force them to eat. Now, some people might think I'm crazy and should just let them eat when they get hungry. But you don't understand - they won't! They never tell me that they're hungry and if they go too long without food then they become the exorcist children and their little heads spin around and fire comes out of their mouths. Ok, so that's an exaggeration. For those who know me, I cannot go without food for very long either and I get really agitated. So they come by this honestly. But I WANT to eat. Paige went through this when she was 2,3,4 and 5, but now she's getting better. I thought it was a freak thing and just her. But no, it's Hyrum too. He hates eating. I babysat some other kids the other day and they ate all day long. Hyrum? Not even a little interested. I thought that since the other kids were eating he would want to too. At EVERY meal I have to remind him every few minutes to take a bite of his food and that he can't get down until he finishes. I don't serve large portions and it shouldn't take him long, but more times than not, he is there for 45 minutes to an hour. Sometimes I even break down and help him eat. Pathetic I know - he's 3 1/2! But unless I make sure they are all eating in 3 hour increments and having something healthy they will have a complete meltdown. Paige is really coming out of it now - thank goodness. Even Hannah won't eat at times. These kids are already really skinny and shouldn't be missing meals, I on the other hand should be missing more.

Sleep. I love sleep. I love sleeping. My children seem to think it leads to disease. They never wake up past 7:00, but that's a miracle. Usually it's more like 5:30 or 6:00. It doesn't matter what time they go to bed. People have tried to tell me that I put them to bed too early. But it doesn't matter. I can put them to bed at 9:00 for a week straight and they still wake up at the same time. So for my sanity, I put them to bed at 7:30. This gives me 2 hours to myself to get caught up and watch a show before I go to bed at 9:30. I would love to stay up late sometimes and do something fun, but I have to get up with the kids. Sometimes I can bribe Cameron into getting up with them, but most of the time he's already gone or was working until 1:00 am the night before.

Why can't my children just want to eat and sleep?!?! This is my lot in life and I am getting used to it, but I just needed to vent for a minute.

Hannah Turns 1!

On Sunday September 28th we had some family and friends over for a little cake and to sing Happy Birthday to Hannah. Boy, did she love the cake! I don't let my kids have any sugar before one, so this was a new experience for her. She ended up licking her hands and licking the crumbs off of her high chair tray.

4wheeling on Ward Mountain

This is Ward Mountain. It's around 12,000 ft. up. The fall colors were starting to turn and we wanted a family trip before they were gone.


This is the canyon we chose to ride down into and picnic. It was beautiful!


We wanted to take Hannah along so badly that we decided to tie her onto the wheeler with her carseat and she ended up sleeping a good portion of the time. She loved it and was very comfy. Cameron is showing off his new love - Oreo Cakesters.


What a great trip - now I'm going to want to do it every year. The best part was just getting away as a family with no distractions!