To the man who gives me butterflies EVERY time he walks into the room!

i don't remember signing your 8th grade year book "hope to get you to know you better" - though i did. we have it to look at. and well, i guess i can say that "hope" definetly came true- more than i'm sure i could ever have imagined at the time.

and I don't remember that you signed my book too.

BUT I DOOOO REMEMBER ..........
i remember you in early morning seminary our freshman year of high school. i thought you were so hot!!!i remember moving into your ward the summer between our freshmen and sophmore years and thinking, "hmmm, this could be fun!" i didn't know how true that statement was either.

i remember one of the first times you asked me to dance at a stake dance. it was to Brian Adam's "everything i do, i do for you." i remember after the dance, danielle telling me we looked like we were dancing on cloud nine. --- that feeling never left me- ever- no matter how hard i tried sometimes. i barely knew you, but that dance was amazing. i knew right then that i was done for.

i remember our first "date" with collin and erica. i remember that you made collin call and ask both me and erica out for the two of you 'cause you were too much of a wuss! i thought it was adorable. we went and saw that dumb surfer movie that had funny ladies with fruit baskets on their heads. i had never had such a good time at a movie. we talked through the entire show (i'm sure those around us were very annoyed) but i remember thinking afterwards "dang, he's hot AND freakin' hilarious!"

i remember that you used toilet paper all over paul's house to ask me to prom our junior year.

i remember when you "gave" me (aka tossed at me and said "here") my little heart charm after you got back from Italy. (you were still a bit shy)

i remember the cute messages you used to leave me on my pager voicemail.

i remember Denny's and In & Out- perfect meeting spots.i remember dragging our friends to EVERY football game, no matter where it was. i remember watching you and being terrified you'd get hurt.

i remember the 'aftergame' parties- and finding spots to talk to you without getting into trouble! we were soooo innocent!

i remember leaving notes on each other's cars.

i remember NOT being your girlfriend, but your best friend.

i remember that even though both our worlds were a little turned up side down at the time, we had each other. that we could talk and talk and we could sit in silence forever and ever it was all ok.i remember that we didn't worry about what everyone else was saying because we knew what was true.

i remember the scavenger hunt you sent me on to ask me to prom our senior year.i remember that first, very innocent kiss. so simple and natural.

i remember after graduation/summer when you left to go to virginia and telling you "go and kiss tons of girls and have the time of your life" and really meaning it. even though when it happened, it hurt, i knew it was what we both needed.

i remember after our "official breakup" (though i wasn't your girlfriend so how did that work?) that you still called me a week later, from virginia, on my birthday and we talked on the phone for 2 hours. we really were just best friends.

i remember going home to california for you mission farewell and feeling so ..... i don't want to say proud, but that was kind of it. i remember knowing that you were going to be an awesome missionary.

i remember the letters that you sent me and that i INTENTIONALLY did not respond to all of them because i was desparetly trying to move on with my life.

i remember that my heart never really let me move on.

i remember coming home from my mission and hearing random rumors about you. i remember really wanting to know which of them were true, but not letting myself make the effort to find out.i remember that from high school on, dating all kinds of guys, hoping to find one that made me feel at least half as good as you did.

i remember being back in California to visit my dad for father's day and danielle calling me to say that you were in town too. i remember that my heart skipped a little faster, and yet, i told myself i wasn't going to make an extra effort to see you. i remember talking 'till 3 in the morning that night in the Denny's parking lot. it was the most comfortable i had felt in the last 5 years.

i remember flying back to Utah the next day and checking my email- yep, there was one from you. and then the next day, another one- with you saying you were going to be in town that weekend and wanted to hang out. i didn't know what to think.

i remember driving out to park city to see you at shawna's (that very next weekend!) and thinking "this isn't happening. i'm going to see jason mckeon. what am i doing??"

i remember that from that night on i would wait for your phone calls- and they always came. we talked and talked and talked some more. hours on end EVERY night. you would make "excuses" to come up from ST. George to see me.

i remember how natural it was to fall in love with you.i remember leaving for Romania totally torn. knowing i needed to go and see a bit of the world and love some children, but not wanting to be without you.i remember getting "engaged" right before i left- though no plans were made.

i remember knowing that we needed to get married in december, though the rest of the world thought we were crazy. DEFINETLY was the right decison.i remember coming home from Romania a couple weeks early and surprising you. finding you a bit nervous but ready.

i remember you pulling my ring out as we looked over all of ST. George. I don't remember you being too nervous- though you probably were.

i remember Dec. 31, 2004 in the Salt Lake Temple.

I remember i couldn't keep my eyes off you as we knelt across the altar and were sealed for time and ALL ETERNITY.

i remember thinking "WOW, we have the opportunity to be together FOREVER." saying i was ecstatic wouldn't even begin to explain how i felt that day- and still feel today. i still don't understand how i got so lucky.

i remember sooooo much more, but i was trying to keep it somewhat brief!

I LOVE YOU!! You keep me smiling. You are the most wonderful husband and father. I really couldn't ask for more. And yes, i do still get butterflies every time you call or every time i see your face. Thanks for being you! Happy Anniversary!!!!

Baby Names

boys names:



Blake -7

Cody - 3

Phillip - 2

Steven - 2

Spencer - 2



Girl names:

Alexis - 1

Brielle - 1

Heidi - 1

Maggie - 6

Rylin - 6

Happy Golden Birthday DADDY!

Our daddy turned 27 on the 27th. I was supposed to be ultra on top of things and plan something totally fun for him- but well, that didn't happen. we were going to go down to his cousin's reception. we got everyone piled in the car (we had his brother jim and family with us) and by the time we got on the freeway, it was stopped. we weren't going to make the drive down there.
we had to think fast. it was cold. we had four kids, 3 and under. so what better way to celebrate than going to good old Chuck E Cheese. it was great. sure a day he will remember forever! :)
jared loves playing with his cousins kate and dillan. they are hilarious together!
I'm so grateful that he is such a wonderful husband and loves me despite all my craziness. the terrible part (my part) was that i had promised that after we put the kids down that night i would go and get him root beer floats. i would have, really, if i hadn't have fallen asleep on the couch before the kids were even down for bed. and i mean i was out. there was no waking me up.
Jason got to play PS2 with his brother 'till 1 in the morning. guess he can't complain. he NEVER gets to do that!

I love my husband. i love that he is "older" than me- born in a different year to make it seem even older. (my birthday is this next month- we are only 13 days apart, but different birth years!)
happy birthday baby- you are out of control!

Merry Christmas!!!

On Christmas Eve we went over to Grampa Gregg's house. Jared got to ride around on the little quad with his uncle Kasen. He LOVED it. He is definitely like the rest of the boys in my family. His grampa even bought him his own little quad (picture down below) soo fun!
We spent Christmas day with Jason's sister Erin and her family. It was Crazy- six kids (including jared) and 6 adults makes a lot of presents! we got spoiled. we were planning on a small christmas- but everyone seemed to want to get us stuff! we are sooo blessed indeed!


That's my cute big boy! he had sooo much fun with his cousins!

after opening all the gifts, nothing better than sitting around watching Jimmy Neutron!

Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy!

my MIL emailed this out yesterday- i'm surprised i haven't gotten it from anyone else.

Hope you can feel the spirit of christmas through the wisdom of this little boy! Merry Christmas!

Yason Bourne

Yason Bourne explained

YOU NEED TO HIT PAUSE ON THE MUSIC AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF OUR BLOG!
(and, i need to figure out how to properly post YOUTUBE videos on here. blogger was giving me the hardest time!!!)
my cousin first posted this on her blog when the movie was in theaters.
we finally got around to watching Bourne Ultimatum last night. and LOVED it.

i figured this was good enough to post again- just in case you haven't seen it. it makes my husband laugh like crazy!! (and me too!)

oh, and if you haven't seen some of the other Guillermo videos, like Dancing with the stars, you should look at them. Hilarious!

Merry Christmas Marcy

I was going through some old pictures the other day and found these. we sure have some good times!! (marcy is my cousin)

Oh Christmas Tree, How lovely are thy branches?????

Jared loves HATS!

So, we finally went last Saturday to get our tree. Both Jason and I are all about live trees- though this is the first year that we actually have gotten a tree. But i was determined to have one, because i knew jared would just love it.
But, because we got it a little late, and we aren't going to be here fro christmas, it will only be up for about two weeks. Does any one know how much live trees cost?
Since this was our first one, i had no idea. yeah, this scrawny little tree was $20. The pictures actually don't really show you how bad it really is.


well, ok, maybe they do. the tippy top might be 6 feet, but the actual "full" branches don't start 'till about 2 feet down from that. it is pretty hilarious. but i got my live tree and was stubborn about not spending more money for a tree for 2 weeks.

Jared loves looking at it, and taking all 10 ornaments off of it. that's what i wanted. so we love our tree. it makes our house smell good. and it means that christmas can come.

oh, and yes, that is an angel Moroni topper. jason's mom sent it to him when he was on his mission. i'm not sure where she got it, but we think it's both silly and WAY cool. I had two 'temple' ornaments that we put below it. that combined with the little nativity scene ornaments my sister sent me (thanks!) and a few red bows, we have ourselves a wonderfully hilarious "religious" tree. good times, good times.

(i actually had bought a box of ornaments to put on the tree. but it is just too small, so i returned them)

I know, this is really crude.......

but i have to share it because it was the highlight of my day! (you'll now learn how pathetic my days can be)

first, a disclaimer. I am very well aware that there are probably few people that read this blog that do not have some knowledge of my capacity to belch. it's just a natural gift i have had since birth.
now, as far as gas coming from the other end. that is only a rare talent that i possess when i am pregnant. when i first started it while being pregnant with jared, i think my husband was ready to sleep in another room.

so, jared was in the bathtub tonight after dinner. i was sitting on the toilet (as in, the lid was down. I was not doing any business, just watching him play) but i happen to let a little gas out. because of the material i was sitting on, it caused a great thundering noise. (i know, the things i share)

well jared looks at me with this really really confused face and says "DAD-DA?????"

Politics and my religion....

It's snowing again today. What better thing to do then add a ton of cute pictures to our blog? hope you enjoy them. there are more cute ones of jason and jared that i could add- but hey, i'm the one adding them.


anyway, the thought that provoked this blog. politics. i'm not that much of a follower, nor do i usually say much.


but everyone knows that the mormon guy has spoken about being mormon. when my faith becomes involved, i tend to get a little more interested. good tactic on his part.


this really cool article was emailed to me today. i enjoyed it so much, i thought i would share with anyone else who's faith and beliefs (even if they aren't LDS) are important to them.

I was going to post the entire article here, but it is too long for my format- though the article itself isn't that long. All you need to do is click HERE and you will be able to read it. Notice that the author clearly states that she is jewish. I think that is why i like the article so much. it is nice to here good stuff from other faiths about my religion.

I one hundred percent support her point of view. i haven't decided yet if the opportunity to vote for Brother Romney as president arises, i will absolutely take it. i don't know that he is my first choice as a republican candidate. i mean, c'mon, just because this time last year we attended the same sacrament meeting doesn't mean he automatically gets my vote. (though, i must admit, i do like A LOT of what he says AND does)

but, i do have a very hard time with the statistics that just because of a certain faith, one would not even be considered to be the person who needs/should run this country. If people are afraid of the unknown, then educate yourself! i realize there is a lot of anti-mormon stuff around, but if you want to know what we are all about, go to the source. www.lds.org is a good place to start or www.mormon.org . you don't even have to talk to anyone. just make sure what you are reading is legitimate stuff.

alright, i'll stop. sometimes ignorance really bothers me.

REAL SNOW!!!

Not that the snow earlier this week was fake, it's just that it had melted by friday. but we got more. lots more. 3+ inches! it is still lightly coming down.
I know you might get tired of the same "snow pictures" - but hey this was the real deal. We put jared's snow pants on him for the first time today. he could hardly stand up. it was hilarious.
Eventually he got the hang of it and was "frolicking" through the snow. He loves to jump. not just an up and down kind of jump, but a move forward jump. it was so funny to watch him try to do it in the snow.
jason makes him snow balls. he really wanted that one!
Fun stuff! i say that, but no, i'm not out there playing with them. i don't own maternity snow pants, and well, don't plan on getting any. i did buy my first pair of snow boots though. they are too cute! i figure that is the only part of me this year that will do much in the snow, so they were worth the investment.

this picture doesn't do them justice. i think they are way cuter on! i got them from http://www.sierratradingpost.com/ . it's a great online outlet. though, now that winter is here, their prices have gone up!

these are Columbia brand, originally $120. i got them for $48 two weeks ago. when i just went to the site to get this picture, they are now $60. when my sister ordered all of her kid's snow stuff in SEPTEMBER (yeah, she's a little nuts) everything was even CHEAPER. so, i guess she's smart, not nuts.

so yeah, for future reference. if you want good name brand snow stuff, get it early and get it at sierra trading post. (not that really any of live in the snow, but hey, you never know what may happen!)

Baby it's cold outside!

so, it snowed again. this time it's after thanksgiving, so i'm totally ok with it. besides, it's almost all melted again. though, more is on the way.


jared was soooo excited to play in it. jason took him outside to play. i didn't think they were really going to play that long, so i didn't bother putting him in all of his snow get up. he ended up getting quite wet and cold. but had SOOOOO much fun with his daddy!!!

Less than 100!!!!

So, according to my little tickers, i officially have less than 100 days to go in this pregnancy! i've been waiting for this day. it's just nice to see only double digits.

i'm still hoping this baby will be a little like jared though, and come early. he was 3 weeks early- but was big enough that it was fine. this baby is smaller- or i'm just a little smaller- so i'm saying that it should come 2 weeks early. sounds good. :P

this pregnancy has been very different then my first. i wouldn't say it is necessarily easier or worse- just different. things that are bothering me now, weren't a problem then. but i don't have the same problems (yet) that i had with jared.

i guess i should be more specific- for journaling purposes.

with jared, i was HUGE! i started retaining absurd amounts of water very early on in the pregnancy. i was so swollen i could only wear flip flops from about 6 months on. my blood pressure had to be very closely monitored- eventually leading to ALMOST pre-eclampsia. i ended up on bed rest (to prevent pre-eclampsia) a month before my due date. my blood pressure started to sky rocket- so my doctor was going to induce me on that monday or tuesday- which means he would still have been almost 3 weeks early. but instead- jared knew it was time, and my body knew it couldn't take it anymore. so saturday morning, 2 a.m., my water broke. not too bad of a labor, except for the fact that he was opaque (face up) and kind of got stuck. after pushing FOREVER, the doctor finally came in, worked some magic, and prevented me from having a c-section. exactly 12 hours later, we had a little boy. i was MISERABLE through the last 3 months or more of pregnancy.

this pregnancy, not like that one. yes, my feet have swollen up once so far- but that had to do a lot with how i was sitting and gravity and so forth. other than that, i can still wear all of my shoes. instead, i'm dealing with weird back, muscle and joint pain. makes sense, since everything was moved around during the first pregnancy. but i'm not really retaining water (yet- knock on wood, 'cause i'm sure it will come some time).

but overall, i feel pretty good. i know when i need to take it easy. with both of my pregnancy, the braxton-hicks contractions have started pretty early on. with this one though, i would say they are way more frequent. i'd say on an average day, i have 10-15 contractions. usually they are more frequent when i'm constantly busy. i have to pace myself. even just cleaning the kitchen gets them going. i have to stop and sit down and let them go away.

now that i'm almost on that final stretch, we shall see what my body decides to do. i have a trip to California in December and a trip to Washington in January, so i'm hoping to keep feeling the way i do so that those trips aren't a nightmare.

anyway, if you just read all that, you must have some time on your hands! as mentioned who knows how many times before, i'm not a journal keeper, but i will blog. so sometimes i throw things in here that i want to remember, even if the rest of you don't want to know about it!

Blessings all around me!!!!!!!

that is for sure. i have been blessed and continue to receive blessings ALL THE TIME!

i've been a bit of a slacker finishing my blessings posts. but hey, i was having too much fun enjoying some of those blessings! that makes it o.k.-- right?

we had a great thanksgiving. we ended up going down to my cousin's house and spending the day with almost all of my cousins on my dad's side. (and their parents and our grandparents)

it was good to see them all. some of them i hadn't seen in quite a few years. i'll admit, it was a little awkward at times. i'm not the most "social" person ever. i have a hard time just going up to ANYONE (even if i know them) and starting a conversation. who knows why. something i need to work on.

anyway, despite my apparent weaknesses, we had a great time. the food was wonderful and we got to remember how important our extended family can be.

oh, i forgot to mention, my brothers and SIL did come in from sacramento. they are so hilarious. Jared was kind of scared of them at first. by the end of the weekend, he was tackling and jumping all over them.

my brothers are extremely handy. they did some fun and needed adjustments to our house. i'm so grateful that they are so talented, and well, had the time to do the stuff my husband hasn't had the time to do.

Will, Jared, Dan & Brittany