Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it has been 8 years since Kevin and I were married! I remember when I couldn't wait to say we had been married a year, and now I am not sure where the other seven have gone. I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who loves me for who I am. He knows how to love me, encourage me, and also knows when to put me back on track. Kevin is a wonder father. My favorite part of the day is when he gets home and seeing Spencer and Olivia get so excited when they hear the door open. He is always looking for activities to do as a family, but he also knows how important it is to have some time together just as a couple. I truly appreciate his hard work. He has gone above and beyond in trying to provide for our family. He makes me laugh, he makes me smile, and he even makes me mad at times, but all of those things just make me love him even more. I couldn't have asked for a better companion. I am so grateful for who he is, and that we in this for the eternities. Happy Anniversary Dude ;)

Quite the Fiesta

This last weekend our family, sans Kevin, went to Las Vegas for our cousin Chelsea's wedding to Mr. Nestor Ramirez. I drove down with Bree and Eric, bless their hearts, with my two crazy children. Long story short, Olivia never slept. AHHHH! We arrived safe, although we sadly saw a victim of a rollover, which then made us contemplate safe driving and all the horror stories we had ever seen.
ANYWAY, on Thursday, Lydia and I went to Chelsea's naughty shower where the both of us learned a thing or two! We had fun having dinner with the girls, and it was fun to see Chels before the wedding day.
The sealing was beautiful. It was so fun to watch Nestor's face. He has a really cute smile, which he doesn't show off near enough. I was so pleased with the two of them getting sealed in the temple. That is the best way to start of a marriage! The weather was amazing, and it was fun to visit with everyone outside. It was really fun to see my good friend Candace too. She was the photographer. You can see her site here. I never get to see her when I am down because she is always shooting, so that was really fun for me!

The reception that night was a blast! It was beautifully decorated, knowing of course that Jeanette cannot do anything simple! I was worried Olivia would be difficult because she started the night off with a fever from teething.

Luckily she felt better fast after a little Tylenol, and then we couldn't peel her off the dance floor! The kids had a blast gettin' down! I think every time a flash went off Olivia thought it was for her.

It has been said to "dance like no one is watching." Olivia was dancing and hoping everyone was watching! She was so funny. Spencer liked the dance floor, but he LOVED the chocolate fountain and the candy table. I cannot tell you how many people came up to me and said, "Have you seen Spencer's shirt?" Oh well. He came to party, and that he did! He loved playing with Alli and Jessi! They were nothing but T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the night was when the DJ was finished and the Mariachi band started to play. I swear, you had to be there to see it. ALL the white people backed away and ALL the Mexicans ran to the dance floor! Oh, I was dying! After a song or two, the whities weren't so afraid. It was so fun to have the live music there. It was even better to actually see people dancing.

Finally, a highlight of the night was Lydia catching the bouquet! Hooray for Lydia! Now all we have to do is find her a man! Here she is with Nestor's brother (I think). Doesn't she look pretty?!!

Oh, I guess I can't forget the shot of the bride! Chelsea looked so beautiful!!! I didn't get very many shots of them because I have a thing for taking shots the same time as the photographer, I think it is so tacky! So, here is one of my few pics of Chels. Sorry, it isn't very good!

The whole day was beautiful, and the night was quite a fiesta! I know for sure the party continued late into the night because they were moving the party to Nestor's parent's house after it was done at the Nelson's! I wish you could have been there to see it, but maybe some of you will be at Rachel and Miles' reception in a couple weeks. It is at Cal and Jeanette's too!

I just have to put this shot in because I think it is so cute. It is of Olivia Lauren and Lauren (Ryan's 'friend').

THE END.

My Preciousssssss

Here is Oli's new 'baby'! Can you believe it! I pulled out some Halloween stuff, and she attached herself right to this scary rat. She loves it just like all of her other babies, maybe more in fact. He has to sit next to her to eat, she lets him drink out of her sippies, and she carts him around all over. People have very adverse reactions to this rubbery rodent, and it is even more shocking when they see this sweet little girl loving it like a baby doll. Personally I love it! I don't know if it is because she has a slight sense of morbidity (like her mother) or if it is the undiscriminating love of a child. Lets go with the latter.

Elvira or Vixen?

So what do you think? It has been a couple of years since I have gone dark, and I thought with the season change it was a good time. I was in the mood, and I love it! I wish it was about 8" longer, then it would be fabuloso. OK, so do Lydia and I officially look like sisters now?!! I pulled an expression in the mirror after it was done and I was thinking, 'Holy crap, that is Lydia!' Spencer asked me why I turned my hair brown when I picked him up from school today, but he said he liked it. Few! All I need is a 4 year old telling me I am not cute! Hopefully the hubby likes it! He doesn't know I did it!

The Glories of Fall

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This last weekend I drove the kiddies down to good ol' Utah County to go for a ride up the ski lifts in Sundance with Nana, Papa, and Uncle Ryan. I was a little worried that the weather was going to turn on us, but it ended up being a spectacular fall day. It was overcast, a little breezy, but it felt just like fall. The leaves were so beautiful. If you are here and haven't been to see them, you must go soon! It seems they are gone before you know it.
The boys went up on a lift together with Spence, and the girls took Oli. I am sure my dad and Ry had a little easier time with Spencer, but we had nonstop action on our trip. Olivia almost lost a shoe in the first 30 seconds, she tried to throw her hat off at the half way point, and I swear that girl has a death wish. She would have jumped off if we let her (probably because it looked like the mountain bikers below were having so much fun). Even though she was a handful, Mom and I had fun kicking our legs and letting the breeze blow through our hair. It is amazing to look at the what Heavenly Father created for us, and that he did it to bring us joy.

No Habla Espanol

We made it back! No problems with customs OR diarrhea! Can't ask for more than that, right? Good thing E and Ry can speak Spanish fluently, because we were of no help! I was truly impressed at our Aunt Aleda's skills considering she only spends a handful of weeks there a year. Anyway, we had an awesome time in Mexico. The idea of trying to recap all that we did is a little overwhelming, although Kevin would say, "Just tell everyone we went shopping." I think the guys got a little tired of that by the end of the trip. I commend them for their sportsmanship!
Our first day we got in and went to our Aunt Aleda's house. Um, HOLY CRAP! This place was incredible. It was perfect down to the last detail. It needs to be professionally photographed because I don't think we quite captured the feel of it. There are 6 bathrooms to start. Yea, you heard me. There were three casitas, two of which were bedrooms. Eric and Ryan's room was completely chiseled (literally) out of stone. Ours had the most amazing ceiling EVER. Both of our rooms had their own little terrace with tables. The entire exterior was covered in foliage and flowers. So beautiful. I can save all the other details for those that ask. Anywho, we went to dinner with Carlene and Aleda, and had a mariachi band play while we ate. It was so fun. Sadly, none of us got any footage of the old, overweight, toothless woman bumping and grinding to the music. She was the baste!
The rest of the trip contained lots of shopping in quaint little towns, sight seeing, museums, amazing food, and being crammed into the back of a suburban.
We spent time at Carlene's 17th century home, uh huh, and let her staff attend to us. Just kidding, they didn't really "attend" to us. They just made us some really tasty food!
A highlight of the trip was going to a Queen tribute concert. It was hilarious!!! Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect, especially when it claimed to be 'multimedia.' Lets just say there were big screens of Queen videos playing, terribly choreographed ballet dancers, and a magician that would put Gob to shame, and an orchestra that we couldn't hear. I must admit that the drummer stole the show, according to me of course. He was awesome! The crowd was wild! I don't know if they would have reacted any differently if Freddie Mercury was there in the flesh.
Finally, my favorite day of the trip was going to see our Aunt Carlene's and Uncle Rosendo's ranch. They are planning on turning it into a resort, and it is well on its way. Before we actually went there, we stopped at another ranch and got to see Uncle Ro at his carriage lessons. They are learning to drive them so they can have carriage races at their ranch. It was really fun to watch but even better to ride. We went from the lessons to their ranch and had a 4 course meal (prepared by their cooks of course) and went on a tour of the property. It was so relaxing, and as far as describing the ranch, you just need to see it for yourself. It was wild.
We had a wonderful time and left with an open invitation to come down at anytime with anyone. So, who's up for Mexico? Oh yea, and we all got Mexican wrestling masks!

Viva La Mexico!

Well, it is Saturday night, the kids are in bed, the house is clean, and I need to pack! We are off to Mexico tomorrow morning! Aye aye aye aye! Kevin, my dad, mom, Eric, Ryan, and I are heading down to Guanajuato, Mexico to visit our Aunt Aleda, Aunt Carlene, and Uncle Rosendo. Carlene and Ro live there with their twins, and Aleda decided to buy a vacation home there just around the corner. It is a sweet little town that is full of character. It is even know to host a film festival or two. Believe it or not, my Aunt Carlene had Tim Burton over for dinner a month or two ago! How I would have died to met that man. He is so creative and created my cute Jack Skelington! Anyway, a full week without children and just soaking in culture, conversation and food is exactly what we need! The town is located in central Mexico, but I think we are staying a day or two at my aunt and uncles new Bed and Breakfast (or is it a Chair, Lunch, Dinner?) on the beach a couple hours away. We are so excited!
We are also so lucky to have Kevin's sister and her hubby watch our two little ones while we are gone. They have two children too, so that means four children four and under, and three of them are in diapers! What the?!! Let me not forget to mention they are coming from another week long sitting job of four children (so 6 total) including a set of twins!!! Maniacs, I know. Good luck Nicole and Garrett! We love you for doing this!

I Love Technology

Believe it or not, I am back! I seriously feel like I have been in the stone age! No computer, no TV, and my cell reception sucks at our new house, so I have pretty much felt isolated without the technology I am used to! I have to say that I am overwhelmed at the idea of catching up, but I am also looking forward to it. I have also been accused of being like my younger sibiling, name not to be mentioned, for not posting. I feel like I have some pretty good excuses!!! Moving for one! In that process I lost my internet, boo hiss! I also was out of town at my 10 year reunion the day my hubby decided to move us in. BTW, it was so fun! The reunion, not the moving. I think Kevin almost killed himself. He was so exhaused for days, and then he got the flu. Poor guy. So in the process of unpacking, taking care of my chillins (kind of, hee hee), not having technology sweet technology, school and soccer starting, and just running plain mad, I haven't posted. Also, you will have to go another week without me starting on Sunday because Kevin and I and some of my fam are going to Mexico to visit our aunts. Yippee! Anyway, I've now posted. I will do my best to catch you up! Here are just a few pics of things that happened. Thanks for not forgetting about me!

Heaven Help Me

Ok, ok, I have been TERRIBLE at posting lately. I have a billion things to blog about but I just haven't done it. Life is crazy here. My house is filled with boxes, Spencer just got over the flu, and Olivia gave herself a black eye. I have been running in circles everyday, and my poor hubby is working all hours of the day. SO, today I felt like I should take some time out to spend with my sweet attention deprived children. We went to a local pool that has some really fun indoor and outdoor kiddy pools (this pic was from a different day at a different park). We had a ton of fun, and I began to feel like a better mother. On the way home I decided to stop for some food because I hadn't eaten all day and was starving. Anywho, as we pulled up to the drive through, a Hispanic girl with a mole on her face handed me my food and we left. Spencer was a little distraught because I didn't get him a drink, so he told me to go back and "tell the brown girl with the spot on her face give him a drink." WHAT! I couldn't stop laughing, which of course totally confused him, and all I could think was HEAVEN HELP ME! WHAT AM I TO DO WITH THIS CHILD? All I can say is that I was glad I was in a car when no one else was around. The end.

Shop Til' You Drop

Believe it or not, I am alive! It has been a while since I posted last, but give me a break! I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I am sure it is mostly my fault for not being organized enough right now, but I feel like I have been so busy. Our house is moving along pretty quickly, so we thought we would head down to Vegas to do a little shopping. Furniture shopping! We left the kids with Bree and Eric (thanks a million guys), and took Ryan and Lydia with us to shop til' we dropped. My mom's friend Leslie was kind enough to take us with her to the Market. Kev and I needed some furniture, Lydia needed the experience (she is in the interior design program at BYUI), and Ryan was along for the ride.
We stopped at the R.C. Willey outlet when we got into town and found a couch for the kids toy room and a chair for the guest room. Not a bad start if you ask me! The next day we went to the Sands convention center to check things out. Holy grail! It was packed with stuff! There were a few things that I wanted, but they had already been purchased. Oh well. The guys split up from us because they would have killed us if they had to wait around for us. They were great sports! We made some mental notes after we walked it all and decided to come back the next day.
After we conquered the convention center we went back to the World Market Center. This place is huge! I am still not sure how much we didn't get to see. I know we didn't cover it all. Lyd and I stayed until closing to scope things out for the next day, but we couldn't buy anything because Leslie had to head home early. No worries! We ended up running to Tuesday Mornings so I could look for some sheets, and I ended up finding a rug! Of all places! Can you believe it?
The next morning we woke up early and headed out again! We scoped out a few more floors and then got serious. We ended up getting a sectional for our basement, 3 leather bar stools, a love seat, a chair for the den, a chair for the family room, a bed for our room, a 6 piece bedroom set for Olivia, a 5 piece bedroom set for Spencer, and 5 pieces of art!!! Sa-weet! I can't believe the mark up on furniture! There is absolutely no way we could have even bought half of this stuff if it was from a public furniture store. I honestly don't know if I can buy furniture at a furniture store anymore. I know that isn't realistic, but it seems so overpriced now that I have seen how inexpensive it can be!
Overall, I feel like it was a completely successful weekend. We got a ton of furniture, got to hang out with some cousins, saw a few flicks, and had no kids for four days! Not bad, eeh?

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

I just wanted to tell my awesome hubby Happy Birthday! I am sure today (well, technically yesterday) wasn't all he was hoping for. He was stuck in an all day meeting, 8:00am-4:00pm, and I am sure that was the last way he wanted to spend his day. Meanwhile, I was trapped at Big O tires waiting for a new set to be put on, and it ate up most my day. That was the time I was supposed to be getting some stuff done for him! Anyway, things didn't start out so great, but I feel like we had a great night together.
It is so wonderful to have a husband that is so supportive of everything I do. He is an extremely hard worker for which I do not thank him nearly enough! He has always provided our family with more than enough. Kevin is an amazing father. He always comes home ready to give the kids big hugs, and is ready to wrestle. I love that he saves his real personality for those he knows best. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and I love laughing with him. I feel like we are a perfect match, and our personalities compliment each other so well. I could go on and on, but maybe I will save that for our anniversary!
Kevin, thank you so much for everything! I love spending time with you, and hopefully next year I will do a better job! Don't plan on anymore surprise birthday parties though! Well, not for a few years anyway! I guess I have all week to make up for it right? That is why we have "birthday week"!
I LOVE YOU! Mooahhhh!

This Is The Baste!

I found this tonight and was laughing my face off! Hopefully I am not the only one who thinks it is that funny. Somehow it makes me think this is something my cousins and I would do at about 3 in the morning. Make sure your volume is up so you can hear the "dramatic reading." Enjoy. K, bye.
Oh yea, and since I don't know how to hyperlink or what ever it is called, you will just have to copy and paste it. Surry.

http://youmakemetouchyourhandsforstupidreasons.ytmnd.com/

To Appease You

Well, there have been about a billion things going on here, and I have been seriously slacking on my blogging. I had one of my cameras break and the other is to big to just carry around. I had so many great opportunities to take pictures and didn't! That is mostly why I haven't blogged. I feel like there always has to be pictures! I am awaiting some emails so I can have a few to post.
Over the Fourth we went down to my Uncle Eric's cabin and had an awesome party with the whole Nelson crew sans a few cousins. We filled Eric and Lynita's cabin and Paul and Nola's. Cal's crew had theirs filled too. We went four wheeling, paint balling (my newest most favorite thing), barbecuing, and loads of laughing. I also have to say that Brianhead puts on a pretty impressive fire work show. Spencer asked about four times when it was time to go home! It was all so much fun that I think they decided to make in a tradition! Hip hip! I can't wait for next year! Jesse, you better watch out 'cause I am going to be aiming for YOU!
Another thing that has been keeping us busy is our house! They are painting it right now!!! The stucco is finished, and the rock is going up this week. Cabinets go in around the 25th! I am soooo excited. All the little details of the house are being finalized. Kevin has been working his brains out and not just on our house!
I need to start packing our house up, and I am not looking forward to that. I am just praying that my kids won't feel too neglected through the process.
So, besides all the day to day stuff that probably wouldn't interest you, this is all I've got! I will be better, but for now I hope this will get you off my back! ;)

Oli's New Do

Olivia has TWO ponies!!! Who knew it could happen before she was 5! She was a little squirmy so they aren't perfect, but aren't they cute? I guarantee by the end of the day she will have about 2 hairs in the elastics. Oh well. I love that we are able to have some options now!

Summer Fun

This week has been so busy, but really fun! I haven't been very good at taking pictures at all of our activities, so sorry! On Monday, we went to Hogle Zoo with some neighborhood friends. It wasn't too hot, so it was a great day to go. The kids had a blast, but I think us moms were suicidal by the day was over!!! There were three of us moms and 9 kids! What!!!! I have to say it really was fun. We even saw a white alligator that looked more like a glow in the dark alligator. So cool.
Tuesday, we went to Lagoon with my mom, Bree, Ryan, Lydia, Jesse, Ashley, and my Aunt Shauna. The kids were only there for a couple of hours, but when we were leaving Spencer said thanks and told me he had so much fun. How sweet. Those are the moments that actually make you WANT to take your children places! I dropped the kids off at home, picked up a babysitter, picked up Kevin and headed back to Lagoon! We had fun going on the big rides. Wicked, Lagoon's newest ride, was so fun! I actually tried to video it but forgot to press play!!!! Grrrr. I tried for you guys, too bad I'm retarded! I will just have to go back! It was nice to have a little time to go on the rides with the adults.
Thursday, Tiffany and Terry came to visit with Paige and their sweet little baby boy, Ty! We went out to dinner and then came back to our house to hang out. The kids were NUTS!!! Thankfully Olivia was in bed, but Spencer and Paige were up WAY passed their bed times!
Today we went back to the zoo with Tiff and her crew. It was alot more hot, but fun to spend some more time with Tiffany. Spencer was done with the animals about half way through the day, so I let him and Oli play in a little pond for kids. That was definately the highlight, along with the misting fan but Tiff will have to provide that picture. It was a great week, but I am hoping for a more relaxing weekend!!!

Olivia was much braver with Spencer around!

Our 'cotton mouths' after riding Wicked!

Livin' The Suite Life

Last night I got to go on a suite girls night out! There were 16 of us that met up at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) for dinner, snuck in a little shopping, and then went to the Tim Macgraw & Faith Hill concert. The best part is that we were in a suite! It was so much fun!!! The concert was great. Faith was beautiful as always, and so was Tim! Hee hee! Sadly, he did not take his shirt off. Oh well, I can't have it all, I guess. Thanks Katie and Mandee for inviting me!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

Everyone needs to click on my friend Jessica Kearns' site. She is on my friend list. This is the craziest post ever!!!! What is that crawling in my hair...get off me! *scratches everywhere furiously*

Calgon, Take Me Away

Today was NUTS! We had a few scares and a ton of tears! It all started off normal enough, but in the middle of vacuuming I started to hear this crazy beeping sound. I realized it was a smoke detector. I just thought the batteries were out and went to look at it. It was the detector at the bottom of my stairs, and it wasn't the smoke detector. It was the carbon monoxide detector! I called Kev (as we stood on our back deck) to see what we should do. He came home with a 9 volt battery, changed it out, and went back to work. Minutes later it began to beep again. So I decided I better call my good ol' friend Melanie who is a fire fighter. She told me to call 911 so they could send out some guys to check it out. I did as I was told. As the kids and I were waiting outside for them to come, I realized the beeping stopped. I decided to call them back and tell them not to come. After all, I really didn't want to have a huge fire truck pull up in front of my house and draw a ton of attention to our home. Right when I got the operator the truck pulled up! Oh yea, the fire chief decided that he better come as well since he is the only one who has a carbon monoxide monitor to check out the levels in people. Spencer was thrilled. The guys decided they better check things out just to be safe. All the levels in our house were fine, and my CO levels were fine as well. These guys were great and tons of fun (for the 10 minutes I spent with them). They reset the detector and headed out. Better safe than sorry.
We had to get on the road as well. Olivia had her 15 month check up, and I was dropping Spencer off at my in laws so he didn't have to come with me. I thought I would be in and out. WRONG! I had to wait an hour before the doctor could see us, and Olivia had almost hit her wall. Good thing the attention from the doc cheered her up, and she is a perfectly healthy growing little girl. She was all ready to go, little did she know she was in for a painful finger prick and two shots!!! Poor girl! She screamed her face off of course, but as soon as I unwrapped that sucker she was silent! We took her back to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch and a little run around in the Elmo sprinkler while I cut Grandpa's hair. She totally crashed on the way home. When we got home, and I was taking her in to lay her down the detector was beeping AGAIN!!! Thankfully she slept right through it for an amazing three hour nap! I decided that the dumb detector was just broken.
When she woke up I decided to brave the grocery store with both kids. I really, really do not like going to the store with more than one! They were actually pretty wonderful, but of course that couldn't last. Spencer began to have a melt down as soon as he realized he couldn't have the toy that was in a cereal box (you had to send away for it). That lasted FOREVER! Kev was a champ and made dinner for me while I dealt with all of that. Once he settled down, he and Olivia thought it would be fun to spin themselves dizzy while Kev and I watched TV. Olivia did exactly that and crashed to the floor and bonked her head on the built-in AGAIN! I really, really need a helmet for her! She had a pretty good cry, but once she saw Spencer she was all smiles again. She wouldn't hold still long enough for a good picture, but you will get the idea.
I had had enough! I got the kids in jammies, and I got Olivia down without a hitch. Spencer on the other hand, not so much. He had a melt down AGAIN! Kevin couldn't be much help because he had a terrible head ache (he NEVER gets head aches). Spencer ended up losing his bed time story for being so naughty which only escalated the situation. Thankfully the meltdown wore him out, and he crashed five minutes after he hit the pillow (no, I did NOT hit him with the pillow). After I went back in to kiss his sweet SLEEPING face, I ran out the door to get Kevin and I a tasty frozen treat! YUMMY! The day is over, the house is quiet, and I am ready to take on tomorrow...kind of.

Buzz Lightyear?

Well, here it is, the freshly shaved head of Mr. Spencer Bailey! Nothin' better than a summer cut! Keeps the dirt out and lessens the smell of "outside boy". I know you all know what I mean when I say that (sweaty kid + dirt). He loves it! This means that Olivia officially has more hair than Spencer. Who knew that would ever happen! Just don't say you like his shaved head because you will be corrected. "It is a BUZZ!"

House Update

Our house is framed! Things are flying along here in good ol' Kaysville,UT. The electricians have started, and I think the rough plumbing is done. Insulation starts soon. We just need to get our four way inspection done. I will post some pics of the inside after the sheet rock has been hung. It is a little easier to see the details of the house when that is in. TTFN!