She's the only one that can't run away...

Okay, I've been taking more pictures than usual because of my new digital camera. The star of the show: Juliet. Not necessarily because she's the cutest or easiest to get to smile but because she can't run away. The other kids will put up hands or say, "Mom, no more pictures!"

We also made some heart-shaped sugar cookies in anticipation of St. Valentine's Day and I got frustrated with Jack while he was "helping" me. In apologies, I gave him a beater with more than the usual amount of cookie dough on it. He forgave me. Keep it away from the camera, kiddo.

And lastly, yesterday's sunset was pretty so I set up my tripod to snap a few pics.

Wow...President Hinckley passed away.

Okay, I know it's been coming for a while but I was surprised when I heard that President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away last night. I remember Presidents Benson and Hunter but for me, President Hinckley was the first President of the Church that made an impression. He helped my testimony grow when I was old enough to listen. I thought to myself, Heavenly Father must be rejoicing today to have this faithful servant by his side again.

He was so kind and witty. I admire the relationship he had with his wife. I'll miss his light spirit and his energy but look forward to President Monson. I'm overjoyed to be in a church that knows exactly what the next step is. Even if the President of the Church dies, the work goes forward without missing a beat. Most of all, President Hinckley has made me want to be more generous, more kind, a better example to my kids, more forgiving and more understanding. Loves to everyone today!

Maybe I spoke too soon...

Well, Juliet spit up quite a bit yesterday. Maybe the milk took a day to work through me and then into her. Anyhoo, my bite of ice cream the other night was worth it. :)


I got a firewire card for my computer today and set it up and actually captured a bit of video. I'm a movie making moron so it'll be quite a few days before my videos look anything like Amy's. Amy's the queen. For now, I just want to get the video off those little tapes and burnt to a DVD. I'll do movies with music later. I popped one in the video player to see what it was and starting watching our Europe trip from last winter. I was having so much fun that I watched pretty much the whole tape.

Off to the grocery store with 3 kids. Hopefully I'll have a lucky day at the store!

A glimmer of hope...

When I used to eat milk products they caused the following reactions in Juliet: lots of spit up, gassiness, irritability and constipation. Lately, with all the new foods she's been eating, I thought she might be growing up a bit and yesterday I tried half a bowl of cereal with some regular milk on it. Then I waited....and waited...and nothing happened. She didn't spit up any more than she usually does and she was happy. She was a teensy bit gassier than usual but it didn't seem to be bothersome. And the big test! Was she going to be plugged up for 5 days??? Nope, she was poopy this morning! FOR ME, THIS IS BIG NEWS!!!!! I'm not ready to run out and get a huge ice cream sundae but I'll probably have a bite or two from now on and work up to a banana split. Wahoo!!

We saw the Brackens at the sand dunes on Saturday and I'm finally getting some pictures up from the day. By the way, Beka, did you have on a UV filter??

The dune buggy got jumped a bunch by Merril's friend, Drew. Merril jumped it a bit as well but I like Beka's pictures better. (I was trying to get pictures while holding a squirmy Juliet and I just didn't catch was I was going for.

On a funny note, Jack really likes to wash his little matchbox cars. Merril gets his truck washed probably twice a week so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Anytime they get sticky or dirty, he takes them into the bathroom sink, washes them off and asks for a towel to dry them.

Oh and Merril ran a 5K on Saturday. He shaved 5 minutes off his time from last year. The kids and I cheered at the start, ran to get donuts and cheered at the finish! He's been pounding the gym for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week!! He goes with Rick at 5:00 a.m. Ick. Rick stays for an hour and Merril stays for another hour because there's nothing else to do at 6:00 in the morning. If he came home, the rest of us would still be asleep. He's really starting to trim down and I'm like,"Wow, babe!" He's never been this trim, at least not since I've known him. I'm really proud of his determination. His goal is to run the marathon in October! Go!

Have a great week!

I spy two little teeth...

I was taking pictures of Juliet and this last one actually shows 2 little teeth nubs in it. So you can spy her two bottom teeth if you look closely. She's actually bitten my shoulder a couple of times. I think it's cute.

I want to get a cute picture of all three kids now that Juliet is older. I like outdoor shots a lot and I'm hoping to find a place that's still green. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Merril, the fix-it man, fixed my dryer yesterday. The dryer's been leaking gas since we pressure-tested the gas lines for the basement. The dryer valve was left open during the test and it messed up the valve a bit. Merril took the valve apart, cleaned it and did a little dance (or whatever he does to fix everything he comes across) and ta-daaaaa! It's so nice to have a handy husband! Have a great weekend!

Zicam miracle...

I just have to say how much I love the product Zicam! If you don't know what it is, it's stuff you put in your nose the moment you start to feel sick and it shortens a cold and makes it less severe. I feel like I've hardly gotten sick at all this season. If you start taking it the instant you feel yourself getting sick, by the next day you're feeling better and by the 3rd day, you're pretty much over it. No coughs that hang on for weeks or runny noses and sore throats that take forever to go away. It's kind of pricey, about $9 for a tiny bottle at Wal-Mart but for me, that's well worth it not to be sick for 7-10 days. I use the bottle but put it on a cotton swab to swab my nose. My last bottle lasted through 3 colds. For a Mom who doesn't have weeks to lay in bed and be sick, it's the best! Happy flu season!

Sledding

We went to the mountains today to go sledding. Merril said he wanted to bring our little 110 three wheeler and I was like, "Okay." We were sledding up by the reservoir and Merril drove the three wheeler onto the frozen lake and proceeded to tow sledders around. We brought a snowboard and a water skiing rope too. At one point we had 2 tubes, 1 sled and one guy on a snowboard. Jack just liked to ride on the three wheeler with Daddy and Max liked to be pulled in the tube. Juliet rode with Mommy on the tube for a bit too! We had a great time and it was a lot more fun than hauling our tubes and kids back up the hill. I shot this 15 seconds of footage with my old camera because my video camera had dead batteries. There's no sound so don't try to turn up your computer speakers. I still think it's fun to watch!

After all the fun in the snow and ice, nothing's better than a nice cup of minty hot chocolate! Yummy!

New teeth and new blog!

Juliet cut a tooth yesterday and another bottom tooth is right behind it. I expect she'll have 2 bottom teeth by tonight or tomorrow. So my baby has baby teeth and then I thought, "Bummer. I've got one more set of teeth that need to be cleaned now." I don't have pictures because I didn't really want to post the inside of her mouth.

Other than that, I wanted my blog to look a little different from the one I had, so I started editing the html on my blog. I messed up a thing or two but ended up with what I wanted. So that was fun because I've never messed with the html on anything before. Happy Thursday to ya!

Wonderful Stroller...

Last month, my Mom asked me what Merril and I wanted for Christmas and I said, "A double stroller." She looked at me like, "Really?" Oh yes really! The stroller that she purchased was a super hugmo stroller with a couple different orientations so that Jack can spin around in the back or stand in the back. What has ended up happening is Juliet sits in the front seat, Jack sits on the second seat with the back support removed, and Maxine stands in the very back. Now I don't think the stroller was designed to carry this many passengers but it leaves me with a stroller full of happy kids. Seriously though, someone else should be walking besides me.