Thursday, August 28, 2008

I am a WINNER!

An eBay winner, that is. I have not looked at eBay for years, but the other night I decided to look for some Berenstein Bears books for Emma. (By far her favorite books--most of the ones we have were from my childhood). So I found a couple sellers, but didn't really pursue it. Today, right after going to the library, Emma wants to read B.B. before her nap (??? we just got new books???). So, I go to eBay and look more seriously at them. One seller was selling 20+ books, but we had most of them. The other seller had 9 books and we only had 1 out of the 9 plus it ended in 1 1/2 hours! Perfect! So, I begin the process of trying to remember my password, my user ID, eBay has to call my phone to verify everything.....blah, blah. With about an hour left, I place my bid. I decide that since a brand new B.B. book is about 4.00, that 2.00 is about the max I would pay for each used book. So, I place a bid that -- with shipping--totals 18.00. I am the highest bidder! (the bid was at 6. 72). I wait. I write my missionary brother. I check. Still highest bidder. I work on Primary stuff. Still highest! It gets down to the last 11 minutes and I am getting so excited. When I placed my bid, it put the total to 7. 50, so I am getting even more excited that I will get them for cheaper than I thought! I WIN! I WIN! 7.50 + 3.28 = 10.78 divided by 9= 1.18 per book! I start my victory dance! The thrill of it is that I know Emma will love them plus I got them cheaper than I had planned! I love eBay! It feels like Christmas, when you find the perfect present. Now, can I wait until Christmas to give them to her?

Saturday, August 23, 2008

5th Annual Girls Weekend

at Les Miserables
our beautiful feet after our pedicures
on the steps of the St George Temple
trying to cool down in the 100 degree heat
waiting for some breakfast (at 1:00pm)

Every summer I always look forward to the "girl's weekend" to sunny St. George. My girlfriend's and I have known each other since Jr. high, some of us were roommates at Dixie College. We make this trip every year to see a musical at the Tuachan Amphitheater. Of coarse, we take time to shop, swim, play games, hike, go to the temple, watch movies and EAT! This year was no exception. We saw Les Miserables (good, but intense), found a new outdoor water walkway, got some great end-of-summer deals, and relaxed. We did have some trouble with the eating part! Here is a few things we learned!



1. Arby's does not stock turkey, wraps, or breakfast food at 9:30pm

2. Mexican dressing is pretty messy to clean up--sorry Kassidi

3. Bear Claw does not follow their sign that says"Breakfast all day"--they close at 3:00pm

4. Pasta Factory is nice enough to serve their 11-3 lunch at 3:05 as long as your root beer tastes like a mix of root beer and diet coke

5. Burger Bar lists 15 different shake flavors, but really only serves 2 of them (in the wrong size)

6. A potato at Wendy's takes 20 minutes to cook; a wrap takes 5 minutes

7. When you finally eat at Bear Claw, they will dump everyone's order on the floor

8. Pizza Factory has great bread sticks even if they bring out the wrong pizza



Overall, a fabulous trip even with all the food issues! I can't wait to start planning 2009!


Thursday, August 21, 2008

Lagoon--Round 2






We had the chance two weeks ago to go to Lagoon one more time before the summer ended. It did not go as well as the first time! We started out the afternoon like usual on Bulgy the Whale and it seemed like the girls were enjoying themselves. Then, as we were waiting for the car ride, the lady in front of us, hints to Nick that she doesn't want her 2 yr old daughter to go by herself (for some reason she had sent her older daughter with our niece). So Nick offers to send Emma by herself (fine) so Brielle could go with her daughter (not good). I could see what was coming..... Brielle cried the whole time! She looked terrified of being on this ride with a stranger plus this ride took her out of our view. I was not happy! So we try her on another ride--she wouldn't do it! By this time I was furious! Why would this woman not send her two daughters together? Why would Nick think sending Brielle with a stranger would be fun for her? We just wasted 21.00 because Brielle wouldn't ride anything! After awhil and extreme coaxing, Brielle did end up going on more rides.....thank goodness. However, 3 hours later after we had just finished dinner, Brielle trips and hits her head smack on the concrete. The giant goose egg starts immediately. It was the biggest bump I have ever seen! I was sure that she was going to start seizing or puking or something! We tried to get some ice on it. She would not let us touch it. I wanted to cry...I felt so bad for her. I wonder if she will be our "accident-prone" child? Maybe Emma got hurt all the time, too; maybe I worry more about Brielle because she is so little and seems so breakable. Anyway, it was a long day. I wasn't even in the mood for ice cream by the end of the night which is pretty bad. I guess there is always next year....

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Picnic Breakfast


Today, Emma wanted to have a picnic lunch with her tea set outside on the blanket. Most of the time I am fine with a picnic on our blanket (with paper products) or a tea party without actual food. With our messy house begging for attention, I tried to think of a simpler version. It was about 8:30 am, none of us had eaten breakfast, and our backyard was still shady. What about a picnic breakfast? We had leftover cinnamon muffins that would be easy to put on plates and the only other thing I would have to take outside was milk! It was great! It was different, simple, and I think my kids actually ate their breakfast better! Too bad I didn't think of this sooner!

Park Day



Last week my friend Becky introduced me to a park in Roy that I have never been to. It was the George Wahlen park behind Iomega. I brought lunchables for the kids to eat (which was a lot easier than making something) and they played on the playground while we ate our lunch and chatted. The park was mostly in the shade, had a ton of sand, and kept them busy for about two hours! Perfect! Here is a picture of Emma and her cute twin boys-- Karson and Kyle.


And the winner is.....

#21! Emma happens to be standing on #22 when they announce the winner at Harmon's Super Saturday. The sample lady tells Emma to run over to #21 since no one else is standing there. So, Emma ends up winning a 24-count box of chocolate Creamies (yum), a balloon and her picture taken with the Harmon's Hippo. She told Nick it was "the best day of her life!!" And her favorite part? The picture with the hippo because she "never sees him anymore!" So, if you shop at Harmon's, look for her picture on their bulletin board! It was the BEST day!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Brielle's Milestone..(sortof)


We are happy to report that Brielle has finally switched to a front-facing car seat! We have been waiting because her weight has not been over 20 lbs, but we are really tired of hauling around an infant seat. So we went to the doctor on Friday, hoping that she was close enough to make the change.....and she was only 18 lbs 2 oz! Agghhhh! The doctor felt like she would be fine though since she is 18 months old. (He said if you only consider weight, his 7th grader would still be in a booster!) So I strapped her up this morning, and you could tell she was a little nervous with this new scenery, but with me and Emma encouraging her, by the end of the ride she was saying "Wheeeeeeeee!" She looks so tiny in there, but I love to turn around and see her cute face!

Elder Morrell



Here is my cute brother on his mission. He just reached his 1 yr mark on Aug 1. He is serving in the Belgium Brussels Mission, but right now he is in Zoetemeer, Netherlands. He speaks Dutch, although some areas have mixed that with French or German, but he says a lot of people there speak English. The temple (pictured above) is in Zoetemeer and he loves to spend the day there on his P-day's. He gets to email but they are pretty short emails (I assume they don't get a lot of time on the computer or his is just a terrible writer)! These pictures are the first ones we have received since he has been gone (they actually were emailed from a family that has spent a lot of time with my brother). I am so grateful for families that take care of the missionaries. This particular family has sent us more details about his mission than he has! We miss him, but know that he is righteously serving! He is AWESOME!