Hair Today Gone Tomorrow. 2 Years & Counting.

What an exciting day today! Matt had his Friday off so we celebrated in style. Since our blog is all about bragging about how much cool stuff we do, let's just jump right in! Let me warn you first though, this entry is going to have an enormous amount of pictures. If that offends you then you might just want to skip it because I am not kidding. As Lindy would say, A hundreds of pictures.

Buzz Cut:

The first adventure today was cutting Hank's hair. It was a difficult decision as I did love his baby locks, but I think he needed it.

Isn't he cute? I think his long hair was charming and baby darling. But it was getting a little out of hand...so we did what needed to be done.

Here we go. At first I was crying and changing my mind, but it was too late. On the other hand, he didn't mind it at all, he didn't make one peep. He was as good as gold.

In fact, I think he got a little bored with the whole thing.
The end product was well worth it though.


I think he likes it. He kept patting his head...and apparently drooling all over himself.

Happy Anniversary:

It is our anniversary today. Don't go get your calendars...it isn't our wedding anniversary. Today is the day we got engaged. So we have now been engaged for 2 years and married for almost 8. I know, the math is confusing. It's leap day. We got engaged on leap day. Funny, right? It's a little known fact about us. This year we decided that to celebrate our 2nd engagement anniversary, we were going to get some professional pictures done. We just don't commemorate our love in pictures often enough. So we had a photo shoot and it turned out very well. It ended up that our portraits told the story of our lives together beautifully. It meant so much to us that we really wanted to share our history with all five of you. It is going to be a wonderful, special journey. These artistic gems are just 2 cute 2 be 4 gotten because we are going 2 be 2 gether 4 ever! Enjoy.

Just like our first picture, our romance began with innocence and giddiness. We were just so happy, so in love. Oblivious to anything else in the world. Flirting and having fun was all that mattered. I think that is masterfully captured in this esquisite photo.

The honeymoon phase. When love is confident and strong. Everything about him delighted me and I him. We laughed at our challenges. We smirked at trials. This was life, this was love, and we were in it to win it, baby.


Oh how I long for those honeymoon days to return. All to quickly reality set in. Matt (bless his heart) has gas. There is no easy way to say it. He smells. Often. I know he can't help it, but it is still just such a let down. I love him though. Dadgummit, I love him.


And there you have it. 2 years engaged and 8 married. Where has the time gone.?! Mostly now Matt just looks tough and I look annoyed. But we make it work and you know what? I wouldn't trade one minute of it. Not one single smelly minute.

CAUGHT! We Got Tagged.

Tagged??!! I never thought it would happen to us! We read blogs where people get tagged...but I always thought it was just for the popular kids. WOW. That's all I have to say. WOW. I think Hank's face in this picture sums up how shocked we are to be caught! He had just been caught sneaking a chocolate...but this is just as big. So Amy, Ryan and family, thank you. I feel so included! If you are reading this and you haven't been tagged...you are now tagged! Consider yourself IN! So let's get right to this!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Matt was trudging around the Ukraine spreading the glad Gospel message. He says, "In the years since I have been home I have really missed the Ukrainian Snickers, or raw hairy pig fat with mustard. I really want to go back when I get a jonesin' for one of those."

Carol was down for the count with Mono during my senior year of high school. It ended with a whirlwind tonsillectomy and two months on homebound. The best part? It was one of my very few 4.0 semesters. What? I didn't go for 2/5 of the semester and I got straight A's. I guess I'm crazy smart like that (ha ha).

2. 5 things to do today (more like Monday since this is Sunday night).
1. Mounds and mounds of laundry.
2. Wipe my kids' noses (they have RAGING colds).
3. Drink lots of Diet Mt. Dew.
4. Play pretend with Lindy where I will no doubt be cast as the evil stepmom, ornery dog or cat owner who is mean to darling puppy or kitty Lindy, or a pony who loves to give long pony rides all through the house.
5. Nap? hahaha.

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Exactly. That should read: Snacks, I enjoy. Like I enjoy them. I do. All of them. If it is a snack, I enjoy it. Have I explained that well enough? I LIKE TO SNACK! ALL DAY LONG!

4. What would I do if I was a Millionaire.
I would have my own version of The Apprentice. Why not, right? Move over DONALD. And the winner of this Apprentice wouldn't get some cushy high-rise job. Oh no. They would put in our yard and finish our basement. When they were done with that (and bringing me fruity drinks with umbrellas in them) I would fire them. Yeah, that's the ticket. Oh and I would also give some money to Jared (I was just talking to Amy and he said he would want some). Why not, right? Actually...Hey Jared, want to be my apprentice?

5. 3 bad habits.
1. Carol: See question # 3.
2. Matt: Tooting (yeah...and he's proud of it too. he is totally laughing right now. Proudly).
3. The kids: picking their noses. It's a relatively new thing for Hank, but Lindy is a pro.

6. 5 places we have lived.
1. Idaho Falls, Id.
2. Salem, Or. *just matt*
3. Rexburg, Id.
4. Pocatello, Id.
5. (and possibly most exciting) RIGBY, IDAHO!

7. 5 jobs we have had.
1. Matt: Roth's Grocery, Center Partners, Home Depot, Sabia, Michael Baker.
2. Carol: The D.I., Melaleuca, Ameritel, Melaleuca, Qwest.
3. Kids: finding trouble, being darling, high stakes negotiating.

8. Things people don't know about us.
Matt: He is a great cook, especially tasty breakfasts and caramel apple cake. mmmm.
Carol: I really like Dan Zanes. I know he sings kids songs...but I secretly cheer when he comes on the radio (which on Sirius Kids' Stuff is at least every other song).
Lindy: She doesn't like macaroni and cheese. At all. She detests it. She does however like lentils.
Hank: When he was a baby his poop smelled like popcorn. It has really jaded the movie theater experience for the rest of us.

Made it! The end of the tag. ahh. Now that is done. We had a pretty great week this last week. Auntie Debra and my cousin Jill came for the weekend and it was so fun. We visited until late into the night. It was great to be together and I can't wait until we do it again. A good dose of family goes a long way! Jill's stories and tales of her adventures could keep me in stitches for weeks. She truly has the gift of storytelling. It was grand (yes I just said grand. I am watching Pride and Prejudice and I can't help but speak/type like they talk). The next time we gather together we must ensure that more of our beloved family members can accompany our most festive party (see what I mean? Is Jane Austen writing this or is it me? I don't know...I am most overcome with confusion and must take to my bed to rid myself of this befuddlement).

The Dog Days of ... er ... Winter?

Ahh, the sun. It is something that we haven't seen a lot of these last few weeks. Diesel has a straw house in the backyard with this blanket in it. On Wednesday, when the sun was shining, Diesel dragged his blanket out of his house and into the sun to bathe in it. Now, it was indeed a heat wave at 30-35 degrees. It even melted a little snow. But I am not sure it was warm enough to sunbathe. I think Diesel was laying out there to send Spring a message. It is the same message that I would like to send Spring. So Spring, if you are out there Diesel and I are uniting our voices and saying, "Dear Spring, we are done being frozen. Winter had a great run this year and now we are ready for you to come and take over the reigns. Anytime really, we're ready. Sincerely, Diesel and Carol." February is such a tricky month because the rest of the climates in the world are seeing Daffodil sprouts and other lovely blossoms and we are laying out our blankets and sunbathing in the low thirties, because let's face it...that's all we've got going for at least another month... or two. Oh blurg, I hope Spring gets my message!
Since I am not about to join Diesel in his sunbathing ways, Matt and I decided on an indoor project this week. Well, to be honest this project has been in the works for six months. During the summer we sanded down my old desk. Years ago when I first got it my dear Grandpa spent weeks painting it white and whiter and whitest. I think he put 5 coats of paint on it, he was very attentive to details and every square inch was perfect. But as with everything in life it was time for a change. This week we finally got around to finishing it and moving it in the house. It's true that company is a great motivator and we had some good friends coming so it was time to get our heinies (um yeah, I looked it up in the dictionary, that's how you spell heinie according to Mr. Merriam-Webster) in gear and get it done. Here are some pictures of it done. Like a ninny, I didn't take any before pictures. We are going to make the inside back and sides a magnet board...so stay tuned for pictures of that, or not as I probably won't take any pictures of it.



















Do you love our shim? It is a Dora book. Someday soon we will even that up... or just not take anymore pictures and none of the three people that read this will ever know that we didn't even it up! mwahhahha (read that evilly please)!!!
We ended this week with tons of fun!! We were surrounded by our great friends. Food, folks and fun! It would have been fine with me if it lasted for a month, but I guess it's good to want, right? It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but it was like Disneyland for me. Sure you go to bed exausted, but it was SO fantastic that you would GLADLY get up and have that day all over again. That about sums up how I feel about that.
Have a super fun week and if you see Spring.....please direct her to this blog!

Big Tuna

Yip Yip! Matt had his first day at Michael Baker today. Can you tell he was excited? He was up at 5:15 a.m. and out the door by 6:15. It will be worth the long days since he will have every other Friday off. He said it was fun and that he has a lot to learn. He thinks he'll be pretty busy. He was pretty excited to be home. He asked everyone there to call him Big Tuna so he could be like Jim on The Office...but nobody did it. I can kind of see where they are coming from... (that actually isn't true. It is an embellishment and you should probably read fast because I am sure as soon as Matt sees that I wrote he asked people to call him Big Tuna he will politely yet directly ask me to take it down). Anyway, you can't tell by this energetic and awesome (and frankly a little frightening) picture but the guy was pretty tired. He crashed on the couch at 8:00 p.m. I don't blame him, he had a long day!

The Bib Kid and Snowy Salvation!

The Bib Kid:
Hank has a rare obsession with bibs. Well, maybe it isn't rare, maybe all kids love bibs like he does. But it seems rare to me. I don't think Lindy ever played this game. He loves to go to the drawer where the bibs are kept and bring them to me one by one. When he gets to me he "uh- uh's" (which is Hank talk for "give me what I want please") until I put it on. Then seconds later he is back with another one. He will do this until every bib we own is around his neck. He is definitely developing his sense of humor as he gets more and more tickled with himself with each bib added. I love it, I think it is cute. He is obsessed with bibs as I am with shoes. It is good to know that he will get something from me...even if it is just a strange love of clothing articles. Today at church he kept tilting his head back full of goldfish crackers to show them to me and then laughing at himself. He really cracks himself up and I have to say he cracks me up as well. I just hope the people sitting behind us thought it was funny to see a one year old showing his mama his chewed up goldfish crackers. I am sure they did. How could they not? What is cuter or funnier than see-food?
Snowy Salvation:
So we have been fighting a losing battle against the snow the last couple of weeks. Matt has been taking the Yukon to work because we couldn't get the Subaru out of the garage, the snow was just too deep. We borrowed the snowblower from my dad's house and made a little headway...but with the monstrous wind we had last week, it was just like spitting in the wind. Here is a picture of Lindy up to her hips in snow. This is in the middle of the driveway, and it is a day after we had half cleared it. That nasty wind just blew it all back!So amid all this crazy wind and snow, Matt and Tom went to the cabin to check on it. They got stranded when the roads were closed due to blowing and drifting snow. Yikes! They were stuck for a day and then followed a train of 100 cars whose occupants had spent the night at the church in Swan Valley (Matt and crew just holed up in the cabin and caught the end of the train). They all followed a plow that had a couple of gigantic snowblowers on it. The plow made a one way path for the cars to go through. They made it home safe and sound. What an adventure. But the best part is that while they were gone our neighbor James Wolfe rented a tractor to dig out his driveway once and for all. He let our next door neighbor Damian Lovell borrow it and he gets the prize of the day because he dug out our driveway too!!!!!! Yip Yip to Damian! So now we have a clear driveway. Sarge the Subaru is back in business and we don't have to put the Yukon in 4 wheel just to get to the road! Harrah! A truly great weekend indeed!

Snow Day and Shopping Bonanza!

This was an eventful week at our house. We started this blog. We had our first real sleepover party. And last but not least we had a shopping bonanza!

First, we got to have Hatch and Piper over for a FUN-tastic sleepover! We watched movies, played games and even slid down the stairs in our sleeping bags. Everyone had a blast at that (except Matt, let's just say that might be a game best left to the kiddos :)). The next morning the kids went out and played in the snow. Matt dug out a huge drift for a snowcave that could fit all three kids. They had fun with that, but then it was time to up the ante. We hooked Diesel Dog up to the sled and let him pull the sled around. The poor dog was huffing and puffing. He tried his best, and he put in a heroic effort, but he is a bit too much puppy to pull off such a big dog job. Next year though, he will be pulling that sucker all over town!


Our second HUGE event this week was our awesome shopping delivery! The Children's Place was having a genormous sale. Kandice and I ordered together to share the shipping cost. Everything was such a good deal, but the shoes. Oh, the glorious shoes. They were 75-80% off. How can you beat that? You can't. You just can't. So for 4 dollars for a pair of shoes... we went a little nuts. When the package came the Fed-Ex truck sat in my driveway for about five minutes. I was so excited. I kept looking out the window wondering what was taking so long! My hands started to shake and I couldn't quit dancing, I was SO excited. Okay, I didn't shake, but I did dance. Finally the guy came struggling up the walk. The box was big, really big. He set it down on the step with a THUNK and rang the bell. I practically needed a handtruck to bring it in, and it was like Christmas opening it all up! Kandice and Andy were at the cabin, so I took the liberty of looking at all of her stuff as well as mine. I counted THIRTEEN pairs of shoes and one pair of slippers between the two of us. Our kids will be well shoed for years to come! Take a look at this loot!










Mine is on the left and Kandice's is on the right. Ahh, it gives me chills of joy just looking at it!

So there you have it. Our fun snow day and my compulsive shopping for future shoe sizes! Have a great week!