Tag Your Are it!!! With a little Christmas Flava!

Thanks to Julie I am at it again!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I know bags are easier, but I don't buy very many. I mostly do paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? What is with this artificial stuff, let's just say fake. I am all about my fake tree. I do love real, but the convenience of my pre-lit tree just makes me happy!

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime after Thanksgiving, depending on my mood, but no later then December 1st or 2nd.

4. When do you take the tree down? As soon after Christmas as I can justify, I start to feel a little confined by all the decor after awhile.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't really remember any, no that is not true - I do remember getting a stereo one year, but I am not sure it was my favorite and I was 16 or 17.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. I have an Olive Wood one that I bought in Jerusalem and of course my Fisher Price one. Watching Josh dance to the song is the best!

7. Hardest person to buy for? The Dad's. My Dad and Doug. Steve is also difficult.

8. Easiest to buy for? I'll go with my mother -in-law, she loves everything.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but I may start the whole email thing, it is much less expensive, those stamps are getting really pricey

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of any!

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story, Elf, Polar Express, there are so many good ones.

12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of.

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom Empey's Spiced Pecans!!! Oh my gosh I am so excited, I hope she makes some this year.

14. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear, but I remember as I kid I always wished my mom would use colored. Maybe I'll change it up one of these years.

15. Favorite Christmas song? Give me a little Hallelujah Corus by the MoTab. I also am loving Little Drummer boy by Josh Groban this year. At church my Christmas season is never complete without singing Once in Royal Davids City.

16. Travel at Christmas or stay home? You have to see your family don't you and if they don't come to you, hit the road!

17. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Is there anyone who can't?

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open PJ's Christmas Eve...and then the rest Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? 'Winter Break,' 'Happy Holidays' anything that makes me feel like some one is infringing on my rights to celebrate Christmas the way I want too!

20. Favorite ornament theme or color? This year it is an ornament that I got at Enrichment. It is a green present with a gold bow, but it is the size of a large glass ball. It is so stinking cute - thanks Emily.

22. What do you want for Christmas this year? For my kids to have a wonderful time, anything else is a bonus.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Sleepy Boy!

We have had a great week this week. Nana decided to drive up for a few days since we uninvited her for Christmas. Steve was gone for the week for work meetings so it turned out super well. I didn't have to be the lone mommy all week and I got to spend some time with my mom. We had a great time running errands, getting the last minute Christmas stuff all done and enjoying my crazy kids. She has been a wonderful help and the kids love having Nana around.

Steve got home late on Friday or early on Saturday depending on how you look at it. Yesterday we took the kids to tell Santa what they wanted, but the stupid place wouldn't let me take any pictures, you could only buy a package. Josh was not a fan of Santa, the minute he saw him he started freaking out, oh well, maybe next year right.

Josh has been having some sleeping issues since we took his soother away. He wakes up by 6:30 and won't go back to sleep. It has been driving me crazy and I just keep getting more and more exhausted. So, this week on Wednesday he slept until almost 7:30 and I thought, wow finally, maybe we are on a roll. Well I was wrong because on Thursday he was up at 5:30 and would not go back to sleep. Since Nana was here and Steve was gone Brookie was tucked in with me, so I had no choice but to try and lay on the couch with him. It was a lost cause and I finally just turned on 'Cars' for him to watch. Friday he slept in again until 7:30 and then Saturday up at 5:30. What the heck is wrong with this kid? Today because church is in the afternoon, that means no nap. I brought him and Nana home from Church and then went back over for Tithing Settlement. Nana put him in his highchair to have something to eat and started getting some things ready for dinner. As she was working she finally realized Josh was being really, really quiet and turned around to find this......

So cute, I love it and I think he is my only child to ever fall asleep in his highchair. After taking the pictures, for which I am so grateful she thought too, she cleaned him up and got him in his PJ's. They then enjoyed some snuggles on the couch until the rest of us got home!

Thanks for a great week Nana! We love you!

A Little Update!

I think I have an update. I feel really boring lately and have had no real motivation to blog. I'm not really sure what we have been up to lately.

I guess I will start with Thanksgiving - We drove down to the 'OC' to hang out with Nana and Granddad, Ryan and Nicole and the rest of Christofferson crew. We also were able to see the Pat and Peri crew. It was a nice relaxing weeked full of food and fun. We took the kids Mini Golfing and they had a blast. It was really nice.

Marin and Brooklynn Mini Golfing

Joshua was completely angry because everyone kept bugging him and he just wanted to be left alone to golf!

Justin, Aunti Nicole, Brooks and Marin at Fashion Island after we saw the big tree.

Since Thanksgiving I have been busy getting Christmas presents bought and just trying to keep all my lists organized. I have activity days next week and I am heading up Tyler's 'Winter' Party at school. I don't know how I got recruited for the party, but it should be fun. If I can just get all the stuff I need purchased. Actually, I won't lie, I really don't like to plan these kinds of things, I just can't handle the pressure. I am not now, nor have I ever been the party planning person. It just really gives un-needed stress so I try to avoid it, but his teacher asked me to help out and so here I am planning the party. Hopefully it all goes well and I make it through next week without too much stress.


We have also been busy worrying about Steve's Grandpa. After having major surgery at age 99 he is finally home and hopefully on the mend. We had been planning to have Christmas at home with Nana and Granddad, but because we are concerned about Grandpa, we are making the long, long, long drive to Idaho for a second year in a row. After last year we swore we would never do it again, hauling all the gifts, keeping track of them, it is just getting really difficult to pack it all up and go some where, but we feel like it is really important to go and see Grandpa, so off we will go! We were so sad to uninvite Nana and Granddad (we love you lots!), but are grateful they understand the need to see Grandpa. Brooklynn was most concerned that Nana and Granddad would come and we wouldn't be here. We assured her that they would be okay and they were going to stay at their house. Although the drive will be no fun, it will be fun to see everyone!


One of the most major events of the last couple of weeks has been getting rid of Joshua's soother (Binki for you American folks). Josh called it his "thisth" spimds kind of like fish with a 'th' instead of an 'f'. For months he was only allowed to have it at night or nap times or maybe when he was really really just oh so very sad. Then all of a sudden he needed it all the time and started climbing on things to get them off the dresser. I'm not sure why, but that made me turn the corner and I decided it was time to get rid of it. So, Steve cut one in half and gave it to Josh - talk about total and utter devastation. He was so upset and looked at us like, "Are you kidding? This is seriously not something to joke about! Fix it, fix it." And thus it began. After we convinced him it was totally broken and he threw it away, it was gone forever. Daddy being the nice guy let him stay up and we rocked him to sleep. It was a rough couple of days, but not as bad as I anticipated. He still comes up to me at least once a day shrudding his shoulders and putting his hands up says, "A thisth?" Then he says, "aaa gan" (all gone) and then I say, "It's broken, bye bye." And that is that. The really sad part of it all, is after those rough couple of days, I realized not only had I taken away his comfort, but he had all four, yes all four of his eye teeth come in the same week. Oops, maybe not the best timing. Getting rid of them has definitely made bed time more truamatic, we had a great routine where would snuggle, sing songs, say prayers and then off to bed. Now, it is Josh screaming for "Da Da Da," because apparently now Dad is going to rescue him from the horrible torture I am putting him through. Oh well, we survived it and for all you out there who just can't seem to get rid of them, I say just go for it and DON'T turn back!!!!


I think that is about all for our update. I really don't have too many photos, but this one is from the Thanksgiving Feast at Ty's school. Although I came to eat lunch with him, we feasted on Taco Bell! I opted out of the Shredded Turkey in gravy and mashed potatoes.

The Proposal

Alright, I have had many a request for the story of me and Steve's Engagement, so I will delight you all with this wonderful story.

How shall I begin - I will give a little background first I guess. My parents were on their mission in Haiti and for Christmas I was going to fly to Haiti and spend about a week. So, Steve drove with me down to Ryan and Nicole's in Southern California, there is a reason for this so hang with me for a minute. We spent a few days there, then Steve flew back home to Utah/Idaho and I left for Haiti. I had a great time in Haiti and then my mom and I flew together with Seba and Mikael to California. Seba and Mikael were Haitians who were going to start school at Rick's, so Steve and I were driving them back with us. My mom came back for my brother Devaughn's wedding in San Diego. I know, it is all very confusing.

So, after we got back, Steve flew back to California to go to the wedding with us. We had a great time and on New Year's Eve Steve, Seba, Mikael and I loaded up into my little Sunfire and headed out for Idaho. There of course was a hitch with this. The latch in my trunk broke and we had to climb through the back seat to open it. We had so much stuff loaded into that car because people had donated some winter clothes to our Haitians and they were bringing it all with them. They were jam packed into the back seat and I felt so bad for them.

We ended up leaving Irvine much later than we planned and although our plan was to get to Provo that night, it took us like 8 hours or something crazy to get to Vegas due to all of the New Year's Eve traffic, it was bumper to bumper the whole way. Once we got to Vegas we were all exhausted so, we started to try and find a place to stay. Of course we didn't have much luck until we found a little Days Inn or something on the outskirts of Vegas. They had one room left and since there were two boys and two girls, my mom kindly gave us permission to stay as long as the girls shared a bed and the boys shared a bed.

Steve insisted on getting in the hot tub, I couldn't figure out why he was so insisted and finally said ok. The trouble was we couldn't really get to our suitcases because of the trunk latch being broken. So after digging around in my bag I finally found mine, picture me in the back of my sunfire (it was white) with the seat folded down and my body half way into the trunk trying to find my swimming suit. Steve couldn't find his, but he did find his spandex shorts, so he figured they would have to work. Off we went to the hot tub leaving the Haitians watching Dick Clark's Rockin New Year's Eve on TV. So we got in the hot tub and had a great time chatting and things. Then, if I remember correctly Steve made me close my eyes and when I opened them he was holding the ring and asked me to marry him. I of course said yes and that was that. Really it was most uneventful, but kinda of funny!

I guess while I was in Haiti, Steve had gone in to pick a ring and his plan was to wait until we got to Utah and then propose, but he couldn't stand carrying the ring around anymore and so he proposed in Vegas! It was very memorable and it fit because for much of our dating time he was living/working in Vegas and I would come and see him on the weekends. One funny side note is that while we were in California everyone kept bugging Steve asking him when he was going to propose and all that, he didn't want to take anything away from Dev and Kelly and so he just kept blowing them off. Then we went to Del Taco or something for lunch one day and I started going through his wallet and found a receipt from Sierra West (a jewelry store), I didn't get a good look before he scolded me for being snoopy and so while I was hopeful that maybe he had purchased a ring I wasn't sure.

Alright all you blog readers that is the story. I hope you were all entertained! I'm not even sure it really made sense, but at least you get the picture!

I guess it is my Turn!

Julie tagged me, so here it is. A little info about me and Steve.

About my Husband
What is his name? Steve, Steven, Emp, I'm sure there are more out there
How long have you been married? Almost 9 years
How long did you date? If you add it all together about a year, but I knew him for 3 1/2 years before we got hitched
How old is he? 31
Who eats more? Definitely him, but give me the right moment and I will try to keep up.
Who said I love you first? ME.
Who is taller? Everyone in Steve's family is taller than me, including my oldest neice.
Who sings better? I don't know, I guess me, but Steve never sings unless he is joking around.
Who is smarter? I'll go with me. Well, I guess it depends on the topic, we balance each other, but I am always right.
Whose temper is worse? Steve's temper is maybe slightly worse, but not by much. We both are challenged in this area
Who does the laundry? Me.
Who does the dishes? Me.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me, if you are lying in it.
Who pays the bills? Me.
Who mows the lawn? Joel Avendano
Who cooks dinner? Me, most of the time, but Steve is a great cook!
Who drives when you are together? Steve, I have to deal with the kids you know.
Who is more stubborn? This is a tough call, I'll go with Steve.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me
Whose parents do you see the most? Mine
Who proposed? Steve did, in hot tub at a Days Inn or something in Vegas on New Year's Eve - Don't ask it is a long funny story.
Who has more friends? I don't know, it is probably Steve
Who has more siblings? Steve
Who wears the pants in the family? We swap them back and forth

Tag: Only if you wanna....

All in a Day!

You know how some days you just wake up and feel off. Who knows why (although usually the culprit is PMS), but some days are just doomed from the get go. That was yesterday for me.

It all began when Josh woke up at 3:30 AM hollering for me to come and get him. Now that he is in the same room with Tyler I had to go in and see what was up. What was up was that he thought it was morning. No, really he tried to give me his soother and everything and was ready to rock-n-roll. I brought him into bed with me for 45 minutes and then tucked him back into his crib. Luckily he went back to sleep - that is until 6 am. Once again I brought him to bed, tucked a pillow next to him and went back to sleep. Once we were up and going all seemed to be going well, with all the changes Steve's company is making we thankfully were not affected in any major ways, the kids were all in good moods, I was fine despite the lack of sleep. Then it happened, something I have feared for a while. My flat iron broke! Suck, that is so crappy, how am I supposed to be hot like Posh with no flat iron. So, I thought I would head to Target and get a cheepy one to get by until I can find the one I want. I got Brooks and Josh all ready shoes on hair done and went into the garage pressed the button and NOTHING! Okay not totally nothing but it only went up an inch stopped and slipped back down. This my friends is a problem because yep, the car is stuck in the garage. Steve couldn't come home and rescue me, so we just hung out at home. After I had a little temper tantrum I partied with the fact that we were home bound for most of the day.

Wednesday at Ty's school is Early Release and it makes the day hard. Ty is done school at 1:45. With Steve unavailable and the car trapped I had no choice but to pull out the stroller grab Brookies bike and get moving. Of course, it wasn't that easy. Brookie's bike tire needed some air, so out comes the pump. I start going to work, but the pump is broken and not working so well. I did my best but the tire was still mostly flat! Oh well, we were out of time and so off we went for our walk to school. All was well, except poor Brooklynn was working double time, because of the tire, the training wheel was super loose and trying to fall off and it was quite warm and humid yesterday. When we get to the school Tyler's friend invited him over to play and so he didn't even walk home with us. Oh well, exercise did us some good.

By the time Steve got home I had figured out that the garage door wasn't working because of the Torsion spring, it had snapped in half. According to the internet it is not uncommon for this to happen. He opened the door up and we left it up and then noticed that there is a screw imbedded in one of the tires on my car. Lovely, just lovely, just pile it up!

So, lets recap shall we!

1. Joshy was up in the middle of the night
2. My flat iron broke
3. The garage door broke
4. Brookie had a flat bike tire
5. I had to walk to school to pick up Ty who went home with a friend
6. There is a screw imbedded in my tire.

There in nothing like a day full of events such as these. Fortunately except for me getting extremely upset with Brooklynn because she would not eat her dinner - again. The rest of the night was uneventful and the kids were all asleep by 8!

If there is something positive to pull out of this - I learned yesterday to put a smile on and just party with those things that are totally out of your control. Somedays you just have to play with the hand your dealt, even if it is totally crappy!

Our Weekend in Denver

Tyler and I had a fun filled weekend in Denver at Marilee and Adam's house. It was so fantastic to get away and be almost kid free. I enjoyed being with my sister's and mom and the rest of the family. The reason we went you ask? Annie and Jackson were baptised and little adorable Reecey was blessed!

We left on Thursday afternoon and got to Denver around 9 pm. Granddad had landed earlier than us and then gone to rent a car, so he waited around to pick us up. After we landed I kept calling him and calling him, but his phone kept going right to voice mail. I was quite worried about how he would find us, but he eventually did and we figured out that something was wrong with his phone and that is why I couldn't reach him. He of course had turned on his phone and was waiting for my call.

Friday Marilee made me get up and go work out with her and her Trainer (she is so mean and cruel :)). It was 4:30 am in my time zone. What was I thinking? Anyway, we had a good work out and by the time we left I was already sore and it only got worse. By Saturday afternoon I could barely walk down the stairs. All in the name of fitness! I guess it was all worth it. The rest of the day we ran a few errands. Tyler went to Annie's School with Nana for lunch and the kids played. Then once Julie and TJ arrived we went to dinner with all the adults. Saturday was more errands and then the baptism. It was a wonderful baptism and we were all so proud of Jack and Annie! Sunday was Reecey's blessing which was also really nice!

Tyler and I arrived home very late on Sunday and although I have been very tired the last couple of days I really enjoyed seeing everyone. I was really feeling home sick for my family! Now we just need to figure out when we will next see the Empey Clan!

Thanks for a great weekend everyone! I love you all.

Marilee and I being fools! Greg and Mar Jane bought these silly glasses for Marilee's kids.

More pictures of Brady, Natalie, Reecey, Me and Tyler, Me and Julie and then I threw in the last one of Josh in his new suit. Nana found this on Sale at JCPenny's and it is so cute on him! The best thing is that it is washable - no joke.

So there you have it, a quick summary of my weekend away. I hope you all enjoyed it so much.

Halloween

Tuesday night was pumpkin carving night. Brooklynn decided she wanted a Happy Pumpkin and Tyler wanted a Wolf. I think they both turned out well!

Steve came home from work on Wednesday and decided he would make 'Witches Brew' I am still not exactly sure what that is or was, but the kids liked it and the dry ice made it lots of fun!

The kids all had a wonderful time trick-or-treating. I would say the one who loved it the most was Josh. Although he was not initially a fan of the 'Chicken Suit' once he figured out that people would give him candy, he was sold and happy to wear it anywhere. He insisted on carrying his own bucket of candy and even took a big bite of his first Chocolate bar right thru the wrapper. He was so cute and even when his bucket was to heavy for him he would not let it out of his grubby little hands! He really had us all smiling and laughing!

My little Barbie Fairy, Spiderman and the Chicken!

Finally, some fun and excitement!

The Empey family has had a very fun and exciting weekend. This is a big change for us because most of our weekends are dull and just mostly chill!

It all started on Friday - Brooklynn and Tyler have been sharing a room since we moved here. At the time with only 3 bedrooms it gave Steve a room for his office/guest room. Then of course Josh came along Steve was kicked out and the crib went back up. Now that Josh is old enough we decided for a number of reasons it was time for a switch!

1. Ty and Brooks are constantly fighting about who made what mess. Cleaning up is a nightmare.

2. Tyler is getting big enough and old enough that he needs his own space and privacy.

3. Brooklynn really wants her very own 'Princess' room.

4. I was really truely running out of storage space for Toys etc and Josh's room has a bigger closet. Especially now that all the baby gear is in the garage.

So, I got up on Friday and starting moving everything. All the baby stuff went out to the garage. All Brooklynn's toys into Joshua's room/closet. All the bedding off the queen bed, then the old bedding back on the queen (It is purple and most girly). I took down Brooklynn's twin to take out to the shed until Josh needs it. Stacked both twin mattresses on Ty's bed. Moved everyone's clothes, moved the crib and hung most of the pictures etc. It took most of the day with all of the cleaning and washing I did along the way. The results are below! Brooklynn's room needs some decor, any suggestions would be most appreicated.

Friday night we had the Ward Halloween Party. It was a fun time. I didn't take any pictures, but I did make some White Bean Chili that won 2nd place in the Chili Cook off! I even got a prize. Major prize, major prize I won I won I won! It is now my one and only Halloween decoration.

Saturday morning was the best, but I will give you all a little background first. When we moved into our house there was a hot tub here. So, Steve got it all cleaned out and running. I am not a big fan of hot tubs, I think I got in it twice, maybe! I didn't really care that it was here, that is until the wood started to fall off the sides. The outside of it literally started falling apart, even after Dad Empey helped us do some repairs. A few people told us it just needed a little paint, but it was beyond any help a little paint could give it. While the inside worked - the outside was just plain trashy looking. So, after a few fruitless try's on Steve's part to get someone to take it away, he found someone! Yeah for Steve - I love you honey you are the best! This guy was so nice and because Steve is so fantastic the guy agreed to do it for free! I don't know how he does it, but he can really sweet talk people into stuff. I was most excited! Steve recruited a few friends to come and help (Thank you Jared, Jeremy and Nate). They took down part of the side fence, pulled up one of the plants, the guy came and unhooked the thing, they all loaded it onto a dolly, onto a trailer and it is gone! Of course I took pictures, even though I was being taunted and teased by a few people who's wives also have blogs (I won't mention any names). It is so nice and now everytime I look in the backyard I don't cringe. The wonderful Hot Tub guy told us that when we do go to sell, whenever that is, it will be a much better selling point to have a nice area that is prewired for a hot tub than an old nasty hot tub already in place! I cannot tell you all how happy I am about this.

Last night we were invited to a Halloween party at the Salway's! Thanks Mike and Emily. The only thing was I could not for the life of me find a babysitter. I went and Steve stayed home. There were some great costumes! I didn't get pictures of everyone though! I went as a Homecoming Queen! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to be a knocked up Homecoming Queen. We played a great game that at the next family gathering I think we should do. We split into teams and each team had an hour to make movie of whatever theme they wanted - it was hilarious.

Talli and Jeremy

Enjoy the pictures, there will be plenty more to come! Halloween is on Wednesday and then Tyler and I are off to Denver! Yippy I can hardly wait to see my sister's and my cutie nieces and nephews and all you other beautiful people I will get to see!

How did you think of that?

You know how sometimes your kids do things that you just wonder what was running thru their heads and really how did they come up with that idea? I had one of those moments about 2 minutes ago. My family is really good at keeping the main bathroom door closed, but when it comes to my bathroom for some reason no one remembers to close it. So I was just sitting here messing with my iTunes - who can blame a girl right - when I realized it was really quiet and Joshua had left the room. Where did he go you ask? Well my bathroom of course, he has a radar for that door being open and getting into as much as possible, like the lotion a couple of weeks ago and the like. Today however he topped all the bathroom stunts off. When I went in there he was holding a lid to my hair paste and looking extremely guilty so I investigated further and what did I find you want to know!













Sitting by the toilet were my Pajama pants that he had put into the toilet and then taken them back out drenched of course with toilet water, getting that same toilet water all over the floor, all over the toilet, of course his shirt was also very wet with that very same water! All I can say is thank heavens the toilet had been flushed. Now, my only question is what was he doing with the little cup like lid to my hair paste. Really I don't want to know and I am only guessing what that could have been - I leave that up to your imagination too.



Now as I write this he is standing at my feet crying "MaMa" as only he can and pushing on my boob, why you ask I am not sure, but he thinks it is interesting because it is squishy like a pillow or something.



You gotta love him though!

Now I know you are all thinking would this cute little person do such a terrible thing and believe me oh yes he did and he can and I'm sure I will have many more tails to tell of this one and his mischief!

It's About Time

After like 6 or 7 months of not doing anything to my hair and feeling extremely ugly and disgusting, I finally decided that the money was worth it and went to get my hair done! I went quite short in the back and basically went for the Victoria Beckam (Posh) look. I think it turned out great and I feel a billion times better. I just want to give a huge shout out to my hubby who insisted I go and get my hair done! I guess that says how really yucky I was starting to look! Oh and forgive the ugliness of the picture - what is seriously wrong with me? Ha Ha!

Ok people is my nose seriously that big? Why do I think it looks huge in this picture!

The Pumpkin Patch!

I finally got my camera back! Yippy!

So, on Friday we decided to take the kids out to a local pumpkin patch. Of course we always feel like it is a bit of a rip off, but the kids have a good time so who can argue with that. They have a little area with farm animals, you know ducks, chickens, minature horses, cows, goats etc. They are all penned in, but it is lots of fun for the kids to go see everything. The kids were loving the animals, well except for Josh, as you can see from the pictures he was not a fan of the animals. He did love running around the field and checking out the pumpkins. It was a lot of fun!

I didn't really get a good picture of Brookie, she was just too busy trying to find the perfect pumpkin!

In the car on the way to the patch!

More of the crazy kids in the car! Notice Brooklynn's tonsils!

Josh hating the animals!

They are so cute!

Flying high!

My Big Boy is so darn handsome!

And the pumpkins!