Pay it Forward

I got this off of a friends blog and thought that it was a great idea. It is fun to spoil the people that you love and instill these values into your everyday life.

Pay It Forward …..So, here’s how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, some homemade goodies from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you’re going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your goodies! Please submit in an e-mail or on the comment, your address, if I don’t have it already. Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick! Have fun!

No more mullet!

Our big boy Benny got his mullet cut off a couple of weeks ago. It is amazing how they instantly become little boys instead of babies after that first hair cut. I think the walking and talking adds to this as well. He has a few words..."daddy" is said the instant Evan opens the garage door when coming home, "hi" is said most often when he is "talking" on the phone. He also says, "uh-oh" as he throws things on the ground, "mama" when he is super sad, and "go" for lots of playtime activities. He is so fun but such a stinker. He is a little biter. We lucked out with Sulli who never bit at all. Ben bites his brother, other children and me, primarily when I am ignoring him and he wants to be held. He has totally mastered the stairs...going up. I have posted the "after" pics first and you can scroll down and get a peek at how the mullet was progressing.

Here are my little Valentine's. Sulli is showing off some of the valentines he got from school.

When Evan and I were in San Diego I got the boys Chinese pajamas from a street vendor. When I was little and we would visit my grandparents in LA, we would go to Chinatown and get chinese pajamas and so for nostalgia sake...I had to do it. Benny kept his hat on briefly...Sulli slept in his!

The mullet!

all is well

a beautiful view during our walk around the beaches of la jolla. right around the corner there were several seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

the view of mission bay from our hotel balcony. every morning the bay was bustling with activity. this particular morning there were several rowing boats out.

i had to get a picture of the rental car. it was a humorous part of our trip between the 4 of us. difficult to explain to you all! meep-meep!! well, as you can tell from the title...we survived our trip to san diego. the weather was wonderful, food delicious, company great and time alone much needed. evan and i had a great time just "porlaxing" as sulli would say, hanging out and not having anywhere that we needed to be. i actually read 400 pages of a book, stayed up late because I wanted to, slept in, and ate my food while it was still hot! i laughed a lot, pumped alot (shout out to my breastfeedin' mommas!) and thought of my kids a lot.

we called a few times a day to check in and see how the kids were doing. of course, they were wonderful and even slept better for mimi and bumpa than they do for us! go figure. they took a trip to the zoo and sulli and bumpa got to go see disney live! at the idaho center. all in all both parties had a great time. but it was amazing how at every turn, evan and i would say, "oh the kids would love this!" great to have some time away...but great to be home.

leaving on a jet plane...

evan and i are leaving this weekend for san diego...without kids! one of those trips that sounded so great in the planning stage. but as the day approaches that i am going to have to say "see you soon", i am anxious! i am not worried about their well-being as they will be in very good hands. we just have never left benny over night. and i am the worrier in our family...so here is my item of the week to worry about. but as i said in the previous post, i am learning lots from my Bible reading. and just the other day i was reading about not worrying. and i remember a man in twin falls where i grew up who had a sign on his truck that said "worry and insult God". ok fine...i know that everything will be fine, but, but, but....this no worrying thing is tough! any suggestions to help make the transition for me and the kids go well?

Goals and Grief

So along with the new year comes many resolutions, hopes for a better tomorrow, ideas on how we are going to improve our lives. I have never been one to make resolutions or have life changing ideas that come up at midnight. However, I have had a nagging goal that I have never formally set for myself that finally bit me in the butt. I have set out to read the Bible in one year. I have NEVER read through the whole Bible. I have NEVER made it a habit to read the Bible every day. And therefore, I feel very ill equipt with the Word. I am in a wonderful small group through my church and I expressed this desire to them and the need that I have for accountability on this matter. They were more than happy to provide that for me. So I found a reading guide online that takes you through the Bible in a year and gives you what to read each day. You read from the old and new testament every day which keeps it interesting. I started this a bit late (not on the first of the year) but I am happy to report that I played catch up and am currently up to date and on track. I truly pray that I will continue this adventure and am excited to see what God reveals to me this year. I have already had several "ah-ha" moments when reading.



I have recently been surrounded by wonderful people in my life who are struggling with immense grief and hardship. These individuals have lost unborn babies, grandparents, and siblings. Loss that I cannot imagine having to deal with. The reading guide has been taking me through the book of Job and it has really put suffering into perspective. We all will suffer from loss or grief at some point in our lives...there is no question about that. What is most important is what we do with that suffering. Do we get mad at the world, mad at God and harbor feelings of resentment towards others who have what we want? Or do we take the experiences, the loss, the hardship and use it to better understand others suffering, to better ourselves, to learn and grow? In no way do these ideas lessen the hurt and pain. But they do offer a hope that there is a reason behind some of the horrible things that we go through in this life.



A few of the wonderful people that I mentioned above who are suffering from a terrible loss have let God's light shine through them during this amazing time. I have learned from them. I have been amazed by their strength...by God's strength holding them up. My prayer is that I constantly put my faith in God so that when the time comes for me to suffer, that I will suffer with joy in my heart, with God holding me up all along the way.



I guess that I would challenge all of you to set that goal for yourself that you have been putting off. Take a new perspective on a challenge that you are dealing with in your life right now. Am I letting this obstacle get the best of me and bring me down? Or am I going to learn from it and power through? Whoa...deep Nicole! Every once in a while I really do contemplate life and think. Doesn't show very often but here she is!!!

Birthday Boy

These pictures are posted in opposite chronological order of the evenings events but I am too tired to try and move them around. You will still get the idea of what went on at Benny's little party! Sulli enjoying being one of Benny's presents.

Ben was way more interested in the packaging than the presents.

Delirious from all the excitement!

Here is our birthday boy! The best present we could ever have!

Nana and Mimi with the birthday boy.

Toot toot! Ainsley was showing Ben how to use his party horn.

My baby Benny is ONE! Can you believe that a whole year has gone by??? I sure can't. It went by quickly with Sulli, and even quicker this time. He is such a joy and a handful all at the same time. I just adore this little being. We went to the doctor today for his one year check up. He is 19 pounds and 6 oz (6 pounds lighter than Sulli at this age). Still such a little guy...only in the 10th percentile for weight and 60th for height. I asked Evan if there were any concerns I should ask the doctor about. The only thing that he wanted to me to ask was if there was a way that we could bottle up his cuteness so that we could save it forever and ever. Makes me teary eyed thinking of how fleeting this small stage is . Makes me even more teary eyed at how face paced life is and how I don't enjoy every moment that I have. I let life get in the way all too often and forget to laugh at their silliness, cry at their cuteness, and smell their little necks.

Anyways, we had a wonderful little party for the little monkey. Sulli was the party planner extraordinare and decided that Ben should have a jungle party. My friend Bekki was the cake lady again and made a delicious, adorable cake. She also made Ben one that he could destroy on his own. We had dinner, cake and presents. The kids played, adults talked, and Benny just hung out not knowing what the heck was going on. Sulli helped Ben dig into his own little cake and each of the kids took turns taking bites off the cake as well. All in all it was a fun day. A bit sad for me...but fun.

HO HO HO

Christmas was spent in Twin Falls this year with my family. We celebrated an early Christmas with Evan's parents the weekend before. I of course forgot my camera. But the boys had a great time opening gifts and eating a delicious meal. Then on Monday, I headed over to Twin with the boys. My sister and her boyfriend graciously drove over and picked us up. They braved some pretty awful roads to get here and I am so grateful they were safe and that they still came! Evan had to stay and work through Christmas Eve so was not due to arrive in Twin until Wednesday night. He surprised us though and walked in the door on Tuesday night. It was the best present ever, since I had been fretting about him driving since it was dumping snow and just plain yucky out!
Santa Claus surprised us and made a visit Christmas Eve. Just as Papa was going in to take a shower, Santa showed up outside. Nana spotted him running across the lawn. Then he peeked through the window. Sulli was shocked and leapt into my arms. He was excited but also terrified. He clung to me with all of his might. Sulli and Papa had put milk and cookies out on the front door step earlier and we had scattered our reindeer food out on the yard. We then heard the doorbell ring. We went to see who was there. The milk and cookies were gone and there on the doorstep was a brand new bike. Sulli was amazed! There was also a gift for Benny. We brought the bike inside and Sulli gave it a test drive. You can tell from the look on his face he is still in shock!Benny got a cool singing tool bag filled with tools from Santa. It was a great night. We then all cuddled on the couch and Auntie Boo read a great pirate Christmas book. Then it was off to bed. Here is Benny getting to know Great-Grandma Dossie and Great-Grandpa Louis. We are so lucky that they now live in Twin Falls so we will hopefully see more of them than when they were in Scottsdale.

The next morning we got up and opened stockings and all of our presents. Gotta love moms and their practical gifts! Thanks for the sexy undies mom!!

Benny got a neat little play station. It was a hit with both boys.

Our Christmas was amazing this year. We were so blessed to be with family and truly enjoy our time together. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded my so many wonderful people. Thank you everyone for making this a great holiday season!

We then headed home the Sunday after Christmas. New Year's was spent at home this year. Quiet night which was nice. We hosted a New Year's Day gather with Evan's parents which involved eating entirely way too much....all day long. And of course, the TV displayed football games all day as well.

And here we are in 2009. Such a wonderful year gone by! But I know that there are amazing things in store for this year as well. Here's to a happy, healthy, blessed 2009. Love to you all! Cheers!