Jeff says he hates shopping for me and he hates Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day... pretty much anything that he might have to buy something for.  I have always bragged about my wedding ring and the fact that he picked it out and bought it for me without me looking at it.  I love it.  He always does a good job when buying things for me, even if he says he hates it.  Well, we were in Salt Lake for the hockey game and were wasting time before we had to be there.  We went to the mall and were running around letting the boys get some energy out.  I always have to look at the jewelry stores, just because I like sparkles..  I found this ring and told Jeff that I had found the closest thing to my wedding ring, but bigger.  He said it was my ring on steroids.  I had the guy get it out and let me look at it, put it on and fell in love with it.  It is gorgeous!!  Jeff took off with the boys while I was talking to the salesman, let them play on some of the little car things, Connor was in a train and he didn't like it.. haha.  I went back and looked at the ring a couple times, trying to talk myself out of it, but I couldn't do it.  I finally gave it back to the guy and he put it away.  I went and found Jeff and the boys.  Jeff asked me if I wanted it.  I told him I really liked it and would definately wear it if he bought it... He said, that's not what I asked.  Do you want it?  I gave in and said yes.  Lucky for me it was on sale and then had an extra 70% off.  He asked me if it could count for Valentine's Day.  I told him he wouldn't have to buy me anything else for the rest of the year.  I have issues with spending money on myself or asking anyone else to, either.  I did have to wait for 2 weeks to be able to wear it, and Jeff kept telling me he suspected I was getting it out and wearing it while he was at work (which I swear I never did).  On the night of the 13th, we went to a dance/dinner that is sort of a tradition for us.  He gave me the ring before we went so I could wear it.  He also made sure I showed everyone and bragged about it a little....  haha

Finally!!!

We are going to be moving into an apartment at the first of the month.  I am very grateful to my inlaws for opening their home and letting us stay here when we needed, but after 8 months, I am more than ready to have my own place again.  I feel like I have seen everything in town that is for rent!  I called on and looked at pretty much every ad that was within our price range.  I even looked at 2 bedroom places even though I really didn't want anything smaller than 3.  I found an ad on KSL.com the day it was posted and called on it.  It was an occupied townhouse so we had to wait for the current renter to get back to us for when we could look at it, but I put in the application before I even looked at it.  The owners kept emailing and calling me to see if we had been able to see it yet, so I guess they were as eager to have it rented as I was to get a place.  The renter finally called me back and we set up a time when Jeff could be there to look as well.  We drove over and went to the apartment I thought was the right one..  knocked on the door and the guy looked at me like I was a looney!  The address I was given was off by 2..  I needed a 1 instead of a 3, so I called and found out where the one we were supposed to see was and we found it pretty quick, it was just across the street.  The guy had pretty much moved all of his stuff out already so it was pretty empty, he had a bunch of stuff in the kitchen/dining room area because he had had the carpets cleaned the day before.  Jeff didn't like it as well as the condo we were looking at, but said if it was the one I wanted, to go ahead with the deposit and signing a lease or whatever we needed to do to move in.  I really liked the condo too, especially the kitchen area, it was awesome!!  I opted for the townhouse, it is 300 sqare feet bigger, has a two car garage, and the rooms are larger.  The living room area is also set up a little better for our furniture.  Jeff said he would rather spend money on a flat screen tv than on a washer and dryer, that made me laugh..  but, the bigger place won.  The kitchen area was full of stuff so I couldn't really see how much smaller it was than the condo, but I will work with what is there.  Also, the owners of the townhouse told me that since I had told them about breaking the lease early with our previous landlords they had not even bothered to call anyone, and the condo people wanted $40 to run our credit and background stuff....  he said he didn't think there would be a problem because I told him all about it as well, but I figured we were already approved for the townhouse without having to do all that stuff.  Now comes the "fun" part, looking for a washer and dryer.  I am also looking for a couch and possibly loveseat, because Jeff doesnt want to have to move the furniture we have up his parents stairs AGAIN.  The townhouse is also two story, and we are not looking forward to moving stuff up those stairs....  but once we get there, it will be our space so I will do it myself if Jeff doesnt want to..  haha... I will find someone to help me actually because I am not that tough anymore.

I think this is all of them that didn't load right or got cut off on the last post...

Nice weekend...

Jeff actually took two whole days off!!  It has been a LONG time since he had more than just a few hours of sleep and time to just do nothing if that's what he decided to do.  We didn't do a whole lot of nothing... 

Saturday morning we went sledding.  Connor fell asleep in the car so he missed out on the first session.  There were quite a few people there and they all kept commenting on how crazy Brenan was.  He is not scared to go fast, he hangs on over the bumps, goes flying, and just lands where he lands.  He borrowed the round plastic thing from one of the families there, the kids didn't like it because it went to fast and it spins around as you go down.  Brenan LOVED it!  He said it was "totally awesome!". 

On one of the trips down, Jeff and Brenan were both on the sled and there were people walking up the sled hill, instead of moving over into the powdery stuff..  During the process of trying to not kill anyone, Jeff put his feet out and tried to stop.  It sprayed snow all over Brenan and he didn't think that was cool.  Then he was really not happy to find out that it had also broken the sled almost in two.  We left and went to the store to buy another one and then went back.  The second time around, Connor woke up and was able to join the fun.  He doesn't even cry when they crash or stop quickly and he face-plants into the snow.. just lays there and waits for someone to come and get him.

After we got done sledding, we went to Burger King and got lunch, actually ate inside because Brenan thinks he never gets to eat inside and I guess he thinks it's more fun or something.  When we got done eating, we went home and got our swimsuits on and went to the recreation center.  It was supposed to be open swim from 1:30-6.  We got there at about a quarter to 2 and they had had a swim meet that morning so it was still closed, even though it had been cleaned and was ready for use.  We were told that the lifeguards weren't there yet as the reason they didn't just open it.  We paid and went in and played table tennis and Brenan played on the slide by the climbing wall.  He really wanted to try to climb, but he was wearing snowboots and they said that he had to have tie-up shoes, so that didn't make him happy either.  We tried to keep ourselves entertained for the hour and fifteen minutes we had to wait for the pool to open.  There were millions of kids there with no parents, even though they are not supposed to be there without supervision.  Found out after being there a little while that at least three of the lifeguards were there and playing pool at the other end of the building, so they technically could have opened the pool and let people in.  That did not make us happy.  Anyway... 3pm finally rolled around and we got to go into the pool.  My boys are definately NOT afraid of water.  They were both jumping off the edges of the pool, whether there was someone there to catch them or not.  They loved the little slides and water fountains.  Their favorite thing is the current channel.  They love going around that circle.  I don't know about Jeff, but my legs were TIRED after we got done.  Connor kept trying to take off to play with every one else in the water and then he would tip over.  I think he scared more than one of the lifeguards... haha.   I was always within reach and got him up and standing again.. and he would just grin at me and take off again.  We had a blast!  They both fell asleep on the way home from the pool.  We had some tired boys!  Connor took a nap while I made dinner and the rest of us ate. 

Sunday, they both slept in until almost 9am, so we skipped church instead of waking them up to get ready.  We had breakfast, I was the short order cook, waitress, and dishwasher...  Then we got showers and dressed and headed out again.  We drove to Tabiona and picked up a puppy for Grandma Rosie.  Connor thought it was great fun!  Both boys wanted to hold and hug the puppy all the way home so Jeff took her and she cuddle up inside his jacket and napped most of the way home.  She could not have found a warmer or more comfortable person to sleep on.  We took her down to Grandmas house and stayed there for a few hours visiting and playing before we came home.  We got our comfy clothes on and sat on the couch watching the football game, the hockey game, the Simpsons movie, and Open Season... flipping channels between them during commercials.  Then it was bedtime again.  Kids both went to sleep fairly easily and Jeff fell asleep on the couch. 

This morning Jeff had to go back to work.  He is now on his way back to North Dakota for a few days.  Here's hoping he does not get snowed in or tipped over with the wind and can come back to us safely!

All in all, it was a great weekend!

UGH... sick kids!

I HATE having sick kids.  I would much rather be sick myself than have my babies not feel well.  I hate knowing that they are in pain or just plain not feeling well and I can't do anything about it other than sit and hold them and love them and try to keep it under control.  Connor could not breathe last night and he had a terrible time.. poor baby.. he loves his little thumb and he was trying to suck it to soothe himself but could not breathe through his nose.  He would suck two or three times and then have to open his mouth and breathe.  I felt so bad for him, at the same time as I was thinking how sweet and cute he is to figure out a way to still get his thumb time in.   We spent most of the night in the recliner rocker reclined back and with him wiggling every couple minutes trying to find the most comfortable position and failing as miserably as I was at that goal.  We then switched to the couch to see if it was better so that he could actually lay on me instead of trying to stay upright on my lap.  He did not seem to like that idea any better and squirmed his way down to the feet end of the couch and laid between my legs and the back of the couch, his arms flopped up over his head hanging off the arm of the couch.  Good thing he kept his legs still, one push and he would have toppled over the end.  We stayed that way until Jeff got up to go to work, then we moved into the bedroom.  He crawled up the pillows until he was almost on top of the headboard, and fell asleep.  The Tylenol must have kicked in at that point, I don't know why it hadn't worked the rest of the night, but he actually got some sleep finally.  I hope he gets over it quickly, I can't take too many nights like that and stay sane.

I figured it out....

I think I have figured out why I don't keep up with this as much as I thought I would. I don't get any feedback. When I read other people's blogs, I also like to read the comments they get. I very rarely get any. I know that there are not a lot of people keeping track of this, because I have no friends, but still.....

New Year's Resolutions....

I have a hard time with making resolutions, I have never actually accomplished any that I have set. I think it is because I pick too big of projects for myself. This year, I decided that I was going to go easy on myself. I have a huge list, but they are all do-able. It also helps that I have a jump start on some of them so it will just be a continuation of things I am already doing until it becomes second nature. They are in no particular order, just wrote them down as I thought of them.

Make it to church at least 3 out of the 4 Sundays a month. I would like to have 100% attendance, but I am trying to be realistic here.

Finish the Book of Mormon all the way through. I have done this only once in my life, and I have a head start on it as I am already more than half way through.

Keep up with my blog better so people can know what is going on in our lives. I have to be able to do better than one post every three or four months, right?

Have a date night with my husband at least once a month. This is one that I would like to have happen once a week, but-once again-I am trying to be realistic.

Keep my house more organized and de-cluttered. This does not include the toys on the floor, because that is just not going to happen anytime soon.

Stick to the budget. Stick to the budget. Stick to the budget... Jeff and I both have problems with this one. When there is money in our pockets, or in our checking account, we are pretty loose with what we buy.

Continue putting money in savings accounts. I have an emergency account, a vacation fund, and a regular savings account. I also plan on doing an account for each of the boys, I just didn't have their social security numbers when I went in to set them up.

Get healthier. Does not mean losing weight, although I need to do that, I am just not going to have that be the whole goal.

Pay off my car. It was paid for when I bought it, but we borrowed money against it to buy the Peterbilt and start the business. I liked having it paid for.

There are more and there are bigger ones, and they are more like 2 or 3 year goals so I will quit there. There are just so many ways to improve myself, it was hard to narrow it down.