Homeward Bound!!!

We are SOOOOO excited!! Today we signed all the paper work and reserved a lot in the Spanish Fields Community in Spanish Fork. We pick all of our colors and tons of other options within this month, and building will take place in about 8 months! Below is our basic floor plan and above is what the outside of our house will look like (pretty close, anyway). We'll be tweaking it here and there a little bit (like putting a powder room on the main floor and shifting the laundry room upstairs by the bedrooms). What do you think?

The Most Important Things

Can I just say ...

I LOVE the pitter-patter of Krystal's feet coming down the hall and her "talky-talkalot voice" ANYTIME. I LOVE Aaron's vice-like grip hugs and "No problem, Mom" response when asked to help. I LOVE the sparkle in Marissa's eyes when she does something that she's proud of and her determined attitude when she can see that Mom needs a break and she tries to distract the littles. My kids are so stinkin' cute!

Despite the quote "the most important things in life aren't things", which I faithfully have displayed in my own home, there are also quite a few THINGS that make life bearable. For instance: on-demand television - "Calliou" saves my sanity over and over; homemade chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven - anytime, actually -- heck, just give me the cookie dough and I'm good; the "Welcome Home" candle by Hobble Creek -- yummmmm; a clean house - rare that it may be; a pile of good books to read; blogging; FAMILY!!!

Just my two bits worth. Lotsa Love!

Suitable for ALL

Well, well, well - whadda ya know! I am VERY pleased to announce that our blog is rated G!

Click here to rate your own blog!

All-American Gymnasts

Krystal, Aaron, and Hanna LOVE gymnastics! Marissa is still skeptical, but ... they ALL had a blast on their free-play day.

Kent, Leisy, and Zeb - we'll miss you!

Day 1

Thinker #1: What's to think?



Who can possibly think at this point? We should all be READING LIKE CRAZY!! Happy reading everybody!

Day 2

Thinker #2: How Well Do You Know Characters From HP Series?

1. A former student of the French wizarding school, Beaux-Batons. Tall, beautiful and part veela, she was also Harry’s co-competitor in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She is engaged to Bill Weasley.
2. Hogwarts’s flying teacher and Quidditch referee.
3. A ghost that haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom, who frequently has been a good source of information for Hermione, Ron and Harry.
4. The attractive owner of The Three Broomsticks, whom Ron fancies. She is put under the Imperius Curse during Harry’s sixth year, nearly resulting in the accidental death of Katie Bell.
5. A young conductor of the Knight Bus who is falsely arrested for committing suspicious Death Eater activity.
6. The eldest Weasley sibling who works for Gringott’s and is the fiancé of Fleur Delacour.
7. The head of Department of Magical Games and Sports, he offers to “assist” Harry when he is competing in The Tri-Wizard Tournament. He is friendly, oblivious to rules, and is a former professional Quidditch player.
8. A Gryffindor in the same year as Harry who is best friends with Parvati Patil. She has a penchant for nicknames that sound like baby-talk and giving inappropriate pieces of jewelry as gifts.
9. A friend of Cho Chang’s who tries to betray “Dumbledore’s Army.” She is thwarted by Hermione's spell, which brands her a "sneak" --- literally.
10. A rather shady member of the Order of the Phoenix. Relatively jolly and supremely loyal to Sirius, he nevertheless suffers from light fingers, most notably stealing Black family artifacts from Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
11. The daughter of Marvolo, abandoned wife of Tom Riddle and mother of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Penniless and desperate, she died giving birth to her son, who would become one of the most evil wizards in history.
12. A Death Eater and a werewolf who intentionally attacks people; he especially has an appetite for children. He was responsible for turning Remus Lupin into a werewolf at the age of nine.
13. A star Durmstrang student and professional Bulgarian Seeker. He competes with Harry in the Tri-Wizard tournament and takes a fancy to Hermione, with whom he still keeps in touch via very long letters.
14. A Slytherin student who has been Harry’s enemy since the day they both started at Hogwarts. He is handsome, pompous, mean-spirited and comes from a pure-blood family. His father Lucius is a Death Eater and his mother, Narcissa, is Sirius Black’s cousin.
15. An old friend of Dumbledore's and former professor who returns to Hogwarts in Harry’s sixth year to teach Potions. He is materialistic and a bit shallow, but basically kind-hearted.

2 Cutes - and 1 Not So Cute

CUTE:
You know that Aaron is feeling better when ...

... he starts using his recovery time to find random and spectacular hiding places. :)

CUTE:

Every time we get picture books from the library, Marissa plops herself down in the corner where we keep the library books and reads EVERY one.

NOT SO CUTE:

Do ya think maybe she needs a little attention?

I set her up to the counter with 4 mini oreos and a cup of milk. Then I went back to my room to blog for a minute. When I came out to check on her - she looked at me and said, "Uh Oh, Mommy ... cookies." (Remember - I gave her FOUR cookies - she preceded to get out the whole pack). Lucky for me, I was carrying the camera, because I was on my way to put it away. When I said, "Krystal - you made a disaster area," she said, "No .... cookies!" Oh man.

3 More Days

Thinker #3: POSSIBILITIES ...

What main character do YOU think could possibly die in Deathly Hallows? Is there ANYway that it could be Harry's best mate, Ron Weasley?

Some points to ponder ...

• Ron's offhand comment about what he read in his tea leaves: "Die, Ron, Die!"


• Ron willingly sacrificed himself once in the giant chess match in Book 1, so Harry could continue onward to get the Sorcerers Stone.


• Ron's wands - both contained a unicorn hair. Cedric Diggory's wand contained a unicorn hair (and we all know Cedric's fate). Ron's second wand was made from a willow tree. The only other character we know of that had a willow wand was Lily Potter, Harry's mother, who sacrificed HERself for Harry.


• Ron feels a little lost in a family where everyone seems to have found their talent except him. Could this mean that Ron would be willing to sacrifice himself yet again which would outshine every other Weasley through one last, great heroic deed?

Oh man - I get sad just speculating. Hopefully, the character to die is NOT Ron. Any GOOD character dying is going to bring floods of tears. However, if he does sacrifice himself for Harry, Ron will go down in history not as Harry Potter’s sidekick, but as one of the most loved and loyal wizards in the Harry Potter series.

What do you think?

4 More Days!

Thinker #4:

This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Book 7 - but, DEFINITELY effects the upcoming movie quality ...

Emma Watson refused to sign a contract with Warner Brothers to finish the Harry Potter movies. Will the movies be the same with a different Hermione? I'm not sure myself. I really like her ... mione. :) Any opinions?

5 More Days!

Well, I think one week is the longest I've gone without blogging a new post. Weird. Today was the big gymnastics day. Thank you Kristy and Melynda for taking Marissa (who hated it) and Krystal (who loved it) today. Aaron has been really sick since Sunday, so he had to miss. Hopefully, he's on the mend this afternoon. Keep him in your prayers please.

So - for our 5 day count down to Harry Potter 7, I thought it would be fun to refresh our thinkers and memory to PREPARE!

Okay - thinker #5: The Twisted Good/Evil Characters

Character Twist One - * Professor Quirrel (a good guy) ends up being possessed by Voldemort ... hence, he is a bad guy in the end.

Character Twists Two - * Ginny Weasley is possessed by Voldemort to open the Chamber of Secrets + Harry, Ron, and Hermione use polyjuice potion to transform to Crabbe and Goyle.

Character Twists Three - * Sirius Black ... BIG twist ... all this time we thought he was bad - turns out he's good. * Illegal Animagus: Potter - good, Black - good, Pettigrew - BAD ... and was Ron's rat (weird), Skeeter - bad/good. * Lupin is a werewolf - good/bad in and of itself.


Character Twists Four - * Professor Moody being copied through polyjuice potion by Barty Crouch Jr. * Karkaroff - where is he? What about HIS school? What will become of Krum?


Character Twists Five - * Mrs. Figg ... not just your ordinary muggle! * Professor Umbridge - who's side is she on, anyway?

* Harry tries to learn occlumency to block Voldemort - Voldemort succeeds anyway - but Harry reigns triumphant and stays on the good side :)


Character Twists Six -

* PROFESSOR SNAPE! Holy cow - can't wait to read how that plays out.

Are there more twists to come in book 7 - I'm sure of it ... and very excited!

"SIGN ME UP!!!"

So, I signed Krystal up for gymnastics today ... Marissa too, for that matter. After Aaron's first day of gymnastics (I sensed some talent in him, so I signed him up) - and Krystal's sobbing car ride home of "Sign me up, mom! Sign me up! I do flip. Sign me up!!!" - and then the rest of the day long ... watch me, Mom (does a jump) ... watch me, Mom (does a spin) ... see me, Mom - sign me up! ... I broke down - and signed up the whole damn family. Talent or not - they ALL have to be in gymnastics apparantly. :) Hopefully, I'll be able to get pictures. But until our first day, next Tuesday, you all will have to wait to be amazed with our gymnastically talented (whatever) family!

Cute Cousins

So grateful for family! Look at how much fun these guys have together. What would we do without each other, huh? Together is THE BEST place to be!!!

8 Things Y'all Never Wanted to Know About Me -- Tyler.

1. The only girl I've ever kissed is my wife, Michelle.
2. I have performed with the Latter-day Celebration Show Choir, the Lagoon Spotlight Entertainers, and the cast of our highschool musical "Oliver".
3. I scream like a girl when I see a spider.
4. I am a psychotherapist ... not a PSYCHO therapist.
5. Once while scuba diving on Catalina island with Kent, we stole a golf cart (unintentionally). This was the beginning of the "Booty Brother Bandits", as we spent a good portion of our day in custody at the police station.
6. In highschool I could often be found wearing tight pants or speedos (granted, I WAS on the football team my Sophomore year, and the swim team my Junior year).
7. I like to bake ... cookies, bread, yummy soup, and bread bowls are my specialties.
8. I always wanted to be a cartoonist ... but then I learned that I couldn't draw.

Those are MY eight ... now let's hear from Leisy.

My Dad - the Fix it Man!

We are so lucky to have my Dad around ... in fact, in Aaron's words ... "Grandpa is a super-hero, because he saved the day ... huh, Mom!" This week we were simultaneously (and yet not related at all) having problems with both the toilet and our water pressure. Well - Dad came over in a jiffy ... diagnosed, tap tap tap, lift and pull, twist and tug ... voila - they're both fixed! Wow - he is OUR super-hero, fix-it man, Grandpa Brent!