Birthday Week

My Birthday week is officially over:( I'm now a quarter of a century old, and what a quarter it has been! My life is so blessed and it just keeps getting better. The past year has been a whirl of goodness and joy. I went from working 40 hour weeks for the state and just taking care of Jon and myself, to being a mom and caring for a very special boy. My work day now, never ends, but who can call this work? OK, really any care I'm giving between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am I consider work, but every other hour is just play.

Thanks to my sweet boys, my birthday was extra fun.

Jon rented out a room at the Ice Sheet and our families came to skate with us. Having a winter birthday, my mom took me and friends to do this a couple of times when I was young. I luv it!

This is what I woke up to on the day of my birthday, January 20th. I enjoyed my doughnut while watching the inauguration.

Dad and Tag decorating my ice cream cake.Hogle Zoo. We did this the Saturday before my birthday. Ya know how they advertise that the animals are more active during the winter? False, we didn't even get to see the elephants...boo. But, we still had a good ole' time!

Sleep Talking

Amongst the other awful sleeping issues I have with my cute husband, he also sleep talks. Ok, I kind of like this one. He often does it when I'm getting back into bed after being up with Tag. I can talk back to him and he will respond. I giggle like a mad person and then I can't fall back to sleep. Usually he will repeat numbers and say things like the account transaction is 3927382957832 blah blah blah, but here's a fun transcript from a couple of night ago.

Jon: Oh No!

Me: What?

Jon: I give up.

Me: What do you give up?

Jon: Melting.

Me: What are you melting?

Jon: A monkey.

Me: (giggling like crazy) You're melting a monkey?

Jon: I'm going to melt your mom in a second.

At this point I totally think he has waken, but nope, no more talking and he is fast asleep!

P.S. No offense to my mom. Jon is not really going to melt you.

I'm Baaaaack!!!!!

I fell head first out of the blogging world during the hustle and bustle of Christmas, and it is hard to get goin again, but here I am.

The holidays treated us well and proved to be extra fun with our little guy. Enjoy some pics.

Shootin some hoops. Gift from grandma and Grandpa Bush.

Riding the Radio Flyer Rocket from Grandma and Grandpa Abel.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Taggart on Christmas Eve.

This picture kills me. Abel grandkids on Christmas Eve. Tag's massive head bruise is in clear view.

Of course he loved the wrapping.

Again with the ugly head bruise, but adorable suit from Grandma Bush. Jayde is so fitting missing her 2 front teeth on Christmas!

Cute little man.

And finally, our homemade stockings.

Birthday Kids

I sure do love my nieces and nephew! A few of them have had some birthdays go by, and so I'd like to reflect on my favorite things about each of them.

Jayde turned 7 on November 25. I met Jayde when she was just 1 year old, when Chris and Amanda started dating. She came toddling over to me right away, and we've been buds ever since. Now, she is postively the most stylish 1st grader around. She always tells me if she likes my hair, outfit, earrings, bag, etc. I don't think I've ever seen her do anything mean to anyone. She is always sweet and thoughtful. I hope I get a little girl just like her! Annika(right) turned 7 on November 26th. She lives in Oklahoma, and I do not get to see her near as much as I'd like, but when I do, it is always a joy. She has the cutest curls, and says funny things like, "that chubby baby sure is chubby." She loves horses and last I checked, Dora the Explorer." I can't wait to see her again and for her to meet Taggart for the first time. I know he'll love his Oklahoman cousin! (fyi... the cutie to the left is my other niece, Kaitlynn.)

Isaac turned 6 on December 5th. He was the first grandkid born, and I was so excited for him to come. I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room. He is my only nephew(but I have another on the way)! Isaac can always make Tag laugh. He does so well playing with him and showing his cars and cool boy things. He likes to draw and loves anything super heroish. There is never a dull moment when this boy is around!

Happy Birthday Kids! Uncle Jon/Jonathan and I love you all mucho!

My Fancy

I fancy any sort of miniature man clothes. If Jon would want it in his size, I have to have it for Tag. That is why this navy peacoat was a must.

Twilight?

Yep, loved it. Can't wait to see it again. Fulfilled my wildest dreams and expectations.

Dear Edward:
I luv you!

Dear Jacob:
I cannot wait to see more of you next year!

Dear Stephanie:
Thank you for hours and hours of entertainment.

Dear Amanda:
Thank you for introducing me to these three.

My Wisest Purchase Yet.

I'm quite certain I've never made a wiser purchase. Say hello to the Dirt Devil Kone. I'm telling you, this sleek little thing in a variety of fabulous colors will change your life. I was so sick of crunching cheerios and graham crackers under my feet, so I began my search for the perfect hand-held vac, and I found it on Wal-Mart.com. $40 and worth every penny. It is always charged and ready to use, and how adorable, it illuminates (this was an added bonus I didn't even notice before the purchase). It sits out on my kitchen counter and looks like some sweet decor instead of a yucky vacuum. Now, after each Tag boy meal, we have a simple and quick routine: vacuum floor, vacuum Tag, vacuum highchair. All is clean and beautiful! I can even use it in the car! Who ever thought a vacuum could make me this happy?

Happy 9 months & first tooth.

Yesiree, Tag has officially been out of me for as long as he was in me. To celebrate, he cut his first tooth yesterday, and slept through the night. Hooray!

My gorilla and banana

I know, I know, this is a bit late, and everyone is so over Halloween for another year. But, I just had to post all of our Halloween stuff. Prepare yourself for Halloween overhaul!

King Kong, Anne, and King Kong's favorite snack!

It's a good thing I'm not really a platinum blonde.

Interesting to note that Tag was not afraid of the gorilla, although Jon was effective in making all of our nieces and nephew, along with some other random children, cry:(

A lady bug, banana, and sheep. Oh so cute!

Have you ever wondered what bananas eat?

Tower o pumpkins.

We cheated at the pumpkin walk and went around the outside fence. Still had a great view and made it through in half the time...Genious!

A spooky treat I made for our ward Halloween party. The first and last time I'll ever make them.

FHE pumpkin carving.

Last, but not least, the cute Halloween shirt Grandma Abel bought him. It's in an 18-24 month, so I'm hopin for a few more good wears next year too.

The end. Welcome Thanksgiving!

Random Pictures I Like!

It is not easy to feed this guy. I go through at least 4 spoons at every meal.

AFLAC

I met my sis and her kids at the Dinosaur Park. This duck was very pushy and I was terrified it would bite me. Nikki, on the other hand, pet it and encouraged her children to do the same.

Riding a something-a-saurus

Cool guy in his robe and slippers.

This is what happens when you refuse a nap all day. You crash while playing.

Picture Tag

You know the rule, 4th folder, 4th picture. Here's mine:This is at the airport waiting for Elder Bush to arrive home. My dad and I are just adoring my, then 2 1/2 month old, niece, Savana.
I tag Shay... I don't believe I've seen you do this one. Get crackin!

Yep, he's pretty much the same guy I loved in high school:)

Except NOW he brings home a paycheck.

Must see.....
http://www.kutv.com/sports/default.aspx?articleID=67386

P.S. You have to scroll down a little and the video shows up on the right hand of the screen.

Going Private!

Hey everyone!  

Well, I so don't want to do this because it is sooo fun to find old and new friends through blogging, but I think it is time to go private so I don't have to worry about the creepies out there. I'm sure most all of us either watched the channel 5 special on blogging, (or were repeatedly told about it by our mothers).  

So pretty pretty please leave me your email address.  I'll probably do it in about 2 weeks.  Even if you're not on my blog list and come by every now and then, I'd love to add you (if I know you that is:)   

Also, I think it would be great if blogger.com would work similar to facebook, and allow users to request to be a friend/blogger on the private page that comes up if you don't have access.   I'm going to send this as a comment to blogger on their help center page.  If anyone else thinks this would be great, I'd encourage you to do the same.  Maybe they will make that possible, and then private blogs won't have to miss out on friends who come across their site, but don't have any other way to make contact.  Get my drift?

Thanks Blogging Pals!

Welcome President Elect Obama

What a monumental election we were all able to participate in.  It is amazing to see our country's progress in so many different ways.  As I was watching the polling results last night, Rudy Giuliani made a great comment before the results were given.  He was asked if he had faith in Obama fixing the mortgage/economy crisis.  Giuliani replied by saying he is a McCain supporter, but if Obama were to win, tomorrow morning we are all Americans and should support Obama, because if he is to fail as our President, we all fail.  I think with all of these party differences, this is often a difficult thing for Americans to do.  I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the biggest George Bush Fan, although I was disgusted with the constant disrespect he was given as our President. The highest office in our Country deserves a certain honor that it no longer is receiving.  I hope that as a country we can all support our new President, no matter who we voted for (and maybe give our current President a little more love on his way out).

I'm assuming you all may be curious as to who I voted for, or maybe by this title you just assume Obama. Well, I consider myself unaffiliated and I sincerely try to sort out the issues, ignoring party lines, and make a decision with prayer.  It really was a hard one for me.  I'm just excited to see what our new President can do in healing world relationships and correcting the economy.  I sure am grateful to live in a free country with so many opportunities.  I also am grateful for my Dad for serving in the military and taking a part in politics.  I really see him as a great example and an involved citizen in bettering our country.  I also just happened to marry into a very patriotic family, also with military backgrounds and political service.  Not to mention a husband who was born the day before our country's birthday and has a deep admiration and love for these same things.  What wonderful, USA loving, examples I have for my children! 

Happy Birthday my Sweet Savana!

Happy 3rd Birthday to this sweet, beautiful niece of mine!  I just love this girl.  She is wild and crazy and has the most adorable personality.  She just happens to remind me of myself a little:)  The day she was born I was right there waiting for a peek when her daddy brought her out to meet the family.  Jon was still on his mission and I was able to text him a picture to his email account.  We just cannot get enough of her and she sure does love our Tag boy!  She always uses a really high pitched voice to talk to him.  It's great!