~~~Liza's Inky Fingers

Alli's Dances

2011-04-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Alli's Dances!

Alli's in two dances this year, and she's fabulous! We are so lucky to have Downtown Dance; her teacher really stresses clean dancing and modest outfits, and we still win! Her first competition was last Saturday, and they took 1st place in all 7 performances, overall in lane 1, overall in lane 2, overall show number (the Glee performance) and a special award for execution and choreography!

I have to apologize for the screaming before you start watching; what can I say, I'm loud and excitable. I'm pretty sure y'all knew that already.

This is her individual Juniors dance, the Can-Can. If you listen closely, you can hear someone say that they love this team about 20 seconds into it; such a great thing to hear from someone outside our group!

This is the show number. It's a medley of songs from the show "Glee". There are 84 girls, and my favorite part is where they are all doing the same hand movements all at the same time. That is so NOT easy!

Seriously, so sorry about the screaming...

The end of an era

2011-02-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

So, after 17 years, we have finally purchased a new car! The Geo has been fabulous, relatively very few problems, but seriously, it was time. After a week of stressing, worrying, freaking out about doing this without Mark here, thinking I found the car I wanted, and then changing my mind... May I introduce the Batmobile! Shiny black outside, all soft and black inside. No more shaking or rattling. It's a beautiful thing.

Zach turns 10!

2011-02-10T21:40:00.001-08:00

So this year for Zachs birthday, we went to a Utah Grizzles hockey game! It was so much fun, we really have to do that more often.

The next Sunday was his actual birthday, and since Mom was already here because of her knee surgery, Kimmie came down and we had a little party. Mom gave him a couple of shirts; a new Einstein to replace the one he's outgrown, and a Star Wars math one. He also got a new coat, some clothes, and a Lego set he's been wanting. Instead of cake, he asked for pie, so we made a banana cream pie and a coconut cream pie; so yummy!

And then the next Thursday, Zach was finally able to have a party with his friends. Landon, Nephi, Collin, and Andrew came over just to hang out. They watched a movie, ate pizza and lots of junk food, and I made some Star Wars themed cupcakes. He thought it was all very cool.

So it's begun

2010-11-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

Maybe this means we'll have a white Christmas?!?!?!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

Flowers from my sweetie for our 19th anniversary!

Mississippi and Louisiana

2010-11-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

When Mark left in September, I really thought that was the last time I would see him for a year, so to be able to go see him was fabulous. Not to mention, it was Mississippi in November; not too bad.

So here we have the view from our balcony, the hilarious souvenir shop down the street where I made Mark pose inside the alligator, Beauvoir, where Jefferson Davis lived, and me and Mark on the beach.

This McDonalds bench ad made me laugh everytime we walked by it; seriously, 2 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico is a McDonalds?!?!? Mark chilling on the balcony, the Biloxi Lighthouse, and a sharks jaw from the same souvenir shop that survived Katrina.

New Orleans!!! I was so excited to go; too bad we only stayed for about 45 minutes. It was a fun drive, though; beautiful trees, driving over Lake Pontchartrain, and really just being in the car together. It just made things feel really normal. Weird, I know. We made it to St. Louis Cathedral just in time to take one picture before it got too dark.

Beignets at the Cafe du Monde! I love it when I get to do things I've always wanted to do. Bucket list check! I accidentally took a picture of the waiters butt...

And that was it. We spent our last morning sitting across the street from our hotel, running our feet through the sand, watching the waves, and wishing it could last so much longer.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

What a fun Halloween! I love homemade costumes, and if you can do it out of stuff you've already got, even better! I never thought we could beat Zach's Boba Fett costume from last year, but this years Einstein was too much fun. And all it took was a fake moustache and a can of white hairspray. Alli's lifeguard costume came from her board shorts, left from a dance routine a couple of years ago, and a tee Kimmie brought her from Hawaii last year. Jonathon's hat came from a trip to Disneland last spring, and he already had a jacket that made for a great Indiana Jones. Kimmie was the Spider Woman, and I was a green witch, but none of my pictures turned out well. Seriously, so fun!

Science!

Lunch on Halloween; mummies, blood punch, cheesy caterpillars, and eyeballs.

Dinner at Mom's

We've been making either cookies or cupcakes to decorate for Halloween the last few years, and it's been so much fun! This year Macy wouldn't stop eating the candy, and it was so much fun to watch her try to sneak it whenever she thought Dad wasn't looking. Kimmie made an awesome starry night, a la Van Gogh.

More Craftiness!

2010-10-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

So, again, I bought this last year, maybe the year before, and it's finally done! I wanted to make a book that would have a picture from every year, and I came really close. I could only find pictures of Jonathon for 2 years before Alli was born, and I don't think I took any pictures her first Halloween, but from the next year on I've got them all. It's so fun to see them from one year to the next, and it brings back such great memories.

Lagoon

2010-10-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

This year for our birthdays, Kimmie took us all to Lagoon! She did it last year, and it was so much fun. This year we went during Frightmares, which produced lots of laughter, and a couple of scary moments. The dancers with the chainsaws (ha ha ha ha!) really kind of freaked Zach out. Somehow, there are no pictures of Kimmie...I wonder how that happened. Alli and Zach went on Wicked with me and Kimmie, and we all screamed in the most wonderful kind of terror, and we got all three of them on the Samuri! Jonathon loved it, Alli hated it. So much fun, though!

Something new

2010-10-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

I bought these letters a year ago, and then lost all of them except for the D. I finally found them, and within 24 hours had this done! I was so proud of myself, I can't tell you how much. I never finish anything quickly. Ever.

And so he goes....

2010-09-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

The time had finally come. It was honestly such a relief to finally have him leave, not because I wanted him to go, but because we were finally able to move on. He can't come home until he leaves, after all!

Blackfoot had a little parade with the soldiers marching through town, ending up at Jensens Grove for hot dogs.

Hanging out at the airport, waiting for them to leave. Seriously, way too much emotion, just go already!

See you next year!

Yellowstone

2010-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

So, the last time we went to Yellowstone Park, Jonathon was not quite a year old. It's been a while. This time we went with Mom, Kimmie, Chris, Eve and Sev. Sadly, Mark was in Boise for AT and wasn't able to come. We drove up Sunday afternoon, stopped by Mesa Falls (I forgot my camera...) and then continued on up to the Park. We drove up the west side of the upper loop and out of the Park to Gardner MT where we spent the night. It was snowing so hard when we left the park! It made for some beautiful trees along the side of the mountains. The next morning we checked out Mammoth Spring and then drove the rest of the upper loop, down to the falls, and then went home. For years, we went almost every summer, and it was so fun to finally go again.

Sev having fun with the carved bear while we waited to eat.

Mammoth Springs and the canyon, and a seriously enthusiastic Zach. He loved the big rock at Mammoth Springs; he called it a t-rex tooth. But when we asked him to smile, that's what we got. The strangers walking by thought it was hilarious.

Of course we had to stop at Tower Falls, and of course we had to have ice cream!

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

Zach is starting the 4th grade, Alli the 7th, and Jonathon is starting his senior year! The first day of school for most of the high schoolers isn't until tomorrow to give the freshmen a chance to get used to the school without everyone else around. Jonathon happily stayed in his pajamas while the other two left early.

Craters of the Moon

2010-08-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Before school starts, and in-between Marks many training trips, we wanted to run out to Craters of the Moon. We went last year, but it was a quick trip, and we didn't have time to do everything. This trip we had more time, so we had a picnic lunch, climbed the spatter pots, and crawled around in the caves. The kids thought that was so cool, and Zach gave me a heart attack climbing out on a ledge. Fun!

Oregon!

2010-08-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

We had a quick trip this year, due to the funeral, but it was still worth it. It's always so much fun to see the Holmes, and we were able to spend some time with Tolman, Audrey and Kaleb, too. We spent a couple of days on the beach, and went to Newport one day to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where we saw all sorts of sealife; jellyfish, octapus, crabs, turtles. The kids loved it; Zach was in awe of the shark jaw and was so excited to have his picture taken in it! He was, however, not nearly as excited to have his picture taken in the crab hat. Crabby!

For Ruth

2010-08-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

After a very sudden stroke, and a very long week, we lost my mother-in-law Ruth Evans on July 23, 2010. She was an amazing, elegant lady, and we were so blessed to have her.

Pioneer Trek

2010-08-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pics from Jonathon and Alli's trek. They walked about 24 miles total, slept under the stars, and according to Jonathon, ate the best food ever.

While they were still clean...

Everyone from our ward; Alli was the only girl!

One of the handcarts.

A pretty pioneer!

This is Alli's family during the womens pull.

Hers was the first one up, so when they were done they went back to help the others.

The men standing by watching.

Jonathon at the Prom

2010-05-20T15:45:00.001-07:00

For all of you who thought this could never happen, here's the proof!

Jonathons First Date!

2010-02-13T22:39:00.001-08:00

The Sweetheart Dance is a girls choice dance and the cutest girl asked Jonathon! He was so nervous, last night we all went to the movie and he practiced "using manners"; hilarious! Here's a picture of Jonathon and Taylor.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-02-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

Ah, I just love to hear Johnny Mathis sing that. Totally puts me in the mood!
Not knowing for sure if Mark will be here for next Christmas, we tried really hard to make this Christmas a really good one. Everything we did involved hot chocolate, and cookies if possible, we played lots of Christmas music and tried to be really involved in what was going on.

Here are a few of my favorite things:
*Christmas decorations~ I am particularly fond of our stockings. Charlie Brown and Linus, and the framed "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" print Chris made for me one year.

*Chocolates~ When I was little, I couldn't wait until I was old enough to be able to help dip chocolates. I remember the first year I was able to help Mom, we dipped them downstairs in the family room with the windows open and listened to a BYU football game on the radio. I love that my kids want to do it too.

*Gingerbread houses~ This is one of the traditions I remember doing every year for what seemed like my entire childhood. I wish I had been better about doing when Jonathon was little, but we didn't start doing them until a couple of years ago, thanks to Kimmie.

*Christmas Eve with the Evans~ It's so nice to be able to do Christmas Even with Evans and then Christmas Day up at Moms. That way there's no rush, we can enjoy being with our families. I wish I had Christmas Eve pictures with the Evans, but being me, I forgot my camera. So here's another favorite:
*Sugar cookies~ Yum Yum Yum, and the kids are getting old enough it's not nearly as much work as it used to be.

*The looks on the childrens faces~ The excitement, the giggles, the ripping of the paper. This year we papered over the entrance to the living room so the kids couldn't peek, and it was the best! I am totally doing that from now on. Zach, being the youngest, got to break through the paper first, and we were finally there to see the looks on their faces. Usually they get up, sneak in and look at everything (without unwrapping) before we wake up. This was way better!

*Christmas ornaments~ One of my happy memories involving my father is of him giving us Christmas ornaments. I have 3 or 4 that he gave me, and they are very important to me. Almost all of our ornaments have a specific memory or event attached to them, and I love them all for that.

Halloween 2009

2010-02-03T08:18:00.001-08:00

So this year for Halloween, Zach dressed up as Boba Fett (one of the coolest costumes I have ever made!) and Alli was an '80s-ish pop star.

They were able to wear their costumes several times, for school, parties and the actual trick or treating. On Halloween, Alli's friend Natalie came over for the afternoon and the kids decorated cupcakes and painted pumpkins.

For the Trunk or Treat, Alli's friend Carlee came with her little sister and all the girls got all decked out in their makeup and jewelery, while Zach kept asking "how much longer until they're ready?!?!?!?!". Afterwards they went and did some authentic trick or treating we had an impromptu dinner party, complete with the kids favorite, Primordial Ooze, marrow and bones, caterpillars, mummies, mold and mildew and monster eyes. Yum!

Downtown Dance in the Parade

2010-02-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Alli was so excited when Amy announced that the colors they were going to be wearing this year were hot pink and black; she could wear her tutu again! And to be able to ride in a limo; she thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

Pears at Moms

2010-02-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

When Mom had her hip replaced this summer, I spent a whole lot of time up at her house. Kimmie came up often, and on one of her trips she brought pears! Now, I hate, HATE!, canning pears. The whole peeling and pitting, and stickiness running down my arms to my elbows. But since they're one of the three fruits Jonathon will eat, and the only one that can be preserved, I decided I should do some. Kimmie helped on Labor day, and we got all the pretty pears canned, and then I spent another day or two making pear butter. While I hated the experience, the sticky, the mess, the peels everywhere, those jars were awfully pretty when we were all done.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

Fun!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/dB9rDZZx1AFsoAG3

Our Summer

2009-08-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

We have had a super busy summer, between quick trips to Utah and a longer one to Portland, and working up at Mom's house, trying to get things done. Here's a few pics from what we've been up to:

We went down to visit KimE one weekend with Mom and went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, and spent some time at Orem's Summerfest. Once it started raining we went to the library and watched the old "Yours, Mine and Ours" in their theater, and then went out on the balcony to watch the fireworks.

We spent the Fourth of July up at Mom's, and tried to have a BBQ with Josh, Miri, Sarah, Travis and the girls. If only it had stopped raining long enough to cook our dinner. After dark, though, we lit lots of sparklers and fireworks and made s'mores.

At the end of July we left for Portland. We stayed with Tolman and Audrey, but spent the days with Chris, Eve and Sev. We had lots of fun; hit the coast a couple of times, went up to Mount St. Helens, shopped at Saturdays Market and spent lots of time in the air conditioning since it was SO hot!
At the forestry center in the Tillamook forest.

Down by the river.

Sev out on the coast; I can't remember where we were.

Alli had so much fun helping take care of Sev. They played lots of Patty Cake.

And she fed him Oreos.

Up at the top of Mount St. Helens, it was still so hot!

Hanging out at Seaside.

Happy Birthday Alli!

2009-05-29T21:07:00.001-07:00

Today my baby girl turns 11! Here's a few pictures from the past few years.
Sweet baby Allison

Halloween 1999

This is half of a layout I did just because of her big blue eyes.

BYU Girl

Alli's 4th Birthday

Easter 2003

Elphaba and Glinda 2005

At Build-A-Bear with her own Elphie 2007

Official Dance picture 2008

Alli with her best friends, Carlee and Natalie April 2009

So sophisticated!

Me and my little girl!

Love you sweetie!!!

Downtown Dance is Amazing!

2009-05-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Alli's last dance competition for the year was today, and I am still amazed at how good these girls are! We are so lucky to have such an awesome teacher who takes such good care of our girls. She teaches them precision, dedication, and how to be the best while still being modest. After going to these competitions and seeing some of the outfits other teams wear, the music they dance to, and the moves they do, I have come to really appreciate what Amy does.
Alli and Amy

Alli danced to "Rockstar" this year, with a supercute costume. Today was the competition in Idaho Falls, and Mom came to watch her. It was great to have her there for the 3 hours during which Downtown was performing so she could see what I've been talking about the last two years. She was very patient, especially considering this is not her kind of music that was blasting, and there were lots of little teeny-boppers doing their really cute dances that they didn't really know.(Always fun to watch for the first few, but after 20, you've kinda had it)
At all three competitions this year, every dance Downtown performed took 1st in their category, until today, when the Elite lyrical number took 2nd to a really great number. They have received awards for highest overall points, execution, technique, showmanship, and more. They're the best!
This is not a great picture of Alli, but they never turn out very well.

Wicked!

2009-04-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was finally able to take Alli to see Wicked! We went with Mom and Kimmie, and it was so much fun. We spent most of Saturday shopping, bought some fabric to make Alli's costume for recital opening number, got me some new canisters at IKEA (woohoo) and went to the Church History Museum. After getting all prettied up, we went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner, and then walked over to the Capitol Theater.

It was an amazing performance; the Glinda we saw was so funny, and I think my favorite of the three I've seen. Elphaba was really good, too. The whole production was great. Alli just sat mesmerized through the whole thing and loved it. She was so excited to wear her green dress and black sweater (show her solidarity with Elphie!), and of course, her cat, Elphie, got to come in her witch's dress. We've been waiting for almost 4 years to see this, and to be able to take Alli was the best.

Easter morning we went to the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast, which was fun, and took some pictures on a beautiful spring morning.

Then we went to church with Kimmie and had dinner at her house. She LOVED her giant sucker I put in her Easter basket. It was such a wonderful weekend!

Ketchup!

2009-03-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have lots of catching up to do, so this may be a long post. Between trying to clean up the mess made while redecorating, trying to get the Relief Society dinner over with, and getting a "fun" case of the flu, I haven't been able to sit down and keep up on my blog. Here's hoping things get better!

We had a fun Valentine's Day; it lasted all weekend! We had pink pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, we all went to a movie and dinner with my mom and then made sugar cookies Sunday afternoon.

Then the next weekend, while Kimmie was here, we made me a new workspace designed by Mom! AND we refurbished that ugly cabinet I've had in the dining room forever. Now it's in the living room and so pretty!

Before

After

For our Enrichment meeting this month, I was assigned to bring cupcakes for a centerpiece and dessert. I thought this was a great time to try some new things, so I found some new recipes and got to work. The strawberry swirl cupcakes with the fluffy frosting were so sweet, and phenomenally messy, as you can see on Alli's friend Natalie. The classic white cupcakes with coconut frosting were to die for! And then I later found a recipe for a strawberry buttercream frost that was so yummy! That was a fun week.

Then this past weekend, Zach was baptized. It was a fun evening, with Grandpa Evans and Grandma Toy talking, Alli led the music, and I sat there and enjoyed it all.

Happy Birthday Zach!

2009-02-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

So I am a little late posting for Zach's birthday; the last three days have just been way too crazy busy to get it done. Here are a few fun pictures from the last 8 years.
Our brand new baby.

One year old

Two years old

Three years old, just before Mark left for Iraq.

Four years old

Five years old

Six years old

Seven years old

And now he's eight!

Happy Birthday Zach!!

My 25 Random Things about Me

2009-02-05T13:50:00.001-08:00

Since not everyone who reads my blog is on facebook, I decided to post this here.

1. I never wanted to be a Primary president, and now that I'm not anymore, I miss it terribly. Of course, it could be just because I'm now a counselor in the R.S. What?!?!?!? How is that possible, you ask? I don't know.

2. Whenever anyone asks me a question, or I'm trying to decide what to have for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or the kids want to know what they should wear, my first thought is always, ALWAYS "chicken noodle soup."

3. I am absolutely scared to death of being the mother of a teenager, even though I have been for 3 years now. I think when he gets his drivers license, I will probably spontaneously combust. What am I going to do when Alli and Zach are teens at the same time?!?!

4. I love CSI:NY. I used to love Law and Order, but that's got nothing on this. Gary Sinese AND New York City. Nice. And of course the guy playing Danny is pretty darn cute, with an awesome accent. My thanks to Spike TV for showing all day, several days a week.

5. I love musicals. Love them. I felt so gross and stressed about so many things last Saturday night, and on the way home from Utah, Mom put in the soundtrack to "Guys and Dolls" with Nathan Lane and Peter Gallagher and just the overture made me smile. After about 4 songs I was singing along. "Horse can do."

6. When I am super tired, all I want to do is sit down and cry. And I wonder where my kids get it from. And I'm not much better at containing it, either.

7. I love to sing along with my iPod. Not just musicals, where I actually understand what they're saying. Rock and pop, and I make up my own words, or do that mumble thingy. Drives my kids nuts, which makes it even more fun.

8. So far, my favorite places in this entire world are the Oregon coast, the Upper West Side of New York City, Ottawa Ontario in the fall, my sisters house, and my home. Home comes and goes depending on the day, but over all, it's pretty good.

9. I don't love chocolate. It's okay. Sometimes I crave it, but overall I will take fruit over chocolate any day. Kimmie and I order dessert, I get the fruit tart and she orders the great wall of chocolate death and we share.

10. My favorite childhood memory is of being on the bank of a river in Ottawa in the fall, and Mom and I had a race. I won! I thought I was the fastest thing ever, and years later when I realized she let me win, I was so devestated!

11. When I was 10, I wanted to marry Wayne Gretzky. Or Barry Manilow, but I preferred Wayne.

12. I love watching hockey, but really love it when they start fighting. They bump into each other, throw down their gloves, start circling each other, get closer and closer, and then wham! Someone finally lands a punch and off they go. I think it's too bad they have to stop when they hit the ice.

13. I love to cook. Cooking is so much fun, trying new recipes is great, especially when they actually work. It's the cleaning up afterwards that I hate, and has for years kept me from doing much. The kids are old enough, though, they can clean for me. There's a perk!

14. My baby is turning 8 this month, and it makes me so sad. I miss my little kids.

15. I love taking care of people. I always feel horrible if I don't think of something I could have done for someone in a timely manner, or if I don't anticipate what someone might need or want. And so helpless when there's just nothing I can do.

16. I love competitive cooking shows. "Top Chef" is my favorite, although the "Ultimate Recipe Showdown" is pretty darn cool.

17. I can't wait to take Alli to see "Wicked" in April. I've seen it twice on Broadway, but this could be the best one yet. I want to watch her watch it. She has it memorized frontwards and backwards, she's been Glinda and Elphaba for Halloween, her cat is named Elphie; this is going to be so much fun.

18. There are few things more enjoyable than spending time with my sister and my mom. Kimmie has saved me so many times throughout the years by just letting me stay with her for a weekend, and now we get to have Mom join in the fun. Tetris, chick flicks, guacamole and diet coke. What more could we need? Well, maybe cake.

19. I love patterns. Thank heavens for whoever started the whole patterned paper scrapbooking thing, because I finally quit buying fabric just because it was so cute. And I don't sew. But I do know what to do with the paper.

20. Just sitting here, trying to think of my next random thing, I thought "chicken noodle soup".

21. I love making cards. I just wish I was better at sending them.

22. I love books and movies. I condensed the movies so they're not taking up more valuable bookshelf space. Alli asked if we could order some books from school to add to our "library". I have that many books? Wow, that's sad.

23. I can't have unpainted toenails. They're just naked if they're not painted. And not some subtle color, either.

24. I was a senior in high school before I could swallow pills. Until then, I just dissolved them in my mouth. Bleck. Fortunately, I figured it out before I had to start taking iron pills for anemia. That would have been the death of me.

25. I hate socks and shoes. Apparently my feet need to breathe! I only wear them in the winter, and only when the snow is too deep.

Sledding in Rock Canyon

2009-01-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Christmastime

2009-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

What a busy couple of weeks we had! First, Chris and Eve "popped" in for a visit with Sevi! Kimmie was expected, so more company was a surprise!

While they were here, we dipped chocolates.

A few days later, we decorated gingerbread houses with Grandma, Kimmie and the Deans.

Christmas Eve brought the annual Nativity and Christmas jammies at Grandma and Grandpa Evans.

Christmas morning started way too early, with lots of fun presents. I think my favorite, though, was Zach's Clone Trooper helmut; he looks like a bobblehead!

Jonathon got what he wanted; lots and lots of iTunes cards.

Grandma Toy gave Alli a Madame Alexander doll, and made her a wedding dress for her! Alli was in heaven.

We went to Mom's that afternoon to open presents and have dinner and play in the snow.

After Christmas, we went to Orem and spent a few days at Kimmie's. We went sledding at Rock Canyon, we played the Wii a lot, watched movies, went to a Utah Grizzlies hockey game (so much fun!), saw Bolt in 3-D, and went to Temple Square to look at the lights.

It was such a fun Christmas! We have been so blessed.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

From the Evans to all our friends and family, Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T20:12:00.000-08:00

We started out Thanksgiving Day at Freeman Park in Idaho Falls where Mark and his brother Mike ran a 10K for Feed the Hungry. We chased them around town to get pictures, and then went to Mark's sister's house for turkey. We made turkeys out of pears and gumdrops, and pilgrim hats out of marshmallows, chocolate and shortbread cookies. Just a fun day.

Giant Tumbleweeds!

2008-11-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Run for your lives! The evil, wicked wind has brought them in to take over!

Oops!

2008-11-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

I hate it when I do that.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun! After going to the school to get the kids ready and watch the "spook parade" we went home to get things ready. I wanted to make sure the kids had something in their tummies beside candy, so I made some spooky snacks for after school.

Then we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Evans house, where I scared Mike's dog, Pete, to death! He would not stop barking at me, and Mike finally had to take him away so I could get in the house. Then we hurried to the church for the trunk or treat, which was surprisingly not busy like it usually is. At about seven, we headed up to Mom's where we had dinner with Travis, Sarah, Sydney, and Macy.

While I made dinner, the kids went trick or treating around the neighborhood with Grandma.
Our menu was Bones, Marrow and Blood, Bony Fingers, Eyeballs, Bats and Cats, Creepy Caterpillars, Mold and Mildew, and Primordial Ooze. Fun!!!

After dinner, we decorated cupcakes. Can you tell which ones are Sydney's? We had a few spiders, Travis and Mom made witches, and then some just for fun.

It was such a fun Halloween! I hope y'all had a spooky one, too!

Carving Pumpkins and Frosting Cookies

2008-10-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

I am really bad when it comes to getting holiday stuff done; something usually gets left out, like frosting cookies or we never get all the pumpkins carved. This was a good year, though! Mom came down and we did it all in one day.

Just getting started.

Mom carving her pumpkin.

Zach and Mom cutting out sugar cookies. We had a whole lot of cats and bats!

The final products:

I was really proud of my Frankenstein monster and mummy.

Flashback!

2008-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Kimmie was helping Mom clean out and organize her garage yesterday, and when she came back to my house she brought stuff with her. I turned around and said "Holy $#!%*&@!!!!" I haven't seen these clothes in a really long time, and I had no idea Mom had them. Especially the floral one; I wish it had died a long time ago. It's so embarassing! However, all three of these dresses have a story.

The ugly floral one was, as the time, totally in style, and I wore it one night when my best friend Deana and I were taking pictures of each other to send to our boyfriends. What I couldn't believe was that Mark actually remembered it, how I was sitting on the fence in one of the pictures. I guess I made a better impression than I thought!

The navy dress is the one I wore in our engagement pictures and to the temple the day we got married. Again, very popular at the time; darn those early 90's!

This is my favorite of the three, and I will always love this dress. I wanted a dress like the one Elizabeth Shue wore at the beginning of "Adventures in Babysitting", and we almost pulled it off. We just couldn't find the black plaid taffeta for the skirt. Other than that, though, it's the same. Black velvet, white taffeta, a bow (because it was the 80's), *sigh*. I had so much fun in that dress....I realized last night that I was actually wearing it the night I met Mark for the first time! We were on dates with other people at a dance, and he was with a friend of mine.

Happy Birthday Jonathon!

2008-09-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

I am so not old enough for this! Today Jonathon turns 16. Here's a brief flashback to cuter, sweeter days.

Don't you love Mark's mustache?

Helping Kimmie make brownies.

"When I grow up I want to be a cowboy!"

Or Batman!

We tried baseball and soccer, but he wasn't crazy about either.

Hanging out at Disneyland this spring.

How time flies.

Hooray!!!!

2008-09-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

The first day of school!

New York, New York, it's a Wonderful Town

2008-08-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a week! I was able to go on an amazing trip to New York with my mom! We saw some amazing shows, ate lots of really good food, had a couple of adventures, and really had a wonderful time.

We flew out early Tuesday morning and spent Tuesday on the Gray Line bus tour of the upper part of Manhattan.
We got off at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
Grants Tomb, and the Guggenheim Museum where we saw an interesting(?) exhibit. I had high hopes for the work of Louise Borgois after what little I had seen online, and while this was not as bad as the Matthew Barney exhibit I saw the last time I was there, it was still not my cup of tea.
That night we went to Serendipity's for dinner, had an amazing sandwich and shared the Cowards Portion Banana Split; still plenty for two!

Wednesday morning was spent in Midtown; the Empire State Building, Macy's, and the Museum of Modern Art.

I have been to MOMA before, but this time I was with Mom, and it was so much fun walking around with her. She recognized lots of paintings from her humanities classes in college, and was able to tell me lots about them. And I have become a HUGE fan of Picasso; especially the sculptures I saw this time.

That afternoon, we went to the matinee of "Wicked! It was better than the first time I saw it.

Then we had the BEST pizza at John's Pizzeria, and went to see "Gypsy" that night. It was an amazing show.

Thursday was wonderful; breakfast at Sarabeth's, wandering through Central Park, hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and going to the Madame Alexander Doll Factory! Mom was like a kid in a candy store!

That night was the aweome, awesome, awesome show "Jersey Boys". It was so much fun, despite the profanity, and I now love The Four Seasons.

Friday was spent at the temple,

walking around the upper west side, and lunch at Gray's Papaya where I ate the best hot dog ever!

Then we took the subway to the Cloisters at the north end of the island; so beautiful!

Then, we went to find The Little Red Lighthouse at the base of the George Washington Bridge. You'd think that with a bridge that size, it wouldn't be too hard to find a lighthouse by it. Wrong! With bad directions, we set off, found ourselves between two parkways, went through a tunnel that looked like someone was living in it, eventually found the right path and the lighthouse! And then, of course, a huge storm blew in as we're standing down by the river and by the time we made it to the subway, we had been walking uphill in the rain for a good hour and we were completely soaked. All we could do was laugh! (There are no pictures for good reason)

That night we went to see "Mary Poppins". I wasn't really expecting a whole lot, maybe a cute show, but this was literally so magical, I felt like I was 6 years old. I love the books, and it was so fun to see so many of the things I've been reading about on the stage.

Saturday was spent walking all over downtown and the lower east side. We went to an ancient cemetery at the Trinity Church; Mom is a huge fan of cemeteries, so it was fun to go to one this old with her. Then we moseyed on down Wall Street to Pearl Street and had lots of fun at a street market. We walked over to the South Side Seaport to see the Brooklyn Bridge, and we got to see the Waterfall exhibit.

Then we took the subway up to Canal Street to have dim sum in Chinatown on Elizabeth Street

and canoli in Little Italy on Mulberry Street.

And of course, we absolutely had to go to The Strand bookstore, where I managed to keep myself to two books and a new bag. After a very long day of walking all over, we got ready for the theater that night, and went to dinner at Alice's Tea Cup. It turns out that tea isn't exactly my cup of tea, either, but the dinner was divine. It was an adorable little restaurant with yummy food.

Afterwards, we sauntered our way to Lincoln Center where we saw the most amazing production of "South Pacific". Kelli O'Hara was amazing as always, and Paulo Szot made my cry when he sang "This Nearly was Mine".

This really was the most amazing trip. I was so blessed to be able to go with Mom.

We're Back!

2008-07-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

This trip to Portland and Washington was so much fun! We did several things we haven't done before, fun things that we have, and we got to play with baby!
The road trip out was easy, unadventurous, and a nice way to start the trip off. When we got to Tolman and Audreys, Chris and Eve came over with Severin, and we tried on the hat I bought him. I don't think he liked it too much.

So kissable!

Sunday after church, we all headed out to the coast. It was too cold to get very wet, but the kids still had lots of fun running around, collecting shells, and playing in the water, while the grown-ups mostly sat and talked.

When we went to breakfast Monday morning at a place called Fat Alberts, this sign was out front; the theme for our trip!

Monday we headed up to Poulsbo, WA, to visit cousins! We had a bbq on the beach and watched the sun go down, while the kids just ran and ran, played on the swings, collected more shells, and ate lots of smores.

Tuesday morning we took the ferry into Seattle. The kids were so excited to ride the boat, and thoroughly enjoyed their public transportation experience!

They've never even been on a bus, other than for school, and they rode the ferry, the monorail, a taxi, a bus and a train.

I ate my very first clam chowder! Kimmie was quite disgusted with me.

We walked up to Pike's Place for the market, tried lots of different treats and watched the fish guys throw some fish around.

Then we walked to the mall to catch the monorail to the Space Needle, where the kids played at the children's museum, rode the ferris wheel with Grandma, and then we all squeezed into a taxi to go to dinner.

After yummy spaghetti, we took a bus back to the ferry, went back across, left the kids with Blake, and Melisa, Mom and I went to see Mamma Mia! It was a late night, but much better than going back to the house and putting the kids to bed! Thanks Blake!!!

Saturday, Mom and the kids, Audrey, and I drove up to Tacoma to see a dance festival that Melisa helped organize and run. It involved 2300 kids and 11 stakes, and it was amazing! She was so stressed about this, and after seeing what she was going through trying to make sure she had all the paperwork, I will never again be neglectful or late in turning in permission slips for things! It was a learning experience for me.

Sunday we went to Severin's blessing, which was great, and had a party afterwards. It was a long week, and so nice to be able to just relax for a while and eat lots of yummy food. It was such a fun trip, and it was so great to be able to go with Mom. She was hilarious, and so much fun.

Runaway!

2008-07-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

So, I have run away. I'm leaving for Portland tomorrow with my mom, Alli and Zach, and I am at Kimmie's! I don't have time for this!!! But I made time. I spent all day yesterday doing laundry, paid Alli to clean up my scrapbooking mess on the kitchen table, ran around town doing a bunch of errands so we can leave, and now that my day of insanity is over, I get to be here. Last night we went to Pizzaria 712; so good! We had a yummy salad and an amazing pizza; smoked mushrooms and potatoes, sweet onions and some kind of cheese I haven't heard of. Then we watched "My Favorite Wife"; there's nothing like Cary Grant late at night.

Today I get to run more errands to get ready for tomorrow, and then Kimmie and I are hitting a double feature of "The Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia"!

It's finally over!

2008-07-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

I had a yard sale to help take care of some of Mom's stuff, well, Steve's stuff for Mom, and it's finally over. My garage isn't exactly empty, but you can walk around in it now, the people are gone, the "will you take 70 cents for this?" is over, and I can finally quit worrying about it. It's just a yard sale, but it's astounding how much time it takes! The kids wanted to have a lemonade stand, which was a great idea, and we thought cookies would be a good idea, too. I think they only sold about 10 cups of lemonade, but they sold out all the cookies! They even had people coming back for seconds, and one person wanted a recipe. It was a good day, all things considered, and now my arms and knees have a nice tan.

The funny for today

2008-07-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

I first saw this about a month ago, and then, stupid me, I showed the kids. It's just so funny, and I had to share. However, the kids walk around picking parts, and singing me a lovely rendition of it a few times a day.
Ron, Ron, Ron WEASLEY!

Fireworks, Food and Family

2008-07-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend! We had a crazy busy weekend, down in Utah with Kimmie and my mom, and then in Rigby for my niece's blessing. We left for Kimmie’s Thursday afternoon, and went to roast hot dogs up Provo Canyon.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

We got up so early, after a really late night, so we could go see the balloon launch. It was so beautiful, but I’m afraid we were all a little too tired to appreciate it.

Then we headed over to University Avenue for the parade, where we all got a little sun and had some breakfast.

After we all took a nice long nap, we went over to Kimmie’s library where we watched “The Court Jester” in their media room. It was so nicely air conditioned, and the screen was big, the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

That night we had a picnic and watched the fireworks at a park near Cougar Stadium, played bocce, Mom read, and we all just took it easy. Zach tried juggling with the bocce balls, and gave himself a black eye.

The next morning, Kimmie, Mom and I went down to Salem and Santequin to the cemetaries where some of her relatives are buried, and we went to the pond where she’d play with her cousins when she was little. We also got to see the house where her grandmother lived.

Sunday morning, we were able to go to Rigby for Macy’s blessing.

By the time we got home from that, we were all completely worn out! We had so much fun, ate so much good food, spent so much time in the sun, it was time for a really really long nap.

Girls Weekend!

2008-07-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

So, for her birthday this year, Alli wanted to go to Utah to see a play again. Lucky for her, "The Drowsy Chaparone" was coming to Salt Lake! Lucky for me, too! This was the funniest thing I have ever seen! It was a fabulous musical, and we had so much fun!

And of course we had to go shopping, because what kind of a girls weekend would it be without shopping and eating?!?!?!?
We discovered that Alli has grown into a ladies size 6, and so she tried on several pairs of "grown-up" shoes.

And Kimmie gave her a pedicure.

We went to P.F. Changs for lunch, watched movies, ate so much ice cream and fried food, and really had so much fun. It's awesome to have her old enough to be able to go for a girls weekend and be able to enjoy it.

Together is a good place to be

2008-07-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Losing someone is always hard, but it's so nice to be with family. Steve, my stepfather, passed away the end of May, and the whole family was able to be here. It was so nice to see some of my siblings and their spouses, some of which I haven't seen for years.

I will always be grateful to Steve for making Mom happy.

Grandma with all the grandkids.

Zach with cousins Jude and Levi. Who's the toughest? We may never know.

Alli and her cousin Grace playing with the camera.

Zach and Cache doing their best to embarass their parents at Johnny Carinos.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

2008-06-11T21:59:00.001-07:00

And none of them are mine! But I still get to hold them and squeeze them and kiss them. We have had five babies in five months in my family! Eleanor, Major, Millie, Severin and Macy; so much fun!

Macy

Major

Eleanor

Millie

Severin

Nephew and Nieces are so much fun!

Dancing Queen

2008-06-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Alli and I had so much fun with her being on Dancers Company this last year. Alli's favorite part was the competitions; especially the ones in Utah! We got to spend time with Kimmie, go out to eat, watch movies, totally a girls weekend. We're so proud of her and how hard she's worked.

Let's try this again!

2008-06-10T23:21:00.001-07:00

So, I tried to post something, and it was horrible, so I am starting all over again.

I am going to backtrack a little, because March and April were just insanely busy, with tons of fun stuff going on. Over spring break, we went to Disneyland, and then drove up to Portland for my little brother's wedding. It was a really long trip, and it didn't help when almost all of us got sick, but we had so much fun anyway. Watching the kids experience Disneyland was fabulous, and since I've never been there, it was almost as much fun for me!

On the road again! I think this picture was taken in the first hour. If I'd only realized just how far we had left to go.

Hanging out at Disneyland.

At the end of the day in California Adventure. Zach was literally sleeping standing up.

On our way to Portland, we took 101 through the Redwoods and drove through a tree. Talk about a tight squeeze. We are all starting to look a little tired; it had already been a really long trip, and we were only halfway to Portland.

This is my little brother Tolman, and his wife Audrey. They are so adorable!

Kimmie tried to take a nice photo of our family at the wedding reception. Oh well....