Camping

So I enjoy camping. The past few years I have gone quiet a bit more than I had the previous few years. One of the parts of camping, in my opinion, is enjoying barbecue in the outdoors. I know, I could have barbecue at home and taste just as good, but without the flies it's just not the same.

The real reason for writing about camping is my desire to own some mountain property. I don't even care if it's developed. In fact, it would better if it wasn't developed. All I would really need is about 5 acres with a lot of trees, a stream or pond with fishing, and a decent road that would get me to it. There is a gentleman at my work that owns property around Monte Cristo. He said that he developed it enough that he can fit his trailer and added a couple Trex decks for tables and a grill. The property that he his on requires him to pay a yearly $200 HOA fee that stocks the ponds with fish that the several of the properties use and maintain the roads that go to the different properties. He said he only paid about $10K for it. Not bad.

The only reason for me not purchasing this type of property is financial resources. It's too bad that I don't have it already. I suppose the most ideal situation would be to get in with family members and each of us split equal shares and equally share the property. I don't think that wouldn't be a bad thing and it would be fun to have a family camping spot to go every now and then and do whatever we would want.

Anyone share my sentiments?

South Ogden Wendy's

While Nanette went to take a test, I decided to take the boys on an adventure to Wendy's. So the boys and I set out on the trip. We came across barking dogs, low hanging trees, and natives with spacers in their ears. After crossing a few streets while dodging large metal boxes with wheels, we made it safely.

So the meal was going as planned; Logan eating on my lap and Ethan making a mess with his chocolate shake. I get up and go around the corner to get some napkins to clean up Ethan's mess. As I go back, Logan came following me...following me with a trail of throw-up all over the floor. Yes, it sucked, yes it was embarrassing, and yes it was vindication. I say vindication because of the horrible service they have provided to me for the last few years. Thank you Logan.

P.S. (This is Nanette)
Don't forget to read the post below this one. Me and Chris ended up writing a blog at the same time. I didn't know he was writing one until he wrote me on Facebook and told me what he was doing. It is pretty sad when we communicate that way, instead of just going into the room where the other person is at.

My baby is...

18 months OLD!!!

He actually turned 18 months yesterday, but I didn't even realize it until I was tossing and turning in my bed last night. That is what finals week will do to you! Logan is old enough to go to nursery! He has actually been going for about 6 months already, because I am the nursery leader. I can't believe he is that old. He is such a sweet, easy going little guy.

I can't believe he was so tiny!

Competition

Nanette and I (well I am really sneaking myself in this) is kind of doing a small, informal competition with Nanette's Mom about who will write the most blogs. Since I don't have too much write about or have any cool stories I'm going to write about an awesome website that I found.











I believe everyone should consider looking into this free website called Mint.com. This website is awesome in tracking all transactions. It automatically breaks out the transactions into categories into a pie chart that informs you of how much money was spent on, for example, groceries, home improvement, utilities, etc. Seriously take look at the website and see if it will help you in your budgeting fun.

Scholarships

Nanette is doing way awesome in school. I constantly can't believe the measure of success of that she is having in her studies. This evening, Nanette and I went to the "Goddard School of Business and Economics' Awards Banquet." I would estimate that of all the students that pass through the business school that less than 5% receive a scholarship from the business school itself. This is fantastic for Nanette because she is becoming an academic elitist. She received a 4.0 last semester and she is poised to receive another 4.0 this semester. Although this scholarship is not a 'full-ride' scholarship, it will definitely take a bite into tuition and fees.

Way To Go Nanette. You're Awesome. I'm Very Impressed.

yard work

Chris has been working hard on our yard the last two days and it is starting to look really nice! Once we get flowers and plants in there than it should look great! I wish that I would've been able to help him more. Here are a couple of pictures of how it is coming along:

This is the flower bed in the front. It doesn't look like much yet, but it was full of weeds. Chris also added the brick around the edge.

This was just a big pile of dirt. We lined it with brick, raised the back section, and added a pond. It is going to look way nice with flowers and bushes!

One of my pretty tulips. They are my favorite flower.

Onto other news:

Ethan went #1 in his potty! I'm so excited. He got to pick one of his prizes and play with it and it made him want to sit on his potty again, but than he was way too tired and wouldn't hold still... so we will work on it again tomorrow.

He also said something pretty funny today. We were sitting in the front yard watching Chris dig dirt and the neighbors walked by. Well, Ethan stopped what he was doing and just stared at our neighbor. I said, "Ethan", (I was a little embarrassed that he was just staring).
Ethan: What?
Me: What are you doing?
Ethan: I'm looking at people Mama.

It was really cute how plainly he said it. We learn that it isn't polite to stare at people, but kids are so curious about everything and they just can't help it.

News

The Good News...

I got a summer scholarship so I will be going to summer school and will be able to knock a few more classes off of the huge list that I need for graduation.

BUT

The Bad News(for me)... :(

I am going to summer school (Luckily 3 of the classes are online.)

More Good News...

We are leaving in about 2 weeks to go on a fun little road trip to Portland, Oregon. It will be our first road trip with the kids.

BUT

The Bad News(for Chris and I)...

We will be driving 13 hours... all in one day... with 2 kids under the age of 3. We are going to leave at 5 a.m. so hopefully they will sleep a lot. I also plan on bribing them with a lot of goodies. :)

Even more Good News...

We have lived at our house for 2 1/2 years and we are finally doing something about our yard. We went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of bricks, soil, and even a little pond. And in a couple of weeks we are going to get a bunch of plants and flowers. It should look really nice when it is all done. :)

BUT

The Bad News...

It is going to take a lot of work, before it will look nice. Luckily our yard isn't very big.


DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY NEWS (GOOD or BAD) ?

Baby John

For a couple of months now Ethan has thought that he has had a baby in his tummy.

Well, when Katie had her baby last week he said to me, "I have my baby in the hospital too, Mommy". I think he was kind of mad at Katie for having her baby, because he wouldn't go near Braiden. I guess he was upset because he hadn't had his baby also.

A couple of days ago when Katie was at our house she found Ethan's doll and she gave him a bottle filled with water and also a paper towel to use as a burp cloth. She told him that his baby's name was John. Well, he was so cute with that doll. He would put the burp cloth on his lap, turn the doll face down, pat its back, and make a burping sound. It was so funny. He would also carry the doll by its neck and throw it around (what can you expect from a 2 year old boy?). I think "Baby John" made him feel better; like he had really had a baby.

Now he will hold Braiden.

Two year olds are so fun! They do the cutest things!

New baby and Easter fun!

My sister had her baby on April 11th. I am finally an Aunt on my side of the family! :) They had a cute little boy and they named him Braiden Ray Willden. I got to be in the room when he was born and it was such a neat experience! I'm excited because they will be staying at my house for a few weeks and so I will have to make my move on becoming the favorite Aunt.Here he is! He is a tiny little thing, but so adorable! This is the only picture I have of him on my camera so I get to be in the picture too; with my eyes halfway closed!

It was a really busy weekend; with Katie having her baby and all of the Easter festivities. Happy Easter everyone! We went to a lot of parties. It was great seeing the boys have such a fun time. They got to do an easter egg hunt, dye eggs, and play with their cousins.

Ethan dyeing eggs

Logi in his cute Easter outfit that Nana bought him.

A very tired Ethan and Aunt "Maomi/Mimi"

The Condescension of God

Since Easter is coming up, it should be on everyone's mind to further consider the ultimate sacrifice that our Savior, Jesus Christ offered to us. An angel of the Lord inquired the Prophet Nephi with this question, "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" After Nephi's response of not knowing, he was shown the birth of Jesus Christ. So what does this mean? It means that, Jesus Christ, the creator of the world, the Great Jehovah, the God of Israel with all power, knowledge, love, etc became a mortal man; subject to all the frailties that mortal beings would suffer through.

He further went below all things by giving up secular passions to fulfill two things, his Father's work of preaching his Father's plan and practicing true religion.

This condescension was more evident in the Garden Gethsemene; where all sins, transgressions, any form of harm imposed upon others, weaknesses, and other acts, feelings, or thoughts that wouldn't permit eternal happiness and salvation were suffered. In that though, consider within your own self all the sins you have committed, all the weaknesses you have, any harm that has come upon you, or loneliness you may have felt. Then consider all of Heavenly Father's children in the same types of situations. The mere glimpse of that tremendous burden from both yourself and all of our Heavenly Father's children should render deep appreciation of what the Savior went through.

The Savior went through a great deal of suffering in our behalf; however, the evidence of the condescension was not over. The great Redeemer had two more acts to solidify the great Atonement. The first was to suffer death as any mortal would have to suffer. This time, however, the fullness of his glory would be manifested when Christ was resurrected to ensure that all would who gain mortality would not suffer from Adam's transgression.

The Savior went below all things and suffered for everything that would require reconciliation between God and mankind. A simple scripture that I have always taken to heart is this: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." He truly is the way toward salvation and happiness.

I am trying to beat my Mom....

... in the number of posts that she does this year!

Okay, so not really. I have just felt like blogging more lately. It's not that I have more time. Because I don't. I have way less time. But I am having more fun doing it lately. It makes me feel good to be keeping some sort of a journal. :)

Anyways... just a couple of thoughts while I am sitting in my cool (i am being sarcastic. I don't know anyone who enjoys economics) economics class.

1. I really enjoyed General Conference. I am always sad when the last session comes and goes and we have to wait another 6 months to hear the great talks from the general authorities. I wasn't able to watch it all on T. V., but I was at least able to listen to it on the radio. On Saturday I turned the radio on (we were traveling) in time to hear President Eyring speak. Now, I know that we aren't supposed to have favorites... but he has been one of my favorites since he first became an apostle. I love, love, love him! I think one of the biggest reasons is because he puts a lot of emotion and sincerity in his talks and so they pull at my heart strings! What's sad is I can't even remember what he talked about, but I know it was really good and I can't wait to read it in the Ensign. Also, talks that stood out to me, were talks about getting out of debt and also being member missionaries. They are two things that I really need to work on!

I can't forgot President Monson and the wonderful prophet that he is! He is such a good person and I love the fact that he goes to Jazz games!


What did you enjoy about General Conference?

2. I have Spring Fever! The weather was so nice today. It motivated me to get my house clean... the only problem is that I had to study for a test all day! Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be still nice. When it is dark and gloomy outside I just want to crawl in my bed and sleep. No joke! Spring should bring so many great surprises!... including Katie's baby sometime in the next 2 weeks! I am so excited to finally be an Aunt on my side of the family!

(Sigh)... We should all sign a petition to have Spring all year around! :)

24 Hours of Fun

How do you pack in a weeks worth of fun into a 24 hour period? Go with my family and I and we will have you and/or your family tired in no time.

Friday morning was really the start of all the fun. Nanette and I took the boys to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. Of course, Ethan and Logan had an awesome time. The museum is really a hands-on educational center. Inside the museum there are various cultural and subject theme that kids can touch and learn from. Well, Nanette and I spent the majority our time playing in the musical area and the firetruck. The kids can't get enough with banging sticks on the xylophone or shaking the several rattling instruments. Then with the firetruck, we got the kids dressed up as firemen and had them take turns steering the truck (the truck does not move).

Ethan and his new favorite hobby... coloring!
Logi the WizardQueen Nano

After the museum, we headed back home to pack up and went to Provo to go to my mission reunion. I can't believe it has been almost 8 years since I left to go on mission. In many ways, I miss being out there and just doing good for others all the time; however, I would not give up being with Nanette and my boys. Luckily, the missionary program is robust enough that I don't have to worry about that.

So we made it to Provo and dropped off our stuff at the Residence Inn. We figured it would be nice to stay the night and not have to worry about driving home late. A little after that we made it to my mission reunion. It is always good to be at the reunion. There are people that I meet up with every year that I have the utmost respect for and to this day feel that no matter what I could do for them, I would never be able to repay them back.

After the reunion we went back to the hotel and went swimming. It was 10:30 at night at that point so it was just Ethan and I in the pool. We had a good time.

The next day, we made it to the Natural History Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was actually really cool. If I would have known how cool it was, I probably would have went earlier in my life. The good thing about the this museum is that Logan actually enjoyed himself because he was very tired and fussy. They had a baby mammoth skeleton that was pretty cool and huge super-duper-saurus (actually named supersaurus) skeleton.

"Daddy... you should be saving me from the shark... not feeding me to it!"Ethan kept saying, "I want to ride a dinosaur!"... and so he got his wish... sorta. He also kept saying that the dinosaur skeletons needed water. I guess he thought that the reason why they were skeletons was because they were thirsty! It was adorable.

After we went to the museum we finished our trip to Ikea. We like going in there because there are a lot of neat things inside the store and a lot of it is relatively cheap. So we didn't buy anything but sometimes it's just fun to see what type of things you may do to remodel or update your home.

I apologize for the itinerary and promise I just hit the highlights.

My mom

Yesterday was my mom's birthday!... no April fools! (I know. That is dorky). I wanted to do this blog yesterday, but I was a slacker. So, I'm sorry Mom!

My Mom is the best!

She is such a good Nana. Ethan and Logan love her so much and prefer her over me when she is around.

My Mom is the most compassionate and caring person that I know. She has always been very concerned about how her kids are doing and what she can do to help.

She has a strong testimony of the gospel and is such a good example for me of how I should be.

She is a great friend and someone who I can always talk too!

I love you Mom! I'm glad I got to spend your birthday with you! I hope you had a great day!