Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

The last couple of times we've gone to the zoo-it's been so fun b/c Rissa gets SOOO excited!! She loves animals and gets so excited that she points and screams and laughs and she's just so funny to watch!! Not only that, but now she's old enough to actually be able to FIND them:) She loves going to see all of the animals!! I love going to get the exercise of walking up and down all the hills. Marty got me a wireless heart rate/calorie counter watch for Christmas. Here are some of the pictures I took.

She wents nuts at the Petting Farm!! It was so cute that the goats were her size!!



We all needed a little potty break at one point and when got there we were greeted by MRS. PEACOCK..(it was MRS. PEACOCK, in the BATHROOM, with the TOILET PLUNGER!...goofy joke, I know..). Aw it's always cool to see such a beautiful bird up close!
I told her that I would make her some brownies or yummy Petite Fors (be on the look out for pictures of these on my SweetTooth blog!!) --if she would spread her beautiful array of feathers out for us...but she wouldn't give in! And ya know, honestly, I can't blame her! The Bum and Lower Back must really take a beatin when that HEAVY tail of feather's is up in the air! ...maybe I should've tried to bribe her with a Diet Coke instead. I think was really thirsty, she was still standing there starring at the Coke Machine when I finished my business in the ladies room!!
The first ASL sign for an animal that Rissa learned was for BIRD. She LOVES birds!! At lunch, It didn't take her long AT ALL to learn that she could throw a little piece of her lunch on the ground and attract every bird in the zoo!! So that's what she did for lunch..fed the birds and yelled and laughed and did the BIRD sign with her chubby little fingers!! At one point, a bird landed right on her stroller tray.

The Little People Farm at the Zoo...I LOVE Little People!!! I think I'm going to start collecting them:)..and I'm not talking about collecting LITTLE-PEOPLE...I'm talking about fisher price Little People! I Love them and it was so fun to see that the fisher price Little People Farm was completed and ready to be played on by lots of little toddlers!!

If I ever bought a sheep, I'd buy that one on the right! He's poop-less, it wouldn't cost to feed him and he's sssoooo cute!!
WE're Pooped! the end.

P.S.---I finished my Kitchen Curtains!!!

New Decor--Savvy Chic

Two weeks ago I hired two of my friends, Amy & Jeanne, to come and just help me redecorate the front room, kitchen & living room. After getting Rock Band and Wii Fit for Christmas, we just really needed another room to be able to play in. I had also found a new fabric that I LOVE for the kitchen! I bought it before Thanksgiving, but just wasn't quite sure exactly how I wanted to make them. I originally had the front room set up as the dining room, with our glass table and all in there, and truth-be-told, we really didn't use it very much! With that in mind, I decided to switch tables. The dining room table is more 'oriental' looking which matches the Oriental looking pattern in the fabric. The part that really stumped me, was how to switch the dining room into the Game Room. I had them come and help me just move things around. Anyway, this is what our New Game Room looks like!! I love it and was SSoOO happy with the outcome!!! The only thing I bought was the large painting to the left. It was the ONLY picture I could find that I liked...and I really like it a lot! Everything else was brought in from the garage or another room. I'm really excited to have the FAMILY frames hanging!! My mom gave them to me a year ago and I couldn't find a place to hang them.


Our Family game table, Desk & bay window. I LOVE what Amy did with the square mirrors!!! I had these up in our bedroom and decided they were better suited down stairs:)
We LOVE using our tall table for our Family Game Table!!
This is the only photo right now (Jill's bday party last Jan08 -- don't look at me, I'm pretty scary looking..no make up..just scary!..just look at the curtains!!) that I can find of our old kitchen window treatments. I made them years ago when we first bought our house.
Here's a little peek of my new curtains. I wanted to make the curtains myself, but just wanted to get their ideas about the best way to make them. I now have them all sewed up, tomorrow, I just have to attach the designer panels to the black fabric and they will be ALL DONE!!!!! I love the idea they gave me to glue Red Ribbon down the sides of the panels! I am So excited about the changes and LOVE coming downstairs every morning! (OH--the family room, no pictures, we just moved furniture around). Thanks Amy & Jeanne--you guys did an awesome job!! If anyone in the area needs help in this department, give them a call, it's well worth it!!

A Thanksgiving picture...two months late..

This is a picture that I just got that was taken at Thanksgiving 2008. I liked it of all of us and just wanted to post it for scrapbooking purposes. Amy, Jess, Me & Nikki. We ate lots of food and had lots of fun! Thanks for the picture Amy!

Saturday we went four wheelin with the Osborne's up at Lake Pleasant! We had a GREAT TIME!!! I was surprised that I had the BALLS (after all of the cake 'BALLS' jokes, that word just flows out a little too freely!)...I mean, GUTS!! to jump some of the hills that I did! The kids had a blast taking turns riding, but they also just loved being out in the desert. Collecting cool rocks and looking for critters. Rissa enjoyed playing with Ken's gloves almost as much as she loved using her little shovel to dump sand on her head!!! We had a great time Osborne's!!

Marty & Brant getting ready to hit the trails! I thought these two pictures turned out awesome!! Maybe even magazine worthy!? maybe.
Jacob & Marty taking off...I think that's Jaden in the back. Jaden has gotten REALLY good!! He was hittin some BIG daddy jumps with all fours way up off the ground!!
Me & Jess heading out for a 'girls ride'!
Me & Brant--first ride of the day
Jacob & Marty-first ride of the day
Jacob going solo! Man, once he got the hang of it, he was gone!! Ken had to chase him down once b/c he took off without following anyone and Ken was affraid he'd get lost! I can't remember, but I think Marty & I were out riding when that happened.
Here's Marty shooting at a BEAR that was coming toward our camp!! ...just kidding! It was just a Coke Can! And really, I don't know how much a BB Gun would affect a Bear if he were coming at us!..I think Ken would have more of a terrified look on his face, too!
Marty in his Transformer helmet. Jacob made a comment that he looked like Bumblebee a little.
Dax & Brant. On one of Brants rides, he kinda bumped into a Cactus bush...here are some of the reminders of that encounter. He's pretty tough, it didn't seem to bother him too bad, though.
Rissa loved playing in the camper..as well as with the gloves!! She was walking around in that thing like she owned the place! Like it was her little apartment or condo or somethin! I should've told her to go into her little bathroom and wash all of the dirt off her face!! She was COVERED in dirt by the time we left!!

Jacob Has Started a Blog!!!

Anyone who knows Jacob, knows that he LOVES to play with his CLAY!! He's so imaginative and creative and he is very talented! He can look at a picture or a cartoon and pretty much copy it into a 3-D clay figure. It's amazing to watch him! Today, after primary, he came into the Nursery where I was waiting for the last of the parents to come. While we waited a few minutes, he made the HEAD of Squidword. By the time we were out in the hall he had the BODY made and were connecting the two! Between there and the car, we were stopped by four different adults b/c they recognized the figure right away!! Brant was so excited that he suggested we make a Claymation film! Now, Jacob and I made one probably four months ago, but I haven't been able to find the right cord to download it. I've never used it for the camcorder and we've had it for years, so I'm not really sure why it's not in the original box with all the other stuff. (If anyone has any suggestions on this matter, it's greatly appreciated!). When I get that figured out, I'll put that one and the one we made today on his blog. Anhyhoo, we got home and changed and ate a quick snack. I pulled out a brand new, big box of clay (that was hidden:) and gave it to Jacob and the three of us immediately went to start the project! While Brant and I discussed the endless possibilities, Jacob started cranking out these dinosaurs and elephants and ....! It was crazy and amazing! Once again, Brant had another brilliant idea--LET'S MAKE JACOB A BLOG! So his blog is complete, with photos! So go Take a look at CLAYMAN and enjoy! Here's his Squidword below...a little sample if you will:)

A Few Thoughts to Talk About...

I Have just a few thoughts that I wanted to jot down...Words of Wisdom, Random Thoughts & maybe an experience or two:

1--Last week I burnt my jaw with the straight iron while getting ready for church.! OOOoouuch! It hurt and at church, I was asked a few times what I did to make Marty give me a jab in the jaw. One elderly friend from the other ward even offered to "take care of him" for me :) I didn't think it was that obvious b/c it wasn't real big-but it was pretty red.

2---Never take a hymn book into the bathroom with you and if you do...HOLD ON TO IT!! JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE LORD'S BOOK, DOESN'T MEAN IT WON'T FALL IN THE TOILET!!!! I'm still in shock about this one and I have repented of my careless ways!! And let me just add, the toilet water was fresh, it was not pee-pee, poo-poo water!! (Just know that there is one book, "floating around" (no pun intended:) the church with crinkly, dried pages...the top half of all the pages b/c that's the way it fell in...).

3---Marty nearly clobbered me the other day while hoisting a load of dirty clothes over the balcony...I was at the bottom of the stairs! It's one thing alone, to be clobbered by a load of clothes...but the fact that they were dirty--Oh the horror!! I guess I'm just grateful that no dirty undies landed on my head! I tell ya, my husband is the best!!! While I prefer to do ALL OTHER CHORES instead of that one, he prefers laundry over any other chore...maybe FOOTBALL has something to do with it, b/c there always seems to be a game on for him to watch while he's folding clothes....hhhmmmmm. and hey! what happened to the, "BOMBS AWAY WARNING?"!

4--Today is the first time I've been online, during the day in months!! Marty came home on day last week with a NEW COMPUTER FOR ME!!! Yeah Marty!! That's BIG BROWNIE POINTS, YA KNOW!! I've gotten used to just getting on his laptop at night, but I'm excited to have a computer again! Thanks BABE!!

5---Interior Designers really do know how to...Design! After getting Rock Band and Wii Fit for Christmas, we decided to turn our front room into a game room. I also bought some new fabric for new drapes in my kitchen. I swapped tables from one room to the other and moved several other things around but when it came to decorating the new game room, I just couldn't think of what to do! I had two friends that own a design business come over and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHAT THEY'VE DONE!!! I was amazed how the smallest little changes could make such a HUGE difference!!! I'll post some pictures of this as soon as I get my drapes made!

6--I cried again this week as I finally sat down and watched the BIGGEST LOSER!! This is going to be a very EMOTIONAL season!!! It is helping me get motivated to get back into my 'before the holiday' work out habits, though!!!

7--This past Sunday was my week to teach RS. What a GREAT lesson!! I'm not referring to myself, I'm talking about the lesson, itself~~in the manual!! I LOVE THE JOSEPH SMITH TEACHINGS!! What amazing experiences he had!! I can't even express in words the inner growth that I experience each time I teach! I love teaching and I'm so thankful for the opportunity, and more importantly, for all of the sisters that bring the Spirit into the class! Even if I feel like I butchered the lesson, I always leave feeling so uplifted b/c of THEM. Their testimonies, their experiences and their love of the Lord!

8--I really should've taken a picture of that Hymn Book in the toilet with my cell phone! It is horrible, but it truly was an accident, and the way it looked, laying upside down in the toilet...I was in such shock and then laughing my head off at the same time b/c I COULDN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT!! I thought it would be disrespectful to take a picture...and so I pulled it out. After that, I really wished would've snapped a picture and I thought, "it's still wet, I should just plop it back down in there..and take a picture!". I only thought it once and knew I wouldn't do that, so, I patted it as dry as I could with Paper towels, walked it into the foyer with my head held high (until I saw a couple of friends sitting on the couch!!) and laid it out opened on the end table so it could dry.

Well, I have a bunch sewing, organizing and some baskets to paint, with help from my little munchkin!

Primative Can Opening and A Big Fluffy Parka!!

...Although it's been a blast hammering away at my cans with a knife, will SOMEBODY please remind me to buy a NEW CAN OPENER the next time I hit Target or Wal-Mart?!!!

Marty does treatment (speech therapy) with a little girl down the street. Her mom is the sweetest thing--she sends goodies or homemade Tamales (MY FAVORITE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!) home with Marty for us sometimes. This week he came home with two big fluffy coats (this one and a black one)! Rissa was scared of them until today! I don't blame her. They are very BIG and FLUFFY :) I seriously think, at first, that she was waiting for it to start walking around on it's own or bark or something!

Here she is with her NEW BFF, GEORGE!! Sorry PARKER...you've been out of town for TOO LONG!!...and HANNAH--she's just waiting for you to move back!

Happy Birthday Jeanne!!

Today was Jeanne's birthday...31st birthday! Amie & I have been her VT for a couple of years now and I feel so lucky!! I have truly enjoyed getting to know her and love her! We kidnapped her and took her out to lunch today and it was so fun! Amie & I...oh, and Darren (Jeanne's hubby) worked out sitters for all of the kids so it was just us ADULTS!! I hope you had a great birthday J!! We love ya--you know that, though!!....call us if you need anything...dinner...chat on the phone.....cake...milk......
...Speaking of Cake! Ok--SO- this is a day in the life of Tiff:) Last night I made this 'Butter Chocolate Fudge Cake' and I whipped up the frosting for it. I waited until this morning to frost the cake b/c it wasn't cool enough. I'd been waiting for someone to 'need a cake' so I could use this new, moist recipe. Yeah, well, I think maybe a little too moist! My Frosting wouldn't even stick!! I brushed all the crumbs off before icing it...so I thought! As I added the frosting-chunks would just roll off the cake!! I ended up so frustrated with the stinkin thing, that I was just slapping it all on there to MAKE it stick! Crumbs blended all into the frosting and by the time I was done the cake looked like this...lumpy and lopsided!! I left it at home with the intention to throw it away but when we mentioned it to her during lunch she didn't care what it looked like! She wanted it and said, "It's gonna look a lot worse when it gets in my stomach!!" It was funny that when we got back to their house with the cake Darren pretty much said the exact same thing! Might I just add that the V looking thing on top of my head is not "Alfalfa hair"! It was windy today, so I guessed that I was just sportin the 'wind blown look'. It took me forever to figure out that's just something hanging on Jeanne's door!!
Amie wanted to taste it, so we all got spoons and took a bite...or two or three! It tasted MUCH better than it looks!

Butter Chocolate Fudge w/ chopped up SYMPHONY bar in it! A layer of this crazy vanilla icing runs through the middle and ALL AROUND THE OUTSIDE!!!...got milk?

~~A POST FOR MY MOTHER~~

So this post is for my MOM, aka 'DAWN G'!!! Last week Brant taught Marissa to say, "PEEPA! PEEPA! PEEPA!". When we called to let MEEMA & PEEPA (my mom & dad) hear her say it, she not only said that to my dad, but she made the mistake :) of saying, "MEEMA! MEEMA! MEEMA!", FOR THE FIRST TIME to my mom!! I only use the word 'mistake' b/c it makes mom miss her even more. It's hard for me, too. It's very hard sometimes to be clear across the country from my family! Well, anyway-- Tonight, Rissa, once again, started saying "MEEMA! MEEMA! MEEMA!"...not only that, but she goes and finds the telephone and brings it to me! And not her toy phone-but the real deal! So when we talked to Mom, I promised her I'd put a few pictures for to see a few things that she's been wanting pictures of--her hair and tu-tu. So HERE'S TO YOU MOM!! Print these out (Wal-greens can blow them up to 16X20) and add them to the Rissa Wall of Fame!! Be sure to get copies to give to Blake, John & Heath!!! While you're at it, go ahead and get a couple of hundred wallet size prints to pass out at STRUTT! (My mom tends to....shall we say, show Rissa off!Although, this is a huge understatement!) My brothers love to tease her and give her gentle reminders that their wives have all birthed several of her grandchildren too!! She loves to point to their pictures and yell Meema! Peepa! {Although all of the kids in Marty's family refer to his parents as G'ma & G'pa, Rissa calls THEM Meema & Peepa as well!}
Here's Rissa's pretty bow and LONG, CURLY HAIR...
Here's Rissa in her beautiful PINK Tu-Tu!
Here she is in her CHRISTMAS DRESS! This is the only picture I took of her! We just snapped a shot of girls and guys, no family and no individuals. Slackers, I know:) I'll add the guys picture.

...working hard at her STUDIES......
....there she is throwing a TANTRUM on the stairs...notice that she has only one shoe on...the other has been ripped off and thrown...probably at me (?)....
...and this is how TALL she is now!!!

~~A New Year Tradition in Our Family~~

Tonight for FHE we roasted Hot dogs and Marshmallows!! Well, we roasted the marshmallows that were left after our marshmallow fight! I was standing in the kitchen and I threw one at Brant and that was all she wrote!! Before we knew it, they were flying all over the place! Rissa loved it! She laughed and laughed and then took off running around grabbing whatever ones she can get a hold of, stuffing them in her cute little chubby cheeks!! I forgot that Brant's a baseball player, pitcher being one of his positions, when I threw that first one at him! I had a hard time dodging his fast, accurate throws!
When Brant got his fill of hot dogs he ran in and grabbed his favorite, the one and only Chicken Pattie, to roast! Very creative Brant!! He did a great job helping me start the fire and the kids were great helping us with the clean up too!!
Rissa LOVED roasting MARSHMALLOWS!! Even more...EATING them!! After ripping off her hat, she proceeded to use 'sticky marshmallow' as hair gel...and what's all over her face?!...hey, WHERE'S HER BOW?!!
Jacob was totally excited about one of our New Year's Traditions!! At the beginning of every year we use the first FHE of the year to talk about GOALS. We each write our goals down twice. One copy goes in our "time capsule jar" (Brant gave it the name :) and the other is for us to keep in our rooms to refer to during the year. This is a tradition that my parents did with my brothers & I when we were growing up. I love this tradition and we always have fun with it!!
So this year Jacob had the privileged job of digging up our jar!!! --right up his alley!! Last year it really took a while to find, so we buried it right by one of our sidewalks in the back hoping we could find it easier. Jacob must've turned his radar on b/c he went right to it with no problem!!
Sometimes we decorate or the kids add fun drawings to their goal sheet. It's always fun to start a new year!! We hope this New Year brings lots of fun, love, laughter and family your way!!



~~Pictures from New Year's Eve~~