Thanks for the help Amanda

At the moment, Amanda is helping me put together my new filing cabinet for work. She lost a piece of it somewhere in the back and had her arm reaching for it. And it got stuck.

Castle of Chaos

Friday night Ben and I babysat for my brother Matt. They have three very cute, very engergetic kids. A few of the good and the bad highlights:

The Good.

1. Reading books before bedtime. I read to Finn most nights, but he just doesn't enjoy them as much as Isaac and Mathais.

2. Finally having a reason to check out the sweet new Carl's Jr inside playground.

3. Trying out all of Finn's bath toys with Mathais.

4. Building a fort.



5. Getting to spend time with Mr. Gids.



6. Dropping the kids off at Grandmas, who has great toys.



The Bad.

1. Reading LOTS of books before bedtime. I think I read about 8 books.

2. Getting weird looks at Carls Jr for having 2 boys under the age of one and 2 older kids with no jackets or long sleeves on.

3. The reason Mathias needed a bath.

4. Trying to keep Oscar from ruining the fort. A little hard when the boys hide his toys inside.

5. Spending time with Gideon at 4am.

6. Complete chaos at moments. Trying to get Mathais to put his shirt on and trying to get all four kids calmed down to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. Thankfully Isaac didn't cry. But he was the only one!





Good job Matt and Becca for raising just cute kids! We had fun, most of the time.

Thanks Ben for helping out so much. :) I love you!

Flashback Friday - Christmas 1982

I loved playing house as a little girl. I remember at my Kindergarten, they had the best play kitchen ever. It was hard for me, since none of my brothers really loved to play house, but I just used my imagination even more. Although I loved playing outside building forts, catching Crawdads and playing with GI Joe, I need to thank my mom and dad for deciding to have one more baby, so I could have a friend to play with (besides my very boyish brother McKay).

Looks like I had a good Christmas. A beautiful tea set and a the House Cleaning set. Obviously my mom was trying to get me ready to be a good mom / wife. It didn't really work. I'm horrible at keeping my house clean. After working all day, anytime I'm home I just want to play with Finn and my awesome husband. That awesome husband that helped me to not vacuum for over a year. Thanks Ben! I've got it next time.



Another picture from the same morning. I don't know who's glasses these are, but this is one of my favorite pictures of myself. I look like a little old lady.

Big Boy Post - Sitting Up

The main reason for this blog is to keep track of Finn. I've been pretty bad at documenting new things he does, mainly because he hasn't really been able to do much. I'll start doing Big Boy Posts for him at least once a month to show off his new tricks.

Finn is 25 weeks old, 5 and 3/4 months. I can't believe we have had him for almost 6 months!

He can sort of roll over. From his stomach to his back he has rolled over maybe a dozen times. From his back to his stomach, he can roll to his side, then he gets stuck on his chubby little arm.

Starting in the last week or so, he has really begun sitting up. Over the weekend hanging out at the hospital (my dad had to get surgery on his hip), he started to keep his balance so good.

Last night was the best. We got him in sitting position (he cannot get here on his own), and he stayed probably for a good 4 minutes before losing his balance. He really loves it.







Ben was standing up beside me, so of course most of the pictures he is looking up and smiling at Daddy.




And then slowly, he started to fall over....

"It's not going in our yard Russ, it's going in our living room."

Over the weekend we finally decorated the house for Christmas. We got Finn all bundled up and we headed to Smith's Marketplace. We ended up with a 7 foot, beautiful tree. Smith's Marketplace is the best place for trees hands down, we've gone there every year since we've been married.




Once we got home, we made a fire (and by made, I mean flipped a light switch), put in the best Christmas DVD of all time, Christmas Vacation, and got to work.

While we worked, Finn cuddled in a cozy, Christmas red blanket on the couch.






The end result



Finn was amazed at the lights and sparkly ornaments. This will probably be the only year this will be safe.







Little Oscar Puppy needs some credit too. He survived us moving furniture and vacuuming. I'm sure in his mind the world was coming to an end. Finally he calmed down under the tree.

Steve and Barry's

Over the weekend I finally went shopping at Steve and Barry's. It was crazy how cheap everything was. It doesn't really look cheap and we'll see how long it lasts, but seriously so cheap. There is a lot of stuff that isn't that cute, but lots of good stuff as well. It is the place to go for T-Shirts.

Lots of cute cheap jewelry, sunglasses and purses. Really cute wintercoats for $20!

Ben bought a pair of Cords, polo shirt, I got a cardigon and jeans and our total with tax was $38.

I didn't get anything Bitten, by Sarah Jessica Parker, but I'll be back after Christmas.

Flashback Friday - Alice

Alice was a rich, plantation owner's daughter. She lived in Myrtle Beach hundreds of years ago. Classic love story, she fell in love with a poor man and her family forbade the relationship. The love of her life gave Alice a ring which she wore around her neck.

Alice became very sick and was on her death bed. Her father noticed the ring around her neck, and threw it out the window into the marshes of South Carolina. Alice died days later from a broken heart.... and a deadly illness.

To this day, people see Alice wandering the coast and marshes of Myrtle Beach searching for her ring. There have also been sightings of her at the graveyard where she was buried.

Alice is buried in the most beautiful graveyard I've ever seen. Huge old trees and beautiful old tombstones.

Legend says, if you walk around Alice's headstone backwards, 13 times, her ring will appear. It worked. You can't really tell because the picture is so small, but if you look really closely you can see the ring I'm pointing at. It looks a little like Precia's wedding ring, but I promise it's Alice's.



This graveyard is one of our favorite stops when we go to Myrtle Beach. Precia and I took my little cousins with us too. They look terrified. I love it.

The Ten Commitments

Last night we had Ben's work party at Colosimo's. It was great food. I ate so much cheese, it was heaven. They have a restaurant that is open during the day, but they opened just for us.

After eating WAY too much lasagne, the bosses got up and spoke for a few minutes. They announced that if anyone could name all the employees at the party, they'd get a $50 Visa gift card. Ben knows everyone, because his job is to do everyone else's job when they are either sick, dying, pregnant, bad at their job or just plain lazy. But he spoke up too late and someone else won.

The next offer: If anyone can name the 10 Millbrook Commitments, they'd get $100! No one stood up. Sad, I don't think Ben has even looked at his Employee Handbook. The subject came up, "OK, anyone that can name either the 10 Commitments or the 10 Commandments gets $100!"

No one knew! I could only think of 4 or 5. One lady named 5, so they gave her $25 for trying. Here is refresher course just in case you ever have the opportunity to win 100 bucks.

(note: I'm hoping these are all right, I found several different versions)

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Number 10 is my absolute favorite. It reminds me that it doesn't matter that my neighbor's donkey is faster, smarter, stronger and smells better than mine. I will not covet no matter what!

Flashback Friday - Summer Photo Shoot

This looks like the summer of 2000. My dad got a new camera and wanted to take some pictures. We are in my parents beautiful backyard in Park City.

The two girls are Amanda (the one in overalls) and Aubri. Two of my best friends. Aubri is now married to my Brother in Law so I get her to see her almost once a month. Amanda is my husband's cousin and she lives in AZ. So I don't get to see her as often, but we still keep in touch.





My brother Mckay and his friend Tyler joined the party. Tyler is the with red hair.

Turkey and Sobe Bombs

We had one of the best Thanksgivings this year. We headed down to the Ranch in Escalante. We all stayed in the Bed and Breakfast.



Nothing beats riding dirt bikes,




shooting guns,




and eating way too much!





Friday we went hiking at Devil's Garden. I love Utah for all its different landscapes. It was perfect for all the kids and the kids at heart.










Ben tried to sleep in every morning, but Finn and I wouldn't let him.




Finn and Mr. Gids. Best friends already.



Getting Finn naked in the kitchen showing off his muscles...



It was such perfect weather for us, and just absolutely beautiful.





Highlights of the trip that I don't have pictures of include, Kareokee (not really a highlight), Wii, and late night fires, bombs and fireworks.