Emily's Birthday

Monday, December 21 was Emily's 11th birthday. Where has the time gone?? She has grown so much. She is taller than me which doesn't say much other than the fact that she is only 11. She has grown her hair long and she has bangs now which is new to her. Her hair has been one length for a couple of years now. She looks even more grown up. She is loving towards her sisters and takes good care of them. She is soft spoken, most of the time. She enjoys art and is very crafty. She enjoys playing soccer and is good at it. She loves small children and enjoys playing with them. She is a good and loving girl.

Emily received a stereo for her birthday and has played it every day. She can listen to her mp3 player, cd's or the radio. She was thrilled. She also received 3 shirts and a pair of boots.

We are very blessed to have Emily in our family.

Happy Birthday, Emily. We love you.

Merry Christmas

I am thrilled that Christmas has come. I love getting ready for the holiday. The season is filled with joy and good tidings and I wish it would and could last all year.

About 2 months ago, I had the girls write a list of things that they would like for Christmas. I told them that they needed to write down three things that they really wanted. Emily asked, "Why only three?" I replied, "Would you rather receive three things that you really want or would you rather receive ten things that you could care less about?" She thought about it for a moment and then replied, "I think that I would like to have three things that I really want." Good girl. They received all the things they really wanted.

Emily received a Liv doll, a hair beader and a Taylor Swift cd that she can play on her new stereo that she received for her birthday. Kayla also received a Liv doll, a sleeping bag and a skateboard. Hannah also received a Liv doll, a sleeping bag and table and chairs. The table is also a whiteboard. All the girls loved their gifts. After the gifts were opened, (it took all of about 5 minutes), Mark received a text message from Santa saying that there was another gift that was too big to put under the tree. Santa had put this large gift in one of our storage rooms. The girls went on the hunt. They found it. It was Guitar Hero for the Wii. They were stoked. We got it hooked up and rocked out. Emily is quite the guitar player. It was impressive. We had a fun time.

We had a great Christmas and I am sad to have the day come to a close. We have enjoyed receiving Christmas cards and yummy neighbor treats. I have enjoyed baking and giving the goodies to friends.

We have been very blessed this holiday season. Thanks to all of those dear family and friends who have brighten our lives with friendship and love.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all.

Wow.....Long Time

It has been a long time since I blogged. Alot has been going on so hang in there with me as I update you.

October 9th was Hannah's 6th birthday. I can't believe that my baby is 6. She is bright, full of fun and is very cute. At school, the student council announces birthdays for the day and on her birthday they announced her name. I asked her if she heard her name and she said, "Yeah, I heard "blah blah", Hannah Bradford, "blah blah blah". She is dang funny and always keeps us laughing. We are so grateful. We are very blessed to have her in our family.

We are done with soccer until the spring. It was hairy but we made it and got to see most of the games together. The girls are sad that soccer is over but are looking forward to the spring.

We went to St. George a couple of weeks ago and loved it. It was warm and sunny. My Dad plays softball in the Senior Olympics and we went down to see him play. Thanks to Mark's sister and brother in law, we didn't have to pay for a hotel room. Thanks guys, we appreciate it alot. Bless you.

We sold our red van that we have had for 8 years. Sad to see it go however we need a more economical vehicle. We haven't been able to find anything yet. It has been crazy trying to get everyone to where they need to be with only one car, but some how we have managed. I told Mark that I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when Richard Gere sends her to buy a cocktail dress and no one helps her and she has all this money and is unable to spend it. Geez.

Thanks for hanging in there with me and catching up with us.

Yea!! I passed

I am so very excited. I took the final mortgage loan officer exam and I passed!!! I am so glad to be done with the class. It took me an hour and a half to take the exam and I was all stressed out about it and it turns out that it was very easy. Now, all I need to do is submit for the license. My family has been very supportive and encouraging and I am very grateful to them. Shameless plug....if anyone needs a mortgage loan, let me know.

Birthday, Soccer, and On and On and On

Life lately has been rather hectic. Mark's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we had 2 parties for him. One party was a friend party and the other was a family party complete with dinner for both. Crazy, crazy, crazy. The soccer chaos has begun and with back to back to back games. Mark and I have had to split up with one taking two of the girls and the other with one of the girls.
I have completed my 20 hour mortgage loan officer course and now need to take the "BIG" exam that takes 3 hours to complete. After the completion of the exam, I can apply for the license. I'm on the verge of insanity. The only thing that is keeping me sane is the 2 and a half hour morning break of having all the girls in school. It is very nice to have the house stay clean and having it quiet. I don't know what I will do once the chaos is over. Have another baby??? Just kidding!!!!!

Chaos

What chaos is going on right now in the family. This week the girls started school. Yea!! Emily is in 5th grade, Kayla is in 3rd grade and Hannah will start kindergarten next week. Wow, what will I do?? Well, I started working on getting my mortgage loan officer license yesterday. It is a 20 hour course that has a three hour test after completion of the 20 hour course. One would think that after 10 plus years in the mortgage industry that this would be a cinch. Ah, no. Most of the info I do know but, wow, a lot of things have changed. I am also doing the crossing guard thing again. That is a cinch.
This week the girls are doing the "Future Falcettes" at Clearfield High. My niece Samantha is on the drill team at the high school and they do a fund raiser which boys and girls learn a dance and then they perform at the first high school football game at half time. The girls did this last year and had a blast. It is a lot of fun for their Dad and I to go and watch them.
Also, they all start soccer this Saturday. We haven't heard anything about Kayla's team yet but Emily and Hannah will overlap some of their games. They all play at different fields, too. I know.....what was I thinking??
Let the chaos begin!

Boating

Our cute neighbors/friends asked us to go boating with them yesterday. Mark had to work so I took the girls and we went to Pineview Reservoir for the day. We had so much fun. The girls haven't been boating before so they were way excited. They spent most of the time in the water swimming and jumping off the boat. Emily got out of the water maybe three times all day. Kayla was pretty much the same way and Hannah got out a few more times. We had lunch on the beach. Kayla rode on a huge tube and was a real trooper and brave. The tube broke and no one else was able to ride it. It was a bummer. The girls slept all the way home and we nursed sunburns last night. We had a great fun.

St. George

We took an opportunity to go to St. George last week thanks to Mark's awesome sister and brother-in-law (we love you guys). Mark's brother-in-law's family owns a condo down there and they let us use it. We left Thursday morning and arrived back home on Saturday night. It was a quick but great trip. We loved it. The weather was perfect. We went to the outlet stores (duh) and I love the Old Navy store down there. We ate at the In-N-Out burger (the absolute best burger hands down). The girls were dying to go swimming so we took them to the Green Valley Resort. They have 3 outdoor pools and 1 indoor pool which the girls played in the most. We had a great friend loan us her portable DVD player so the ride down wouldn't be too miserable for the girls. We are grateful for the opportunity for this quick but relaxing trip.

Anniversary Part 2

For our anniversary, Mark surprised me by taking me to Park City on a little overnighter. It was great fun. He arranged for a babysitter for the girls (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Stratton) and we took off on Thursday evening. We stopped in Salt Lake and had dinner at Macaroni Grill and continued on to PC. We stayed at The Yarrow, very nice hotel. We just hung out which was very, very nice. We wanted to go to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory but we didn't make it there. Love their carmel apples. Friday we spent the day at the outlets. Torture, torture, torture. Found a couple of bargins at Eddie Bauer (my favorite store ever). I haven't been up there for a while and did not know about a couple of new stores like Columbia Outfitters and Lucky Brand Jeans (my favorite).
It was nice not to hear or answer to the name "Mom" if but for a small moment but I missed it, too. It was great to see the girls come running out of the house when we arrived home. Love those girls of ours. Lucky to have this life of mine. Well, more like blessed.

Anniversary

This Friday will be our 22nd anniversary. Wow. 22 years of marital bliss. Seriously. Total and complete bliss. Thanks Mark for 22 wonderful years. I wouldn't change my life with you for anything in the world. I think anyone who can remain with me for that long deserves a medal.

Now that the serious stuff is over we can talk candidly about the 22 years together and give you a glimpse into our life together (whether you want to or not.) I remember one Christmas, about 19 years ago, that Mark went by himself to get us a tree. Let's just say that he hasn't done it since. He came home with what he thought was a fantastic and beautiful tree. Needless to say, I DID NOT agree with his choice. I said to him, "That is the ugliest tree I have ever seen." He promptly picked it up and threw it out the front door into our front yard and that is where it stayed for a couple of days. We laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny then. Also I remember when we were just barely married and I was brave and I had to...lets say...toot. One would think that I would retire to the bathroom but it was late and I was already in bed and too lazy to get up. I tried very carefully to do it quietly. Not so fortunate. I tooted. Mark sat up in bed and said with all seriousness, "Was that a shotgun?!" I laughed so hard that it took a solid two minutes before I could tell him that it was me. We still laugh about it to this day.
I hope that you have enjoyed this little glimpse into our lives. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past years of my married life. We are very blessed to have 3 beautiful and bright girls. I hope that we are fortunate to have many many more years of happiness.
I love you Mark.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Sorry it's late. Always a day late and a dollar short. Isn't everyone?? We had a great holiday. We had a BBQ with our neighbors and did fireworks. Most of our neighbors came. Our neighbors across the street were able to get a giant BBQ and we were able to BBQ all the meat at the same time. People brought salads and desserts. Mark and I made home-made ice cream. The best ever. It was great fun. The party was a great success. We will make it a tradition.

Sorry but I do need to complain. What is with these "pop-its"? They (manufactures) fill small white paper with gun powder and pebbles that pop when they hit the ground or a person. Then they market it to children. WHAT??? Hannah threw one at me and it popped when it hit my leg. It hurt. Then I caught Hannah popping one in her hand. She thought it was great fun. I'm sorry but gun powder, rocks and children???....great combination???....I think NOT. My Hannah loves the 4th of July. She asked me all last week about it. She loves the fireworks. I think she is a pyro.

Privacey?? What's that??

I am always bombarded with questions by my lovely girls when.... 1) I am on the phone trying to have an adult conversation, 2) Talking with a neighbor/friend face to face or 3) Using the restroom (my personal favorite). They (every Mom) say that if you want your children's attention, do one of these things and you will have it. This is so very true. Every single time I get on the phone, the girls always find me and ask questions like, "Mom, can we have lunch?" or "what are we having for lunch/dinner?" It's 10 in the morning. Or, "Mom, I NEED to talk to you." What makes matters worse, is that they compete with each other for my attention or they compete with the person I am conversing with. But since the girls got out of school, my favorite one is, and it always happens when I am in the restroom.... "Mom, can we go to Lagoon today?" Are you kidding me??? Can't you wait one small, tiny moment so that I can do what I need to do before we start the questions??? Mom?, Mom?, Mom?. Sometimes, I don't answer hoping that they will give up and stop looking for me, but no such luck. I have always told them that I am changing my name and not telling anyone what it is. That will teach them. What I wouldn't give to get a little privacey.

The Rules

Mark finally let me in on the rules of our little contest. (See previous entry) The rules are very simple. Who ever loses the most percentage of body weight wins. We have until September 1 and I have a head start. Knowing Mark, he will catch up fast. Those dang men loose weight faster than us women, so I need a head start. I'm still getting up at 5 am (shocker....I'm even surprised) and walking. I think I have lost maybe a couple of pounds but I hate getting on the scale (we are not friends) to find out for sure. I know I will need to come September 1 but that is a few months away. (Maybe we'll be friends by then.) I will let you know the results of the contest. Stay tuned.

5 A.M.

I have been getting up at 5 in the morning to walk with a couple of friends. It has been very good for my physical and mental state. However, 5 in the morning comes fast and I am exhausted. Before school was out, it was difficult to stay awake after I returned home about 30 to 40 minutes later. Now that school is out, I will be able to come home and go back to sleep at least for a little while. Mark and I have decided to have a contest about who can get in shape the fastest. If he loses, he has to take me out to dinner and to the new Twilight movie New Moon and he has to pretend that he likes it. He has not told me what he wants if I lose. I'm sure that it will be something about fly fishing or something like that. I went fly fishing with him once and I didn't like it. It was boring. So I have to win. Stay tuned for the results.

Revenge

The other day Hannah was mad at Kayla for what I have no idea. Hannah wanted revenge. Kayla was in the bathroom right after their little tiff and Hannah took a bottle of water from the fridge and poured it by the bathroom door so that when Kayla came out of the bathroom she would slip and fall. Mark quickly put a stop to it before the disaster could take place. Mark then asked her what she was doing. Hannah said that she was getting revenge for whatever it was that Kayla had done to her. Mark explained to Hannah that it was not nice to take revenge out on her sister or anyone else for that matter. I have to admit, I laughed about it later. Remind me not to get on Hannah's bad side......ever.

What's happening.....not much

A quick update on the goings on in our little corner of the world.
Emily had her last soccer game yesterday. She is a soccer fiend. She loves to play and is good at it. She is playing softball again this summer. It starts on Tuesday and she will play on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She loves to play ball as well. She is a natural athlete. Kayla is going to play soccer for the first time in August. She is very excited and it will interesting to see how she likes it. She has never played a sport so it should be interesting. Hannah is going to play soccer, as well, in August. She, too is excited. I'm sure that this will be a treat. She is a maniac. I'm not sure how we will get the girls to all the places they will need to be.....I know, I know, what was I thinking???
Not much in the way of my activities or Mark. Mark continues with bishopric duties and I continue with Relief Society duties which keeps us both busy and out of trouble. We love our callings and we love our ward. We have so many good friends and enjoy spending time with them. The girls have good friends and love going to primary.
We are thrilled that the weather has been warm and sunny. We like to be outside. We started our garden and have planted a couple of veggies. The girls are excited about this. Almost everyday they ask if we are planting more things. They will be really excited when the veggies start sprouting. I am not a big gardener and Mark is which I am glad about. I'm lazy about it. When I was growing up, we always had a huge garden and I hated weeding it.
We don't have any exciting summer plans. I guess we will just hang out and enjoy the warm weather. School will be over in a couple of weeks. Yeah. No more fighting to get the girls up and out the door for crossing and school. Double yeah.
I know....not much is happening but I hope you enjoyed reading this if you made it this far.

Twilight

Okay, so I'm a little slow but I was finally talked into seeing Twilight. I have this aversion to vampires. (They freak me out. I know, I know they're not real but still freaky.) I absolutely loved it and have seen it 3 times. I even talked Mark into watching it with me. I tried to read the book but couldn't because the movie was so much better. I just finished reading New Moon and I am on a waiting list at the library to read Eclipse. I am hooked. So romantic and not as freaky as I had thought. I don't think that Robert Pattinson is all that nice looking but I could watch "Edward" over and over again. I know, pathetic. I found out in a magazine that I am old enough to be his.....Mother. Ugh.

Hannah watches too much TV

A few days ago while I was doing my Mom thing (crossing guard) Hannah put out her arms as to hug me and said to me, "Come here you chunk of love." Uh, come again? Where in the world.... I asked her where she had heard such a thing and she said, "Oh, I just made it up in my head." Yeah, right. Sounds like a Hannah Montana phrase. Then yesterday she said to Kayla, "You're young and naive." Oh man. Do I have my hands full or what? She is banned from watching TV FOREVER.

Grandmas are the best

Today, Grandma Stratton took myself , my girls and the Stratton grandkids to The Living Planet Aquarium. It was a lot of fun. If you haven't been there, it is worth it. We saw sharks, manta rays, electric eels and lots of other slimy, gross things that swim and live in water. Some of the grandkids touched the manta rays. Yuck. I know better than to put my hand in water where slimy things swim. We then went to Wendy's and ate lunch. Grandmas are the best.

Wedgie

Today, Hannah came upstairs crying. Her dad asked what was wrong. "Emily gave me a wedgie." Mark's quick response, "Give it back." Hannah quickly ran back down stairs and we heard her yell to Emily, "Emily, prepare for a wedgie!" The girls are growing up so prim and proper. What a lucky mother I am.

Manners-Gone with the wind

I don't mean to be distasteful or disgusting, but since when did passing gas or burping become an acceptable form of communication? My girls think it is great fun when they do these gross activities. They laugh and giggle and are very proud of their accomplishments. They love to do it at the dinner table. It wasn't so long ago that while we were eating dinner and one of my poise daughter's, whom I thought I taught manners, tooted and said in a very loud and proud voice, "I just tooted!" I had it. I said to all of them, "I will never marry any of you off if you don't stop doing these gross things!" They all laughed and nothing has changed since. Just a couple of nights ago, I smelled something stinky. Kayla was standing by me and I said to her, "What stinks?" With a sheepish grin, she said, "I just tooted." Goll, doesn't manners count for anything? Granted, I have had to do these distasteful bodily functions but I don't think that it is any way acceptable to laugh or giggle or do it while other people are eating. I remember my wonderful mother telling me when I was young, to go into the bathroom when these bodily functions were necessary. I remember thinking, "I don't have to go to the bathroom." I now understand why.

Too Funny

This blog was not meant to be all about Hannah. However, the girl is funny. Last Friday, we got home from going to Wal Mart and she said to me, "The boys that I see at Wal Mart think I am so attractive. They always stare at me." She then made the face. Her eyes got big and she did her best impression of how they stare at her. She did make it very clear to me that these are little boys that are there with their mothers. I thought that I was going to bust a gut.
There is no lack of self esteem on her part. I need to have a video and tape recording of her where ever she goes. She says the funniest things.

Yes, I opened the door

A few nights ago at the dinner table, one of the girls, either Emily or Kayla, asked if a girl can be a bishop. Mark said that they couldn't. Then I said, "What do boys have that girls don't?" I opened a door so big that you could drive a Mac truck through it. What was I thinking? I was thinking that our girls were too innocent to think anything else but the word I was looking for which was the word priesthood. It was silent for a moment then Hannah said, "A weenie." At least she has a firm grasp on reality.

Kayla

This entry is all about Kayla. Kayla's birthday is tomorrow, February 1. She will be 8 years old. She is very excited about it. Just a little bit about her big day, the day she was born.
She was born a poor lonely white child in Cottonwood Hospital at about 6:30 pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces after she peed on the doctor. Lucky him. She had dark hair and was beautiful. Mark wondered where she got the dark hair from and I said, "Hello, have you looked at me recently". Silly man. The day we brought her home, it was a day that it was below zero outside. We walked into the house and it was freezing. Mark checked out the furnace and found that it was not working and called our bishop because he knew about that kind of a thing. He told Mark how to fix it and fortunately it started to work.
Kayla loves to dance and sing and she has a beautiful voice. She is a very loving child and loves to curl up beside me or her dad on the couch. She loves to play and have a good time. She has a great sense of humor. She loves school and does well and she has lots of friends. She can be rather stubborn and has quite a temper.
She got her ears pierced today and she was very brave. She keeps looking in the mirror to see them. Her sisters picked out some earrings for her birthday which was rather sweet.
We are fortunate and blessed to have her in our family.

2008 gone 2009 upon us

Well 2008 is long gone and 2009 is upon us. Why do we celebrate new years? Is is because we can't let go of the soon to be old year? Is it because we are excited about the new year? Is it because we want to set goals and the new year is the only time to do it? I'm not really sure. It might be all of the above. What I do know is that it seems that it is the same old thing but that I have to write 09 on my checks when I send out the bills.
I am glad that I was able to spend 2 whole weeks with Mark and the girls during Christmas. I am, however, very glad to have things back to normal. (As normal as they can be.) Emily and Kayla back to school. Mark back to work. The house stays clean and I don't have 50 questions throughout the day by Emily and Kayla or by Mark. Hannah pretty much keeps to herself and can play by herself. She doesn't need me to entertain her. I just put her in front of the TV.
About Hannah, I'm not sure where she gets her personality (certainly not from me) but she is hilarious. One day we were getting ready to go to crossing (I'm a crossing guard at the school--don't laugh-I'm a real Mom now) and she said to me, "Mom, I love you and not because you're a crossing guard." Thanks sweetie. I glad that I have more endearing qualities. I love those girls of mine. So lucky to have them.