Happy Birthday Alivia

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY ALIVIA!!! We LOVE you!!!

Happy Birthday Alivia Kathleen!!! January 30th finally came. Alivia has been waiting for this day for a LONG time. I kept telling Liv that I couldn't believe that my baby was turning 5 years old. She said,"Mom, why do you keep calling me a baby. I am not a baby." I told her that she will always be my baby. She is a cutie. We had a fun day. Alivia had friends from school and our ward over for an Island Princess Party. The girls played games, made a craft and ate cake & ice cream. The best part was present time. It was seiously hilarious. It was like a swarm of girls around Liv. At one point a little girl was opening her present and some of the other presents. It was a bit crazy. Of couse Alivia was thrilled with all of her new gifts. I think she got 6 barbies and I just checked on her and she has them all lined up in her bed. We also gave her the Hannah Montana wig and CD. She has been jamming to it all day. Rex was pretty funny too. Whenever anyone came to the door he informed them that his sister is 5 years old. He is prettty proud of her. Lucy was right there trying to get in on all of the action during the party. She crawled around following people and eating food that had fallen on the floor(lovely, I know). It was a fun day. We have decided to make a little slide show for the kids on their birthdays. Here are a few things we love about Alivia. She has a really sweet heart. She says the sweetest things to Jared & myself. She knows how to make you feel happy and loved. She does this smile that she knows I love. She crinkles her nose and scrunches her eyes. It is super cute. She loves ranch (that's my girls). She loves her dad and is sad if he goes to work when she is still in bed. She likes to give him a hug before he leaves. She is a great big sister to Rex and Lucy. She is very kind and always thinks of others feelings. She loves singing and dancing and making up new songs. She loves playing outside and would stay out there all day if she could. She is smart and loves learning new things. She has many great friends and like making things for them. She loves to draw and covers our house in creative pictures. We are very proud of you Alivia and we love you very much!!!

He will be missed!

So I am up a little bit late with a sick little Lucy. I just wanted to type a few things about sweet President Hinckley. Our family was saddened and shocked to hear about President Hinckley's passing. Jared & I talked about what a great man he was & what a great example to the world. I told Alivia that he had died and she got a little teary and asked why. I told her that he was old and that it was time for him to be with Heavenly Father. She said, "But I wanted him to live forever." I can only imagine the sweet reunion that must have taken place. I am grateful for his service and example in my life. I feel like he is especially special because he was the prophet during most of my teenage years, and he was the prophet that called me to serve in the Italy mission & he was the prophet during some very important times in my life. I will always remember his great sense of humor and his incredible words. I will also always remember that he taught us all to stand a little taller. He truly was an amazing man and we will miss him dearly.

Lots of snow!!!!

We had a fun weekend. Jared had a 3 day weekend, which doesn't happen very often. We had planned to go the Winter Carnival up in McCall on Friday. We went last year and had a lot of fun, but the news said that we were supposed to get a bunch of snow. So we wanted to do something fun so we decided to check out a tubing place at a ski resort. We were all bundled & ready to go, but then I checked online and the tickets were sold out. Bummer. So we went to visit a friend instead & get a few things for Alivia's birthday next week. Later that afternoon we found out that our pipe in our laundry room had frozen. Water came pouring into the kitchen. Fabulous!! We thought that since our home was built in 2005 that we wouldn't have that problem. We thought we left all those pipe problems behind in our house in Orem that was built in 1950. (Every winter we pretty much geared up for a frozen pipe or a broken pipe or both...one thing we don't miss about that house). Anyway, so Jared worked on fixing the pipe. It has been so cold lately that he just had to heat up the pipe. Later that evening we went to some friends house & made home made ice cream. It was a fun day.

We woke up at 6:15 & decided to go to the Winter Carnival. Our friends met us and we drove up there. It is a beautiful drive, but going through the canyons can be scary in the winter, I was driving Jared nuts because I get nervous with the snow, so I climbed in the back with the kids and watched Cars with them. We went to a Pancake house and ate breakfast. By then the snow was coming down pretty good. We bundled everyone up and started walking into the main part of town. The kids were getting tired of walking & wanted to be held. Last year people were pulling their kids on sleds everywhere. I had meant to get a sled before we left because it is too hard to push a stroller in the snow. We found a little store that sold cheap sleds. The kids loved being pulled around & it made everything so much easier. We walked all over the town looking at the giant snow sculptures. We also watched people plunge. Men & women were jumping into a pool of water that had ice floating in it & then they would jump into the hot tub. It was pretty crazy. Next door was the library and they had a used book sale going on. All the books you could stuff in a bag for $1.00. I found some sweet treasures, classics and books that I have been wanting to read. We ended the day with some funnel cakes and Chinese food. The snow hadn't stopped so we figured we should head out before it started getting dark. The drive home was fine. It is always so nice when you arrive at home safe & sound. Lucy rode in the hiking pack on Jared's back the whole time. She was such a sweetie. She just slept and hid under the blanket. So in the pictures when you see just a blanket behind Jared, Lucy is really under it.

LUCY - Spaghetti, sleeping, swimming & stairs!

Lucy has discovered how fun it is to climb the stairs in our house. She hasn't figured out how to climb down though. Luckily she hasn't fallen, but every time I put her down she heads right to the stairs. When she sees you coming she shakes her head back & forth and crawls faster.

We went swimming yesterday at an indoor pool by our house. Every time we go Lucy falls asleep so she hasn't been in the water lately. She LOVED it. She was squealing at the water fountains and clapping her hands. It was fun to watch her crawl straight into the water without any fear. She had a great time.

We had spaghetti the other night & Lucy ate it up. Every baby needs a spaghetti picture. Lucy was falling asleep during dinner & her head starting bobbing, but she was still trying to drink her bottle. We were laughing pretty hard.

Tag, I'm It!!!

So I have been tagged by my cousin Emily, which gives you a chance to learn something new about me.
The rules are:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Well, many of you know that I have a problem hearing or saying certain words. Don't ask me why, but I just don't like the sound of some words. I will give you a little sampling of a few words I could live without. Coagulate (oh boy!!) , blood clot, condiments, lacerate, lubricate...just to name a few. I know it is silly, but I shiver when I hear them. So, that is one weird thing about me.
2. I really enjoy playing most sports. I like to play whenever I get a chance, which isn't very often now a days, but I do enjoy watching and playing basketball, volleyball & softball in particular. I played on a women's competitive team in 2006. It was fun & took me out of my comfort zone.
3. I am pretty much petrified of vans that do not have any windows in the back. (I actually saw one today). Something about them creeps me out. I have never had an experience with a van without windows, I just find them a little strange.
4. I like to travel. If I won a million dollars, I would definitely spend a big chunk of the money on traveling. I enjoy learning about new cultures and seeing new countries. Thanks to my parents, I have been able to visit and live in more than 19 countries.
5. As far as animals go, I get a little nervous(at the zoo) around crocodiles, wolves and cougars. (Another shiver). I don't know why, but I am scared of those animals.
6. I started a small business called Sweet Bambina last August. I am very excited that it is growing & that my product is being sold in 4 shops & boutiques so far. It is really exciting to see it slowly, but surly take off.
So that's a little bit about me. I am tagging Shanna, Chelon, Mikelle, Brandon W., Cindy and Jen S.

The three little snowmen

A few weeks ago we had a pretty good snow storm and the kids were begging to make a snowman. The snow was the fluffy kind that you can't even make a snowball out of. So, yesterday we had a great snow storm roll in and I told Alivia after school we could make a snowman. We ended up making three snowman...an Alivia snowman, a Rex snowman & a little Lucy snowman. They turned out really cute. We sacrificed some Oreo cookie for the eyes. The snow was perfect.

On Sunday Rex graduated from Nursery and into Primary. Rex is a Sunbeam. He loves it. Alivia is the class right behind him in CTR 5 and Rex kept turning around and saying "Hi my sister." They both really had fun in the classes.

New Year Fun!

Happy New Year

We took a trip down to Utah after Christmas. We had a great time visiting with family & friends. We stopped in at Temple Square on our way down. The lights were very pretty. It was fun to walk around, but man it was freeeeezing. The kids had SO much fun at Jared's parents house. They had a bunch of snow so Alivia & Rex had a blast sledding down the hill. They were sliding wearing Sears bags at first & then Grandpa Finch got some sleds. They also had fun on the snowmobile, riding on it and being pulled by it. They could have stayed out there all day. Jared & I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on the 29th. We went to dinner at Red Lobster. Jared was in heaven eating Crab legs. We celebrated New Year's Eve at the annual Schill party. My sister JoLynne and her family were in town from Houston. It was filled with lots of food, birthday cake for my nephew Hunter's birthday, laughing and of course burping. We always have a burping contest at every New Year's Eve party. We sat & talked about funny experiences growing up. Packing 10 people in a car and when we all got out the car had a perma sag. Camping and sleeping on the hard floor. I don't think I got a pad until I was older. It was so fun. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time for a day and be 5 or 14 again. I had a great childhood.
We had fun spending time with the Finch side. We went to Tommy Burger together and had a Chicago dog. YUM!! It was fun to hang out and see friends. Alivia and Rex had fun with their aunts and uncles.
My brother Jeff and sister in-law Ashley spent Christmas & New Year's in Fresno with her family. They flew into Salt Lake on the 1st. We met them for lunch at The Pie on our way home. We were glad we got to see them for a hour or so.
We had a great time and were so glad we made it there and back safetly. We hit some pretty good blizzards along the way. We hope you all had a fun holiday. Happy 2008!
One more funny thing. I picked Liv up from school today she told me that she is learning about Dinosaurs. She told me that dinosaurs are "stinked" (extincted). Rex looked at her and said"My dinosaurs don't stink." It was pretty cute.

Christmas Day & a tender husband

We had a great Christmas! We stayed at home. The kids are at a fun age. They ran down the stairs & first checked to see if the reindeer had nibbled on the carrots they left for them outside. Lucy was content to play with an orange the whole time. Jared surprised me this year by doing the twelve days of Christmas. His challenge was to only spend as much as the day was. So on the first day he spent $1, the second day $2 and so on. He was pretty creative. We are going to take a picture if all the stuff he gave me. HE gave me some of my favorite things....for example..... candles, socks, a gift certificate to a yummy hot chocolate place, slippers, a shirt, Biscotti, Aero bars (YUM), Gnocchi, Panettone (Italian Christmas cake), ornaments, Cadbury chocolate selection, a puffa vest and a cute velvet lined basket. Thanks to a good discount at Old Navy he as able to stay with his plan. It was really fun. He also gave me a letter with each gift. That was my favorite part. It brought back memories of the letters he wrote me on my mission. HE would write on tiny paper with his tiny handwriting. I loved it. He is seriously tender. He is very thoughtful and knows that I love European food & chocolate. We hope you all had a fun Christmas!