FOOFS

I recommend that every girl should belong to some form of a club. Whether it be a biking club, a book club, a MDO (mother's day out) or a walking club. It's just good to have a break from serving everyone around you and take a little time out for yourself. For over a year four of my friends have been very loyal in maintaining our commitment to FOOFS (Focus On Our Friends.) We rotate houses once a month and take turns cooking a nice dinner, and teaching each other something and usually doing some form of activity. The months have varied from learning how to digital scrapbook, learning about Breast Cancer, 72 hour kits, food storage, jewelry making, or even just going to a chick flick.

When I started this club over a year ago I truly felt inspired over who I should invite. I am so thankful to these girls and their amazing strength and example they are to me. I feel like I am walking amongst giants and each one of them has their very own unique traits that just add so much to my life. They all help me to be the mother, wife, friend, daughter, and sister I would like to become.

From top to right is Ashley Rasmussen, Holly Stowers, Me, Staci Jensen, and Carie Malmberg. This Foofs was at Staci's house and she had us make t-shirts to wear with sparkly letters that say Foofs and have our names on them. We were very giggly the whole night.

Bundy Visit

Ryan's parents came to visit us for a spring trip and we had sooo much fun visiting until well after midnight and letting Emma perform for them. We spent a very fun filled day in Salt Lake going to a few different attractions. Our favorite being the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point.

Considering the long winter and slow spring we considered ourselves very lucky to see any tulips in bloom. Although only at 60% of the tulips were in bloom we were very pleased.
I don't know what the name of this tulip is but it just reminded me sooo much of Emma and kind of tugs at my heart strings to look at it, weird I know.

Could there even be a prettier flower than this one? I don't think so. It even smelled like peppermint!

We went to Jeremiah's for "the best breakfast in Utah" and sure enough, the reputation was spot on.
My parents stopped by to visit for a bit with the Bundys. I took this golden opportunity to take a picture for Emma and our future kids. I would have thought that was sooooo cool if both sets of my grandparents were friends. Having all of us be from Portland their friendship dates back to well before Ryan and I even graduated high school. What a gift it is to us for both sets of parents to be supportive and admiring of one another.

I don't care what anybody says, fish are unnatural and frightening. I've never cared for them, and I think this picture does my fear of them justice.

We went To Cabela's just to see what all the fuss was about, and we were not disappointed. It takes a lot for Emma to be distracted from playing with her "rocks" that she collects throughout the day, but the display of animals had her completely captivated.

Happy Teeth

Emma had her first trip to the dentist and had I known she would love it so much I would have been using the Dentist as leverage for good behavior. Anyone who knows Emma knows she is a busy busy little girl, but it was almost as though I had her sedated before taking her in. She was sooo mellow and obedient and was just taking it all in. Michelle, the hygienist and Dave the Dentist were so darling with her and let her pick out a toy from the bin which was icing on the cake. She would have been tickled with a new toothbrush, but went home happier than on Christmas morning. I am pleased to say she had zero cavities and that we can look forward to going back in six months.

It's almost sad the mileage a child can get out of having a sticker.

All though I was embarrassed to be "that mom" I was thankful that Dave and Michelle posed for the camera. True Emma looks traumatized in this picture, but she couldn't stop talking about her trip to the Dentist.

I made up this little song that goes to the primary tune of "You've had a birthday."

We're off to the Dentist shout Hooray!

He's gonna clean our teeth today.

Bright and shiny and strong too,

we're going to the Dentist, yahoo!

I didn't plan on her liking this song so much and now I am rather sick of singing it, but I think it added to the day's experience.

Sunny Sunday

Sunday was the nicest day so we went to one of our favorite parks. The trees don't have their green leaves just yet, but this Spring is more beautiful to me than any other before. Winter was VERY long this year, even with being in AZ for over half the month of February.

No doubt there is something to professional photography. But if we all wait to have a professional take our pictures we will miss documenting the sweeter more meaningful day to day pictures. I LOVE taking pictures, and I love looking at professionals websites for ideas. Try getting some ideas from your friend's children, or advertisements, or even Christmas cards. Then just snap picture after picture of your child. When you're done, download the program "Picasa" onto your computer, it's completely free and through google. It has so many fun ways to edit and rearrange your pictures. It's a great way to hold you over until you can do a photo shoot with the whole family.

Living Room

I think everyone should have a little corner where you have a display of just you and your spouse, I think it's good for the kids to see, and good to remember that your life didn't always revolve around the kids. For our five year anniversary Ryan made me this shadow box to store my wedding bouquet. I love it so hard because it was just sitting in a box getting so dusty. Oh, and yes, that is out actual wedding cake topper.

Again, another decoration that I copied from a magazine. We saw this plain trellis and so Ryan made it for me and then we just added things to it. I hang seasonal decorations from it though out the year. The wood was so cheap and anyone could make this.
Ballard Design is my favorite catalog store. www.ballarddesigns.com Years ago I saw this shelf that I just HAD to have. Luckily for me Ryan is a bit more practical and said he would just make it for me, and voila! Sure enough he did. That was before kids and when we lived in my parents guest house, now I think he would just tell me to buy it.


This hutch has caused some feelings amongst the sisters. I LUCKED into having it sent my way, it just so happened that the others sisters didn't have room for it. Actually I got it cause I'm the favorite, but that's the story we're telling the other girls. My dad originally bought this for my mom in Rockaway Beach in Oregon, and it is my favorite piece in the house.
My mom has got me into making special occasion scrapbooks. They are a great way to glorify average and meaningful day to day happenings or favorite Holidays. They make for cute decorations as well :)
Get creative. If you see something you love, most likely you or someone you know could just make it. Thank goodness for my mother who buys things and allows Ryan to copy cat and just duplicate her over priced item. I just noticed that the right candle stick is crooked, I'll be sure to go fix that right now.
Ebay is also a great place to find unique treasures. These metal picture frames would normally sell in a boutique for EASILY $70. I got both of them for $40 including shipping. If you have the patience and are willing to take the gamble on not seeing it up close and personal, you can really score with this home decor option. Also, on a side note, I buy well over half of Emma's wardrobe from ebay of boutique clothes and baby gap. Living in Ogden, you just don't have the luxury of options.

We live pretty close to the mountain, I just love this view.

Guest Bathroom

Our guest bathroom is rather but small. However we just recently added this "space saver" shelf above the toilet and what a difference it makes. We did our research and found that Home Depot had the best selections. You definitely don't want one with a depth less than 10 inches. It's a great cost effective way to add more shelving and storage to such a small space.

Most starter homes come with the cheap oak cabinets. It is so easy cheesy to paint them either black or white. I prefer the "distressed" look which has a little bit of the sanded edges to it. I mean it would be great to just replace the cabinets, but buying a can of paint is a good way to hold you over until you can get to that stage in life. Also, splurge and buy good cabinet hardware, it really makes a difference for $3-$4 a knob.


One of my very favorite home decor stores is TJ Max. Five years ago I scored on finding all of my Paris items at one store. My all time favorite find was the Paris shower curtain hooks and this terry cloth shower curtain, it is still one of my favorite items in our house. I set up my whole bathroom for well under half of what Bed Bath and Beyond would cost.
This is the BEST tip of all. Emma came with a full head of hair, so since day one I have had to figure out how to make bath time enjoyable since every bath involves lots of scrubbing of the hair. We went to Home Depot and for less than $20 got this hose that connects onto the shower head. It's the only practical way for washing her hair. She gets food in her hair, dumps dirt on her head, and she has a constant runny nose that is always sticking to her hair. Laying down in the tub doesn't get it as good and clean as it needs. So if you have long locks of hair that need a good scrub down, give this a try, best $20 I ever spent!

Memory Mixer

I have been receiving some unworthy praise from family on my "computer skills." The real talent behind all the cute blogs is from my friend Carrie. She first introduced
me to this program in October at our Foofs (focus on our friends) activity. I think everyone should have this program, it's called Memory Mixer. You can buy it at Robert's Craft store or visit their website at www.memorymixer.com I've had fun remodeling family's blogs, and I hope they like them, cause they only get one face lift, then they're on their own. Plus, I'm kinnda burned out, but it was fun while it lasted and I was happy to do it!


The program is good for so many things. I am now entering the world of digital scrapbooking, this is an example of my front page of my book.

Also, I've done a few of my friend's baby announcements, and also taken their pictures. This is Jack, my friend Holly's little boy. He is now a profesisonal sumo wrestler, or at least on his way.

I use the program for invitations as well. This is for Emma's birthday party, I also did it for Camdyn's baptism and also our Valentine's Party, which we had to cancel due to RSV :( So if you're interested in making your own Christmas card, invitation, digital scrapbook pages, birthday cards, baby announcements, wedding announcements, thank you cards, or blog headers, then this is the program for you!

Something to celebrate

For my aunt Carol's birthday we went to the yummiest restaurant Hamilton's in Logan. It's always so nice to have a reason to get together, and celebrating Carol's friendship in our lives is a great reason!



This is my aunt Carol on the left and my aunt Lee on the right. I talk about them a lot to my friends, so now they can have a mental picture. They're my mom's two youngest sisters who have both had such a great influence in my life, Ryan's life, and Emma's life. How blessed I am to have my husband love my side of the family the way he loves his.

This is Emma and "Jehica" (Jessica.) I honestly do hope the best for Jessie, she's a Senior and will be graduating this year. But if I am being selfish, which I am, I hope she always stays nearby so I can use her as my favorite babysitting resource. Some people are just born with patience and love for small children, and Jessica has enough in her to be the mother of sextuplets. Emma had been in Logan for a 2 night slumber party with the Jensens. Lee had her come up for Spring Break to entertain the kids. It works out perfect because the Jensens don't have any little siblings, and Emma doesn't have any big siblings, so the novelty of it all entertains all those involved. It was sooooooo nice to get some things done and have 3 whole days to myself!! I ran errands, and loved being "in and out" of stores. I also stayed up until 1 am each night cleaning the house with my music cranked up loud and not having to worry about waking up Emma. I'm so happy to have so many checks on my to-do list so now I can focus more of my time on Emma. Thanks Lee for having Emma up! Thanks Carol for having a birthday!

Saturday with the Searles

Yesterday my aunt Carol and her kids came out to meet us for dinner at Bangkok Chef. The kids weren't so pumped about Thai food, but we loved it! Then Ryan and Matt went to the Priesthood session and I took Carol and the kids to the Solomon Center to check it out. They have indoor sky diving, indoor surfing, bumper cars, bowling, glow in the dark golf, rock climbing, restaurants and an arcade. You would think we would be there much more often, but we're just not. So if ever anyone wants to come out and meet us there for a date night we're always up for it!! Check it out at www.solomoncenter.com

Then we came back to my house for dessert and games. Thanks for coming out Searles!! We loved it!