Women's Celebration (Where were you?)

KK-


On Saturday it was the Women's Fitness Celebration - where were you? Oh, that is right, you got your "dream" job at the MTC and have to work on weekends.  Well, we missed you and your Texas roomie terribly.   


This year we sported the green shirts since we registered so early for the race.  We had a pretty good group and we rocked it out at the starting line.  The new members to our crew wondered why we signed up for the "competitive" run & walk waves of the race.  We explained to them, that this race is not that competitive to us but those waves start the race first.  This way we finish the race sooner and get to the food faster.  The food and after-party is one of the best parts (especially for those who don't particularly like to run - ME!). 


This year Grandma Katie stayed at the party to receive a rose as one of the Over 70 year old participants.  She was lucky enough to have all 5 of her daughters walk the race with her this year.


It was fun, but definitely not the same without you.  Will you be there next year?  


-Miss T

Simplicity

Recently I started reading Daughters in My Kingdom, a new church book.  There was a quote from Sister Belle S. Spafford, the ninth Relief Society general president that touched my soul.

"The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities."

I felt in my heart that right now being a mother to my young children is the most important thing in my life.  There are times that I wish I could be dancing professionally, or be pursuing a career or many other things.  But raising these two boys is such a special experience, that all those other desires will just have to wait.  My boys are going to grow up to fast.

I have also finished reading a book recommended by a wonderful friend, Simplicity Parenting.  The book has inspired me to simplify my life and preserve childhood for my boys.  I don't want them to grow up to too fast.  I want to choose to keep life simple and beautiful.

-Miss T

Well what do you know, I'm engaged!

Dear Married Miss T-

Well what do you know, I'm going to join the married club! Mr. P proposed and I just went and said YES!

Would you like to hear the story and see pictures? I thought so.

The other evening Mr. P picked me up for a date. That's always fun. He drove me to his house and asked "Do you wonder what we're doing at my house?" Why, yes I did wonder. We went through the gate to his backyard and I was transported to HAWAII! Flowers, grass strands, tiki torches, and SAND! Lilting Hawaiian music played in the background as we stepped up to the back deck and I saw the romantic table for two set up. The ambiance of the deck was incredible. I wish you could see the light coming out of the canoe. And the Hawaiian chocolates on the table. And the BYU lei Paul was wearing. And the hibiscus leis strung all around the perimeters of the ceiling. It was awesome. Perfectly romantic.

But thankfully Mr. P also knows I can only handle so much romance at a time, so he included some elements of humor. Our servers were as authentic Hawaiian as you can get in Provo:
The photographer just so happened to be my beloved Tere-z, and the surprise of seeing her just sent me into fits of giggles.
And then Mr. P said some lovely things, got down on his knee, and asked me to marry him. I went ahead and said YES and now I'm engaged.

So, get ready Destination Wedding here we come. A December wedding in Hawaii--I love it! And I hope you do too.

Love,
Engaged Kk

Hair Color

KK-


Here is a conversation I had with T Bear the other morning. 


T Bear: "Why does Colt always have red hair?"


Miss T: "Colt just has red hair, just like you always have brown hair. People have different colors of hair. What color is Baby Cub's hair?


T Bear: "Baby Cub has light brown hair and I have brown hair."


Miss T: "Yes.  Some people have brown, blonde, red or black hair."


T Bear: "Or green hair.  Poppa has gray or white colorish hair."


I finally realize that this is a great "teaching moment." Miss T: "Yes. People have different colors of hair, eyes, and skin.  But no matter what color, Heavenly Father loves everyone."


T Bear: "GO COUGARS!"


Well, I am teaching him something.  Just not sure what it is exactly.

-Miss T

Toe-tally Worth it

Miss Beautiful toes T-

In the past I have heard you mention a time or two when you have gone to get a pedicure. In all honesty, I sort of thought, "Well that's a splurge that I'm not sure is worth the money."

This last time I saw you in Utah though, I saw your toes and they looked great. I was jealous. So early the next morning, before I saw you at the reunion I pulled out my nail polish so I wouldn't have to be quite so embarrassed at my naked toes.

This past weekend I went to KC's bridal shower in Texas, and it just so happened that her mother splurged and gifted us pedicures!! I am hooked. A pedicure is TOE-TALLY WORTH IT! See for yourself:

My pedicurist was named Julie, and she is an artist. The flowers on my toes are incredible! It's just fun for me to look at my toes now. It's amazing how something as unflattering as feet can suddenly become fun to look at with a little pedicure action.

If you haven't ever treated yourself (or haven't in a long time) to a pedicure, set a goal and plan the reward to be a pedicure. It's worth it.

Love, Pretty toes KK

Pictures of the First Born Versus the Rest

KK-


I had heard this before, but did not want to believe it was true.  


Parents take more pictures of their first born child than of the rest of their children.


There are a thousand reasons why this is true in most cases.  Unfortunately in our house it is true too.  Big D and I looked back at pictures of T Bear when he was 10 months old and we had a bazillion pictures of him.  The motherly guilt set in and I started taking a ton of pictures of Baby Cub in the last couple of days. (The hard part is not getting T Bear in the shot too - he wants to be in all the pictures!)

Isn't he cute?


Now you are probably thinking... Hey! Miss T is the oldest so there are probably way more pictures of her than me.  That may be true.  But whatever you do, do not call mom and remind her of this.  It will trigger extreme motherly guilt.  Trust me, you will understand someday.  But I do remember what a cute baby you were!


Loves,
-Miss T


PS. And yes, Baby Cub is naked a lot at our house.  It is hard to fit him into clothes - did you see those adorable rolls?

Feel Bad For Us, We Have Bed Bugs.

Dear Miss T,

WE HAVE BED BUGS! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

About three weeks ago we thought Tere-z had hives, because she had all of these itchy red marks. She went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and cream. Nothing happened.


A few days later I had two red itchy marks, and we looked at each other and thought "Oh no!" Yet another few days passed and our other roommate popped out in "hives" too! This was enough for Tere-z. She purchased a plastic mattress shield thing and went to put it on her bed. It was in this fateful moment that she SAW THE BED BUGS! Just to be sure we had Mr. P, who has experienced the awfulness of bed bugs and also worked a summer as an exterminator, inspect the mattress as well. He confirmed the awful and terrible truth that we had bed bugs.

EWWWWWWW. I don't even know how to describe how gross and yucky I feel about all of this. EEK. We called our landlady at 10:42 pm to tell her, and we hope to high heaven she takes care of this mess immediately.

Any bed bug suggestions in meantime?? How do you sleep at night? Tere-z and I slept on the couch last night instead...paranoid all night long that little nasty buggers were crawling all over us and eating us alive. Just in case you were wondering, that does not equate with restful sleep.


Love, a miserable itchy KK and Tere-z

Feel Bad for Us, We Took a Family Vacation

Looks like the ideal Family Vacay - right?

KK-


Last Friday, we packed up our little family and headed down to the Oregon Coast for a weekend getaway. I was so excited about spending the whole day on the beach playing with my boys.  It was going to be a perfect mini family vacation for us.


We woke up Saturday morning, enjoyed a lazy breakfast at 7am (why do kids still wake up early even on vacation?), and then started getting ready to spend the day at Cannon Beach.  Before we headed out the door T Bear got sick.   Like sit-on-the-toilet-many-times kind of sick.  Even though he was sick, T Bear still begged to out to the beach.


We got to Cannon Beach, admired Haystack Rock, and started digging in the sand.  Shortly after we had to make some more trips back to the public restrooms (yuck!) for T Bear.  He just didn't feel good.  We realized that although we wanted to stay on the beach all day, our first duty as parents was to take care of our kids - no matter how beautiful and sunny it was.  So we packed back up and headed back to the beach house.  


At the house, T Bear got some much needed rest, while Big D got some much needed BYU football.  I read a book and enjoyed some ice cream, so it was still a good situation.  Luckily, T Bear felt better than evening so we were able to walk to the beach and enjoy some more time outside.


We decided to take the scenic Highway 101 route up the Washington coast to get home.  We stopped at a gas station, where I decided to put the boys into their pajamas for the rest of the ride.  I lifted Baby Cub up and realized that he had a smelly diaper.  Big D and I debated about where to change it - in the dirty gas station bathroom or the car?  We decided for the car.  


I started changing him, but immediately needed back up because the diaper was a blowout.  It the tight car space, it was becoming a difficult and messy situation.  I ended up holding up a naked Baby Cub in the parking lot of the gas station while Big D wiped down his back and bottom.


Big D said, "Ok, that's good.  We are looking like amateurs. People are going to wonder 'Have they ever changed a diaper before or did they just kidnap those kids?' So get Baby Cub back in the car."


We laughed.  It was turning out to not be the most ideal family vacation, but we were still having fun.  


So you should feel a little bad for us because we did have some rough spots.  Mostly I am being sarcastic.  We do hope that if we do it again, it will be without someone being many-times-on-the-toilet kind of sick.


-Miss T

Welcome back college football!

HERE WE GO COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON!

The two teams I'll be rooting for this year are:


My beloved Cougars.

And...


My hometown Broncos.

Who are you rooting for?