I'm 28 Years Old!!!

Actually I turned 28 on Friday, December 29th (yesterday) but I only had time to leave a blog post today. Here is a quick little update:
We left Hawaii two weeks ago to spend Christmas and the Holidays in Utah with my parents, my sister Leslie and her family. Since being here we have enjoyed the lights, the freshly fallen snow, sledding, shoveling snow and warming up to a fire in my parents family room. Christmas was wonderful and especially heart warming this year. Mark and I recieved a very special gift that really has touched my heart and made me grateful to all my friends and family who care about me and my family. I truly cannot express how grateful I am for such a Christmas surprise, but Thank You!!!

Since I turned 28 this year, and in this year, I have experienced many new changes, I thought i would list 28 things about me:

10 things you might not know about me:

1. I had another baby boy (my third)
2. I started taking violin lessons again.
3. Eventhough I claim I hate the cold, I miss the snow
4. I would rather be hot than cold
5. I really think it is fun to do aerobics
6. sometimes I actually need deodrant because my armpits smell bad!
7. I do not like books that are turned into poorly made movies
8. I own more pairs of shoes than years I am old
9. I will always feel like Pleasant Grove is my home
10. Although I love to workout, when it comes to actual sports, I SUCK!!! (I am the person you would pick last to be on your team)

10 things that I want to do this next year:
1. Move back to the "mainland"
2. Buy a home
3. Attend Mark's graduation from the MBA program at UH
4. Achieve my goal weight and keep it
5. Continue violin lessons until I move from Hawaii
6. Finish Theodore's baby scrapbook album
7. Get caught up in my scrapbooking
8. Remember my friends and family's birthdays (please let me know when yours is)
9. Read a new book every month
10. Make Candy at Christmas with "Tammy the Pecan Logger"

and finally, 8 things that I am the most grateful for:

1. Mark: although we have our ups and downs and ins and outs, he is my best friend, greatest support and confidant. He works so hard to make our lives better and he is always humble and willing to go the extra mile for our little family.
2. My family: This group of people always know how to give advice when I am in need and help when I am down.
2. PGWC: this group of women are truly inspiring, with a story each their own, I learn so much from them...they know I love them.
3. Diet Rootbeer: when you haven't had a soda in a long time, and you are trying to skip out on the extra calories, Diet Mug rootbeer really hits the spot.
4. Costco: whatever you are looking for, most likely they have it, and if they dont...you don't need it.
5. My Scriptures: I love to read them and feel safe, secure and at peace.
6. Shoes: because they come in every shape and size, and no matter how you feel about your body, your feet can always look fabulous.
7. Babies: Because my little guys make me feel so important and loved.
8. My Ghetto Van: because eventhough I have ran into many objects, she still runs and gets me to where I need to be.

Well, I am 28 now and that pretty much sums it up.

HOLY WHAT?!?

I just wanted to share this short little story that happened to my family today. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

This evening Mark, the kids, and I went to see our Bishop of our ward (church). It is the end of the year and we thought that we would visit him. We all went over to the church together and went into the Bishop's office. I took him some of my mom's Pecan Sandies and I think that he enjoyed them. After our short visit with the Bishop, the Bishop asked George and Henry if they would like to pick a candy out of his candy jar. George and Henry jumped (literally) at the opportunity. George reached in first and grabbed an orange sucker, then Henry reached into the jar. At first it looked as if Henry was going to choose the tootsie roll, but instead he finally decided to opt for the sucker too. When he tried to pull out the sucker, his hand caught a few other candies and they too flew out of the jar, so Henry quickly ducked down under the Bishop's large desk/table and picked up the candies to put them back in the jar. When George noticed that Henry's sucker was still on the floor, George thought it was funny that Henry had to duck under the table. So George made up a little rhyme, "Sucker Ducker" Henry thought that was too funny, and he too decided to join in the rhyming. Soon Henry was saying "Sucker, Ducker, Pucker" Well within a matter of seconds, I will let you guess what the next rhyming word Henry said was...it begins with F and ends the same as the other words. Now it was obvious that Henry just thought this word was just one in a list of endless fun rhyming words, but as soon as the "bomb was dropped" I couldn't contain myself. I looked at the Bishop, who looked stunned and then to Mark who was looking awkwardly at Henry, and I laughed so hard that I thought I was going to pee my pants. In fact, I couldn't even say anything I had to just walk out of the room because I could not compose myself.

Family Pictures

We recently had our family photos taken by a great friend of mine, Natalie Norton. She has been studying photography for quite some time now, and she offered to take our family pictures so she could build her portfolio. We haven't had professional pictures taken since Mark and I got married and it was nice to be able to take family pictures somewhere other than Walmart and Target. (Not that I don't love my Target Pictures, but it was nice to be outside) Since Mark is a full time student and our financial situation does not provide the lavish lifestyle of being able to take professional pictures, I was so grateful to my friend when she offered to take our pictures. Not only would she not accept payment, but she gave us a cd of all our shots so we could print as many and what ever size we wanted. Here are a few pictures from our shoot that I absolutely loved! I feel so blessed by her kindness and she has given our family a truly special Christmas gift. I hope that I can pay her gift forward...
This picture really captures George and Henry's personalities.


I love this picture of our family in front of the Laie LDS Temple. It is such a beautiful, tranquil place.