the luckiest

First of all, hats off to Arah for getting me on track to create a music playlist for my blog. It only took me 4 or 5 days to finally get it figured out. Anyway, the song, "The Luckiest" is mine and Justin's wedding song. I'm so glad I found it to put on here. It's such a sweet song. I hope you enjoy it.

family prayers

Nothing warms my heart more than to see Katelyn ready for prayers. We had family prayer tonight and she knelt down with us, folded her little arms and even bowed her head. She stayed that way the entire time (we do keep them shorter for her sake...and yes, I peeked). Whenever the prayer is done she emphatically says: "Men!" (for amen). She's so sweet~

my new best friend

Did anyone see the Oprah when Dr. Oz showcased the "Neti Pot"? Well, I was so intrigued by the idea of this. A Neti Pot is used for irrigating the sinuses. I had NEVER heard of this before I saw it on the Oprah show. I have been wanting to get one for months but have never gotten around to it. So when this last upper respiratory espisode of mine came around I decided it was time to take action. I was suffering you see, so I went to the local Ben Franklin and found this. It was the best I could get in Newport and basically does the same thing. You fill it with warm water and a special saline solution, press it against your nostril, lean forward with mouth open and presto! away goes the yuck in your sinuses. As far as I can tell, it works really well. I am curious to see how it will affect my allergies as I start using it regularly and once I get over this cold. According to the people who make it, you should use it twice a day as part of your regular hygiene routine, much like brushing your teeth or bathing. Makes sense to me. I recommend this or the Neti Pot to all!

ready for spring

Many thanks to the plow people of Newport, but really, do you have to plow it into our driveway all the time? It's a real stinker when you get up to go to work in the morning and you can't even get out of your own driveway...and your husband is asleep because he didn't get to bed until 3:30 this morning...and when you try to back up the car it won't move, the tires just spin. Hoorah for my dear husband who came to rescue me from my desperate plight and free me from the snow bondage...only to find out when I was freed that there was no school today. Guess my number didn't make it onto the list today. Grrrrr!

growing up katelyn

I love watching Katelyn grow and learn. She is at a stage right now where she is learning lots of new words. I just thought I would share some of my favorites.

Katelyn / Translation

"foofee" = "movie" (especially "ella" for Cinderella)

"gahbeesh" = "garbage"

"gack" = "fruit snack"

"muck" = "oatmeal"

"pitto" = "hippo" (pink hippo bath toy)

"poop" = "poop" (she now tells me after she has gone poo in her diaper)

"toot" = yep you guessed it! (for flatulation)

She also says a variety of other words that are actually pronounced correctly.

Anyway, she sure is fun to have around. She has a great sense of humor (no doubt inherited from her mommy..wink). She is like my little shadow..follows me around everywhere. She loves to read books and make the animal sounds. Katelyn is such a bright, happy little spirit. It's so much fun watching her grow.

Family Fun

I was trying to get a picture of Katelyn and Sophie together. I told Katelyn to go sit down by her, so she backed her little bum right up into Sophie's face and then sat down in her lap. Not quite what I had in mind, but okay.

Miss Sophie

Katelyn, Ezra, and Sophie (5 months apart each)

This weekend we had some family fun with Justin's brothers and their families. Katelyn doesn't get to see her cousin Sophie very much. The kids had lots of fun playing together, especially in the bathtub. Katelyn was going nuts splashing like crazy.

"Tagged"

I've been tagged. Here are some bits of info about my Justin...(Consider yourself tagged if you read this...)

How long have you been married? 3.5 years

How long did you date? Casually, we hung out with friends for a couple of months. Officially, I count from the first kiss. So three months. We got engaged and married two months later.

How old is he? 30...until April 6th.

Who eats more? Justin, but I can hold my own (and it shows)

Who said I love you first? He did.

Who is taller? Justin: 6'4" DeAnne 5'8"

Who sings better? I do

Who is smarter? We are equally smart (kinda scary)

Whose temper is worse? DeAnne's. I have a condition, OKAY!!! haha, just kidding, but I did get really upset and throw my phone last month. It broke.

Who does the laundry? Justin actually helps out a lot with laundry

Who does the dishes? Mostly me, but again he is pretty helpful.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Right now Justin does. I used to until I had foot surgery. We switched sides because his side was closer to the bathroom and it was easier for me to hop in there with my bad foot. Now I like the left side better.

Who pays the bills? I do. I am too neurotic to let him do it.

Who cooks dinner? I would like to say that I do...and usually I do.

Who drives when you are together? Justin mostly.

Who is more stubborn? Justin, hands down!

Whose parents do you see the most? Hmmm...Mine.

How did he propose? We went out to the Pavilion behind the Spokane Temple for a "family picnic" with his family. We started out by playing some carnival type games, which I thought was a little strange since we are all grown kids, but it was still fun. There was the bean-bag toss, something else and then a fishing game. Justin and I went fishing last and boy did I catch a whopper. As I unwrapped my prize I found a beautiful ring hanging off a little porcelain bunny's ear. I turned to see Justin down on one knee saying: "There are lots of fish in the sea, but you're the one for me. Will you marry me?" Obviously I said yes. It was really sweet, he got all teared up and everything. (The above pictures and below video are actual footage of the proposal.)

Who has more siblings? Me (11)

Who wears the pants in the family? Justin

What makes you melt about your husband? I just told him the other day that I really love hearing him play with Katelyn. It makes me so happy that he enjoys his little daughter and takes the time to play with her.

Snow, snow and more snow

The snow just keeps falling! I am afraid we are going to get buried in. Church was actually canceled today because of the snow. That's the second time this year. Look at Justin hard at work out there. Good job hunny~

It is NOT lemonade

Yes, I did put this picture up. Only a mother can appreciate this I suppose. Katelyn's first time going potty in her big-girl toilet. Yay Katelyn!

Winter Fun

We went up to my brother and sister in law's house this weekend for some winter fun. Here is Corey plowing out the driveway so we could drive the car a little closer. (They have a very long driveway).









Justin tried to give Katelyn a ride on the sled up to the house, but she wasn't real crazy about that idea. Corey couldn't plow the steep part of the driveway that leads up to the house and the snow was about knee-deep. Poor Corey ended up giving me a piggy-back ride up to the house. I thought he was going to die. It's quite a walk, even when there's no snow. Sorry Corey!









Ezra and Katelyn are best buddies. They love to play together and follow each other around and copy one another. It's fun to watch them interact.











Here's Katelyn in her awesome snowpants. I was laughing so hard watching her little bum waddle around in those pants. She looked like she had the biggest hips ever!
















Justin, Katelyn, Corey, Ezra, Alura, Sarah and friend Kristy all got to go sledding. I watched comfortably from the deck in my giant shoe-boot. Katelyn wasn't real thrilled with sledding either, but Ezra was a champ.