Here are just some funny things that Lauren and Evan have said in the past months. I wrote them down in facebook, so some of you have probably all ready heard some of these. But I want to copy and past them here so that I have all of their cute words in a document that is a little more permanent. They are such funny little ones. Love them!!

I put Lauren in time out for hitting Evan. When she got out I told her to apologize to Evan. She said "Sorry I hit you Buddy." Then Evan said "Sorry Mommy put you in time out Lauren." Nice to see that no matter what, he'll always have her back. -September 12th 2010

Going out to the car, Evan stops and points "Mommy, whats that?" Me: "That's the exhaust pipe Buddy." Lauren: "Yeah Buddy. That's how the car gets rid of all it's tiredness." -August 20th 2010

Lauren was asking Chad a lot of "what-if" questions..'What if we didn't breath with our lungs..what if we only had one leg...ect" So Chad said "Hey Lauren, what if I had eight arms and a hundred legs, huh, how about that?" She answered back "Then you would be an octopus, or a centipede." Touche! -August 1st 2010

We got Lauren and Evan Sundaes from McDonalds. I put Evans in a cup with a spoon in it and handed it back to him. He started sipping on the spoon handle like it was a straw. I said "No Buddy, it's a spoon not a straw." Evan said "Ohh..yeah..kay.." So Chad and I started to laugh, and then he said "not funny!!" It ...was cute, but I guess you had to be there :) -July 23rd 2010

Driving in the car yesterday, Lauren asked Chad and I "what is the smell I smell outside?" Rolling down the window and sniffing the air, she answered her own question "Ohh, it's blossoms and barbaque!" Love her!! -July 20th 2010

I gave Evan a bath today (because he looked like a poor little orphan-he had so much dirt on him) This is our conversation.."Time to get out Bud." "No, I wash me." "No Bud, times up." "No Mommy. I pay in water." "Ev, I am not going to wash your hair, and you don't have to go to bed." "Oh?..No Nap? Kay, Mommy, I g...et out now." -July 13th 2010

Lauren : Mommy? Do you love Daddy? Me: Yep. Lauren: If you love daddy then this is what you do..you have to hug him and kiss him and then you can turn into a fairy. That is how you know that you love him.
(I always wondered how I can tell if our love was real or not. Thanks Lauren for clearing that up for me) -July 9th 2010

A clean backyard, bithday #2, and Riverdale park..

A lot of you know that when we bought our house, we bought it as a HUD home. I am not sure if we could have gotten such an amazing house in such a great neighborhood when our marriage was so young if we hadn't bought a HUD home. Unfortunately, when you buy a HUD home, they are not always in the best condition. We are still in the process of fixing our house. One of the things that wasn't in the best of condition was our backyard. It had so much over growth and piles of pine needles which for anyone else would be an easy Saturday of grunt yard work and the problem is solved, but for Chad, it isn't that easy. With his heart problems there just isn't a lot of heavy lifting that he can do. Well, we have a couple of amazing home teacher who continually go above and beyond their calling. They have cared for and loved our family. They seem to always be waiting around the corner continually offering their support to our family. Well, when they saw our backyard and Chad told them why it had gotten in the state that it was in, they immediately went into action. They rented a dumpster and called every able bodied preisthood holder in our ward to come by on Saturday to clear out our yard. It was amazing to see decons, preists, and elders of all ages out it our backyard working. I loved to see them laughing and having a good time while they were hauling years of pine needles and junk from our backyard into the dumpster parked front of our house. When people to come together to help and work in a positive manner, the good mood is catching. Our backyard was transformed within hours. Even our Bishop, whose time is precious and he has precious little of it, took time out of his busy schedule to help out as well. Our yard has never looked so amazing, and I find myself venturing out there with a good book to read because now it is a relaxing escape and not an eye sore anymore. Thank you so much to our friends and neighbors. And thank you to our home teachers, who have become our dear friends, for seeing a need and filling it.





It is just amazing that all of that was once in our yard. People were still coming when I left to go meet my dad for lunch. My dad was going to take me and the kidlets to lunch a Maddox for my birthday. I love my dad so much. I really would think that I had something wrong with me if it weren't for my dad. I have told him so on many occasions, and he has said that I do the same for him. I would say that he is the only one of my immediate family who wants anything to do with me, but that isn't entirely true. In the past couple of years, my little sister has started to really make an effort too. I love the person he married, Rita. She is so good to him and loves him. And her two daughters, Samantha and Sarina have become real good friends to me. Sarina was sick and Chad stayed behind to help the elders with our backyard, so it ended up being just me, Lauren and Evan, my dad, Rita, and Samantha. It was alot of fun. It reminded me of all that I have been given. Some people don't have anyone, but I do. My family might not be built like yours, but it is still people who I love whom also love me. If that isn't family then I don't know what it.




After lunch with my dad, I met Chad at Riverdale Park where his family was having a Sphar Family Reunion. By the time I got there, only Chad's sisters and mom were left. It was still nice to see them for a little while. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to see his sisters in a while. Since I saw them last, Traci had had her baby girl and it was the first time that I got to see her. We brought Carter his birthday gifts and a cute dress for baby girl Ella. Family is just so important. No matter how your family is built, you need to feel belonged and loved. You need people who over look your faults and will stand by you in good times and bad. I have that. I have pieces that came from this parent and that one, who are half and steps and real. And they come together to make this beautiful patchwork, this amazing tapestry of a family I am so blessed to be a part of.

Happy Birthday to Me..

I have officially crossed over from my 20's into my 30's and I have lived to tell the tale. It really isn't as bad as I feared. I still fell like I am 21 years old, I look in the mirror and see the same face, I like the same foods and kinds of movies. It turns out that you are totally the same person at 30 that you were at 29. Huh, who knew?

I am pretty sure I am smarter now then when I was at 21. I cringe to think of some of the things that I have said and done when I was younger. I am sure that in my next 30 years I am going to take the time to appreciate my family more, and all of my kids crazy antics. The good and the bad, they all make up for such a rich and zesty life. I am going to exercise more. I would still love to be able to run just a half marathon, so if anyone has any advice on how I can accomplish that, I am all for that. I want to smile and laugh more, not take offense to others. I believe that most people are generally good in their core. I am not going to let the words "I can't" stand in my way anymore. I know I can. I am proud of where I am in my life right now, and I couldn't be happier with all that I have been given. I live and love everyday. I drink in the happiness of my children and the love from my husband. I couldn't ask for anything else for my birthday.

For my birthday, I got to spend it with my favorite people in the whole world, my cute family. I was so sure that I wasn't going to go anywhere or do anything this year. Which is fine with me. I am just happy with a "Happy Birthday". But Chad totally surprised me. He stopped off at the store on his way home and got me a small cake. He even was thoughtful enough to get one that wasn't to sugary so I wouldn't get a migraine. Which sounds like something small to other people, but I think it is way sweet and romantic (see, it doesn't take much to make me happy).

Isn't it a cute little cake. I love it. And I love Chad. He is so good to me. I am grateful everyday that I had the courage to stick up for my love for him against all odds and family pressure. My only regret is that I don't get to share days like this with my family (except for my dad). We were going to go to the movies, but once we got there, the only cartoon movies they had were 3D and Evan doesn't like the 3D glasses. So we went out to eat at Applebee's instead. Which I actually enjoyed so much.

We gave Lauren and Evan some pop rocks and let them eat them while we waited for the food. We thought we were being brilliant. It seems like we never learn, sugar + kids = wild, crazy, nutty,bouncy, spazy little people. We had fun watching them spaz out though.


The pictures are blurry because I was taking the pictures with my phone and these two crazy kids wouldn't sit still! Love them. Everytime I go to eat at Applebee's I always order the Oriental Chicken Salad, yummy! So delicious!

More crazy kid pictures



While we were eating, I was playing with a picture filter on my phone..and again..it shows what happens when you mix children with tons of sugar.



I had a really great birthday. I am sure that 30 would scare me if I didn't have Chad, Lauren, and Evan. The thought of growing up, and yes older, with these people in my life makes me feel very secure. I love my family. In the end, they really are the greatest gift I could have been given.

Utah State Fair

I almost missed the state fair this year, which would have been sad. We haven't missed a year since Chad and I got married. Not when Chad had his heart operation, not when I was big and pregnant with Evan and having contractions while we were walking around the exhibits, but almost this year. I am not sure why. It just kind of crept up on us. So we decided to just load the car up and go. I was sick and oh so tired, but we had to go. What is a September in Utah with out a trip to the fair, I ask you? We had fun. Lauren and Evan love the animals. Lauren is a doer, she is always wanting to go and do and be a part of everything. While Evan is more of an observer. He is more then happy to tag along and watch Lauren ride the pony, pet the animals, ect. But try and get him to pet the animals and he flat out refuses. It is real interesting for me to see just how opposite in personality Lauren and Evan are, but then again, that might be why they get along so well. Here are just some picture highlights. I was trying to get over a nasty cold that made it's way around everyone in our family, so we only stayed about an hour. But it was still fun, and we got to go, which was important to me.


Evan would not touch the cute little baby cow, but Lauren was all over that.

She has now declared to Chad and I that she no longer wants to eat hamburgers. And she wondered why people don't just keep cows as pets. They are "so cute and people shouldn't eat cute things." We decided not to tell her where chicken nuggets come from. We will leave that until next year.






So, last year Chad was sick, this year it was me who was sick, and three fairs ago I was hugely pregnant. Maybe next year all the stars will align and we will all be in good working order to really take in the whole fair experience.

And the Oscar goes to.....

Lauren is a very dramatic little girl. I always tell her that she is going to win an Oscar one day and buy me a house in Malibu. So when I saw this filer for an acting class, I knew that Lauren would fit right in. And she does. She loves it!! She is in her element. She has it every Thursday. Thursday morning, she reminds me right away about her class. It is just so cute to me to see her shine. I love my little actress.

They start every class off with voice warm ups:



They are going to do a production of Alice in Wonderland, so today they did a bunch of exercises where everyone pretended like they were a cat. Here are some pictures of Lauren being a cat:




I love how happy she looks in all the pictures. When I got home and showed these to Chad, we both commented on how she had a perma-grin in all the pictures. It was hard for me to narrow down all the pictures because there wasn't one picture where she wasn't smiling. After they got done slinking, creeping, and prancing like little cats, they did a little dance number.




Then they did a little stage fighting. It took Lauren a while to get this part of it. She is so non-violent, she really was very hesitant to give anyone a good looking fake whack across the face. But by the end, she was fake slapping with the best of them.


The last exercise that they did was to carry around swords and march around in a choreographed little skit where they pretended to be the Red Queens little minions. I love how seriously Lauren took her role. She never broke character.




Man she cracks me up! We finally found an outlet for her flare for the dramatics. I love that kid!



We thought about putting her in soccer, but I truly can't imagine her kicking a ball around. What I do picture is her laying on the field day dreaming while others kick a ball around her. She loves her acting class. She is already asking me how long she has to wait to go back. Eventually, I want to get her in a dance class as well. She is such a natural performer anyway. I am so glad that I found that flier and actually followed up on it. For one hour a week, Lauren is in total bliss.