Girls Night Out

Last week Darin called me from work to ask if I wanted to go to a gymnastics show-it was the Stars of Gynastics. We thougth it would be good if I took Jordan. He said he got free tickets. I thought that since he called from work, they gave them to his office. Well, a while back he bought tons of salsa and refried beans for a "special offer." He never told me what the offer was until he go the tickets. It was 2 free tickts, courtesy of Ortega, one of the sponsors.

So Jordan and I went to dinner, then took the metro down town. I figured they wouldn't be the best seats, since they were free, but they were pretty good seats. One section up from the floor. Similar seats to what we had for the Celine Dion concert. Anyhow, it was like gymnastics meets stars on ice. They performed to music, and they had 2 performers-new Disney groups-Jordan Pruitt and KSM, both I have heard nothing about. They were ok, but the teeny boppers probably loved them.
There were lots of little girls with gymnastic gym jackets on and some with their leotards-or what ever they call them for gymnasts. Lots of moms with little girls. We actually sat next to a guy who had been a gymnast for 18 yrs, and during the intermission, his father happily informed me that he was 7th in the nation at one time.
I messed with all the settings on my camera, but the pictures were not great. The lighting was so frantic, that it was really hard to get good shots. Here are a few that were OK .

The Hamm brothers performing together. Sent the stadium into a frenzy....they are pretty cute... Nastia Lukin on the balance beam

Shawn Johnson on the uneven bars-Nastia walking in front.

Nastia on the uneven bars.

Jordan out front the Verizon center. She did pretty well, but we left early because she couldn't handle much more. The music was really loud, but she did finally take her fingers out of her ears. She did like watching the gynastics, but wasn't thrilled with the music. She got her $5.00 ice cream cone and intermission, but I had to draw the line at $4.00 for a bottle of water!! Highway robbery...but people fall for it, so they do it!!

So Jordan and I had a great date, even though getting her up this morning was not too fun!!

My name is Wendi....

and I have Road Rage!!

Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem, isn't it. I have realized, now that I drive back and forth to my children's school 3 times a day, that I have not recently been the most patient driver. This is a problem since Spencer sits behind me and catches EVERYTHING I say!! I think at least twice a day when we go get Jordan he informs me "mommy, you can't say that." It's a problem when your 3 yr. old notices you are a little impatient. If I blurt something out, which happens quite frequently, he will ask "what happened mommy?"

Some of my recent complaints:
1. People "blocking the box" There are clearly signs posted...Do Not Block the Box. I hate having to sit through my green light to turn left when because the other people turning left from the cross street do not wait until it is totally clear to turn. The other day my lane and the other lane had to go around a lady stuck in the middle. I called her some name-no swearing involved-and Spencer informed me that my behavoir wasn't appropriate. I had already sat through one green light and wasn't about to do it again!!!
2. Slow people in the fast lane. Last night on the freeway the lady in front of me was going 45 and when I passed her, I realized she was talking on her cell phone!! I have talked on my phone in my car, I admit, but I can keep my speed up on the freeway!! Speaking of cell phones, don't try to turn corners or back out of your space on your phone...you just can't pay attention and do both!!
3. Drivers who fall asleep in the kiss-n-ride, or ones that don't pay attention, therefore slowing the process up. The other day, I pulled up to a car, looked over and and the guy was asleep. The cars behind him were annoyed because of the huge gap he had left. I really wanted to pass him, but I was nice and go out and knocked on his window. Then one day a lady in line wasn't paying attention and a few cars got ahead of her....ugh.
4. Just plain old silly drivers that aren't paying attention and do dumb things while driving.

Ok, just had to get that off my chest. I am trying now to improve and not blurt things out in a fit of rage. I know that a lot of my problem is not leaving enough time to get where I want to go, so I am working on that as well. Wish me luck because I really am a good driver and want to be nice:)

Cox Farms

Last week we went to one of our favorite Fall Festivals, Cox Farms. We were lucky to have our wonderful friend and neighbor Kelly come with us, as well as Jill, Lizzie and Lainey. We had such a fun time!! Here are some pics of our great time.
The girls in the carriage, and Landon wants in!

All you can eat apples-the boys like that part:)

Jordan and Lizzie thougth it was so funny to hide in the maze. They have the coolest maze-wish I was a kid again to crawl through all the tunnels.

How on earth do they grow pumpkins this big, and how did they get it there?

Such great buddies!!

Landon loves animals, so I knew he would love the goats. He had now fear, but we were a little worried when he went near a goat that didn't look so good. We did lots of hand washing after.

Kelly had the food so I could take pictures and this silly goat kept jumping up on her....sorry Kelly...

We had fun on the rope swing, the performing stage, slides, wagon ride, lots of picture places, and the list could go on!!

Fun on the slides!

Cox is such a fun place, although we sure did miss some of our friends who have gone with us in the past...you know who you are-we sure missed you!!

We love pumpkins!!

We love this time of the year-carving pumpkins! Or in Darin's case, coloring on a pumpkin. We had a blast. The kids had such fun deciding what kind of face to put on theirs and how to carve the big one. It was so fun...we had no yelling, no fighting, just a plain good time!! I did the big pumpkin...the little hands in the family take after the father: they did not like the idea of putting their hands in the pumpkins. I loved their facial expressions when they touched the pumpkin.

Love Jordan's face:)

Here we all are with the finished products. The children were thrilled to be able to draw on the pumpkins with markers. But with the luck we have had with markers in our house, it was a great risk:) All went well!!

Can you get any more traditional than this?

Darin and his pumpkin-happy daddy means happy pumpkin:)

As Spencer kept saying during the whole activity: Happy Halloween!!

Family Pictures

When we went to Utah this past July, my friend Nathan took some pictures of our family. We just received the disc-Nathan just got married, so was really busy. I loved them and here is a sampling.

Two Pests

So, Spencer and I both have a pest: His is Landon and mine is a squirrel. Let me explain.

Lately, Spencer and Landon have started to play together. Except now Lanny loves to wrestle. Everytime Spencer is nicely watching TV, Landon gets him from behind. Of course, the pictures are in the reverse order-eventually I will learn-but you get the idea. So far Spencer is very tolerant, but the day will come....

Spencer's way of dealing with his pest...

Oh, I forgot, Spencer wasn't watching TV, he was looking at a toy magazine we had just gotten in the mail... minding his own business.

Next is my pest, which I fear I helped to create. It all started by doing something silly. One day I threw a bunch of crumbs out of Landon's car seat on the pavement next to the car thinking "oh, the birds can have a little treat." I didn't think of the neighborhood squirrels!! Well, I continue to do this, so now they are always rooting around the car. It is pretty fun to watch, but then they get into other mischief....

I made banana bread and the kids and I delivered it to the neighbors. Our immediate neighbor wasn't home, and I was too lazy to unlock the door, so I just set the bread on the brick ledge right next to the door. After a couple deliveries, we returned home to find this. I didn't even think about my friendly pest coming around....smart little thing.

I didn't know that squirrels like pumpkins! It started because the kids made a small nick in the pumpkin. Each day it got bigger, then upon closer inspection, I noticed the little claw marks....

Today was trash day and here is what I found....

I wanted to see what would happen, so I put a bunch of animal cracker crumbs next to the car. Landon and I watched the little pest grab one, go bury it, get another one, then do the same thing. He ran around to lots of different yards digging and burrying. I have noticed lots of dug up spots in my flower bed over the last couple weeks as well.....

Here he is scoping the scene for food.

So, poor Spencer has his problem for life. Me-I can get rid of mine by not feeding it. Is there a lesson to be learned here? It is a pretty cute squirrel, though:)

Fun time with Daddy

I realized I needed to do a better job of thanking 2 people for allowing my trip to Utah to happen-Darin and a dear friend Carla Price. Carla is awesome!! She picked Spencer up and kept him after school for 2 days, and Jordan walked home from school with her daughters the two days. We owe you big time Carla!1

So, then the kiddies had 3 fun days with daddy. He did make some plans of his own, and I gave him one thing to do. Here is what they did in a nutshell:
-got a new video to watch
-Had pizza for dinner
-Went to the Big Apple Circus
-Wen to IHOP for dinner. Which really impressed me because we sometimes have hard times in restaurants with me there:)
-went to church without mommy
-Went to Nalls to pick out a pumpkin. Daddy even took pictures at Nalls-here is one before I evened out Jordan's hair. Darin said they filled a wagon with pumpins, gourds, etc, then had to narrow it down. Great Job daddy-are you ready to do it again in December?

Fun trip to Utah

So, I already mentioned that flying with one child is much easier than with all 3. Landon did very well on both trips. These pics are in the Dallas Airport on the way home. We had a 4 hour layover, so the first thing I did was find the children's play area, and luckily they had a really nice one. He had fun for about an hour before we found Chilis for dinner. Landon did this over and over again. For some reason, he loved going upside down. I didn't mind because it was keeping him happy!!

So the reason for my trip was to a very dear friend, more like a sister, get married. Margaret Ashton, or as I like to call her "Maggie Pie Pie" is a wonderful person and found and equally wonderful guy to marry-Nathan. They were both so happy and looked like they were floating above air. Their sealing was simply divine. I do not think there was one dry eye in the room-it was the most sniffling and sobs I have every heard in a sealing-including the bride and groom. They waited so long to find each other and were just ecstatic!! It was truly a blessing to be there and witness their sealing.

I love you so much Margaret and wish you the best of luck!! Such a beautiful Bride!! Landon, Maggie and I at the reception. Everyone loved his little suit-have to admit he is pretty dang cute!!

Couldn't resist the bowtie:)

We had such a nice time staying with my old roommate Amy, who was Maggie's roommate until she got married. Amy is another of my most dear friends. She informed me when I arrived that she had just gotten engaged and had just picked up her ring. I was soo happy!! But dreaded telling Darin that I needed to make another trip to Utah for a Dec 5th sealing. He understands and his really happy for Amy-who has waited a long time for this!! Her fiance is really nice and I got to love him and his daughters I was able to meet.

On Sunday, which was October 12th, we had a snowstorm. That was early even for Utah. I did bring winter coats, so Landon didn't freeze when we went to church. I don't remember that much snow out her in DC at once for a long time. Lanny wasn't too sure, especially when he fell down. It was so beautiful-I do love seeing the snowcovered mountains. Don't see that much in Northern Virginia:)

Landon in the snow-before he fell down.

My rental car before I cleaned it off.

It was a fun trip, now I wait until Dec 4th to fly out for another wedding:)

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary Darin! October 19th 2002, Washington DC Temple

One of our engagement pics. (the following pics were scanned, so aren't the best. Digital was pretty new when we got married!!) I was always anti bridal pics-felt it was too self centered, but things change when you are engaged. I loved getting dressed up in my dress and posing for pics:) Felt like a real princess!!
We were married in the DC temple, which for me was truly a dream come true-every since I saw it for the first time when I was 13, I wanted to be married there. I did my first baptisms for the dead and received my endowment there, so it was amazing to get sealed for time and all eternity there as well.

The grounds of the temple were gorgeous!! And my friend in Boston made my bouquet and all I told her was fall colors. The matched the flowers on temple grounds perfectly. It was such and awesome day.
Here we are 6 years later!! We were able to go to the Melting Pot for dinner, (picture at the top-was originally in the right place, but some random clicks deleted it so I added it again) thanks to a gift card from my mother in law for Christmas, and the Bushmans for taking care of our kiddos. We absolutely loved it!! The food and company were wonderful.

We thought it was fun to cook our food at the table. All the food was delicious!! We had a great cheese to dip bread in-a fiesta cheese with salsa, peppers, etc. then salad, and some yummy meats and veggies.
Ahhhh the desert...chocolate fondue....Flaming Turtle ours was called...what more can I say? It was so yummy!! You could go there just for dessert....so good...can't say enough!!
Simply Scrumptious!! Thanks for 6 great years Darin!! I love you!!