12.03.2012

This is Halloween...This is Halloween...This is Halloween

At the Whitemyer household pumpkin carvin' was taken very serious this year. First off I am proud to say the pumpkins came from my garden, I be so proud! Rileigh helped me plant the blessed pumpkins so she got first pick from the patch.

Rich and I even got into the pumpkin carving. The nice thing was Rileigh and Logan and even Nellie were all into the idea of cleaning out the guts from their own pumpkins. I saved all the seeds and roasted them for a healthy snack later. So good!
 

Rileigh helped Nellie carve her pumpkin and it turned out so cute.















I myself tried pulling off an owl from looking at a picture, because Moms don't need a pattern. It sucked and ended up looking like Franken Stein and gave everyone a good laugh.



















Logan did really well for himself with a pattern with a scary looking skull head.


















Rileigh did a 3-D Butterfly which was very cool.






















Rich took the cake with his carving of Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin!






















At the eleventh hour I had to pull off a Cheetah costume for Nellie. We had had the ears and tail from an August purchase but pulling off the rest of the ensemble was not an easy task. She was dead set on being a Cheetah ever since she found the ears and tail. I ried to persuade her to be a clown. She said she did not want to be a clown because everyone would laugh at her. So with a mall visit and running to several stores we did it. We pulled off the Cheetah costume!














































I got to drive her and her cute friends to pre-school that day for their class Halloween party. Look how cute they are at this age, love them! Ruby Clayton, Nellie and Jackson White














































Rileigh was a Hollywood Starlet! She wanted to wear heals trick or treating. Luckily I talked her out of since she went to four neighborhoods with this bunch of girls! Annie Rollins, Brindlee Smith, Ke'Nia Martin, Maddie Forsberg and Rileigh








































Logan was a scary vampire and apparently we were not suppose to paint his face for school. Who knew? Not me.
























Logan and I tried to convince Rileigh to go to school with a bite mark on her neck from Logan. She would not do it.


































Grandma and Grandpa came up and passed out candy with Rich and I as we sat by the fire pit and ate beef stew!

Another Halloween has come and gone waaaaay too fast!

11.17.2012

American Girl Doll/Denver

Makenna just turned 11 and for her birthday Mandy had promised her a "friend" party. What Mandy really had up her sleeve was a surprise trip to Denver to go to the American Girl Doll store. It had been planned for months then changed and replanned. We started off by picking the girls up from school and telling them to jump in the car because we’re going to Denver!! 

















Moms of the year below, wait, where is Liz???












They were very confused for a minute and then were really excited!
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Yes we drove around like this.
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 We drove, for I don't even remember how many hours, to Denver and got to Mandy's BFF's house, Jaime. She was such a sweet host to take all of us on. The girls got to sleep in a camp trailer in the driveway and have the giggles all night without us Mom's intervening on their sleepover. But then us Mom's got to have our own sleepover too. It involved a lot of FaceBook and giggles as well!!!

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So first thing Saturday morning we ventured to find the American Girl Doll Store, Denver is so beautiful BTW!

We spent a few hours at the store where Rileigh was granted a spending limit. She got her dolls hair done at the salon which was $20.00.  Bought some ear rings for the doll and two really cute outfits. We won't discuss how much that cost. I honestly was having just as much fun, if not more, then the young girls.

Pictured below is the salon.

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Then we ventured off to lunch and found a "doll friendly" restaurant. It was so cute, they offered booster chairs for the girls' dolls to sit in. Um, did I mention that Tess, pictured below, got her hair done? Ya, she did for $20.00 then Liz quickly fixed it for me and made my stomach settle from "doll beauty salon buyers remorse," thanks Liz!

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Then we shopped... and I mean shopped. Rileigh got some super cute skinny jeans and then Rileigh and I were pooped and broke so we sat and people watched while the rest of the gang shopped some more!
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We had dessert for dinner, which was so fun and so random. Rileigh got a smoothie! The girls stayed up late and watched a movie in the trailer and some of us went to Costa Vida and had more dinner! That was my idea. Our host treated us since she owns the local Costa Vida, yummo!



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On the way home we stopped to see this weird Lincoln head because Mandy said we needed to “experience life” it was even more thrilling because we were coasting on fumes when Mandy decided to take the Lincoln head detour.  The Wallace luck was with us though because we made it to a gas station and did not have to hitch hike :).
What a fun trip and what fun memories we made with our sweet girls. Thanks for planning the trip Mandy and good thing we did not run out of gas because I was planning on people watching some more while your butt be walkin' to the gas station!


11.02.2012


MY BFF, Amy, is my "guest" blogger! She put so much work into this post so a big THANKS to her. 

Meet the "DDT's!!!"(If you've ever seen Billy Madison, you'll know what it stands for.)
 
Olivia - Tanna - Me - Amberlee - Janelle - Carie
(from top left to bottom right)
 
We all went to college together at Utah State University!! Good times! We won't go into detail about our college days. Those stories are saved for special occasion's, like last Friday. We all went up to Park City to spend the night and reconnect. We don't see each other very often. Life gets busy and work, soccer games, football games, riding lessons and dance recitals kind of take over. I think it has been about 2 years since we've all seen each other. I have so many great memories with all of these beautiful girls!! (Saying "girls" makes me feel like we are still young.) I went to elementary, junior high, high school and college with Amberlee & Olivia. We met Janelle in junior high. Then met Carie & Tanna at USU. It's crazy to think about how many years I've known them. We made it through final exams, bad break-ups and roommate fights. We have laughed with each other or at each other until we could barely breathe!!! I count myself very blessed to have each of these little DDT's in my life. I don't know how they have put up with me for all of these years. The Mr. must be paying them off as we speak.:)
 
Now onto the evening. We ate at one of the most fabulous restaurants I've ever eaten at!!! Seriously, if you are ever in Park City, you must go. It's called {Prime Steakhouse & Piano Bar}. Carie knew the manager & the piano man, so we were treated very well!! Here is a look at our dinner that lasted from 7 until 11. Not kidding. We just kept eating and chatting and eating and laughing and eating.
 
Appetizers: lobster bisque/artichoke hearts/seared ahi tuna/crab cakes/sea scallops chester
 
So happy together!!
 
Main Course: sauteed onions & mushrooms/steamed asparagus/green beans almandine/ garlic mashed potatoes/meats of all sorts
(I forgot to mention our salads. They were amazing!)
 
If you can believe it, we saved room for dessert!! Or should I say that we made room!!!
Desserts: creme brulee/molten chocolate cake w/vanilla ice cream/bread pudding
 
Here we all are...plus one(Megan)...who was our more than gracious hostess/server & friend by the end of dinner. That's what happens when you dine for 4 hours!!
 
Once we got back to our condo, we reminisced until the wee hours of the morning. In our pajamas of course. I can't speak for everyone, but I think the button on my pants was about to pop. I seriously couldn't eat on Saturday. On that note, we've decided that this needs to become a 6 month tradition.:) Who doesn't love eating laughing?! You haven't seen the last of the DDT's!!!
 
Thanks Amy

A side note, Why am I the lone blonde in the group? I swear 3 out of 6 of us were blondes in college!

10.08.2012

40 Things to do before I turn 40 eek!


So I started on this list in January of 2011, no kidding. I have been wanting to finish it by my 37th Birthday. Ya ya some stuff I already did BUT it was after I started the list. My friend Frances gave me this idea, she turns 40 the same year I do. Her list was "kind of" unrealistic, sorry Frances a girl can dream but who can afford Europe and a kids college savings account in three years?! 

I went the more realistic route that will push me a bit. It was super fun to write and come up with the  List.  I know I will alter it before I turn 40! You know like add 40 more things to it! 


1.  Get a stamp in my passport
2. Compete in a Triathalon
3. Get a new PR on a half marathon
4. Ride in a Women’s Road Bike “Ride”
5. Take my family to Disneyland
6. Finish College
7. Finish my Quilt
8. Re-Do my Master Bedroom on a budget
9. Remain Debt Free
10. Go Backpacking with my husband
11. Take up Golfing
12. Try Snowboarding
13. Can and stock my food storage
14. Cross Country ski
15. Put money into Savings for a 401K
16. Run a Marathon
17. Get a Road Bike and start Road Biking
18. Bring in a more substantial income
19. Get a Credit Card for the incentives and be totally responsible       
20.  Take up Archery
21. Make my blog into a book
22. Finish my Mom’s Photo Albums
23. Mountain Bike in the dark
24. Archive family photos to three places for safe keeping
25. Bury a time capsule with my family
26. Hike Kings Peak
27. Hike the Subway
28. Play Tennis
29. Take kids on individual road trips
30. Snowshoe and winter camp at a yurt
31. Read the Book of Mormon with my kids
32. Refinance and pay down on our house
33. Finish home projects such as the office and stain the front door
34. Start a Mtn. Bike Race/Ride for Fall “Perty Derty Peddlers”
35. Participate in a Mtn. Bike Race
36. Grow out hair and donate to Locks of Love
37. Take up rock Climbing with Rileigh
38. Teach Logan how to ski
39. Teach Nellie to ride a bike and rollerblade
40. Keep my husband as my best friend

Already completed #16 and #29 done with Rileigh. So #33 is so dumb but had to be added so the stinkin' projects will get completed. I have a couple personal one's in my head that could not be published. 

Wish me luck and I will keep a yearly update of the #'s completed.

10.02.2012

Lake Powell + Kids

 Lake Powell, being one of my favorite places on earth, could not be turned down even though it involved A LOT of kids! We ventured the 8 hour plus drive with the Wallaces in a motorhome which equals = F-U-N! We then met up with two more families and MORE kids. Let me just say the next time I venture to Lake Powell it will not be with the kids. Lake Powell is way better minus - the kids!!!

 That being said we should all get "Parents of the Year," for inviting our kids to such a glorious place. Oh sigh, here are just a few of my favorite pics I wanted to share...the kids truly got a taste of all things Lake Powell

Cliff Jumping
Playing on the Beach


 Camping on the Beach
 Tubing

 Making Memories


 Potty breaks via 4-wheeler
 Sand hill runs
 Don't have any pics of the kids trying out the wake board but lots of Fun-Fun-Fun Memories!


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