~The Big 32

Today is my sweetheart's birthday. He turned 32! We met 10 years ago and my life has been so blessed because of him! How could it not? He is everything I need........He is funny, smart, gentle, strong, stubborn, spiritual, and shows such great love to all people! He has so much patience when it comes to my many weaknesses and continues to build up our family! He adores our babies and shows them every day how much he loves them. He takes being a Daddy very seriously which means the world to me.

Happy Birthday to the man I ADORE....

~Terms of Endearment

Okay,.so I have had the same nickname for over 30 years! (Some of you may already know it!) I wish I could say it was something darling or totally endearing,.but it is not. Instead, it is quite silly and only a nickname I could love. It orginally came from my older sister Paige who has nicknamed our entire family and comes up with the craziest names. This is the same sister who has continued on with the tradition and nicknames all her children and her nieces and nephews. You will often hear her unexpectedly refer to one of our little ones in this way: "hi my cutest little snuggle bug of the scrumptiousness of the lovees!" I honestly don't know where she comes up with these things, but these terms of endearment just lovingly and so easily roll off her tongue like it is a second language! It makes us all giggle and it is so precious with the little ones. So you'd think my nickname would be just as clever and full of wonder but again it is not!

Are you ready?..... My nickname is......BUBBA. I know,...I think I hear this most when moms are lovin' on their little boys. It came from "Bubbalicious" as in the bubble gum which was oh so popular when I was born, I guess. This name has stuck with me my entire life. My family, my neices and nephews, my roommates, and my dearest friends still call me BUBBA! Although it is not feminine at all, I have grown to love and appreciate it. Hey,...all of my neices and nephews said my name long before anyone elses (which automatically makes me their favorite, right?) and kids love it.

So why do I tell you this? Well, this trend has trickled down into our little family! and it just brings me JOY. (simple things seem to these days) Just a couple of days ago, I heard Nyah call Ethan..." Monkey-Moo-Moo." This is something Marty calls him! So for fun,..I thought I would record some of the twin's nicknames so I wouldn't forget.

Nyah:

Sweetest Baby Girl--Baby Girl--Princess Baby Girl, Nyah-Lo

Ethan:

Sweetest Lil' Pun'kin-- Pun'kin Pie--Pun'kin--Lovey--Bug--Bugaboo and Marty's favorites: Turkey Burger & Monkey-Moo-Moo

I love it when I hear Nyah call Ethan ..."Bug", or Ethan call my sister..." Mama-Shell" (her new nickname) It just makes be think that we are tied together, with our little insider terms of endearment!

Does anyone else do this?

~The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

We have had the BEST holiday season this year! It has been FULL of family, friends, parties, service, AND the Spirit! Here is what we did this past holiday.....

~Marty took his Mom to see "Scrooge" at the community theatre! Our nephews Austin, Tanner, and Adam had parts in it!
~Took the Young Women Ice Skating. I didn't skate! Hey,..I was a designated driver and I couldn't drive injured. :) And...I didn't have socks....
~Took the twins to Temple Square to see the lights! They loved the big tree and nativities set up in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. FYI: Go watch the "Plan of Happiness" presentation on the 2nd floor of the visitors center! It is SO good....
~Went to see the Festival of Trees with Marty's side of the family. Cayden and Sydney (cousins) were so cute with Ethan and Nyah and I actually had a spare hand to shop a little!
~Went on a Youth Temple Trip
~Attended our Ward Christmas Party
~Attended Marty's Seminary Christmas Party! The twins were TERRIFIED of Santa! In unison, they screamed when he walked in the door. Good eats though and we LOVE the families Marty works with!
~Had a "Spa Night" with the ladies in my Ward. Mercy River performed and treated us to a spirtual spa! It was fantastic and filled my spiritual bucket!!
~Enjoyed getting to know some new neighbors at a neighbor Christmas Party! We laughed so hard our cheeks hurt!
~Had a Christmas PJ party with my our Young Women! It was so fun...
~Went to "Scrooge" with my sister this time! LOVED it!
~Had our 1st annual Schroader Christmas Karoke Party at Marty's Mom's church building! It was awesome! We ate, sang, and did a gift exchange. We had so much more room for our BIG family!
~Went to Temple Square with the Nelson family and saw the lights! Cold,...but fun!
~Attended the 25th Annual Christmas Sing-a-long at the Energy Solutions Arena. Cool story: We went with Marty's family (his brother and neices and nephews were in town) and had a pretty big group. We arrived and there were hardly any seats left and unless we split up, we wouldn't have had a seat! So,.....Marty (my deal-makin, charasmatic honey) went to see if we could get into some box seats. It was a free event...It was Larry Miller's dream to fill the place,...so why not sit in seats that were available. Long story short,...We sat in box seats, right above the stage and had a perfect view! And...we got free hot dogs and drinks! Jon Schmidt, Robert Bowden and Orchestra, and Big Budha were there performing. Now that is fun!
~Used our Free Night Stay at the Holiday Inn Express in West Valley with the kids and had a little mini vacation. They have a water park attached to the hotel, so we were able to go swimming.
~Spent Christmas Eve with Marty's family and played some games....
~Woke up Christmas morning and opened gifts from Santa and eachother. Ethan was so excited about his basketball hoop that he fell to the floor and just stared at it! Nyah, my little organizer, started to sort her "groceries" in her new grocery cart! It was a joy
~Went to Grandpa house to play with the whole family! Missed Mom.....so much!
~ And now.....we are trying to catch up on Sleep and clean up all the messes we have made. Oh,...we love this time of year!

~~The UNTHINKABLE~~

I've officially STOPPED scrapbooking! (Gasp,...I know!) Due to lack of time, materials, and funds to pay for such an expensive hobby, I have since focused more on journaling moments and making simple photo albums! I KNOW,...I've committed the most grevious sin here,.but I have to tell you that I would much rather document all the wonderful things (and not so wonderful) that we do as a family than still be stuck trying to finish my scrapbooks from early married life. I still haven't finished the twins first year (I've done like 3 pages) and they're 2 1/2! I actually feel quite empowered right now! My goal is to document life as we know it while saving money and keeping my sanity. And just so you know,....I admire all you diehards out there that have perfect scrapbooking habits! I will continue to marvel at your genius and beautiful books! (Machelle,...I'm talking to you!) As for me,....I just need to SIMPLIFY!

In an effort to journal for myself and my littles,....I have decided to play catch up and do a mass blog entry! So these next blog entries are more for me,...but enjoy nonetheless!

~~Snowbird 2009~~

Every other year, our entire family heads up to Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon for a family vacation. My parents bought a timeshare many years ago and we've loved going there. Paige and her family came out from New York again this year and were able to be with us which was awesome! I didn't get a lot of pics this year, but we always have a good time there. Honestly,...I just love being with my family. I feel very lucky to have family that I consider my very best friends! AND the best part....there was no puking on this vacation. No, no...we left that memory in Yellowstone!

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~~Cache Valley Getaway~~

We spent a weekend up in Cache Valley this summer and really had a blast. We spent time swimming/hot tubbing at the hotel, going to the zoo, and shopping at Gossner's chesse factory and the Pepperidge Farms Outlet. Nyah absolutely loved the swimming, while Ethan was in ESPN heaven in our hotel room. (We don't have cable, and he LOVES anything ball!) Let's just say that he was the "master of the remote" this trip!

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~~Treehouse Museum~~

The kids and I were invited by our ward friends to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden! Wow,...what a great place. I was so impressed by the different rooms and all the fun things the kids could play with. The staff even gathered up toys that were "germified" and sanitized them. I thought that was so cool! We will definitely have to go back there!

Make a Smilebox slideshow