Life is more fun at the Beach

Join Me in a 5K Run/Walk

2011-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

To Register for BUN UP 5K Run/Walk go to Active.com Buns UP 5K

Buns Up 5K Run/Walk To Benefit Colon Cancer Screening

Saturday March 26, 2011 at 9:00 A.M.

Location: Olympus Hills Shopping Center 3900 South on Wasatch Boulevard, on 3800 South we make a right and go one mile up Millcreek and return to Olympus Hills where we will have awards, food and music.

Entry Fee $25, after March 19th, $30
All Proceeds to Benefit Colon Cancer Screening

We Want to See Your BUNS at Age 50!

As many of you know, I am an GI Endoscopy Nurse at the University of Utah Hospital. This March our department along with the Mountain West Society of Gastroenterology Nurses, is hosting a 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 9:00 am to raise awareness of colon cancer screening. The money raised will go into a fund to provide colon cancer screenings to those who otherwise could not afford them. Colon cancer screenings saves lives!

Did you know???? According to the CDC.....

*Of cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer—cancer of the colon or rectum—is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In 2007, 53,219 people in the United States died of colorectal cancer (27,004 men and 26,215 women).

*Colorectal cancer also is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States. In 2007, 142,672 people in the United States were diagnosed with colorectal cancer (72,755 men and 69,917 women), making it the third most common cancer in men and in women.

*Colorectal cancer is also one of the most curable types of cancer if it is diagnosed early. When detected at its earliest stages, chances for a cure are as high as 90 percent.

Week 12

2011-02-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Good news first. I have officially lost 20 lbs! I never thought I could really loose the weight. I had accepted the fact that I was a short fat girl who was addicted to chocolate. Fat and happy right? Loosing weight was just another impossible goal such as climbing Mount Everest, running a marathon or flying to the moon on my bicycle. I never thought I could do it. And here I am 12 weeks into a health challenge... and I did it!

How, you ask? It sounds too simple. I cut my calorie intake, increased my exercise, drank lots of water, no snacking, no treats. I think the key to all of this is mini goals along the journey to my end goal. Every day I make a goal to avoid treats and eat my fruit and vegetable servings and exercise. Each week I set a goal to loose about a pound. Each month I set a goal to lose inches off my chest, waist, and hips. Little by little, pound by pound, inch by inch it is working! Now that it has been 12 weeks, the mini goals and accomplishments are stacking up and the weight is coming off. I look in the mirror and see the same body, but my clothes are getting looser on me. What a nice change. Over the past 10 years my clothes have only shrunk and gotten smaller. It is almost time to go buy new jeans! I hope by my birthday in a few weeks to be down a few more pounds and celebrate with new clothes.

Now for my personal challenge this week. I have been sick with a nasty cold and flu the past ten days. I have not exercised once! I am starting to feel better but have no motivation to get up and go work out. I am worried that I might slip back into old bad habits and loose all my progress so far. It is a daily battle for me. I do not enjoy exercising. I envy all of you that get the runner's high and love the burn! I want to find that enthusiasm. Any tips?

My trainer Doug gave us all the weekly challenge to attend a group fitness class. I hope to go tomorrow to an aerobics class at our local gym. Wish me luck!

Health Challenge: Week #11

2011-01-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that we are doing a Health Challenge at my work. Those who wanted to participate were assigned to a team. There are three teams with ten people on each team. I am on team RED!

Our Health Challenge is being managed by a fantastic Personal Trainer, Doug Hill. He has come to our staff meetings to show us exercises, do measurements, and to keep us motivated. The way the program works is each week we compete to earn points for eating healthy, exercising, keeping a food diary, not eating treats, and weight/inches lost. In addition to the weekly goals we have a bonus challenge that Doug e-mails us.  The teams with the lowest total points have to put $2.00/person into a pot.

This week Doug e-mailed us our challenge. I will share his email below:

Dear Friends:

Sorry this has taken so long to get the information back to you. The reason will be explained as part of the coming week's challenge.

Team winner: Yellow

Individual winners: Sara 1000, Becky 960, Alisha 940; Honorable Mentions; Wendy 935, Rebecca 930, and Dan 910

The new week's challenge is to spend a minimum of 15 minutes every day in mediation alone or spent holding someone you love close to you and simply sharing and enjoying being close to them. The reason for this peaceful challenge is last Tuesday my great-niece Madey aged 15 lost her year long battle with Ewing sarcoma. She was an individual always seeking to lift another person, to strengthen those around her and to cause another person to smile more abundantly. In honor of Madey, please spend quality, quiet time close to your spiritual self or close to someone you love.

It is my honest prayer that everyone of you will find added peace this week. If it seems odd, even counterproductive to spend that kind of time every day in reflection, trust me the invest is well worth ANY sacrifice you may perceive. The reward will be especially powerful if you are able to spend this time close to the person you love most in this world.

God bless you, may the Universe align in your behalf, or Namaste...which ever is most appropriate to you.

Doug

Douglas Hill, MS, CSCS

Personal Trainer/Strength Coach

To Blog or NOT to Blog....

2011-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. It has been a very long time since my last post. I have mixed feelings about blogging personal details about my life for the entire World Wide Web to see. Thus I have not posted anything for almost a year. So my question to you my friend is should I delete my blog or start blogging again?

Why ask this question now you ask? I have recently started a Health Challenge at my work and think it might be fun to share my experiences about our health challenges, weight loss, exercise, healthy eating, training to run a 5-K ( and I am sooo not a runner), chocolate cravings, and diet coke withdraws.

I started this Health Challenge 10 weeks ago. I have lost 17 pounds so far and feel happier and healthier. It is the half way point of the Challenge, 10 more weeks to go. I hope to loose 15 more pounds by the completion of the challenge to reach my goal of a 30 pound weight loss.

What do you think? Should I blog about it?

Yours Truly,
Haley

Quilt

2009-04-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

"A" is for Ashley

"Q" is for Quilt

For Christmas I asked for a sewing machine. I have never sewed in my life but always have wanted to learn.

I got a great Bernina sewing machine that came with lessons. At the first lesson, I didn’t even know how to plug the sewing machine in let alone sew anything. Late at night I would stay up practicing sewing straight lines after my family had gone to bed. At my last sewing class our teacher recommended that I go to Material Girls Quilts to get inspiration and see great “fun and hip” fabrics.

I went the next day to Material Girls Quilts and loved everything I saw, the cute quilts on the walls, adorable aprons, fun pillows, bright colorful fabrics, and friendly staff. However, I was totally and completely overwhelmed. A lady named Nadine asked if I needed help and guided me to the “Swanky” Moda charm packs for my first sewing project. She and her staff were so sweet and helpful.

I went home and started making a quilt for my 4 year old daughter, Ashley. She helped me lay out a pattern for her quilt and sat on my lap as we learned together how to sew a straight line. It was such a wonderful time to bond with her! She would help feed the fabric as we sewed her quilt …together. After I had the squares done, I took it to be machine quilted. The last finishing touch that needed to be done was the binding. My mother taught me how to do a blind hand stitch binding on the bias. My mother and I sewed the binding while watching General Conference together. Ashley came and curled up on my lap as I was finishing the binding, and fell asleep.

Ashley helping me sew
Ashley sleeping as I finished her special quilt

Three generations working together on a quilt of love for Ashley. I am so proud that I finished the quilt; moreover, it was a work of love from a mother to her daughter. I hope Ashley can wrap herself in that blanket and feel my love surround her always and forever.

This sums up my life lately....

2009-01-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I got off my 13 hour Urgent Care nursing shift at 9:45pm. I had my lunch break at 12 noon and was starving by the time my shift ended. I had a great secret plan to drive to Leatherby's and get ice cream for me and Steve to share and some cafe rio for dinner for me. The entire 20 min. drive there I was dreaming of a yummy Cafe Rio Pork Salad and creamy Swiss Milk Chocolate ice cream driping with hot fudge...yummmm. The perfect ending to a long day. Well, when I arrived there, I couldn't find my wallet. I looked in all of my pockets over and over again and realized that I had left it back at work in my locker that was now closed until the morning.

I sat in my car looking at the glowing Cafe Rio sign crying and then over at Leatherby's and sobbed! I was hungry, tired, and desperate. There was no way I could leave empty handed. I dug through Steve's ash tray and scraped up $3.60 in change and prayed it would be enough to get a scope of ice cream to go. I looked at the to go menu board, a double scoope was $3.39. I asked the girl how much it was with tax and she said $3.54! I cried tears of joy and told them my pathetic situation and they smiled and scooped me a generous "double" to go :0)

p.s. My best friend, spell checker is not working....I know! I can't spell. Sorry.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T12:58:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that I have lost the blogging obsession over the past few months. It is mostly to blame on my new phone and easy access to Facebook. Also, our home computer has a nasty virus that has enabled it from working for about a month now. It has been frustrating to say the least and as of today, we are still without a computer at home. Nonetheless, I wanted to post something new.

First off, we had a great Christmas this year and feel very blessed to have shared it with all of our loved ones. We went up to the Cabin for sledding and snowmobiling with the Deyhle's and Christmas dinner at the Beach's. This week we are visiting the Powell's in sunny and warm Palmdale, California! We have gone to the beach, Magic Mountain, and played all day and night. The little cousins are having a great time together. I want to thank Dave and Andrea for letting us stay with them. It has been complete chaos with 4 children under 4 years old living together. We were laughing last night that all we (Andrea and I) do is referee fights, put out fires, and change diapers. Right now all of them are taking naps (a miracle in its self) so I have a moment to blog. I wish I had a way to upload pictures from our camera to the laptop so I could post some pictures. Oh well, maybe later.

Tomorrow we will travel down to Temeclula to visit the California Beach Bums!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year!

God Bless Our Troops

2008-12-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html

Send a Thank You Card for Christmas to our troops! It is FREE and only takes a few minutes.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

So I was going to post about our Thanksgiving but my sister did such a great blog just look at hers! (I am such a lazy blogger).

Click here to see the post.

Better Late than never right?

2008-11-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, I admit that I am a slacker when it comes to blogging. I debated about posting this...Halloween was so long ago. Oh well. Better late than never right?

Aaron as a dragon

Our family at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. Steve and I are wearing clown suits that my mom made in 1983!

Ashley and Valie

Any Sugestions???

2008-10-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Any suggestions for fun, cute, creative, easy, inexpensive ideas on how to thank everyone who serves in our Primary? We just had our annual Sacrament Meeting Program and I would like to thank everyone for all of their hard work that made it so great. Any ideas?

Red Butte Garden After Dark

2008-10-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Friday Night we went to the Red Butte Garden After Dark party. It is a tradition that my cute sister-in-law, Vickie, started. The Kids love dressing up, getting their face painted, crafts, and the black light scary wood walk.

Ashley and Aaron painted our faces and did a pretty good job considering that they are 4 and 1!

Aaron, Ashley, and Valie on the giant lizard.

Making Monster Grass.

Aaron loved the smoke.

Valie and Ashley with yummy popcorn that aunt Vickie brought! Thanks for the great tradition and treats!

Little Haunts at This Is The Place Heritage Park

2008-10-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

This year we have enjoyed going to This Is The Place Heritage Park. The second week of October they had a great activity for little ones called "Little Haunts." Ashley and Aaron dressed up in their Halloween costumes and had a great time. Our sweet niece, Jaiden, Grandma Gi Gi and Aunt Lesley came too. It was 75 degrees making it a delightful day.

Haley & Aaron in the Corn Maze.

Ashley and Jaiden at Spooky Story Time.

Gi Gi, Aaron, Lesley, Haley, Jaiden & Ashley waiting for the Train.

Crafts at the School House.

Aaron driving the toy train.

October Snow

2008-10-28T12:33:00.001-07:00

Canyon Cookout

2008-10-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Steve called me from work at 5:45 pm and suggested we go up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a cookout for dinner at 6:00pm to enjoy the fantastic fall colors. To be honest, Steve is not spontaneous. He has to plan things way in advance. Therefore, there was NO WAY I wasn't going to say yes, even though I only had 15 min to pull dinner together. I found some frozen hot dogs, frozen hot dog buns, Doritos, oreos, apples, soda, and mini marshmallows (see previous post) and tossed everything into our giant Ikea bag and jumped into the car.

The kids loved the menu of pure junk food for our dinner. Ashley especially enjoyed putting the mini marshmallows on a hanger to roast them over the fire.

Mini Marshmallows......

Cooking our frozen hot dogs and trying to de-thaw the buns.

Steve brought his camp stove and propane, but forgot the connector. Good thing we brought up enough wood for a good fire. We laughed a lot and had a great time. The weather was warm... perfect evening for a cookout. Thanks Steve!

Good Morning

2008-10-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Nursery

2008-09-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Aaron recently started going to Nursery Class. It has been difficult for him. He cries every week. His Nursery teacher was taking pictures in class last week and sent me this one. Priceless.

Play Group

2008-09-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Play Group Activity Tomorrow:

Friday, September 26, 2008

1:00 pm (Meet at the Visitor's Center)

Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine

Cost: $5.00 / Vehicle

Address: 12800 S. State Route 111

Map and directions here: http://www.kennecott.com/?id=MjAwMDEyOQ==

I wouldn't say anything but..........

2008-09-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was at the grocery store with both of my children to get a few items quickly and go home. I knew it was going to be one of those days.

Both Ashley and Aaron had a meltdown because I refused to get the "car" cart. Last time we were there, the car cart experience was a disaster. Both of them were climbing out, over, and under the car the whole time. I explained to them at that time that the next time we went, there would be no car cart; and that brings us to yesterday's NO CAR CART day. Anyway...Ashley cried in the parking lot saying that her legs didn't work and that she absolutely needed that car! Aaron following his sister's example started his tantrum as well and I had to wrestle him into the cart. In my frustration, I didn't notice that the regular shopping cart we chose did not have a complete buckle leaving Aaron climbing out the whole time I was there. I saw that marshmallows were on sale, and thought of all of the yummy treats we could make with marshmallows. At this store, the mini marshmallows are on the bottom shelf. So I had to leave the cart un-supervised to bend over and fish around for a bag that wasn't all melted into a glob. As I was looking, I heard a lady say, "Hey, your kid is going to fall out of the cart!" I stood up and sure enough Aaron was standing in the seat of the grocery cart. I thanked the woman and sat him back down (no buckle...remember). Then she continued, "I wouldn't have said anything, but I am a trauma nurse." Pause...what did she just say???? That she wouldn't have said "your child is about to fall and hurt himself???" She only did it because she is a "TRAUMA NURSE???" I actually asked her that question, "You wouldn't have said anything if you were not a nurse?" and she just ignored me. I was a little shocked by that statement. I am a nurse. Does that mean that I should only help people out of obligation, not out of the goodness within? Was she really a mean old lady, but would have felt guilty if she hadn't said anything and he really did fall and injure himself...and haven forbid, she had to come and offer medical assistance??? Should I have given in first thing and just gotten the car cart to try and avoid all the tears, kicking and screaming? What is a mother to do? So next time you are at the store and see a poor mother with children being anything but angelic, please, be kind.

Ashley's First day of Preschool

2008-09-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ashely started her second year of preschool last Tuesday. She is in the 4 year old preschool class!
This is Ashley's friend Rowyn. We carpool with him.

Looks like preschool is going to be a lot of fun!

Aaron's First Haircut

2008-09-14T19:38:00.001-07:00

We went to Cookie Cutters to get Aaron's FIRST hair cut! He jumped up into this little air plane first thing.

He was given a sucker and watched Incredibles.

He was in a trance...better that than crying!
He looks so grown up and handsome! (Where's the smile Monkey???)

Brigham City Peaches

2008-09-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition for us to drive up to Brigham City to buy PEACHES the first week of September every year. We buy as many peaches that our vehicles can hold! I love to can peaches and make home made jam and such. It is so rewarding to pull out a jar of beautiful peaches in January when it is a blizzard out side and pop open a jar of pure summer joy....peaches.

This is our favorite Peach Stand.
Valie and Ashley love pulling the wagons full of peaches.
Gi Gi and Haley picking out corn.
Lesley helped keep my kids out of trouble while we were there. Love you!

Sunflower Update

2008-08-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Presenting the Beach Family Sunflower! We were so happy when a bright yellow blossom appeared atop of our giant Sunflower this week! It is the tallest plant we have ever grown and have enjoyed watching its progress this summer. Steve and I have a debate on how tall it is...we might just have to get out the ladder and tape measure to see who is right (me of course). He says it is about 10 feet I say more like 13 feet. What do you think?

Allison

2008-08-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of my younger sister Allison. She recently graduated from Brigham Young University with the degree of Master of Arts in Art History. She is the first woman in our family to obtain a Master's degree. I admire her for her love of art and how she worked passionately on her thesis. Congratulations Alli! We Love you!!!! Haley and Allison
Ashley, Valerie and Auntie Alli
Alli and Lesley
Aaron. I was completely distracted while taking pictures trying to keep Aaron out of the fountain of water in the background.

Sunflower

2008-08-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

We have a giant sunflower growing in our yard! It has yet to produce a blossom but continues to grow and grow! Ashley calls it her Jack and the bean stock. Here are some photos of Ashley, Valie and Aaron standing next to it that I took yesterday.

I FINISHED Breaking Dawn!

2008-08-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Breaking Dawn. PLEASE hurry up and finish so I can have someone to talk to about it! I have been completely obsessed and using every spare moment to read. When I finally finished this morning, I took a look around and saw my house was a complete and udder mess! I really don't care too much, the book was fantastic and the mess can be cleaned up now that I am done. Steve will be happy too, he is tired of breakfast for dinner! By the way, has anyone seen my kids???? I haven't payed much attention to them and they seem to be missing. Ha Ha.

Kings English Breaking Dawn Party

2008-08-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Waiting for 12:00 to come........Tasha with her books! I didn't get a book, but I got a box!!!!
I asked Tasha if I could at least get a picture with her book.
Allison and Lesley

Breaking Dawn is here!!!!

2008-08-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight my sisters and sister-in-law Tasha went to the Kings English Book Store Breaking Dawn Party to get our books at 12:00 midnight! I didn't pre-order a book, so unfortunately was not able to get one. Boohoo. So I texted my good friend who was at the Barnes and Noble party and she said that she could get me one from there. Yeah! So until further notice...I'll be reading :) P.S. This is a little note to my sweet family, Sorry but it looks like cereal will be on the menu.

Happy 4th Birthday Ashley Ann

2008-07-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Today is Ashley's 4th Birthday. We had the best party at This Is The Place Heritage Park this morning. We had pony rides, train rides, danced, made candles and a tea party!

Ashley on the pony

Ashley and a little lamb

Fun in the Mud

2008-07-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Aaron loves playing in the mud, sand, dirt...anything messy and dirty. Every time he is outside he finds a way to get completely covered in dirt and/or sand head to toe. As you can see in the background of this first picture, we have our water hose readily assessable. It is low to the ground easy for kids to reach. One day I was weeding and found the kids had turned on the water and were making "mud pies." Notice the only mud on Ashley is the mud Aaron splashed on her.

Needless to say, he takes a lot of baths!

2008-07-06T23:47:00.001-07:00

My friend Becky did this on her blog, and it has been so fun to read what people have said, so I thought I would give it a try.

What you do is...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments!

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th of July this year. It started off early at the neighborhood breakfast. We were in charge of balloons, the bike rodeo and the bike parade for the party. With much help 150 balloons were filled and given to all the children at the breakfast. Only a few flew away and/or got stuck up in the trees. Steve was able to borrow the Health Departments Bike Rodeo with little street signs, cones, rail road tracks and sidewalk chalk. The YM set up an fantastic course for the kids to ride their bikes and scooters in. Finally we had the bike parade. It was so great to see every one's bikes all decked out! I forgot my camera :( and didn't get any pictures of the morning festivities. That afternoon we went swimming at Grandma Beach's pool to cool off. Finally we went to the The City of Holladay's Fireworks! I remembered the camera and took a ton of pictures in attempts to make up for forgetting to take any pictures all day long. The fireworks didn't start until 1010 pm Aaron was so exhausted he fell asleep during the show, but the rest of us had a great time!

Aaron waiting for the fireworks

Steve getting anoyed with me taking too many pictures
Ashley
Haley, Ashley, Aaron, Steve
Ashley & Valie They made thier shirts at preschool.
They always like to dress alike and be
"twin sisters"
The Dawson's
My SINGLE twin sisters Alli & Lesley (aren't they so cute!? )
Haley & Ashley
How was your 4th of July?

Happy Birthday Steve!

2008-07-02T15:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday

We Love You!

Some things don't change....

2008-05-21T12:56:00.001-07:00

We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park on our California trip with our cousins Keegan, Lucas and Aunt Kristen. That Zoo is amazing! Many animals are just roaming in a "natural" environment together. We went on the tram ride around this fantastic area to look at all the big animals such as the hippos, giraffes, zebras, elephants, etc. We loved it! Anyway, when we were looking at the elephants, Ashley and Keegan were standing on the fence and I had a total flashback to 2 1/2 years ago when we were at the Hogle Zoo. I had to snap a picture and blog about it! I guess things really don't change! Here we are looking at amazingly huge animals and all they want to do is swing on the fence and play. Both times Kristen and I were trying our best to get them to look at the animals saying "look at the giraffe!" "look at the elephants!!!" but the fence was the hit of the day. Classic.

Ashley and Keegan

Hogle Zoo

2006

Ashley and Keegan

San Diego Wild Animal Park

2008

California Recap

2008-05-21T10:56:00.001-07:00

Aaron at Santa Monica Beach! He has so much fun playing (and eating) in the sand! He was in heaven rolling around and digging all day long. We went with Dave, Andrea, Evan and Jack!This was our first day at Disneyland with Mike, Kristen, Keegan and Lucas. We had a blast riding all of the kidie rides. The highlight of the day was Nemo.
This was our second day at Disneyland. That day we were so happy to meet up with our family: Cam, Vickie, Valie, Lesley, Allison, Keegan, Lucas, and Kristen! We forgot to get a giant group photo :( of all of us together. We had a great time at the Princess party, Toon Town, California Adventure, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is Ashley with Mini Mouse.
Later we went to the Powell's new home in Palmdale.
and to Temecula to visit the Beach's.
It was a great vacation for our family. We survived the 12 hour car ride (with over 6 bathroom breaks each way) and had a great time! We hope to make it a tradition.

California update

2008-05-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

Greetings from California! We are having a blast in the WARM California sun. We went to Disneyland on Friday, SO MUCH FUN! We went on all the kiddie rides and the children basically freaked out with delight. Ashley decided that her favorite ride was the "tea cup ride." I liked the new Indiana Jones ride. Aaron loved Finding Nemo. Steve liked Thunder Mountain. We are going back again this week. Yesterday we went to Newport Beach and played in the sand all day long. We LOVED it! More fun to come..........................and pictures !

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.
-Haley

Disneyland Here We Come!

2008-05-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are going to Southern California for a fun much needed VACATION! I can't wait to start the Summer off with a great trip visiting family, going to the beach and best of all....Disneyland! I haven't been there for over 18 years (that makes me sound SO OLD).

Does anyone have suggestions/secrets for a great Disneyland trip?

Dirt

2008-04-29T21:21:00.001-07:00

We have a big pile of dirt outside the front of our house that is next on the "honey do list" to get landscaped. Aaron just loves playing in that dirt! One day he was really digging his hands into it and decided to try and eat it! He had two huge mouth fulls....yummy. Aaron is our picky little eater, I guess we should start serving him dirt once in a while.

Dirt and boogers!

Twilight...The Movie

2008-04-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

http://themovie-fanatic.com/exclusive_articles/film_focus/twilight_series_part1/

Some times you have to let things go.....

2008-04-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Big "A" this is for you!

A B C D.......Tag. Thanks Tasha

2008-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

If you read this, and have a blog, copy this and fill in your answers. Consider yourself TAGGED!

A- Attached or single: Married for 8 years this summer
B- Best Friend: My sisters
C-Cake or Pie: Pie. The only cake I like is Texas Cake; it’s more like a brownie.
D- Day of Choice: Fridays
E- Essential Item: Lip balm and baby wipes
F- Favorite Color: Red
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears
H- Hometown: Holladay
I- Indulgence(s): TiVo, Letherby’s, EAB, US Weekly, Diet Coke, Twilight, pedicures
J- January or July: June! I love Spring Not too hot, not too cold; perfect!
K-Kids: 2 Ashley & Aaron
L-Life is incomplete without: Family & Friends
M- Marriage Date: June 29, 2000
N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters, 1 brother, 1 step brother (2 sister-in-laws & 1 brother-in-law)
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples dipped in caramel, I hate pealing oranges. It leaves a white residue on your hands that grosses me out.
P-Phobias or Fears: Bugs of all sorts, especially cockroaches (a little phobia thanks to serving a mission in El Salvador)
Q-Quote(s): “guck” –aaron
R- Reason To Smile: my husband, my kids, Spring flowers, pay checks
S-Something new: Our new Toyota minivan
T-Tag: Andrea, Allison, Vickie, Lisa, Becky, Jenny, Lesley and Margaret
U-Unknown Fact About Me: I have to shave my legs every night or else I can’t sleep
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Meat eater (sorry)
W- Worst Habit: Disorganized stasher
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds
Y- Your Favorite Food: King Crab, Chocolate, and Chicken and Rice (mom’s recipe)
Z- Zoo animal: Monkey

Peekaboo Photos

2008-03-21T11:02:00.001-07:00

Car Shopping

2008-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are looking to buy a new car and are looking at minivans (gasp)!

Do you have suggestions and/or opinions on what brands to look at

what brands to stay away from?

Help PLEASE!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Easter Candy

2008-03-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Cadbury Creme Eggs are my all time favorite Easter candy.

Coming in second place is the Cadbury milk chocolate mini eggs.

What is your favorite Easter Candy?

Twilight....Edward and Bella

2008-03-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

I do have to confess that I am totally obsessed. I read all three books in 10 days and now I am reading them again for the second time. I love how easy they are to read and how she, Stephenie, pulls you into the story. I enjoy her style of writing and find it completely enjoyable.

I love Jacob Black, Edward, Alice, and Bella. I do have to agree that Bella is somewhat self absorbed, selfish, and annoying; but weren't we all at her age???

I like to go to Stephenie Meyer's web site and read the outtakes from the book. She also has a Q&A section, very insightful! I also have to admit that I have gone to Edward and Bella's My space pages (yes they do have them) and other fan web sites. It is embarrassing but true!

Is anyone else reading these books? What do you think about the books and the upcoming movie and book #4?

***SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL THREE BOOKS, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ THE COMMENTS UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE SO. SO GET READING!***

Food co-op of Utah

2008-02-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

My brother, Cameron, introduced me to the The Community Food Co-Op of Utah last month. Now I want to share this fantastic little secret too.

You can order food every month for about $21.00 - $30.00. Our last order provided dinner for 1 week! It was so easy, all I had to do was fill out the form and send in our money. Then when the pick-up date arrived, I picked up our box of groceries at the local co-op team site.

Grocery shopping done!

Enjoy

Go and check it out! http://www.foodco-op.org/

Has anyone participated in this before? Comment please.

Happy Birtday to me!

2008-02-28T16:06:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone that made my birthday great.

I have the most wonderful family and friends.

I love you all!!!

Monkey Boy

2008-02-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY AARON

2008-01-23T15:09:00.001-08:00

Today is Aaron's 1st birthday!!!!

I guess you can say that it's his party and he can cry if he wants to!

Robert Frost

2008-01-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

I often think of Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken. I had to memorize it in junior high for English class. As I look back on my own life decisions, I am glad that I took the road less traveled on a few occasions and am so grateful for that!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

क्यू-टिप्स

2008-01-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

ओके, इ तरी ऎंड राइट थिंग्स ऎंड आईटी तुर्न्स इन्तो अ स्तंगे व्रितिंग! वहत इस गोइंग ओं!?
What the heck!? It couldn't figure out why my blog kept automatically translating things into the strange language! After a long time, and now feeling a little silly, it is back to English. Anyway, This is a picture of Ashley goofing off. She is always doing things to make us laugh. She says "I like to tease you!" I am so glad she has a fun personality and keeps life fun at our house.

Never say Never

2008-01-07T21:02:00.001-08:00

Today I worked a shift at Eat-A-Burger. I haven't worked there for over 11 years and thought that I would NEVER work a shift again. They are critically short staffed and were desperate for help. I couldn't say no to my brother Scott and my dad Ken who called early this morning begging, almost crying for help. Moral of the story, never say never.

Yumm......Ice Cream

2008-01-04T20:58:00.001-08:00

We went to the Leatherby's tonight and enjoyed to best ice cream and hot fudge sauce on the planet!

The best snow on Earth!

2008-01-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

Ashley and Lesley made a tiny snow manAaron's first time in the snow. All he wanted to do was eat it!
Christmas 2007

Video of Ashley and Aaron Sledding:

We went to the cabin for Christmas. This year was fantastic for snow and sledding! Aaron had his first sleigh ride with Ashley. He didn't really enjoy it that much because he kept falling of the sleigh into the snow. Oh well, We are making memories and traditions, rght? Next year he'll be big enough to go down the giant sledding hill and ride the snowmobile back up the hill!

Temple Square

2007-12-18T12:18:00.000-08:00

This Saturday we had the opportunity to watch my nieces and nephews and take them to Temple Square to see the lights. Soon we started to question if we were going crazy, taking 5 children under the age of 4 to see the lights!? The ages of the children were: Valie 4, Ashley 3, Evan 2, Aaron 10 mo. and Jack 7 months. It was funny to hear people say, "Oh, my gosh! They have 5 kids!" Aaron and Jack looked like twins and when people asked, we just said yes. That was easier than explaining. I know many people with 5 children, and commend you. It was tough! The hardest thing was getting everyone in and out of the car. It literally took us 15 min to undress, and buckle everyone into their car seats! Overall we had a good time and are so grateful we saw the pretty lights. Valie and Ashley kept saying, "I love the castle, who lives there?" (Thanks Alli. My sisters told them it was a castle and it has stuck!) I guess we need to have a FHE and explain. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-18T12:05:00.001-08:00

Ashely and Valie making gingerbread houses.

Aaron , Steve & Ashley playing in the snow.

Ashley

Aaron

Gross!

2007-12-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

Today I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and have some fun at McDonald's. To my dismay, Ashley fed Aaron a French fry and he chocked on it and vomited all over the car! Gross. Why is it that every time we go to McDonald's, someone ends up throwing up?!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

2007-11-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

A little dance to celebrate the holidays!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1124742139

Enjoy :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. This year we hosted the Beach Family dinner at our house. It was actually quite nice. The food was excellent, and we all ate way too much. (Maybe I will take up an offer to go to Weight Watchers...I need it now more than ever!) It was nice to spend the day with family. Everyone helped bring the food (thanks everyone!) so it made it easier on Steve and I . I do have to say, the only person who was in a bad mode was...me. I didn't do well with all of the stress. Nevertheless, my wonderful husband tolerated my bad attitude and did most of the work. He cooked the turkey, washed all of the dishes and cleaned the kitchen! I need to express my gratitude to him for all he does for me and our family.

The best part of the day was watching our little girl Ashley play with her cousin Keegan. They are about 4 months apart, and LOVE to play together; Keegan lives in California so they don't get to play often enough. First, Keegan and Ashley decided to play dress up. Keegan dressed up into Ashley's sailor outfit! It was so funny to see him in girls clothes. Ashley put on a Summer tank top and shorts. Second, they wanted to be Disney princesses and princes. Keegan was Price Eric and Ashley was Cinderella. Third they held hands and walked in a circle to get married, and finally they had two babies (dolls) that they parented all day long. It was hilarious! Thanks for providing today's entertainment.

Lead: Part 2

2007-11-21T22:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, we threw all of our plates in the trash. It wouldn't be right to donate them and you can't use them to do crafts and such for the same reason. Our plates are full of poison, lead poisoning! What I really wanted to do was take them to our congressman or senator and dump them on their desk and say, "Do something about this terrible problem!"

That same day I made an appointment with our pediatrician to have our children tested for blood lead levels. We should get the results next week.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight and saw about 4 different plates for sale that tested with HIGH levels of lead! It is amazing that there has not been a recall or something to protect the public. They are still on the shelf to purchase. Many people didn’t see this story and are completely ignorant to this crisis. There was a lady looking at plates to buy tonight and she put a box of plates in her cart that Gephardt specifically tested and reported were high in lead content. I wanted to tell her that they were toxic, but didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything and now I feel guilty.

It is as if we are being deceived as consumers by the big corporations only concerned about the bottom line, and defiantly not with the well being of me, you and all of our families! My 79 year old grandma believes in a conspiracy theory that the Chinese are trying to poison our young population to make them dumb so that they (China) can take over the world. At first she sounded a little crazy, but now I am starting to think she might be right. Lead is in Toys, Plates, Paint, Lunchboxes…the list gets longer every day. What do you think we should do about this problem?

Is there lead in your plates?

2007-11-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

I encourage everyone to investigate if your every day dinner plates have lead in them. I watched a KUTV2 news story that reported that 1 in 3 plates have lead in them! I was horrified and attended the free lead testing day last Friday at their station. Bill Gephardt did an interview with me and tested my plates. Our every day dinner plates tested 8.4! The "legal" limit is 2. Nevertheless, I am not happy that any amount of lead is a legal amount. Lead affects young children the most, which is horrifying to know that I was feeding my family 3 meals a day off these plates with lead leaching into our food. Ashley was having so many problems with constipation, sleeping, growing, etc. until she stopped breast feeding. Scary. Here is the link to the story if you missed it.

http://www.kutv.com/content/gephardt/story.aspx?content_id=0088bc5d-a090-487e-bce7-6a9ff089d913

The video is on the right side bar, and you have to click on the story from last Friday.

They also have a list of the results of testing that day you can download.

Do you think it is acceptable to have any amount of lead in your plates?

New Template

2007-11-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

How do you like the up-dated template?

I've been tagged ! ? !

2007-11-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Holy Cow, I've Been Tagged ! ? ! ? (Thanks Becky)

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player lists 6 little-known facts/habits about themselves.C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I don't read books, but love US Weekly. I have to admit that I have belonged to a book club for about two or three years, and have not read a single book yet. I even get the news paper every day and have never read it once. I don't even bother to take it out of the yellow plastic bag the paper boy so thoughtfully puts it in. It usually goes straight to the recycle can, yellow bag and all. I really only get it for the coupons and ads in the Sunday paper. My husband thinks this is crazy and has called to cancel the daily paper, but somehow it shows up on the front porch every day.

2. When anyone asks me where I want to go out to eat, my first thought is Eat-A-Burger. I am totally addicted to chicken sanwiches and spicy fries and have been for about .... lets see... 17 years.

3. I am an excellent IV starter. When people ask what your talents are, I would never say it but it's true. I was given the "Nurse of the Year" award in 2004 for the U.

4. I speak Spanish.

5. I love my family and talk to them at least once a day. Yes, every member of my family, every day.

6. I am the worst speller. Once I wanted to get my windows tinted and so I looked up tents in the phone book. I called the "Tent Man" and asked how much it would cost to tint my car windows! The guy on the phone didn't know what to say and laughed and said, hummm we sell camping gear. You might want to look up car tinting, T I N T I N G!

Tag: Lesley, Allison, Andrea, Vickie, Tasha, Kristen

Halloween 2007

2007-11-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time this Halloween. On Friday night we went to Red Butte Gardens to their magical night in the dark with Cam, Vickie, and Valie. The girls had so much fun making masks, painting pumpkins, watching a magic show and running in the maze. Tuesday night our ward had the annual Trunk-Or-Treat combined with the other ward that meets in the same building. We had about 250 people there, which was an amazingly good turnout for our wards

Aaron's first HalloweenBeach Family at the Trunk-or-Treat
Ashley carving her pumpkin
Ashley at Preschool

Teething

2007-10-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Aaron cut his first tooth!

My mom's a Nurse

2007-10-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

This week I took Ashley and Aaron to my work in their Halloween costumes. On the way there in the car I was explaining to Ashley that I am a nurse and take care of people. She thought about it for a few minutes then said, "You nursed me then you nursed Aaron!" I can only imagine what she must think I do as a "nurse" when I go to work. Ha!

Ashley's First Day of Preschool

2007-10-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Ashley started preschool this fall with her cousin Valie. This was her first day of school. She insisted on taking her pink fishing tackle box and her backpack. This is Valie and Ashley in front of their school. I am so glad they are such good friends. They held hands while walking into the building. It was so cute!
Here is Ashley in front of her class room. Her teacher is Miss Angie.

Ashley looks so little next to this big sign!
We made snow cones for the treat that day. Yummy! One funny thing is Ashley gets a little confused with a few words such as: snow cone, pine cone, cone head and ice cream cone. We are working on learning the definition of each word for her.
Ashley is learning her letters and now can recognize A, C, H, S, and V! We were eating dinner one night and she looked at the clock and said, "the clock just moved off Valie's name." I had to think about that one for a while, and then realized that she recognized the roman numeral "V" for the number five. That was the first time she identified a letter! It was 5:30 pm! Now she loves to try and read and find letters that she knows. I it so exciting to see her learn and develop into a sweet little girl.

Aaron

2007-07-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Aaron Dawson Beach January 23, 2007

So much has happened since our last post! Aaron was born on January 23, 2007. He is such happy baby that brings so much joy and love into our home. Ashley is becoming a great big sister to Aaron. She loves to help change his diaper, play with his toys, get burp clothes and take him on walks.

This is one of my choice memories, Ashley holding Aaron in her little rocking chair. He was one week old.

Loads of kisses!

Christmas 2006

2007-01-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

I Lobe You

2006-12-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute mispronunciations that Ashley says (so cute!):

"I Lobe You"
"Stebe"
"Eban"
"Dabe"

Making Cookies with Daddy

2006-10-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

San Diego

2006-10-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in San Diego! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Here we are at Old Town San Diego:

This is at Sea World. Ashley loved to touch the star fish in the reef pond:
Ashley's first time at the beach. This was on Mission Beach. The water was too cold to swim in. Ahsley was a little scared at first, but by the end of the day she loved playing in the sand and chasing all the birds on the beach!
Ashley at Sea World looking at more star fish:

Ashley and Steve lookin like cowboys at Old Town! So Cute!
Elmo Glasses on the Beach with Steve!
We had a great time!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ashley

2006-08-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Ashley is now two!!!!! Here are some pictures!

Can I drive please????

2006-06-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Ashley in her Dad's Truck!

2006-06-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Ashley loves to call her cousins by nick names.

Evee

KeeGee

La Lee

Zoo

2006-05-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zoo with Keegan. It was so much fun! Ashley and Keegan loved to look at the animals and make animal sounds! Kristen brought her great wagon for them to sit in together.

Here they are looking at the Elephants!

It was so funny when we were looking at the giraffes, Ashley and Keegan were leaning over the fence totally unaware of the animals staring at them! Funny Kids!!!

Most of all they enjoyed spending time together.

Easter 2006

2006-04-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Easter was fun this year for Ashley. She is getting old enough to understand that a holiday usually brings candy and presents. First thing this moring she got her Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. It had a blanket, puzzle, hat, tinny doll, and a solid milk chocolate bunny. Well, she found the candy first thing and had to eat it. I took a ton of pictures while she was devouring the chocolate bunny. It was funny to look at them and progressively see her get ill from too much chocolate. The first bite was blissful, the next fun and the end just down right difficult to choke down. Look at the pictures ....

What do you think?

>

2006-04-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything new for a while. Little Ashley is growing up so fast. Her new enjoyment in life is climbing! She also started calling her dad "Stee"... we think. She constantly is saying "Stee" when she talks to him. I think it is so funny. Steve just looks at her and says "My name is daddy" but she still calls him Stee.

Easter is soon. What are you doing for EASTER????

Brushing my teeth.....

2006-03-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

I am learning how to

brush my teeth.

Hopefully I won't get cavities!

Cousins

2006-03-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ashley loves to play with her cousins.

This is Keegan and Baby Lucas. Ashley and Keegan love to imitate each other and do everything the same.

Evan is 7 months old and the same size as Ashley. She loves to go on long walks with him and suck on his binkies!!!

Valie is our "princess Lolie". We love her!!! They are best friends.

Parker and Dexter are so much fun to play with. Ashley loves their dog, Brillo. Woof!!

Jaiden is Ashley's Eat-A-Burger Buddie. Yummy!!!

Cabin Fever

2006-02-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

a

We had a fun time at the cabin.
Here are some cute pictures..... Enjoy!

Cookies.....Yummy

2006-02-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

Cookies are all over our house. We made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies tonight. Ashley had to have one, well, mabey more like 3 or 4. Now she is covered in chocolate and so is our house! She had it all over her clothes, up her nose and in her toes! I do have to admit, she loved every minute of it!

I Love Britney!!!

2006-01-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

Oops! I did it again... I just Love this song!

What do you think???

Growing up is hard to do

2006-01-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

Ashley's growing up so fast. Lately she is experiencing new emotions that she is learning how to deal with.

For example, when she feels loving she blows kisses. Often we will be sitting on the couch and she will look up at me and blow me a kisses. It just about melts my heart knowing that she actually loves me! Last night we were at dinner at the Olive Garden. There was this really old grandma sitting at the table next to ours. Ashley apparently really liked her and blew her kisses and waved to her the whole meal. It was adorable.

Other times she feels funny and snorts like a pig. She thinks that is hilarious! She sometimes will do it first thing in the morning when I get her out of bed and laughs and laughs. She does it so well I am staring to wonder if she is part pig.

Lately when she is mad, frustrated, or tired she bangs her head on things. I was cooking dinner the other night and she wanted me to hold her. I just couldn't at that exact moment so she was mad and started hitting her head against the oven door. She will walk up to the coffee table and hit her head when she feels ignored. It will leave a big red mark on her forehead! I asked our pediatrician about this. He said, "oh, you have a head banger!!" and laughed. He said that it is just a phase and to just ignore it and soon it will self extinguish.

Fake crying! Oh, the fake crying! She loves to whine and fake cry! She looks at you and puffs her upper lip up and whines when she is fake crying. It is more funny to me every time she does it. I have to stop myself from laughing...she might get mad and head butt me in the nose!

It is amazing how fast we grow up and learn how to share our feelings with the world around us. She is now 18 months. I can only imagine what life will bring in then next 18 years and beyond!!!

Happy Holidays!

2005-11-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Ashley helping decorate
the Christmas Tree.

Wheeler Farm

2005-10-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to go is Wheeler Farm. I recently have discovered how much fun live animals can be. I love to feed the ducks and geese. Some can be quite aggressive and almost eat the bread right out of my hand! While I was looking at the pigs one kissed my hand with her big wet pink nose, OINK! I am learning my animal sounds, so far all I can say is "MOOOO." Someday we will have to go to Wheeler Farm together.

Baby Girl

2005-10-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ashley is the cutest little girl. She has a way to melt your heart...who can resist her big blue eyes and long eye lashes?!