The Stache

So they say the mustache is coming back. Ummmm...... no I don't think so. Not even Brad Pitt can pull it off.
And neither can my hot husband .

This is what i saw Christmas morning. His excuse was he doesn't have to work for a couple days. Couldn't he have picked something a little more sexier? Like a flavor savor, or a goatee. I could have been a nice wife and let him do whatever he wanted. I mean, he is an adult. He can make his own decisions. Of course the mean side of me came out and i told him to march his butt back in the bathroom and shave it off. If it was a normal day then fine, but it was Christmas! We actually take pictures on this day and i didn't want to see that thing on him. So if one day you him walking down the street sporting a stache, you know i lost that fight.

3 A.M.

When your 18 month old wakes up at 3 a.m. they usually want a drink, a diaper change, or just want their Mom.Nope not my child, he just wants to sing Happy Birthday in his crib.

A couple nights ago I woke up at 3 a.m. hearing Parker. I thought he might need something until I listened really hard and realized he was singing Happy Birthday as loud as he can. As tired as I was I couldn't help but laugh at him. That's our Parker for you. You never know what you will get.

Merry Christmas!!

Yes i know we are such slackers. I just didn't have enough time(or money) to send these out to everyone of you, so i thought i would just post it here. That way my stalkers will even get one.

Sammy Girl

Today is Sammy's 3rd birthday. She is so excited to be 3. We love her so much and love having her be a part of our family. When she was born I wanted her to be a girly girl. So when I started putting bows and bracelets on her she didn't like it. I figured I had a tomboy on my hands, which I was okay with. Just in the past 6 months she has become such a girl. She loves her dolls, pretending like she is the mom to her little brother, painting her nails, and giving that dirty, dirty look that some girls give. She still has some tomboy in her though, like picking up bugs and getting dirty. We asked her what she wanted for her birthday. We said Ice cream, Mcdonalds, and I even threw in Cafe Ri0 hoping she would pick it. Her choice was little donuts. So that's what she got. Happy Birthday Samantha. We love you!!!!

She just woke in this picture. I love how her face is a little swollen.

Here she is at 2 months. Isn't she a cutie!

It what?!?!?!

Yes it has finally snowed here! I'm sure everyone and their mother will be posting about this but how could you not? People go crazy here when it snows. It's on the news and right now there is talk of school being cancelled. People were let off early from work today so they could get home safely. Call us dramatic, but hey we never see this stuff. They say it hasn't snowed like this since 1979. It started at 12:30 and it has not ended yet(it's 6:30). Usually it snows for a couple hours and stops then melts not too long after.

This is right when it started
Then 3 hours later it looked like this!

I swear he loved the snow but for some reason he was giving me a dirty look

I thought Sammy would be the first one to go back inside but she was loving it. She was so into making this snowman. We had a couple problems with it. The carrott wouldn't stay in, and the licorice(for his mouth) wouldn't stay either. So we just stuck with rocks.

This is what our house looked like. Doesn't it look pretty??

Most of you who know me well know that i don't like snow. I love the look of it but then it takes you about 30 min to get all the kids dressed and layered up and then they only last about 20 min. Also it's not my favorite thing when i have just mopped my floors. At least the kids had fun and that's all that matters. Now if only the snow can all be melted by tomorrow so i can get some things done.

One more year

Today I celebrated my 29th B-day. It's hard to believe this is the last year of my 20's. I feel 29 but at the same time I feel like I am still 20. Must be my beautiful youthful looking face( wouldn't that be nice). I started the day of with a great present. No not that kind of present people, get your mind out of the gutters. The kids all got me a present from the dollar store. They were so excited to see me open them. Nicholas gave me some peanut butter M&Ms, Sammy gave me a pink spray bottle, and Parker gave me a cheese grater. Then my Mom, Sister Amber and SIL Lindsay took me out to Mimi's Cafe(we missed you Amy). I actually enjoyed myself because my awesome friend Merridee offered to watch Parker and Nicholas. It was so nice to actually eat and talk. Thanks Merridee!

Then when Luke came home we headed to my 2nd most favorite place. I am going to my first favorite place tomorrow. All in all it was a great Birthday. The kids were pretty good, and Luke was the best. He has come a long way since my first birthday together as married couple. Let's just say he didn"t say Happy Birthday to me until 5:00 that night. Yeah it wasn't a pretty sight. To his defense we had only been married 2 weeks. But every year he gets better and better at it.

I might be a little wired from some Diet Coke. Oh and check out Emily's blog for some crazy and funny facts about me! Thanks Em!

You tell me....

what's wrong with this picture?

Your answer might be that our tree is tiny and we need a bigger one, right? Is that your final answer? Nope you are wrong. Yes I do understand that we have a tiny tree but hey it was free, I can't complain. Click on the picture and look closely. All of my ornaments are on the top half(except for a teddy bear on the bottom left that i have made Parker's toy, and so far the legs have been broken off and one arm). I hate this, it drives me crazy but you see I have a crazy crazy toddler who thinks he can touch everything. And for some reason everything he touches breaks. The 2 older kids never really had this problem. Sure they started touching them but after a couple No's and timeouts they got the point. Not my Parker, this kid has a mind of it's own.

I love my ornaments and I want them to be all over my tree. I am not a matchy matchy tree person. While i think they are beautiful it's just not my style right now. Maybe in 10 years when I have my dream house and a lot money. From the time I was a baby my parents gave us an ornament every year for Christmas. They were always the fun Hallmark one that played music or something really cool that we did that year. When I got married my Mom handed them all to me and Luke and I have carried on this tradition. I love getting out all of my ornaments and having all of the memories come back to me. It's a fun time but like I said I can't wait until I can put them all over the tree and not worry about any of them getting broken. It could be awhile....

Our Little Visitor

Meet Mr. Elf. He was sent down from Santa to keep an eye on my kids. He tells Santa if they have been naughty or nice. He goes up on December 1st and then Santa takes him back on December 25Th. Let's hope this works!

My Mom and Dad came by last night and gave the kids this gift. It is such a cute idea. You get the Elf down at the beginning of December and read a book that came with it. The book talks about how Santa knows if you are being good or bad and his little friend the Elf is here to keep an eye on them. Of course right after they left Nicholas threw a fit because he wanted hold the Elf. Thanks Mom and Dad for the cute gift.

Being Grateful

Since THANKSGIVING is tomorrow I thought I'd list all the things I am grateful for. Most days I feel like my life consists of feeding little kids, doing laundry, picking up after little kids, and chasing them around. I will admit that sometimes I become a little negative and forget how lucky I am really am. So here it goes...

Alisa is grateful for.........(drum roll please)

-These Little KIDS!

-For a wonderful husband that is a great father and understands me the best out of anyone

-My awesome parents. I wasn't the easiest kid to deal with in my younger years and they always stuck by me.
-My brothers and sisters, yes we don't always get along, but
I have the funnest memories with them.
-My in laws. I feel really blessed to have a great Mother and and Father in law. My brothers and sisters in law are awesome too. I hear these awful in law stories and it makes me realized i really got lucky!
-Great friends. Friends are an important part of my life.
-The church. I am still a long way from where I want to be but I feel that i am trying my hardest.
-Blogging. As stupid as it sounds I really love blogging. It's my little getaway.
-Pink, no not the color but the singer. Yes, some of you are rolling your eyes but this woman can seriously keep me running. When I feel like i am going to drop dead on the street i turn her on and i can keep running and running....you get the point!
-Birthdays. I have always loved celebrating them. Especially my own. Ask me when I turn 30 and i might feel differently.
-Cafe Rio
-The Internet. Really people what we do without it? I guess my house would be a little cleaner....yeah it's not worth it.
-That Families can be together forever. This means so much to me now that I am older.

I don't normally get this cheesy on my Blog but i have been thinking lately about my life and how i am so lucky. I needed to write this down so when i am having my hard days i can come back and remember all of this.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

6 Years!

Six years ago we did this:
And six years later we have this:

These past 6 years have been amazing, hard, crazy,fun, entertaining but most of all wonderful. We have had our ups and downs but we have always made it through. Happy anniversary Luke! I love you!

A Little Itty Bitty Tri

Today Rushelle, Emily and I did the Turkey Tri in St. George. Before you think we are the most amazing girls ever,
I must tell you it was a really itty bitty Tri. They call it the beginners. It's a 200 meter swim(8 laps), 5 mile bike ride, and a 1.5 mile run. It basically gets you used to how these things work. Hopefully we can do the Sprint Triathlon in Lake Las Vegas this May. After A LOT (3 weeks) of training we finally completed it. I have to tell you it was a pretty awesome experience and i really really enjoyed it. I was a nervous wreck and honestly thought i might drown in the swimming part, but thankfully I survived to tell you all. I am actually really proud of my times. This was my very first race ever and we didn't train properly at all. So here are my times.

SWIM: 4min 56 sec (i finished 23 out of 72 people, male and female)

BIKE: 24min 54 sec

RUN: 16 min 23 sec ( not the best)

TOTAL TIME: 48 min 41 sec

I finished 30th out of 72 males and females, and 12th out of 37 females.

I thought i could ride a mountain bike with no problem but man those things are heavy and sooooooo hard to race in. So hopefully next time i can get a nicer bike, anyone want to loan me one??


Before the race, so happy and ready to go!!

Finishing the race with a guy behind me yelling "Come on you can do it!" I must have looked bad!

3 tired girls!

I had to have a picture with my numbers.

Brothers

They are so lucky to have each other! Even though they are a little under 3 years apart they still have so much fun together. I am so glad they will have each other throughout life. Nicholas is always looking out for Parker and I'm sure in about 10 years Parker will be watching out for Nicholas. I love these boys!

National Holiday!

For those of you who don't know, today is my brother Aaron's birthday. Which means it is a national holiday. No really he thinks everyone everywhere celebrates his birthday and tells people about 9 months before to get ready for his party. He takes about 2 or 3 days off of work, because well it's his birthday.....of course! Aaron turns 32 today. He is the oldest child in my family but most of the time stills acts like a kid. Most of you know Aaron pretty well and probably get multiple phone calls a day from him(i promise i didn't give him your number). We love Aaron and my kids really have a lot of fun with him. He is a great uncle and the older i get i realize he is great older brother and i we are really lucky to have him in our lives. Here are a few funnies about Aaron.

1. He still calls me Chris Echols. Which was a boyfriend i had about 13 years ago. Seriously, every time he calls Luke he refers to me as Chris Echols.
2. He loves to touch ears. When i was pregnant with Nicholas he said he can't wait to hold him and pinch his ears all the time.
3. His theory is: If you served a mission you are going to have boys.
4. When Adam was getting married he said he was going to turn into an ant so he can go to the sealing.
5. He loved his big white truck in high school and wearing his Letterman jacket.
6. Him and Wendy Galella ( enough said)
7. He calls my youngest brother gay(which he isn't)
8. When i was younger i hated bringing my friends over because i knew he would ask them over and over if they had a boyfriend and then he would ask them on a date.
9. Starring at Emily Richardsons chest while we eat would dinner
10. Helping us do drive bys in 8th grade

Happy Birthday Aaron. We love you!!!

I know there are a lot of you out there that know Aaron really well, maybe you can leave a comment about a funny memory you have of him.

Halloween X 5

I love Halloween I really do, but does anyone feel like it takes FOREVER for this holiday to come? The years in the past have been really easy. We went to 1 thing and I got to pick their costumes out. Let's just say that didn't happen this year. The kids dressed up 5 times in a matter of 4 days. We had a birthday party, playgroup party, school party, Mama and Papa Z's Trunk or Treat and actual Halloween night. By the time Halloween came i was not in the mood and sick of fighting with my kids on what costume to wear. One day they wanted to be a storm trooper, the next day it was a black ninja, then spider man, and last Batman. Don't worry i didn't buy any of those costumes. I borrowed them and some were dress up clothes. I am thinking next year I will not even mention the word Halloween until a couple weeks before and then their costumes are going in the closet until it's dress up time. That way they won't get sick of them. Even though it was crazy it was fun to see the kids actually get into their characters. They had a lot of fun and are already talking about next year. I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

My little Storm Trooper with his make believe gun. Oh and please don't mention that these are bad guys. Luke said something to him about it and he freaked out and came crying to me that Storm Troopers are the good guys. Yea we aren't a Star Wars family.

This was not her original costumes. She was supposed to be Tinkerbell but she had this dress in her dress up box and wanted to wear it.

The great thing about my husband is he will dress up as anything just to make me happy. We weren't planning on dressing up but last minute i found these in our costume box and i thought it would be cute. After about an hour of him wearing i told him he could take it off because it looked pretty gay.

Parker was a Dragon, NOT Barney!! Luke doesn't like this costume because it looks like Barney, whatever it was free! I still think he looks cute!

Happy Birthday Lukie Boy!!

Luke turns 29 today.Yes that's right, Luke's birthday is on Halloween. I am pretty sure his mom's water broke while she was with her 4 older kids Trick or Treating. He always had Halloween parties and because of that he loves to dress up with the kids. Now that the kids are older and understand the whole concept of Halloween he kind of gets the shaft. I am going to get a little cheesy here. Sorry!



5 reasons why I LOVE Luke!



1. He is a great Father to our kids. He is so patient and is always doing fun and creative things with them.



2. He is frugal. Which can drive me absolutely insane but it also has helped me to be more frugal.(not as much as he would like.)



3. He understands that I need "me" time. He hardly ever complains about my girl nights, Bunco, or the 3 different girl weekend trip i took in a 6 weeks time.



4. He is one of the hardest working men i have ever met. He gets things done.



5. He is an awesome husband. He has never once said anything about my weight and he thinks pregnant women are sexy(hmmmm......... maybe that's why i was pregnant for 4 straight years).



Happy Birthday Luke. I love you! (he is so going to kill me for putting his middle name).



Luke at about 3. Anyone else see Parker in him?

Little Chubby Luke. Now do you believe me when i say he was chubby at one time? I think he was in 5th grade.

Luke in his glory days. 17 years

This is Luke today. I had to take it with my camera phone and he was not cooperating with me.

Baby it's cold outside

Okay maybe not outside but Sammy definitely thought it was cold inside. She really wanted to sleep with her beanie and mittens. After about 30 minutes i went into her room to grab something and i saw this. Of course i took it off because it is still about 80 degrees here. This girl makes me laugh everyday.

Family = Fun

This week for FHE we let the kids paint some pumpkins. They loved it! As you can see they started out by making faces and then decided to that they better just paint the whole pumpkin. Nicholas informed me that he was going to win the contest. Oh really? I didn't even know there was a contest. He is very competitive in everything he does. Hmm...... i wonder what side of the family he gets that from?

We didn't let Parker Paint, i just wasn't in the mood to clean it up so we let him play with this fake pumpkin. He got so excited to be in with the crowd.