Newsworthy

So we found out today that Miles appeared in the paper yesterday - the local Montrose Daily Press. We were pretty excited about it. We don't get the local paper and so I and the 2 kiddos walked down to Main Street this morning and purchased us a paper from a newspaper bin. (I called the Newspaper office and was told they don't print the paper until 11am and so I could go before that time to get yesterday's paper- perfect!) Miles was pretty unconcerned about seeing him in the paper - he was more into pulling down all the paper bins and checking to see if papers were in them. :)

Blog Book

So my sister Erin once wrote about how her blog has bascially become her journal and some friend commented on how you can actually print up your blog. So that got us thinking and looking on-line for places that do it. We found www.blurb.com. It's great! I had some trouble with it but finally it all worked out and I got a published book of my blog - I'm going to do one for each year. I love it! It is my journal and scrapbook in one (since I am a year behind in my kids' scrapbooks, I figured this will at least work for mine).

Once you download the software program to convert your blog to a book, it's fairly easy to use. I didn't do too many frills and what-not, but that's okay. I did copy and paste a bunch because the book was really long at first - since it puts one post per page. By copying and pasting I was able to put anywhere from like 2-4 posts per page, depending on size obviously.

The cost is totally determined on how big your book is. My book turned out to be 63 pages, after I had done all my copying and pasting. My cost came out to be $41.99 - including the shipping and handling. I got a hard-back; the soft-cover is about 10 dollars cheaper, I think. Either way, I think it is definitely a reasonable price for what ya get.

Here are some pics to show what it looks like:

So this is the cover.

Here's a sample of 2 pages. There are many different formats you can do with and without pictures. I pretty much did the same format for every page - except for maybe 5 pages.

A close-up picture of a page.

And just to show you how cheesy and lame I can get, my "about the author" segment on the back flap cover (Sorry, for hard-back only!)














Any questions about it, just ask!

Fishing Derby, Part 2

The Rotary Club puts on a Fishing Derby each year - well we've been 2 for 2 so far in our stay in Montrose. It's great - we get free fishing poles (to keep), worms, and even hot dogs and soda if we want. Again, it's all free. How nice is that? It was a cool day and rained right before we left, but luckily it stopped the whole time we were there - although it was quite cool. So here are the pics to show our adventures:

Here Ben is showing Miles the worm. Miles really is interesting in all things and has tons of questions about everything, but that doesn't mean he wants to get close or touch those things. Yuck.

Here are da boyz getting the fishing gear all ready. Jonas is all set and ready to go with his pole. Funny.

He looks like he's having fun, right?! And he did. But most of his fun was not due to holding a fishing pole - which he did for like 2 minutes TOTAL. :) He and Jonas loved throwing the rocks in the water. They were really great sports - they were just playing a different sport!

See, you can see the fishing pole in the background and the trusty ol' rock in his hand. He LOVED throwing the rocks and making "bubbles" in the water. The little boys were both delightful to watch play - I love them.

Ahhhhh, yes. The Big Finale. Here I am catching a fish - a 10 1/2 inch (yes all fractions count - even 1/100ths) rainbow trout. What a beaut. And if you have excellent memories you may remember that it was me last year who was successful in catching our one catch of the day. :) But Ben should get all the credit: he baits the worm and casts the line - while I just hold it, reel it in, and then realize there is something tugging at the end of my line!

Anyways another super fun day at the Fishing Derby. We'll be there for Part 3 - will you????

(Since I ended it that way I might as well count this as my April's M2M - Move 2 Montrose.)

The Ultrasound. . .

So. . . the big question is . . . will my baby be wearing this dress (bought in Guatemala) or not???? But since we all know I do on occasion put my boys in pony-tails and, yes, even put Jonas in this dress once for fun - the real question should be: Would it be appropriate for me to have my baby wearing this dress?????

To drag it on a little further, take a look at this photo and see if the color of the wafer gives anything away????

So what does a pink wafer mean??? It means that the ultrasound gal (???) found an absence of a boy, and what looks suspicious of a GIRL. I'm a little skeptical with it being a girl, but as there was nothing showing the opposite, and reason for her to believe it's a girl, I'll guess we'll go with that for now!

So after Miles and Jonas got up from their nap, I told Miles that the doctor took some pictures and that it looks like the baby is a girl. Miles has been very adament that the baby is a boy, and was especially sure this afternoon that, "No, mom, it is a boy." I told him that the doctor really thinks it's a girl. Then my poor Miles started to get REAL sad and cry. When I asked him why he was crying he told me that, "I don't like girls." How sweet and cute. He was truly devastated.

But, alas, I had bought some pink wafers to celebrate the occasion and that seemed to pacify him - and even make him quite happy!

Truthfully, I think it will take us all a little while to get used to the idea of a Baby Girl. But I'm excited about it - however I do think it will take a little while longer for the boys in the family to get used to it (including Ben.) :)

Cindy Lou - Who?

So first an explanation: Miles was looking at the pictures that appear on our computer's screen-saver and saw the one of him as Ferdinand the Bull, i.e., with Miles wearing pony-tails. So naturally Miles wanted pony-tails again, and naturally I conceded. Miles also thought Jonas should join in the fun and so I gave some pony-tails to Jonas. I wasn't going to post the pictures (and I still need to get clearance from my dear husband before I do so) until I heard my brother-in-law's comment in regards to Jonas: "All I can think of is Cindy Lou Who [from The Grinch, Dr. Seuss]." I'll let you decide what you think. . .

Easter Weekend

Our Easter festivities started Friday evening getting the eggs ready and dyed. Saturday morning we had our Egg-Hunt in the backyard. I thought I (I mean, the Easter Bunny) had placed the eggs in extremely obvious places (except for a couple), but I guess not. Miles was standing right next to one on a fence post and had to have us practically push his face into it for him to see. It was fun, though. Jonas really thought it was great to hold the egg. . . and then squash it.

Then we came back in and the kiddos found their basekts and enjoyed the yummy treats and fun toys. It was a cool day, but we still went out and had fun with the bubble-thing and with the water-guns.

So we had finished up our Easter Bunny Festivities by 8:45am - and I had even gone on a 4-mile run before all this! wowzers.

Then for Easter Sunday we had bought some new clothes for the boys - sponsored by my dad. :) We got some great deals at the Children's Place in Provo and so that was nice. So here are some pics of Miles and Jonas:

Miles is looking so old and mature here - and cute, too, in my opinion. :)

For some reason Jonas isn't a fan of the nice brotherly neck-hold that Miles is putting on him. OH BROTHER!

How cute! I wanted them in front of the tulips, but it was pouring rain and so that wasn't going to work. And what are they looking up at? Me jumping out behind cameraman Ben shouting, "Peek a Boo." Man it's hard work to get a decent pictures of these two boys. But it's worth it.

bYu and driving Home

so we just took a quick trip over to utah. we got there at about 10pm tuesday nite and came home thursday at 6pm. short trip, but very enjoyable.

we went because ben is a sucker for anything related or pertaining to BYU. i got an invitation to a nursing alumni event (basically a fundraiser,think) that served dinner and featured speaker Sheri Dew. i thought it would be fun, but didn't have to go. ben did. so he got 2 days off work and we went.

it was a very nice program at BYU. i saw my nursing professor that i went to guatemala with when we entered and that was really fun. i really liked her and she doesn't work at BYU anymore and so i was surprised that she was there. i also saw one girl, afterwards, that was in my class (Virginia, if you remember her Kristen) and so that was fun.

but we heard from a few speakers. the first was Mary Ellen Edmunds - the nursing program has named an "endowment" after her (we think an endowment is something related to scholarship and fundraising). she was really great - just so natural and unpolished and spoke whatever she felt! she was hilarious and very entertaining. she wasn't an official speaker, so didn't take much time. then Wendy Watson Nelson spoke - she is the new wife of Elder Nelson. she was a really great speaker, too! she, along with Sheri Dew, spoke on how "Christ heals without a scar." she had a very interesting story to go along with that, but i'm not going to go into it. then sheri dew spoke, and as always, was excellent. she's an amazing woman. it was a very long evening (too long for us, really) but was filled with great speakers and so it was worth it.

then we headed back home thursday - although we stopped off at BYU again. ben thought it would be fun to buy a Mary Ellen Edmunds book - and so we went to the bookstore and did that. we ate our homemade lunches in the cougareat - after spending 10 minutes trying to find seats for us. :) then we just walked around outside. it was honor week and so they were doing some stuff - like giving away free otter-pops (YUM) and they had this bouncy thing that was some obsticle course. ben and miles went and had a fun time - although at the end miles anounced, "i don't want to do that again." he loved the slide at the end, but the other stuff was a little too much for him i guess! anyways, we spent a couple hours on campus and had a good time. i think ben was as close to heaven as you can get on earth. he really loves that place and now i hear talk of moving to provo. . . :)

since i took more pics on the drive home, i thought i might as well post them, too. my kids are wonderful sleepers - in their BEDS/CRIBS. but absolutely horrible sleepers anywhere else - like car seats. they fell asleep for about 1/2 hour - not a long enough break for me. i got exhausted on car rides - miles dropped this, jonas threw this done, miles wants something to eat, now jonas has to have something to eat, jonas needs a drinks, miles needs a drink, and on and on. they did really well on the drive, but it's just kind of tiring. so anyways, here are the pictures:

i mean, really, why couldn't he sleep for more than a 1/2 hour in this extremely comfortable position on a very windy road????

we, ummmm, borrowed these popcorn boxes from my mom (thanks mom!) and the kiddos loved them. i had popped popcorn before we left and they really enjoyed eating out of them. afterwards, the boys played with them for like 1/2 hour or so. jonas liked putting stuff in and taking it out. . . miles would drive tow mater into it - a "garage."

what mom doesn't absolutely LOVE it when her boys just sit and enjoy a good book!? i know i do. it's one of my favorite things to see them do, just grab a book and look at it. miles was absorbed in his dinosaur book: "what is that bone mom?" and jonas loved his I SPY book: "airplane, airplane, bike."

and that's that.

M2M 2

so i obviously have failed in my new year's resolution of doing a "why you should move to montrose" (M2M - move to montrose) post each month - i have only done one so far. being as this is the last day of march, i thought i better post something quick!

so one benefit of living here is you can all four seasons - now while i could do without summer, i really do love the seasons and experiencing them all. Winter is winter (cold with some snow - if you want more snow, head an hour or so in either direction and you get LOTS of it), spring is spring (some rain and wind), summer is summer (hot, BLAH, but not hot-hot like AZ), and fall is fall (cool temps, pumpkin-patches, colorful leaves).

here's what it looks like - to get a good picture i'll compare 2 cities. montrose on the LEFT and maine, new york (where we lived) on the RIGHT:

now mind you, if you like cloudy, VERY snowy, VERY cold, VERY wet, and VERY humid days, please do not move to montrose. but for all the rest of you out there, come enjoy the wonderful four seasons of montrose, colorado. we're waiting. . .

How Sweet

Well I really need to be wrapping up things here at work, but I just got to do something that I don't think I've ever done before: talk to Miles on the phone. (I never talk to him due to the fact that usually wherever I am, he is there too.) But it was oh so sweet. So cute. I love him. It went something like this:

Hi Miles
Hi Mom. You, you gonna pick up me at the house?
Yes, Miles, I'll pick you up at Tori's house after you play with all their fun toys.

Did you have a good night?
Yes.

Are you eating Chex right now?
Yes.

Is Jonas there?
Yes.

What is Jonas doing?
Eating his oatmeal.

Byebye Mommy.
Byebye Miles, I love you.


I'll have to call Miles more often on the phone; it's real fun. I encourage you all to do it.

My birthday

So I turned 28 yesterday - kind of weird, but not really. I've been 27 for a year, so 28 is not that much of a difference. 30 might be weird for me, I'm thinking. We'll have to see.

Well the day didn't start out to grand - but did get better, slowly. The boys (who have been sleeping in until 7 [usual wake-up time: 6:15-6:30]) decided to get up at 5:20 AM. BLAH. Ben and my sis said it was because they were excited to wish me a happy birthday - but they didn't wish me a happy birthday until later. So whatever. I wasn't really pleased with that.

Then Miles was acting like a toddler for most of the morning - how could he!? He wasn't awful, though, so I'm lucky. Then I had to deliver a casserole to a lady in our church and after 40 mintues I finally found the trailer park - only to spend 20 minutes driving around it and not finding her place. BLAH. I had to call the lady after the kids' nap and go back (there is NO way I could have found her place - it is awfully marked and she was in the RV side, while I was looking in the trailer side for the most part of it).

But then things got better as the kids napped and I got to do some cleaning up and then relax and read my magazine Ben got me. That was nice. And I was able to finally take a shower - it had been 5 1/2 days (sponge bathing just wasn't really fun; and it was coooold). Ben got all the stuff put back together and I had a hot shower that was great. We fed the kids mac 'n cheese and then had my birthday cake.

When Ben asked a couple days ago what kind of cake I wanted, I could only reply "rice krispie." I mean, I like cake okay and eat it when we have it for other occasions, but I don't really crave it. But I LOVE rice krispies and usually that's the cake I end up with - but this time I added "with chocolate frosting." And that was - literally and figuratively - the icing on the cake. YUM, it was the best cake I ever had (Miles enjoyed it, too, obviously)! Ben did a GREAT job making it - with absolutely no help or hints from me. It was all his design and I loved it.

Anyways, I didn't mean to make it so long, but after the kids went down to bed Ben and I went out to dinner (we had a $20 coupon - that helps!) and had a great time. It was fabulous - the company and food. :)

So it ended up a good day. And I don't feel a year older, because, really, I am just a day older than I was the day before.