This Is Us

About a month ago Page invited us to go to her work summer party. Well it was last night, and we had so much fun. Thank you Page for inviting us! It was at Sugarhouse Park. They reserved the big pavilion, rented the blow-up "rides", had a Cotton Candy machine, Popcorn machine, and a Snow-Cone machine. The kids were so excited! The first thing they had to do was go on the rides. We said "You don't want to eat first" and they looked at us like we were completely nuts, which we probably were since we knew the answer... and said "NO!" They ran over to the HUGE slide and couldn't get their sandals off fast enough. We had to leave Xander's socks on because of his burn (which is getting so much better. It's almost healed). He was okay with it because he knows that it needs to stay clean (which is why he is wearing socks in 90 degree weather) and the sock also helps keep the bandages on. He even told me that he had to keep his socks on. So cute!

I went shopping on my lunch one day, which is one of my most favorite things to do, to get the kids new school shoes. I went to ShopKo, because first off I love it there, and second they have Payless Shoes. They were having their BOGO (for those of you who don't know what that means its: Buy One Get One) 1/2 off. I was really excited about that, then the shoes I bought were also on sale. So I got all 4 pairs for $40.00. I am so happy! Here are Brichette's Shoes: Brichette had wanted some sandals that light up, but no matter how hard we looked and where we looked we couldn't find any. Well I lucked out. These sandals light up, and they are princesses to top it off. The other pair are pink and brown, and I just love those two colors together. Here are Xander's Shoes: Now, he had been asking for blue shoes, and he love the color orange. So I found the white and blue ones first, and was excited. Then I found the blue and orange, and got really excited. They are so excited a

So on Monday Dieter and Colleen took us to the Texas Road House for dinner. In the sitting area, where you can wait while they get your table ready, they have a saddle on a "horse". The kids climbed up on it and had so much fun. Here are the pictures: Yeah, he's a ham! :) Xander climbed behind Brichette, but I made them switch because I was afraid that he would get "bucked off". I know my silly mommy worries. They are the cutest sister and brother in the whole world! Boy look at Brichette's modeling skills in the last picture. Holy Cow, huh?! :) It's kind of funny, because I was all done taking pictures of them up there, and started putting my camera away, and Brichette said "Mom, take a picture of me like this". It was so cute. I also got a silly face from Xander. He was yelling YEE HAH!! Once they got our table ready and we sat down. I went over the kids menu with Brichette and Xander, and then asked what they wanted. I skipped over the Mac &

So last Saturday we went to the Bees game with my work and it was Fan Appreciation Night, so they gave out a lot of free stuff. My work also had a raffle. I won a bat bag. It's really nice and big. It was so much fun, and the kids really enjoyed it this time. We've gone before, but haven't been able to stay for the last couple innings, because the game can't keep their attention (the ADHD). But they were very good this time... There were some factors in that: 1. One of my friends from work sat in front of us, and they had their two little boys with them. 2. There was fireworks after the game 3. After the fireworks they were able to run the bases on the diamond. Nick went to go get some Dippin' Dots (some of our favorite "Ice Cream"), and he snuck into the gift shop first. He came back with some T-shirts for the kids, and bats... oh and the Dippin' Dots. They were so excited about them (as you can see from the pictures). Thanks Hunny! Also Matt (The COO

I wasn't able to post about the Bee's game yesterday, because Nick and I were in the ER from 3:30 A.M. to 9:00 A.M., because of another kidney stone. Then went and got his prescriptions, I took the kids to my aunts house, and I went home and got some sleep. I fell asleep around 11:30 and woke up around 3:00, took a shower, then I went and picked the kids up, because by then there wasn't any point going into work. Nick slept all day, so I hope he is feeling better today. He was still "out of it" when I left this morning. Nick has a very high tolerance for medications. The doctor told us that she gave him enough medicine to knock out a horse. She gave him every kind of drug they had, including a muscle relaxer and anti-nausea pills. The RN said that most people would be lying on the floor unconscious, from everything they gave him. I am the complete opposite... I take Tylenol and it knocks me out. So I have a really busy day today processing payrolls, catchin

On Saturday I pulled Brichette's Hair up for the baseball game (I will post that tomorrow). This time she wasn't to upset about having it up, thank goodness. I got the middle section of her hair and started a french braid. Once I reached the part in her hair in the back I stopped braiding (it's about the middle of that small "pony tail") and put a thin plastic tie in . Then I pulled the two sides up, joined it with the middle, and put a scrunchie in it. The last loop I only pulled half of her hair through and let the ends drap over the scrunchie. I think it turned out pretty cute, but see for yourself.

So today we went to Brichette's Kindergarten assessment test. She did FABULOUS, as I knew she would. Her teacher told us that she will do wonderful in kindergarten, and especially in math. Which isn't surprising since my dad is a whiz with math, and it was Nick and my best subject in school. She is really excited to read and just loves her teacher. She can't wait to start next week. I just can't believe that she is already 5 years old. It makes me feel old. :) It seems like just a couple days ago I was on maternity leave with her... our first precious child. I just can't believe that was more than 5 years ago. So crazy how time flies when you are having fun! I Love You Brichette! I am so honored that you are my daughter. I can't imagine my life without you, or your brother and father. You three are my world. Thanks!

Okay, so I received an e-mail from Old Navy letting me know about a huge sale they are having tomorrow, and tomorrow only, on their denim. They are selling adult denim for only $12.00 and children denim for only $7.00 Yah, no kidding. It's in stores and online. So don't miss out! Here is the "flyer" they sent me in the e-mail. I hope you all are able to take advantage of this!

So, I was going through my text messages... erasing some, saving some, and I came across these photos from Nick. This is some of the stuff that he has built and some of the awesome views he's had. This one is up above the Bountiful Temple: He has a nice "corner office" huh? That's a Shed Roof. He's up in park city now, adding on to an already built house. They are adding an extra room for her Gym and making her walk-in-closet bigger. Here is part of it: With my handsome husband... in his SEXY tool belt. WHA HOO BABE!!!!

So I didn't post anything yesterday because I was so busy, and I had to leave early for my Physical Therapy appointment. I will probably post another one today. Thanks! I hope everyone had a happy Wednesday!

So one of my co-workers e-mailed me a wonderful "story" today. I am going to try to be more like this, and maybe other people will too. I think it will make my drive into work and home not so bad. Here is the story: Law of the Garbage Truck One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. He was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck." He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and f

I was sent an e-mail today stating that MSNBC is conducting a survey of the phrase "In God We Trust" that is on our money. They want to know if it should be left on or taken off. Here is the website... please vote. It's phrased different then you think so please read the question before you answer. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/ When I voted about 20 minutes ago it was 34% to take it off and 66% to leave it on. I just can't believe that, that many people would want to take it off. How ridiculous is that.

So today I was sitting at my desk, and Janet brought back these flowers. They are so beautiful and smell so good. The card attached read: "I can't wait until I sit on the beach with you in Hawaii, next month for our 10th Anniversary Love, Nicolas" He is so cute and so wonderful! I am so happy he is my husband for all time and eternity. I can't imagine my life without him, or my wonderful children. I would go insane and would not have so much joy and happiness in my life. He is always doing wonderful things like this for me. I have been at my new job for over a year and a half and I have gotten about eight different bouquets of flowers... most of them for no reason, just because he loves me. He has bought me a couple new outfits, brought me breakfast, and taken me to lunch a bunch of times. I'm telling you... I am so spoiled. I just hope I show him enough, how much I love and appreciate him. These past Ten Years have been so much fun, that I can hardly bel

So over the weekend we went camping. It was for Nick's Mom's family reunion, that they do every year. Dieter is up fishing in Canada, so Colleen rode with us. On our way up the Moon was so bright, huge, and just so pretty. See the pictures below. We pulled into camp around 9:00. I just have to say that the DVD players in the car is a huge life saver. The kids are so good... no screaming "Are We There Yet?" or "How Much Longer?". I remember when I was younger and we (my sister and I) would ask my parents that question they would ALWAYS say "A couple more hours!" no matter how far away we were. We could be 10 minutes away and they would say that. It used to drive my sister and I crazy... but I guess us asking my parents over and over again "When will we be there" drove them crazy. So anyway... Cris, Renee and their three kids stayed the weekend up there with us. Lichelle and Brodie's daughter Alysha stayed with us, and Mieshka and her

So Friday night we took the kids to a demolition derby. I forgot how much fun they are. They had a lot of different rounds, and then they had Grudge matches where if they could get their cars running again, they could come back in and get revenge. We saw 2 car rounds, the truck round, and what they called the Mini's . I didn't get pictures of the mini round, because my camera was acting weird. They had a Geo Storm, Metro, Sentra , and one that I don't remember what it was. They had to do a figure 8 around two HUGE tires. They only ran into each other a couple of times. The announcer said that if there were more cars it would have been more fun. Now the demolition derby: The one with Nemo in it... Some of the cars faced backward, including the Nemo car, so that they wouldn't ruin their engine when they first hit someone. But what happened to the Nemo car, was someone hit her (yes her, cool huh?) and tore her back axle off, so she couldn't move. It stun

Brichette has a lot of cousins that she just absolutely loves. But she does have one in particular that she wouldn't leave if she didn't have too. Her name is Tiffany. She is great... whenever she is around she takes care of my kids and does everything for them, without me asking. It's kind of funny... when she was born I was 12 and couldn't get enough of her. When Brichette was born Tiffany was 11 and couldn't get enough of her. When I was around her I would do everything for her, and now she is doing that with my kids. Maybe it will work out that my kids will be taking care of her kids, and then her kids will take care of their kids, and so on. Anyway, here is a picture of the two cute girls....

This picture came out a little funny (not sure why... Maren took it with her phone and sent it to me), but it's a picture of (left to right) Carol, Joey, Xander, Draven, Brichette, Athena, and Zack. Draven is playing the video game and everyone is watching... well almost everyone (Athena). Gabe was at school, so that's why he isn't in it. Draven, Gabe, and Athena are my cousin Sabrina's (well she's more like a sister) kids. Draven is wonderful with all the kids, and they all just absolutely LOVE him. Every time he comes over, they never leave his side. And they love to watch, and sometimes play the video games with him. Draven is a wonderful kid. It just amazes me how well kids adjust and bounce back when horrible things happen in their lives. Love you Draven!!! :)

So a couple weekends ago I was in a creative mood and pulled Brichette's hair up. I separated it into three pony tails just on the upper half of her head. I then separated the bottom half into two sections, pulling the left half with the one pony tail from the top and half of the middle one. Doing the same thing with the right side. Then I put all of her hair into one. She didn't want me to pull her hair up at first, but after it was done and she saw it, she was very excited about it. She asked if I would pull it up again like that. I told her "Yes". Anything to get it out of her face. Here are some more pictures of it from different angles: She actually wore it like that all day, without complaining or asking if she can have her hair taken out. This was the weekend we got all the Hechtle Grand kids picture taken (see blog: How Does It End???), so I took them out and just put one in. It made her hair a little wavy.

So I started getting sick Saturday night, and have been home sleeping since. I went to the doctor on Monday, and he thinks I either have strep throat, or a bacterial infection. He put me on Antibiotics, and I feel so much better today... still not myself, but better. I must have caught it from Marchezt from reading her blog. LOL!!! Love You Marchezt. :) I have a very busy day today at work, but I will soon be posting about the Demolition Derby and the Movie we saw on Saturday.

On Wednesday Nick surprised me: came to my work and brought me a present. He handed me a bag from New York & Company. In it was the cutest tank top, and a new pair of jeans. There was also a white shirt from Down East Clothing. He bought me a new outfit, just because he loves me. He is so wonderful, and I am so happy we are married for All Time and Eternity! Here is a picture of the shirts: And the pants: It is very comfortable, and very cute! Thank You Nicolas! I love the outfit. You are the bestest!!!

Today on my way to work I was able to see beauty in some of Heavenly Father's creations. The Sun, Clouds, Sky, Rain... So breathe taking. They aren't the best pictures, because I was taking them as I was driving. Don't worry I made it to work safe and sound... without any tickets, or accidents, because Heavenly Father kept me safe. Just after these were taken, it poured rain.