Kayva's Birthday

Kayva's birthday was on Friday the 12th. I can't believe that it has been five years since my first little baby was born! And I am so dissapointed because I was so busy getting her party planned, that I forgot to charge the battery to our camera! :( Thankfully Cody and I were able to get some pictures of her party on our Blackberry's!

Her party turned out really well! It was on Saturday and we had a "Neverland" themed party where we had a Tinkerbell pinata, tattoos, pizza, "pin the pirate on the X", and a "canon ball blast." We also colored pictures of Tinkerbell and the kids went home with goody bags full of either Tinkerbell stuff: stickers, jewelry, pixie dust, rings, and candy, or the boys went home with pirate hats, eye patches, pirate compasses, and candy. The little girls looked SO cute! They came dressed up in their fairy wings and were presented with Tinkerbell crowns as they came through the door.

And last night we had our family come over. My mom and dad and their spouses came, Aunt Elona and Uncle Jesse and cute little fatty-fat baby, Preston. Uncle Colby (Cody's brother) and his boys, Colbyn and Dax, and Nana Cindy (Cody's mom), all joined us for cake and ice cream. Kayva LOVES to her see her nana's and papa's! She gets so excited!

Next year she wants a "Hannah Montana" party! We'll see if her mind changes in the next 12 months and I'll make sure the camera is charged!!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I just had to spend a minute to talk about how much I LOVE the Christmas season. I love the cool scent of outside, the vanilla and cinnamon candles, the yummy Bath and Body Works handsoaps that I CAN'T live without... but most of all I love the time I get to spend with family and friends.

This year, I have decided I don't want any presents. I am already so thankful for what I do have, I have come to the conclusion that a present wrapped up nicely only makes me happy for a short time. But the pictures, memories, and good times with family are what makes the excitement last all year long!

Cody and I will be putting up the Christmas decorations on Friday! Yay! So as soon as those are up, I'll make sure to post some dang cute pics!

So let me tell you about my wonderful Cody...

I couldn't have a blog without posting how much I love my hubby. Now the reality of it is, is that I really should be typing up an essay right now rather than posting this, but just this post and then I am back to homework!

My husband, despite his faults, is probably the most perfect husband out there. He is gorgeous, has a heart melting smile with darling dimples, he is wonderful with the kids, he helps with chores i.e. laundry, kid's baths, making the bed, vacuuming, dishes, cleaning the garage, keeping the shower glass sparkling, fixing things around the house... etc. etc. etc. His hands are strong and soft and often enough when driving with him in his big red truck, he'll reach over and grab my hand with his. His kisses make me melt before him, his laughter fills an entire room, and his giving, electric personality makes friends everywhere.

He is an amazing role model to Kayva and Beau. When we have arguments, Kayva will always take "her father's" side before she'll ever take mine. And usually boys tend to like their mommies just a tad more when they're as young as Beau, but daddy must feel like a big, strong teddy bear to Beau, because he'll often seek the comfort of Cody's hugs before mine.

Cody works very hard for us. Sometimes leaving at 6am and not coming home until 9pm, smelling of the outside and stinky, man-sweat as he enters through the garage door. But his hard work allows me to raise my own children and not have to put them in daycare. I could lay in bed until 10am watching 'Spongebob Squarepants" every day and enjoy the company of my children if that's what I chose to do.

I could never imagine a day without wearing Cody's T-shirts in the morning as I get the kids breakfast and ready for the day. Nor could I ever imagine going to bed without ESPN on the TV in the bedroom, right before we say goodnight. I love how he can brighten up a stranger's day with just his smile and how he truly cares for those he meets.

Just had to write about my Cody...

The Latest.... and Not So Greatest....

It has been just a little bit since I posted on this blog, so I thought that I should update it and let everyone know what has been going on lately! I have actually been spending most of my days trying to deal with my car loan that should have been taken care of months ago! I told my dear Cody that I needed an SUV to carry my little "rugrats" and all of their stuff around. Being the sweet husband he is, he didn't bat an eyelash and told me to find the one I wanted. Of course, being me I already knew what my next vehicle would be: a 2007 Mazda CX-7. I would have bought brand new, but every smarty-pants out there knows that's a NO-NO! I visited Utah Auto Sales the next day and asked to speak to a salesman that we had dealt with in that past. It was his day off so we visited with a just-as-nice, older man. The next day he had my car. A 2007 Mazda CX-7, black, 20 inch alloy wheels, Boss 9 speaker stereo system, steering wheel controls, sunroof, premium seats, power everything... AND almost $6,000.00 under blue book? The catch you say? Couldn't find one... until now! It has been four months since we traded in our dependent little 2002 Altima and it has also been four months that the loan on my 2002 Altima hasn't had any payments posted to it!

You see, Utah Auto Sales was going out of business as we were purchasing our new vehicle. And the sad part about it is there is nothing we can do! We have contacted the police, Consumer Protection, Devision of Motor Vehicles, lawyers, "Get Gephardt", yada, yada, yada... the list goes on. Isn't it sad that we live in a "free" country where our politicians allow this sort of thing to go on? My lawyer told me that if the company files bankruptcy then it will walk away with its hands clean and leave hundreds of people with no cars, and delinquent loans. Also, every auto dealership is supposed to have a bond set up that is required by law for this sort of thing. So for every person out there that files a complaint against the company they will each get a portion of that bond. Pennies on the dollar will not help me and my $8250.00, interest accruing daily, delinquent loan.

Sooo anyway, that is what I have been up to! I do have to say that through all of this mess however, I am so greatful for the blessings I do have in my life! My loving husband, my darling children, my extremely intelligent mother who gives the best advice in the world, my just-as-intellegent, "no-bullshit" brother, Jesse, who after five minutes on the phone with him gives me just a little bit of hope that I'm not entirely doomed in this situation; and of course always and forever thankful for the good Lord who watches over all of us!

I need some help...

So I think that I have done pretty well for myself and this whole blog thing. I mean, afterall I did figure most of it out all by myself. How to post, put up pictures, and how to do blogger layouts. The only thing I have yet to conquer is how to get names of my family and friend's blog on my page. I am following a couple of blogs, but I want links to my friends and family's pages on my site as well. How do I go about doing this?! Comments would be appreciated!

New Fave Sites!

I tend to think that I am a very crafty person, but like all artists, my inspiration needs to come from somewhere! Through my boredom, and extra time I should have spent doing homework, I have found some really cute websites that are in serious need of being checked out! wordle.net/create is where I made my cute collage of words, and blissfullydomestic.com is a fabulous site for moms of all kind! Check'em out!

Halloween!

So this year we thought about getting all dressed up and going dancing or to some crazy Halloween parties, but when it came down to the day, we just ended up getting the kids all dressed up and had them go trick-or-treating! Kayva has a new little best friend, Daniella, who lives across the street. Kayva, Beau, Daniella, and Daniella's little brother, Alexander, all went trick-or-treating with Daniella's mom and dad. The plan was then to go to my mom's house and do a little trick-or-treating there and then visit my dad at his house and show them the kid's costumes. It ended up pouring rain so we couldn't take the kids out, so we stayed in a took some cute pictures of Kayva, Beau and their new little cousin, Preston!