May I take your order please?

 

My Christmas present to you (ok, JW Designs present to you) :)

I found this free Christmas digital kit today. Enjoy!

Happy Christmas Eve!

"Let me think, I want to get my list just right!"

Christmas Finery

A fun tag

I have been tagged by my cool cousin Clark and since I would rather do this than cook dinner here we go.

8 favorite TV Shows (in no particular order)
1. House
2. Survivor
3. Biggest Loser
4. Special Report with Brit Hume
5. 17 kids and counting
6. Little People Big World
7. Meet the Press
8. Beltway Boys (ha, ha, I am a nerd)

8 things I did yesterday
1. caught up on all of my laundry (miracles do happen)
2. bought the last of my Christmas odds and ends
3. attended pack meeting and helped present an Arrow of Light award
4. took KateLyn to achievement days and gymnastics
5. mopped the floor
6. mailed off my Christmas cards (only to have several of them returned today because they are lumpy and didn't go through the machine-argh)
7. walked for .5 hour on the treadmill
8. read a gossip magazine even though I know better :)

8 favorite restaurants
1. Melting Pot
2. Training Table-mmm
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. Johnny Carino's
5. Jalisco's
6. Red Robin
7. The Cliff House
8. I agree Clark, anywhere without a playland

8 things on my wish list
1. More Privo shoes
2. a gym membership
3. a gardener :)
4. a king-size bed (I stole this one from Clark, but it's a good one!)
5. thick hair (isn't going to happen but this is a "wish" list)
6. unlimited Amazon gift certs, Target is also accepted :)
7. a food processor
8. a cruise with Mark (this one is coming true, Mark's parents are taking us on a cruise to Alaska-yippeeee!)

Tag, you're it
1. Betsy Simmons
2. Sara Rounds
3. Emily Parsons
4. Carolyn Gordon
5. Randa McBride
6. Jeralyn Skinner
7. Clover Dunn
8. Becca Erickson
and whoever else wants to play!(

Who should direct New Moon?

This could be great or terrible news!

SUMMIT BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEW MOON DIRECTOR

Los Angeles, CA, December 7, 2008 — Summit Entertainment and director Catherine Hardwicke jointly announced today that the filmmaker will not be directing the next installment in the newly minted TWILIGHT film franchise. Summit's targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, NEW MOON, does not work with Ms. Hardwicke's required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen. Thus as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for NEW MOON.

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct NEW MOON," said Hardwicke. "Directing TWILIGHT has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel—it is a great story."

"Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the TWILIGHT franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects," said Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production. "We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch."

I love a good contest!

I found out about these adorable puzzles from my cool cousin Randa's blog. Now I want to win some for Z! Check them out!I love mom entrepreneur's!

Worth a read (somewhat political)

I encourage you to read this article by the editors at National Review Online. It sends a chill up my spine. (re: Prop. 8 in CA)

Z is 3!

My baby Zachary is 3! I can't believe it. He had a very fun day on his birthday although he didn't get used to the idea that it was supposed to be fun until the afternoon. He was concerned in the morning because we have been telling him he will have to use his potty when he turns 3. (that's another story) Since he doesn't like using his potty chair, he told me that he was 4 on his birthday, instead of 3. I guess he figured he would outsmart me on the potty training. :)

We did a motorcycle theme for his little family birthday. He had a motorcycle cake, he got a bunch of little motorcycles, and a motorcycle ride on toy that he is crazy about! We love you Zachary and are so blessed you came to our family.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Anxiety and Exit Polling

I have a familiar gut ache. It's the every 4 year variety, usually the first Tuesday in November I have an uncomfortable rock in my gut. It's called "ifmyguydoesn'twinican'tgoonitis". I feel it more than ever this year but I am also going to be an exit pollster tomorrow so I feel doubly nervous. It's right up my alley but I am not one who usually likes to approach strangers and ask them questions. Oh well, it pays well and I like to try new things!

I don't know what I am going to do without Drudge all day. Usually I am the one watching for leaked exit poll results and tomorrow I will be the pollster asking for them. Being the local pollster won't tell me anything about the national race though, because Idaho is the reddest of the red states.

I voted at the courthouse today because I will be working from morning til night tomorrow. Zachy was asleep on my shoulder during the 30 minute wait. My arms are still shaky but we got it done. I love to vote and consider it a privilege.

God Bless America!

Oooohh....Check it out

Another Twilight Movie Trailer (thanks Ranay)

When you've got it, flaunt it! LOL

Luke Skywalker, half dressed kid, Bugsy, and the Mummy Bride

The kiddos have the big annual SPOOKTACULAR at their school today. You would think it's Christmas the way they anticipate this carnival and parade.

Brynn got to be in a Halloween Fashion Show at her church Young Women's group last night. She is enjoying being a mummy bride a little too much. At least she likes it. You never know with her these days. :)

Kate was going to be Princess Lea to go along with Ryan as Luke Skywalker but I couldn't find a dang Lea costume. (do you think it's because I am 20 years too late) Oh, well. She fell in love with the mobster costume as soon as she saw it.

Ryan's only disappointment is that he can't bring his light saber to school as it's considered a weapon??? I know the school has to draw a line somewhere but he is still sad.

My thoughts on the current state of the election

Yellowstone in Autumn

We have had a whirlwind weekend. Friday I took the kids out of school early and drove to Star Valley for a big Edwards birthday bash! It was a great time. Don and Amy have 3 kids birthdays in Oct. and Nov. so they threw one big family party. The place they held it was a party type center that had several rooms, a big tv, foosball and air hockey, a big kitchen, and my favorite, a racquetball/wallyball court. We had an intense wallyball game men vs. women. I think we won but I don't care cause it was a blast! Thanks for inviting us Ed's!

I drove home that night because Mark and I had plans to leave for Yellowstone in the morning. We got out a little after 8 and spent the entire day in Yellowstone. I love that place! This trip we tried to do the northern loop. I hadn't ever been that way and there were lots of fun things to see. I really liked the town of Mammoth Springs. If you haven't been there before, there are elk everywhere ambling through town and eating grass off of the lawns. Mark's heart stopped beating when he spied some big bull elk in town. I haven't seen him that excited for awhile! :) On the way home we saw a herd of at least 120 elk and I swear we had to stop and look at them for 2 hours. :) Some of the other places we enjoyed were the artist paint pots, tower falls, mammoth springs, and the calcite springs. Thank you Sara for the pass this year. We have had great fun with it! We ate at West Yellowstone, MT last night and got home at about 11. I am wiped out but it's been a great few days.

A few cards

Here are a few cards I made for my aunt Rhonda's store. And yes, I like red too much.

(Birthday) Party Girl

Brynn is 12! I actually can't believe it. She is growing up WAY too fast! I am happy to say that Brynn said she had a perfect day. (amazing for a 12 year old)

On Saturday Brynn, Kate, and I went to lunch, to the local beauty school for $5 manicures, and then on to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua at the movie theater. The girls soaked it up!

Her actual birthday was a little quieter but she had fun opening her presents and eating her most fabulous "cake" which was actually a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake sampler! Yumm-o!

We love you Brynn. You are such an important member of our family!

Twilight

Twilight

Gelato!

I was at our local mall the other day waiting for Kate to get done at the dentist. (having the dentist at the mall is cool, you can shop while the kids are being worked on) There is a new shop there called Dolce Vita. Oh, my heck! Their coconut gelato is to die for! It's so good. The caramel apple cider is awesome too! You have to try it if you have one in your area. It looks like a chain but I couldn't find a website.

FIRE HAZARD

Dang! 32 candles is a lot to fit on one cake. It's also a lot to blow out in one breath! I had a great weekend. My birthday was on Sunday and we basically celebrated all weekend. The kids each got me thoughtful presents, Kate even thought to get me a dozen roses! We ate at Olive Garden and enjoyed the movie, "Eagle Eye." Well, Mark did. I was in the hall most of the time resolving a fight between Ryan and Kate via cell phone. Yeah, Mark wasn't real happy when he got home. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend even if I have to be a year older!

Mark and me

I love this man dearly. He won't ever pose for a picture( and didn't take it seriously here) but I caught him when he was lighting all 32 candles on my cake so he couldn't escape. I think my kids should see a few pictures with their mom and dad both in them.

KateLyn's party

Poor KateLyn had to wait about 3 weeks after her birthday to have her party because of my dumb bike stunt. She was so excited for her party she could hardly stand it. This girl plans her birthdays for the coming year the day after she has a birthday! We took she and her giggly friends to the local Chucky Cheese knockoff. They had a lot of fun rock climbing, playing laser tag and chasing each other through the big play land.

The room we reserved for her was the Black Light room and so everything glowed in that room. Fun, but bad for pics.

She got some very fun presents including Polly Pockets and miniature horses. How come toys for girls that age are all about the size of a penny and have about 100 pieces? Mark just loves to step on those toys. Polly Pockets feel about as good as Legos when you step on them. We love you Kate and hope you had a fun time!

Here kitty, kitty!

Poor Kitty. Jeremiah just wanted to give him a kiss. :)Sorry Bes, I had to steal this from your blog. I love this picture!

Sorry

I should really apologize for being a lame blogger but I would have to do that about everyday.

Some things going on with us:
1. I went to the chiropractor today and it really seemed to help my battered body. Labor Day weekend I got the bright idea to ride a bike off a bike ramp into a lake at our family reunion. Needless to say, I forgot I wasn't 20 and in great shape and I had a spectacular crash in which I broke 2.5 inches off my tailbone and bruised a good portion of my legs. Yes, I am awesome.

2. Soccer season is upon us again and Ryan is really getting into it this year. I still watch most of the games from the playground where Zachy resides during the game.

3.The new season of Biggest Loser started last night. I LOVE that show!

4. KateLyn is finally going to have her birthday party this weekend. It had to be put off for weeks because of my brilliant stunt.

5. Brynn gets to have a sleepover at the school this week and she is way excited. She also banned my friend Amy and I from chaperoning. We would have fun.

6. Zachy and I are really having fun with the kids at school. He is getting a little more self sufficient all the time and he cracks me up.

7. My sisters are coming down on Friday and I can't wait!

8. Mark is a sweetie that has been taking care of me while working long hours.

Cool Article

I really liked this article today. (warning, political)

I have been tagged!

I have been tagged by my talented friend from the UK, Rachel. I love saying that I have a friend from the UK. Doesn't it sound so sophisticated? ;) As a side note, Rachel regularly sends me my favorite FOOD (yes chocolate is food to me) in the world, different versions of the Terry's chocolate orange. Ever since we were kids and you could only get the delicious orange shaped/flavored chocolate segments from England they have been my favorite. She just sent me a box with the most delightful flavors, mint and toffee! Yum! Thanks Rachel!

Back to the tag!

My 5 Most Influential Authors/ Reads....
I have a very eclectic and sometimes shallow subjects and authors I like to read. I often wonder when I read my Oprah magazine and she asks them to name their favorite reads why no one ever mentions say, Danielle Steel. :) I will try to be honest when I write my list.

1. As a child my most favorite author was Laura Ingalls Wilder. I adored and still adore her books. They set me up for a lifelong love of historical fiction, esp. 19th century novels and biographies. Along that same line, I loved John D. Fitzgerald's Great Brain books.

2. I like to read for escape and Lucy Maud Montgomery is tops for that. I love her victorian stories of Eastern Canada and Prince Edward Island. I like happy endings too and hers are usually good for that.

3. America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins was a recent interesting read. I have a feminist streak in me and this book was fascinating to see how far we have come as women. I love to read biographies of woman as pioneers, whatever they may be pioneering.

4. I have read three recent books that have blown my mind. They are Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer, and His favorite wife by Susan Ray Schmidt. They are modern, true stories of polygamy and they are horrifying. What these women lived through makes me grateful for my blessings every single day.

5. I like a lot of self help books, 7 habits of highly effective people being one as well as some by Dr. Phil and do I dare say Dr. Laura. I also like a lot of fluff and I used to love to read Lavyrle Spencer. I cried in more of her books. I have really enjoyed the Twilight series and resolve to get reading more!
Sorry if my books haven't been deep and profound but usually I like books that are escapes with nice, tidy, happy endings. :)

Where to start?

I have so much to say. I have stories to tell about our family reunion. (one of which involves me breaking my tailbone in spectacular fashion) I have so much to say about the Republican National Convention and Gov. Palin's rising star and rousing speech. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I am tired and my butt hurts so I will post a picture instead. It's of my 74 year old Grandma that ripped off her oxygen and jumped on the zip slide. Go Grams! I want to be like you when I grow up!

Or THIS

If you read one political article today-

let THIS be it.

Little camping buddies

 

If it can't be Romney....

then I will take Gov. Sarah Palin enthusiastically! What could be better than a pro-life, anti-corruption, pro-drilling mother of 5! Sounds like my dream candidate for sure.

Help out a great cause

My cousin's Carolyn and Randa have put together a neat auction benefiting the Nie recovery fund. They and my uncle Rob are auctioning off a two night stay at the beautiful Old Mill Log Cabins in Star Valley, Wyoming.




If you haven't already heard, a young mother and her husband were badly burned in a plane crash. It's a truly heart-wrenching story. Please visit these websites and help however you can. Thanks!

Political reads of the day

Whether you are just starting to pay attention to the Presidential race, or you are a big nerd like myself and soak it up daily and stay up late for speculation about the vice presidential pick on tv,(I know, big nerd alert) then I have two thought provoking articles for you.

They are paying attention now by Peggy Noonan

High Noon in duel for White House by Andrew Sullivan

The Erickson Bunch

From Kendall's wedding- I think that someone needs to tell the photographer that his da** camera adds 25 lbs to people. Oh wait..never mind.

In other unrelated news, the kiddos had a great first day of school. It took them about 2 hours to tell me all of their stories. I also was relieved to learn that the boy I refer to as "mean kid" isn't in Ryan's class. Hooray! It's going to be a great year.

Back to school

It was easier this year sending the kids back to school. We were all ready. However, I did choke up a little bit when I left.Although I know their school is great and I know they are ready, I always feel alittle like I am throwing them to the wolves. I just want everyone to be nice to my kids. Is that too much to ask? :) I can't wait for their glowing reports of their day and I will feel better. Brynn and Kate rushed me out of their classes. Ry was happy if I wanted to stay all day.

It was awesome to walk around Target with little Z at 8:30 this morning. I am going to like that. :)








Poor Mrs. T, it doesn't look like she will be teaching for too many more weeks.

Shameless suck up

I have found out the best local bargains, fun eating spots, and awesome finds (Hello Real Deals) from my local blogging friends. So you awesome local bloggers tell me the hidden treasure kind of place to get new furniture. We are looking for a leather sofa and matching recliner. Of course I want it for a deal! Are there any gems out there for furniture stores that I might not know of? Where would you buy new furniture around here? Thank you for helping us to replace our poor laz boy that just broke in half and our poor slipcover of a couch!

PS- Have you tried the Pita Pit I like to say that it's like Subway, except good! You can make your pita healthy or stuff it with meat like Mark likes to. I am eating a club pita loaded with veggies as we speak. Try yours with Babaganoush. It's like hummus except made with eggplant instead of chickpeas. I know, sounds weird but it's so yummy!

Our kiddos start school tomorrow. It's been a little bit of a long summer with a slightly moody preteen but we have done a lot of fun stuff too so al things considered I think it's a good time for school to start again!

Last but not least, we have been so sick the last few days. Everyone except for Brynn came down with it over the weekend up through yesterday. Mark came home sick on Monday, I got it Tuesday and the kids around Sun-Mon. To top it off Brynn was the only well one but that wasn't entirely true because she had to get part of her toenail extracted from the podiatrist Mon. That wasn't fun. She has had too many ingrown toenails for an 11 year old. It's healing up nicely now.

Breaking Dawn- Discuss

I bought Breaking Dawn and have barely cracked the cover. I even took it on Mark's and my fabulous weekend trip to Park City,UT and instead got roped into the Olympics coverage! I love the Olympics by the way. Back on topic, so I haven't read the book yet, but of course I read all the spoilers and reviews on Amazon. I can't help it!! That's how I am. Entertainment Weekly gave the book a "D" and they had given Stephenie Meyer positive coverage until then. I know I haven't read it but if you have tell me......... was the D rating justified and why or why not? I would love to hear from YOU!

Interesting Article- WARNING- POLITICS! :)

I thought this article from politico.com was interesting, although I admit to having to google the word, somnambulant. (walking as if, or while, asleep) :)

BREAKING DAWN

I actually don't think I have ever been as excited for a book to come out. I feel like all the kids (and adults) who rushed out to see what happened to Harry Potter, except in this case it's Bella, Edward, and dreamy Jacob. I have recently switched to team Jacob. I think it would be better all around that way except for the small detail that he didn't imprint with/on Bella. I would love to hear YOUR predictions for the sequel. EW.com has some interesting articles about Stephenie Meyer and Breaking Dawn and USA Today also has a cool article about the whole craze!

I am planning to read this book when Mark and I get away for the weekend but I don't know if I can wait that long!

Bear Lake is Heaven

I swear that I am going to buy a little house in Dingle, ID (yep, it's a town- my dad owns a house there) just so I can go to Bear Lake every day in the summer. What a fun lake. We had the third annual Kyle and Wendy Erickson reunion there on Sat. What a fun time. More to follow........ It's been a very busy, very good few weeks.

Baby Raccoon

After the Stadium of Fire the awesome Edwards family met us at the Marriott in Salt Lake where everyone but Zachy and I enjoyed the plush feather beds of the Marriott. Z thought it would be a better idea for he and I to sleep on the floor. My back still hurts thinking about it. It was 1 am and he kept telling me to sing. I would start to sing and drift off to sleep and he would yell at me to sing some more. Ugh. It was a long night.

On Sat. morning the kids just had to swim in the beautiful outdoor pool. Zachy loves water but is terrified of swimming pools so we wandered around while Mark and Don watched the kids swim.

We then walked downtown to the Gateway mall. That it was about 90 degrees at 10 am should have tipped us off to staying indoors. The Gateway is a beautiful outdoor mall in Salt Lake but dang it was hot! We all took the kids to Wall-E in a nice air conditioned theater. Zachy isn't a good traveler anyway but he was tired on Sat. so the loud theater scared him to death. I ended up at a stupid arcade with him for most of the time. We also rode the escalator quite a few times too. Yee haw. The allure of the escalator left me about 20 years ago. When the movie was over the Ed's parted ways with us and we decided to look around. That was cut short when we almost died from heat stroke. (Zane would think we were wimps, he is on a bike everyday in the 115 degree Arizona heat)It could have been a fun afternoon but cranky Z+ lots of heat= grumpy parents! We headed for home after that getting an ice cream at DQ on the way.

Sunday I ran up to SV for our big Erickson reunion. (1 of 2) It was fun to see people but I didn't realize that most everyone was getting ready to go. In hindsight it was a long trip that I probably wouldn't have made if I would have known it was about over. That being said, the kids had a blast getting dirty in the forest (Kadon looked like a baby raccoon) and then had fun playing outside at my parents house. Star Valley is so beautiful this time of year. I just soaked it up.

Brynn went to a school camp this week about an hour from here. We have missed her a bunch. I went up for parents night last night and she ran to hug me when I got there. She had tears in her eyes and said she wanted to come home. I would have let her even though they were doing fun things last night and today but her buddies talked her into staying. She was having lots of fun but was just a little homesick. She gets home today and I will be so happy to have all of my kiddos together.

Hope your week is going well!

Stadium of FIRE!

Wow! I think I have discovered a new tradition for the 4th of July. We were lucky enough to go to the Stadium of Fire in Provo on Friday. What an event! I have never seen anything quite like it. It was the most professional, most patriotic show I have ever attended.It was broadcast to the Armed Services Network. We had great seats so that was fun. What a show! One of my favorite parts of the show was at the beginning several soldiers walked out onto the field to get ready to hold the giant flag and the crowd roared and was instantly on its feet. How cool is it that to give those soldiers a 30,000 person standing ovation!

There were skydivers that brought in the flags. I loved that! Then the Blue Angels did a fly over which was awesome! (scared Zachy and Kado outside with their daddies) Then a bunch of soldiers rolled out a field length American flag. My man Glenn Beck was the emcee and he was awesome. He is a patriot. He had it set up with CNN to surprise 3 Utah women whose husbands were stationed in Iraq to talk to them over a satellite. What a tearjerker. It was funny when one of the soldiers held up a red Utah jersey right there in the BYU stadium. He got quite the reaction! They also had 1000 dancers from 3 states perform a cool dance that represented the different Olympic sports and they had a bunch of athletes there too. Miss Utah (who incidentally is a Sgt. in the National Guard) sang God Bless America and it was great.

In the midst of all this the Blue Man Group and then Miley Cyrus performed. We were there for the kids to see "Hannah Montana" and they were dying with anticipation but honestly I thought the patriotic stuff was cooler. I am that way though.

After Miley performed they set off tons of awesome fireworks! There were so many my neck got tired looking up at them. (I know, poor me) The stadium was really smoky by the time they were done. The fireworks scared Zachy but Mark loved it because Z would snuggle with him. :)

The rest of the weekend was great too. Part two coming soon.......