Portland

Wow! What great "charge your batteries" weekend. Nate and I had such a blast in Portland.

 We absolutely LOVE trips with NO PLANS involved.

We just did whatever we wanted and loved being able to spend time together!

When we first arrived we had to figure out this whole MAX railway system. It wasn't hard at all and it took us all over the city. I loved to just sit there and "people watch." Nate had to hit me a few times because I tend to watch and glare without intention. :)

First night there we went downtown to the Lloyd center. We ate dinner, shopped, and watched the ice skaters down below us.

I could seriously watch ice skaters all day. ( I think it runs in the blood...my Great Grandma Carlson was the exact same way!) We watched the young girls in classes first...they were amazing. After awhile the whole rink opened up for "open skate" and this old biker looking man (see blurry picture) with a big gut and long gray pony tail took to the ice. Nate and I laughed so hard it hurt. This manly man was doing all of these spins and twirls with butterfly arms. It just completely took us by surprise you could say. 

 He put on quite the show for us.

On the way back to the hotel that night we stopped for some yummy frozen yogurt. After we ate, we went back outside to the MAX and had to wait for a good 20 minutes before it came to pick us up. We were absolutely FREEZING our yippers off....maybe frozen yogurt wasn't the best idea. We were the only ones at the station so we took a zillion pictures with the camera just trying to help us take our minds off of how COLD we were!

The next day we headed to the zoo. Yeah...I know, we're kind of nerdy like that. We both LOVE a good zoo. The Portland Zoo was fantastic. We kept saying "O My Gosh (fill in with a child's name here) would LOVE that!" We'll have to come back one day and take the boys. I love the Boise zoo and all but this zoo was SO beautiful and SO green! I especially loved seeing all of the animals from the ocean.

We fed some birds. Of course, Nate got pooped on. hehe.

We rode horses.....well, kind of.

Of course, even if we leave the bikes at home, Nate ALWAYS finds a way to sneak a ride in! This bike was actually used by an elephant at one time.

After the zoo we headed down town to enjoy the highly recommended "Honkin Huge Burrito." It really was honkin huge. This picture is only HALF of one. We opted to split one and it was goooooood.

We walked around downtown and did some more shopping in the amazing mall down there. I can officially say I have shopped (more like window shopped) at a Sak's 5th Avenue now!

Then we walked all over down by the waterfront and looked at the big boats and bridges.

After walking about 10 miles our feet were killing us. We headed over to a movie theater and watched Avatar in 3-D. Amazing movie. Then we went over to IKEA.

We slept in, stayed out late, ate too much, and played hard.

 It is fun to forget the responsibilities of life sometimes and remember that YES we are still young and YES we are still crazy in love.

 And the best part of it all...........

is coming home to these 3 smiling faces:

 (and knowing they have been spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandpa)

(I think they liked their finger puppets, markers and huge rolls of paper from IKEA....don't you?)

Runaways

What do you do when you are stressed to the MAX, tired of the same old same old, and completely anxious about your future?

RUN AWAY!

Well, at least that is what Nate and I are doing this weekend. We've never been to Portland.....we're going to go check it out! :)

So long kids, work, bikes, housework....

Good luck Grandma and Grandpa.

Hello alone time with the spouse.

Just a day....

Hasn't been much to blog about these days. I hate January. I always have. It's cold, gray and gross outside. I wish I could just fast forward Jan 2nd-Valentines day. Yes...that would be perfect. :)

So....here is a post about a boring and rainy day in January. We hung out in our PJs until 1:00 today:

We made ecliars that turned out even more beautiful then they usually do so we took some to a friend.

We (more like I)  picked up numerous partly eaten apples and orange peels all over my house.

Here is the fruit eater/litter bug busted: (I'm still trying to get his little face rash under control....its been 3 weeks now. Grrrr.)

I found a coupole of motorcyles that were "taking a bath" as Parker put it:

We watched 2 movies plus way too much TV:

I uploaded my pictures and found some great shots the boys took. I'm so glad we have these classy pictures to  look back on with heartfelt memories:

The joys of boys.

Packin on the lbs!

I was looking through some pictures tonight and realized I never posted these darling ones of my Landon. He is so skinny in these pictures! It is absolutely CRAZY to me how much weight he has gained since his surgery. He has gained 8 pounds in 2.5 months! He actually has chipmunk cheeks now! My poor boy was obviously STARVING. :)

Inside Parker's head.....

As we were running some errands this morning Parker says, "Ya know what Mom....It's a good thing that I can talk."
I said  "Yes, it was a good thing....but why do you say that?"

His response: "Then I can SAY things like "Hey friends.....we should go to Gameworld." or "I think I need to take a bath becuase my bum is itchy."

Gross and Hilarious. That is my Parker boy.

Big D

Dallin lost his 2nd tooth this week. I can't believe how BIG he is getting. He was excited to put a straw through the hole where his 2 bottom teeth used to be. He thought it was so cool he could drink without having to open his mouth at all!

Count your many blessings....

Even though it is always SO easy to focus on the BAD things that go in in life, I do have so many things to be grateful for all. I'm trying so hard to continue to find the good...even when life throws some curve balls our way.

I'm counting my blessings today.....naming them one by one.

I'm grateful to be married to my best friend. He is thoughtful, kind, hardworking, dedicated, smart, and he makes me laugh. He is everything to me. He leaves me notes in the mornings, calls me throughout the day and always lets me know that he is thinking of me. I am blessed to have him.

I'm grateful for my little Landon. He has been my buddy today helping me run errands and pick up the house....while wearing his big moon boots and purple beads that belonged to my Great-Grandma. Parks is (secretly) my "Mama's boy." At least once a day I will hear a "HEY Mooooooooom!" coming from downstairs. To which I reply, "WHAT?" sometimes a little more harshly then I should. They I get a "I just love you, Mom."

I'm grateful for Dallin. I've enjoyed the time that I have spent with him this week each evening as he comes home from school. He is getting into some harder music with his piano and so I've been helping him get through all of it. I get so excited watching him master things that he thinks he won't ever be able to do. He doesn't give up, no matter how hard the song may be.

I'm grateful for my calling. I've been serving the Young Women of our ward for over 2 years now and I have grown to love these girls and leaders more then I ever thought possible. Being able to share in the lives of these remarkable Young Women has helped me learn so much and has taught me what it really means to lose yourself in the spirit of service. My calling is time consuming, stressful, fun, and crazy at times but I love it and consider it a privilege to work with the girls.

Lastly, I am grateful today for my Savior. He knows me. He knows the things that weigh heavy on my mind and heart and I know he hears me and lifts me a long the way. I know that when I put my trust in him he will direct us in whatever direction we need to go.

Up and Running

The appliance guy came to fix my washing machine. We found out WHY it wasn't working. A boy in this house left a small STICK in his pocket.

$130 later.....our washing machine is good as new.

It could have been a lot worse.

Time to go and do some laundry.

Stolen Pictures

I keep forgetting to bring my camera with me lately. Here are a few of the things we've been up to with pictures I have stolen from other people's blogs! :)

New Years Eve was a blast...we went to my parent's house and made a quick stop in over at the Dallings. It was a busy and fun night! We played the good old candy bar game. Then, at midnight, my brothers and their buddies ran around the block banging pots and pans as usual wearing.......well, the most random things they could find! Hey...at least they weren't shirtless this year! We drove behind them blaring an air horn.

Jason wore a drysuit with a shirt and tie over the top. He also wore this up at Lucky Peak on New Years Day while wake boarding at the Polar Bear Challenge. He's CrAzY! They were on the news!

Last weekend we went on such a fun double date with Aubrey and Matt. We went out for BBQ and then we headed downtown for the Steelheads game. FUN!

In other random happenings....my 2 year old washing machine decided to quit working yesterday. The Starnes Family NEEDS their washing machine! We don't function well without it. The appliance guy is coming today....hopefully it isn't going to cost as much as a new washer to get it fixed. SO IRRITATING!

The end.

Resolutions 2010

Alright.....every year I make a few new resolutions and usually by February most have them have gone out the window. This year I am going make things simple, less stressful, and more attainable:

1: Spend more one on one time with each of my boys (that includes Nate)
2: More dance parties in the front room
3: Pray more
4: Delegate more and realize that its okay to say "no" sometimes
5: Ride my new bike

Now, if I wanted to make my goals REALLY attainable I should have written something like:

1. eat more chocolate
2. see how big the laundry pile can get before there are no clothes left to wear in the house
3. have frozen waffles for breakfast at least 3 days out of the week


Welcome 2010.....be good to us please.

Christmas 2009 Overview

Christmas 2009 was wonderful. It was full of family and fun. Christmas Eve was spent over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a delicious dinner and then enjoyed the annual Rock Family Program. We listened to singing and piano and were blessed to hear Landon's version of "Jingle's Bell" about 5 times. He is so funny. As always we finished the evening with the lighting of one candle and passing it around the room letting everyone share what they were grateful for the past year. It is always an evening full of love and tears. After some delicious Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake we hurried home to get the milk and cookies out for Santa. :)

Nate and I stayed up late wrapping gifts and listening to Christmas music. I LOVE getting ready for Christmas morning. When we finished putting bikes and toys together I couldn't help but tear up a little at the sight of our Christmas tree lights shining on all of the gifts. It was such and beautiful sight and I felt so grateful for ALL I am blessed with. I also had butterflies in my stomach FOR my kids! SO FUN!

Christmas morning WE (as in Nate and I) had to WAKE our kids up! Crazy! The kids were thrilled with everything. Santa got pretty much everything they asked for: Bikes, Skateboard ramps, Air Hogs, Pixo's.........

After that we jumped in the car and headed back to Grandma's house for MORE gifts. My sister made the most incredible book for my parents. It is pictures and letters going all the way back to when they very first met. Such a special and sweet gift. She spent hundreds of hours on it but it was definitely worth it. Such a priceless gift.

Nate, Robby and Yamo were all LOVING their new SNUGGIES!

As for me....well, I guess I have come to the conclusion that Nate and his biking OBSESSION is NOT a phase and is NOT going away anytime soon. For Christmas he got me everything I need to join him on the road. Our bikes match each other....awwww. If you can't beat 'em join 'em right? I'm seeing a lot of dates that look like THIS in the future:

I'm ready to get my fitness on!

Dear Santa,

I found this on a blog today and had to put it on mine. The last line is my favorite.
Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my three children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my son's boy scout uniform with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month two pregnancies ago.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with three kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
Motherboard

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel ALL my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Merry Merry!

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

Monday night we had the whole fam over for FHE. We had a candy filled evening making gingerbread houses and playing "Don't Eat Frosty." Here are a few of the finished products. Mine was the "kit" (upper left hand corner) with all of the items ready to go and it STILL looks like it threw up on itself. Jason's (Upper right) ended up looking most like an outhouse.
Robby's won for best overall:
And Natalie's came in last place. It was tipped over and no one could figure out why the M&Ms were on the bottom. Good times with the family.