Chop Chop!

I got a haircut! (Actually, I got all of them cut, hehe) (You know it was funny)

My last cute pictures with long hair:

The night before:
After:

I got more than 10 inches cut off. My neighbor Sara is amazing at short haircuts and I have been wanting to get rid of the locks for quite some time. The only problem was, she was scheduled out 3 months! (See, I told you she was good) After she took the first whack she scooped up the hair from off the floor (I took Rachel with me and Rachel thought the hair on the floor made good stomping grounds) and there was at least enough hair to outfit 3 mannequins. Then she finished all the trimming and lo and behold, on the floor lie enough hair for another mannequin! Sadly, I couldn't donate my hair (or maybe with the economy the way it is I would've looked to make a few bucks) because over the past 3 years I've gone back and forth between blonde and brown too many times. Oh well, at least it's gone. (By the way, Sara told me she'd never seen someone so calm having so much hair cut off. It was time.)

Let It Snow!!!

Last weekend we finally had a free day to go get our Christmas tree! (I know, December was halfway over, but at least we got to have some fun snow to play in.) It was snowing quite a bit and there was a lot of snow on the roads, especially the canyon roads where we ventured off to find our tree, but our trusty 4WD pickup handled it with ease. I am proud to say that I cut the tree down and hauled it down the mountain (okay, hill) all by myself.

No, Jeff is not a wimp, making his wife cut down his Christmas tree. He was busy taking Jaki back to the pickup and saving her from frostbite after she took off her gloves and bare-handed the snow.

Rachel loved sledding behind the pickup!

As soon as we turned onto the canyon road she and Jeff sledded while I drove and then after we cut down our tree Jeff drove and she and I sledded.

She was fearless! We figured after Jaki seemed to be so miserable after getting her hands frozen she would have nothing to do with the snow, but she saw Rachel having so much fun and wanted out for more action.

So Jeff piled the girls on the sled with him and they had a blast! After Jaki was done we still could not get Rachel to get off the sled so she and Jeff stayed on and I drove as fast as was safely possible (note the word safely) to see if Rachel would get a little scared and want to get off, but she just loved it more and kept yelling, "Faster, faster!" We finally got her off after we got back to the highway and she was almost completely covered with snow!

The next day Rachel's friend and our neighbor, Tanner, came over and asked Rachel to go outside and play in the snow with him. They had a blast! Her Uncle Matt went out and played too and they all seemed to have a lot of fun.

Train Ride to Temple Square

Yesterday our family followed the recommendations of Jeff's parents and caught the train in Farmington and rode to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. (We found out when we got to the train station that we could've even cought the train in Brigham City, and hour closer to our house, but oh well.) The girls had a blast! Rachel loves to ride airplanes (not gonna happen much anymore since we have to buy her a ticket now), and busses (doesn't really happen very often either) so we knew she would love a train. And she did!

It was fun to get all bundled up and enjoy the beautiful lights. It wasn't even that cold so we were lucky. Sadly our camera battery died before we actually got to the lights, but we did get a couple at the train station.

Fall is coming (and going)

So fall has come and pretty much gone in our neck of the woods, as evidenced by our snowy drive through the canyon this weekend. To welcome the colder weather I got the girls some new clothes last week and Rachel was so excited about her new shirt with a "starf" on it! I put it on her and tied it, but she kept re-tying it how she thought it should go. The only problem was, the way she tied it wasn't how I thought it should go. I finally convinced her to let me tie it my way long enough to take this picture (with my phone camera since the battery on our camera died just in time for the finished product).

Jeff snapped this photo during the battle-of-the-starf-tying (just before our camera battery died).
In other news, Rachel got to be the leader in her preschool class last week. She was so excited! Each week one of the preschool friends gets to be the leader as they walk to and from their preschool classroom. I think Rachel thought she was pretty important stuff with the big job that was placed upon her shoulders. I am glad I left to pick her up early enough this day so that I could snap a few photos with my phone.



And finally, I had to add a picture of Jaki sleeping. It is quite the feat to be able to rock this little one to sleep. She's not such a fan, but Jeff finally conquered the task.

Oh yeah, and here's a cute little video of Jaki and Rachel helping Jeff sweep up a crumbled roll. Jeff was trying to help Jaki hold the little broom and sweep it into the dustpan and Jaki thought she needed to lay on her belly and get down close to the mess.

Keeping Me On My Toes

Rachel says some funny things. At work I'll tell some of them every once in a while (probably more often than my co-workers want to hear) and one time another nurse told me I should write them down. What better place to write them down? Now you get to hear them too!

The other day she was sitting on her little princess lunchbox and the lid of the lunchbox was out in front of her. She was looking at the princesses telling them what colors they were wearing, "Belle, you are wearing yellow, Cinderella, you are wearing blue, Sleeping Beauty, you are wearing pink." And then she took a close look at each of there faces and said in such a sweet little princessy voice, "Sleeping Beauty, could you please move your hair so I can see your earrings?"

In preschool they must've learned about communities today, because at the library thats all she could talk about. "Commudidy this, and commudidy that." When we got back out to the truck I asked her if she knew what a community was.
"Yes, a commudidy is a turtle."
Me: "No, a community is a group of people, like Logan is a community."
Rachel: "No a commudidy is a turtle. And a commudidy is a bear. And a commudidy is a rabbit"
Well, I thought it was funny anyway.

This morning she came in to sleep with me for a couple hours. When my alarm clock went off she kinda woke up, mumbled something about a turtle, and then tried to go back to sleep.
Me: "What were you talking about?"
Rachel: "Well, Swiper (from Dora) just came and tried to take all the bunnies."
This is the first time she's ever remembered about her dreams that I can think of. Before I would ask her what she dreamed about and ask if she dreamt about horses and she would just say, "Yeah, I dreamed about horses." But there was no prompting this time.

My favorite happened a couple weeks ago. I was carrying the trash out and was just about to the front door and Rachel was walking into the bathroom to go wash her hands when I hear, "What the h#$@ are you doing here?"
I stop in my tracks and ask, "What did you just say?"
"What the h#$@ are you doing here?" (with a little emphasis on the h#$@)
I set the trash down, turn around, and just before getting to the bathroom control my laugh/awe. Rachel, we don't say h#$@.
Rachel responds, "What the h#$@ are you doing here?"
"Rachel, don't say h#$@, say heck." (Yes I know, it is much better to replace real swear words with fake swear words.)
Rachel looks back into the mirror and says, "What the heck are you doing here?" And keeps repeating this as I walk out to put the trash outside. So far she hasn't ever said it again. Sadly enough I'm pretty sure its from watching Lost with me. I've been in quite a lost kick lately since we've turned off our satelite and I can watch Lost online. One day while I was trying to rock her to sleep for her nap I had Lost on and thought she was getting pretty sleepy when a scene comes on with Jack and Rachel says, "What's Jack going to do? Is he going to kill him?" Apparently I've got to rethink my choice of viewing material. (At least while Rachel's in the room.)

Holy Cow!

I have so much that I would like to post right now, but I know I won't get to all of it. I had started this blog hoping it would be like my journal, but I often either forget/don't find the time/ or just don't want to blog and soon I find that I've not recorded a lot of the goings on in our family. I guess what I'll do now is start from Halloween and go backwards and see where I get.

As you can see, Rachel was a beaver and Jaki was a Utah State cheerleader. Aren't they so cute!

For Family Home Evening we went on the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. We dressed the girls up in their costumes since they had warm costumes and it was a cold night. They had fun posing as these and many other characters. The hard part of the night was keeping Jaki out of the jackolanterns. She is getting so fast!

The night before Halloween Charlie, Debbie and the boys came over to carve the pumpkins with the girls.

I know this picture looks kinda scary, but don't worry, Rusty totally has it under control!

Jaki just mainly had fun eating her cookie.

Charlie and Debbie were exhausted from all the festivities.

Before our Trunk-or-treat party I took the girls to a couple houses around our neighborhood. Jaki caught on to the idea really quick! She quite enjoyed trick-or-treating.

I even dressed up as a referee!

At the Trunk-or-treat party Jeff passed out the candy. Jaki thought it was fun to watch Jeff toss the candy into the kids' candy buckets.

Now it is going to be fun to get ready for Thanksgiving!

Adventures in Anchorage

We are lucky enough to be in Anchorage right now, and why, do you ask? All because my wonderful mother signed us and the rest of my siblings up for a cruise in Alaska! In about an hour we are going to head for the cruise ship, but for the last two days we have been seeing what there is to see in Anchorage.
Here is a little of what we've been doing:


Jeff and I were the first from our family to arrive. This little fur shop is right by our hotel so we headed there to see the furs. I thought I'd try one on and grabbed a hat and a little cow made of fur to pose for the picture. As I was taking off the coat the store worker came from behind and was quick to snatch the coat back to put it on the hanger. We left and I told Jeff, well that was kinda rude! He told me it was because the coat was on SALE for only about $3000! I guess the lady could tell we weren't serious customers.


Walking around the shops we saw another little fur shop, and this one looked a lot less fancy. It just so happens we met and talked to this funny Japanese man for a long time. He was hilarious! He had asked us if we were mormons and we told him "Yeah." He said: "That good. Mormons good guys. I never met a mormon dingaling."
Yeah, he was pretty funny.
We told him we hide all the dingalings in Utah. (Just kidding)


Yesterday we got to take a jetboat up the Talkeetna river. We stopped along the way and posed for this picture. The scenery might look pretty, but watch out! The berries'll kill ya, and one of the plants right behind us will get into your lungs and cause them to bleed. Yeah, we're adventurous.



Next we headed off to the Iditarod headquarters. The Iditarod is a huge sled-dog race from Anchorage to Nome. We got to have a short little ride on a sled on wheels pulled by some sled-dogs. These cute little puppies don't even know what they have in store for them....Or do they?

This was just an awesome truck!

Just kidding, the picture is actually of the mountain in the background. It is Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. The Japanese guy in the previous picture actually said he made it to the top 5 times, a trek that takes about 2-3 weeks to complete! Another name for this mountain in Mt. McKinley.

We're having lots of fun!

She's a First Timer

My little Jaklyn's got her first set of painted nails. Rachel was getting her fingernails painted and I decided to paint Jaki's too. Matt held her and I tried to hold her feet, but she is pretty good at moving. If you would've seen her feet + my hands yesterday you would've thought someone was performing surgery. After Jaki was finished Rachel's dear uncle Matt painted her toenails. What a good uncle! I added a splash on my fingernails just so I wouldn't feel left out.

Jeff made the comment that Grandma Flake would be so proud!

Jeff also made the comment yesterday that Jaki's got the classic Flake trait: when she smiles her eyes dissappear.

I guess I'd have to agree.

If you have to inherit some traits I'd say you can't do much better than the Flake traits!

PS
We are missing Rachel! She went with Nae and Matt yesterday to the cabin and spent the night/day. Poor Jaki doesn't know what to do with herself. Her bath last night was a little somber. She has never spent a night (besides her first at the hispital) without her big sister. I wish I would be here to see Jaki's face when Rachel comes home tonight but I have to be at work, dangit.

And She's Off...

So much has gone on the past couple of months, but I haven't found the time (or maybe wanted to spend the time) uploading pictures. So until I decide I want to do that, here's a quick note for posterity's sake on the milestones Jaki is making.
On June 1st, about a week and a half shy of 8 months, she started crawling, and I mean the one-knee-in-front-of-the-other kind. She had been doing the one knee forward, one leg dragging behind kind of scooting (maybe thats called army crawling) for probably about 2-3 weeks, but she got the whole thing down on the 1st. Then 2 days later she decided to try for another milestone and pulled herself up to the couch. We were at Jeff's grandparent's cabin by Bear Lake and I guess thats where she got the inspiration. She just did it once while we were there, but now we can't keep her down or in one spot! She is quite the little mover.
She's also got her first ear infection, but we've been feeling pretty lucky that this is the first because Rachel had had either 2 or 3 by the time she was this age.

Wheel Rock You!

Last week Rachel was sitting on my lap while I was putting on my makeup and out of the blue told me,
"Mom, thank you for sharing my dreams with me."
A little background: She has a book that has about 10 verses to the song I'm a Little Teapot and that is one of the phrases in one of the verses.
Then a few seconds later she told me,
"Mom, thank you for sharing that nice little nap with me."
Background: She had taken a nap with me an hour or so earlier. The phrase she came up with on her own.

Then today we were on our way into town and Rachel brought a lid to her toy bucket that has holes in the shapes that the blocks fit into. She grabbed the lid in both hands and said, "Look, Mom, I'm driving!"
I asked her, "Is that your steering wheel?
She says, "Yeah" and than sets it back on the bucket, starts drumming and tells me its her drumming wheel.
"Your drumming wheel?" I ask her.
"Yeah, my drumming wheel"
Then I hear her babbling in a little sing-song voice, "Wheel. Wheel. Wheewel, wheewel. Wheewel, wheewel, wheewel. We will, we will rock you! We will, we will rock you!"
Isn't it crazy what goes through these kids heads and how much they can remember!

I guess I'd better go, because Jaki is about to jump right off my lap. That little Jackster is such a wiggle worm!

3 Posts In 1 Day!

I know I've already posted 2 times today, but I thought I'd post another picture of Jaki. The cute little girl is sitting up now, and when she lays on her belly she spins in circles, trying to find all the new toys. She is such a happy little baby!

Rachel's New Umbrella

Last Tuesday Rachel, Jaki and I went to Old Navy to look for some outfits for my new nieces, Mary and Marlee, and my great-nephew Jack. While I was browsing the clearance Rachel found this umbrella. She was so excited. I, being the mean mom that I am, told her when we were about to leave that she needed to put the umbrella back. She started throwing a fit, which made me all the more adamant that she didn't need the umbrella. I wrestled it out of her hands and put it back on the shelf, but then decided to look at one more outfit. Thats when I hear Rachel halfway sob, "I want the umbwewa to keep the wain off my head."
She won.

After Old Navy we walked over to TJ Maxx and Rachel was so cute with her little umbrella. I made her fold it up and put it in the cart in the store, but then as we were leaving she asks, "My bwewa, my bwewa!" and opened it and walked like a little princess back to the car. I didn't feel one bit sorry I got it for her.

Oh What Fun It Is To Ride...

So A couple weeks ago 2 of Jeff's uncles, an aunt, their families and his brother came up and we went sledding at The Sinks, a place at the top of Logan canyon. We rented a couple snowmobiles and had a blast. Rachel had so much fun. The weather was perfect, nice and sunny. We didn't hardly get cold at all. Rachel and Jaki went with the group that went back to Ephraim's Den (the cabin Grandpa Ron built at Bear Lake) around lunchtime and Jeff and I got to stay and have fun tubing. I think mostly the snowmobiles were used to pull the sledders back up to the top, but every once in a while someone would take them for a ride. Just before we went back to the cabin Jeff took me for a ride on one of the snowmobiles. I've always thought I was pretty gutsy when it comes to riding quads and dirtbikes, but I was pretty freaked out riding the snowmachine. When Jeff and I were just starting dating he took me and my roommates for a ride on his dirtbikes out near Sugarloaf and I told him I wanted him to go as fast as he could because I trusted him to not wreck, where I wouldn't be able to go fast by myself. I did not feel the same way this time. Maybe I've just gotten old, but I was so sure I was going to fly off the thing and break my head. The main thought in my head the whole ride was "My girls aren't going to have a mom anymore!" Sadly enough, I was a not too disappointed when the ride was over. Don't get me wrong, I had fun on it, I just couldn't believe how scared I was.

Anyway, here is a little movie I shot with my phone camera while I was sitting on the hood of the pickup where Jaki was asleep. (Sweet little girl slept in the pickup the whole time she was there.) I know it's going to be kinda hard to tell, but Jeff is laying down on his belly on the sled, Rachel climbs onto his back and down the hill they go.

Good Morning Mom

So yesterday morning I vaguely remember Rachel coming into my room somewhat frantic, yelling, "My booger! My booger!" That girl has some kind of fascination with her boogers, and I was tired so I didn't really think anything of it. The next thing I know I'm having a booger shoved up my nose by a 2-year-old finger. I jumped out of bed, picked her booger out of my nose, and tried to tell her not to do that ever again, while also trying not to laugh.

Where, you ask, does this fetish with her boogers come from?

I have no idea!

(PS, I am not the first person she has done this to.)

Finally (i hope)

The Jackster is asleep.
I have been so excited to go to bed at the same time and snuggle with Jeff. I've worked the last 2 nights and not gotten to go to bed with him and have been looking forward to it.
We went out to eat tonight (we were gonna get free 3-stacks at IHOP, but the line filled the waiting room and poured out the door so instead Jeanae met us at Costa Vida) and then he let me run into wallyworld with the Rach while he and Jaki napped in the car. Over $100 later (laundry detergent and formula are expensive) we carried the sleeping Jackster into the house and debated whether to wake her up and put her in the tub with her sister or just put her in her room. We took our chances-Rachel had her bath alone, (which I think she kinda liked: the water a little deeper and room to spin circles) got on her pj's and then we put Jaki in their room. We thought it'd take a little while to get Rachel to sleep, but amazingly enough. she was asking for bed 5 minutes later. We had prayers, tucked Rachel into bed and then were just climbing in ourselves when we heard Jaki telling us she needed a nightcap. The problem is, Jaki doesn't just take a bottle and go right to bed. She dozes while she eats, sits up to burp, and then flashes what would be her pearly whites if she had any yet. You want to be annoyed that she is so awake, but can't help but play with her when you see the gleam in her eyes. Jeff tried to stay awake doing homework, but had to turn in 1/2 hout ago. Jaki has finally settled down and I think is now totally zonked (she should be, shes got 8 ounces in that cute little belly of hers).
Wish me luck while I try to lay her down.
At least the bed will be warm for me.

Soy Sauce

For dinner tonight I made stir fry vegetables with chicken and rice. We dished Rachel her food onto her plate and Jeff was going to help her pour some soy sauce on the side. She was telling him "No, I want it in my cup!" She thought it was pop and would not stop asking for it. We kept telling her it was dip but she didn't believe us. So I told her to taste it. I put a couple drops into a cup and let her drink it. Needless to say, she wasn't a fan. I wish I had pictures of her face. She seemed fine with it for about five seconds, then I guess it got to her. She was making the funniest faces. We hurried and got her milk and she wouldn't touch anything that had soy sauce on it for the rest of dinner.

Also, a couple milestones happened today!
This afternoon Rachel got her second and biggest haircut. I cut about an inch off the bottom and maybe 1/2-1 inch off the top. To tell you the truth, I don't really know how much I cut because Rachel was so wiggly the whole time. Luckily her hair is curly so it hides any flaws. It is hard to tell that it was even cut now, except that it seems to be a lot more fluffy with all the curls. Maybe when I put spray on it there will be a difference. I decided it is a good thing I get to practice on Rachel's hair before I start with Jaki's hair because I'm guessing that Jaki will have straight hair and you will be able to tell mistakes a lot easier than with Rachel's curly locks.
The second milestone: Jaki rolled over! Earlier this afternoon Jaki was playing under her little dancing cow while I was rocking Rachel for her nap. Jaki looked like she was going to roll over, but just kept scooting and scooting. She had almost turned a full circle before she got sick of it and needed some battention. Then tonight Jeff was working on stuff for the HOA, I was on the computer and Rachel was sitting on my lap playing with her baby. Jaki was laying on the ground getting very close to rolling over. We were back and forth watching her and doing whatever else we were doing when Jeff said, "Hey, Jaki is on her belly!" She had rolled over and none of us even saw it. She seemed quite pleased with herself for a while, but soon got sick of being on her belly so we rolled her back over. She came really close a few more times after that tonight, but never flipped all the way. So she rolled and we didn't even see it!

Jake-lyn

I took this picture of Jaki today and her face reminded me of my dad's smile. I think its the eyes. I don't usually see other people's traits when I look at my girls, but this one stuck out at me today.

I am so grateful for my dad. I miss him like crazy, but I am so grateful for the plan of happiness and to know that I can see him again.

A while ago Amy posted about memories of our dad and ever since I saw that I've wanted to record my memories of him and have not gotten around to it, but today is the day.

Going riding with him-

While the girls and I were in Snowflake last month I got to go riding with Travis because the cows kept getting onto the highway where they were and we needed to move them until Trav could get the fence fixed. We had to ride out to the pasture where the cows were and then we rode home afterwards. It reminded me of the last time I can remember going riding with my dad. I believe it was while Jeff was in Wyoming working on his grandpa's ranch. We had dated and were still talking on the phone every so often seeing if a long-distance relationship could work. My dad was going to go out to see how his cows were doing and I wanted to go with him. We rode in the same pasture that Travis and I had taken the cows to. I can't remember all the details about what we talked about, but some of the things were dating and Jeff and school. He would tell me stories about growing up and about his parents. My dad's influence on me is one of the main reasons I married Jeff. I knew I wanted a man who knew how to work and who liked to work around horses and cows. I knew I wanted a man who valued his priesthood and family and who had a good sense of humor. I think while Travis and I were riding home that day there were a couple times I would have cried, but my tears probably would've froze to my face.

Growing up on a ranch-

I loved when I was little and we would go riding and we would be moving big herds. We would have 10 or so riders going out to all the different corners of the pasture looking for cows and gathering them to the new place with more feed and water. Or sometimes bringing them to the center so that we could brand. I loved branding hundreds of calves. My job was usually to keep tally or else to give the vaccinations. I loved the ride in a pickup and trailer to go out to 9-mile or Monument Hill or Buckhorn or wherever we were going to move the cows. A few times, well probably more often than not, I was on a horse that I was a little bit nervous about. I would say a prayer in the pickup on the way to our destination that I would be able to control the horse and not get bucked off. I loved that when I was really little Rend and I would hurry after school to get the piano practiced and the jobs done so that we could catch the horses and go riding. I loved that my dad could tell me a place to go to get the cows and I could go do it. My dad always knew where his cows were. I loved that my dad taught me to move the cows slow and steady and not to rile them. I think I could go on and on about this subject. When I got older there was less ranch to run, mainly because there weren't as many people to run it. After my dad and his brothers split their parts of the ranch I was the only one at home. He still had Shon to go do a lot of the big things that needed to be done, but I got to be the one to feed the horses and try to take care of the barn. I learned a little about how to fix drinkers. He would let me go check on drinkers when he was away politicking. For a while there before I moved away from home the only horse left on the ranch was Chester. There were a couple times that my dad and I would go out to ride, he on Chester and me on the new 4-wheeler. That was quite the fun little experience. Travis pointed out to me that my dad probably could've moved the cows easier without me, but he probably wanted to keep me involved in the ranch. Whatever my Dad's motives, it was a fun memory.

The Gospel-

My dad was stake president from about the time I was born until I was 10. I remember during that time he was a really busy man. I believe our family was blessed tremendously for his services. We often had general authorities in our home. We had visitors come for missionary comings or goings or people getting set apart or other various things and I don't think I really understood all the spiritual significance of everything, but I do remember the excitement of always having a visitor at our home. I remember the bishops breakfasts and if I woke up early enough I could eat with them, and if not we still got good leftovers and it was another morning that we didn't have to have mush for breakfast. I am so glad that I gained a testimony in my home and that my home, even though it was filled with excitement, was also a place where the spirit could be found. I love the fathers blessings that I got each year before school and when I was sick and especially the one I got before I went up to Wyoming with Jeff (where we ended up getting engaged). I didn't quite know yet how strong my feelings were for Jeff or how strong his were for me, but I knew that with that blessing I could make the right choice concerning him and my future and I did.

Family-

I love the ties I have to my family, both immediate and extended. We are a loving family, even if we have little spats every now and then. We love to visit and talk and share funny stories. I loved the stories we would tell late at night when the kids were in bed and the rest of the neighborhood was probably asleep, especially the stories that would make my dad laugh so hard he was crying. I love the closeness I feel with my ancestors, especially on my dads side. My dad was a great storyteller and knew a lot about his ancestors that he loved to share with us. I loved stories that began with "Daddy used to..." or "Momma used to..." I loved that my dad honored and respected his parents and taught us to honor and respect our own mother, and for that reason, among others, we honored and respected him. My dad lost his dad at a fairly young age and I didn't really understand how hard it was for him to miss his dad so much until I lost my own dad. But I know that he felt, as I do, a lot of gratitude for the values that his dad instilled in him.

Going on walks-

I often took advantage of opportunities to go on walks with my dad. When I would see him putting on his walking shoes I hurried to get ready to go with him. Just like when I would go riding with him, we would talk about anything and everything. While I was still at home we would go on walks around the neighborhood, and when I lived in college we would go on walks around the block where our condo was and down to the park (sadly enough I can't remember the name of the park now). Sometimes we would go watch the baseball games in the fields down by the freeway. My dad tried very hard to take care of his health. I wasn't around for this, but at one point he was training for a marathon. But then he got called to be a stake president and didn't have the time and his knees got to where they couldn't carry the weight when he was running. You might not know how hard he worked to take care of his health by how he looked, but that was probably due to his love for food! That must be where I got my love for junk food. Well, him and my mom.

Politics-

I loved that my dad was a legislator. I got to go on some fun trips with him, both around the state and other parts of the country. I got to go to Chicago and on to South Bend to watch USC play at Notre Dame. I don't know all the ins and outs of the story, but the reason was something about one of those two teams coming to the Fiesta Bowl, even though neither of the teams came to the Fiesta Bowl. I also got to go to the Republican National Convention in New York as a page. My dad was a delegate and he, my mom and Amy stayed in I want to say the Roosevelt Hotel in New York while I stayed at the Pennsylvania Hotel with all the other pages. There I got to do some fun and now that I look back at it, dangerous galavantinig around Manhattan late at night. (We walked around looking for a night club one night and then to my parent's hotel. Ask me the story later.) I got to go to some great events because of my dad's involvement in the House and Senate. But my appreciation is not only selfish. I believe my dad was great for the State of Arizona. He worked very hard for rural Arizona and was a great supporter of schools among other things. I feel that being his daughter I should be a little more politically savvy and hope to be so in the future.

Sports-

My dad was very good at sports and loved to watch his kids and grandkids as they played. He didn't get to come to a lot of my games, but did come when he could and I always was proud to play for him. He was quick to give praise after each game, even if it was praise for how well I sat on the bench! If he had any words of advice for me, not only in sports, but almost all areas of my life I was all ears and would try very hard to incorporate his advice.

Music-

My involvement in music probably more from my mom's influence, but my dad was also a great supporter of music. As was the case with sports, he couldn't come to all my concerts and recitals, but was there when he could. He would even make special arrangements to be there if he could since there were fewer concerts than there were sporting events. My dad was a very good singer and I loved to hear him sing.

Naps-

My dad could sleep anywhere and everywhere. I swear he could even sleep while driving (and not get in wrecks). It was quite the experience driving with him on these nights. I now get mad at Jeff for doing this, but he used to fall asleep quite often in church and I would just lay my head on his shoulder and have a nap right along with him. Sometimes my mom would join in too.

Friends-

Both in college and in high school my friends always loved my dad and he loved them, usually. With anyone I dated I would always look for my dad's approval and that made a huge difference on who I hung out with. I remember one time in college I felt kinda bad because I had said a little bit of a fib to not go out with a guy, but my dad (probably because he didn't want me to go out with him) said, "It's not a lie, she said you weren't here, and really you weren't right where the phone was at the time." Speaking of not wanting me to go out with certain guys, the summer Jeff was in Wyoming I was at work one day and a guy my dad had gone to college with asked me on a date. (Yes, the guy was old enough to be my grandpa.) It was quite wierd and I told him I had a boyfriend to get out of the date. I told my dad about the story later and my dad was quite angry and told this man so. I am glad that I had a protective dad.

Cutting my dad's toenails-

Amy ended up being the one who did this, but I also got to do it quite a bit. It was quite the experience cutting his horse hooves, I mean toenails. I cut him once. Maybe thats why Amy ended up doing it.

Teaching me how to drive-

My dad taught me how to drive on our old red and silver GMC pickup. I don't remember how old I was, but probably somewhere between 10 and 13. Not as young as a lot of my siblings, but younger than most kids. The pickup was a stick shift and I remember being worried that I wouldn't know how to drive an automatic.

My girls-

My mom was nice enough to watch Rachel for me so I could finish my last semester of nursing school and when I would take her over early in the mornings before I went to class I got to say good morning to my dad. I loved how he loved Rachel. Even though he had 49 other grandkids I felt like he had a special place in his heart for Rachel since she was his baby's baby. I'm pretty sure my siblings felt this way about their kids too. I am so grateful for the memory I have of Rachel sitting on my dad's lap at Jewel's reception watching the slide show. We had moved away from Arizona and most of my family members before Rachel learned to talk or walk and when we went back to visit she was (and still is a little) pretty nervous around all the other kids. But she always loved my dad and still loves to hold my mom. Anyway, I think Rachel felt a little bombarded with attention and was pretty clingy to me and Jeff, but she felt right at home sitting on my dad's lap watching that slide show. Also, it was while I was pregnant with Jaki that my dad died. The day he got thrown from the horse I called him and was bawling talking to him and told him I was ready to fly home and take care of him if he needed since I was "his nurse." He told me they were taking good care of him and he was okay and that I needed to stay home and keep "incubating." Then two weeks later we had plans to go up to Snowflake for Shiloh's wedding, which meant we would have been there the day he passed away, but again, he had told me to stay home and keep incubating. I had a really hard time knowing that I would have been there when he died if I had gone, but now I look back and am just grateful that I have a beautiful, healthy daughter and I have a little feeling that he brought her to me.

There are a million more memories I have of my dad, but at least heres a start.

So Rachel and Jaki were having a bath today and Rachel told me "I want a ball." I couldn't very well leave them alone in the bathtub so I told her "later." So she looked at me with her big cute eyes and said "p p p pwease?"

Thanks a lot Jeanae.

What a little sweetheart.

Vital Solutions

I added a link for Vital Solutions, an hcg weight loss company started by my sister's family and their friends. Check it out because it is quite amazing.

Funny stories from The Rach

We're back home in Logan again! Even though we love being back home and in somewhat of a schedule, we miss being with our family. We are so glad Jeanae is up here too so that we still have some family to play with.

So Rachel has been saying/doing some things lately that make me laugh out loud and I thought I'd share them. Monday I started doing my pilates (with the amazing circle) again and Rachel was sitting at the table eating lunch. I was following the instructor on the TV and Rachel was cheering me on saying "Pump the arms, momma, Pump the arms. I started laughing and could hardly keep doing the exercises and she told me "Momma squeeze the circle." Then she came and was trying to do the exercises with me and was hilarious to watch try to follow the people on the DVD. But then again I am probably just as funny to watch.

Rachel loves corn and will ask me for corn for lunch, dinner, snacktime, you name it. Yesterday she had asked for some and I got some for her and asked if she wanted some noodles (smack ramen). She said she didn't want any, but I told her I was going to make some for me and she could have some if she wanted. So she was sitting in her seat eating her corn and I gave her some noodles and she pushed her corn away and said "I don't want the corn, I want the noodles." I thought some of the corn would be good in my noodles so I poured some of her corn into my noodles and she yelled at me "Hey thats my corn!" I told her I'm just going to take a little bit. Later she was pointing to my bowl saying "I want my little bit back. Hey give me back my little bit!" Okay, so it might not be the funniest story ever, but I thought it sure was funny, especially at the time.

Last story for this post, I hear Rachel yelling at me from the top of the stairs "Momma come here right now. I said right now! Do you hear what I'm telling you? I said come here right now!"

We have to be quite careful what we say to this girl because we usually hear it right back a little while later.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the girls.
Rachel playing with Mindy's daughter Karalee in Snowflake a couple days after ChristmasRachel and Jaki posing on the rocking chair for some pictures in their matching outfits from Grandma Debbie.
Jaki is getting so good at smiling and I even got a little laugh out of her the other day. We had gotten sort of half laughs from her before, but this one was a surefire giggle.