The Clarks

It's been a while...

2011-10-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Jeez, its been a while! I feel bad that I blogged Dax's first 2 years of life pretty much weekly (or daily sometimes) and Rocki gets nothing. Life is busy! Here is an updated picture of the kiddos. Rocklyn is 10 1/2 months and so dang fun! She is always smiling and she loves her brother! She has to do everything he does. She is trying to walk.. takes a few steps, but not yet! Daxten or "Super Dax" is his name of choice is in preschool and loving it! He is sassy as ever and makes my heart melt. He tells me probably 10 times a day that he loves me. Austin and I got back a few weeks ago from a dream vacation.. a Mediterranean cruise.Went with 2 other great couples and had a blast! We hit Rome and Sicily Italy,Crete and Athens Greece and Ephesus Turkey. Amazing! My insanely great Dad took a week off work and came and stayed with my kids. 10 days was a LONG time to be away, but man was it fun. But we are back to real life again and everything is great. The business is running fabulous and the weather is getting cooler.. Hallelujah! That's a quick Clark update! :)

HEY DADDY...

2011-02-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day! We miss you tons!!

Love, Mommy, Duggie and DoJo

Rocklyn's Blessing day

2011-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we blessed our little Rocki girl. It was such an amazing day! We had most of our immediate family (minus some brothers and sisters) and our great friends here to support our little sis. And Austin gave her a beautiful blessing. Everyone stayed all day for the Superbowl and we had a blast. Daxten woke up the next day and said, "I had two grandpa's and two cakes!" he loved having all our family here. By the time we got home from church the princess needed to eat and was grumpy and I didn't even get a picture of her alone in her dress! I said I could just redress her for a photo shoot...hopefully I get around to it! Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it such a special day!

Clark Family

Schoonover Family

Jones Family- minus Laurel, Kenni, and Ethan :)

Dax thought it was more important to go play football with the boys then take a picture with sis

Christmas 2010

2011-01-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

We went to Utah for Christmas and had a great time! Santa definitely visited and the kiddos got SPOILED rotten from grandpa and grandma! Other then the freezing freezing cold it was a perfect trip. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and Christmas morning with my dad. Nothing is better then being with family for the holidays.

Santa came a few days early to our house in Arizona to bring Dax his big gift. We made him close his eyes...to cute

Christmas Eve

Swayzi and Rocki Girl.. BFF cousins

Some of the cousins got matching cups for the cousin gift exchange

Christmas Morning

Rocki Girl in her 1st pair of Christmas Jammies

Giving "Baby Sissy" Christmas morning kisses

Grandpa and Rocklyn

I have to end with this picture because it cracks me up! This is how I found my sweet husband pretty much EVERY night of our trip.. In bed with Aunt Trishy watching Football!! haha I love it

Loved this article...

2011-01-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs
I'm a young, feminist atheist who can't bake a cupcake. Why am I addicted to the shiny, happy lives of these women?

At first glance, Naomi and Stacie and Stephanie and Liz appear to be members of the species known as the "Hipster Mommy Blogger," though perhaps a bit more cheerful and wholesome than most. They have bangs like Zooey Deschanel and closets full of cool vintage dresses. Their houses look like Anthropologie catalogs. Their kids look like Baby Gap models. Their husbands look like young graphic designers, all cute lumberjack shirts and square-framed glasses. They spend their days doing fun craft projects (vintage-y owl throw pillow! Recycled button earrings! Hand-stamped linen napkins!). They spend their weekends throwing big, whimsical dinner parties for their friends, all of whom have equally adorable kids and husbands.
But as you page through their blog archives, you notice certain "tells." They're super-young (like, four-kids-at-29 young). They mention relatives in Utah. They drink a suspicious amount of hot chocolate. Finally, you see it: a subtly placed widget with a picture of a temple, or a hyperlink on the word "faith" or "belief." You click the link and up pops the official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Yep, Naomi and Stacie and Stephanie and Liz are Mormons. They're members of a large, close-knit network of Mormon lifestyle bloggers -- young stay-at-home-moms who blog about home and hearth, Latter-day Saint-style. From Rockstar Diaries (Naomi) to Underaged and Engaged (Stacie) to Nie Nie Dialogues (Stephanie) to Say Yes to Hoboken (Liz), Mormon lifestyle bloggers occupy their very own corner of the blogosphere.
Their lives are nothing like mine -- I'm your standard-issue late-20-something childless overeducated atheist feminist -- yet I'm completely obsessed with their blogs. On an average day, I'll skim through a half-dozen Mormon blogs, looking at Polaroids of dogs in raincoats or kids in bow ties, reading gratitude lists, admiring sewing projects.
I'm not alone, either. Two of my closest friends -- both chronically overworked Ph.D. candidates -- procrastinate for hours poring over Nat the Fat Rat or C. Jane Enjoy It. A recent discussion of Mormonism on the blog Jezebel unleashed a waterfall of confessions in the comments section from other young non-religious women similarly riveted by the shiny, happy domestic lives of their Latter-day Saint sisters.
"They have lovely homes, picture-perfect kids, loving, super-attentive husbands, and things seem very normal and calm," writes a commenter named BrookeD, who admits to reading five Mormon blogs daily.
"I thought I was the only one!!" responds another commenter.
"THANK YOU," adds a third. "I'm another closet non-Mormon reader of Mormon mommy blogs."
So why, exactly, are these blogs so fascinating to women like us -- secular, childless women who may have never so much as baked a cupcake, let alone reupholstered our own ottomans with thrifted fabric and vintage grosgrain ribbon? It's not as though we're sniffing around the dark side of the faith, à la "Big Love." And it's not about religion. As someone married to a former Saint (my husband left the church as a teenager), I certainly have no illusions about what life as a Mormon would be like, and I'm sure it's not for me, which makes my obsession with these blogs all the more startling.
Well, to use a word that makes me cringe, these blogs are weirdly "uplifting." To read Mormon lifestyle blogs is to peer into a strange and fascinating world where the most fraught issues of modern living -- marriage and child rearing -- appear completely unproblematic. This seems practically subversive to someone like me, weaned on an endless media parade of fretful stories about "work-life balance" and soaring divorce rates and the perils of marrying too young/too old/too whatever. And don't even get me started on the Mommy Blogs, which make parenthood seem like a vale of judgment and anxiety, full of words like "guilt" and "chaos" and "BPA-free" and "episiotomy." Read enough of these, and you'll be ready to remove your own ovaries with a butter knife.
"It seems that a lot of popular culture wants to portray marriage and motherhood as demeaning, restrictive or simple, but in the LDS church, motherhood is a very important job, and it's treated with a lot of respect," says Natalie Holbrook, the New York-based author of the popular blog Nat the Fat Rat. "Most of my readers are non-LDS women in their late 20s and early 30s, college educated, many earning secondary degrees on the postgraduate level, and a comment I often get is, 'You are making me want kids, and I've never wanted kids!'"
Indeed, Mormon bloggers like Holbrook make marriage and motherhood seem, well, fun. Easy. Joyful. These women seem relaxed and untouched by cynicism. They throw elaborate astronaut-themed birthday parties for their kids and go on Sunday family drives to see the fall leaves change and get mani-pedis with their friends. They often have close, large extended families; moms and sisters are always dropping in to watch the kids or help out with cake decorating. Their lives seem adorable and old-fashioned and comforting.
"I've gotten e-mails from readers thanking me for putting a positive spin on marriage and family," Holbrook says. "It's important to acknowledge the hard parts -- and I think we all do -- but why not focus more on the lovely and the beautiful? That positive attitude is a very common theme throughout all aspects of the Mormon faith."
This focus on the positive is especially alluring when your own life seems anything but easy. As my friend G. says, of her fascination with Mormon lifestyle blogs, "I'm just jealous. I want to arrange flowers all day too!" She doesn't, really. She's just tired from long days spent in the lab, from a decade of living in a tiny apartment because she's too poor from student loans to buy a house, from constant negotiations about breadwinning status with her artist husband. It's not that she or I want to quit our jobs to bake brownies or sew kiddie Halloween costumes. It's just that for G., Mormon blogs are an escapist fantasy, a way to imagine a sweeter, simpler life.
There's been a lot of talk in recent years about "the New Domesticity" -- an increasing interest in old-fashioned, traditionally female tasks like sewing, crafts and jam making. Some pundits see this as a sign that young women yearn to return to some kind of 1950s Ozzie and Harriet existence, that feminism has "failed," that women are realizing they can't have it all, after all. That view is utterly nonsense, in my opinion, but I do think women of my generation are looking to the past in an effort to create fulfilling, happy domestic lives, since the modern world doesn't offer much of a road map. Our parents -- divorced, stressed-out baby boomers -- are hardly paragons of domestic bliss. Nor are the Gen X "Mommy War" soldiers, busy winging snowballs of judgment at each other from across the Internet. (Formula is poison! Baby wearing is child abuse!)
If those are the options, I'll take a pass, thanks.
Enter the Mormon bloggers, with their picture-perfect catalog lives. It is possible to be happy, they seem to whisper. We love our homes. We love our husbands.
Of course, the larger question is, are these women's lives really as sweet and simple as they appear? Blogs have always been a way to mediate and prettify your own life; you'd be a fool to compare your real self to someone else's carefully arranged surface self. And Mormons are particularly famous for their "put on a happy face" attitude. The church teaches that the Gospel is the only authentic path to true happiness. So if you're a faithful follower, you better be happy, right?
The phenomenon of the happier-than-thou Mormon housewife blogger is so well-recognized it's even spawned a parody blog, Seriously So Blessed, whose fictional author brays things like "We have non-stop fun all the time and are LOVING married life!" and "Speaking of fall, I kind of sometimes want to start a non-profit to help moms who go all of fall without blogging pics of their kids in pumpkin patches, because it seriously breaks my heart!"
So why are Mormon women such prolific bloggers? "It probably has something to do with the fact that Mormons are the world's biggest journal-keepers," says my husband, offering a partial explanation. Church elders have long encouraged members to keep regular journals for the dual purposes of historical record-keeping and promoting spiritual insight, and as a result Mormons are champion journalers and scrapbookers. In the 2000s, church elders began officially promoting new media technologies like blogs as a way of spreading the gospel, and the Mormon blogging community soon became so large it earned itself a punny nickname: the Bloggernacle.
For many LDS women, blogging about the domestic arts is a natural fit. As ex-Mormon designer Emily Henderson explains on her blog, The Brass Petal, growing up in large families engenders an attitude of make-do thriftiness -- homemade bread, recycled soda can Christmas ornaments, Salvation Army fashion. With the rise of DIY culture across secular America, all of a sudden those skills have become trendy, even bankable.
"Blogging is something they/we can do that feels productive, can potentially make money for our families and can be done from the home at any time," Henderson writes. For young Mormon women, who face immense cultural pressure to stay home with children rather than pursue a career, blogging about their adventures in homemaking becomes a sort of creative outlet, a way of contributing to the larger world beyond the home.
The bloggers I read may be as happy with their lot as they seem. Or not. While some Mormon women prosper under the cultural norms for wife- and mother-dom, others chafe. Utah is, after all, the state with the highest rate of prescription antidepressant use, a statistic the president of the Utah Psychiatric Association attributes to the pressure among Mormon women to be ideal wives and mothers. The creator of Seriously So Blessed, an anonymous Mormon woman, addresses this pressure in an online archive of Mormon women interviews called the Mormon Women Project: "In any highly homogeneous culture we all feel pressure to be and look and think and act a certain way," she says. "You start to think you need to be absolutely perfect in every area."
Clearly, life for the Mormon wife is not all crafts and cupcakes. Even if it were, I seriously doubt that crafts and cupcakes are all that much fun when you do them all day, every day.
But the basic messages expressed in these blogs -- family is wonderful, life is meant to be enjoyed, celebrate the small things -- are still lovely. And if they help women like me envision a life in which marriage and motherhood could potentially be something other than a miserable, soul-destroying trap, I say, "Right on." I won't be inviting the missionaries inside for hot cocoa now or ever, but I don't plan on stopping my blog habit any time soon.

Emily Matchar is a Chapel Hill, NC-based writer whose work has appeared in Men's Journal, Gourmet, Babble and lots of others. More: Emily Matchar

It kind of makes you feel a little bit proud huh? :)

Miss Rocklyn

2010-12-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

She is here

2010-12-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

Our Princess has arrived!

And as the true princess that she is, she came on her own time! As most of you know I was scheduled to be induced on Sunday the 12th. We thought we had everything worked out, Austin and Dax and the whole family drove to St. George on Thursday morning for a wedding. I stayed home just in case (good thing) and my mom was going to fly in Friday night to be with me. Austin was driving home Saturday night after the wedding to be ready for Sunday morning. Well Thursday morning I got up and had lots to do on my to do list for the next 2 days. First I went to my last Dr. appt and I was dilated to a 2 1/2 and 70% effaced. So I went on with my day and ran all my errands. I got home around 6 pm and I started having contractions around 9. They were about 9-12 minutes apart and I started to get a little worried! I decided to just go to bed and try to relax. AFTER I kneeled down and prayed that I wouldn't have to go into labor in the night all alone! Well I woke up a few times in the night with contractions but was able to go back to sleep. Huge miracle that I got a good nights sleep. At 5:45 I woke up with a really bad contraction. They started out about 9 minutes apart again and I just knew that I was in labor. I called Austin and told him and then my mom. I wanted to make sure that I was in real labor before I brought everyone back. So I called my midwife and she said to come on in and she would check me before I had them fly in. (Austin was supposed to be able to have a friend of the brides personal plane fly him back if I went into labor so I told him to call and get it ready just in case.) Well my mom decided to jump on the first flight out to be with me

just in case. SOOO I hurried and jumped in the shower (didn't even wash my hair) and threw some stuff in a bag just in case I wasn't coming home and I was out the door. By then I was having contractions about 6 min apart and they were hurting! I jumped in the truck (Austin took my car) and NO gas! I had to go pump gas while having full on contractions! All I could think is, "this in an adventure, don't cry!"So I made it to the Dr's office and I was in pain. Ramona (my amazing midwife) hurried and checked me and I was dilated to a 5.5 and completely effaced. (With Dax I went from a 5 to a 10 in one contraction) so I LOST IT. I thought I was going to have this little girl all alone. She said we needed to get to the hospital right now. She said she would drive me because I couldn't drive myself and the nurse was freaking out saying that it was to big a liability issue, so I said I would just drive myself. (it was only 2 exits away) Ramona agreed but said she would drive right behind me in case I needed to pull over. I called Austin as I was driving to the hospital and said get here NOW that he was probably not going to make it. He informed me that the plane was not available and he and Dax were driving to Las Vegas to catch a flight. I called my mom and she was driving to the airport and was giving me the pep talk that I could do this. That I was a strong woman and that I could do this alone. By the time I got the hospital I was not doing so good and the kicker was having to walk into the ER ALONE carrying my bags and check myself in. Yes everyone was staring and they probably thought I was a teenage mother doing this all alone. I was pretty embarrassed and was emotionally not stable so I said to the man in front of me, (yes there was a line to check in) who kept turning around to stare at me while I breathed through my contractions, VERY loudly so the whole waiting room could hear, "MY HUSBAND IS COMING! HE IS ON A PLANE TO BE HERE WITH ME." haha I can laugh about it now. So I got checked in and taken right to my room and while I was changing I called my amazing friend Brooke who lives super close to the hospital to please come right now. And my mom had called my cousins (my only family in AZ) to come. They both made it there in record speed and got there just as I was getting my epidural. Brooke held my hand as I got the magic shot. I started to calm down after that and I had gotten my emotions under control (put my big girl panties on) and said I could do this. I also got a blessing from Brooke's husband Spencer and I just knew everything was going to be ok. So they checked me at about 10 am and I was dilated to an 8. So they decided not to check me again and as long as I didn't need to feel the urge to push they would let me be, and try to wait for Austin and my mom. My moms flight got in at 11:30 (THANK YOU my amazing friend JEN for picking her up and getting her there) and Austin's at 1:30. Well lets just say it was A PURE MIRACLE and answered prayers because they both made it! Austin pulled into the hospital parking lot as my water broke and was dilated to a 10. He walked in the door at 2 and she was born at 2:24! The birth went amazing and everything was perfect. I didn't even need a pain pill or an ice pack my whole recovery! She is just beautiful and we are so happy. Here are some pics of the amazing day...

My amazing support group who got me through till my hubby arrived

My mom and I

I don't think I have ever been so excited to see him!

First look at her

Puckering up at daddy

Holding on to daddy

Our first family pic of 4

Heading home!

1 week old

My Baby Shower!

2010-12-07T14:23:00.001-08:00

I had the cutest little baby girl shower EVER last week! Thanks a million to my amazing friend Charde', sister-in-law Bree, and mother in law Delight. They did such a darling job on everything! It could not of been any cuter. It was so fun to have my house a full decorated GIRL HEAVEN instead of it being covered in trucks, trains, and motorcycles! :) Thanks to all the girls who came and made it such a fun evening.. I LOVED it. And I got some SUPER cute stuff. I cant wait to see her in everything! 5 days!!

We had a YUMMY Crepe bar with all the toppings.. bananas, strawberries,peanut butter, chocolate,cream cheese sauce, powdered sugar and whip cream... mmmm

Delight, Bree, and Grandma

Charde' and Stephanie.. old roommate's and great friends!

Jenn, Baby Arli, and Ryann

My cousins, Kim, Lindsey, and Steph

Delight made me this darling quilt to go in her crib (its a sneak peak of what her room colors are.. I cant wait to get it all done this week so I can post pictures!!) She is amazing. She also made me her famous burp cloths.. LOVE them.

My family is beyond talented and Bree made me the cutest headbands and leggings. She made this outfit out of old jeans and lace.. so STINKING CUTE!!

Turkey Day

2010-11-29T18:44:00.001-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at the Clark's and it was a great, relaxing, fun day. Dinner was AWESOME! We ate outside and it was beautiful! That's why we live in Arizona... we can eat Thanksgiving dinner out on the lawn. Love it.

This is what Dax's dinner consisted of

Family Picture and 37 weeks pregnant.. 2 WEEKS TO GO!! (I am getting induced Sunday the 12th!)

Is Cannon not the stinking cutest?! Love that boy!!

Bryce & Bree

All 4 girls :)

Getting a ride on uncle Mitch

Hope Y'all had a GREAT Thanksgiving!!

Family Camping Trip

2010-11-21T13:19:00.001-08:00

This weekend me and my boys loaded up and went camping at Bear Canyon Lake up on the rim. It was so beautiful and cold! I know this is kind of lame but I got really emotional when we were leaving.. this is probably the last trip we will take as just a little family of 3! Not that I am not SOOO excited for this little princess but its never going to be just me and the boys again. So we enjoyed every second of it! We rode the quad, found and cut our own firewood, cooked tinfoil dinners, roasted smores, sat around the fire and talked, slept in the back of the truck under the stars and fished! We had lots of fun

I love my boys!

Fall Fun

2010-10-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

We found the best Fall Festival Ever! And it happened to be right around the corner from us! Cox Farm is 60 acres of fall heaven! For $9 we got a hayride, rode tractors, milked cows, enjoyed the petting zoo, did "farm chores", rode all there HUGE slides, got there to die for apple cider and kettle corn, enjoyed live music, picked pumpkins and just had a blast!! Excuse my overload of pictures, we had so much fun!

Dax and Dad on the hay ride

Dax DROOLING over all the tractors

Oh Bless her heart! Don't you nursing mommy's feel like this sometimes?? Well, when you feel like complaining just think of dear Ms. Piggy here, it could be worse! :)

I don't know who is having more fun

I was a Happy Camper

There free apple cider shacks

Is that not the cutest barn ever? I was in love. There were animals all the way through then upstairs was a huge slide that took you outside

Learning to milk cows

Picking out there pumpkin! In case you are wondering.. our new pumpkin weighs 74 pounds!! It is awesome! Austin can't wait to carve it. We just have to find enough room to get it home!

It was a GREAT day!! Fall is my favorite!

Oh hello!

2010-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

Oh Hi.. yes we are still alive and well! :) I have been stinking it up in the blogging world. But see this little boy.. he keeps me busy. He is so dang funny, and naughty and the best little boy. I have really been trying to just enjoy him while its just him and I in the day before this little girl comes. We have had lots of fun and I just don't think I could love him anymore! We are enjoying some BEAUTIFUL fall weather here in Va.. its in the 50's!! Pants and sweatshirts and blankets.I love it! I will miss it.

"Baby Sissy" (what Daxey boy calls her,and all of us because she still has no name) is doing great! I am 30 weeks and feeling fabulous. I cant believe she will be here before we know it! Dax loves telling me where baby sissy is (In case I forget) and points and kisses my belly. Pretty dang cute. He is going to be an awesome big brother. If we can keep the body slamming to a minimum.

Next Tuesday Dax and I fly home and Austin will follow on Thursday.. So excited!! I really need some Costa Vida and Golden Spoon, oh man have I been craving ALL SUMMER! MMM get in my belly! Oh and I cant wait to see our family and friends! I am pregnant.. priorities get all crazy :) AND my HOUSE! Oh dear I cant wait to be home in our house!!

Heels and hammers

2010-09-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

I dont know what to say about this. I will say at least he has a hammer in his hand, and I am quite impressed he can walk around in these like its nothing!

Dont laugh at me, I totally did the picture in the mirror of myself today. If I didn't you would never see my belly becuase the husband is gone 99% of the time right now! :) 25 weeks 15 to go! (Hopefully sooner)

I did it!

2010-08-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

I made my 1st rag quilt all by myself! Without the support of my amazing mother-in-law! (Well kind of, she refreshed my memory on the phone of how much fabric to use) Baby Girl now has her first blanket! Don't look to close, its not perfect.. but I think it turned out pretty cute!

Pink, bows, and Lace!

2010-08-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have a little girl around I can barely stand it! I love my boys SO MUCH but I need a female around to balance it out.. and so I can dress her and paint her toes and buy her dolls and barbies!! :) I have been LOVING making some girl onsies and bows. I found this old school white lace and I have been dying it different colors and I am in love! I am so excited for this little girl to get here and see these little things filled out!

I needed to see a headband on a head so Dax gladly was my model.

This little stinker also helped me make cookies today and while a batch was baking I went and did some chores.. Dax was to quiet so I went to find him.. where was he? In the kitchen on the floor eating the cookie dough. Not just some cookie dough.. HALF the bowl! Cutest Cookie Monster I ever did see! :)

Life is good and not to eventful other then making little girl stuff, going to the gym (made an oath I wouldn't gain 60 pounds like I did the 1st time) and playing with my Daxey Boy! Austin is working hard and doing great out here. We are coming home October 15th! We are VERY excited. It is really hard to be ACROSS the United States away from our home and from family and friends for this long! But we are so blessed to have the work we do so no complaining from me. This pregnancy is going AWESOME! I feel good and she moves ALL the time. I wake up in the night to full on Olympic soccer games going on in there. She has been such a stinker and wouldn't move whenever Austin tried to feel her so during one of the games the other night I woke him up and he finally got to feel her. She does have a name.. but I call her one and Austin another. So we might just have to meet her and see what fits or Austin will hopefully just give in.. whatever comes first! :) Ill post a pic soon of my growing belly, we have been really lame with the camera lately!

TWO

2010-08-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our Daxey Boy! Yesterday our little stud entered the official terrible twos! We had a fun day! Dad took the morning off and we partied. We opened presents in the morning and he got a new bike and helmet along with a set of rescue cars, new Thomas train, books and a few new movies. Then we went to kid heaven.. where else other then Chucke Cheese! He had a blast. We had lunch, did cupcakes and sent daddy to work. Then Dax and mom went on a date to see Toy Story 3! He made it through a whole hour! Better then I thought he might. This little boy is such a joy in our lives. We are so lucky to have him. He is so sweet and loving, but also outgoing and fun and makes us laugh all the time. We love you little Stud.. Happy Birthday!
So this totally cracked me up. He is completely OCD like his Dad and had to neatly stack all his presents into his bike compartment after he opened them. So funny!

Through all his fun activities through the day his favorite I think was popping his balloons! ALL boy!

LOVE this boy

4th of July Weekend.. DC style!

2010-07-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Oh we had a fun weekend! It started on Saturday morning Charde and I took the babies to the Parade. Then that night we did fireworks at home with daddy. On Sunday we took advantage of being close to DC and we went to the 30th annual capitol concert! Let me just start by saying it was the hottest day of year so far... it was HOT HOT HOT! We got a hotel with the Overson's downtown just 6 blocks from the Capitol so we could give the babies a nap and get them to bed after fireworks instead of being stuck in traffic. SO GLAD we did. Charde and I decided to leave the boys in the hotel for naps and we would go get in line at the capitol. We waited in the line and when the doors opened at 3 we raced in and got front row seats on the lawn! AMAZING! Since we were there ALL DAY(sweating profusely) we got to see all the stars come out and warm up and they were so close! It was extremely scolding hot but it was so fun! Reba McEntire, David Archuletta, Darius Rucker and a few more played, they had the national bands playing and it was just a HOOT. We felt so patriotic! Then they let the fireworks off over the National Monument. Pretty dang cool experience. I don't think we will ever do it again, but so glad we did it!

Dax waved to everyone in the Parade. He loved it.

Ice cream and fireworks. Nothing better.

Thats Darius Rucker behind us warming up

That would be Reba McEntire waving at us!

Fireworks!

Hope everyone had a GREAT 4th of July!!

No More Two Boys & A lonely Girl!!

2010-06-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

Its a GIRL!!!!!

Can you believe it?? We can't!! We broke the Clark Family curse! For those of you that don't know, this is the 1st girl after 5 amazing boys and 2 boy grand baby's! We are so thrilled and are so excited to meet our little Girl!! We didn't know if it was possible to ever say those words :) Bring on the tutu's, barbies,painted toes, dollies, bows and PINK!! Yes!!!!!

Our Celebration

Im a big kid Now.... Almost

2010-06-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

Or so he thinks he is a big kid now. Let me tell you the story. So Dax has been FASCINATED with the toilet the last few weeks. Anytime you go he has to watch, he loves to flush, stick things in it, get naked and climb up on it, do all the things that makes it harder for mom. So Sunday I go to change his bum and he gets up and runs off . Off to the toilet...its become routine. After a few minutes of him being silent I sent Austin in to check on him (after 2 minutes of him being quite is never good) and the kid had ALL BY HIMSELF climbed up and went #2!! So dang proud but not quite sure if I am ready! Well I guess I should take this summer and just knock out potty training by the time the baby comes... maybe :)

Speaking of Baby, here is our little peanut! I went to the Dr last week and everything looked great! I was measuring a few days big which is fabulous. He/She was moving all over and kicking and punching. It was the best. I also pooched out this week. Defiantly have a baby bump. It seems to early. Ready or not.. here it comes!

Here are some more pics of Daxey boy to show you what he has been up to

2 words- CARTOON JUNKIE! First thing in the morning instead of crawling in bed with us anymore he runs out and turns the TV on. He can sit this way for hours unless I turn it off. Little stinker.

Well Dax and I are flying off to Utah tomorrow. I am running the Wasatch Ragnar..wish me luck, I need it!! I signed up last summer with my mom and aunts and was so pumped and ready to go, then got pregnant and sick and stopped running for a while- and I am struggling! If I don't blog about it in about 2 weeks.. I died doing it. :)

Have a great week!

What Daxey Boy has been up to....

2010-05-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

This last week I bought Dax a old School kitchen set off craigslist (the exact same one I grew up with actually) and he loves it. He cooks me food all day long

This vacuum has been the best $1 I have ever spent!( Hit up some garage sells and scored on some toys) He has to take it everywhere!! In the car, to the park, in bed. Saying he LOVES it is an understatement. He doesn't stop vacuuming!

We also got a Dr. set and he puts the stethoscope up to your heart and says "beep beep" beep beep" "beep beep" Dad taught him

He also loves to blow dry his hair like mommy. Not so good at that yet..
But he is going to make some woman very happy one day, a Dr. that loves to cook, clean, and is in touch with his feminine side! We can only hope right :)

He also has something to tell you......

Yes its true, we are having BABY #2!! We are 2 1/2 months along and VERY excited!

So I have had an excuse for not blogging these last 2 months! I have been sick since the week before we got a positive test. (Although I didn't need those 2 pink lines to tell me I was pregnant, I knew that nauseous feeling quite well) But, it has been SOOO much better then Dax, I actually have some good days and on the bad ones it doesn't last all day. HUGE change from being sick with Dax 24/7 for the first 4 months. So I will take it! :)

We are alive!!

2010-05-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness its been so long! I have so much catching up to do... or not. Maybe I will just keep updated from here on out. :) Well we made it to Virginia!! We are safe and all settled into our little apartment. Its so green and gorgeous and we are only 15 minutes from Washington DC. Austin got right back into the swing of selling and its going to be a GREAT summer! We are really excited for another summer of adventures to add to our books. We went and did some exploring in DC yesterday and cant wait to see all of it. Last week I took Dax to the Zoo with some other moms and there kiddos. It was a lot of fun and the best part is its FREE! That's one thing I am more then happy about, pretty much everything to tour in this great Nations Capitol is Free! Doesn't get better then that!

Dax didn't quite know what to think of GIANT Lincoln. He was pretty fascinated

This little squirrel came right up to us and wanted some food! So we shared our trail mix and it would eat right out of the kids hands! I think this was their favorite part.

The National Zoo

Aunt Cassie showing Dax and Hadlee the elephants

Pictures with my monster

2010-03-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

Last week I did a favor for a friend and had a photo shoot with her sweet newborn baby boy (So much fun! Maybe I will share them if I get permission) But while we were waiting me and Daxey Boy had a photo shoot! We think its summer around here already

A mind of his own

2010-03-09T19:30:00.001-08:00

This is how Dax insisted to go to bed tonight. He screamed like we were ripping his arm off when we tried to take it off. So Daxten is snug as a bug up in his bed safe as can be with his helmet on! Oh I love my son.

We all have bums!

2010-02-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

So Dax's new facsination is lifting up Sadie's tail and going ewww. Ewww.

So this morning we were all laying in bed and Dax was going off over and over, eww ewww while lifting Sadies tail up. So I finally said Dax, Sadies bum isnt gross we all have bums. So I pointed to his and said you have a bum then pointed to Dads and said Dad has a bum and then to mine, so does Mommy. We all have bums and they are not ewww. He thought for a second... then patted me right on my bum and with that look of absolute disgust said Ewwwwwww!!!!! Well I tried.

This kid kills me

He knows him

2010-02-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

For Valentines Day Austin got me this gorgeous marble Christus. I LOVE IT! But when Dax was down for a nap the other day I put it up on the shelf in the front room. Well Dax walked past it the other day for the first time and stopped, looked up and pointed and went ohhhh.... he knew exactly who it was. My heart just beamed. Now no matter where we are in the house you go where's Jesus? And he will run in and point to him up on the shelf and say Jssus. It melts me

What makes my world go round...

2010-02-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day! Some crappy things happened that we had to take care of that probably should of put me in a really bad mood, but it didn't.I got to hang with my boys today and that's all that matters to me! My life is not perfect. Me and the Mr fight, I lose my patience with my son, I say the wrong things, I yell..a lot, I hate to clean, my list could go on and on but Life is to short to dwell on the bad. When life throws you lemons you grab them by your BARE hand and you squeeze yourself a nice tall glass of lemonade and you sit down put your feet up and drink! Life is good. Here are some things that remind me to always be happy...

complete innocence

laughter

unconditional love. even when he thinks I am crazy

My boys

PaRtY

2010-02-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

It was my Birthday this week. I LOVE my Birthday :) This is how my day went..

I woke up to my sweet SON wearing a cheetah print headband while playing football ( I figure they cancel each other out so I let it go)

I love him

We dropped his little bum off at grandma and grandpa Clark's and Austin and I went and played! We shopped and then went and stayed in a cute little resort under Camelback mountain. (compliments of our American Express Points) It was this old Mediterranean mansion from the 1900's that was made into a resort and so darling! I was in heaven with all there Amazing Antiques!

We had dinner at T. Cooks the resorts restaurant and I ate and ate and ate. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
Pesto, tortellini,butter poached lobster, chocolate fudge cake, gelato.. I couldn't stop

The next morning we got up and hiked Camelback Mtn. It was a lot of fun and a Beautiful Day!

It was a GREAT Birthday!

And then it was back to real life...

Dang it I love this little Monster

Hope everyone had a great Week!

Today Was A Good Day...

2010-01-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

Dax only dug through the trash twice today to find a snack

An after Breakfast treat.. a cinnamon bun dad had thrown away earlier that morning

And a pre dinner snack of the last few drops of Sweet Baby Rays.
What can I say... my kid doesn't like to waste food!

Went to Costco and the grocery store and ONLY had ONE melt down tantrum

And didn't have to pick up one accident in the house from this little Princess!

Today was a good day.. someone was Rooting for me!

Clark Family Amazing Race!

2010-01-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Dad & Mom Clark gave us for Christmas this year a ticket into the 1st EVER Clark family Amazing Race!(Like the show) It was an adventure and we made lots of fun memories. We started in Strawberry at the Cabin and it only went uphill from there! We got an envelope of money to get us through the day and at each stop we got a clue to get us to the next stop and the first team to the finish line wins! Well kinda... We had some discrepancies in the game (it was the first year we learned a lot) so at the end of the day we tied and split the prizes.. but it was so fun! It was a hoot to see sibling rivalry arise!

Team Orange: Mitch, Sadie,Austin, Dax Ashtyn

Team Blue: Bryce, Bree and Hayden

The envelopes and clues

We got some help from the Flagstaff Finest ( After he gave us a warning for Austins high speed) A nice escort to our next stop... Louie the Lumberjack!

Next stop was Bedrock city( about 50 miles north of Flagstaff) Dax loved it! We had to take a picture in front of Fred and Wilma's house and slide down Dino's tail (Huge dinosaur slide)
The final stop was the first one to check into our hotel. It was right on the Grand Canyon!

We got there in time to tour the rim

We had dinner that night and got up the next morning to this....

Snow! We couldn't even see the Grand Canyon it was a white out! So we had a really yummy breakfast and headed out. We stopped and saw the Imax GC movie then headed home. It was a really fun weekend and Delight did an AMAZING job putting it all together. Thanks again guys!!!

Utah Trip

2010-01-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

After Christmas we drove up to Utah to see my family and like always had a great time. Besides the fact it was absolutely freezing! I love to visit the snow but am reminded quickly why we live in Arizona!

Grandpa and Dax

My dad took Austin and Dax out sledding behind his razor. They had a blast. Dax didn't know quite what to think of the snow

And grandpa spoiled him to the max and gave him whatever he wanted!

He got him this sweet little jeep for Christmas. We couldn't use it outside till we got back to Az. He loves it!

We spent a few days with my mom and got to spend New Years and celebrate her birthday with them. Dax and Bryn fought like brother and sister this trip. It was pretty funny. I bet they will go through stages of liking each other.. then not so much

On the way home we stopped in Manti and stayed with Austin's Uncle & Aunt. This picture isn't very good but we came over the hill at sunset and the temple was sitting there on the hill.. it was breathtaking, it is such a beautiful temple! We had such a fun time with them, they have the cutest little farm.

It was a good trip and Sadie the little lady did great in the car :)

Merry Merry Christmas 09'

2010-01-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas with the Clark's this year and it was a GREAT Christmas! We had a lot of fun with the family and we were only missing our Kendall (serving a mission in Chile) who got to call home and talk to all of us Christmas morning which made it even more great!

Our festivities started the night before Christmas eve, we all went to dinner then went to the temple lights

Christmas Eve we had the Clark's traditional Eve dinner, which is amazing... its candlelight with Delight's beautiful china. But the best part is everyone gets to choose what they want for dinner. It didn't get to crazy this year but in the years past with the boys growing up there has been some crazy requests.. just chocolate milk, crunch berries with only the berries, McDonald's and the list goes on, so fun! This year there was crab legs, steak, and brisket, and all the sides and it was FABULOUS!! Here are my boys grubbing on some crab legs

Everyone got to open one present after dinner and Grandpa gave Dax his rocking horse.. which he loved! It Winne's and moves. Pretty dang cute

Christmas morning

Austin COMPLETELY SURPRISED me and got me this darling little girl, our newest addition to the family. Anyone who knows Austin knows this was an amazing gift. I wanted a puppy really bad and he hates dogs and said we would NEVER have one. So I gave up. Then Christmas morning I unwrap a bone and some dog food then they bring me in this little thing. My husband is the best!

Our new little lady. We are in love

Dax adores her and she had to ride in his seat with him all the way up to Utah.. where he got a full 2nd Christmas with my parents. Where he got spoiled some more! Stay tuned for some more pics! :)

Hope everyone had a Marvelous Holiday Season!

Dax and Santa

2009-12-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

He didn't cry.. Just not sure what to think of the man

Breathe in..Breathe out

2009-12-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

My little boy is giving me a run for my money! I lose my patience and I yell and then feel bad. He looks at me with these big blue eyes

And says mom.. seriously RELAX !

Who could get mad at this little boy?

Well I do sometimes!! And then it breaks my heart!

He ran in today with his Burger king crown on upside down and laughing hysterical. I was busting up. And its those little moments that make up for it.He truly is

I freaking LOVE this boy! Even if I lose my patience and freak out sometimes.

Its No Problem Mon...

2009-12-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica Mon! We went on a trip with our good friends Brooke and Spencer to this little island. It was an absolute party! We laughed non stop, played till we couldn't anymore and ate and ate and ate! Here is some (or alot) of our memories...

Trying to get some sleep..We took the red eye flight leaving at 12 on Sunday night to Atlanta and then had a layover and got to Montego Bay around 11 the next morning.

And we landed into this paradise

We did lots and lots of this

(this may be the only time he didn't have a pina colada in his hand)

And lots of this! Our resort owned this private island right across the way and it had a beach, bar, restaurant, and great snorkeling! I couldn't get my husband who is half fish out of the water. He has no fear and touched anything and everything. Here he is holding a puffer fish he hit with a rock to make it puff up

Oh I miss spending every waking second laughing with these guys!

We stayed at Sandals all inclusive so EVERYTHING was included so we took full advantage. One activity was scuba diving. We just paid a little extra for the crash course and 2 hours later they were dropping us down 30 feet. SO much fun!! This is heading out to our dive site.

Austin and I down under

We saw some HUGE sting rays on a few of our dives but this one freaked me out the most. We were swimming through this little cave and had to swim right over this thing. Its probably the same one that killed The Crocodile hunter! :)

A jelly fish that I almost smacked face first into just swimming along

So for some more activities they had this water tricycle, kayaking, hobbie cats, beach volleyball and the list goes on. But for some reason I don't have any pictures of Austin and I on them because Spence and him had this cute little thing going on.. see for yourself
Moving on..

Heading out to dinner on the island

Jamaican Olsen twins

Every night was a different theme for the after dinner entertainment. We had poker night, beach party, Jamaican night.. and this one was my favorite! It was a chocolate buffet! Hello.. I was in heaven!! But this sweet chocolate Chicky was hanging out on the end. She kept telling me to lick her because it was real chocolate. We may or may not have.

My other favorite thing we got to do was this couples massage out in the middle of the garden. AMAZING!! Here is the little hut

What a great trip!

Mexico.. Rocky Point Style

2009-11-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went with some family's from our ward camping to Rocky Point. It only took us 3 1/2 hours from our house and it was a blast! It was the Harley Biker Rally so we got to hear motorcycles all night and party's till 5 am but it comes with the experience. We loved it! We played on the beach all day, Austin snorkeled and speared fish, we ate AMAZING tacos, sat around the camp fire at night and got to hang out with great friends.

Dax got a henna tat because I cant say no to the vendors

Seriously

The boys loved the warm water and couldn't get enough

I dont ever want to look like this

Halloween 09

2009-11-01T19:02:00.001-08:00

This year our family was the Grease theme! Good ol Danny and Sandy and our little greaser

Austin and I ditched Daxey boy Friday night and went to Trent and Char's Party, it was a lot of fun! Here is Bree (she was a bumble bee and Bryce was a Sunflower) Charde and I

Saturday we had a BBQ with some friends, Austin made some killer ribs! Then we took Dax with his favorite group of Boys trick or treating. It was a blast

He got his momma's sweet tooth

Oh and I forgot to post this awesome picture! Last week for our ward Trunk-or-Treat Austin had a work party so I was husbandless and Dana also was husbandless do to work, so Brooke had the amazing idea to go as Polygamists! We used Spence as the dirty ol husband and all our kids together was perfect! We picked up the Beaut of dresses from the GoodWill. If you want to borrow mine just ask.
The best part of the night was Spencer made us go walk through Wal Mart after the party! People couldn't stop staring and the looks of disgust were enough to make my ribs hurt from laughing. Oh what we do for entertainment :)

Another year for the books...

2009-10-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Austin's Birthday! He turned 25 and I think he had a pretty dang good day!

It started off by a flight lesson. He wants to get his pilot license in the near future so I wet his appetite even more and I got him an introductory flight lesson! He flew a little 4 seater plane, pretty dang cool! They let me tag along and sit in the back. I was a little nervous.. but it was so much fun to watch him. They let him pretty much do it all(with instruction from his flight instructer of course) but the take off, land, the whole thing. It was awesome!

Another major highlight was his new 45 Caliber gun I got him. He LOVES it, to say the least. He took it everywhere with us yesterday and it slept by our bed last night.
And of course we had a little bit of this ( I got the recipe from Picky-Palate AMAZING)

And opened more of these

We also went to lunch and went to his little brothers championship football game... and froze! We were going to go to the State fair but our bodies were so frozen from the game we settled on grabbing some soup going home and watching some tv.(Our thin Arizona blood couldn't handle yesterday!) It was a great Day! We love you Austin, you are the greatest!!

Thanks Brooke for watching Daxey all day for us!

Also...

Dax is a Big Boy Now

On Tuesday we went and got Dax's much long overdue first haircut! He looks like a little man now! He was so good. Just sat and chilled with his sucker while she cut away.. It turned out pretty dang cute.He looks just like Dad now.

New Hair

(Excuse the food and tongue hanging out of the mouth)

Oh Grass here we come!

2009-10-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend Austin and I, and of course our sidekick Daxey Boy planted grass in our back yard! YES! We have lived in our house for over a year with a nice dirt lot in the back. I am so excited to have a place to send Dax out and play! After shoveling, raking, 2 loads of manure, 50 pounds of seed, & sweat.. we are done! I cant wait for grass!!

So for all those out there that expressed great concern for Dax getting his toenails painted DON'T worry.. he is ALL BOY, he loves to Play in the mud

play with swords

&

:)

So after being in cow crap up to my elbows all day my sweet hubby took me on a DaTe!(babysitter & all)
We went and saw that new movie surrogate, we really liked it! It was really different and the part I loved the most was it wasn't filthy like Hollywood thinks it has to be to be a good movie anymore. It was good AND clean. Go see it..

Have a Great Week!

Utah Weekend

2009-10-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

For Conference weekend we decided to head up to Utah and visit my family for a few days. We are so glad we did! We had so much fun and it was so nice to get out of the heat in the nice crisp air and enjoy all the pretty leaves and the perks of fall that we don't get! We got to go to a BYU soccer game and football game, hung out in Park City for a day shopped at the outlets and rode the Alpine slide, watched my little bros football game, hung out with family and best of all enjoyed amazing conference Saturday and Sunday!

We love Cosmo! (Dax didn't so much)

Heading up on the chairlift... froze our little bums off!

Dax LOVED the slide!

our little stud

What I did this weekend..

2009-09-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some things that kept me entertained

Helped Mom make some chocolate chip cookies

Got to hang out with my bud's Noah & Isaac. We played in my car

I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner Saturday night of ribs, sweet potato fries, and Texas rolls smeared with jam... I had to be hosed off in the kitchen sink!

Oh... and Mom painted my toes. We are twinners. No Dad was NOT happy!

It was a good weekend

Crafts, Crafts, and more Crafts!

2009-09-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

So my life has been taken over by crafts this week! I never thought I would actually say this, but I am kind of sick of going to Hobby Lobby! (that's really nuts because I am an absolute ADDICT) But it's true. I have been there like twice a day EVERY day this week. Ridiculous. I am on the Enrichment committee at church and I am in charge of our SUPER SATURDAY next month and I had to have my examples ready for tomorrow. It has been a ton of work, but I am really excited! But before I show you how cute they turned out I have a picture of my buddy and I, he is my little helper and has put up with all my craziness this week, he's the best! Then I have some pictures of some Furniture Face lifts I did. Here you go..

So I bought this hutch for 50 bucks at the Goodwill and gave it a nice little face lift a few weeks ago! I think it turned out pretty cute. It didnt have any front doors on it so I put in chicken wire. Now I just have to get it DECORATED! Dang it, hate when I have to do more decorating :) It's going in my front room that we are just getting around to furnishing. When I get it all done I will post some pics! (Thanks to my hubby for doing the chicken wire & Bree for helping me paint the beast)

Then I had this mirror hanging in my entry way and I hated it. To modern for my liking. So I bought a can of crackle spray paint (my new best friend) and gave it some nice coats.. and tah da.. LOVE it! I feel a lot more crackle projects coming on!

Now here are our cute SUPER SATURDAY crafts! I wish I could say I thought of them all on my own, but I didn't! Thanks to the wonderful fellow bloggers out there who gave me the ideas..

Year around Calender
Autumn Sign
Future Missionary Board

Halloween Glass Block

Now to all my ward sisters, sign up!! Its going to be fun!

Oh and PS.. I had lots of compliments on my hair last post.. Thank You!! But a lot asked where I got it done and I never responded. I got it done at ORANGE salon in Gilbert, Kim J did it and she really is phenomenal.

Changes at the Clarks!

2009-08-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

Lots of fun things have been happening at the Clark house... yes that is correct, WE ARE HOME!! We have been home for a week and it feels so good!

Dax is walking! He actually started the last week we were in San Diego but is becoming quite the pro at it since we have been home. And becoming even more efficient at getting into EVERYTHING!

Austin is back in School & not very happy about it. It has nothing to do with the fact that I made him take a picture by the door like he was 5 :)

And I CUT all my hair off!! 12 inches! I needed a long overdue change, I have had the same long hair since Jr. high. I love it!

How many times does your kid poop in the tub??

2009-08-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

So I am going on 2x in 3 days!!!! Seriously?! Like its not bad enough to clean it out of a diaper lets add water to it, that way it makes it nice and fun to spread around the tubby toys and walls of the tub... AWESOME!

What we have been up to..

2009-08-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

My mom and sisters and little brother are in town for the week so we have been playing! Its there last hoorah before school starts. We have done sea world, the beach a few times, the pool, park, and shopping today and swap meet tomorrow :)

This was Dax at the Shamu show.. oh oh oh ohhhh and clapping and pointing.Loved it to say the least

Mom, sissys, brother and Dax

@ Elmo 4d

hanging with Gammy at the Beach

Oh and we heard that the last hour of legoland is free, parking and everything so one day after the beach we went down at 7' o clock got everyone out both strollers go running up to the gate ( so we could get our full hour in) and the nice teenage boy working the gate said that promotion ended 3 months ago! Awesome! So with Brynlee bawling to ride the choo choo train we went to the park instead! Here is our nice attempt at Legoland.. the front gate! :)

So I broke down and cut Dax's hair, the Mohawk is back! I told everyone that I would get rid of it when he turned one, I cant do it! Everyone asked if I cut it, I didn't cut it I was growing it out so it was to long for the mohawk... but I missed it! That's how we know our little boy, he has had it since he was an hour old! ( I think its my last helpless attempt to keep him looking like my baby, he looks SO old without it!) Anyways this is what he has been up to...

Getting into Everything!!

And getting dressed up by aunt Bree and Mommy like a girl!

Dax's Birthday Day!

2009-08-06T11:49:00.001-07:00

Austin took the day off from work and we had such a FUN day together! It started off by waking up and giving Dax this new car that he LOVES and some Mego Legos, a Big Dump Truck and some new books! Then to went breakfast at Ihop...

Then we went to the BEACH

Then after the Beach Dax had lots of missed calls from everyone calling him to sing Happy Birthday. He thought it was the GREATEST and listened to the messages over and over and just laughed and laughed. Thanks everyone for calling, he LOVED it!

After a nap and playing with our new toys and taking our new car for a spin around the apartments, we had cupcakes!! Dax with no surprise, LOVED it and ate the WHOLE thing plus an ice cream cone that cousin Brennan brought over for him.

I cant believe my baby is 1!

Happy 1st Birthday Dax!!

2009-08-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

We love this little boy more then words can say! He is such a ham! He makes us laugh on a daily basis and brings so much joy to our family. Dax has been an angel baby since the day he was born, he hasn't given us any problems except for nursing,He hated it, I hated it.. 6 weeks later it was over. He sleeps good, EATS like a horse, behaves good... just a STUD! So here is what he has been up to lately

NOT walking. Takes steps but rather would be on all 4's
Holds everything up to his ear like a phone
Says Dad, Mom, Yes, and No (Not sure if he knows the meaning of them but defiantly says them and happens to be at the right time most of the time)
ATTITUDE! knows what he wants and lets you know it
Tries to Copy everything mom and dad does
Has 4 teeth! 2 middle top and 2 middle bottom
Waves bye-bye
Loves emptying all of moms cupboards, drawers, trash, shelves, laundry basket, toy box and anything that he can reach!
Has a new obsession of climbing into things that is bigger then him. (drawers, suitcases, laundry basket)
He is REALLY TOUGH. If he gets hurt he cry's for 2 seconds then he is over it
Has tender feelings and if you cry (real or fake) he puts his head down on you and gives you loves. He is a SWEET boy!
Loves ALL running water.. Faucet, hose, pool..
Dances when music comes on (shakes his little bum)
Last but not least my FAVORITE, he gives the BEST kisses( open mouth) and the BEST hugs (puts his arms around you and pats your back) So dang precious and makes anything better.

LOVE you Daxey boy Happy 1st Birthday!

Wynn Family Reunion

2009-07-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had our Wynn family reunion (my grandmas side of the family) up in Ashton Idaho. We decided to do our immediate family reunion and the extended family reunion all together. So we drove up to Idaho Falls on Thursday and came home on Sunday. We stayed right on the river across from the temple in Idaho Falls and it was so gorgeous. We had a BLAST! I am so lucky to come from such a great family and I love when everyone is together. The cousins had so much fun just playing playing nonstop all weekend. Dax thought he was so big following all his big cousins around. Cant wait till next years...

Could these boys be any cuter?

We got up and went to Ashton on Friday for our big family reunion. What GORGEOUS country. Each of the different families had to wear a certain color so everyone knew what family we were from. Our family wore green and we looked like a big St. Patricks day parade! But we sure had fun. We visited with everyone played a big game of softball and floated the snake river, (which is tradition)! Then we ate at the famous Big Judds burger shop the BEST and ONLY burger joint in Ashton then drove back to ID falls. Another great reunion to add to the the books..

Uncle Troy swimming with Daxey boy

Dax on the drive home.. absolutely POOPED!

Carnival Fun

2009-07-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing about Utah in the summer is all the little "town days" where its a week long celebration with cheesy activities all week, a nasty carnival with lots of gross food, a parade, fireworks... and lots of fun! I love it! I think it takes me back to a little girl and its more of a tradition then it actually being a spectacular event! :) So I was sad because I thought I missed most of them while we were in San Diego but low and behold we didn't!! So I took my little man to experience the Steel Days Carnival! Daxten and Brynlee had so much fun riding all the rides and I just loved watching! There was so much going on Dax was just in heaven. It was so much better taking my boy then I even remember as a little girl!

I love this picture because it shows exactly how Dax was the whole time... completely over stimulated! I was trying to get his attention and it was not happening!

Me and Dax with My darling sister Maddi on the Ferris wheel

We love Summer!

2009-07-08T21:20:00.001-07:00

POOL DAY!! Today we took the kids to this great pool and had so much fun! Dax is such a water bug and completely fearless! Full face plants into the water.. he is a fish! So we are having this great day.. Dax is over playing with some babies in the fountains and all of a sudden I see this kid on top of my baby double fisting him punching him over and over and over! Its really funny how fast your mother protective instincts kick in because I am not even a violent person and I wanted to drop kick this kid and then drown him in the freaking pool! I couldn't believe how mean this little boy was! He had him pinned on this downward slope so Dax couldn't even get up just pounding away on him and I was rushing over just helpless, it was HORRIBLE! Needless to say Dax was completely traumatized and screamed for quite a while! He has some little battle wounds some scratches on his neck and face, but he is ok! And all the mother had to say was "Sorry, my son is not a very nice kid." Seriously? THEN TEACH HIM!! So warning to the little 2 year old bully.. touch my kid again and your going to get hurt!

So tried to get a cousin pic with all these cute boys.. this is the best I could get! :)

This was on Sunday the day we got back to Utah, I just couldn't resist....

The 4th of July

2009-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!! Our little family sure did. We had a relaxing day. Went and had a bbq, swam and baked in the sun, had a nice long nap, great dinner then headed to the park to wait for fireworks. We had a blast just waiting and hanging out on our blanket.. eating! Bryce and Bree were there with us so of course it was fun! Never in my life have I ever been cold watching fireworks until this year. Usually you are sweating profusely! We had sweatshirts and we had to put the blanket over our toes. Crazy Cali humidity and chill.But the fireworks were great the little that we saw, Austin and I enjoyed watching Dax this year WAY more then watching the actual fireworks. He was HILARIOUS. They would go off and he would say "OHH ... YA..OHH" OH....YA...OHH" so dang cute. He loved them!

This was the first picture I got when the first one went off

Ok I have been Awarded...

2009-07-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

My darling sister in-law Bree tagged me for this award so I am going to give you a little more of a sneaky peek into my life... 7 things you may or may not know about me!! Here we go...

1. I used to show horses growing up. Yes.. boots, cowboy hat, chaps, wranglers the REAL deal! I did the AQHA horse shows along with 4H. I was a freaking COWGIRL BABY!! My favorite horse was just by great coincidence named Delight!! (Little did I know I was riding my future mother in-laws name) I love you Momma-D... BOTH OF YOU.

2. I have an extended butt crack thanks to a back surgery done my senior year of high school! I have a pretty good 5 inch scar up my back. I have a hereditary condition that runs in my family of bad backs. I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease when I was 10. It is where my bones in my back grew to quickly, so my discs are not how they are supposed to be. I played softball and was very active and by my senior year the pain was just to bad and I was sick of being drugged all the time so they went ahead and did a fusion of my 2 discs. I was the youngest patient they had ever done one on. So instead of enjoying my senior year I had a walker, yes like the one your grandma has. And my mom stuck a roll of toilet paper in the front so when I went to the bathroom I didn't have to turn around to get my toilet paper! Yes Awesome!!

3. One of my biggest flaws or biggest attributes depending on how you take it is that I am a very honest person, very open and I tell you how it is. I am not very good at sugar coating things and I will tell you whats on my mind. I am very opinionated and always think I am right (that is defiantly my flaw and I am working on it, just ask my hubby :) I am the friend who will tell you if you look fat or if you hurt my feelings, or if your doing something stupid. I come off strong sometimes and if I have ever rubbed you the wrong way I am very sorry, not my intentions, I would just rather be real than ever be able to be accused of being fake.

4. My biggest Pet-Peeve is when someone tells you they are going to do something... then don't! I would rather you just not tell me then you tell me and not do it.

5. Austin and I met on a blind date.. (thanks Trent and Char) on December 1st, a year to the day Austin came home from his mission. That night we did a double date, stayed home and we cooked the boys dinner, did Christmas lights at the Zoo, then stayed up ALL night talking. I called my best friend Jenn the next day (of course to give her the complete low down and every detail of my date) and I told her that this amazing guy Austin was going to be able to tell everyone that he met his wife exactly 1 year after he got home from his mission!! :)

6. I love my TREATS!! I love my chocolate and cookies and brownies. I have the worst habit that after every meal I have to eat something sweet, even if it is a little chocolate chip... bad bad habit! It is finally catching up with me, thanks to my Daxten who I gained like 60 pounds with! (a brownie and Slurpee every day, along with everything chocolate in reach the last 3 months of being pregnant will do that to you) now I am working my butt off working out to eat what I want, and that's ok! No matter what.. I will never stop eating my treats!

7. Ok what I am about to tell you stays within the walls of blog world! I had 2 best friends named Dianne and Linda.. to others they were invisible!! Yes I had imaginary friends. They went everywhere with us. I called my mom to ask her about them while I was typing this and she got frustrated just telling me about all she did for them.. open car doors, waited for them in the grocery store, buckled there seat belts and even had to ask them if it was ok for what we did that day. Then one day at the age of 5 I informed her that they died, traumatically fell down the stairs and that was the last day we spoke of Dianne and Linda. My shrink tells me I was a lonely child.....

I am passing this award/tag along to

1. Jenn

2. Char

3. Leesa

4. Ruthann

5. Brooke

6. Joy

7. Denyse

And do it.. its fun to talk about yourself! :)

Where does he learn this?

2009-06-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

So are we boring or is he just a deep thinker? Who knows but its so stinking cute...

Happy Monday!

My Saturday thoughts!

2009-06-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

I paid 11.50 for a movie last night (ridiculous California prices) but every penny was worth it! Bree and I tucked our husbands into bed last night then went and saw the late night showing of My Sisters Keeper. It was so good, don't get me wrong we bawled through the whole entire movie (Bree trying to choke down sobs to remain quiet) but so good! I read the book then made Bree read it and we both loved it. Cancer is such an UGLY thing. I have lost a few people close to me to the horrible thing and its terrible! I know I don't understand the reasons why but I am glad I don't have to. This movie really made me think how grateful I am for the plan of salvation and that I was sealed to my family for eternity. What happens here on earth is just our trial period,to be tested, and some people have to endure way harder ones then others but its just a small price, a tiny grain of sand on an endless beach of how great Eternity will be like after this earth. We are so lucky to know what happens after we leave this place. I know I want all the time I can here on this earth, I love my chocolate and slurpees and golden spoon (don't know if those are available to us up there) But I know when the time comes that I have to go or I have to see any of my loved ones go, its ok. Its all in the plan, and we will be together again. If your not lucky enough to have this in your life already, let me know. Ill get you in touch with a great set of men that can sit down with you and tell you all about this great plan and how you too can have this great gift.
SO if you girls haven't seen this movie already, get a box of tissues a great girlfriend and go see it! Its good! Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!!

Road Trip

2009-06-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

For fathers day we did a complete surprise trip to Arizona to surprise Brian for Fathers Day. We didn't tell anyone we were coming and Austin, Dax, me, Bryce and Bree jumped in the car Saturday after the boys worked and drove home! When we got there we put Dax on the door step rang the doorbell and went back to the car. Brian opened the door and saw Daxey boy sitting there looking up at him. It was Perfect! We had such a fun weekend hanging out with the family. The boys took off Sunday night for work but Bree and I stayed a few extra days and played a little bit. Did some shopping at HOBBY LOBBY which we have missed terribly! Picked up some stuff at SAS for some projects to keep us busy. Got our hair done. Went home to our beautiful homes and took in all we could! And Monday night grandpa watched Dax for us so all of us girls went to the movies and saw The Proposal. We LAUGHED so dang hard we worked off every kernel of popcorn we ate. I cant wait to see it again!! And we drove back to SD Tuesday night. It was a fun little road trip! Just missing Kendall!

SO.. one of the best part of the trips was on our way back we stopped at Jack in the Box in none other then good ol YUMA for dinner. We ordered our food and the very nice lady asked for our names so she could call us when it was ready, we gave her our names she read them back to us as she wrote them down and we went and sat down. Sure enough I go up to get our food when I saw it come up and I am just in time to hear her yell out.... BREN, AHSHANT... We were rolling on the floor laughing! But no big deal.. Bree-Bren, Ashtyn-Ashant... same diff!

Best Buds

2009-06-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

We went and got the babies pictures taken and they turned out so stinking darling I just had to share. I think they are the cutest aunt and nephew ever!! My mom and I were the laughing Utah joke when she was pregnant at my wedding, but it couldn't be more fun raising these babies together!

I LOVE MONDAYS!!

2009-06-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously, could the Bachelorette get any better??

ReAL soccer game & David Archuleta!

2009-06-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had tickets to the ReAL game (its Utah's professional soccer team) and David Archi was doing a charity for the troops so he sang the National Anthem and then after the game did a little concert. It was a BLAST! We got to leave babies home with a babysitter and my mom and I took my little sisters, some of there friends and my brother, and the girls just about passed out! They are in LOVE with David, they were screaming and singing, it was so great. He really is a darling kid. The game was so fun to watch and I forgot how fun it is to go to a concert!!

Bling toes!!!

2009-06-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Two of my sisters Birthdays are in May and since I am completely Lame-O it took me till June to get them out for there B-days, but we went and got Edward toes! My aunt does the gel glitter toes and it is so awesome! They are so darling, come in any color and they are done with the acrylic so they last for like 6 weeks! You cant see great in the pics but in the sun they glitter like crazy and are so BLING, I LOVE it!! We had a fun day.
Lexi got tiger stripes, Haylee got a peace sign and I just got plain
And to my baby BOY... HaPpY 10 mOnThs today!!!

Our little Daxey is getting so big. I cant believe I had him 10 months ago! He is getting such a little atti-TUDE!! (I take full blame for that, from my Stringam side :) and is so stubborn ( like his daddy) but so dang cute and so much FUN! He is so sweet and loves to snuggle, give me huge open mouth kisses, plays with my hair, and always makes me smile. Definite momma's boy and I cant say I don't LOVE it! :) We love this boy so much and are so thankful for him.

P.S- little advertisement for my auntie.. anyone in Utah who want some glitter toes done let me know and I can get you in touch. She only charges $15 and she does party's, (bachelorette,b-day whatever) and she does the host for free. Such a FUN girls night!

We got to see DADDY!

2009-06-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Dax and I flew to San Diego this week to see Austin. It was SO GREAT! It seemed like it took so long to come then of course went so fast! But it was so great to be all together again. Dax just loves his daddy and Austin just missed him so much, it was so cute to see them together again. We had nice weather at the beginning of our trip for a few days, then it rained the rest of the week. Oh well we didn't fly down for the beach we went to see our daddy and we soaked up every second we got of him! Went to lunch lots of days and just played! Why he was working we hung out with my sissy in law Bree and we had a blast. We went to Golden Spoon EVERY day I was there. (They have this new flavor right now, island coconut and I got that with milk chocolate.... HEAVEN! Have to try it) We made some really cute skirts, of course didn't get any pictures of them but you can check them out on Bree's blog! :)

Handsome boys!
Uncle Bryce and Aus sure caught a cute one!

My mom and Brynn picked us up from the Airport and it was the CUTEST thing in the world when these two saw each other. They hugged and were laughing and were so happy. They just LOVE each other. Then they held hands ALL the way home! Too cute

Now Rewind to 2 weeks ago....
I have been so CRAZY since I got to Utah. Apparently when you have lots of kids May is the busiest time of year. Even more so than December (according to the mom that chatted me up while I worked the school bake sale) So I arrived smack in the middle of May and got all the craziness of it!! But my mom is doing it alone and I don't know how she does it alone because we were both were running from sun up to sun down.. carpooling, baseball game, soccer game, carpooling, baking, school carnival,carpooling, dance recitals, softball games... I could go on. I am just glad I was here to help but holy moly I don't know if I am ever going to be ready to have 5 children!! Here are some pics from our crazy 2 weeks...
School carnival- Bryn babysitting Dax while I worked the bake sale

Seriously where is this kids mother?

We did get a day to hang out with my cute sis Alexis

Hanging out with Grandpa at Lexis softball game

And through this craziness of the last 3 weeks this has been my sweet boy....
Thanks to his 2 top teeth coming in. I love teething time.

Happy Sunday!

2009-05-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics for you daddy! We love you His new trick this week is to clap for himself

Pictures!

2009-05-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Daxey boy is my little buddy. Everything that Mom does Daxten does. I love it! Here he is helping me get ready for Utah

Loves helping with the laundry

Helping me clean out our fridge
He learned how to crawl up the stairs before we left all on his own. He got mad that I went upstairs without him so he just followed me up!

Reading the gossip mags with me on the long drive up!

Crawling through the doggy door at Aunt Trisha's

Look at that sad face! He misses daddy!

Today I had to put my Big Girl Panties on!!

2009-05-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

So I have been MIA from the blogging world for a while, life has been a little crazy! As most all of you know I am a summer sales wife and as the summer has crept up on us, new adventures have started for us! Since Austin and I have been married we have gone to Oklahoma for the summers and its been really good to us. But this year its a little different, Austin will be traveling between the 3 moxie offices (North Carolina, Virginia, and San Diego) on a weekly basis training and teaching and making sure everyone is on track and doing well. So this year I cant go with him, too much traveling and with Daxey we cant exactly be traveling homeless gypsies. So I decided to come up and live with my mom for the summer to try and keep us busy. The time crept up on me and I wasn't exactly prepared (I was blocking it out mentally, I didn't want to think about being away from my hubby) So I have been super busy this last few weeks getting us ready. We traveled up here Friday and spent yesterday enjoying the great amazing spring Utah has, playing outside with Daxey and enjoying our last day before Austin had to leave. So today being Mothers Day was a bitter sweet, I woke up with the day being a celebration of being a mother, the greatest gift that has ever been given to me, but knowing I had to send my other half on a plane away from me for the summer. My heart hurts without my sweet husband by me. It just feels Wrong to be away from him. Its so much harder than I thought it was going to be. But, he is making a sacrifice for our family and I am here to support him 11o% so in order to do that, I had to put my Big girl panties on today! It is going to be just fine. Life is about challenges and making the best of it and learning and growing and that's what I am going to do this summer. So..... for the next few months I will be broadcasting from Utah, in my moms basement, in my old room where I never thought I would be living again! :)

And to my other half, my best friend I want you to know I love you, you are my whole world, I miss you so much but you don't need to worry about us. Do your THANG out there and Rock it! Dax and I are going to be just fine! Good luck on your first working day tomorrow!! Your the greatest. We love you!

( P.S I got a new computer and have not figured out how to download pictures yet, lame I know, but as soon as I get s second I will figure it out and update on pictures for the last few weeks)

This Weekend...

2009-04-26T22:14:00.001-07:00

So looking at this picture I can't believe how big Daxten is getting!!! (I know I say it all the time) but just from seeing it from this view, he looks so big! Dang it I love this kid!

We went to the mall and took Dax to the animal store and let him play with the puppies, he loved it! They licked his toes and jumped up on him and he thought it was the greatest. Dad says we will NEVER own a dog (due to traumatic memories from a childhood lab that humped him growing up) I say give it a few years, he wont be able to resist his little boy begging for a puppy....
Great view of his 2 teeth!

Like Father Like Son!!

The love for RIBS

P.S Slumdog Millionaire finally came out on our clearplay so we were able to see what all the hype was about.... SO GOOD!! Everyone was not lying, what a great Movie. We loved it!!!

Today at the Clarks..

2009-04-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

So today started out like any other day... I woke up to my darling little stud pounding away on my face and poking at my eyes to wake me up to play with him. After I pulled myself from sleep I got up to play but I proceeded to the floor to change the horrible stench coming from his diaper. I changed him then lifted him up onto the bed to play with dad, when I felt something in my neck pop! I stood up and screamed out with pain. I had horrible horrible neck cramps! Austin asked if I was ok and all I could say is, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME TODAY!? So Austin and I had some good laughs because every time I would turn my neck I would holler out then Austin took off and headed to school and Daxey and me continued on with our day... when it all got WORSE! My neck tensed up so bad every time I would move it put me in tears and I couldn't even think of picking Dax up( who was screaming on the floor to be picked up). So when I called my sweet husband what he heard on the other line was his wife crying in pain and his son crying because his mom was crying and wouldn't pick him up. What a mess. So like an amazing husband he is he rushed home to save his paralyzed wifey. I couldn't even brush my hair when he hauled me off to mesa to the Chiropractor. Turns out that my pelvis was out, hips, elbows, wrist, oh and not to mention my two vertebraes were out in my neck!!! Let me tell you, I think it was worse than contractions during labor and worse than my pains after my back surgery! What was all this from you ask? oh well lets rewind a little bit to last week when I was walking down my stairs (like I do 20-30 times a day) when I just missed a step and fell and it whipped me back but I caught myself before I hurled down the stairs. I got up and surprised myself I wasn't hurt. Little did I know a week later it would be set off by the simple movement of lifting my fat son onto the bed! He told me whip lash can have a delayed reaction and it was just that little strain to set it all off. So the doc put me all back into place and told me to ice my neck every hour because it will be swollen for a few days from tensing up so bad. So to make me happy by sweet hubby took me to Costa Vida and then home before returning back to school. So... I know what you are thinking what did poor Dax do all day while his poor gimp mom laid on the couch icing her stupid neck? Well let me tell you... don't fill bad for him, he just helped himself around the house and did a whole bunch of naughty things! Dumped out the movie drawer, tried every angle to stick his finger into the electrical socket, emptied my kitchen cabinet, unraveled a role of toilet paper, emptied the toy box and several more.... here is just a few pics I snapped.What a day. Well I guess now that he can crawl... HERE COMES THE NAUGHTY TIMES!!!

Oh and don't feel bad for me, tonight to reward me for my horrific day I made myself a gigantic chocolate cookie and ice cream! Nothing makes me happier than crap! :)

Easter Sunday!

2009-04-15T12:10:00.001-07:00

Dax with his 1st Easter Basket! He was so excited to get new shoes from the Easter bunny!
She thought she looked super cute in her Easter dress!

For dinner we all went over to Brian and Delights and had a yummy feast! It was such a gorgeous day so we had a picnic out on the front lawn. My Moms fam is in town from Utah and its so fun because Austin's and my family have got pretty close since we got married so we get the best of both worlds and get to hang out with both our fam's for some holidays.Its so great! It was such a fun day.

Dax loved sitting and playing with grandpa. Even when he fell asleep he didn't leave his side! :)

Here is a pic of some of our items for dinner. Delight made this AMAZING 16 layer J-E-L-L-O! It was a total hit and the best jello anyone had ever had! I told her I had to take a pic of it because it was defiantly blog worthy! Same thing with the creme brule in the cute little Easter eggs that Hayden made. Good job guys, dinner was amazing!

Hope Everyone had a great Easter!

Happy 8 months my baby boy!!

2009-04-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Today Daxten is 8 months, I cant believe how fast time goes by! He is getting so big and his personality just gets bigger everyday. He never fails to make us laugh and he is the sunshine in our family. Last night Me and my mother-in-law Delight and sissy-in-law Bree went to dinner while our men went to priesthood. Dax was completely turned around in his high chair just patiently waiting for the attention of the people sitting at the table behind us. As soon as he caught there attention he was laughing and smiling and totally flirting! Then they would go back to there dinner and he would just wait till they would turn around again. It was so funny. He had the whole restaurant laughing. He is such a ham!! We love him so dang much. Here is what he has been up to lately...

Growing his 1st tooth!
Learning to crawl and pull himself up

Loves catching a ride on daddy's shoulders!

Thinks he is to big now to "sit" in the stroller

LOVES DRIVING! He knows just what to do and he leans over and turns the radio up. SO dang funny.

Sharing

2009-03-30T15:12:00.001-07:00

So I am pretty good about sharing stuff. (Was not the greatest growing up but getting better now that I am married and have a baby) But... I HATE sharing my treats. Always have Always will! Like, lets say when Austin and I go out to dinner and we get dessert and I get a better one then him (which always happens because I am a better food picker outer than him) I will always give him a little bite because I am not horribly rude but when he comes back for a 2nd Forget about it! I DON'T want to share with him! K listen might sound selfish... but I share EVERYTHING else with him HAPPILY but when it comes to my treats I don't want to share! So today I went to Target and had a marvelous day looking and shopping around and of course I had to pick myself up a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs. (My stock just ran out yesterday.) These are my favorite! I look forward to them 10 months out of the year because they only come out for my pleasure at Easter. So I am driving home and have to bust some out. Dax was just back in his carseat hanging out playing with his toys. I thought great! I can sneak them he wont even have to know and then I wont have to share. WRONG!! I very discretely put one in my mouth and he was whining for some!! haha so I had my stupid selfish moment then gave him the one I was eating. (They have a hard shell so I had to bird feed him.) As he was enjoying MY mini egg I had the greatest light bulb go off in my head! I had that amazing soft moist chocolate taste in my mouth still and I was like this is the best, I can put them in my mouth and have the amazing mouth orgasm then give it to my Daxey to swallow and get all the CALORIES!! Hello.. can you say great! So I found out 2 great things today that made me happy. I don't mind sharing my treats with my son and 2 I don't feel guilty about getting fat off my mini eggs! :)

Now I am going to go watch my FAVORITE GIRL Ellen and its 3:34! I got DVR today and I am so excited I cant even stand it. I get to go watch it from the beginning and not even watch ANY commercials! This Day is great

2009-03-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Austin and I went on a trip alone to Cancun. I left my baby for 6 days! (I know I might think I was a bad mom too.) I cried my whole first night away. Ok crying doesn't cut it, full on blown break down!!(sobbing)Poor Austin. It was VERY hard. But it was so much fun to have uninterrupted time with my hubby! No phone, no work, no school, no crying baby, no family just us! I think its so important to take time away to reconnect with your spouse. And since I am not going to see my hubby pretty much ALL summer we decided to take our little splurge vacation before this summer and enjoy just us. Here are some pics...

Do you think he looks relaxed?

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort (which we have found out is the only way to do it anymore) so we drank pina colada's all week like they were water! SO GOOD. This is Austins last one before we went to the airport. Sad day for him

We did the greatest excursion ever on our last day. And if anyone ever goes to Cancun you have to do this!! 1st you do 12 zip lines through the jungle which was SO FUN and SCARY all at the same time. It only took me 2 times of flying backwards and knocking over the worker on the platform for me to get the hang of it!

After Ziplining we mountain biked into this place......

It was this sink hole that was just breathtaking! I felt like I was in a movie! That's Austin showing you how to zip line in style into the water :) It was a great time!

Is Jack Jack, Dax Dax??

2009-03-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

So everywhere I go I get told that Dax looks just like Jack Jack from the Incredibles. Today I was shopping and the sales lady that was helping me couldn't stop laughing because she said she was ready for Dax to get up out of his stroller and shoot some super powers at her. She called everyone over to show them that it was jack jack. So I had to come home and look it up because its been forever since I have seen the movie and Austin and I couldn't stop laughing! It does look like him!! What do ya think?

Viva Las Vegas

2009-03-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Another fun trip with Moxie...

We played Black Jack for hours, so much fun! Thanks to Sheldon (pest control salesman by day Black Jack dealer by night)

Dax woke up at 1 and wanted in on all the fun

On top of the Strat-O

Story of my life! Me and my husband Austin with his husband Phil :)

Quick trip to Utah

2009-03-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday we flew up to Utah to baptize my little brother Ethan. As most of you know his dad passed away last year and when my Mom asked him who he wanted to baptize him without skipping a beat he wanted Austin! He did a great job baptizing and the conformation was incredible. It was a really special day and Austin was so honored to do it. The power of the priesthood is so amazing and I am so grateful my husband honors it and is able to exercise it. I love our church and our newest member to it, Congrats Ethan!

Dax got his own seat on the plane!Good looking boys!

Sunday night we did Fondu, SO good, as you can see on Bryn's face!

The last rose.. then another

2009-03-03T09:55:00.001-08:00

So what do you say about last night? There is just to much to even begin! Poor Melissa, stupid Molly, Jason your a pig... All I do have to say is I loved every DRAMA filled second of our finale + after the rose breakup and beg for bug eyes back. I just want to thank all you girls who came to my little party! It was so fun to sweat, hold your breath, bite your nails, dissect every detail, laugh, scream and enjoy with you girls! I wish I would of had a picture taken of us because it was priceless!!!

2009-03-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

This week was a really good week. We have been so go go go it seems since the holidays that we got a nice little week to catch our breath (before our busy March starts). We got lots of daddy time which we gobbled up! We did some lunch dates and went to the park with him. Dax is getting so fun to play with, Austin and I just have a ball with him. It seems like he never stops smiling! He is so great, I just couldn't imagine our life without him.

(promise they were clean)

Tubby Time

Last weekend we went up to Pinetop with Moxie and stayed in these darling little cabins. The boys went snowboarding and some of the ladies went antique shopping. It was a fun little over night get away. Dax found he loves to drive daddy's truck, and found an interest with his lady friends...

Lets talk Bachelor!!

2009-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have to admit I think that everyone is right about Melissa being the new wifey of our beloved Jason. I just hope he is happy! What a drama filled night, I loved it!! haha there were some unbelievable women on this season. I still love Stephanie, she is so amazing. And Jillian, I sure hope they find happiness. So it looks like Jillian might be our next bachelorette eh?? We shall see. And for next week, I can hardly stand it!! Its going to be so juicy! And I just want to invite everyone out to my house for a....

Bachelor Season Finale PARTY!!!

Come over @ 6:55 with your favorite treat so we can shrill together over the last episode. Let me know if you can make it!!

2009-02-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

I know I have post like every day this week but I had to post about my little monster, this was such a big week for him! He got a big boy car seat, a highchair and can sit up all by himself perfectly! He loves all his new stuff and struts it like a big boy. Along with becoming "A big boy" he seems to be getting a "bigger attitude". He is starting to know what he wants and he makes sure we know and I am not sure mom likes it very much! But its so fun to watch each new thing he does so its ok, I just love him! How could it not be ok with a face like that? Is he not the cutest?? :)

Bridal Bliss

2009-02-18T18:43:00.001-08:00

My last best friend got married last week. Jenn and her sweetheart got sealed for time and all eternity on Thursday. She was such a GORGEOUS bride and I am so proud of her. It was so neat to be in the temple finally with my 2 best girls. I feel so fortunate to have the church in my life and receive blessings from it everyday. I don't ever want to take for granted how lucky we are to be able to be with our families for eternity. Jenn and her new hubby are so perfect together and I love them both!!

P.S Jenn's sister Karissa did all the food ( + wedding cake) and I wish I had a picture of it because it was all AMAZING! She is a pastry chef and is so good at what she does. If anyone needs catering in the dessert department let me know, I'll get you her # :)

I am so ANGRY

2009-02-16T19:48:00.001-08:00

Ok I am doing my 1st rant post ever because my husband is sick of listening to me so here we go.....
Jason Jason Jason!!! I am honestly like sick to my stomach.I have bitten off ALL of my nails this wonderful Monday evening. Bug eyes and Melissa? Really??? I cannot beleive that he got rid of Jillian. I have not really liked any of them but after everyone got voted off I had a little bit of hope of him finding some depth with Jillian, but no. I think he is so great and I was so excited for him to find this amazing woman that was real and and had depth to her and who was ready to be a mother, I just don't think Molly and Melissa have that. Melissa acts like she is 15 and still in high school and Molly just BUGS, kinda like her eyes. I am so mad and don't even want to watch the finale. (But of course I will because I am completely hooked) So I am putting my prediction in for Bug eyes and if its Melissa in 2 weeks that gets the ring, I have lost ALL respect for our Bachelor. Thank You stupid reality show for completely sucking me in and getting me so upset!

ALOHA!

2009-02-16T13:53:00.001-08:00

Well Aloha! I have been so busy this week I have not got our Hawaii pics up! So here we go (sorry there are so many)! We had so much fun. It was absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't believe how green it was! That was the first thing I noticed along with all the roosters EVERYWHERE. Its so funny they just run around like no big deal all over the island. Anyways We went with my mom and her 5 kids and just had a great time. We did lots of relaxing on the beach/pool, touring the island, visiting the waterfalls, eating, hiking, snorkeling and relaxing :) Our favorite thing we did was this all night luau that included a tour of there gardens(20 acres), the best all you can eat feast( they taught us how they cook there pigs in the ground wrapped in leaves) AMAZING! And then a show after which was all the Hawaiian woman and male dancers, fire juggling/eating/dancing, and all there native fun. It was so cool! The Hawaiians were so nice and we had a great vacation. Defiantly want to visit again... soon :)

These were the guys that pulled our cooked pigs out of the ground

Daddy and Dax loved chasing the peacocks

They loved playing in the sand together, it was so cute!

Love it!

We did a hike every morning that led down to this huge light house out on these cliffs. It was the most amazing place

drinking a coconut, not so good

This was out in front of this amazing huge cave that the lava made, pretty neat

Weekend Festivities!

2009-01-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend Austin went up for a business trip to Utah and Bryce went with him, so Bree and I had a sissy weekend. We had so much fun! She came over and had a sleepover. A REAL sleepover, like sleep in the same bed stay up talking till 3 am sleepover. I felt like I was in high school! It was so much fun. Saturday afternoon we went and picked up our men from the airport and went to our little Brothers wrestling state tournament. He did so good, lost the last match and he was bummed but he did AWESOME! 2ND in State!! Good Job Hayden you are a stud!

Playing dress up with my pretty boy and choking Dad

I also found out on Friday night some AMAZING NEWS..... My birthday is on Sunday (yes I share with the super bowl every few years) that we are going to HAWAII!!! Just want to say Thank You Thank You Thank You to my amazing husband and Mom for making it happen. I don't even believe its real yet! So I am sad to say I will be missing our home boys in the big game, but sorry Cards I got a flight to catch to Hawaii!!!!

Dang it I LOVE this kid!

2009-01-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

So I know I am an obsessed first time momma but I cant believe how fast Dax is growing! He is getting so funny. He thinks he is king of the castle and loves getting all the attention! He already knows how to work the room. He gives them that grin and the big blue eyes and people cant resist, and he knows it! It cracks me up. So I had to convert to the baby chair this week from the bouncy seat because he has learned to sit up and lean over and grab things off the counter! He is going to fall out! I am so sad, I am going to miss the convenience of just popping him in the seat on the counter whenever I need to. But I have to get over it, and just enjoy he cant crawl over the house yet and make a mess right? I love this boy to entirely much. He definitely has me wrapped around his little finger!
Big Boy

This wont be happening again!

He thinks its pretty funny he is big!

Another semester begins!

2009-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

As another semester of school started today I wanted to take a second and tell my sweet husband how grateful I am for him. Honey you are my whole world! You are so amazing. You do so much for me and Daxten. Thank you for how hard you work for us. I know you don't love going to school, but you get up and go for us. I know you don't love being gone and working so hard but you are exceptional at work and provide everything we need, and want! When I am ungrateful I am sorry, I am just selfish and want more of you! You are my husband, my lover, and my best friend. I love every second of being your wife! You are the BEST dad and our little man loves you so much. Thank you for exceeding every standard I wanted my husband to be. We love you so much! You are the best! Hope your first day back to school is great! Now hurry home to us! :)

New Years and Las Vegas

2009-01-07T22:10:00.000-08:00

This last weekend we were in Las Vegas. I have an uncle who is confined to a wheelchair and he plays on the Utah Jazz professional wheelchair team. It is so amazing!! These men (and women) are so good. Its pretty dang intense, so fun to watch and pretty humbling. They play all over the states in tournaments but my family makes it a trip every year to Vegas.

New Years Day

We had a really fun day on New Years. I got to go with 2 of my sissys to get pedicures. My favorite! Then we did a little bit of shopping and sledding!

My boy is the best shopper!

Cutest snow bunnies ever!

Mom and I soaring down the hill

Christmas

2009-01-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Our little Santa
Everyone helping getting dinner ready

I know that looks like our little family, but that's my Gorgeous Momma with my boys

Continuing the tradition of acting out the nativity. It used to be everyone but our family got to big so now its just the little grand kids. Dax got to be Jesus this year

Yes that is me wrapped in a pink boa singing my heart out! It has been tradition that I sing, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." I told everyone this would be my last year. I think 19 years of this singing sensation is enough! :)

We did a family sing-a-long to Mamma Mia.So much fun!

Our Santa had enough of all our singing entertainment

Christmas Morning

Austin's and Dax's 1st WHITE Christmas, and lots of it!

Christmas Day

Wrestling with grandpa

We went up to my great grandpa and grandma Schoonover's and spent a few days with my dads family. It was a t of fun. We just hung out with the family and did some snowmobiling.

Dax and great grandma Schoonover

Utah Trip

2009-01-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

Oh its so good to be home! We have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks in Utah. We had so much fun visiting all my family. We got loads and loads of snow! We got to just hang out, eat, and enjoy every second of being on vacation. I didnt blog at all while I was up there and I have like 300 pictures! So here are just a few of my fav from the trip. I got to meet up with one of my greatest friends Emily, she is like my big sissy and I love her dearly. It was so great to see her!

Our poor wimpy AZ truck with no 4 wheel drive couldn't make it up my moms hill

I don't know about this Santa Man

We got to go to Austin's missionary reunion while we were there

Loves it just like daddy

Grammy gave Dax whatever he wanted!

playing with dad

So Dax's aunt Brynlee is a whole year older then him but Dax is a whole pound bigger! She wants to hold him and be with him ALL the time. You hold one, you have to hold the other

I love Christmas time!

2008-12-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

I forgot this year how much I enjoy Christmas! I really have not been in the spirit this year and last night really got me excited! This year we are spending it with my family in Utah, and Bryce and Bree are going to her parents so we had our Christmas dinner and present opening last night at the Clarks. It was so fun! Dax enjoyed opening the presents WAY more then I thought he would. He was ripping open the presents and loving it. He loved all his new toys from grandpa & grandma too. It was so fun to watch. I cant wait for Christmas now, and I am so glad because I have kinda felt like the Grinch!

Kendall just had to hold it and he ripped it all off by himself

"Mom, save me from all my uncles!"

Austin and Bryce got these little helicopters and it was the highlight of there night. They never grow up :)

My baby is getting so big!

2008-12-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

I cant believe how fast Dax is growing!! Austin and I took him to his 4 month check up today and he is a healthy little boy, just growing up way to fast! He weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is about in his 80th percent tile in everything. He is perfect! He is starting to eat solids, yummy cereal and he is starting to push himself up and attempts to roll over.I just cant believe it! He has been a little me from the start but he is starting to look more like Austin every day. How lucky am I to have such handsome boys?? Dang it I love them!

First time eating solids, Loved it!!

Look at those rolls!

Mission Call

2008-12-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

So our darling brother Kendall got his mission call yesterday. He is heading to serve our church in CHILE!! We all met up at Delights office to read it and it was so neat. Kendall we love you so much and are so proud of you. Thank you for choosing to serve, I look up to you immensely. We are going to miss you so much but are so happy for you!! Good job bud!

My New Friends

2008-12-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Ok so funny story... I took Dax on a walk today around the block. These 2 girls were riding there bikes and they came over and asked what we were doing, what our names were etc. Really cute girls. They rode off and went home and I didn't think anything of it. I continued on home. A few minutes later I hear "WAIT, STOP, WE ARE COMING!" I turned around and saw these two little girls running full speed down the street hauling there strollers and baby dolls. It was so cute! I was laughing so hard. They finished our walk with us back to my house where they came in, went right up stairs gave themselves a tour, jumped on my bed, played ping-pong and helped me fold clothes. They were absolutely darling. I sent them home at dark so there moms didn't get worried but they assured me they would be back tomorrow to play. So here are my new best friends Athena and Austyn!

Thanksgiving Break

2008-11-30T13:18:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! My mom and family came down and spent the week with us. We had a blast, Austin and I both love a full house! We spent Thanksgiving day at the Clarks, we had an amazing dinner then went to the movies. We are so lucky because our families love being together. When we got married its like our families just all blended together, its great! We had such a great time just hanging out this week. Here are a few pics from turkey day. Dad, too many kisses!

Grandma and Daxey

Kendall, aka The Manney

Me Mom and Bryn scoping out the ads for SHOPPING :)

This is where Brynlee hung out while we shopped Friday ( at the bottom of the shopping basket)

Pie Baking

2008-11-30T11:41:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving started on Wednesday when we baked all our pies! Delight came over and taught all of us Chickies how to be good homemakers and make all our own pies! They turned out so amazing and we had so much fun doing it.

My kitchen covered in flour

Finished pie crusts

Beautiful!

Dax got to hang out with Uncle Bryce while the girls baked

Kanab Trip

2008-11-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend we met my Dad and family up in Kanab for a riding trip. We had SOO much fun! We went to the Pink Coral sand dunes for 2 days and did a long Trail ride the 3rd day. The long ride was called Paria it followed this river that wound down into Zion National Park and it was amazing! So gorgeous. Our little Daxten LOVED it. We buckled his car seat in the front of my dads prowler and he was grandpas little copilot, except he slept the whole time! The sound of the engine put him right to sleep, it was pretty funny. It was so great to see the family and have so much fun. Thanks guys for inviting us!

Grandpa and his co pilot

Austin got some air

Dad, Camie, and Dax (under the blanket) and Austin & I

I think this was the only 10 minutes he was awake, we had him bundled like a marshmallow

Yes Roxie the dog came with us!

Beautiful

Schoonover Family Pictures

2008-11-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

Since we were all together this weekend we took some family pictures. I think they turned out pretty good considering we just propped the camera up on a picnic table and set the timer! :)

The Schoonover/Clark Fam

Grandpa and Dax

The Girls

The boys

Dad and his girls

Moxie Trip to Cali

2008-11-10T09:40:00.001-08:00

We went to San Diego with some of the Moxie crew this weekend. We got to stay in this amazing beach house in Oceanside. We went ocean kayaking, swam with sharks, played on the beach, roasted smores, and got to just sit around and eat but most of all just relax!! We took our brother Kendall down to be our Manny. It worked out awesome. We got to have Dax there with us but also got to have help so we could relax and go out and have fun. We had a blast and it was a great little get away.

To get everyone down we rented two 15 passenger Vans. It was a hoot! This is Austin driving the huge bus! It was hilarious!

Dax and I taking a nap on the beach

chilling on the sand

Austin and I strolling through La Jolla

Daxey Boy

2008-11-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Daxten looked so cute today in his new little blue sweatsuit (thanks grandma and grandpa Skoony) that he could finally wear because it was under 90 degrees, I had to take some pictures!

This is his bunny and he loves her! This and a toy cow are his new favorite things!

Girly Day

2008-11-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

On Monday my Amazing mom-in-law and Awesome sissy-in-law started a new tradition of Craft day! Every Monday morning we are going to get together and work on a craft and do lunch. We are going to learn a few great things from our momma D who knows how to do just about everything! :)

We started with these darling little rag blankets we are sewing together

Poor Daxey boy has to hang out with the woman and I forgot his bouncy chair to let him sit in so he got to hang out in grandmas basket of clean clothes!

Chippendale dancer by day Rocker by night!

2008-11-01T07:44:00.001-07:00

We had a costume picked out for Dax as a hard rocker but Grandma D called us yesterday morning and told us about this Chippendale costume. We couldn't resist! So we had a Chippendale dancer in the day and a Rocker for our ward Trunk-Or-Treat party.

At first he just loved to Play with the money but then he was like....

Mom Dad I got this, Give me a Beat... Unts Unts Unts

This is our little Rocker Man! And yes that is a skull on my sweet babys face!

Him and Dad had matching red mohawks and real tattoos!

Mr. and Mrs. HardRocker. Oh baby!

All the chili, cornbread, and cute costumes at the party really wore out our little man! We had a fun time but it ended early, Daxey boy didn't last to long!

Here we Go....

2008-10-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!!!

Ok so first I have to admit that I have been an anti-blogger for a while now. I love to look at everyone else's but I have not wanted to start my own. But this last week when I sent the same pics of our little Daxey boy 4 times to our family I realized that I had to get in the loop with everyone else. Its going to be so nice to post one time and let all our family see our little man.(because thats all they really care about anymore.) :) With my family all in Utah and living out in the boondocks away from Austins family this idea became genious!

Since today is a holiday and our family cant be with us I decided to start today so I can post our Halloween pics! So stay tuned they will be up later!