Going Private ASAP

Alas the day has come. I am going to go Private! I know, it is sad that it has come to this, but I feel like it would be better for my family if I did it. I especially feel inspired to do this since one of Wes' clients is a bit of a nut. I have even started the process of removing our phone number and address from any listings. That's right folks. We aren't going to exist anywhere. My Facebook account has been private for a long time, but I put off making the blog private. I liked that anyone could look at the blog and comment. I know generally people are caring, kind and not psychotic. I guess there are always a few bad apples in the bunch.

Anyway, comment if you would like an invite to the blog. Be sure to leave your e-mail address. I will be going private ASAP!

The Power of Prayer

I am a firm believer in Prayers and the power that they hold. I know that when others pray for you that miracles can and do happen. I would love your prayers for my family right now. Wes has an interview tomorrow morning and I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it would be for us if he got this job. I feel very humbled to post this and debated putting this out there, but I have felt like we can use all of the support that we can get. We are doing fine financially since Wes has his own practice up and running, but without going into too much detail, it would be better if he had a steady job in a firm. Thanks everyone!!

A Reunion with dear friends

Last night my sister Sarah and I got together with some dear, old friends. Michelle and Lisa. These wonderful girls lived down the street from us growing up and we became best friends pretty quickly. There were endless summers of sleepovers, back yard adventures, and movie making bliss. Michelle and Lisa moved away when I was 12 and Sarah and I were so sad to see them go. We really were almost inseparable at times! Thanks to Facebook we found each other again! Michelle and her husband Ben actually were in China with Jeff and Erica as well. What a small world we live in. It was so wonderful to have everyone over at my house to enjoy pancakes and to laugh about old times. Michelle even brought some old home videos. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Lydia sure got a kick of seeing me about her age putting on fashion shows and yes, even picking my nose on camera.

Lisa brought her oldest daughter Allison. Adelle has absolutely fallen in love with her. She keeps asking when they can have a play date and has informed us that she is her new best friend!

Hopefully we will be able to have a lot more get togethers. I don't want years to pass by again without seeing these wonderful, dear friends! I am so glad I found them.

Sunflower Seeds

So one of Adelle's Sunflower heads has been drying on our kitchen window sill since Thanksgiving. Last weekend I decided it was time to finally make use of her summer "crop". I got the seeds out of the flower and put them on a baking sheet. I baked them for about 45 minutes at 250 degrees. They turned out pretty good! I think I will have the family try them finally. It has been such a busy week that I have practically forgotten about them. I even shook them with some dry ranch seasoning and chili powder. It is fun to have a little bit of summer during these bleak winter days. I even saved some of the seeds before toasting them so Adelle can plant a new crop this summer.

Family Exercise Night

As a family we love to exercise, especially during the summer months when we can go hiking or on long walks around the area. In the winter time we of course can't do those things so we enjoy plugging in the Playstation and dancing to Dance Dance Revolution. I couldn't resist talking these photos of the family.

Lydia is getting really good at Dance Dance Revolution and sometimes even beats me.

Wes is the absolute best at it! He is always on a higher difficulty level then the rest of us.

Adelle doesn't like dancing on a dance mat. Instead she makes up her own crazy dances and poses. She always has to wear some sort of special dress. I love this picture of her mid air! She probably gets more of a work out than the rest of us.

Exercise is such a fun way for us to laugh and to work out the stress that we have felt during the day. It is a fun way to spend time together.

Our stay at Seasons at the Ritter Mansion

On Valentine's Day Wes and I headed up to Logan to stay at the Ritter Mansion. We dropped of Adelle at Grandma's house and started our romantic adventure. It took us a couple of hours to arrive, and I was a little worried about the weather in the canyon, but we made it safely. In fact we were a little bit early for our 4:00 check in. Wes hadn't had dinner yet so we decided to go to dinner. The manager at the bed and breakfast recommended that we dine at the Iron Gate Grill in Providence. We like trying new places so we decided to go for it!

It was good that we went to dinner early because I don't think we would have been able to get in anywhere without a reservation later in the evening. Wes ordered steak and crab. He remarked that he just can't turn down a chance to have crab. I ordered a seafood pasta. The Iron Gate Grill has a great little salad bar to start with and these yummy little bread rolls that come before dinner. I especially liked the potato au gratin and bacon soup. Yummy. Wes' entree was delicious! I know because I ended up eating half of his large steak. It was so juicy and flavorful. My pasta tasted good at first, but it was just so heavy with it's cream sauce and the crab filled pasta was just to thick. That is the best way I can describe it. It ended up upsetting my stomach so Wes was sweet and shared his dinner and I enjoyed going to the salad bar again. Wes wins again with the entree choice. That is twice in a row for him.


After dinner we checked into the bed and breakfast. It is an old fashioned mansion that has been around for a long time. It is reasonably priced compared to other bed and breakfasts.

Wes reserved "The Parlor" room for us. It is the actual parlor of the old mansion that has been converted into a room.

I loved the bright colors of the room.
We had our own little nook for a private breakfast in the morning. One side of the room was completely windows.

We were very disappointed to learn that our fireplace was not a "functioning" fireplace. Wes mentioned that they should advertise that the room has a fireplace if it doesn't work.

The bathroom was large, but the jetted tub, was well let's just say it was moderately sized. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything you want.

The mansion even has it's own little ballroom. When we got to the mansion the staff was busy cleaning up the room from a wedding that had taken place earlier in the day. It would be an absolutely beautiful place to have a reception. I was tempted to sneak down to the ballroom and dance with Wes.

After we had settled in we decided to explore the town. We found an antique, second hand bookstore and had a fun time looking through stacks and stacks of old books. I was very tempted to buy a very early copy (early 1900's) of the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was pocket size and reading the front pages found out was used in public schools as a reader. I figured it was probably abridged so I passed on it. I don't like abridged copies of books. Wes was tempted to buy an older book of ghost stories for kids. He ended up passing on it as well. It was so much fun though just to be out by ourselves enjoying each other's company.

We headed back to our room to enjoy the rest of the evening. One bad thing about our room is that it was often cold. The room is still heated by these old radiators. They also liked to pop and hiss at night making it hard to sleep. You never sleep as well in a strange bed though. We watched "The Last of the Mohican's" because I hadn't seen it in years and Wes had never seen it. He remarked that it probably wasn't the best Valentine's Day choice. It is a pretty slow moving plot at times, can be graphic, and some of the acting is a little stiff. I will need to remember to bring something more romantic next time. We even popped over to a nearby McDonald's to get a late night "snack" because we had dinner so early.

The next morning we were served breakfast in our own room. The breakfast was remarkably good. We had french toast stuffed with vast amounts of cream cheese. It was covered in raspberry sauce. We also had sausage, and grapes.

I ate every bit of my breakfast. I even outdid Wes. I guess you just need to splurge once in a while.

We hung out in our room for a little while and then we got ready to go. I took some pictures and then we headed out the door.

We drove around for a little while so we wouldn't get back before Adelle and Grandma were out of church. Can you believe how much snow there is in Logan? We were glad to be back home again, but we loved our little get away. There really isn't anything like getting away from the busy world with your loved one. It gives us a chance to be all by ourselves again, free of any worries or responsibilities! I am so glad we have this tradition.

Seeing Red!! Oh what did I do?

So...I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few essentials. I was walking down the hair care aisle talking to my sister on the cell phone. I passed the hair dye and start thinking "That might be fun". I used to dye my hair all the time when it was super short. I haven't dared to dye it these past few years because I don't know if I can dye my long hair all by myself. My sister and I start chatting and she lets me know that she does it all the time. Her hair is pretty long, so I think "why not". A nice shade of red was also on sale for $5 a box. My sister advises me that I will need two boxes. $10 isn't bad so I decide to go for it. I think that perhaps it will be a nice Valentine's surprise. I remembered that Wes really liked my hair when I dyed it red.



Anywho, I check out, head home and announce to my husband that I will be locking myself in the bathroom for the next 30 minutes. He looks super alarmed and demands to know what I am doing. I casually remark that I am dying my hair red. He looks..well..dismayed. "I like you just the way you are". I bring up that years ago he loved it when I dyed my hair red. He says well that was seven years ago. He then proceeds to say that it is my hair and I can do whatever I want with it. He also remarks that I shouldn't try to change my appearance to please him.


Well I still decide to dye my hair thinking "he'll love it and I'll love it". I go through the painstaking process of putting goopy die all through my hair. I am wiping up little spills as necessary in my stark white bathroom. I head into the shower to rinse it out and to condition. I come out put my hair in a towel and proceed to head to the bedroom for the blow dry. I sit there blow drying my hair wondering what color it is going to turn when it is completely dry. I look in the mirror for the "moment of truth". It is very Red. Darker than I expected, but I think to myself "it is pretty". Red has always brought out a nice color in my complexion. I go to put my pink shirt back on. "Nope! That won't work". Pink is now out of the wardrobe, if I ever had any sort of wardrobe to begin with. The color completely clashes with my hair now.


Now I know that hair dye fades quite a bit. I used a semi-permanent dye as well so I know it will probably fade even quicker, but right now here it is surrounding my face just as stark as can be.


So I timidly go downstairs and open the door for Wes' reaction. He gets a look on his face that I can't quite explain. He says he likes it, but his expression isn't matching those words. Honestly, I think he misses my hair. Drat! Why can't I leave well enough alone! Maybe we'll get used to it? Oh and the girls keep looking at me and Lydia said "I wonder what you would look like in the sun". I just said "bright".


Anyway, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.