LAKE POWELL 2007

Hooray for Lake Powell!! This year my parents bought a share of a houseboat at Lake Powell...so exciting! They thought it would be a great way to spend time together as a family...and I totally agree! Ha ha! Dad, Mom, Isabella, the Heaps, Chris's roommates (Gary, Jan, and Kyle), and I all spent a week on the lake and had a blast! Nate couldn't come because he was in finals! SAD...tear tear. Hopefully he will be able to come next year! Here are just a few of the fun things we did!

WAKE BOARDING...I tried it for the first time and LOVED IT! I can totally go in and out of the wake...I think I am pretty cool! Mom even tried it and was great too!! Ha ha...my brother and his friends put me to shame though because they can do all these awesome tricks!

SKIING...Dad is still the pro...and Jan got up on slalom!! Go Jan!

TUBING...this was great. We would hook up two tubs to the back of the boat and then it was all you could do to hold on!!!

HIKING to RAINBOW BRIDGE...hot but fun! Ha ha...Jan and Dad helped carry Isabella.

WATER SLIDES...Chris liked to pose for the camera as he jumped!

JET SKIS...need I say more?

JACUZZI TIME...the house boat is amazing...it has seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge kitchen, and so much more! It seriously is WAY bigger than my apartment! Ha ha...it also has this awesome jacuzzi that was on one of the decks. It was so relaxing!

MISSIONARY PICTURES...every night we had one of the boys tell about their missions. It was really neat to see their pictures and hear all their stories!

KAYAKS...the houseboat also came with kayaks...we had a lot of fun paddling around the beach!

SANDCASTLES...Bella loved watching us make sandcastles. She really had no interest in the sand...ha ha...what a stinker.

READING...I read my VAMPIRE books throughout the trip. I LOVE THEM!! ha ha...I am still finishing the third! I am so glad you are all enjoying them too!

HUGE RAINSTORM...one day we had a total downpour...and all of a sudden there were these huge waterfalls coming down the canyon walls! It was so neat!

SLIDE SHOWS...at the end of every day we would download all the pictures taken that day onto the computer and then watch the daily picture slide show on the big screen. Ha ha...it was so fun to see all the wake boarding and tubing crashes!!

GETTING STRANDED...one of the nights Chris, Jan, and I took the boat out to find some cell phone service so I could call Nate. After the call we found that the boat wouldn't start! Ha ha. We were stranded. We waited and waited...called the Marina...who told us that the emergency service people were "in for the night"...some emergency service...and then we were finally rescued by dad! HOORAY! We actually had a lot of fun...and we documented the whole ordeal with video. Ha ha!

AND MUCH MORE!!! It was such a fun vacation! I am already excited for next year!!

I LOVE VAMPIRES!!

Ok...so I am in LOVE with EDWARD CULLEN!!! Ha ha! So many of my friends recommended these books...and finally I gave in...and HOLY COW!! They were all right! These books are so good! I am actually almost finished with the first book, TWILIGHT, and I am so excited to read the other two! It is a story of a girl, Bella (how funny), who falls in love with...dum dum dum...a vampire. Ohh..I can't even explain how addicting the story is...I just started two days ago and I am almost finished...and the book is 500 pages!! It is funny because I am not the type to just fall in love with any old book...or read a huge book just for fun...and I have with these! SO...EVERYONE...go get these books! Truly you won't be disappointed! The author is LDS and actually graduated from BYU...how funny!! Ha ha. She came up with the idea for her book in a dream. Ha ha...geez...I wish my dreams were this great! Ok...well I am going to get back to my book!! HOORAY!!

SILLY SILLY BELLA BOOP!!

Isabella has always been a lover of attention, however recently she has realized that she is not only cute...but FUNNY...which wins her even more attention! Ha ha. She flashes her toothy grin with a little laugh and everyone melts! I love it! I have to admit...she has caught on to something. Smart smart girl! Ha ha! Now Mommy will give her whatever she wants...ha ha...j/k.

CRAZY DAYS!!

Ok so the past two days have been quite CRAZY! Let me just say...we have had TWO of "those" kinds of days that you wish you would not have...and seriously...after about the twentieth thing went wrong...twenty-one was not far behind! It is almost laughable...ALMOST. Ha ha.

Yes...so Cynda came to visit which was a very FUN thing...but I felt so bad because the whole time she was here nothing was going our way.

• Grocery shopping...we left a bag at the store...had to go back.
• Laminating...laminated two things together...had to remake...and re-laminate.
• Bought milk at the store...LOST IT??...had to go back.
• Bella woke up at 4:30 a.m. and wanted to play...we woke up at 4:30 a.m.
• Had to get dishware/decorations for YW...took FIVE store trips to complete.
• Computer space bar broke.
• Dropped two jars of baby food...splatter...glass...you get the picture.
• Finally finished all the laundry...spilled detergent...redo laundry.
• Bella is getting FOUR MOLARS...screaming child.
• We ran out of cell phone minutes...and we don't have a home phone.
• My gym membership randomly got cancelled...who knows why...trying to fix.
• The friend I am throwing a baby shower for might be admitted to the hospital...before the shower...already got everything ready...bummer for her and me.

AND HOPEFULLY LAST BUT NOT LEAST....

A FLAT TIRE!!!

OF COURSE...we had to document our whole TIRE ORDEAL!!

Aunt Cynda and Bella...DANCE PARTY!!

SILLY Bella

I am just so glad that Cynda was here...she was such a big help through all these random traumas! Ha ha! We did have a lot of fun laughing about it all. And I know more things happened but at this moment I can not think of them...due to the fact that I was woken at 4:30 a.m.

So when we found out we had a flat tire we were on our way to Summerlin. The car wasn't driving very well and so at a stop light I looked out the window to see what the tires looked like...yep FLAT BACK LEFT TIRE!! We drove to the nearest tire place...Wal-mart...with our hazard lights on...ha ha...then they filled up our tire with air and sent us to Discount Tires. We then had to wait for a little over an hour just for them to look at it. We had to walk around the shopping center...with Bella...chasing Bella. Finally when they were done they told us that they did NOT have our kind of tire in stock and that it was a HUGE razor blade that caused all the damage! LAME!! Dang...so they put the spare on and we finally drove home. We were so ready for the AC!! What a morning. We were really bummed because we were going to go to Pottery Barn kids with some friends to see this special Music Lady! Yeah...needless to say we didn't make it.

Well...I am hoping that the days get better...ha ha...got to find a tire.

TARGET COUPON

HOORAY an UPDATE!!!

Look below for our little update!!

Look at all this FOOD!!
HOORAY!!!
This is Cynda with the receipt! Ha ha...it was like twice the size of Bella!!

So I was just on a friend's blog...Rachel's...and she had posted a link to this coupon for baby food at Target. It is probably the best deal I have ever seen for baby food--for every two baby food items made by Gerber you buy, you get $1 off! I'm excited to go on a little food shopping spree tomorrow!!!! Rachel said she got over $60 worth of food/juice for only $16! The only thing is that the coupon expires on WEDNESDAY, but the great thing is that you can print and use AS MANY AS YOU WANT!!!! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up--happy shopping!

http://coupons.50webs.org/coupons37/coupon2.html

UPDATE
OK....So I totally went to Target to see if this was all true!! AND YES!!! We had ultimate success!! We love you Rachel thanks for the tip!! So we went and got $75 worth of Gerber Products for....$27!! I was so excited! So for those of you who are thinking of going...DO IT! They gave me a hard time at first...but just be strong. I just might go back tomorrow for more! Ha ha!! I LOVE COUPONS AND GREAT DEALS!!!

toot toot chugga chugga BIG RED CAR

Isabella has a new favorite toy...the BIG RED CAR! Ha ha...when we were over at my mom's house she pulled this toy out and Bella fell in love with it immediately!! She had lots of fun getting in and out...and in and out...and...well you get the picture! She also loved just sitting in it and turning the wheel. She would open and close the door...toot the horn and turn the key! She even brought along her little stuffies. They got to sit in the back little compartment! SO CUTE! We basically had to pry her away from it just to eat dinner. I think we need a big red car! Ha ha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MY MOM!!

Hooray my mom has been alive for FIFTY years! Ha ha. Fifty...that is such a big number! I love it! So anyways...my dad and I decided that we were going to surprise her for her birthday this year with a big celebration! Let me tell you...putting anything past my mom is quite difficult! But...with a lot of secret phone calls, texts, and conversations we were able to pull it off! My dad secured the place...El Jefes...and the invites...friends and family...and I was pretty much in charge of everything else. Ha ha...so much to do!!! I wanted it to be nice so every detail had to be perfect! Flowers, candles, food, decorations, and a special little program! Well...it worked! I really think she enjoyed herself after the whole "surprise shock" wore off! Ha ha. We ate, shared our favorite memories with mom, watched a fun slide show of old pictures, ate cake, and opened presents! Isabella picked out her birthday card...kitties of course!! It was a great time!! Thanks mom for turning 50...and for being such a great mom...and GRANDMA! We love you! Isabella had a lot of fun too...her little cousin...well second cousin I guess...was there and they played together the whole night! Isabella even gave him a kiss which I totally caught with the camera! HOORAY!

RIDING THE CAROUSEL

Today Bella and I went over to the Woods house for a play date! It was fun to hang out and watch the girls play. Ha ha...they are so funny because they both usually want the same toy or they try to read the same book. It was sure making me laugh!

After they played and we chatted we drove over to the Beltz Factory Outlets to let the girls ride the carousel. They were so excited to watch it go round and round. Bella could hardly stand it...she wanted to ride one of the ponies so bad. When it was our turn, we got on and the girls were all excited!! Taylor was so cute! Every picture I took Taylor had a huge smile. Bella was a little unsure of her decision to ride once it started. HA HA...she started crying and wanted off. We finished the ride but I think she was glad it was over when the carousel stopped. Maybe in a few months she will like it better.

After the ride we got some lunch/snacks for the girls and then started for home!! I think the best part of the whole morning was when this HUGE...and I am not kidding...HUGE black flying bug landed on Kara. We both started screaming! Thinking about it now just makes me laugh even more! The bug would not budge from her shirt. I eventually had to get one of Bella's books and swat it off! Ha ha...It was so funny! It was sure a fun little morning! Thanks Kara and Taylor!!