This one is for Grandma Alex!

Smile Mom! Don't you just love being a grandma!?!

Don't forget to take Vicodin, Eddie's little bum will just look cuter and cuter!

Snow, snow, snow.....ahhhh!!!!

So another storm hit last night, and we got dumped on, as usual. But this was the most in one night we have ever had, over a foot by 6am. It took me 20 min to "shovel" just this much to the side of Bill's car to get the camera.
our front step and walk way......

TWO HOURS LATER..........

Our front step and walk way, and the cars are covered again after I spent 1 1/2 hours clearing them off so we could take a drive, (which we didn't do after all)

Bill dropped Jade's basketball in the snow and then it got covered again.

That was quite a workout, I still like the snow, but that was a bit much. It's supposed to continue falling until late tonight. I will take another picture when it stops and see how high it is then. :) Man, skiing will be prime tomorrow for sure!

another Tara "invention"

This is something that came out of necessity, really. Gracie, (Alyse's youngest and one of Josh's best buds), just turned 6. She said she wanted a Webkinz carrier for her birthday, so I made one up. Josh picked out all the fabric, and I made up a pattern for this purse that can hold 5 webkinz and a large inside pocket for accessories.

Gracie has been very helpful and lets me know exactly what I need to do to make it better. :) She said it would be good to have little tags under each webkinz pocket for their names and a little snap to hold their collars, also a pocket on the back side to hold more clothes. :)

I am going to try and make some more of these, I'm shooting for one a week, or one every other week, and then sell them in one of the Spring boutiques. Webkinz are SUPER popular around here. If you want to know what they are, go to www.webkinz.com

Eddie Walking

He is getting better and better at walking since he figured out he COULD walk last thurs. We thought we would try to get him to walk for the camera, so we all gathered around and "encouraged" him. Don't mind my loonie-sounding voice..........he's my last one, OK!

List of Junk......

1. Eddie walked this week, from the kitchen table to the coffee table by the couch. But he doesn't like to do it, he enjoys the speed of crawling much better!

2. I am trying to figure out the balance between home-mom and work-mom, and getting enough sleep between the two where I do not become the wicked grouch mom. I have a new admiration for the working-mother.

3. Jade LOVES to ski. Bill took her out last week on the bunny slopes and gave her an hour lesson, then she went on the real slopes and caught on quick. Thurs was a half day at school, so she went with a friend in her class and did a couple of runs. (the ones where it takes 15 mins on the lift to get to the top). One of the ski resorts by our house, (10 min away), has free lifts from 3-4:30 in the afternoon, and the bunny slopes are free all the time. It's perfect for a cheap and quick afternoon activity.

4. Josh is still my angel boy, and won't let me go to work without "huggies and kissies". I really appreciate that, more than he knows.

5. That's about it, I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's been enough to keep me from blogging properly. I will get the hang of working and being a mom soon I'm sure. It just takes time to get used to the new schedule. :) I LOVE my work though, it is really fun for me. I'll take more pics soon!

Gone Sking?

*Lindsay, this is the comic I told you about.....the expressions are hilarious!

Jade brought more dragons home from school today!

Jade's dragons

I just found a few dragon pictures she forgot in my art room. These are some of the drawings she takes to school and sells. (I mentioned this in the next post)

Some old random Jade art

I love the details of the trunk
She got into drawing Thestrals for a while...

Still doing silly quick drawings to get funny thoughts out of her head, (but those thoughts keep coming!)

The kids in her class asked her to come up with different animals. This is one page, I wish I had the others. The kids were asking her to draw all sorts of animals, some I do not think I have ever seen before. :)

A crazy looking something.....

This was the bookcover for a book report she did on Eldest.

She has been drawing SOOOO much over the last month, once the kids in her class started making requests, AND paying her quite well for them, (in school money), she has been drawing more and more, but takes them to school the next day to sell. She has a really awesome collection of dragons, and a bunch of silly comics. I need to remember to have her bring some of them home so I can scan them. I would be thrilled to death if she follows in her Aunt Lindsay's footsteps.

Another set of Random

I think the highlight in this picture, is the little red helper in the background. We found Josh a little show shovel, and he LOVES helping, he is so darn cute all bundled up and working so hard. ( he actually creates a little more work for me, but I just love having him out there with me!)

And it was not so fun that I developed a "snow cap" since I didn't take the time to put on a hat.
Eddie is SO cute! I just love it!

Jade having fun testing out her new paints.

Pics from a Christmas visit.

For those of you I grew up with, you might remember the Redfearns. John and Janice Redfearn they came up from St. George for a visit while my parents were here. We were all really good friends growing up. We have not seen each other in YEARS, it was SO much fun!

We met up at Justin's house for dinner, he, Jodie, and I are all within 30 mins of each other. It was a really great evening. Between Jodie's son, Justin's kids, and mine, all the kids had someone to play with, I hope we can do this again every so often!

Did you know, the average Home Depot associate walks 8-10 miles a day?

Ok, I didn't want to look too cheesy, but I kind of wish I had an "action" picture instead of a posed one. So this is where I work. I was going to teach art lessons in my home, but changed my mind. It may pay better to teach, but I did not want the added stress. (I know, I'm a wimp) But I really have too much stress in my life as it is, and planning lessons, finding students, advertising, finding child-care, etc, felt like too much for right now. Believe it or not, aside from having to rearrange my sleep schedule a bit, I have found I feel a little more happy with my break from motherhood 5 nights a week. :)

I actually LOVE my job, it's super close, in the shopping center a few blocks from my street, perfect hours in the late evening, M-F, at a super cool store I love to be in, a new store so it's really clean with great people, it's a break from the house, and it's an active job so I get a bit of a work-out as well, and it's a fun job for me to do.
Alyse gave me this necklace to go with my new outfit for work. I went to Plato's Closet, it's a really cool consignment shop with pretty trendy clothes, and I stocked up on comfy shirts and jeans. It's kind of like Buffalo Traders in Vegas, but not as punk. (Lindsay, if you have never been there, I am taking you next time you come.) So I do not normally wear this much jewelry to work, but I thought, what the heck, why not be a bit "sassy" at work once in a while. (while I drive a forklift!) :) Thank you Alyse, once again, for the inspiration!

I plan on doing this job until Bill is a bit more established career-wise, the kids are all in school, and then I want to head back to school myself and study art. That's my plan. So for now, this is me, a happy full-time mom with a part-time job I love. :)

Christmas Newsletter

I changed out Christmas letter to a post since it came back to me that some people didn't realize it was just at the top and current posts were continueing below. Sorry about the confusion.



Happy New Year!!!

Like most people we are chanting, "this year has sped by SUPER SPEED!". Most of you already know our highlights from my emails earlier this year, and from our blog. I will sum up most of it anyway. :)

JAN-FEB: we were getting ready for new baby, Bill in his last term for his degree, and getting ready for big changes this year.

MARCH: Edmund Cole was born on the 12th.

APRIL: Bill took off for a 3 week trip to China for his final school project.

MAY: Kids finished school, Bill graduated with his MBA, the kids and I moved to Utah.

JUNE: Bill finished his duties with the Air Force, joined us in Utah, and started a new career 2 days later.

JULY: Bought a house and moved in, family reunion in CA.

AUGUST: Kids started school (Jade in 4th, Josh in K), and we are all trying to adjust to a new life.

SEP-OCT: Another family reunion in CA. Still adjusting and getting settled, Bill spent any spare time studying for new tests and certifications for his job. Jade is on a swim-team, Josh is in soccer, and I am trying to get the whole "mother of 3 and functioning" down......... hasn't happened yet.

NOV: Bill passed ALL his tests, went to NY for 2 weeks, and is now in "production", everyone else is busy with "normal" life and holiday stuff.

DEC: Family from CA is here, we are all counting our blessings from this (almost past) challenging and AMAZING year. We are excited for another wonderful year, (with less changes!), and we pray that you and your families are well and happy.

Best Wishes and Happy New Year!!! :)

For a laugh.... Velvet Mitt

I have mentioned, just a few times, my neighbor Alyse. She is the incredible gal who lives 3 houses down, is truly my kindred neighbor, also my interior decorator, possibly a co-wedding planner for Mica's wedding, my emergency contact for the kids, mother of my kids best friends, fellow "period film" enthusiast, a determined and creatively inteligent mind, among other things. That's just to set the stage for this whole story.

So she and her husband, Eddie, (he happens to LOVE our little Eddie and they are two of the few people our Eddie likes), they are, shall we say, quite humorous people, sometimes in a subtle way, sometimes, not so subtle.

For Christmas, Alyse tells Eddie that all she wants is a Velvet painting of Mitt Romney, she simply can't think of anything better in this life, than a velvet Mitt to place in a prominent location of her home. If you had any idea what her home looks like, just know she is a professional decorator, and gets paid quite a lot to decorate and stage the "rich folk's" homes. That is what makes this whole comment funny.

So Christmas morning, Alyse calls me in hysterics, (laughter actually), and sends me to this website her husband created. http://www.velvetmitt.com/ He honestly commissioned the first Velvet painting of Mitt Romney, and a Channel 2 News crew are coming this friday for it's arrival. Another thing to add to the comedy of it all, she is not a die-hard Romney fan in the least bit, even though the site makes her seem like it, she is not even a Republican! :)

I absolutely LOVE having her as a neighbor, we are so fortunate to be surrounded by awesome people, this is not a dull street is any way. :) Check out her site, I sure enjoy it, and feel very honored to soon be in such close proximity to this truly historical portrait. :)


oh...and for the record, we like Barak Obama in 2008.

One of the coolest Christmas gifts!

Another brilliant Lindsay Heinzen creation. She started this a few years ago, and my kids were some of the first to be drawn, so Jade and Josh look a bit younger than they do now, but we still know it's them, and this is the whole gang, up to date. :) Isn't she amazing?

Mica and Matt!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!
May 31st is the date so far, in the Oakland Temple in CA. We are all so excited, and I FINALLY get to be a bride's maid, even better, I'm the Maid of Honor! but enough about me, it really is all about them. :)

These are pictures I stole from my sister-in-law's blog. I will post more when I get them.

A bit of Christmas

Well, this is just a bit of our Christmas. SOME people in my family have ALL the pictures from our Christmas, and have YET to mail them to me, so I had to resort to blog-stealing, shameful! It's not really my fault that my dad has the nicest camera and therfore, we took ALL pictures with his instead of ours. :) SO I stole these from my sister-in-law's blog. It will do for now.
Early morning, and they woke everyone up too. EVERYONE slept over at our house, Enos, Lindsay, Mica, Matt (her respected "other"), Ira, Joseph, and my parents. It was fun!

Eddie has a serious phone fetish

Jade received art supplies, and 4 books, the first 3 Leven Thumps, and The Candy Shop Wars. She has completed 3 already, (in just five days!)

Josh was excited, really, it just came out later as he was running around EVERYWHERE with this gun, and about killed ANYONE who so much as looked at it.

School pictures