Merry Christmas!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

2007 has been great to us. We started off the year celebrating Eric's 30th birthday closely followed by Audreys 1st birthday. She got her first baby doll and has just melted over any baby doll since. We took a "spring break" trip out to CA with Eric's brother Brett. ( we have been in student mode too long to give up a spring break) In May we moved into Eric's parents basement awaiting the time consuming process of applying for his CA Pharm. license. Jack celebrated his 3rd birthday in June. It was a "Buzz Lightyear" birthday he had anticipated for months. So of course we had to go all out. In July we celebrated my birthday in Pinecrest with my family. - One of my favorite places in the world, if nothing else for memories sake. In August we went down to St. George with Eric's family. We saw the play My Fair Lady @ the Tuacahn Theatre - love that show. In August we went on our first real family vacation to San Diego. We had such a great time. We will definitely repeat that trip! As of recently Eric has taken a job with Long's Drug Store and we will be moving to California for some more adventures! Looking forward to what awaits us in 2008!! We wish you all love & happiness at this special time of year!

Love,
Eric, Katie, Jack & Audrey (and the Mama Panda @ the zoo - a personal favorite of J & A)

Home Sweet Home

So here it is...our new home! We will be moving in January 9th. We are so excited. From the moment we walked in the door it felt like home for all of us. I am so excited to bust out with all my decorating ideas I have been saving up since our cinder block walls. It'll be nice to get settled again and unpack our boxes we have had packed up for 7 months now. It will be like Christmas all over again. Just wanted to share the exciting news in case you hadn't heard already.

A couple Auggie tricks...

So Auggie loves to lay down and put her feet in the air. It makes us laugh so much since her chunky little legs are about a a foot long. She loves to carry things around in her shirt too. I'm not sure where she picked that one up. Notice the fox in the picture. We've been places and after a while she'll pull out one of her little 2in. by 2 in. board books or one of Jack's little army men - Always thinking ahead. And Miss Cuddle bug! She loves to cuddle and hug. She had just stumbled outside from her nap and needed a hug from her big brother.

I love soccer!

Select a Candidate 2008

Confused about the election for 2008???


TAKE THE QUIZ

I have to share...

So yesterday the kids were restless during Sacrament meeting, as usual. Well Jack was sitting on my lap and drops his sippy cup. Ooops! Usually no big deal. But this time it hit the ground and I kid you not all the liquid left in the darn cup came flying back up! So chocolate milk splatters all over the back of the man in front of us and all over my legs. Jack looks at me "UH OH MOM!" We were sitting in the back in chairs so the whole bottom half of this man's suit coat was hit by the flying chocolate milk. Not to mention - of all the people in the ward this could happen to it is the one man in the ward that is so meticulous about his clothes, rumor has it that he irons his underwear. By this time the water comes and I was so flustered I dropped my cup in my lap. Apparently I need to start packing poncho in my diaper bag.

Press forward Mothers with busy children at church!

November already?!

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” - - Dr. Suess

So I can't believe it is already November! This year has flown by to me. Thanks to internet shopping half of our Christmas list is complete. Woooo-hoooo! We have actually had some Fall weather here lately. It has been so nice to take the kids outside to play before Winter sets in completely. We are still investigating some offers as far as jobs go and are aiming to be into a home by Christmas. The new goal.
I don't know what we'll do with ourselves once things are settled. I am so anxious to unpack our boxes, especially the Jack & Auggie's boxes. December should be an exciting month for all of us.

Home again, home again...

Beautiful Drive on the Nebo Loop

Good news!

Well Eric's CA license was finally posted. I screamed when I saw his name on the website. It was just so frustrating waiting and waiting and waiting when there is nothing you or anyone can do about it. So that's all behind us now. ((*Sigh of Relief*)) We are going to CA in 2 weeks to visit and check out some jobs. It's pretty exciting having a light at the end of the tunnel. We are so anxious to have a home! Here I thought we would be in a house by my birthday - July. I guess I was a little off on that one. Now we're hoping we will have a house by Thanksgiving, Christmas at the latest.

What's grosser that gross?

I was watching the news last night when they showed a preview to a special story coming up. Then it showed a clip of a pile of green beans with a rat head on top. Yes folks, the head of a rat. So of course I stuck around to get the full story.

A woman making some lunch had opened a can of green beans, dumped them in the pot to heat up and a rat head gangle teeth and all plopped right out of the can. Totally mortified the woman called Wal*Mart where she had purchased the green beans and they directed her to the company of the green beans themselves. I guess they were prompt in their attention to the matter but reassured her that their canned vegetables go through an intense sterilization process, so even if they happened to eat the rat head they would be safe.

So what part of this story is not okay? For starters the rat in the canned food, but I think it's even worse that they mentioned eating the rat would be okay. I think it might have been safe to say - if they happened to eat some of the green beans before they saw the rat head that would be okay. What kind of person sits down to eat beans and doesn't realize they are chewing on a rodent head?! How insulting. They had the woman put it in her freezer until they could come examine it. I was completely speechless, not to mention eating green beans messes with my gag reflex anyway.

Moral of the story : Watch out the next time you open a can, the rest of the rat has got to be out there somewhere!

A few highlights of our summer!

Bloggity Blog Blog Blog!

Soooo, thanks to Brian & Brooklin we found out about this nifty little gadget called a wireless router!! We are still at Eric's parents house and while they have been so nice letting us use their computer it's just not the same as your own home sweet home computer. Thanks to our new router we can share the internet!! So here I am, back to blogging again! And back to my nightly rituals of surfing the net. Awesome!! SO lots to catch up on! We had our 1st real family vacation. Eric and I and the kids drove down to San Diego last month. We stayed for a whole week! We went to the beach everyday, visited the San Diego Zoo & Birch Aquarium, went to a Padres vs. Dodgers game, went to Coronado (one of my favorite places on Earth )made a visit to the Maritime Museum where we toured old ships and a sub! ( Jack was in heaven! ) The kids are such great little travelers which makes it so nice. anyway It was a blast!! It was so fun to enjoy our little family on vacation!

We finally heard back from the CA Board on Eric's license! Wow, waiting on state government agencies - Not my favorite thing to do. But Eric should be licensed within the next week or so! Hallelujah! Then we can look into some jobs and made a decision on where to live - the ongoing saga of "here or there" & most importantly buy a house!!

The kids are doing great!! They are just amazing! They both are such chatter boxes. It is so fun to know what they are thinking. They have such cute little conversations. Audrey is in nursery now and Jack being the big brother has been chasing kids down that bother or take any toys away from Auggie.

Wow! I am typing a lot! Just wanted to tell everyone that I am back in the blogging world if anyone even checks this still! ;)

Bloggity Blog Blog Blog!

Sooooo

Heat wave...

So I am loving that it is summer right now!! We have had some great adventures so far. Jack's 3rd birthday, visits from Amy & Chris and Christy, a trip to California, swimming, trips up the canyon, backyard sleep-outs, pretty much everything there is to love about summer. More fun to come, I get to celebrate my 26th birthday in Oakdale in a few weeks, a few days after the Valk family reunion. Woo-hoo! My Mom's birthday is 2 days after mine so we get to have a combined birthday. I can't really remember the last time I was in CA for our birthdays. It'll be great! Christy is in Nashville now living her dreams. Way to go! I think it's amazing she is chasing her dreams, we all have them I guess but who really gives them a chance or is in a position to for that matter. I'm living and loving my dreams to be a wife & mother but I am talking about those crazy things we would like to do or secretly think we'd be great at. I just think there is something to be said for being ambitious enough to put yourself out there against all odds. Way to go TT. We are still living with Eric's parents and things are going great. We thought we'd have some sort of plan by now but Eric's CA license is stilllllllllllll under way. We feel like poodles in the circus just jumping through hoops and more hoops. The kids are doing great. Jack is still loving Buzz Lightyear, along with trains, cars, dinosaurs, puzzles etc. He'll challenge you to a puzzle race where he yells out things like "I win, you missed... see ya later!" He has an amazing memory and blows us away with some of the things he tells us about. What a kid! Audrey seems to be growing up so fast. She loves animals and her baby dolls! I can already tell she will be such a good little Mommy. She is so sweet and dainty in her actions. She's definitely is a girly girl. She talks A LOT and repeats most everything we say verbatim. Some of our favorites she says is "Jack!! Monkeees! Weh-kum (your welcome)love you, cookie. She and Jack love the song "Sweet Escape." They request it over and over when we are in the car. They have the "woo-hoo's" down! anyway That's our latest and greatest. Hopefully I can keep this up better in the future. K.I.T. everyone!

Check out my Slide Show!

Office Lovers!!

Tonights episode - Oh my gosh!! I could hardly breathe during Pam's moment of truth!!! AH! Also, I forgot to check if Andy made it back on the bus!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there!!! Especially mine - the most amazing, helpful, hard working, thoughtful, loving Mom. ; ) Here are some good quotes to celebrate Mother's day this week....

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? ~Milton Berle


A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan


I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln


She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along. ~Margaret Culkin Banning


[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. ~Emily Dickinson


All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. ~Abraham Lincoln


“There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one” Jill Churchill

What kind of sports car are you??

www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar

Check out this address for a "car" personality test...

So I was very glad to find out that I was a Ford Mustang!

"An American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money." So I guess you all better watch out!! ; )

Believe it or not but I use to have a calender of Ford Mustangs. Rodney and I still have plans to rebuild one for me someday! I'll be the little old lady from Pasadena only instead of a Super Stock Dodge I will be driving a stang!! - I guess I won't be living in Pasadena either. The only reason the song/story relates is that there will be an old lady and a hot car involved. Awwwwwesome. ;)

Sunday Afternoon

So this afternoon we decided to take a stroll around Temple Square (- after seeing Brian & Brooklin's cute pictures). anyway. We had lots of kodak moments Jack picking a flower to give to Auggie, both kids leaning over the edge of every fountain to stick there fingers in, Auggie striking a pose... There were so many cute ones to choose from! I had to post the pic of Auggie w. her little double chin, we had just told her "you look so pretty!!!" and that is the face she pulled. What a princess!! ;) I also had to post the pic of Jack with his "lady killer" expression.

What a great afternoon!!

Pack it up!

So Jack is trying to understand this whole moving concept. I try to help him understand that we are going to take all of our belongings with us. He wanted to help! So he dragged a box into his room and this is what he packed. He even packed Audrey's book and binki. He is such a little sweetheart.

Silly little girl

Audrey loves to carry around a damp rag. She loves to wipe things off here and there as she roams through the apartment. Hmm, wonder where she gets that?? Although, when she is not wiping things down she puts it on her head until she needs it again. When I am cleaning I need to make sure I get her a rag too otherwise she will steal mine. She is my little Cinderella. She is such a little sweetie.

Lettuce please, Mommy

So I have always appreciated that Jack is a good eater. Although sometimes he has rabbit - like tendencies. He loves to eat lettuce and tomatoes, whole! Mmmmm. A head of lettuce in the fridge is an open invitation for Jack. He's a funny kid. HIs latest phrases are :"that's not nice!" and "let's do it!" It's so fun to see his little mind at work. anyway - shortly after his lettuce treat he fell asleep sitting up on the couch. Whatever works. ;)

Squatters.

Quote from Shrek:
Donkey: Hey I got an idea! I could stay with you! We could stay up late, swap manly stories, and in the morning, I'm making waffles!

So this quote came to mind with the situation at hand. Our lease is up the 2nd week of May. We didn't want to sign another 10-12 month contract ( 'cause we are so sick of apartments!) so we will be living with Eric's parents until we buy a house!! Woo-Hooo!! Eric will be taking the CA boards soon! So the destination of the state in which the house we buy is still unknown. Utah has been great to us, although if we stay here I might invent those tube systems they have in Alaska so we could get out once and a while during the winter. ; ) We also love the thought of a change of pace if we were to move to CA. We are always game for anything. So it's nice to have some flexibility with his career. Regardless, we are going to be looking for a 7 day on 7 day off schedule. That way we have flexibility in visiting and visitors. My latest craze has been checking remax.com . It's what I do when I can't sleep, oh wait, that's every night! I am gaining a great love for Louisville KY. I have never been there but I love the homes there! (or so i've seen on remax.com & HGTV) So anyway. In 3 weeks we will be squatters! We are anxious to get the ball rolling on this whole house thing! I can not wait til Jack and Audrey have a yard. That will be better than Christmas morning!!!

Happy Easter

We had a Happy Easter this weekend. We had the annual Healy Egg Hunt Saturday and then the Easter Bunny visited our house Sunday morning! Lucky! I didn't get any pictures of Jack in his Easters best because right before church he grabbed my curling iron!! Ahhh! So he has a burn with a big bubble blister down his pointer finger & all they way up his thumb! I felt sooo bad. So Jack wasn't too photogenic yesterday. :0( Luckily we got some picture the day before at the hunt. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW CHRISTY!!! ; ) We love you!

"Future so bright, I gotta wear shades..."

I'd rather be riding my bike....

We have bikes! Eric got a bike a few weeks ago and I got one last weekend! We also bought a child trailer to pull the kids around too! We have to get creative with the activities we can do as a family. We are excited to take a ride once the weather gets better. We rode bikes so much growing up and I am excited to carry on the tradition. We always took our bikes to Monterey every summer to ride the trail along the coast. Mmm that was so refreshing! Christy and I always wore helmets when we were little so anytime Rod, Amy or Dad would pass us the would hit our helmet (which was loud) and say "Buckethead!" We also rode the trails in Yosemite and the trail along the American River in Sac Town. Christy and I rode our bikes daily after school. When we got old enough 4th or 5th grade) we could ride over to Kimball St. and go down "7 Steps" with Matt and Luke (cousins). That was the ultimate bikers challenge. It was so fun. Once we had this girl staying with us from England. She didn't know how to ride a bike very well, but Christy and I took her to 7 steps anyway. We told her the easier way to go down the hill. Well this girl didn't even turn the bike!! So she went sailing off the trail and eventually ran into some big water tank thing. She had a pretty big scratch on her arm. So Christy and I took her home and aided to her scratch and then told her not the tell our Mom! Since our Mom had told us specifically not to take her there. I'll never forget that night at dinner. She was very obvious about the huge scratch 'cause she wanted my Mom to see it! Christy and I kept giving her the eyes, like stop making it obvious!! Mom eventually found out but I don't remember getting in too much trouble. Christy and I loved to ride through puddles as well. There was always a great one in the teacher parking lot at Magnolia. It was always obvious we had gone through puddles because we would have a huge streak of mud up the middle of our backs. Amy and I use to ride our bikes to piano lessons too, when I was in 2nd grade. We would save up our change and go to 7 11 after our lesson and get candy for ourselves and Rod and Christy. Our parents also had drink holders mounted on our bikes to so we could all carry our slurpees on family rides to get a treat. It was also fun to ride bikes on the ranch too. Grandma and Grandpa always had enough scooters and bikes for all of us to ride. We would race up and down the lane. It was a blast. Woa! I am typing a lot!!! I am just so glad to be back on the world of biking. I have such great memories of riding bikes growing up and hopefully our kids will too!!

Ca or Bust!

It was a great trip home to see the fam! It's always so nice to see everybody. The weather was FABULOUS!! It was in the 70's and a couple days it was 80 degrees even!! It is so nice to think about especially since snowing here again. We were sad we didn't get to see Reece since she was in the hospital & are so glad she is feeling better. Brett was able to come with us since he was off for Spring Break. It was a party all around! Enjoy the pics!

Let's go fly a kite!!

Jack & I have had our eye on these kites @ Costco lately. So yesterday when Jack, Audrey and I were at Costco again, I had to get one. Jack picked out the pirate ship kite, probably due to his latest interest in Peter Pan! When Eric got home from work we had to go try it out! We didn't have the greatest wind to work with but we got it up in the air a couple of times. We are looking forward to using it at our picnic next week!

Sunday Best

I couldn't resist taking pictures of Audrey in this dress before church last Sunday!! What a doll!