Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Magic

This is how we spent every morning this Christmas season...and her surprised expression was the same EVERY time.
How magical. How sweet.
I hope your Christmas is as magical and as sweet.
Merry Christmas!


Sunday, December 14, 2008

I'm Gonna Miss This

I am going to pretend to be oblivious to the actual date today and post a Thanksgiving post. Time is going by so quickly and some days I go to bed not knowing what day it is. Oh well. There are worse things. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We spent the extended weekend with family and friends. We ate. We slept. We shopped.


I love Thanksgiving. I love it because it is a holiday that is what it is. There is no hype. There is hardly any stress. It is a day that is meant to give thanks for our blessings and spend it with the people we love. What could be better?


I have been thinking lately about this phase of my life. My thoughts consist mostly of my kids. Sometimes I can't stand how much I love them. I mean seriously, they are 2 of the cutest, most funny, sweet people I have ever met.


I love country music and one of my favorite songs right now is "You're Gonna Miss This." The chorus says, "You're gonna miss this. You're gonna want this back. You're gonna wish these days, hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around. You may not know it now. But you're gonna miss this." The song talks about different phases of life and how while we live each phase, our tendency is to wish each phase away. Always looking for tomorrow or next month or years down the road. And while life evolves and circumstances change, we tend to look back and realize how good things were...even if at the time they didn't seem so great.


I cry every time I listen to it. I think I cry because the problem is, even though things are crazy busy right now and I have my personal stresses, I look at my kids and I already know that I am going to miss this time in my life.


I am going to miss Chloe crawling into our bed early in the morning to snuggle with us before Jon leaves for work. I am going to miss Beckham giving me sweet kisses anytime I ask for them. I am going to miss Chloe making up songs while we are driving in the car and asking me if she can put on lips (lip gloss). I am going to miss Beckham waking up in the morning and calling for me to pick him up and then giggling incessantly when I do. I am going to miss spying on both of them while Chloe tries to read Beckham her favorite books ("Fancy Nancy" and "Put Me in the Zoo").


They, along with Jon, are the sweetest blessings that surround me everyday. I know that the way things are right now will not stay the same and so I will try to live in the little sweet moments and try not to think too far in the future. It will be here soon enough.


Here is a little video of my 2 little turkeys on Thanksgiving (with a little bit of coaching from my little sister in the background!). I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

To the Love of My Life...

Happy Birthday

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

What Did You Have For Breakfast?

We had Oreo cookies. It is going to be one of those days.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pictures With Santa

Meghan Poort, my sister-in-law and owner of Poortraits Photography, is having mini sessions at the children's store Dagerman's on December 6 and 7. You get a 10 minute mini session with Meghan (and Santa!!!) for only $20 and it includes a 5x7. This is going to be much better than waiting in LONG lines at the malls just to see Santa for 2 seconds and getting just 1 picture taken. If your kids are like mine, they need a little time to warm up to someone (yes, even Santa). Less stress and you have a reserved session time. Call Dagerman's at 798-5437 to schedule your appointment today!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

2 Questions

Is it really November 18?



Sunny
78°F


AND

Why did I buy winter clothes for my kids?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

A Little History Lesson

Yesterday we ventured out of the present to explore the past. Really, I think I just made our little trip to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum sound a little bit more exotic than it actually was. I grew up in Las Vegas, but I don't ever remember going to the Natural History Museum on any field trips or anything like that.

Pigtail Princess Cousins

It is located in a part of town that is well past its prime. As soon as we walked into the museum, I took a deep breath in. It smelled just as I remember my first elementary school smelling like.

Old.

I can't really describe it beyond that. It smelled like it had been around since 1960 (no offense to those of you who read this blog who were around then...). Anyway, we looked at the map and we were on our way.


We started out in the dinosaur room. The kids freaked out. I can't say that I blame them. Not only were the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops (yes, I spell checked those) huge and moving, but the room was dark and if we pressed a button, the T-Rex growled. (I still haven't gotten around to debrief our recent trip to Disneyland, but the dark rides were traumatizing to Miss Chloe, and yet, I keep taking her to dark attractions. I think I am trying to help her escape a life of being afraid of the dark like her mom. It is very debilitating). The kids were not fans.

Grace's reaction to seeing the big dinosaurs. She just kept saying, "Oh no!"

Chloe soon pointed out a very well lit area of the museum. It was the hands on area and the kids loved it. They searched for fossils like archaeologists, stood under a domed aquarium, tried on scuba gear and basically made a mess of the place. But they were smiling. We got to see some baby sharks still in their eggs just about ready to hatch. We saw sharks and sea rays and dolphins. Chloe was intrigued by an exhibit of safari animals. There were two lions attacking a zebra. Very graphic. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, those lions are being grumpy. They need to have good attitudes." So right...but then again, they would starve otherwise, right?

After brushing the dirt off of each buried fossil, Chloe would get so excited about what she had found. She would then bury the fossils again and still be excited when she brushed off the same dirt from the same fossils. Maybe Santa will bring her a big load of dirt for Christmas...


Grace especially loved the exhibit of the prehistoric men. They were a cross between monkeys and men. As soon as she saw the hairy statues, she said, "Hi Daddy!" I will have to let Oscar know that her perception of him is not as flattering as he may have thought. Perhaps its time to consider a good shave.

"Hi Daddy!"

The kids loved it, I liked it and to be quite honest, by the end of the tour, I didn't even notice the smell anymore! If you are interested in taking this same journey, you can get a 2 for 1 coupon on their website. Kids 2 and under are always free!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

26

No, that's not Beckham in a dress...


That is the number of Jon's work uniform shirts that I cleaned out of our closet yesterday. Jon is starting a new chapter in his professional life. He quit his old job and has moved on to a better opportunity. I am so excited to see how he will live up to his new challenges. I have no doubt that he will be successful. I am so proud of him and his ability to support and care for our little family.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!

I love cake. I love balloons. I love parties. I love birthdays!


I am also lame. Within the past month, there have been 5 birthdays on Jon's side of the family. Did I give shout outs to any of them??? No. Sorry. Here is my belated attempt...


Happy birthday Rob (Jon's Dad)...


Happy birthday Noah (Nephew)...


Happy birthday Zion (Nephew)...


Happy birthday Bobby (Jon's Brother)...

Happy birthday Tina (Jon's Sister)...


Happy birthday to all of you! We love you all very much! We hope you had fun days filled with cake, balloons and parties!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

They Are So Good To Me...

I love my family. My sweet brother, Weston, just returned home last week from serving a mission for our church and we are SO excited that he is home safe. We had such a fun weekend being together and listening to the things Weston experienced over the past 2 years.

He served in Australia and spoke Mandarin Chinese.

Chinese.

Yeah...we weren't expecting that one when he opened his call. We've been watching "Ni Hao, Kai lan" (the Chinese version of Dora the Explorer) to prepare for Weston's arrival. Over the past year of watching it, I know 3 words. Hmmm. Not very impressive. What is impressive is that Weston knows the language amazingly well. It is crazy to look at him as he speaks the language. Looking at him I see my little brother but then he opens his mouth and he morphs into a Chinese person stuck in my little brother's body.

Crazy. I feel bad for him because the language is so crazy that he has somehow become our little trained monkey. If we see anyone, we nudge Weston and convince him to say something in Chinese. Poor guy. Maybe it will wear off. Maybe not.

I love my family.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Mr. Poort

From the time that I knew I was having a boy, I have always called Beckham, Mr. Poort. The 3D ultrasounds showed a very "old man"-looking baby and I thought that the name suited him. When he was born, we might as well have given him a top hat and a cane. Such a little man.

Before we left for Disneyland, Jon took Beckham to get his first haircut! He had the cutest head of curls, but the curls were slowly turning into frizz. I think Jon was hoping that we could hold off on a haircut until he entered kindergarten...I vetoed that idea.

His cute baby curls

Jon made it a father-son event. He took him to a salon that specializes in kid cuts. Beckham started out having a really good time playing with the trains and sitting in a car "chair". As soon as the hair stylist turned the clippers on, however, he freaked out! He is not a fan of loud sounds. (He even leaves the bathroom when I blow dry my hair because the sound is too loud). Jon had to hold him down the entire time.

He's been traumatized...but, he looks SO CUTE! I love his big boy cut. He looks so different to me. I don't think he recognized himself the first couple of times he passed by the mirror. He kept walking by the mirror in our room and would stop and giggle...walk away...come back...giggle. It was so cute. The salon gave us a little bag with a few salvaged curls to remember his baby hair.

He may look a little bit older, but he is still my little Mr. Poort.

America's Best Dance Crew



Jon found this online today. We thought it was funny. I hope everyone had a chance to go out and vote today!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!


Love,
Cinderella and Gus Gus
(Chloe and Beckham)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Photography Website

I am so excited to be launching my photography website tonight! Check it out at

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Fire!!!

Chloe's preschool class

Yesterday, we went to the fire station with Chloe's preschool class. I was really excited to go and waited until the morning of the "field trip" to tell Chloe. In the past, I have made the mistake of telling her days or even weeks before a really fun event and then I get asked about a thousand times a day, "Are we going to the party today? Is today the Easter egg hunt? Today is Christmas, right?" To save me the headache and her the disappointment, I waited until yesterday to tell her the fun news! She was SO excited. While I was getting Beckham ready, she ran into her room, got dressed and put her shoes on and ran into my room and said, "Mom! Let's go! We are gonna be late!" We rushed out the door and we were the first ones there. All of the firemen (women...people...whatever...) were out on calls and so we waited for a few minutes for one of the trucks to come back. We started our tour of the station in the garage. Our guide showed us all of the equipment that can be found on all of the trucks. The kids all jumped inside the truck and the fireman turned on all of the lights. He then took us to the lounge area and popped in a fire safety video. I think that most of the tour groups that come through are at least elementary school age and so the attention span of our 2/3 year old group was a little bit shorter than what they are used to. After less than 5 minutes of the video, all of the kids were rolling around on the floor...even Beckham joined in. We collected our fire hats, stickers and coloring books and stopped to take a few pictures with our guide. Chloe talked about her experience for the rest of the day...and actually, all day today as a matter of fact. I should probably count on the same conversation tomorrow. Sometimes I feel like I am living "Groundhog's Day." I don't mind.


Peace out...word to your mother...(?)
Chloe. Always listening.
Jesse and Chloe checking out the inside of the truck


I think Beckham was very upset that the tour was over...

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sweet Conference


While growing up, my mom always made Aebelskivers for breakfast for the Sunday morning session of General Conference. Chloe and I decided to do the same. You need an Aebelskiver pan to make these. They are so yummy and so worth it! You can find an Aebelskiver pan here or here. This is the recipe that my mom always uses:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs (separated)

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the buttermilk and egg yolks. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites. When they form soft peaks, fold them into the batter. Fill 1/2 of the Ebelskiver pan with batter. Use a toothpick to flip until the centers are cooked through. Top with Cinnamon/sugar, powdered sugar or whipped cream (or all 3!)

Happy Sunday!


Beckham is a fan!

Yesterday...

was a busy day! My sister-in-law, Tina, and I ran the St. George Marathon. Summary: wind, rain, cold. It was the worst race I have ever run. Before the race, all of the runners are shuttled up to the top of a mountain to the starting line. I ran this race 2 years ago and so it was a little bit familiar. We got off of the bus and huddled around one of the many fire pits they had available to keep warm. Then the rain came. Then the wind. We grabbed garbage sacks and made holes for our head and arms so that we could try to stay dry until the rain stopped. The rain did not stop. In fact, as the race went on, it got worse. Anyone who knows me, knows that I get cold very easily. That being said, even with running 26.2 miles (we can't forget the .2!) I could not get warm. The long-sleeve hoodie I was wearing was soon soaking wet and so I took it off to wrap around my waist. I'm sure the Snow Canyon Mountains on any other day are beautiful to look at and would make for a pleasant run. However, on this particular day, all I saw was the wet pavement. I looked down to keep the rain out of my eyes as well as to prevent my clumsy self from slipping. I learned something on this run: my running shoes are not waterproof...go figure. My socks were saturated by mile 10 and I could hear the slushing in between songs on my ipod. I had to go to the bathroom so many times and actually considered just peeing while I ran. It was raining...would anyone notice? Something else was running in the race...my nose. I tried to sniff everything up, but after an hour or so of that, I just let it run. (I hope the photographers that were along the run got a closeup!). It was not my finest hour. I considered flagging down a shuttle or ambulance because I was so miserable. Point of the story, I finished. Through all of the crummy circumstances, I finished. By the end, my lips were blue and my fingers were so cold that I couldn't peel a banana. It was hard and I finished. So, maybe it was my finest hour.

Me and Tina before the race...yes, it is still dark.

My cheerleaders
Whenever Chloe sees me run she says, "Mom, you run so fast!" I am glad she thinks so...


My dad and little sister, Naomi

After the race, we headed straight home. Last night was our 10 year high school class reunion. My high school years are full of a lot of good memories. Jon and I met our Sophomore year at Durango High School. He is one of the reasons I think I had such a good time and that I have so many fond memories from this time in my life. Looking at pictures from that time, I think we look so different but I don't feel like we have changed very much. Of course, I love him so much more now than I did back then, but to me, he is still the same person. I still look at him and get butterflies like I did in high school. I love that. I also love that I made so many lasting friendships in high school. I am still close with girlfriends from that time. There is something comforting about having a group of people who really knows you and you know them and you have been through life together and you are, in part, who you are because of them. It was kind of strange seeing people that I had not seen in 10 years. 10 years ago, these people were my life. I saw them everyday. I went to dances with them. I ate lunch with them. I hung out with them on the weekends. So many people looked exactly as I remembered them. We caught up on the past 10 years of our lives and ate and laughed. It was awkward at times, but I am glad that we went. Here are some pictures that I found in one of my high school boxes. (Not my favorite, but I think that my mom has most of my pictures).

Senior Prom 1998


Who is the guy in front with the GR crown and LOTS of hair??? Jon. Poor Jon. He misses his hair.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Almost Twins?

My friend, Melissa (my lagal deter) and her cute sister, Emily, had baby girls last month. They were born exactly 2 weeks apart...SO FUN! Emily came to town after Melissa had her baby and let me have some fun taking some pictures. The size of the girls was pretty much the only thing they had in common. They were total opposites. One liked being naked and the other didn't. One slept all of the time while the other one was awake. One liked to be on her back and the other screamed when we put her on her back. It was a busy photo shoot! I don't know how moms of twins do it! At least we had one mom to one baby. Good ratio. I love Melissa and Emily and they are the cutest moms! Their daughters are so blessed to have them as moms and lucky that they have a cousin so close. Thank you again for a fun afternoon!
Melissa and Emily's "Super" Mom (literally!!!). MaryKay made it to both births even though they took place in 2 different states. They were both so happy that she was able to be there!