Spring Break

Many of you have been asking how I am enjoying my spring break. I hope this answers your questions!






I couldn't show the actual shower scene because it was a little graphic, but you get the idea!!
School Starts Monday!!

Easter's Top Ten

Believe it or not there were hundreds of things we loved about our weekend in Utah, but I have come up with 10 most memorable moments for me!
10. Helping Aunt Marilyn set up a Blog
(Yes, Aunt Marilyn is now a blogger and she is really excited to start blogging. She caught on really quick and it looks great. Way to go Aunt Marilyn, now we can see what you are doing!)
9. Going to the movies
(My parents took our family so see "Horton Hears a Who." It was really cute. Jackson and Dan did not get to see much of it, as Jackson decided that the movie theatre was more interesting than the actual movie. Maddie and Zach loved it. Thanks mom and dad!)
8. Going to my old home ward
(I haven't been there for almost seven years. It was so good to see old friends. My Dad gave and amazing talk, and he sang in the choir while Mom played. It was great!!


7. Grandpa Jansen
(Grandpa is very funny. My kids haven't seen him for a long time. I asked him why he uses a cane and he said, "It's to ring in the babes!" Grandma, what do you thing about that???)
6. Pei Wei's and two good movies
(Dan and I love Chinese food, so Friday night my parents ordered Pei Wei's to go. We ate delicious Chinese food and watched "Fly Boys." It was a great movie. The next night we watched "The Guardian" which Dan liked even better. We highly recommend them!)

5. Easter Morning

( The kids woke up and hunted for eggs, it wasn't much of a hunt, because there were so many eggs) The kids got the usual, but were very happy!)

4. Grandma Ham

(My Grandma and I have a great bond. There is no one like her. She came up and had Easter dinner with us. It was so great to see her. It seemed like our time was short, but I was so glad I got to spend some time with her. I waited with her at the bus station until the bus came to take her home. There were a few shady people there, and I was not going to let anything happen to her.)

3. Easter Egg hunt at the Jansen's

(We had a great day on Saturday. I gather that this Easter Egg hunt is a tradition in the Jansen family because it ran like clock work. My kids had a great time!! I also have to say that the food was amazing!!!! Grandma makes the best sloppy joes. She told me that her secret ingredient is cream of chicken soup. You may think that is a little different, but it was sooooooo amazing!!! The Jansen's know how to throw a party!!!)

2. Lunch with Marinda

(Best friends are hard to come by. When I knew some of my friends would be coming to visit family in Utah, I wanted to get everyone together. Unfortunately by Monday, Marinda and I were the only ones who could get together. Even though it was just the two of us it was so great to see Marinda. She may have moved to Pocatello, but Monday it felt like she had never left!!!)

1. Catching up with family and friends

(We love coming to Utah!!! We appreciated all that our families did for us. Dan and I couldn't believe how much everyone has grown up!!! Jan is a teacher, Aunt Claire is a grandmother, Tim has an adorable baby, and Shelby isn't a little kid anymore!! Most of my young women leaders and primary teachers in my old home ward are now Grandmothers!! I can't believe how fast life flies!!)

We hope you all had a very happy Easter!

Potty Training

Jackson has been showing some interest in using the toilet lately. I have been dreading the potty training thing, but I have to get it done before he starts preschool this coming August. Today he has refused to put any clothes on. The Dr. had recommended to let him air dry to help heal a nasty yeast infection he has. So, I told Jackson that if he wanted to be a big boy I would let him wear underwear. I had a funny conversation with him in the bathroom as I was trying to help him go, it went something like this:

Jackson: "My foot go in potty mom?"

Mom: "No Jack, we don't put feet in toilets."

Jackson: "O'tay mom"

Jackson: "This foot in potty mom?" (he lifted his other foot to the toilet)

Mom: "No Jackson, feet stay on the floor."

Jackson: "O'tay mom"

a few seconds later. . .

Jackson: "Now foot in potty mom?"

Mom: "Jackson the only thing we put in the potty is your peeps or your poop" (I know I sound very intellectual)

Jackson: "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhh, Otay mommy"

(He then leans way over into the toilet looking down at the water)

Jackson: "Head go in potty mommy?"

......I still love him.

In other news. . . Jackson went to his very first birthday party. He had a great time. This picture is just before we left for the party. He was so excited!!

A Busy Weekend

We had a great but busy weekend. It started off Saturday morning going to our old neighborhood for and Easter Egg Hunt. We were sad to see that our old house is for sale again. Because of the horrible housing market, they have marked it down $30,000 less than they paid us for it. Very sad!! The hunt was great! The kids got a lot of eggs and prizes. We stayed after the hunt was over to do our Modern Woodmen's youth service club. If you are wondering what that is I'll briefly explain--Dan and I got life insurance a few years ago through an organization called Modern Woodmen. Besides being an insurance program they sponsor youth service clubs to help kids learn to serve and take pride in their community. I am the club's leader. We do a service project every month. This month we did liter clean up at the park that the hunt was held. There are several kids in the neighborhood that are involved in the youth club, so we had about 15 kids helping us. We ate Krispy Kreme donuts after and went home! It was fun.
That afternoon Maddie had a cheer competition at the Idaho Center. This is the biggest competition in Idaho. Maddie and her squad have practiced since September to be ready for the event. Here are a few of the girls waiting for the rest of their squad to get there.

This next picture is Maddie's cheer squad waiting for their results. The girl next to Maddie (Hannah) hates loud noises so wears head phones to block much of the noise. I found it very cute that she decorated it in ribbon with red, black and white (their cheer squad's colors).

Maddie's squad won first place in their division. Maddie was so excited to take a turn posing with the team trophy. It's almost as big as she is. They did a fantastic job despite the fact that they had a few technical difficulties with the music. She did great.

The kids wanted to pose in front of the Idaho Center. Zach was so excited that Maddie won a medal. She promised Zach that he could have her old medal now that she has a shiny new one. The sun was in their eyes, but I wanted a picture of all three of them.

Don't forget to check out the post just under this one because there is a video of Zach doing a very funny magic trick. He has been practicing this one a lot because he wants to show his grandpas when we go to Salt Lake next weekend.

Magic Trick

Zach loves to trick people. He would make a great magician when he grows up. I thought you might like this video. He is very silly! He wants me to clarify that even though he would make a great magician, he is planning on becoming a baseball player.

I'll Get You My Pretty! And Your Little Dog Too!

This blog has taken me a while to post because Jackson's ear drum burst a few days ago, and today we were back at the Dr.'s because Zachary was complaining of an earache. I am glad I had a "mom break" because I have definitely been thrown back into motherhood very quickly since I've been back! Kansas City was awesome. I'm not sure how much of Kansas I was ever really in, but I thought my blog title was still cute. I think we were mostly in Missouri. Girl weekends R-O-C-K!! My mom and I flew in to Kansas City Friday afternoon. We were greeted by a totally cute lawyer, my sister. I must say, if a judge's decision was based solely on the cuteness of the lawyers, my sister would win every time. She looked amazing! Very professional. That afternoon we went to Liberty Jail and took the grand tour. That place really feels sacred. The Missouri weather helped recreate how horrible it must have been for Joseph and the other men, because even with long sleeves, a winter coat and scarf, I was still frozen through to my bones!
That evening Garrett and Megan took us down town. It was really cool. Megan's office is in a tall office building and she has a great view on the 22 floor. We are posing as her clients in this picture. Meg...you really need to get some pictures up!! We ate some famous Kansas City BBQ and then went to some amazing neighborhood with multimillion dollar homes. The only way I will ever be rich enough to live in homes like these is if Dan can write a best seller, or two. They were amazing.
My favorite day of all was Saturday. I don't know what it is about girls and shopping, but it was the best bonding we've had in a long time, until mom tried to physically assault me at "Steve and Barry's!" (Just kidding....sort of ) ;)
Sunday Meg sang in sacrament and did awesome. She has a great ward, and great friends.
I had to throw this picture of Liberty Jail in because it was truly unforgettable.


After church, a yummy lunch, and a nap, it was time to leave. Mom and I had such a blast! We were so exhausted from our weekend that we slept most of the way home. I hung around the Salt Lake airport with my parents for an hour. My plane was delayed, which could have been horrible, but a good friend from Boise (Tami Chugg) was also waiting for her flight. We waited together until it was time to board. I hope our next girl weekend is soon!

P.S. I would just like to clarify that the pictures in Dan's blog were found on Google, and are in no way shape and form my house!!!!!! It was a funny joke though!!

Paige's Weekend Away

This weekend Paige went to Kansas City to visit her sister. She left early Friday morning and will come home tonight. Things were going great at first. Zach and Jackson and I had a great morning Friday playing at the park and walking around the neighborhood. Then when Maddie got home from school we played, got a delicious Chicago Connection pizza, and had a late night movie party where we watched "Night at the Museum." The kids loved the movie. I thought it was pretty good myself. Saturday morning we played some more, went to the library and got some good books for the kids to read, and then went to Walmart to get some treats. Everything was going well until Saturday afternoon when Jackson got sick. Since then things have fallen apart at home. As you can see, the kitchen is a mess. (I'm not sure how the lamp got there.)

The bathroom is pretty gross too, though that was the kids' fault, not mine.

I don't even dare show pictures of the bedrooms and family room. Paige gets home in just four hours. I sure hope I can get this cleaned up by then.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I must admit, I'm kinda likin' this 8:00 a.m. church thing. It does seem early when I am warm in my bed, but once I'm dressed and ready for church, early church does have it's advantages. Sunday was a beautiful, windy, spring day. In the back of our house is a neighborhood development-- perfect for kite flying! There are no trees or houses, just paved roads and sidewalks.
The kids each took a turn holding the kite. Tonight for Family Home Evening we bought each of the kids their own kite and will make it our family activity.
We got the kite so high that we ran out of string. After about an hour our hands were so cold that we had to get out the mittens. We came in shortly after and warmed up with some hot chocolate.
The kids also found time to play with play dough. We actually made our own play dough and the kids got to choose their own colors. Dan may think play dough is disgusting, but I think it is a mother's life saver!
I think Maddie, Zach, and Jackson had a pretty fun Sunday!