Ready or NOT!

In Kilee's Adult Living class they give the students 5 days to take care of a plastic baby. It is computerized and cries, eats and even needs it's diaper changed. Kilee had the baby once for a few days when she went to Mountain View High School in a child development class and it was a breeze. So she was so excited to get to have the chance to be a pretend mom again. She picked out clothes for the baby and even made some cute headbands. Well... Day one was great the baby was cute and quiet and it was fun until night time came. Kilee was up during the night and still had to get up to go to school the next day. Not just school but also night school. Friday wasn't bad, she was a little tired but thinking she was o.k. Then it happened, the baby woke up every hour, needing to be fed, burped and changed. Saturday morning I took the baby from Kilee so she could get a little sleep, she was exhausted. She woke up and took over and for the next few days she was ready to put the baby in the car and forget about it. It was about this time I realized that the project worked. The first day I was a little worried that it was going to make her want a baby now, but after the first day the lesson was learned. Parenting is not easy, babies need lots of time and attention and sleep is rare with a new born. So after 5 days we were both exhausted, tired of feeding a plastic baby and ready to give her back. She got 100% on the project but was never so happy to be done. After all she is a teenager and loves her sleep. What a great way to teach kids they are not ready for parenthood. It should be a requirement for all students.

Day 1 all smiles!

Baby Gabriella

Her face says it ALL!

Happy Birthday To ME!

It's amazing to my how fast the time goes by the older I get. I remember being in high school and couldn't wait to turn 16, it seemed like the days and months took forever. Now it seems like time is flying by and I just want to slow it down and enjoy the last little bit I have with Kilee before she leaves home. With her being in night school the last 7 weeks it has seemed like we haven't seen each other much. BUT on my 44th birthday she surprised me. My little 17 year old girl decided to make my birthday special and boy did she ever. I woke up to a phone call from Kelsie wishing me a happy birthday. I was laying in bed just chatting with her about school and my plans for the day when SURPRISE Kilee walked in my room. I was so confused why she wasn't at school but she told me to hang up the phone she had a surprise for me. I walked into the living room and tears filled my eyes. She had not only decorated the room, but made me the most precious poster of 44 reasons why she loved me. WOW.... there were hearts cut out that were spread on the floor with more reasons that she loved me. One of my favorites, You're HOT, so I'm HOT :) She is beautiful inside and out! So needless to say the start of my birthday was AMAZING!!!

Kayla came and spent the day with me while Kilee went to school. We went to Two Rivers Spa and had pedicures. If you ever want to pamper yourself go there, get the hot wax pedicure, it's incredible. It was Kayla's first pedicure ever and she was a little nervous because her feet are so ticklish, but she loved it. It was fun to sit and talk and laugh, Kayla can always make me laugh. Then off to lunch at one of my favorite places, Chicago Connection for their salad bar. Kilee and Jordon came for lunch, then back to school for Kilee while Kayla, Jordon and I went to the mall. After the mall I came home and just rested and got ready to go out to dinner with Mom and Dad. We went to Ling and Louie's it's a new chinese restaurant. It was delicious and they gave me a free dessert that was to die for.

Out of all of my 44 birthdays, this is one I will never forget. It wasn't the presents that I received but the thought that went into it. I have 3 amazing girls that love me a lot! I'm one lucky mom!

My baby is a Senior :(

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August 2011

Kindergarten picture 1999


I can't believe it's really here. I was told 23 years ago to watch out because before you know it they grow up and you wonder where the time went. Well I have enjoyed the last 23 years, I have loved being a mom I just can't believe that my baby is actually going to be a senior! Then the news comes that she is signing up for night school and graduating early. So instead of having 9 months to get ready I have 4 1/2. I'm not sure how to feel. I am excited for her and for the next phase of her life...well at least I think I am. I am sad she is my last and will be leaving me.

Where did the time go? When I think back I have sweet memories, memories that will always be in my heart. The Halloween party where there were apples to bob for and Kilee dressed as an angel at 2 took several bites out of several apples before we found her. Going to dialysis with my Grandma every week and hating the smell but making her Great Grandma fall in love with her. All the disney movies we almost had memorized before she would finally pick a new one. Her love for Dalmatians and pigs and most anything little. Playing soccer for so many years and taking out girls and boys twice her size. Broken arms, a total of 5. Good thing we had different doctors or they might have thought she was abused. Skipping school, but not hiding it... actually showing up at my work just to say hi. Her hatred for white water rafting after she thought she was going to drown in the Payette River. Her love for dogs and BSU football. Her sensitive side that comes out on occasion, her beautiful smile, and her funny sense of humor. Her hugs and her kisses, her funny accents that she does so good! Most of all just her goodness. One day she is going to make one lucky man very happy. She is beautiful on the inside and out! I love you Kilee J... go get em!

New Job... Good bye Subway, Hello U Swirl

So after working at Subway on and off for the last 7 years, as a Subway artist, Manager, Field Consultant and Area Manager it's time for a change. Two weeks ago I put in my 2 weeks notice and for the last week I have been working both jobs. Wednesday will be my last day at Subway and I leave with some mixed feeling. I have had amazing employees, people that I would have never met otherwise. I have met some wonderful people that I was lucky enough to make their sandwiches. It's interesting to me that even though I don't know a lot of my customers names, I know what sandwiches they like and what they want on them. When I told Nancy, one of my favorite customers today that Wednesday was my last day she was so sad. She is such a cute lady has the same mini sandwich everyday. Veggie on wheat with provolone, all the veggies no onions or hot peppers, parmesan cheese, oil and vinegar. Even if Wednesday is the last day I make her sandwich I will always remember her sweet smile and how she made my day a little bit happier. It has been amazing working with my three girls, teaching them, learning from them and and spending my days with them, even on the days they were so bossy. Things I will miss... my customers, Candi and Shawn the BSU volleyball coaches, Nancy, my every friday customers, spinach and pickles only guy, BSU Vice Pres... came in for breakfast and lunch... The breakfast man with cancer, the biker guy that rode his bike everyday, bill, the BSU football players, Kailey, the flatbread veggie lady with extra pickles and I mean extra pickles and last but not least, Dirk and Dorn, the funeral guys that might start eating yogurt for lunch just to see me. All of my employees that have been with me since the beginning, Tim for always having my back no matter when I called him frantic, Hayden for covering any shift at any time, Winema for being the best closer a Manager could every have, Becky for being so reliable, Ian for being so funny and making me laugh, Brittani my sunshine girl, and of course Kayla, Kelsie, Kilee and even my son in law Jordon that could do prep faster than anyone... I've had a lot more employees over the last 2 years and to all of you I say Thanks, you made my job so much more enjoyable!

Now what? I will be starting a new adventure, a similar job but also a new challenge. I have gone from sandwiches to frozen yogurt. U Swirl is a self serve frozen yogurt place where people actually serve themselves. There is still so much to do and so much to learn but so far I think I am going to love my new job. It is so much closer to home and the hours are so much better, no more 5 a.m. :) I will have time to work out again before work and have time with Kilee after work. I think U Swirl is going to be a perfect fit.

3 Weekends, 3 Trips, 3 States = AMAZING

The last three weekends have been a whirlwind of excitement, adventure, fun, laughter, shopping, spending time with family and just relaxing.

Weekend #1. Seattle, Washington... Just me and my mom.

Get on Expedia, look at last minute deals, talk about going, find a good deal, push the buy button... done! My mom and I have well, I don't think ever just gone away for the weekend alone. Just me and her, no kids, no dad, just us. What made us think it was a good idea? I'm really not sure it just happened. We talked about it while I was at work and when I got home we booked it and a few days later we were on our way.

So what did we do in Seattle?

-We pushed the emergency button on the train... without realizing it, and the man sitting across from us was telling us that we had to tell the conductor there was no emergency... we looked at him like he was crazy until we heard the conductor asking if we were ok... we laughed and laughed.. the people around us didn't think it was as funny as we did.

-We shopped, and shopped and shopped.

-Ate amazing food (including ice cream, cheese cake, fudge...) :)

-Walked and walked (my mom at 73 is my hero!)

-Watched shark week in our hotel

-Space needle day and night...

-Meet a new friend from Mexico that hung out with us....

-Talked, and talked about important things like life and having faith

-Laughed

-Pikes Place Market

Thanks for the weekend mom, thanks for leaving dad :) even though we weren't sure he would be o.k. without you. Thanks for just letting me talk and for just letting me be me and for shopping hours and hours with me. I will always cherish our memories.

Weekend #2 Draper, Utah

August 11 we left for Utah to go school shopping. I took 2 days off work and took Kelsie and Kilee and we were off. We stayed with my brother Mark and his wife Lora and they were such great hosts. They fed us shopped with us took us to my nephews football scrimmage... GO Brandon! We got in on all the missionary drama (You made a great choice Victoria (: can't wait to meet him) We worked out with them and couldn't move our arms the next day. We went to Temple Square and took some pictures. It was such a fun weekend, just hanging out with family and laughing and of course some serious shopping.

Weekend #3 Stanley, Idaho

This was the most relaxing weekend of the three. We had a beautiful camp site right next to the lake with a beautiful view of the Sawtooth mountains. We hiked, which we thought was going to be an easy 5 mile hike which turned into a not so easy 9 mile hike. The problem.. we talked my 73 year old mother into going with us. What a trooper she made it home with very sore muscles a sore back and hurting knees. She moved very slowly the next two days. We sat around the fire and talked for hours. I took the dogs on lots of walks and Bentley came home brown instead of white. We ate too much food, dutch oven chicken, potatoes, cobbler, tin foil dinners, pancakes, eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, sandwiches, smores...more smores. We napped, and fished, and read, and relaxed and had a great time.

I woke up early the last morning just to go sit by the lake and watch the sun rise. I wanted time to think about the things that have been on my mind. It was so peaceful sitting by the lake watching the sunrise. I am in awe with the beauty of this earth and the things we take for granted. We decided that we should go back every year to the same camp ground, same spot. It was the most peaceful camp ground I have ever been to.

View from our camp site :)

Kilee and Rocky

Good Morning!!

Ready to go...

We made it!

Going down?

Sunrise on Stanley Lake

Kayla Don Turns 23

Kayla Don Heap

Born: August 16, 1988

Rexburg, Idaho

August 16, 1988 was such a scary day. After waiting 9 1/2 months for our first baby the Dr. finally decided to start me. I was due July 30 and on August 15 they decided it was time to start labor. After 23 1/2 hours of labor, trying to decided if we should do a c section or natural, 3 different doctors and a LOT of pain... Kayla finally decided to come into this world at 7:32 a.m. As soon as she was born she was taken away without even telling us if she was a boy or girl. She wasn't breathing, she was blue and her lungs were full. I didn't get to see her until 6 p.m. that night, almost 12 hours after delivering her. I thought the babies laying next to her in the incubators must have been very premature so I asked the nurse how early they were... she replied, honey they are full grown, one weighing 5.8 lbs and the other 6. Kayla weighed 8.14 and compared to the other two she looked like she was 2 months old. Going home from the hospital without her was the hardest thing I had ever done. When we finally got her home we really didn't know what to do with her, we had never been parents... I remember her crying and crying in the middle of the night and after about an hour we called the hospital to ask them if she had done that while they had taken care of her. They asked if we had tried to feed her...oops... we feed her and she went to sleep. At 2 weeks Kayla slept through the night and after staying a few days with my mom, she told me "enjoy her Kristina, you will never have another one like her." Kayla was an amazing baby, she was an amazing toddler, teen and still to this day amazes me. Happy Birthday Kayla d... hope all your wishes and dreams come true!!!

Kelsie's 20th Birthday in Mexico

Kelsie turned 20 years old while we were on our cruise. What better birthday hat then a purple sombrero. She was so adorable, our waiters brought her a special dessert and she wore her sombrero everywhere she went we let everyone know it was her birthday hat. When we got back we had a little family dinner and gave her the cutest bike ever. She loved it and it will be so nice to take to college this fall.

I love Kelsie, she is so fun to be with. It has been a wonderful 20 years.. Kelsie has always been my stubborn one, from the time she was 3 when asked to get her jammies on.. Kelsie would just look at us and say NO. But when Kelsie puts her mind to something she succeeds. She has proved over and over that with hard work and dedication you can accomplish anything. I know that this fall they will be a empty spot in our home without her. There will be no one asking me to go to Joann's to shop for hours :( or to just go get a diet cherry limeade. Kelsie you will be greatly missed. Go.... with all of our love, make friends, laugh, have tons of fun... and always remember who you are!

Mexican Riviera Cruise

Mexico

In June we packed our bags and headed for Mexico. We planned our vacation about 9 months ago and then waited for what seemed like forever. When the day finally came we were so excited. The first day we had a few mishaps..We got off the plane in L.A. and got our luggage but when we tried to look up the information on my phone for our rental car, my internet on my phone would not work. After being on the phone with a carrier I won't mention but it starts with a big T... I finally had internet service. We got our rental car and found our hotel. Kayla and Jordon wanted to find a Chik-fil-a so we looked on the GPS and found one at a mall. We ate and shopped and talked about our upcoming adventure... everyone was all smiles, until we walked out to the car and I noticed that there was a huge scratch on the bumper of our rental car. After calls to the rental car agency and to the police, filling out a police report and spending a few hours in the mall parking lot they determined that the car that had matching scratches on their front bumper and was parked next to me...WAS NOT the car that hit us. Tape showed that another car drove in, hit the car and drove off. ???? We left the mall and went to the hotel to rest... the kids decided to go swimming and were very disappointed when the pool was FREEZING! So decided to sit in the hot tub and it was EMPTY. Third try was the sauna which was broken... 3 strikes??? This trip had to get better!!! After dinner we decided to take the rental car back so we didn't have to get up early in the morning. We had to wait quite a while for a shuttle back to the airport then another shuttle back to our hotel..The kids played and laughed and we got a lot of looks...but at least we still had smiles on our faces... what a day!... BUT we were still so excited for our Adventure the next day.

So mad waiting for me to get my internet back

Kayla and Jordon

Kelsie, Me and Kilee

Mom and Dad...

Our rental

the car parked next to us that didn't hit us???

Once we got on the ship it was all smiles.. the weather was nice and we were ready for our 7 days on board. The first two days were spent on the ship, we played miniature golf, worked out, ATE, ATE, and ATE some more, watched some pretty bad shows, laid in the sun, swam, ate some more, played cards, sang karaoke, and just relaxed.

This chocolate molten cake was HEAVEN! Me and Ki ordered it

every night we ate in the dining room.... It may be the

single reason I gained weight!

Creme Brulee

Kelsie LOVES ribs!!!

Still in love

Formal Night....

Our first stop was Cabo... It was HOT... We went on a water taxi out to lovers beach and then to another beach.... we shopped, walked, got lost, had so many people try to sell us their goods and actually bought some from the cutest little Mexican girl. We went back to the ship early and soaked up the sun and then back to sea for the night. The next day Mom and Dad decided to stay on the ship and so Jordon, Kayla, Kelsie, Kilee and I went back into Cabo to go shopping. It was so fun to be with Jordon, and it was nice that we had a body guard. He got called our body guard, our baby sitter... Not too many people bugged us... it was so fun to hear him speak spanish to the locals and watch their faces when this white young man was speaking to them in their language. There were some men talking about the girls in spanish as we walked by.. Jordon turned around to them and in spanish told them that he could understand what they were saying.. they laughed and were shocked and then he said which one do you want. There were people that asked him where he learned his spanish and he told them about his mission. At one little market there was a little girl that was so taken by him she just sat and stared at him while he was bartering for a better price.

Don't drink the water! Drink Diet Coke

Water Taxi

A sale we couldn't resist

New pets????

Our next stop was Puerto Vallarta... It was beautiful, I woke up early and went up on deck in time to see us come into port. It was amazing how the ship pulled in and turned all the way around and ended up parked perfectly next to the dock. The sunrise was amazing and I was so mad that I had forgotten my camera but didn't want to leave the beautiful view to get it. Our day was an adventure to say the least. We drove about an hour into the jungle, on our way we drove past the locals and saw the poverty and shop after shop, make shift restaurants, drought, hungry cows, an LDS church and it made me so thankful for my blessings in this life. We had no idea what an incredible adventure was ahead of us. Zip lines through the jungle, rappelling from high trees, meeting wonderful guides that made us laugh, learning we could do scary and hard things. It was worth every penny and if you are even in Puerto Vallarta, go see the guides at Puerto Vallarta Adventures, you won't be disappointed.

Our last two days were spent on the ship and we were a little sad that we didn't have sun. It was cloudy and windy and cold so we made the best of it. We played a lot of phase 10, relaxed, read, went to some more shows, ate a lot of frozen yogurt and more amazing food... watched movies on the big screen, sang more karaoke and just enjoyed each others company.

Now were back and wondering where to go next... we're ready to start saving and planning... I love vacations but mostly I just love being with my family and the memories we make.