Where were you.....
When your car hit 100,000 miles? Ok, this is probably a pretty lame post to most of you, and most of you have probably never had a car reach that many miles, BUT.... WE HAVE! And it isn't the first and most likely won't be the last. One day, I will want to remember it. Especially, in say, 7 years when my 16yr old thinks he needs to have a brand new car for his 16th birthday.

This is EXACTLY where we were

We were here on our way to spend Valentines day in Arizona with our cousins. We ended up being pulled off the freeway here because of a rollover fatality. We ended up being detoured around Beaver through some old country roads and up and over the mountains on the west side to cedar city. It was a LONG detour and it was snowing!!

And here is the driver - he he he

Interesting Facts:

I read an article today in a magazine about keeping kids safe.
I learned two things that I did not know before.

#1 A child under the age of 4 is 14 times more likely to die in a swimming pool than in an automobile accident.

#2 American Cancer Society says tanning booths emit rays 15 times stronger than the sun, and users under the age of 35 increase their risk of melanoma by 75%! Hello self tanning lotion!

And totally unrelated but something I wish to remember: Yesterday during stake conference when Elder Johnson mentioned something about the atonement, Jantzen asked Dayt if when he died he had to die on the cross. Dayt told him no. To which he replied, " oh GOOD! I DO NOT want to do that, that would NOT be fun! So we can just get too old and die!"

Self Proclaimed - "Tree Hugger * Planet Lover!"


I am feeling so guilty today. Normally I am on top of the whole Earth Day thing...I buy the kids new organic earth day shirts to wear to school and put up some great links on my blog. But this year I have been so busy with so many other things that I haven't had the chance and here Earth Day is basically over. Teach your family to recycle, conserve energy, plant trees - there are lots of things we can do. And I have to say - I am really excited that so many people in the neighborhood are starting to recycle. When we lived in AZ everyone recycled because all of the cities paid for it - but here you have to pay extra to recycle. Since we have been back in Utah we have been the only ones on our street/neighborhood that recycled....until just recently. So cool that people are taking steps to recycle - I LOVE it!! And if you haven't had a chance to watch "The Inconvenient Truth" you should - because it is a really great documentary about global warming. No matter what you believe though, we should all take care of this beautiful planet that has been created for us from Him. I know Earth Day is almost over - but really we should love our earth everyday, so whenever you get a chance, here is a link to check out, it deals specifically with Utah:

http://www.repoweramerica.org/state/utah/

There are lots of other sites with great info and places you can go to plant a tree etc.
If you have one that you think is great - leave a comment and post the link.
THANKS!

MILEY and more!
We had a crazy fun weekend...here are a couple of the highlights.
(More posts to follow but I just had to get these two out.)

It's MILEY CYYYYRUS!!!!
We have a good friend of ours who works at a theater in South Jordan. A week ago he gave us some tickets to his theater for the opening day showing of the Hannah Montana Movie. He made sure to let us know that he would "strongly" suggest that we make it. Dayt and I were planning to be in Denver so we found some "recruits" willing to take on our kids for the weekend and take them to the show. There was a "surprise" visitor who just happened to pop in to the show and it was none other than Hannah Montana herself - MILEY CYRUS!!

All the kids were super excited! Jantz just could not believe that Miley was "real!" I guess he thinks people on tv don't really exist! If she was a real person he wanted to know where she lived. :)

Anticipating something exciting, the crew got to the theater a little early to wait in line for good seats. (Aunt Cami is taking the pic)

Here is a picture right soon after she walked into the theater

She brought her dad Billy Ray with her

Here are the kids after the show with all their "swag!"

They each got a Hannah Montana wig, a backstage pass book, some posters and an autographed photo!!

When Dayt and I got home from the airport they had all sorts of things to tell us about the day. They had soooo much fun. Everyone liked the movie and were thrilled to be in the same room as a celebrity. Although, I don't think they fully understand or grasp the whole "celebrity" part of it - Abby thought that Miley was visiting everybody who was going to see the movie on Friday. ha ha ha - so cute. I am so grateful to my friend for giving us a little heads up - and for the tickets. It was so thoughtful of him. I am sure they will remember this day for a long time and the older they get the more they will understand how lucky they were.
Thanks a million AR - I am sending some karma your way! One good turn deserves another!

MEANWHILE, back in DENVER

While the kids were busy meeting Hannah Montana - Dayt and I were meeting the Donahoe twins for the first time! LOVIN it! We had a ball with the babies - they are so sweet and beautiful. We were able to hold them and feed them - so dang much fun! From the moment I saw them I felt this sweet love for them!! They are just so tiny and peaceful and seem so helpless lying together in their little crib - it touched my heart. They were born on March 21 at 33 weeks. They have progressed really well and are doing better everyday. Derek and Mandi are hoping to have them home in another week. Here are some of the pics that we took.

Derek and Mandi - Mandi is feeding Connor

Just look how tiny their little ankles are - the size of one of my index fingers! They took their weights the day we came - Nichole was 5.6.6 lbs and Connor was 5.7.7 lbs
At birth Nichole Rainey was 4.12 lbs and 17.25 inches and Connor Jackson was 4.10 lbs and 17.25 inches

Connor is crying but I love this picture because it shows just how tiny they are with Derek's hand in the picture.

Sweet little Nichole

I have to say I just loved to hold them. The night Dayt and Derek went to the Bruce Springsteen concert (Dayt's b-day gift from Derek) Mandi and I went up to the hospital and just held the babies for hours - it was so wonderful. It was great to be able to just sit and talk with Mandi too. I really enjoyed myself that night.
Here are Dayt and I just adoring these little ones.

Another cute picture - Nichole was so tired I couldn't get her to wake up and take her bottle so I decided to try and unwrap her and make her a little less comfortable. I just thought her little belly was so cute I asked Dayt to snap a picture.

Here they are cuddled up together - Nichole on the left and Connor on the right

Look at how huge this binky looks in Connor's mouth!

It was a really quick trip but it was SOOOOO worth it! There is just something about twins I guess? I dunno. But we had a great time visiting with Derek and Mandi and having the chance to sneak a peak at these sweet little spirits. We are thrilled to have them as part of our family and look forward to bringing our kids to Denver in a couple of months to meet their new cousins. (They just can't hardly wait for school to get out!) Thanks again Derek and Mandi for letting us share these special "first" moments with you! We truly loved every minute of it. In fact Dayt made the comment that it made him a little baby hungry - and I guess it wouldn't be fair if I didn't confess that I wished they were mine a couple of times too - but hey...I am home with my three now and all is well. I feel content!

My Most Favorite

Of all the talks I have ever heard about the atonement, I loved the one by Jeffery R Holland given in conference last week the very most!! Here is a video clip that was put together with an excerpt from that talk.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter day...

Josh's Day!

It's no secret, you all know I am behind on blogging....Just as a recap, at Christmas 2007 Aunt Cami gave each of the kids a certificate to spend the night at her house and choose an activity of their choice for the next day anytime during 2008. Jantzen had his day (click here) and Abby as well (click here) but I haven't had a chance to get to Josh's. Last October this is what he did....

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Josh is SOOOOO into music he thought this was really cool. Apparently he couldn't take his eyes off the walls - he wanted to read everything take in as much as he could!

Off to the Clark Planetarium to check things out.

Then to his very first laser show...Rock on Demand!!! You get to choose what songs you want to hear, sorta like a jukebox. Josh chose some of his favorite songs from his youth (ha ha ha) such as Metallica "Enter Sandman", U2 "Where the Streets Have no Name", Led Zepplin "Stairway to Heaven" and Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall". Obviously has a strong influence from dad. I was happy he threw in a Van Halen song but it didn't get played :(

Back to Cam's for the icing on the cake - or the cherry on top. He made popcorn AND and an ice cream sundae before bed!!

Did I mention the fact that he was able to EAT in BED! Yea, he is definately at Aunt Cami's!
It was SO MUCH FUN for the kids to have their own special day with their Aunt - they still talk about it and beg her for a sleepover all the time! Thanks again for giving your time to each of them - that's the best gift!

Thank you Grandpa D!

Soccer games were canceled Saturday so the kids decided we should go to Lagoon for opening day. They have been counting down to opening day since grandpa D gave them season passports for Christmas. Dayt and I weren't thrilled about the idea...BUT I did think it would be a good day to get our season passports thinking that the lines wouldn't be as bad as they would be on any other given Saturday. So I found out that I was totally right! (no big surprise there - he he he) There were about 30 cars in the parking lot, we had all 5 of our season passports completely finished in under 10 minutes. It was so crazy - noone was there. Maybe it was because there was still SNOW on the ground near some of the rides, or maybe it was because it was 40 degrees outside, or maybe because it was raining, or maybe all of the above! We stayed for a couple of hours and then the wet pants, wet shoes, wet socks, wet jackets, wet hair, frozen fingers and wind chill on the rides FINALLY convinced the kids that they were CRRAAAZZY!! But they also loved it!!! There were NO lines - NO waiting! They rode the new Jumping Dragon ride and picked their favorites to ride more than once like Wicked (JOSH) Wild Mouse (Abby) Rock O Planes (Jantz) and all the others that usually have long lines. Thanks again grandpa D!! Hopefully it will be a little bit warmer before we go back again for more.

So here is a picture of us freezing at Lagoon. Ty took the pic with his camera - it was on a setting where it focuses on one color hue or something like that. I think it kinda turned out cool because it gives you the "feel" of the weather that day.

Girlfriends
Just wanted to say a little bit about FRIENDS! I absolutely LOVE my husband, however, sometimes you just need a good girlfriend around. My GNO's have been a little fewer and farther between in the last couple of months - things just get busier as you get older I guess. But there is nothing like a good girls night at the movies, shopping, dinner, or just walking Target! I found this saying today that reminded me of some good times I have had with some great friends. It read, "Friendship is when you can say only ONE word and crack up and noone else will know what you are talking about." I have had some fabulous friends over the years. I have friends that I have had for many many years, friends that have moved, friends that I could say anything too, friends that don't judge me for my faults and inadaquecies, friends that I have lost contact with, friends I wish I still had, friends to laugh with, friends to cry with, friends that live close by, friends that live far away, friends that are forgiving - and some that aren't, friends that will always be friends and friends that are new. I have been so blessed to have always had the support, comfort, and love of a good friend. Tonight I was able to make some new friends and for that I am very grateful. (thanks KL) For we can never have too many friends! So to all of you out there - thanks for being my friend! And for those of you whom I met tonight - "there are still good times to be had." (quote from a very famous movie about friends!)
Peace * LOVE * and a good belly laugh!

"Attention Teachers"

"This is an emergency lockdown - this is NOT an April Fools Joke!"
The kids heard that message over the PA today at their school - Heritage Elementary. He said he knew it was "real" when he saw a policeman escort the milkman into the lunchroom. He said it was fun because he was able to eat lunch in his classroom. He had some great stories - 3rd graders with some great imaginations! You can read about it all over the news websites. Most of you already know the details but for journalings sake I am repeating it in short story form! It started with a fraud bust in a hotel in Clearfield where 2 were arrested and 2 fled the scene. The high speed chase ended at the kids elementary school where the driver was arrested when he abandonded the car. The passenger fled but was caught several hours later. 2 other people showed up at the hotel later in the afternoon and were also arrested. Some weapons were confiscated as well as some drugs. The school was on external lockdown for several hours in the afternoon. Abby was bugged that she didn't get her last recess and couldn't do the monkey bars. Josh was bugged that he didn't get interviewed for the news! Some of our neighbors did though!! :) An exciting day in the neighborhood. I watched helicopters circle the school all afternoon and lots of cops in and around the neighborhoods with several news crews too. Our quiet little neighborhood made breaking news and top stories all day. The ironic thing - the school had a lockdown drill last month. Abby's cute teacher was so worried that it would worry the kids she kept telling them that it would NEVER happen and that it was just a drill to practice! Ha ha ha how funny is that?