Our American Idol

Our Branch talent show was held on Friday night. Unfortunately, Josh and I were unable to attend because Josh's first DENTAC Ball was that night, but fortunately for us, our awesome babysitter is 18 and a safe driver. He came and took the kids in our van since the kids didn't want to miss it, and what followed is Branch History.

Sloan loves to dance. I think that music is in his blood and when he hears a good beat, he can't help the gyrations that take over his body. He especially loves the work of the late Michael Jackson. A year ago, I downloaded "Billy Jean" and discovered his love for the King of Pop or "Percy Jackson" as Sloan called him, and he would frequently request "This Pair of Jeans That I Love" (the title that should have been...). The day I played the music video to "The Way You Make Me Feel", Sloan was in love.

After the ball concluded (because using a cell phone during the presentation is a no-no and could result in drinking from the "Grog Bowl", we left the phones in our car and were ambushed by messages upon our return. Apparently, Sloan had done a song and dance routine after Ethan performed a tutorial on "How to Make a Paper Boat" live on stage, that included a certain amount of "Dirty Dancing". Now having reviewed the footage generously provided us by our friends, the Heers, I cannot wait to share it with you.

Bottom line: My baby is cute. Here's proof:

Card Kit Orders

So, if you want to order a card "kit" for your Christmas cards just leave a comment below stating how many kits you want (each one makes 24 cards) and if you want just the materials or if you need me to do the cutting/scoring/embossing etc....

I don't sell Stampin' Up!, I'm just hosting a Christmas card making night at my house next month, and offered to order the materials/make the kits for anyone who wants them. Prices are below each picture.

"Peace on Earth" 24 Cards for $18.45

"Merry and Bright" 24 Cards for $24.91

*Card design will change, but the elements will be basically the same.*

"Holly Jolly Christmas" 24 Cards for $14.45

*Color Shown will be different from color received.*

"Let it Snow" 24 Cards for $15.48

"Merry Little Christmas" 24 Cards for $23.15

If you wish to participate but want to purchase your own materials, leave me a comment and I will send you a list of supplies for your desired card kit. Thanks!

*Prices indicated may be subject to small tax and/or shipping fees.*

The wheels on the bus.

Another school year has begun!! And none too soon! Ethan was bored out of his mind, and so I was completely out of things to entertain the boys with. This year, I have two boys in school!! Ethan is my super proud 2nd grader and Sloan is old enough for the Pre-K program in our school district. It's a half day everyday, but the half day is longer than Las Vegas Kindergarten!! Woot woot! For three full hours this afternoon I was down to one, napping, kid. I got SO much done! A girl could get used to this!! Of course, in a few weeks, I'll probably be thinking that this makes my day lonely. Go figure.

They were both so excited to go. Even Mason got in on the action and wore "his" backpack ALL DAY LONG. He was pretty torn up each time we dropped a brother off. He really thought that he ought to be going to school, too. Poor kid. He's still stuck with Mom. But, hey, I gotta keep one playmate!

All my boys, ready for school!

Since Sloan has PM Preschool, we dropped Ethan off at school and went back home for a few hours.

He watched cartoons in his backpack and shoes. He wouldn't take them off, he was so excited!

We live really close to the elementary school, so they don't get a bus from our house, but Sloan's preschool is a several miles away from us, so he gets to catch a bus from the elementary. Sloan refused to let me drive him down to his preschool like all the other moms were doing because he was "just too excited!" to ride a real bus!

This photo is proof of said excitement. He didn't want to pose. He just wanted to hop on!

My baby is somewhere in that huge bus.

The excitement didn't last too long. I got a call from the preschool a couple hours later from the secretary telling me that his teacher had told him that he would be getting back onto "that bus" when the day was done and he had a meltdown. I had to drive down to the preschool and rescue him. After talking about it, he told me that there are lots of hills and bumps and being without a seatbelt is "just unsafe!". He then declared that he was "never getting on that thing again". I guess we'll try again in a few weeks...

Quote of the day:

Me: "Sloan, how was your day?"

Sloan: "Well... I sit by a girl. Which is... wild."

I love my boys, but after a long day at school, I love them more.

We feel good!

Oh, we feel so good!

Catherine, Sarah, Rachelle, and Brooks. The gang's back together!! (Minus Andrea and Rayma...)

The weekend of June 25th was my 10-year High School reunion in Vernal, Utah. Go, Utes!! I decided to go to be able to spend the weekend with my high-school bestie, Rachelle! We had a blast! I cannot believe that it's been 10 years!!

It was a whirlwind trip, but a great escape for the weekend! Thanks again, Mom, for taking time out of your busy schedule to watch my little critters!! They still talk about it!

I flew in on Friday around noon, and then we went straight to the mall!! I forgot how much fun it is to shop when you don't have boys trying to escape from the dressing room or a husband telling you to "Just pick something!". I really do love to shop, and she's a great shopping buddy!!

After walking around all day, a pedicure was in order! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures like these stunning ones...

We made it to Vernal late Friday night, but still enjoyed lots of time together before I left on Sunday afternoon. We, of course, re-lived the staples of our youth, and got all gussied up on Saturday night for the reunion. Everybody looked just the same, just grown up! Sadly, not many people recognized me, but that wasn't a huge shock. I guess the highlight of my night was the appearance of my little brothers in my reunion video! I didn't even make it into the video! Ah well, it was fun, even if I only walked away with handfuls of messages for my brothers!

Thanks again for a lovely weekend, Rachelle!

Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.

In a previous post, I included a video of my middle son, Sloan, speaking a few German phrases for my mom. I grew up speaking these phrases with my mom, and in High School when German was offered, I jumped at the chance to learn more of my German heritage. Not that I remember much... mostly just the same phrases my mother said to me and I repeat to my sons each night before bed. All the same, my mom and I bond over a love for German heritage and my boys can't sleep at night before they hear me say, "Ich liebe dich!".

So, while I visited my mom in Seattle for the summer, we took advantage of our proximity to Leavenworth (a little town about two hours away that due to it's surroundings uncanny resemblance, reinvented itself into a mock Bavarian town.) and took the kids to see little Germany!

It was a great day! We bought pastries in the little bakery. We ate ice cream on the sidewalk from the little sweet shoppe. We browsed in all the cute little shops, and since it was...

ACCORDION FESTIVAL!!

We got to do a few little extras!

They had bouncy houses and climbing walls for the kids while enjoying the mountain air and the sweet serenade!

Ethan made it all the way to the top! It was really high! I was so proud, even if he was too scared of letting go of the rope to ring the bell at the top...

We ate lunch at this cute little cafe, and when I mean little, I mean little! It only had, like, 18 seats!

Yum!

Isn't it just darling?!

The scenery is not too bad, either!

Seriously, the view on the drive alone was worth it! Two whole hours of this. I wanted to stop and finish the trip via raft!

As you can gather, we had a great time! Thanks again, Mom, for making our stay with you a fun and memorable one!!

Alive!

It's been forever since I blogged. In fact, so long since I really blogged that I've been putting it off longer than I had to because the task of catching up became too daunting.

But today is the day! Or rather, today is the beginning. My posts are going to be overloaded with pictures since it's been so long, I need to break the posts up.

Today we are going to start with a summary of what our summer has been like:

In May Josh graduated Dental School (See multiple posts below...) and we decided to just get our move on sooner than later and ordered a POD for the week after graduation. It was a crazy week, but we were happy to be on our way to see some family.

We started our trip in Fallon, NV to see Josh's parents. After a few fun days there, we headed further north to Boise and stayed just overnight with Josh's sister, Angela. After that, we drove the rest of the way to my home away from home this summer, Seattle, WA! I gotta say, I did enjoy being able to go outside this summer! The last three have been spent hibernating away from the Vegas sun... We did so many fun things, this is the main reason I can't do all my catch up right here! (Stay tuned!!) Mom took such good care of us, maybe too good! My boys keep asking me what else we're going to do! Thank you for a super fun summer, Grandma!

Josh left for BOLC June 8th, and the boys, Grandma, and I were on our own! We had a great visit with Aunt Sami and Andi who came to see us (Stay tuned!!). After one exciting event after another the end of our stay came. The boys and I left Seattle on July 19th, beginning our 33-hour trip to Oklahoma. Of course, this was exciting, too. We started by going down to Boise for more time with Bingham cousins and after a few days took off for Heber, UT for time with all the Gailey and Munson cousins. My boys were ANGELS in the car! I really kid you not. They took a vote at one point and decided that they didn't want to stop for lunch if it meant getting to Heber faster! Too bad mommy's bladder needed a break around Tremonton!

The boys played their little hearts out in Utah for a few days and by Sunday night we were packed and ready to hit the road on Monday morning. Unfortunately, my boys also picked up a little bug that began late Sunday night! Sloan puked all over the guest room around midnight (Sorry again, Janalee!!) and I quickly followed suit. Ethan made it until we were pulling out of the driveway Monday morning (the show must go on!!) when he puked in the Tupperware I had the foresight to provide!! We were quite the traveling circus that day!

Monday night we made it to Colorado Springs, CO to see our good friends, the Liljenquists, (after a 10 hour drive!!) and had a blast at their beautiful new house! Tuesday morning we were on our way to Garden City, KS where we spent the night in a hotel and went swimming and dined on pizza in the hotel room; a much needed relaxed day for Mom!! The drive was only 4 hours!

Wednesday we made the rest of the 6 hours in a straight shot (Thank you, Red Box!!) and pulled into our new driveway around 4:00 pm. Josh had unloaded our POD completely by himself and I was able to unpack the kitchen and make beds before nightfall. The last few days have been a blur of boxes, but I am happy to say that we only have a few things left! I'll post pictures when Josh has time to finish his "Honey Do" list.

The point is this: We have made it safely to Oklahoma! We are loving being home together and now are just trying to prep Ethan and Sloan for the first day of school on August 17th! I've learned that we are where we're supposed to be. (On Thursday my neighbor came to introduce herself and it turns out that she's the YW President here and behind me is the Primary President! The sweetest couple from our Branch brought us cookies last night, and we thoroughly enjoyed church in the Anadarko Branch yesterday!) The Lord works in mysterious ways, and I guess that includes a move to Oklahoma!!

Thank you to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to all of you who made our trip/summer the best it could be. We miss you all and hope to see you again soon. Remember, we do have a spare room and an air mattress!! Enticing, I know!

Jack Handey and the power to woo.

More than eight years ago, my affections were won by a sweet, humble, good, caring, kind, *handsome*, wonderful, funny, too-good-to-possibly-be-true, man. Exactly eight years ago, I married him.

I have nothing but dumb luck to thank for the decision I made that day. Well, that, and Jack Handey, who played a significant role in our courtship.

" To me, it's a good idea to always carry around two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say,

"Sorry, got these sacks.""

-Jack Handey

"Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Mankind. Basically, it's made up of two separate words-- "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean?

It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind."

-Jack Handey

"If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in the mirror,

because I bet that's what really throws you into a panic."

-Jack Handey

"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine,

which I guess was why several of us died of tuberculosis."

-Jack Handey

"I can't stand cheap people. It makes me real mad when someone says something like, "Hey, when are you going to pay me that hundred dollars you owe me?" or "Do you have that fifty dollars you borrowed?"

Man, quit being so cheap!"

-Jack Handey

"Love is not something that you can put chains on and throw into a lake. That's called Houdini. Love is liking someone a lot."

-Jack Handey

Happy 8th Anniversary, Baby.

Every day I am grateful for the mystery that is a boy like you and a girl like me.

What a Week!

Wednesday:

The Senior Gala. Josh wasn't going to go, but was told by the Associate Dean of Student Affairs that he had to go. Glad we did. Not only was it fun, but he and three of his classmates were chosen by Delta Dental for an award for student leadership. The award came with a significant monetary prize, which made the night even more fun!

Oh, and Josh danced with me. First time since our wedding! I know you wish you could have seen that...

Oh, and notice the stylish accessory on my wrist? That means that Josh forgot to buy us booze passes. Shoot...

Thursday:

Many of you received an invitation to our Open House for Josh. It was a specially-themed dessert bar. You can't read the sign well in this picture, but it says, "Dr. Gailey's Sweet-Tooth Cafe". It wasn't terrifically attended so there were a LOT of leftovers, but we had a good time! Thank you to all who made it out.

We loved sharing Josh's big week with you!

Friday:

Josh's Dental School Commencement where he received his doctoral hood.

In the above picture is Dean Karen West giving him his commemorative medallion.

Family picture after the graduation. The kids were ready to be done, and I'm pretty sure that the picture is smeary because I was using the camera to placate a restless two-year-old.

After the commencement, Josh and I treated all those who came to dinner at BJ's Brewery.

Best pizza in the world!!

(Seriously, if you ever manage to make it there, try "The Great White". You will not be disappointed.)

Needless to say, it was a long week for our boys, and as you can tell, it tuckered out a few of them...

Thank you to all of you that made it, even if only for 24 hours. It was great to see you!

Saturday:

Saturday morning was Josh's military advancement ceremony.

He is now officially a "Captain" in the US Army!

I have no idea what the beaver face is about...

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Graduation.

Baby, you make robes look good!

We were there for four hours, and the crowd was HUGE!

Thank you to Maggie and Jeff for watching the kids for us!

Overall, it was a good week, but much too busy for home-bodies like us. Now we're just looking forward to kicking back and, um, packing?

Please Allow Me To Introduce You...

... to my husband:

Dr. Joshua David Gailey, DMD

*Congratulations, Baby! I am SO proud of you!

Welcome Home

Yep. Don't know much about it, but I reckon' I will soon enough...

"We know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand!

And when we say

Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!

We're only sayin'

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

Oklahoma O.K."

Oklahoma, O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!

Just the Two of Us

So, I've gotten to do a lot of fun things lately. I blame my awesome husband for enabling me to do things that very well may turn into addictions. Let's be honest, though. They already were addictions. Card-Making and now (thanks to Maggie and Monica...) Spa Weekends. My sister, Sami, saw my post about my spa weekend in April and was green with envy. She decided that we ought to have one in the fall. Through much twisting of my arm, she was able to get me to agree and when she flew in on Thursday, we were ready to get our relaxation on!

Since I was a good blogger and took an insane amount of pictures, I will share my weekend with you in pictures.

We began our weekend on Friday morning at the Outlets. We got some really cute clothes, but this photo showcases one of my favorite moments in the day: shopping for sunglasses. I am borderline retarded when it comes to choosing eyewear so Sami was able to help my decision along. Isn't she fashionable?? I really like the shop-lifting safety advocate in the background.

We then headed to the hotel to check in and get gussied up for dinner/Girls Night Out. Too bad no one but us showed up. Ah, well. At least I had a hot date! Sami was a good sport and let me do her makeup... ain't she pritty??

Not sure why my teeth look orange in this picture. Please ignore that...

All dressed up and ready to go in our new outfits from White House Black Market. You don't have to say it, we know we're dead-sexy.

And no better place to eat than Lucille's Bar-B-Que! Yummy!

I can still smell the warm biscuits and apple butter.

My new hat from Charlotte Russe. It was too cute to pass up. Now if only I could figure out when and where it is appropriate to wear ridiculously adorable hats...?

Our hotel was pretty nice. Forget for a moment that it's basically like the Labyrinth on the inside, and it was awesome. We did meet a lot of nice guys willing to help us find our way. Either we looked pretty cute, or they were really drunk. At least we found our way. And the guy that touched Sami's neck was at least a 6. Not too shabby... Oh, yeah, the picture. Our room actually had a doorbell! Talk about fancy! Here is Sami, demonstrating exactly how cool we thought that it was.

I'm a sucker for a nice bathroom. This one ranks in the top 5 I've ever been in 'cause it had a chandelier. I know... I'm tough to impress.

Our room also had a balcony! It might not be much to you, but I've never stayed in a room that had one, so it must be elite. It didn't matter that recent precipitation left a good 2 inches of water on it and since we don't smoke, it was practically useless. It was still there.

The view from the balcony. It might mostly just be tree-top view, but it was MY tree-top view! Oh, and you see the little sliver of pool?? Pool-side, baby! Like I said, elite.

And on to the main event! We got to the spa around noon and enjoyed a 50-minute couples massage. Obviously, I don't have any pictures of that, but here's the before shot of our feet. Pretty snazzy footwear, eh? Spa regulation sandals. Beats the disposable flip-flops we were wearing after our pedicures. I nearly killed myself on them. Turns out, they're really slick!

Us in our paraffin-boot glory. Flattering, I know. Each thing that they put on our feet smelled better than the last. By the time they were brushing the bottom of my feet with a pumpkin pie scented mask, I wanted to eat my own feet.

During our pedicures, there was a wedding being set up. It began while we were waiting for our polish to dry and since the procession was being serenaded by a famous singer from a Christian rock band called Stryper, the ladies at the spa couldn't resist flinging open the doors and inviting us to watch the strangers wed from the main entrance in our bathrobes. This is the only picture I got (which isn't great) before security shut me down. Strange considering that the attending security guard and I go way back...

While we were getting ready to exit the spa, we noticed several people using a strange machine on which they would stand while the machine would shake them. Since I've decided to try to be more flexible and try things I otherwise wouldn't, I decided "What the hay?". It's called TurboSonic and apparently it detoxifies one's body by taking it through various degrees of shaking. According to the digital reader on the machine, in the ten minutes I was on it, I burned 150 calories. I'm pretty sure that would have to be from the laughing and not from the shaking though I'll reserve judgement until I see some scientific data from an independent researcher. Mostly, all it did for me is shake me to the point of nearly peeing.

Sami, trying to figure out the miracle machine.

The result. I miss you already , Green Valley Ranch Resort. Miss you already.

Oh, and you too, Sami.