Deceit to see David

Last night my mom, my sister Cami, my sister-in-law Shelbie and I really worked some magic! We had the inside scoop that David Archuleta was going to be singing at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly practice. My cousin, Summer Thacker, is his stylist and was invited as his special guest and sing with the Mo Tab!!
The choir has private practice from 7:25-8, then they open to the public. We had the feeling that all the good stuff would be going on during the private part. So, when no one was looking, we all snuck into the conference center auditorium. We sat at the very top until we felt confident enough to walk down to the ground level. While sitting down there, David sang "Be Still My Soul" for the choir. Unfortunately, he wasn't facing us, but I still videoed it and got his amazing voice. We all agreed his voice in like melted milk chocolate that you just want to back stroke in all day and night. Just listen to the video. I did a horrid job of filming because I was trying to watch in real life and not through my camera. Not mention, I just had my little "point and shoot" camera (not that I have a nicer one at home), so the quality is pretty bad. Enjoy the music though. (I even lost him at one point, then thought I found him again, but didn't!! HAHA Sorry.)

I should've filmed the whole song, but I was so wrapped up in the moment that I wanted to put my camera away and just be there.
After he sang, I got a little gutsy. There were people wandering back and forth right in front of the choir during the whole thing, so I asked a guy sitting by a rope that blocked us from the very front (where the Quorum of the 12 sit during conference) if I could go up and get some pictures of my cousin and her husband singing with the choir. He said "Sure, I don't care." So I acted like I was someone important and walked right up there.
Again, my camera isn't great, the lighting wasn't great and I had to zoom, so the pictures are pretty bad (sorry Summer!), but at least I got it documented.
Summer's husband Bryan is the dark, curly, handsome one in the middle.
Summer is the cute blond in the middle, showing off her vocal skills!
Once I was done taking pictures, I sat myself down right at the feet of the choir and listened. At one point, the spirit hit me so hard in the chest and I realized what a neat experience this really was. I had to take a quick video to show how close I was.

After the choir practice we were able to snap a quick shot with Mr. Archuleta. He's a short little guy!When all was said and done, we had to feed our adrenaline rush from sneaking around the conference center, so we headed to Iggy's for chips and salsa and dessert!

Thanks for the fun night ladies. I felt like I was 18 again (and don't I look just the same?)

A Party For Mykin

Today my friend Monica and I threw a shower for our good friend Mykin, who is pregnant with her 6th (yes, people, 6th!) baby!!

I adore Mykin. She is one of my very favorite people in all the world. She is in shape and beautiful. She is an ICU nurse, runs her own laser hair removal business (which means she has seen more of me than she ever wanted!), she's such a sweet and organized mom and a fantastic friend. Because of this, I really want to have a nice little party for her...

I stole an idea from my sister and mom who made these super cute fruit bouquets for a ward party. I forgot to take a picture until it had been picked at a bit, but you get the idea.

I used a cookie cutter to make the pineapple flowers, Monica made the chocolate covered strawberries and I just skewered red and green grapes for more color.I cut styrofoam to fit the vase for holding to skewers where I wanted them, then hid the styrofoam with lemon and lime slices. It was all very simple and will be my new favorite decoration/side dish this summer.

I also made yummy red velvet cupcakes, garnished with raspberries. Monica brought this amazing oriental salad with bow tie pasta! YUM! Another friend brought a potato soup and I did a tomato bisque. We had a great spread.

I had to get this picture of my little blond girl with pigtails, eating a cupcake.

I really wanted to do some cute decorations (for cheap), so this is what I came up with...

I bought different print scrapbook paper, cut them to 6X8, used die cut lettering in red and pink (each color was a different font to add a little interest), glued the letters to the paper, hole punched two holes at the top, strung it on ribbon, then hung it! Then my kindergartner read "IT'S A GRIL." We had a good laugh, I took it down and restrung it to spell GIRL! Thank goodness for elementary school!

While I was die cutting letters, I used the excess paper to die cut a few girly shapes (hearts, flowers, and flourishes). Then I strung them on ribbon and hung them from my curtain rods and chandelier.

Since this was her 6th baby, with the invitations, I delivered a disposable 9X13 pan and asked everyone to fill it with a meal she can freeze instead of bringing a gift. One of my over achieving friends brought diapers too and called it "dinner and diapers." Why didn't I think of that? SO CUTE. I will have to remember that for my next shower.

I just hope it was a great party for Mykin. She sure deserves it!!

I can't keep track of a watch...

...To save my life!!
When I was 10 my mom bribed me. The deal was, I stop biting my fingernails and she will buy me a watch. I had to prove my dedication to our deal by not biting for one month, then I would get the promised watch. Every day or two my mom would check my nails and at the end of the month, I got a watch! Unfortunately, I didn't even keep track of that watch as long as it took me to earn it. (Good news is, I haven't bitten my fingernails since)

Not long after that, my grandma Marilyn bought my sister and I matching watches, mine blue, hers pink. I'm sure Cami has gently tucked hers away in her hope chest now, but mine is long gone. Although, the fact that I remember the color of it tells me that I must have kept it around for upwards of 6 or 7 weeks!

Soon after that, I decided I wasn't a watch person and never revisited the idea until I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. I thought "I may need to time contractions at some point. I better become a watch person." So with my new found adulthood responsibility, in the same day I bought myself a watch and John a pager so he could be reached at school if my watch was telling me my contractions were close enough to go to the hospital (this was before every person on earth had a cell phone and way before texting!) My water broke less than a week later while John was at a friends house, so neither were needed and the watch was never seen again.



Not sure the reason I decided about a year ago to try my hand (no pun intended) at this again. I'm no dummy though. I start with a cheap Target watch, but am sure since I am now a mother of three, I have to be mature enough to handle this kind of responsibility.

3 months later, as my dad drove us to the airport to spend the month of June in Costa Rica, I made him stop at Shopko to pick up another watch since I couldn't find mine.

I bought another watch while we were in Costa Rica.

And a new one before the summer ended.

Then I had a bright idea, "Maybe if I spend a little more money on a watch I really love, I will try harder to keep track of it." So I did. In October I spent a whopping $25 (more than my normal $8) on a super cute watch that I loved. I bought it during a girls weekend with my mom, sister and grandma in California, so I hoped there were be some sentiment too to help me with this sickening disappearing act.

IT MADE A DIFFERENCE!! The difference was, I was really, really sad when I had to add "watch" to my Christmas list two months later.

My Christmas watch is now gone and I just can't figure it out. I really thought my "expensive" watch would turn up. I checked all my coat pockets, behind the dresser, under the couch, even Addie's toy box. So where are all my watches going? Really? Maybe I'm not the problem. Maybe I have bad luck, or I'm cursed, or my sister is gently tucking all my watches away with her pink watch and having a good laugh at my expense-literally! These are things I have to tell myself to keep up my self confidence.

I have come to grips with the fact now that I need a watch, so I will be buying $10 Target watches 6 times each year. Tomorrow, March 23 will be my second watch of 2009. I'll keep you POSTED!

The Way Laundry Goes

While I watched American Idol tonight, I folded 5 loads of laundry and had to laugh about what I was folding. The norm for Bailey since I can still dress her. Two pairs of pants and a basketball outfit of Austin's that are too small. 10 pairs of Austin's socks (now that the weather is nice, he plays in the sand box before and after school and doesn't like sandy socks). 5 pairs of my socks (I only wear socks to work out) and every sports bra I own. I'm killing myself to lose these last 10 pounds! 1 pair of John pants. He wears the same pair for several days in a row. And here's where I really started to laugh...2 pairs of Addie undies (this is 5 days worth of clothes), 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts that don't match any of the pants, 3 pairs of tights, one skirt, 4 pairs of socks, and all the jammies she owns!
One another note, this is how I do laundry...I have to do all of it in one day. None of this "a load a day" thing. I usually pick a night when there is something good on tv. I do loads through out the day and the clean clothes pile on the family room floor until the kids are in bed. Then I get to "relax" and fold. Each child has a row, pajamas are at the top of each row and it goes down to shirts. In front of me is mine and John's stuff. Spread on the couch are my shirts that need to be hung up and on the ottoman behind me are John's shirts to be hung. My towels are rolled. It is all put away before I go to bed or as soon as I wake up.
Do you think my posterity will find this interesting?

My Real Life Cleanse

As you know, I did a 14 day cleanse last month and was not thrilled with it. So I did a little research and was not totally excited by what I found.

The Master Cleanse seems to be a big one going around. If you're not familiar with it, for 10 days you put nothing in your body except "the master cleanse lemonade." Don't let the name fool you. This "lemonade" recipe is:

8 oz. water

2 t. lemon juice

2 t. grade B maple syrup

1/10 t. cayenne pepper

That, and only that, for 10 days? Not for me!!

My friend Joanna has some digestive problems and told me she likes to take a day and only eat apples. Since they are so high in fiber, they act as a natural cleanser. This idea got my mind working and with the help of my sister, we came up with our very own personal cleanse that fit, not only our lifestyles, but our will power.

So here is our Real Life Cleanse...

My friend Harmony recommended the Slim Quick Cleanse. This is a 7 day supply of pills that you can get at Wal-mart for $15

I started with this and nothing different for the first 3 days. Day 4 I ate only apples and my modified version of the master cleanse lemonade. I doubled the water and halved the cayenne pepper. This made it less spicy and a little better tasting. The day went well. In total I had 4 apples and 2 lemonades. By about 8 or 9 that night though, I was pretty hungry, but I knew this was only for a day and in the morning I could eat my normal breakfast (berries and yogurt). So I embraced my hunger and went to bed a little early.

Day 5 I ate normal, but having survived day 4 and not wanting to have done it for nothing, I was motivated to eat even better. Day 6 I did my apple/lemonade diet, but had some steamed veggies for dinner to avoid my night time misery. Day 7 normal and I took it to day 8 and did the apple/lemonade thing again until Cami and I went to Rumbi for dinner and build your own yogurt sundae for dessert. YUM!

By the end of the week, I had lost 3 1/2 pounds and have kept it off this week. Cami lost 3 1/2 pounds too!

I dare anyone of you to try it and let me know how it goes.

Crayola Bath Tints

A couple of you asked about how I colored the kid's bath for St. Patricks day.

Let me introduce you to....I got it at Wal-mart for about $3. I thought it would be cute to do a yellow Easter egg bath and a blood red Halloween bath. Or it's just fun for no reason. Neither my children or my bath tub were stained! Great stuff!!

An Inspired St. Patricks Day

Thank goodness I am surrounded by amazing women!
When Austin came downstairs in a green shirt this morning, I had to check the calender to see if it really was that mid march "holiday." Yup, today's the day and I have done NOTHING!!! Not that I think I should be doing major prep work for this day, but I wanted to do SOMETHING.
My mom always made a green dinner for us. So tonight we had green rice, peas, chicken cooked in a green sauce (I make this super simple white sauce that my family loves. It's just broth- I used beef tonight, but usually use chicken- and cream cheese. It's always a hit), and green breadsticks. Thanks for the tradition mom!

A leprechaun always visits my sister Cami's house. She always does it way cuter, but here is my effort... When the kids came in from playing outside, there was a trail of candy...

(notice the trail behind them) They were lead to their room where they found green peanut butter cups and new spring jammies.
To top off the night, Mr. Leprechaun colored the girls bath green. Thanks Janice for that one!

That just about wraps up our stolen St. Patricks day. In the end, I probably did more then the day deserves and am guessing I'm stuck with a tradition now, but the smiles are priceless.

A Little Bit of Ketchup

I MEAN CATCH UP!

The happenings in the Jonas Fam have been fun and exciting (as usual), just not well documented (as usual). So I wanted to get out some random pictures of our adventures over the past couple weeks. In no particular order...
Adeline likes to cuddle Tasha

Tasha is less enthusiastic about it

Sorry this picture is sideways, I'm not going to delete it, flip it, then re add it, when you can just cock your head. So in an effort to get Adeline out of her nasty footie pajamas (that's all she would wear if I weren't so mean), I told her she could pick out her own outfit for the day. This is what she chose. It's from Austin's drawer, if you can't tell. Since John was the one taking her out, I combed her hair and high fived her on a successful day of getting dressed (it can be dramatic around here some days)

Last week John spent 4 days in Las Vegas with his dad and brother to golf and go to some classy gun training courses. I, of course, took him leaving me alone with three children as an invitation to spend freely. Fortunately for John, my idea of "free spending" is pretty cheap. It included this $30 desk from DI. How great is it? I just love it.I must thank Mercedes for inscribing her name on the top. I assume this is why her parents got rid of such a cool piece. Mr. Clean magic eraser took it right off!! It's perfect in my room.

We had a Claybaugh girls night out a few weeks ago. Dinner at CPK, a little shopping, beading, cards and bugging Todd about his girlfriend (this is pre- engagement) made for a perfectly fun night with perfectly beautiful women. Even my little sister Cara came along!

Even with snow on the ground, John got ants in his pants to golf. Bailey and I napped one Saturday afternoon while John scratched his itch and entertained the kiddos at the same time.

The ottoman is on the couch so I could vacuum, which makes fun for Addie! If you look close you will see she has put the Wii Fit board on the ottoman, a doll chair on that, and her beloved bunny as queen on top!

Here I am in all my make-upless glory, but I'm reading to my girls. This is how I spend a good chunk of quality time with these ladies each day. Addie loves to read and we would for hours if our house was self-cleaning. Bailey is less interested, but she's getting better at sitting still.

Bailey has made herself an invisible hammock and found it a comfy place to watch Dora.

Hope that fills the Jonas update tank. I promise I will try to blog more about my cute family and less about wandering mind!

Just one quick question before I go: I find that when I blog, I like to write my captions above the picture, but when I read other peoples blog, I like it below. I did it below this time, but it's a first. What do you prefer?

AUSTRALIA!

I know, I am SO behind on pop culture. I can barely keep up with laundry, please don't expect me to keep up with music, movies, or fashion.
I'm sure I'm about the last of you to see this movie, but I still wanted to blog about it. I'm very very close to saying "the best movie ever." It is now way up there on my favorites list. If you have not seen it yet, please make a trip to Red Box NOW!!!
Nicole Kidman is beautiful and classic. Hugh Jackman is the sensitive gruff. He helps her save her dead husbands dying cattle business in Australia (she's from England) and of course, they fall in love (I'm not giving away anything important here). It's such a nice love story about change and sacrifice for love.
However, there are two love stories in this movie. Nicole Kidman (who is unable to have children of her own) falls in love with this precious little boy Nullah (played by Brandon Walters). Through the movie you see her heart change from an aristocratic business woman to a mother, where suddenly there is meaning to what she is doing and someone to fight for. One of my favorite lines from the movie says something to the effect of "You have nothing if you don't have love in your heart."

The scenery is stunning, the portrayal of the aborigines is endearing, the story is heart-wrenching, the costumes are perfect and the acting is flawless (a completely unprofessional opinion).

I love this movie!

PS There's action too! John really enjoyed it. AND it's rated PG!!

Gaining a Sister!

(Not losing a brother)
I'm so excited to announce that my little brother Todd has found his soulmate! He and Alexis Watson are engaged to be married on May 16th in the Draper Temple.

Alexis is literally "the girl next door." Her family lives just two doors down from where I grew up in north Orem. Alexis is in her last semester at BYU Idaho studying elementary education. She is so darling and we all adore her. I think they are perfect together and am so thrilled for them!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

In the Eye of the Storm Review

I finally finished "In the Eye of the Storm" about Elder John H Groberg's mission to Tonga. Disney made a movie out of the book and renamed it "The Other Side of Heaven." I know, this is old news. I think I saw this movie at the Dollar theater when I was engaged, but I'm still going to review it.As I said when I started reading this book, it's filled with faith, love and inspiration. Elder Groberg was a humble and hard working missionary. It was so fun to read and learn about this culture. In some ways I felt like I was born in wrong country. He talked about Tongan men liking women that area little thicker. Skinny women are looked on as sickly and unfit to bear children. HELLOO!! I would be so HOT there! He also wrote about the Tongans natural rhythm and grace in dancing and movement. OH how I wish I was born with that (I am sorely reminded each week at my friend Loni's hip-hop dance class that I am full "white girl". But if your looking for a super fun workout and don't mind making a fool of yourself, you should so come to this class with me!) I was, however, very happy to be a white girl when I learned that a lot of Tongans (at least at the time) gave their first child or two to the grandparents to raise or the grandparents just lived with them. Although my mom is a better mom than I will ever be, I really love raising my kiddos!
This was a good and bad "treadmill book" (as I call it) in that it was more lots of little stories. This makes it easy to stop and get my sprints in. Unfortunately, it also makes it easy to get off the treadmill and not much pull to get back on. This is a quick and uplifting read and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a Mormon nonfiction.
I'm reading The Scarlet Letter in bed, but that is not a good treadmill book. It's a small book with small print and little hard to read and keep up with. In fact, I'm getting the gist of the story, but not sure I'm getting all the details!
So I need another easy, engaging treadmill book. Any ideas for me?

Thisilyn Body Cleanse Review

My sister and I just finished doing the Thisilyn Body Cleanse. I got it at Good Earth (a health food store here in Utah) for about $16. There are 3 different types of pills; a whole body cleanse, fiber blend (both taken morning and night), and a digestive sweep (taken only at night). This is not a body cleanse where you only eat maple syrup and water or anything crazy like that. You eat normal and take the pills for 15 days. I was hoping for two things with this cleanse. 1- a little boost in my weight loss and 2- to feel really great. I got NEITHER!! I didn't think my expectations were too high, but they were still not met. I was very disappointed.It wasn't all bad. It did help my body digest quicker, which I always really like. I know this is so TMI, but I went from doing "#2" every day or two, to twice a day. I like to get on the scale right before and right after I go, just to see! Sorry, GROSS! I probably won't do this one again, but I would like to try another type of cleanse, so please if you know of anything really great, let me know!

I don't believe in Soulmates

I love my husband and I love my marriage, however, I don't believe that we are so happy because we are "meant to be" or "soulmates." I dated a lot, but when it comes to being in love, I have only been there twice. Once with a high school boyfriend that I sent out on a mission and the other is obvious. When John and I started dating, I based most of my actions in our relationship on my preconceived ideas from my first love. I expected our relationship to be similar.
I remember so specifically, when John and I were young in our dating relationship, I was sitting at a traffic light on my way to see him and was going through a conversation in my head that I wanted to have with him. I was sure it would go something like this...
"John, I'm a little irritated that every time you come to pick me up, you are consistently 10 minutes late."
I figured he would say something to the effect of "Well, you're not even ready when I get here, so why be on time?"
I would retort "I would be ready if I knew you would be on time."
From there it would turn into a heated debate and I had every defense worked out in my mind, so he couldn't get me from any angle. I was going in on the offense and felt very confident that I was prepared to "win" this argument.
I walked in the door and said "John, I'm a little irritated that every time you come to pick me up, you are consistently 10 minutes late." I had my game face on and was ready for his come back.
"Really?" he said to me, "I didn't realize that bothered you. I'll try harder to be on time from now on."
!!!!!
My jaw hit the floor and from that moment on, I knew this guy and this relationship were different.

You better believe I fought though! My first love was still on his mission and coming home within 6 months. I was ready and willing to marry my "high school sweetheart" and not prepared to have feelings for any other.
My mom will tell you that I (foolishly) vented any little frustration to her and I believe I even used the phrase "I could never marry this guy." OOPPPSSIE! But for some reason, I was continually drawn to him and fascinated by his thoughts when we were together.

We grew close and fell in love without realizing it. My long awaited time was here to welcome my missionary home and start on our wedding plans. LOOOng story short, it just did not work out with him. I wanted it to so badly. I prayed, plead and begged the Lord to let this be right, let him be the one, let this work out. My life was in complete disarray and I knew it was not to be. Very sadly, I shared these feelings with "the guy I could never marry." Eventually he said "Marry me!" And I finally felt at peace. Even with that, I believe I had a choice to make. I seeked guidance from my Father in Heaven (and my father on earth) and both lead me to this conclusion...That this is where life had brought me, these are my choices and I chose John.That's not the end of the story though, that's just the very beginning. John's healthy view of solving conflict by apologizing and striving for change became our way of life. It's not always easy. We argue. We actually disagree quite a bit. But we work hard for each other and now for our three children.

In fact, the other day I was cleaning our bathroom. As I scrubbed around his sink, I felt tiny razors cut through my fingers. I looked down and was bleeding profusely from my middle finger. I turned on the faucet and let cold water run over my finger and wash my blood down the drain. While standing there, I did a little investigating. John uses an electric razor and I realized that tiny shaven whiskers were piled between the sink and the countertop, some sticking out like "tiny razors." I was pretty mad that John would be so careless to leave his whiskers in such a place that could hurt me. How could he? He doesn't ever clean the bathroom! Maybe he should start so he can learn some manners. I was building my defense again (I still do sometimes) when he happened to come down stairs and asked what happened. I explained to him his rude and thoughtless behavior (Yes, with my game face on) and showed him how he had injured his beloved wife. "Wow" he said, "I'm so sorry. What do you think I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again?" I wanted to say "Clean the bathroom yourself." But the true concern in his voice crumbled my defense and brought back my logic. "That's weird" I told him "You've been shaving like this for years and this has never happened before. How about you be extra careful when you clean your razor and I'll be extra careful when I clean your sink." He got me a bandaide and gave me a kiss.

He's not my "soulmate" we weren't "destined." We met, we fell in love, we work hard every day to better ourselves and make the other happy. This is why my marriage is wonderful, no other reason.