In My Own Little Corner…

Busy summer, right?  Well….I am still not done with all my posts. Here I go.

Zoo Day! (July 8, 2009)

Keaton and Adelle paying more attention to the rocks then the animals at the zoo. Go figure.

Again, Keaton enjoying the statues of the tigers more than the real tigers. Oh well. It was still fun.

I am not sure which animal she is looking at but it was the only animal that she was interested in.  It was in the lizard house, it was either one of the wild cats or a fox, I think.

One of our trips to the Park (July 11, 2009)

Everyone in this area knows about this park. It is Keaton’s favorite park. Unfortunately, we don’t go there often because Adelle is impossible to keep track of.

Steel Days!! (July 17, 2009)

I only have 2 pictures of this day. It was hot, kids were cranky, parents were cranky so it was a short trip.

Keaton riding the jeeps and looking like a “trucker”!

She was so done with this ride. She tried to climb out a couple of times.

Draper Days! (July 18, 2009)

This is a big celebration for the Paulsen family. Every year we have a picnic, walk to the park for all the festivities and then watch fireworks back at Jason’s parents home. It’s always a favorite celebration.

Jason’s dad, Mark, and brother-in-law, John playing the infamous golf game. I have no idea what the actual name is, but it’s really fun.

Getting ready for fireworks.

Adelle and Jason. Adelle loves her daddy time.

Jason and his brother Chris working the fireworks before the big fireworks. I am not sure how many times I had to tell Keaton to not do what his daddy is doing with fireworks. Great example. I won’t be surprised if Keaton becomes a pyro.

Working the camera with the glow sticks.

My adorable family.

The very loved Cabin! ( July 29-31, 2009)

Cheesing it for the camera. Jason and Keaton working on some art projects.

It’s not a cabin trip without lots of junk food.

Planting a kiss on the cabin bear.

Our job at the cabin is to make the squirrels as fat as possible.

For some reason Keaton is on a no pants kick.

Tears of happiness. Very hard to get Adelle to take turns on the swing.

The kids first fishing trip. Didn’t catch one fish, but the kids were entertained with the worms.

Trying so hard to be patient. Isn’t he a cute fisherman?

Art time again, while Jason snoozes in the back ground.

I also found more pictures from our Jackson trip. I edited my previous post with lots more pics!

I am back. I admit that I had lost interest in keeping my blog up to date. Months ago I got the desire again. The problem was, I didn’t really know how to just start up again. Being that this is the only journal I keep, I had to catch up. So bare with me this is going to be full of edits, add ons, and really long posts.

Where I left off on my last post was Easter, a mere 7 months ago. Alot has happened since. In May Jason was hurt playing basketball. He had to have ACL reconstructive surgery. His surgery was on May 20th 2009.

I am sure that this is something that Jason would love to forget, but it was a big deal and we need to remember it. Adelle was so worried about Jason, she did not want to leave his side.

I have to note that that lovely floral quilt pictured above…I made that in Young Women’s. I still have it. I would not choose that pattern if I were to make it today, but I am kinda proud of it and can’t seem to part with it. Besides Jason prefers it in the hot months over our comforter.  Anyhow…

Pre-School graduation (May 22, 2009)

This is Keaton with his wonderful and adorable Mrs. T. She is so great and we loved having Keaton in her class.

Keaton and Cade at the graduation party. Kindergarten here we come!!

A week later Jason made a career change. The experience brought on new challenges and brought new opportunities. It also allowed us some freedom to spend time with each other and our children. We started the summer off with many little excursions.

The first thing that we did was take the kids to Hill Air Force Base. I honestly don’t remember the last time that I had been there. I knew that Keaton would like it, but I was surprised to find how much I liked it. I love history and I loved reading about the history of these planes.

(May 30, 2009)

Yes, Jason is in a wheelchair. This was shortly after his ACL surgery. Keaton loved the Wheelchair.

Keaton is such a good helper. There was a slight hill in this area, so I pushed Jason and Keaton pushed Adelle. In the end I ended up placing the stroller in front of Jason so he could push the stroller and then I pushed him in the wheelchair. It was exhausting.

After our Hill Air Force trip, we stopped to visit my dear Uncle Jay, and Aunt Lorraine. Their house is filled with beautiful artwork that my Aunt Lorraine has made. From paintings to lamps. I never knew how talented she is. Adelle was not the best toddler to be taking to their house. She wanted to touch everything.  It was so nice to be able to visit with them. They are truly amazing people and I love them so much.

On our way home, we spotted this “Dirt Devil” so we pulled over and grabbed the camcorder and camera and watched it till it disappeared.  I am so glad that Tornadoes are not common in Utah. Keaton is a bit obsessed with anything storms. It scares him, but still fascinates him. Jason printed this picture for him and it’s up on his wall.

Cabin Trip (June 3, 2009)

Our next outing was in June. We love, love spending time at Jason’s cabin. So we took advantage of the time we had and spent many little excursions there this summer. The famous cabin swing.

The end of June, we headed up to Jackson Hole for the West family reunion. I was looking forward to this trip for months. My parents were in charge of planning the reunion this year, and they did a fabulous job. They were responsible for choosing Jackson Hole as this reunions location. Jackson is one of my favorite places. We spent alot of summers up there when I was young. So naturally, I was so happy to go there with my husband for the first time. I can’t find all of the pictures that we took of this trip. So I raided my dad’s pictures and combined what little I had with his. I am still hoping to find some more. This is a trip that needs to be documented!!

(June 26 2009)

Beautiful, isn’t it?

So the story behind this picture… Back in 1999 my roommates and I took a trip to Jackson Hole. We then had this picture done while we were there. Well, I was trying to talk Jason into getting our pictures done. While we were checking it out, I noticed the picture of me and my girls in the display case!! 10 years later! I guess they never got sick of us. I love this picture. That was such a blast from the past. I know it’s a little blurry, I was trying to take the picture of the picture still in the display case.

Keaton and Kaleb enjoying their Haagen Daaz under the antler arch. These two have become quite the little buddies. I love that they are so close in age and they love to spend time with each other. They are going to be major heart breakers one day. Kaleb is my older sister, Joelle’s son.

This kid has no fear. I didn’t think that we were going to get him off of this thing.

My gorgeous little sister, Chemenn, making her husband a birthday treat.

My beautiful mother, Colleen, who worked so hard making the entire reunion run smoothly.  Also, my brother Brigon and his adorable wife Stephanie.

We had so much fun on the Alpine slides in Jackson. This was the kids favorite thing to do. Mine too.

I honestly have no idea how many times we went down the slides. Loved it!

Little Buddies. Keaton and Kaleb.

My brother, Ethan, and my sister, Chemenn with their adorable boys Lincoln (hat) and Zack.

My dad, Grandpa Jeff and Lincoln. My parents are quite the hosts! I wish that this would have been more of a relaxing vacation for them, but they were so busy making sure that everyone was happy and had a chance to do everything. It was a lot of work for them and they are so wonderful for doing it. Thanks so much mom and dad. It was truly a memorable vacation.

This was definitely the main attraction. My dad was able to get the entire family tickets for White Water river trips. This picture shows one of the many boats that my family took. Shown in  this picture are my beautiful cousins from Oregon and their men. My Aunt Kathy, Uncle Blair, Aunt Julie and Uncle Merril.

More cousins taking a ride.

My baby brother Brigon and brother-in-law Jeff are in the front.

My brother and sisters with their kids waiting for the river boats to pass by.  In this picture: Joelle, Kaleb, Ethan, Zack, Chemenn and Lincoln.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays for many reasons:

1.I love Spring time

2. I love the easter baskets and candy. (Easter candy is the best)

3. I love getting new Easter outfits for the kids.

4. I love Easter Sunday Dinner

5. I love being with family

6. I love the looks on my kids faces when finding an egg is the best thing ever!

7. I love that my husband lets me match his outfit to Keatons’.

8. Most importantly, I love the meaning of Easter. I truly love our Savior and what he did for us.

Our Easter celebration started on the Saturday before Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt at Lindsay’s home then headed to Jeff’s school gym for a picnic and a little ball.

Keaton filling up his basket at Aunt Lindsay’s house.

It did not take Adelle long to figure out the whole egg hunt thing. I could not get her to look at the camera, she was so focused on those eggs.

You can’t have a Paulsen get together without a basketball game!  Jason’s family is very athletic so it’s a favorite thing for them to do. The school was the perfect location for our celebration. We were able to have a picnic, the kids could run, play and the adults could run and play too!! Everyone is happy.

This roll of gymnastic foam was the best entertainment! Keaton is inside the roll.

Peas in a Pod!

Easter Sunday

Round 2! It’s so much fun to have two families to visit. On Sunday we went to my parents home.

This girl did not need much help. I pretty much just held her basket since it is as big as she is.

After our egg hunt we sat down to my mom’s famous hot rolls, ham and potatoes. Did I mention that I love Easter?

There have been such a whirlwind of events since I found out I was pregnant with my first baby. It took us a long time to get pregnant, then we found out we were having triplets! The look on Jason’s face at that moment was priceless and I will never forget it.  What on earth were we going to do with triplets? Suddenly mini van popped into my head and where were we going to put 3 cribs in our basement apartment that we were living in at the time? Overwhelmed pretty much sums it up. As the doctor was looking at the ultrasound he pointed out that 2 of the babies were much smaller than one of the babies. We had to come back in 2 weeks and see how the babies were progressing. I suddenly felt my heart drop. What does that mean? Being my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect. I was crying uncontrollably and didn’t know how to feel. Jason was more optimistic and calm. He was able to listen to the doctor. I couldn’t hear anything over the million thoughts going through my head. Where the babies going to be alright?  The doctor explained to Jason that this happens often and there is a chance that the babies will be fine. He knew for sure though, that there was at least one strong healthy baby with a strong heart  beat. The next couple of weeks lasted for forever. We went back to the doctors to have another ultrasound and found that that the other two babies did not make it.  We were crushed.  There was a part of me that was prepared for that news, I think that I had cried every day for two weeks until that day. Later we felt a peace come over us. It was going to be alright, we still had one healthy baby and we were very very grateful. Several months later I was  uncomfortable and in pain and so ready to get this baby out!. At a previous appointment with my OB, he had told me that the baby was in position, I was starting to dilate, so it could any day. A week later no baby, but tons of pain. I knew that something was wrong. My next appointment my doctor told me that the baby had flipped and was now in a frank breach position. There was no way to turn him because of other problems so we scheduled a c-section for the next day. The next day I gave birth to my beautiful boy.  After two days with no name we decided on  Keaton Mark Paulsen . He was born on Wednesday, March 17th 2004, weighing 6 lbs 10 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. We were thrilled to have him.

I feel so blessed to have Keaton as my son. He is such a joy and such a special boy. He has more energy and mischief than any other kid I know, but that’s what keeps me on my toes. I love him with all of my heart . My family would not be complete without him.  I love you Keaton.

Keaton’s Birthday Party!!

This year Keaton really wanted to invite all of his friends and go swimming  Well…I was feeling a bit adventurous and we ended up with 13 5 year olds!! It was chaos, a bit out of control, but in the end it ended up to be a great party. I guess I really thought that all of these 5 years olds would sit quietly around the table with their arms folded and raise their hands or something. I knew that wouldn’t happen, but we may think twice about doing it again. Keaton had a blast though and that’s what matters. I love all of the faces that they were pulling. Never a dull moment.

Adelle and Jason had a great time too. She is my little water baby.

Adelle and her buddy Josh. She gets so excited when Josh comes over to our home to play with Keaton. He is so sweet with her and always gives her hugs.

I think that everyone had a blast and slept very hard that night. I probably slept the hardest.  Thanks to all of the mothers, my husband and my mom that helped out with they party. I could not have done it without you.

Birthday Bash!!

The end of February and March are full of birthdays for my family. Chemenn and Lincoln flew out from Nashville to join the festivities. We celebrated Chemenn, Ethan, Lincoln, Brigon, Zac and Keaton. Chemenn brought out her creativity and made the best cupcakes.  And of course we had to have chocolate cake as well. No Abbott event is complete without the chocolate! It felt like Christmas all over again with all of the gifts and smiles.

Chemenn and Ethan were trying to teach their boys how to chicken fight. Luckily, the boys didn’t catch on.

And with all the toys that the kids got….they still preferred playing in boxes. It started with one box, then Grandma had to go round up some more. Can’t just have one box with 5 grandkids!

Adelle could have stayed in there for an hour…well maybe at least 10 minutes

Grandpa Abbott and Keaton bonding.

Having so much fun running on the deck.

Jason and the Guys at the cabin.

At the end of February, Jason and his buddies went back to the cabin.  Jason has started a bit of a tradition. In the summer a bunch of guys go on a mass paint balling trip, then in the winter they head up with the snowmobiles.  Only 4 guys could make it on this trip which ended up working out so people didn’t have to rent snowmobiles. Jason’s friend, Nate, had just recently purchased 4 new snowmobiles. So the guys had to break them in.

Beside the pictures of Jason, he is the photographer behind these action shots.

Yes, this is my husband flying through the air.

Apparently, this technique is called boon doggin.  This is our neighbor Robbie, he is the pro at snowmobiling.

Robbie again.

This is Gibb getting to know his machine.

Jason again.

This picture is of Nate.

As you can tell, they are all maniacs! They had such a good time and I am so glad that they made it back without any broken bones.  I am sure they are already planning their next trip.

I have never claimed to be on time or on top of anything, but I do my best. So here we are in February and I am finally posting about our Christmas. Ever since our laptop died, I have not been good at blogging. Out office where our desktop is located, is extremely cold and I don’t like spending time in there at all. But, today I am braving the cold office.

Our Christmas like every Christmas is always busy, crazy, chaotic, and exhastuing. Both of our families share the same Christmas Eve traditions. So for the past 9 years, Christmas eve has always been a challenge.

Jason and I decided that with two kids now we were going to have to start making a decision to see only one family on Christmas eve and see the other family on Christmas day. We ended up going to the Paulsen side for Christmas Eve.  Jason’s sister, Lindsay was our hostess this year. We all squeezed into her home and enjoyed our own version of Cafe Rio salads and burrito’s. Which were fabulous. Also, when I say “squeezed into Lindsay’s home” that’s because with the size of Jason’s family of 30 people, it doesn’t matter if you have a huge home or a small one, it’s all a squeeze.  With all of the cousins, Amy, Jason’s other sister, put together crafts and a nativity play for the kids. They loved it and Keaton was so adorable in his wiseman outfit.  He loved wearing it. Adelle was less than thrilled to wear her sheep ears and tail. The night was a hit and we went home ready to hit the hay, well the kids got to hit the hay anyways.

Christmas morning was so magical. The looks on my kids faces were so priceless.  Santa is the man!! This year was so much fun because I got to shop for boy stuff and  girly stuff. I had a blast.  We spent the morning in our pajamas and played with all the wonderful stuff that Santa brought.

Keaton could not separate from the Nintendo DS all morning.

Adelle in her new pink chair and with the bunny that Keaton gave her.

In the afternoon, we spent hours outside in the snow. We managed to buil a snowman, finish the sledding hill, and build a igloo.

The famous sledding hill. Our yard is completely flat. So Jason builds a sledding hill every year.

My attempt at making an igloo. Keaton was happy with it.

Later that day, we headed up to my family’s home. We missed all of the gift exchange because the Abbott’s did it all on Christmas eve. So it was our family’s turn when we got there. It was short and sweet, but the kids came out winners like always.

Christmas Day at the Abbott home. Adelle did not feel like posing at the moment.

January has been such a drab month. So far February has been as well. My neighbors and I have been trying to take the kids on a weekly outing. So that is pretty much all we have been up to. My sister, Chemenn, is coming out to visit soon, 🙂 so I will have something more interesting to post.

I finally got Jason to take our family to see the lights in the city. Jason is not one for crowds.  It was a fun and cold night. Keaton really enjoyed it this year. He is finally old enough to enjoy the Nativity and the ambiance of Temple Square.

Cheesing it for the camera!

This is the best way to enjoy the lights. Sit back all bundled up and let someone push you around in a stroller. Ah…the life!

This was Keaton’s favorite part. He kept wanting to go back and see the Christus. I love this picture.

K, well it’s been 3 weeks, so I thought that I would finally post about Thanksgiving. This year was the “on” year for my family. Chemenn, Jeff and Lincoln came into town. And we had some good old family fun. We updated the family pictures, which will be outdated in a couple of months again. (It’s all Ethan and Shannon’s fault 🙂 We did lots of shopping, lots of cooking and lots of playtime. This year was such a great Thanksgiving holiday. The food was great and the company was better.

My parents hosted the big Thanksgiving dinner at their home. I loved having my Aunt Julie and Uncle Merril and most of my cousins there. My wonderful cousins from Oregon were able to join us this year. I honestly have to say that I am so sad that I missed out on their friendships while we were growing up. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone and catching up. I am so grateful for my family.

Above is a picture of the cousins at Thanksgiving. From top left to right. Cousin Sarah holding Jack, Austen holding Oliver, Brother-in-law Jeff, Sister Chemenn holding Lincoln, behind Chemenn is Brother Ethan holding Zack, Sister-in-law Shannon, Cousin Danielle, Cousin Emily, Cousin Jessica, Jessica’s husband Ryan. Bottom left Cousin Skyler, Cousin Trevor, me holding Adelle, Jason holding Keaton, Brother-in-law Jim holding Kaleb and Sister Joelle.  Missing in the picture are Brigon, Stephanie, Adam and Nikki.

Jason giving me his sexy look.

I have never done one of these. I wasn’t officially tagged for this, but my sister in law had this on her blog and I thought it would be fun. Some of these things were good memories, some I am kind of embarrassed by and some are on the list of things to do. Here we go. Please don’t judge me. 🙂

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog … May 2008
2. Slept under the stars … Many times at my friend Melissa’s house. In her backyard on the trampoline. Back in the day when people didn’t have to lock doors and people didn’t have fences in their backyards.
3. Played in a band…Actually yes, Never had a band name though. We had a few practices then broke up when I got engaged. Ha, we really were going to be famous. I was the singer.
4. Visited Hawaii…On the list, after Portugal.

5. Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity …  Same as Linds’ answer. Does tithing count?

7. Been to Disneyland … Yes many times growing up. Also I went with Jason’s entire family 2 years ago. Not sure if I can ever get Jason to go back. What a baby.

8. Climbed a mountain … Yes. I used to love hiking
9. Held a Praying Mantis… I have, strangely they don’t freak me out. I love showing them to Keaton and then placing them carefully in my garden.
10. Sang a solo … Yes,  I used to be involved in Choir and sang for Church and school performances.

11. Bungee jumped. Almost. panicked at the last minute. plunging to my death didn’t seem exciting to me.
12. Visited Paris… Yes, I love that city. Can’t wait to go back. If Jason would ever get over his thing about the French.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch … Yes, I loved art when I was young. I used to draw coloring books then took them door to door to sell them in my old ward. Actually sold some.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning … Yes, at the Olive Garden in College. Took years for me to go back there.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty…Never made it that far in New York. My visit was short and cold and I was 6 months pregnant. Wasn’t the best trip of my life but an unforgettable one.
18. Grown your own vegetables…The house that I grew up in had a garden. We always canned all of the fruits and vegetables that we grew.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France…Sad story. When we went to the Louvre we found out that the employees were on strike. So I saw the outside of the Louvre. The Taxi driver was trying to tell us before dropping us off at the entrance. My two years of French obviously was not enough for me to understand the driver.
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight … Yes
22. Hitch hiked…No and never will.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill … Who hasn’t? One that sticks out in my head is at college when my friends and I took a last minute trip to Vegas to see BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl. I was not about to miss that trip. So yes, I called in sick then was terrified that my boss would see my on tv at the game.
24. Built a snow fort … Yes, made some great ones at the old house. Winters seemed to be better back then or maybe I just didn’t seem to mind being cold back then.
25. Held a lamb…Yes, my friend had sheep at her house. They were so cute.
26. Gone skinny dipping…Do you really think that I am going to answer this one? A little privacy please.
27. Run a Marathon…Nope, probably won’t. I would really love to, but my knees have a different opinion. I’ll leave this one up to my sister’s-in-law.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice…On the list
29. Seen a total eclipse… I remember going outside to see one in the old house, but dont’ remember when it was.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset … I have seen many sunsets. I am not an early riser so seeing sunrises are very few
31. Hit a home run…Don’t think that I ever hit a home run.  But I know that I kicked a few home runs while playing kick ball.
32. Been on a cruise… No, I honestly have a small fear of the ocean. If Jason has anything to do with it we will be going on one.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person… If I am in the area I will stop by, but don’t think I will be planning a vacation out there just to see that. I hear that it is pretty cool though.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. This would be easier to answer and do if I knew where my ancestors came from.
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language. Ha!! Still trying to remember my 2 years of French and my 1 year of Spanish.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied… hmmm, how do I say this without sounding greedy. There isn’t a way. We are truly blessed for being in the position that we are in, but truly satisfied?? Both of us would say not yet. There is a certain amount of security for us and our children that Jason and I both want. Plus being in a position that you are able to help others….that would be true satisfaction.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing… I love rock climbing. I dated a guy in High School who was a climbing fanatic. I used to go all the time with him and some friends. It’s been a long time

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David…Yes, it’s in my favorite city. Florence!! It was an amazing part of history and art to see.
41. Sung karaoke … Yes, my girls from High School and I sang Shoop from Salt n Pepa. Sadly, this was after we were all married and way out of High School and we all new the words perfectly. What can I say…the song is a classic.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt… My family spent many summers up in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. I have pictures of me and my siblings watching Old Faithful in matching shirts. My mom always stuck us in the same shirts so she could keep track of us in crowds.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant… Sadly no, my friends and I did run into some homeless people after we had left a restaurant and we gave them our leftovers. Does half a meal count?
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight … I have done this a few times, but sadly only once with my husband. Guess we need to get to the beach more often.
46. Been transported in an ambulance… Ah memories, I was driving up Provo Canyon with my roommates to have a picnic. We hit a patch of black ice and swerved into oncoming traffic then into a mountain. The ambulance drove me to the ER. The Insurance guy told my mom that I burned through a few angels that day.
47. Had your portrait painted…Yes, in Paris. It was done with chalk though.
48. Gone deep sea fishing…No desire to. I hate fish. I will leave that one up to Jason.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person. Never made it to Rome. On the list.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Yes, it is so beautiful. Saw the sunset from up there.
51. Gone scuba diving..
52. Kissed in the rain…Yes, very romantic.
53. Played in the mud … I took some friends four wheelin up American Fork Canyon after it rained. The rain left some great mud puddles. I never had so much fun getting so dirty.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater …Yes, and don’t remember what movie we saw…no, not because of what you are all thinking. My friends and I were laughing so hard in the back of Terel’s huge truck that we didn’t pay any attention to the movie.
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business…Jason and I had a business a few years ago when we sold products on eBay.
58. Taken a martial arts class… Yes, my parents had all of us take Karate and Self Defense classes. Just good stuff to know.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies…I bought a lot of them.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason….Jason used to send me flowers for no reason. He is such a sweetie.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma… Yes, I have the type of blood that works for everyone. Blood Banks love me.
65. Gone sky diving…Falls under the same category of “plunging to my death doesn’t seem very exciting”.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp…Don’t think that I could handle it.
67. Bounced a check…Ha, my dad still gives me crap to this day about this one. I was 18 and worked at the mall. I had a chocolate craving and went on down to Mrs. Fields for a double chocolate dipped cookie. Well the small check that I wrote for that yummy cookie bounced and that cookie ended up costing me about $30.  I could have had so many cookies for $30!
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy … I still have my very first doll. I can’t seem to part with that sad looking yellow bean bag doll.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial…On the list.
71. Eaten Caviar…Not brave enough.
72. Pieced a quilt … I tied a quilt once in Young Women’s. I don’t think that it’s quite the same thing though.
73. Stood in Times Square … This I did manage to do in New York. It was so incredible. New York is an amazing place.
74. Toured the Everglades…
75. Been fired from a job….Unfortunatley yes.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London…Yes. It was quite a site.
77. Broken a bone… Oh boy. I went snowboarding with Jason and some friends. I tried showing off my snowboarding skills to Jason and it ended up with me in the Emergency Room with two broken wrists.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle….Another fond memory. It was on a date and I was picked up in a jeep. After a while we decided to take his bullet bike instead. So there I was in shorts, sandals, tank top and no helmet. We hit a patch of loose gravel and I flew off of the bike.  I had some intense road rash all up the left side of my body. Now I have some great scars to show for it. Sarcasm in that last statement.  🙂
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person…Yes.
80. Published a book… A dream that never happened. My grandma West was an incredible writer and poet. She always wanted to write a children’s book and have me be the illustrator. Sadly my grandma passed away and we never made the book thing happen.
81. Visited the Vatican…Same answer as the Sistine Chapel. Never made it to that part of Italy.
82. Bought a brand new car … There are a few things in life that I am a snob about. This is one of them. I have always loved cars and always will. Besides the rare and classic cars that I one day hope to have…I will always buy new. At least I own up to being a snob about this.  🙂
83. Walked in Jerusalem…
84. Had your picture in the newspaper…I was on the news when I was in the 3rd grade. Kind of. The Secreatary of Defense or something like that, came to visit my class. He read us a story and we were on the news. You can see me sitting in front of him listening to the story. Good thing I knew what I was wearing or you wouldn’t have known it was me. My claim to fame.
85. Read the entire Bible…Not the Bible, but the Book of Mormon.
86. Visited the White House…
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating…Nope. Funny that it’s alright for someone else to kill the animal and I will eat it then. But I don’t have the heart to kill the animal myself.
88. Had chickenpox … Yes, it was horrible. Why didn’t they have the vaccine for that back then?
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury…Avoided it once.
91. Met someone famous…Jason Bateman, Brandy, Michael McLean, Donny Osmond.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one … My cousin Clint, my Grandma West, Grandma Abbott, some friends from High School, and some others.
94. Had a baby … Yes, Keaton 2004, Adelle 2007
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake ..I waded in it forever ago. Haven’t visited the lake since.
97. Been involved in a law suit…I try to avoid those.
98. Owned a cell phone … Yes
99. Been stung by a bee…yes and it hurt like a bugger.
100. Fallen in love … A few times, but fell in love with my one soulmate.

This is the first time that I am going to tag some bloggers. I tag Chemenn, Jason, Joelle, Karen, McKenzie and Shannon.

What a busy Halloween! So much fun but so glad it’s over. This is the first year that I didn’t go all out on my own Halloween costume. I grabbed whatever I could find in my moms costume closet. Oh well. It turned out alright. I was so busy trying to get Jason’s and Adelle’s costume finished that I ran out of time. Keaton’s was easy this year. He has known that he wanted to be Jango Fett for at least 6 months now. I am so glad that I bought the costume that came with the helmet that he wanted so bad, cause as you can see from his pictures….he didn’t wear it once. Silly kid. To kickoff the holiday, we started with the annual Halloween party at Jason’s work. It is a huge deal to his company. It was even featured on the news.

I think that Jason makes a hot George Washington. He had so many people tell him that they would vote for him if he were on the ballot. I would vote for him!

My brother Brigon (the ninja turtle above) also works at Jason’s company. So of course Stephanie, his wife was going to be at the party and my mom wanted to see everything since Brigon and Jason were working so hard on their costumes and decorating their departments. Anyhow, my mom, Shannon(above), Zak(above as Napoleon Dynamite), Joelle and Kaleb ended up coming to Trick or Treat with us. It was a ton of fun and the kids got sooo much candy.

George Washington and my woodland witch.

Keaton getting tired of carrying his heavy candy.

Napoleon Dynamite giving loves to the Cowardly Lion.

Adelle and Zak taking a break and listening to the live band.

Time to hit the neighborhood for some more Trick or Treating! For some reason we thought we needed more candy.

Keaton could not run fast enough going door to door.

Still not sure what was going on, but she sure enjoyed holding on to her candy.