The Holidays

Thanksgiving was the best! It is so nice to be with family again. I am so thankful for all of my family. We spent a wonderful day with Rex's family on Thanksgiving. We, of course, ate way too much food - but it was worth it :) All I can really say is that FAMILY is the best!! I don't regret our time away and the memories that we made, but family is where it is at. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father blessed all of us with the gift of families. Last night, we had the BIG Spencer family Christmas party in Morgan. I looked around and saw around 60 + people, chatting, bowling, and eating, and then I looked over a Grandma Spencer and thought, "Wow, all because two people fell in love!" I can only imagine what she must have been feeling last night.
Today has been equally as wonderful. I have been out helping my Mom decorate her house for Christmas. It is so fun to pull out decorations and remember all of the little knick-knacks that I loved so much as a young girl. I love the holidays. Anyone who knows me, knows I decorate for every holiday. So it is a little disheartening this year, that I am not able to decorate my own place....thanks to my Mom for giving me the opportunity to make some memories with my boys and her today. I am looking forward to having a wonderous month of memories with family and friends - Happy Holidays!

Post...Post...Post....Post

Well, what can I say - I need to keep up with the old blog. I probably made a million posts today! As you can see, we had a great summer, filled with lots of activities. And it seems to never stop. We have lots of family plans for this weekend - conference weekend at home!! Rex is being sworn in on October 20, Halloween...and so on. I am pretty sure we have been more busy these past few months, than the past five years combined. I still have some more posts from Tyler's first field trip and a family hike off of Skyline Drive up to Bountiful Peak. I am sure I will probably blog about that around Christmas time.

MOAB

We planned a trip to Moab two weeks ago - little did we know that it would be a celebration trip. Just before we left, we grabbed the mail and to our surprise we receieved a letter from the Utah State Bar -and Rex passed the Bar exam! We were so excited! It made our vacation that much better.

We took a drive along the Colorado River, and discovered some gorgeous scenery.

Our little rock climbers!

Ready to ride...thank goodness it wasn't me pulling all that weight. Way to go Rex!!

"Yo - what ya taken my picture for?"

Shouldn't I be a bike model?

Lake Powell

Rex spent the last week of August at Lake Powell. I really wish I could've gone with him, but I didn't want Ty to miss his first week of kindergarten. He had an amazing time - it is one of his most favorite places to be.

Rex took our kayak with him and while he was out and about with our friend Pete - fishing off of a blow up kayak, he caught a walleye - a pretty big one at that!

Crazy old Rex and his monster fish!

Happy Sixth Birthday Tyler!!!!!!

Tyler celebrated his SIXTH birthday on August 26! I cannot believe he is SIX. We had the best day. We made breakfast, went to the planitarium, went Chili's for dinner (Tyler's choice) with our Grandpa's and Grandma's, and then came back to Grandma Suzie-Q's for cake and ice cream and of course presents.

Tyler and Preston - after all the unwrapping :)


Ty's favorite gift - a SCOOTER!!

I love ya bunches Tyler -to infinity and beyond. You'll always be my bestest buddy!

The Clark Plantarium

Rex and I decided to take the boys to the planitarium for Tyler's birthday. They totally loved it, and so did we - not just because it was free - We got to see and do a lot of amazing things, like see how much we weighed on other planet, make electricity, and see the rockets that Grandpa Gary's work is building.

Me and the boys

KUTV has an awesome display where you can do the weather. You stand infront of this map, say your little spill -something like, "we have a storm front coming in from the north" and you can see yourself on TV. The boys thought that was the best.

Tyler and Preston standing on the moon

Mars life had made them craxy!!

First Day Of Kindergarten

Tyler started Kindergarten on August 24. It was such a fun day, and he has an amazing teacher - Mrs. Wright! He is alread learning lots and reading like crazy. I walk him to school everday and then go running with some of the other mothers (pushing Preston in the running stroller - we all have three year olds). He doesn't let me pick him up - I only got to do that once. Instead I meet him at the crossing guard up the street. Today, he rode his scooter to school for the first time - he was cruising down the road. I was nervous to let him ride, but he did great!! Don't they just grow up too fast?

Fish Lake - The Best Place On Earth

At the beginning of August, we went to Fish Lake - our favorite place! After a five year absense it was great to be back....the only problem, the WIND! It never stopped blowing, so there wasn't much fishing to be had. But all of the grandkids had a lot of fun. Amy, Annette, and I each came prepared with activities. We called the kids "Spy-Kids" and they went on several missions. Amy made each of them a note book, with their name and an animal to represent them. They then went on two treasure hunts, for things like leaves, berries, flowers, chipmunks, and dear. They loved it. Annete gave them each a spy glass to find all that they needed. She also set up treasure hunts with clues, to things like water color paints and card games. On the last night, I set a "fish game" - my Dad helped me make fishing poles out of bambo sticks and hemp. It was a hit. So even though there wasn't much fish to be had, at least the kids had fun!!

Abby -the best 'biggest' cousin ever! She made sure that all the kids had a blast!!

All the SPY-KIDS: Allie, Tyler, Tyson, Garret, Preston, and Josh.

I'm still here....

Yes I know I am a blog slacker. I've got lots to update, and tons of pics from the summer (my camera is currently at Lake Powell with Rex) - why am I not at Powell you ask? I really did feel it was right for Ty to miss his first week of Kindergarten. He talked to me about school for an hour yesterday - I knew then that my decision was justified - even though Rex was sad that we didn't come. We are still waiting for scores for the BAR, which probably come at the end of the month. And we are still currently looking for a job, so if you know anyone hiring a lawyer with an MBA too, please let us know.

We have been super busy this month. We started off by going to Fish Lake - one of my most favorite places in the world. We didn't fish much this year, because the wind blew, and blew, and blew and blew, well you get the picture! But is was still fun and I will blog more about it when I have all of my cute pictures to go along with it. We also spent a week at Bear Lake. It was loads of fun for me and the kids and my mom. Rex was doing to tile work...he put in about 72 hours in a week. I forgot that Rex packed the camera, so no pictures of my little fish names Tyler and Preston. We swam everyday and went to the beach of couple of times too. We painted, played games, and watched way too much Harry Potter.

My only sad news, is that I had to back out of my marathon. My leg injury is finally get better with the help of new shoes, but I have also had a really bad cyst and the flu this month. So needless to say, training hasn't been going like I would like it too. Therefore, I have set my sights on the Ogden marathon. This is good, because I can get more miles in and hopefully run a faster time.

Like a said before, Ty started kindergarten - he loves it. It was hard to see him go, I shed a few tears and prayed that he would have success in school -academically and socially. Today was a lot easier for me to let him go. He desperately wants to walk to school by himself, but I just cannot let him do that quite yet. Maybe next week!

My Little Cowboys

Just me and my boys - cowboys that is! Of course we had to dress up for the rodeo last night. They had on their boots, hats, and vests. They were so cute!

Mr. Cool - as you can tell, it was hot!

Cheese!

Trying to get both boys to look at the same time impossible, good times at the rodeo, PRICELESS!

IT'S RODEO TIME!

We had a lot of fun at the Ogden 24th of July Rodeo last night. It was the boys first rodeo and they loved it! Tyler loved the Weber County Mounted Sheriffs Possey - especially when they pulled out the pistols. He turned me and said, "I'm ready to go home and play cowboy now!" In fact Tyler is currently dressed up like a cowboy. My niece Mariah is second princess for her junior possey. The boys loved seeing her all dressed up like a rodeo queen.


Tyler and Mariah

Uncle Brian and Grandpa Gary

Mariah and Kari

Mariah and Preston.

The boys got balloon swords from a rodeo clown. Tyler loved the main rodeo clown. He talked about him and the sheriffs possey all night.

Swimming Lessons

We are currently taking swimming lessons..our last day is tomorrow. The kids are loving it. I am so proud of Tyler. He has become a little fish! Preston is doing great. His only problem is that he is THREE. He wants to jump off the diving board or the side constantly (& dive for sticks) And when he doesn't get his little way, well you know!

Preston getting ready to make the jump.....

And he's off...HE LOVES IT!!

Getting ready to begin..gotta love the "gobbles"


Tyler...where did you learn that? Flashing the gang signs already!

Good Ol'Plain CIty

Plain City is always lots of fun on the Fourth of July. Tyler, Preston, Taylor, Callee, and Milena, all rode in the parade - which basically starts off the big parade. I walked with Preston...he is a maniac! He was all over the rode, like a drunk on training wheels. It is a pretty good distance for a three year old, and when we turned the corner by the elementary, he said, "I am done!" So I had to push him the 100 more feet to where Grandpa and Grandma were waiting. Taylor and Milena (the picture above) cruised in - as the experienced bike riders that they are! Tyler rode Suzie-Q's big trike. He is
a littel crazy on the ol'bike.
It sure was fun to run into a lot of friends from school. It is fun to see what everyone is up to and to see all of their kids. Chad was incharge of the four-wheeler derby this year (I'm pretty sure the town was tired of the Hill Boys winning it, so they put them in charge) It was fun to watch, but not as exciting when you have someone to cheer on. We went back to Mom and Dad's and visited while the kids played in the kiddie-pool and of course, their favorite, the sprinkler propped up in the tree above the trampoline. We had a great bar-b-que and a competive game of bocci - Scott and Chad against Rex and I. To the end the night, we watched fire works a the park. Not the best fireworks I've ever seen. But pretty good for little ol'Plain City.

I am already looking forward to next year. Hopefully Chads broken back will be better and we can cheer him and Scott on to another victory in the derby.

Indpendence Day...let the festivities begin!

July 3, 2009 - This was the beginning of all of our fun. It is so nice to be back in Utah. They really don't do any celebrations in Arkansas, like they do here at home. We started of the weekend at the Spencer's house. We decorated the kids bikes and they rode in the Centerville childrens parade. After that, we went back up to Gary and Suzanne's for a cook out with the family. The night was capped off with fire works. It is so nice, because we can just sit on the back lawn and have a great fireworks show.

Annette made a great pinata...and the kids had a ball hitting it. My little nephew Garrett said to me, "After you hit that, then you get snacks!" It was so cute.

All the "little" cousins getting ready for the childrens parade in Centerville. There were millions of children. Thank goodness they got a yummy pace popsicle at the end!

Preston getting ready to go the parade. You can't see it in this picture, but crazy Rex put a funnel on his helmet and put flowers in it - everyone cheered for him!!

Tyler was so excited to ride - they all loved decorating the bikes! It was a wonderful fun filled night. It is so nice to be back home!

OVERHAUL!!

As ya'all can see - I finally did a makeover on our blog. It was about time for something new. And new family pictures were a great excuse. My best friend Angie came on Fathers Day and took pictures of our family. All of us were there (minus Spencer Hill - we love and miss you Spencer, hopefully you'll come next time!) We had a lot of fun and the weather cooperated with us. It is amazing what two people in love can start. My Mom and Dad are the best...and don't they just have the cutest grandkids? Check out the slide show to the right! I love being home and spending time with all of my family there is nothing like it!!

HE DID IT!!

Tyler finally learned how to ride his bike! We have been working on this for a year!!! Yesterday he and Rex went outside to play catch...andthe next this I know he is riding. I don't know why, but the fact the he was so scared to learn to ride a bike was making me crazy. I almost cried when I watched him riding. One of the best days ever! He did run into a bush and Rex tried to get him to back on the bike and he said, " No! My Mom said when you fall of you bike you get a kiss and a bandaid and then you get back on!" And thats what he did. He is still a little timid to ride on asphault, but he sure loves the grass....maybe we have a future mountian biker on our hands :) I am so proud of you Ty - YOU DID IT!!

(I burned the grass with the the slip and slide -oops!)

I've have tons of pics to post. I finally figured it

out myself - yeah me! But we will have to do

that another day -when I have more time. Just a

quick update though. Life back home is great. The weather is so nice! It is safe to say that I do not miss the humidity of Arkansas at all!! It just started warming up this week. For those who don't know, I am trainind for the Top of Utah marathon on September 19th. It is going really good. I make Rex bike with me on the long runs. It makes me miss Katie, Rebekkah, and LeAnn - great training buddies!

Hope everyone has a great Fourth of July! We are excited to be back home and have lots of plans for Friday and Saturday. I'll post some pictures of our decorated bikes for the Centerville and Plain City childrens parades.

I AM HOME!!!

It is a official, I am back in Utah. We had an awesome drive home- no problems at all. As soon as I figure out computer stuff, I will post some pics. I took Monica and Pam to Arches and made them hike up to Delicate Arch - sorry ladies :) The hugs that I got from my boys were the best. Preston would not let go of me and both boys followed me everywhere. It was so cute! I didn't realize just how much I missed my Rexy until he put his arms around me- then I knew I was home!! I am excited for summer fun and being with my family!

Hugs and Kisses

This time next Sunday, I will be hugging and kissing my boys!! I cannot believe I made it this long. Word of advice though, DO NOT watch the movie Charly when you really miss you boys and your husband, it just makes the cry factor that much worse. All I can say is that I am so thankful for my family. I never thought that I would use this phrase - it is so cliche - but my arms litteraly ache to hug my children!! And to talk with Rex each night as we read our scriptures and see how things are going or what is going on the next day. I know that is such a small trivial thing, but I truly miss it. We were talking about answers to prayers in Relief Society today and how the Lord answers prayers - sometimes bold and quick and sometimes we wait and wonder - I am so thankful that the Lord knew what was best for me and heard my humble prayer and sent Rex into my life. I could not ask for a better friend, father, and husband! I miss you Rexy and I will see you soon!!

American Idol - Kris Allen

Yeah...I am so excited. I am glad that I am still here in Conway, Arkansas for this AWESOME win. It was all the Kris-crazy students could talk about today :) The girls are all in love with him. Anyhow, it is really exciting. Monica and I DVR'd it last night and at about 9 pm (when they announced the winner) we were only like half way through it & I said to Monica -"do you here that? - I hear fireworks!" We both just smiled and continued to watch - just to be sure! And sure enough, it was Kris!!!

GO ARKANSAS!! - I will miss you!

Only Two Weeks!

This time in two weeks, I will be seeing all of my family - yeah me!! I cannot wait to see them. I miss my boys terribly. Rex and the boys gave me a card for mothers day with their voices recorded on it and I listen to it every night. Tomorrow marks TWO WEEKS since I have seen my boys and Rex. The boys are staying at my moms for a week because Rex started his Bar review class this week and it goes all day, and Mom was asking me what side of Preston's belly has excema on and I couldn't even remember. I NEED to get home and love my boys!!!!

I had the best experience this weekend. My friend Pam took out here endowments at the Memphis temple on Saturday and was sealed to her Mom and Dad. I practically cried the whole day. The spirit was strong. I will just keep praying everyday that Josh will take the step to be baptized, so that he and Pam and Dominique can be sealed as a family. Pam - I am so proud of you!! You and Monica are the main reason it is going to be so hard to leave this wonderful state!

Hill Family - See ya'all soon :)

And then there was me....

Well - I did it! I waved goodbye to by hubby and boys this morning! It was pretty hard. But I think I am stronger than I thought. So my new adventure starts - what to do with myself??Today, I cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen, packed all my stuff and took to Monicas. Then I did a little retail therapy - not too much though.

One of the hardest things, is seeing my house empty. It is so hard. We have made a lot of memories there, and to see it so empty makes me cry. Hopefully these next few weeks will just fly by and I will get my little words of wisdom from my Tyler and Preston's BIG GIANT hugs in no time.

Almost Home!!!

Can you believe it - Rex and the boys are leaving in one week!!! We sold our house a week and a half ago and we are packed and ready to get back to our family. I don't know how I am going to live without my boys-Rex included - for almost four weeks. It will be rough!! But, this to shall pass and it will be great to get their big hugs when I get there. Besides, I am really looking forward to my roadtrip with Monica and Pam. I couldn't ask for greater friends. That is truly the hardest part about leaving Arkansas.

Our other exciting news, is that Ty lost his first tooth on April 19th. We have great pictures, but no computer to upload to (it's packed). It was an exciting night at our house. Preston wanted me to pull his tooth too. He was talking to Grammy Hill on the phone, and in his funny little voice, he says, "You pull the tooth, you get money!" I am sure that he was more excited that Ty got a dollar from the tooth-fairy than Ty was. The next morning he came running into our room screaming that Ty got a dollar, and he wanted me to pull his tooth. I told him that only big boys who go potty in the toilet get to lose teeth. He quickly ran to the bathroom, went potty, and then handed me the dental floss and asked me to pull his tooth. He is way too cute. Ty, is pretty excited too. He shows anyone and everyone. It is funny when he shows people, because he always puts in finger over it and you cannot even tell he lost a tooth.

I will try to keep up with this blog, since I am more than likely going to have more time on my hands with everyone gone. Wish me luck - it is going to be rough :)

The Heart Is A Fragile Thing.....

What a wild and emotional 5 days. My mom has not been feeling well for a quite some time, and a recent cold has seemed to elevate every possible system. Within the last couple of weeks, she has been experiencing chest pain and cold/clamy hands. She said it felt like a brick was on her chest. Her doctor sent her over to the ER on Thursday 3/19, thinking possible heart problems. The EKG and X-rays revealed nothing and after a nights stay (a horrible night in a room with only air conditioning) and some chemical stress tests and an MRI on Friday she was sent home with no explanation as to the possible problem. Well.....Monday another horrible attack occurred, and after a priesthood blessing from my Dad and brother Chad, she was off to the emergency room again. Well after more tests....the ER docs wanted to send her home again. Thank goodness for the cardiologist, she ended up staying the night to monitor her and do more tests. Well to make an extremely long story short, because it took them until 6 pm last nightto do an angio-gram....her major artery, the Left Anterior Descending was 90% blocked. The doctors said that it would have only been a matter of time and that there would have been nothing that they could have done for her.

I have cried so many different tears these past two days. My Mom and I don't always see eye to eye, but she is my best friend. I am so thankful that the Lord has given her another chance to get herself healthy and enjoy her beautiful Grandsons - they've missed years without her! And lets not forget the 12 other grandkids who love their "grammy"....For those of you who know my Mom, she is a tough girl!!! - I am positive that is where my brothers and I get our strength from. She never gives up. All I can say is that I am just so thankful to have her.

I also just wanted to say thankyou to all my friends and family who prayed in her behalf. I know that through pray and faith, the Lord can perform miracles!!!

Tyler's Crazy Thought...Yet Again

Today Tyler's teacher stopped me...again...and told me that she just had to tell me what Tyler said. Apparently during nap time, he went up and said, "Mrs. Jennifer, my bum itches!" She told him to go to the restroom and wipe and it would be better. He quickly went in there and came back out and said, "But Mrs. Jennifer, I haven't gone pooh today and it is really clean. It is just really itchy - could you please look at it?" She reluctently looked at his bottom and sure enough he had a little rash on his upper crack. She told Tyler this, and he said, "Oh no Mrs. Jennifer, I hope I don't have the bum disease!" All I could do was laugh. That kid says the craziest things. It is almost embarassing. I worry about what he says when we are not with him, because he says the craziest things when he is with us. Yesterday I was doing sharing time and I was talking about Nephi obeying Gods commandments and building a ship. And Tyler blurts out.."Well if God hadn't told Nephi to build a ship to get to the promise land, than it would have been a pirate ship and his name wouldn't have been Nephi, it would be Captain Jack Sparrow."

I hope you got your laugh for the day :)

Finally...

Well, here are our Christmas pictures, just in time for Valentines Day -better late than never. We tried to do a cute littel family picture of me and the boys, but like usually - Stinky Pete, as I like to call him, just didn't want to cooperate.

Tyler got a "Speed Race" race car set...the boys have played for hours on this track, infact we just barely took it down. We wanted our livingroom back. It's like 4 feet loong and 2 feet wide with over six feet of track. I guess I should mention the other reason we took it down - Preston kept taking the wheels off of the cars..Big No-No!!

Preston got a bike - he was so excited. He still cannot pedal. He tries so hard. So basically we just push him around the garage and driveway. It's killer on the old back.

The infamous jumper-thingy :) The boys love this. It too, had to be put somewhere else - way too big for the old living room and not to mention, the bottom puts holes in everything - even the exercise mats!!! Currently, blocks of 2x4s are residing on the bottom of each leg. The kids love it though, it plays music and counts their jumps.

Posting More...

I know I really should post more often. I just get too busy. This week, my student intern (teacher) started. It is quite interesting. I think she feels that she has to be everywhere that I am. She is a lot older than your average student teacher (42). Sorry if I have offended anyone :) Hopefully it will all work out well. It will be a great help to me, as we try to get our house sold and packed and yada-yada-yada! I am still waiting for Rex to download our christmas photos. I should get over my fear of technology and learn to do it myself. In my last post I was praying that this semester would fly by and I think it really is. Next Friday the 6th of February is already midterms for the third nine-weeks - Pretty Crazy.

Well, we have been diligently trying to stick to our resolutions at the Spencer house. One of our resolutions was to try and make a new food every week. So far so good!! We have had so much fun. We were just getting tired of all the same old stuff and we thought that this would be a great solution. Our first week, we made my Grandpa Hill's Clam Chowder. It was a little thick - I've got to make a smaller rue next time, but it was otherwise every good. And I did so good with the diet (only eating one cup!!) The next week was Fish Tacos - the best!!!!! And I am not a fish person. Holy Cow - we made them again for our friends the next weekend - all I can say is FABULOUS! Next we tried our hands at Calzones. The were awesome too, and amazingly Preston ate them. That is such a deviation from his regular PB&J (all you with picky kids know what I can talking about.) Well tonight I tried a recipe that I got from Monica a billion years ago. It was called Chicken Stew - it was pretty much my Grandpa's Chili Verde. We really liked it. Ofcourse all of the peppers scared the kids away. I should have taken pics of all our creations. I will try to remember the next time. And if anyone is interested in our recipes, just let me know and I will get it to you.

I'm Alive

So I know it has been a while since I have posted...lots going on with the holidays and stuff. Christmas was absolutely perfect at our house. We could not have asked for a better day. Tyler was so much fun. He was pratically speechless about every present. He opened his stocking first (which contained a tube of reeses peanut butter cups) and this is what he exclaimed, "How did he know? How did he know? How did Santa know that I love chocolate?" I almost cried several times in that crazy hour of ripping and screaming. Tyler made it all worth it. As for Preston, I am sure that it was a competition for him - who could open the presents the fastest. He didn't really even care what was inside each package - all he wanted to do was open them and ours and Ty's. Gary & Suzie-Q's gift was the hit of the day. Some kind of mini jumping tamp with a handle that counts your jumps and plays songs. Also, my parents got the boys sock monkeys - Tyler went crazy. They have a pet sock monkey, named Martin the Monkey - at school. And ever since he had his turn to watch him for the weekend, all he has talked about was getting his own Martin. He wanted to name his Martin too, but we told him there already was a Martin and so his name is Louis. As for Preston, he named his Ooo-Ooo-Ahh-Ahh :)

School is back in - yuck..but I try to look at it this way - less than five months and I will be home. I cannot wait. Hopefully it will fly by-the first week did, so lets keep praying. We started The Biggest Loser at school, and I am determined to win. There are twenty-two of us doing it and we all had to put in 10 bucks.....so far so good for me. I have worked out everyday this week, except for Friday, I was just so tired!!! I am forcing myself to run -run- run. None of this run/walk stuff, just jumping right in there. Most of you know that I live at the top of a semi-steep hill, and well yesterday I was so dumb and I had to end my run all the way to the top...it was brutal. But, despite this crazy competition, my true goal is to do the Top of Utah Marathon next fall - Angie if you read this, get your butt in shape, because you are just about the only person I could run a marathon with!!!

As soon as mu hubby downloads some pics from Christmas, I will post them. Also, we have some cool pics from our first ice storm since we've lived here. It was great...not too mention that I got two days off just the week before we started Christmas break :)