YES! We are a live.

I can not believe November is over and I only posted once the whole month. November was a busy month. Here is a bit of what has been happening.

Olivia has been quite the busy girl. Last month she receive an award for "Wildcat of the month" for October. Last night she also had her school Christmas program and did an awesome job. This year she wasn't stiff as a board and actually looked like she was having fun! She did an awesome job, Jeff and I are very proud of her. She also got her report card and she has straight A's not to much of a surprise she loves to learn.

Harrison is loving school and learning lots, he is eager to learn his letters and surprises me every day. He went on a field trip to the Pet Store and was in heaven. I think he was the only one in his class that knew what a carnivore, herbivore and omnivore were. He even got to pet a snake, rat, and tortoise.

Weston wants to be so much like his big sister and brother that he is eager to learn his letters too. His favorite show is "Super Why" He loves the letters S, O, & W and will tell you about them anytime he see them. He also is a very good reader for a 2 year old. When ever we pull up to "Wal-mart, Maceys or Costco" he has to tell me what the sign says, very smart I tell you...or maybe I am there to much.

Well that is a little bit of what has been going on around our house lately. We had a great Thanksgiving with family. Randy and Brigitte came up from Arizona so it was great to be with them. We were also able to get to know our new sister-in-law Amy, she has really made my brother happy and fits in perfectly with our family.

I need a kick in the but when it comes to updating my blog. I will try and do better from here on out!

Halloween!!

Halloween around our house is like Christmas. My kids get so excited months before it is even here. They can't wait for the outside of the house to have all the cobwebs, spiders and skeletons. It is a month full activities.
We went on a hayride with Uncle Adam, Cheryl, Traceson, Chaylynn and Taelor. Where we got pick our own pumpkins. Then of course we had to carve them, with Mom and Dad's help. Liv's is a Ghost that says "BOO", Weston's is a funny monster, and Harrison's is a haunted house. We used stencils, which I think made things harder.

After watching "Grease" and seeing a "Pink Ladies" jacket at one of the Halloween stores Liv decided to be a 50's girl. The jacket was to big so she couldn't an official "Pink lady". My mom and I made the skirt. It was the easiest of the three costumes.

Harrison decided to be a pirate. He couldn't be just any pirate he had to be a Captain. This was a fun costume to put together. My mom made the vest and nickers. When we had him try on the costume to see if we needed to add ruffles to the front of the shirt. He came out of the bathroom and said "it's perfect". So we stopped there and didn't add anything else to the costume. Who can mess with "Perfect"?

Weston decided he wanted to be an Elephant. He made a way cute elephant. He kept wanting to walk on all fours, silly boy. His one worry about being an elephant was that he needed a tail. Every picture of different costumes always showed the front, so he was quite worried he would not have a tail. So we made sure he had a tail.

My mom did a great job with the costumes. Especially with my brother getting married and having to can apples and pears. The kids looked awesome and had a fun Halloween. Not only that,but we saved a lot of money by sewing the costumes and finding all the material on sale for half price how can you beat that.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Jeff and I just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on October 20th. It is crazy to think we have been married for 9 years. For our anniversary we went and saw "Thriller" at Kingsbury Hall. I loved it..Jeff still isn't sure if he did. I loved it, but it made miss being on stage and performing. I think I would prefer that over being spectator. I cried during the opening number. I am such a baby!
We have had a crazy last year. Jeff finished his Masters degree and with no luck didn't get an Administration job. We haven't given up there is always this fall.
Jeff's dad past away 10 days after our last anniversary and we have been adjusting to life without Grandpa Saunders. We went and visit Grandma this last summer and helped with some repairs around the house.
We have had a busy year, but a lot of fun time as a family. I am glad to be married to Jeff every day is an adventure. Our next adventure is going to be experiencing life with 4 kids. We are expecting our 4Th child in May and we are really excited.

Jeff here's to many adventures ahead and tons of laughter. I love you babe!

Too many dinosaur shows?

So the other day I was driving wasting time, before we needed to go pick Liv up from school. We were up above Weber State, Harrison would tell you we were in the mountains, but any way, we were driving around looking at the very large homes. (Harrison calls them hotels). Well we came down this one hill and in front of us was a man walking and Harrison yells from the backseat "Look mom it's a Human." Yes it was. Now would you say just a little bit to much Discovery TV.

Happy Birthday OLIVIA!!

Here is our birthday girl in one of her new outfits, lets all take a trip to 1980. She felted like a total diva in this outfit.

Olivia and Weston cracking each other up.

Another outfit she got, she is a girl all the way. Love clothes, make-up & Jewelry. She also got an I-pod cause she loves music. She as been singing since she could talk. She used to sing the whole soundtrack to "Beauty and the Beast" at 18mos. and she is 7 I cannot believe it, next year she will be getting baptized, my baby girl is growing up.

Here is her "Hello Kitty" cake she loved it. It came with the little pink purse and the Hello Kitty is a small compact with a little comb and mirror.

Olivia and her Grandma Christofferson. I am so proud of Liv. She is an amazing little girl, who loves to read and learn. She is a great friend and I am glad she is my daughter. She amazes me everyday! Happy Birthday Liv!!! We love You!

"I am still alive"

I was just noticing that it has been since July that I posted last. I think August was a month to get rejuvenated. I have so much to blog about. I have Liv's birthday, summer parades and our trip to Washington, not to mention going back to school. I will try and get that all posted and up this weekend. We all know life is not going to slow down, so we can catch up on our blogging. The longer I wait the further I will get behind and then I will really get behind.

Happy Birthday WESTON

Our little Bubby turned 2 on July 15. He is getting so big I can't believe it. We gave him a haircut on Monday and now he really looks older. We went swimming at the Roy pool, his favorite place. He loves the frog slide, even though he dislikes having to wait in line. (He is getting a lot better at waiting in line.)

He was so excited to get balloons and had we know that would make him so happy we could have saved a lot of money on the rest of the gifts. Now it is just keeping them away from Harrison.

Every time we asked him what kind of party he wanted he would say "Po" his favorite from Kung Fu Panda. Which was not that easy to find, since the movie came out a year ago. Lucky for us Wal-mart had a cake topper. We couldn't even find a balloon with "Po" on it. He was excited for his cake though.

Cupcake cakes are the best easy to eat and to cut. Everyone had fun just relaxing. Uncle Adam and Aunt Cheryl came, Cousin Lexi, Traceson, Chaelynn, Taelor and Grandma & Grandpa "C" came too. Lots of yummy ice cream cones too. Weston also got some cool gifts, bubbles, coloring books, bucket and shovels. He also got a Race car toy he loves, a panda bear (PO), an outfit and a new bike. Now he can be cool like his big brother and sister.

He was so cute trying to ride his bike. His legs are not long enough, so he can't reach the peddles, so he walks bull-legged to move his bike it is pretty cute. He was pretty excited to make it to the corner where the kids turn around to come back towards the house. He wasn't going to give until he got there and he made it.

I can not believe, my baby is 2. This is the first one of my babies that when they have turned 2 that I am not Pregnant with the next. It is fun to watch him, become a big boy he is learning to talk more and more each day. He has always wanted to be just like his big brother and sister and now he is getting bigger and can do a lot more of the things that they do.

SuMmEr TiMe!!!

You have to love summertime, we love it around our house. It is nice to have Jeff home allot more then he is during the school year.

This summer has started off being very busy. I had Youth Conference a couple of weeks ago and had a blast with the youth and in getting to know the ladies that help me fulfill my calling as Young Women president. Our theme was "Keepers of the light", which we compare the youth to lighthouses and expressed how we want them to be the light that others can follow. Not just their peers, but to the youth that are younger then them in our own ward. To be a true example and to let their testimonies show who they are. It was awesome, we played volleyball, went hiking, rock climbing which was awesome everyone did it, but 2 youth. Of course we canoed and played in the reservoir, but there was NO beach to relax and get a nice tan, but the water felt great after the hike and rock climb. We have a great speaker and and awesome testimony meeting.
But nothing makes a camping trip better then great food, which we had plenty of including banana boats and S'mores. Ü

We got home from youth conference the day before Father's day. On Father's day, after church we came home and hurried and packed to head to Park City. Jeff had training and since everything was paid for we all had to go too. So we took off for a fun little family trip. The kids and I found a park last year and so we had to go back there and play again. We had fun swimming and playing at the park. We got rid of the Disney Channel and other channels at our house, but the hotel had the Disney Channel and Animal plant which was like heaven for Harrison and Olivia. Which was really nice during Westons naptime. We ate at our favorite pizza place and got our chocolate fix. We were only there for three days while Dad stayed the whole week.

It is nice to be getting back to somewhat normal. I didn't take any pictures, is that crazy..well I can't find my camera, I am hoping it wasn't stolen and I have just missed placed it somewhere, but I really want a new one. At least if I don't find it I did recently dump all my pictures onto the computer, so that is a relief.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer and spending time with their family. Get out of the normal and experience life. Ü

So Proud..yet Sad too.

Olivia has been counting the days for school to get out. You would think it was, so she could go swimming, stay up late, sleep in and just play and have fun.


Well those were some of the good reasons, but the one thing she really wanted to do this summer was to cut her hair and donate it to "Locks of Love".
I measured her hair on Friday and she had 12 inches to donate, you to have at least have 10.



Well no problem there, except mom wasn't quite really for her to get her hair cut. I love doing Liv's hair and doing new hair styles. We did a clover for St. Patricks day, and on crazy hair we did a ton of buns all over, like the girl in "Liar Liar" way cute and fun. I tried to talk her into waiting until school started in the fall. She wouldn't go for that. So I called the salon and made an appointment. (sorry for the picture on its side).

The girl that cut her hair did it different, then I had done when I donated my hair 4 years ago they braided it and then cut. This girl split Liv hair in sections and then cut it to length I told her I wanted Liv's hair. She did this is 4 different section. She said this makes it so more hair goes to "Locks of Love" instead of on the ground.

Liv hair is now a cute little bob. She calls it her "summer" hair cut. It looks way cute on her. She says she can look in the mirror more now then she could before..not quite sure why she couldn't look before, but OK.

We are now both going to grow our hair out, so that we can donate our hair again next year. She was so excited after she got her hair cut she jumped out of the chair and gave me a big hug. That made it all worth it, I guess I will have to find some cute short hair-do's for short hair now. Any ideas?

Go Daddy Go!!

Yeah Jeff received his Master of Education Leadership from Southern Utah University at the beginning of the month, (May 2), yeah I am a little behind in my blogging.

We are so proud of Jeff and his accomplishments and the things he is doing to improve the way of life for our family.

It was a great commencement Pres. Monson received an Honor Doctorate and was hooded with a hooded of Education just like Jeff's. It was pretty cool. Aunt Jojo and Grandma Saunders flew in and then made the road trip with us. It was a fun adventure. My parents traveled down a couple hours after us.

Jeff is excited, because at NUAMES (the school he works at), the staff wears their graduation robes and this year he will be able to wear his Hood which reflects his Masters. He also is reading the names of the graduates at his high school. I am so proud of him. Now we are just hoping we get a job in administration, so that he doesn't have to work two jobs just to make ends meet.

Thanks babe I love you!

Skinny Jeans

Let me give you a little background back in January I put a pair of pants on the couch for Harrison to change into so we could go see "Walking with Dinosaurs" for his 4Th birthday. Well a few minutes later after much nagging from me for him to change he came into my room and was like "Mom Dhese or not pants they are shorts". Me knowing I would not put shorts out for him to wear in the middle January knew something was weird.

Well I then turned and looked at him, and found him wearing Weston's pants.

Yes he fit into his Little brother's pants that were once his and probably did not fit him when he was 12 months old.

These pants do have an elastic waist so that does help, but he could squat in them not problem and they weren't even skin tight.

Harrison and Weston have always been my "Skinny" kids. Harrison was always in the 5% for weight where Weston is not even on the charts. Weston weighs barely 22lbs and is 20 months and Harrison who is 4 weigh 32lbs. One thing is for sure Harrison gave new meaning to "Skinny Jeans" I think it Skinny boy in little Jeans.

Our "Wildcat"

Olivia was the "Wildcat of the Month" for April from her class. Mrs. Anderson said she is always smiling and is pushing herself by reading hard books. She also said that she is a great leader in the classroom. Olivia is reading chapter books and loves them. Her favorites are the Magic Tree house books.


Olivia and her Principal Mrs. Bollar

We are so proud of Olivia. She loves to learn new things. This year in school she has really enjoyed reading. Her teacher has found new ways for them to look at books. Like I don't know who has read the "Tree house" books, but they are about a brother and sister named Jack and Annie and they go on Adventures through books found in a Tree house. Well their teacher pointed out the personalities of Annie and Jack and then let the kids figure out whether they are a Annie or a Jack. Olivia learned she is a Jack she has to stop and think about things, before doing them, where Annie just jumps into things.

We love you Liv and are very proud of all you do, you are a great big sister. Great Job on earning "Wildcat of the month" for March.

Great Family Weekend!!

I feel like I am so far behind in posting. I was looking through, my pictures and I found lots that I want to post, but I will just start with some recent ones and then I will go back blog about the others another day.

Well I really enjoyed conference, I really enjoy Elder Jeffrey R Hollands talk, it was a great talk to ponder and think about during the week leading up to Easter. We have a few tradition some need to be modified, but every conference weekend, in between the Saturday session we always go to Artic Circle for lunch which we did, but decided that in the fall we will choose a different place to eat, they have become way to expensive and the food wasn't that great. Plus my kids get excited for the kids meal that comes with a stuff animal or in the fall a flashlight. Well they were all out this time so they were very disappointed. Then during Priesthood session the kids and I go hang out with Grandma and Jeff goes to Priesthood with my dad and brothers.

This year we did something different in between the Sunday session and we will have to do again in the fall. We went to Beus Pond and to feed the ducks, (but there was a lot more seagulls then ducks.) and we had a lot of fun.

The kids went and played on the play ground for a little while and got all there energy out before hanging to play quietly at home.

We raced down the big hill, Harrison was a little pooped, coming back up the hil.

Olivia was the winner.

Weston trying to catch up to everyone, I think he would have won, but he couldn't quit laughing while he was running.

Harrison our little Pali JR. found dinosaur bones at the park, so he was having a great day.

Just walking around the pond and having fun.

Weston favorite thing the slide!! Olivia and him racing down the slide.

It was great to get out and run and have fun as a family. I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with my family. I love getting away and not having to think of fixing dinner, going to one activity or another, cleaning the house and anything else the world want to throw our way. I think this is one of the best conference weekends I have ever had thanks to my family. I did get a lot from the talks too.

Am I really that funny?

OK well just yesterday I was keeping my goal of a 30 min. exercise everyday. Well Jeff bought me the Wii Fit about a month ago and I have done really good at sticking to the routine. Well Yesterday I was doing this REALLY hard exercise, you have to hold one arm in the air and then while keeping your arm in the air lay down flat, still keeping the one arm in the air. Then you get up, just using one arm and your legs and abs. Yes the one arm is still in the air. I was doing 6 reps each arm. Sounds easy....it kicked my butt and I was struggling, but I was also entertaining Weston, he was in his high chair having breakfast, just laughing at me..I told him it wasn't funny and he would laugh harder. So if your stuck trying to entertain your little ones and need to workout do this exercise, it work at our house.

Biggest Loser: Challenge to work your core!

How did last week's challenge go? Did all that positive self talk make a difference? I think that how we are with ourselves on the the inside, reflect sometimes on the outside. So I will continue to motivate myself on the inside and then I might be more consious of what is going inside my body and take better care of it. This week's challenge is another physical one. We are going to work our cores!!! The challenge is to do the following exercises at least 4 times (basically every other day). It should only take you about 10-15 minutes. That means you can totally do it while you watch the news or your fave TV show. The workout says you need dumbbells, but you can do it without (if you don't have any).
15 minute standing dumbbell workout

Biggest Loser: Week 4 Tips -Don't forget to put your weigh in totals is the post below. Ü

These tips come a book called "30 Days to a Healthier Family" by Peggy Hughes. It’s filled with tips, advice, activities, and recipes for helping the whole family become healthier. Another book is "Tip A Day Guide for Healthy Living" by Melanie Douglass. It has 365 tips for improving your health one day at a time.

* Find the best workout music... find music with the "BPM" (beats per minute) that matches your activity level. BPM is the number of beats that occur in every 60 seconds of a song. Find the BPM by counting how many beats you hear in 15 seconds of music, then multiplying that by 4. Or, if you use iTunes, you can view the BPM by right clicking on the menu.
- 115 BMP... slow walking, strength training
- 125 BMP... elliptical training, stair climbing, walking 3-4 miles per hour
- 135 BMP... power/fitness walking (4-4.5 mph), moderate cycling (60-70 rotations per minute)
- 145 BMP... jogging (5-6 mph), fast cycling (75-80 rotations per minute)

* Healthy grocery store shopping... the fresher, the better. If you shop for foods from the outer aisles of the grocery store (meaning the frutis, veggies, low-fat dairy, lean meats and 100% whole greain breads) the meals you cook will be much healthier. Venture into the inner aisles to pick up things like healthy, whole grain cereal, brown rice, a few cans of beans, and maybe some whole-wheat pasta (yummy!!). The 2nd book above recommends spending at least 80% of your grocery budget on the "outer" aisle foods. Then make sure you use the fresh foods you buy.
* In the same book Melanie talks about her husband's point of view... "If fruits, vegetables, and whole grains really are so great- and God has told us they are healthiest for us- then why didn't He make them taste better?" (pg. 9). I loove Melanie's response. She says "I have a theory on this. Satan works hard every day to decieve us. Infiltrating our food supply with foods swimming in calories, fat, sodium, and sugar is a subtle yet powerful way to get us down. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains did taste superior to any other food at one time- before our taste buds were introduced to the food of the 21st century." (pg 9).

Thais a different take on food and unhealthy vs healthy eating. Last week was a crazy week for me I let myself eat whatever I wanted since I was exercising more I thought I could get away with more NOPE!. When I make healthier food choices I have energy to play all day long with the family. I have energy to clean my house. I put more thought into my appearance which makes me feel better about myself. My mind is more aware and alert... all these wonderful things that I'm sure my Heavenly Father wants for me. So, after making this realization, I am once again committed to cutting out the junk in my diet.
What tips have you come across? What words of wisdom do you have to share with us all as we try to live healthier? And how did this week go for you girls?

Biggest Loser: Week 3 Weigh In

Ok I think I am the Biggest loser this, it now Wednesday and I am barely posting the Weigh in.
We're at the end of our 3rd week already!! Great work ladies. So, what's the damage for this week? How much closer is everyone to fitting in their skinny jeans and string bikinis? (Totally kidding on the string bikini thing... at least for myself!)

6th picture tag..

Ok here is the 6th picture from my 6th folder.


This picture is from our last trip to Sea World back in 2006. if you look close you can see the trainer in front riding Shamu. (I am so ready to go again.) All of our kids first vacation has been to Sea World, Weston hasn't gotten a turn yet.

I tag Alicia, Shelly, Celeste and Heather

Rules are go to your pictures to your 6th folder and then pick the 6th picture and blog about it.

Biggest Loser Challenge, Week 3

OK - this week is mental. Sit down and write yourself a pep talk - it can be as long or as short as you want it to be. Write down what motivates you to lose weight/maintain your health. Then read it to yourself once a day, more often if you feel temptation or laziness creeping in.
Next week report on how it made a difference. So... how did everyone do with the 200 minute challenge?

Week 3 Thoughts

Biggest Loser: Thoughts
Sorry, I got behind yesterday and forgot to post this so here is the thoughts for week 3. Oh yeah and where is everyone I only got weigh in for 2 people counting me.
Alright fellow Losers, what's been going through your mind this week? Any recipes to share? Great workouts you've discovered? We'd love to read what you've got to say!

Week 2 Weigh In

Biggest Loser: Week 2 Weigh In

Week 2 is over! How did everyone do? And don't forget, its not too late to join! Just leave a comment with your goal and start losing.

Week 2 Challenge

Challenge Week 2: Is all about time

How did everyone do with last weeks challenge? Hopefully we all are eating more fruits and veggies than we were before. Let's keep going with it!

The challenge for this week is a physical one: get 200 minutes of cardio in before next Thursday. That is roughly five 40 minute workouts. Feel free to modify this (increase or decrease) if you need to. We all can do it no problems right!! Good luck!

Biggest Loser: May 20th Tips, Tricks & Thoughts

How's everyone doing this week? What's worked well for you? What hasn't worked at all?

Biggest Loser Week 1 Weigh-in

Alright all you Losers!! (And I do mean that in a kind and loving way!) How did we do this week? How much closer are you to your goal? (Just a reminder- when you leave your comment, let us know how much you lost, the total you've lost and what your goal is... for example "I lost 3/Goal 20! YAY ME! (Lost:5/Goal:30)"

Anyone who didn't join and is now wishing they were in on the Loser fun... feel free to leave a comment with your weight loss goal. We'd love to have you join us! Also continue the challenge from last week and we will comment about that tomorrow, when we get a new challenge for this week.
Just a reminder I know some of you had friend who wanted to participate let them know we have start and that it is not too late to turn in a goal weight.

Just something to think about...

OK, so on the way to school today Liv asked me if there was a "Father Nature" (cause we are ready for Mother nature to decide whether we can have spring or not.) I told her no there wasn't and then I got to thinking, (I know I should have stop there it was to early for it) Mothers do everything. First thought Mother Goose is there a father nope. Old Mother Hubbard...Father Hubbard nope. (a.k.a Octomom's future). Most the fairy tales don't have fathers and sad to say they are normally wicked yes but Step Mothers. As the old saying goes a Women's work is never done. Maybe I should be a little more grateful I do have a Father Saunders at our home to help Mother Saunders out and he is the best!

Week 1 Challenge

Sorry I am a little behind in posting.

Ready for the challenge this week? This is a challenge everyone can do - pregnant or not!!!!This weeks challenge is to get at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies in per day. If you are already doing this, increase your intake by 1 serving per day.

One medium-size fruit
1/2 cup raw, cooked, frozen or canned fruits (in 100% juice) or vegetables
3/4 cup (6 oz.) 100% fruit or vegetable juice
1/2 cup cooked, canned or frozen legumes (beans and peas)
1 cup raw, leafy vegetables
1/4 cup dried fruit

Good luck!!!

Alright... this is the portion where we share tips we've learned, tricks we've discovered and thoughts we've had over the past week (or for the upcoming week!). This would also be an ideal place to share recipes, inspirational quotes, compliments you've received, etc.

OK well In the blog that I found this “Biggest Loser” program she talks about how when she decided it was time to lose weight, she took a look at how much she was eating by counting calories. So for 3 days she tracked her calorie intake. She found out she was consuming 3000 calories a day. Quite an eye opener.
So the tip for this week is to be conscious of what you put into your body. Being aware of what you put into your body is a huge part of losing and maintaining your weight. So do a calorie evaluation for this week.
The other tip I have is evaluate yourself... what is it that you are or are not doing that could make a huge difference in your quest for weight loss? Maybe you share one of my bad habits... skipping breakfast! Or maybe you drink pop and juice instead of the right amount of water. Maybe you don't make healthy snack choices.
Like the scriptures teach us, the small and simple things can lead to great results. That concept is true in so many aspects of life, and I'm a firm believer that it applies in this aspect also!!

(please make sure you read both blog entries)

Being that this is the program kick off, I thought I'd just remind everyone to weigh themselves so they know what their starting point is. Also, here is a list of people we have who are participating thus far. Let me know if I've missed your goal. Also, we'd still love to see people sign up, so leave a comment with your weight loss goal!! (If you have friends who wanted to participate I have not receive their goals yet, please let them know we have started and to keep checking my site.)

Alicia 5lbs and some inches

Celeste 10lbs

Shelly 10lbs

Melanie 5-10lbs

Angie 20lbs and some inches

Dianne 20lbs