SLC and other tid bits

So I guess it's time to update. Truth is I haven't really felt like blogging, so anyways.....we are here in the land of Zion (or so they say). All in all moving pretty much sucks. However, we have mostly settled in and Jason is well into his academic career....actually it's kicking his butt. He doesn't get to bed before 2 everynight, and that's if he's lucky. I feel so bad for him. The first week was a wake up call for him I think, but he has seemed to get more determined and is taking it more in stride (and possibly learning to live without sleep?). I don't have any pictures of us here because Jason has had to use the camera for school. Maybe later.

I am keeping things on the home front in order and I must say that I am doing better than I thought I would. The girls definately keep me busy but when things get a little crazy inside I take them outside to the playground right in front of our place.........heaven!!! We have been able to go on walks and play outside which was hard to do in St. George because of the heat. The weather here has been so great and I hate to think what will happen when it starts to snow.

We have become good mates with a couple that moved here from Australia. They are great! She is actually from New Zealand and he is an Aussie. I spend alot of time with them and then when I'm home I find myself thinking in an Aussie accent. I'll probably start talking like them too.

I was able to fly down to Phoenix to attend my best friends wedding. Kim is like a sister to me and we were very close in high school. Funny thing is she married a guy that was mission companions with Jason in Chile. How freaky is that?

Anyway, we did get to take the girls to the zoo. They had a great time and Regan wants to go back everyday. Luckily we live very close and so we bought a pass and will be able to take them alot.

At the entrance.

I kept making Regan turn to look at me so I could take her picture.

You can't see it, but there is a rhinocerous right by the window.

As many of you know, my sister had her baby a week ago on September 4th. He is so stinkin' cute and we are so excited for them!! They will make great parents.

Gavin Reid Owens

Anderson Family Reunion

The week before we moved we went to the Anderson Family reunion on Beaver mountain. It was so beautiful up there! I got some great pictures, mostly of Sophie though.

Sweet little face, even if it is muddy.

If there was water, you could count on Sophie to find it and get in it.

There is a little lake there with canoes so Jason took Regan for a ride.

Is that the face of excitment or what?

Sophie wanted to wear one just like her big sister.

Water, yet again. She just took off straight into the lake! And Regan followed this time.

But she didn't get as far as Sophie. Good grief!!

Winds of Change

We are in the process of moving this week so I'll not be around for a week or so. Take care everybody!

My Scrap for Hire Business!!

http://www.kristalsdigitalcreations.blogspot.com

The Book of Mormon

So this motherhood thing has been a little tougher than I orignially anticipated. I won't go into all the details....most of that is a couple of posts down. One of the hard things is church. I never realized how hard it is to have young kids in church. It would be very easy to go inactive for a while if you didn't have a strong testimony. Since Regan was about 4 months old, church has just been something you do just because you want to be obedient to the commandments...not really because you want to learn how to be better or gain any sort of spirituality. They don't sit still through any class. Just today Regan peed all over the hardwood floor in the back during sacrament and I spent a while cleaning her up and cleaning the big puddle she left. Kind of hard to listen to speakers when your kid has turned into a garden hose right in the middle of church. And the girls have crazy sleeping schedules so it seems hard to squeeze in meaninful scripture study. So what I'm getting at is I don't feel spiritual or as spiritual as I used to. I don't feel as strong as I used to. I just feel drained. It is easy to get discouraged when I feel this way and I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!!
I have desperately wanted to boost my spirituality and feel some incling of the spirit again in my life. I decided that I needed to start reading the Book of Mormon again because instead of being a daily thing it is hit-and-miss (more miss than hit). So last week I started getting up earlier before the girls woke up and I read the BOM for at least a half hour. The first three days were amazing!! I felt calmer. I felt more patient. Regan had another big mess and I didn't even freak out a little bit. I felt more love for my children and for being a mother. I felt my burdens being carried a little. I don't really like to share personal stuff like this on my blog, but I felt the Lord tell me to share it. I don't know why. I think the Lord gave me this gift and then wanted me to help Him by sharing it. In the last couple weeks, I have only missed a couple of days of reading and I have noticed a difference in the days I do and the days I don't. I'm not feeling totally great yet, but I know that if I keep reading that I will gain the spirit that I want in my life. So if you haven't been reading then start again. If you haven't ever read it, then read it. It will change your life.

Reganisms and Sophieisms

Sophie has been saying words right and left and I wanted to jot down some of them before I forget. She will be 15 months in a few days.

Up, daddy, mama, no, cwacker, cereal, bubble, box, hot, walk, baby, boo, moo, meow, quack, neigh, woof, bye bye, hello, hi, nummy-num (which means she wants something to eat or whatever you're eating RIGHT NOW!!). She loves to play with my phone and will put it up to her ear and say "hello-ello" and it sounds like some Japanese lady who's in a hurry.

Ok I have already started to forget some of the words, but she tries to say words we say and is too stinkin' cute. When Regan and I are singing she tries to sing too. She does not stop moving. Most of the time when it's getting late and she should go to sleep, she will keep moving until she finally "hits a wall" and crashes where ever she is.

Regan loves singing and knows so many songs that I can't even count. She likes to mix and match songs as well just to spice things up a bit.

Here are a couple examples:

"The Sophie on the bus goes (insert Sophie's crazy, alien noise here)...." Then when Regan starts making the noise, Sophie has to join in.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes...all through the town!"

Jason and I like to tease her a bit with the Wonder Pet's song. We will say something like, "Regiroo, Regiroo we're on our way..." and she get's mad and says "NO!! WONDER PET'S!!" Or we ask her what she wants to sing and when we start singing somethingthing she'll get mad, "NO!! WONDER PET'S!!". She is my little drama queen. She knows how to whip out her fake cry and boy does she work it! She'll come up to me with her pouty face and fake cry and say, "My cwying!"

"Well what's the matter"

"My CWYING!"

Oh, I get it now. She really has kind of hit the terrible twos. Full on tantrums, and mischevious mayhem, yet she can say the funniest things:

When I go to the bathroom, both girls usually have to be right there and Regan usually says,

"Such a big girl, go poo poo in the potty." She has heard me say it to her so much that she feels the need to compliment me on my acomplishments as well.

"Look mama! It's a baby bread (with a scrunched up nose and high squeaky voice), it's so pretty!"

Here is a funny little story that I want to remember later. I was in the living room folding towels and Regan was in the kitchen when she said without any panic in her voice, "Mama, dere's a spider right dere."

"Oh really?", not really paying attention.

"Dere's a spider right dere mama!"

I get up not expecting much because she thinks most bugs are spiders. I get to her and she has her hand up with her fingers spread and I see a big, black cricket sitting on her middle finger! She didn't move a muscle and just kept saying, "dere's a spider right dere". I quickly got a paper towel and caught the cricket (luckily he didn't move a muscle either). After it was off her she put her hand to her chest and said, "dat spider scare me". What a stinkin' brave girl! What other normal person would not shake convulsively to get that thing as far away as possible?

I hope I am not the only one who deals with kids who have night time sleeping issues. Regan HATES to be alone esp. at night when she goes to bed, so we lay down with her until she goes to sleep, and I'm a bit embarassed to mention that she sleeps on the floor of our bedroom (that's a whole other tangent). A few times a week she will just lay there and not go to sleep. After an hour or more i can't take it so I say that I'm going to go the bathroom or something just to see if she will stay and go to sleep on her own.....oh no....she comes out with her blanky...

"I'm awake" think of a sweet little angelic voice, not the one that just screamed at me earlier in the day.

"I know your awake. You need to be asleep. Why don't you go lay down."

She gives me a big hug. "I'm glad to see you" She's milkin' it.

Awwww..."I'm glad to see you to, but you need to go back to bed. It is very late."

Another big hug, with the Super Duper sweet little angelic voice, "Mmmmmm, I lub you mama."

She is really soppin' it up here.

"Ok, ok, you can stay. Go sit by your dad and go to sleep."

You know they say that adults are smarter than kids, but who ends up getting what they want the most? Not me, that's for sure. Not when she breaks out the Super Duper sweet little angelic voice. She knows exactly what she's doing.

P.S. I hate when blogger won't let me put spaces in between paragraphs!!!!!!!

Burnham Family Reunion

I've been kind of MIA for the last couple of weeks. The week of July 4th we had a family reunion in Heber, AZ and went camping with a bunch of family that I hadn't seen for a long time. Regan and Sophie took advantage of their new found freedom and had a blast swimming in the dirt (literally for Sophie). Half the campsite is now down my parents bathtub drain because of those two alone.

I got to see Kandra and rub her expanding belly. She looks smaller in person than in her blog pictures. She is very cute and we had a little family baby shower for her that turned out really nice. Jared unfortunately didn't stay out camping with us (the big baby) and opted to stay at his parents house instead.

Poor Wendy couldn't be there because the retina in her eye detached a few days before and she had to have surgery during the reunion. We missed having her there and I especially missed poking her squishy-jello bum. We did go over to Lakeside to see her before we left though.

The 4th of July fireworks show was great as usual and Sophie and Regan managed not to scream bloody murder this year. They actually fell asleep during them...crazy kids. I wanted to take more pictures but I didn't want my nice camera to get all filthy. I had it in the car and Jason was changing Sophie's diaper and she reached up and pulled it down on her face and chipped her front tooth. Nice...now she'll be a hill-billy baby until it falls out in another 6 years. Regan got curious with a prickly pear cactus and I spent 45 minutes trying to get the tiny thorns out of her hands. But that was the worst of their injuries thank goodness.

Here is a big high five to my mom for all the hard work that she did to put EVERYTHING together. This wouldn't have been a good reunion without her efforts. We had a family olympics and even my 93 year old grandma participated!! Way to go grams!!

Sophie and Brinley (my brother's girl).

Sophie is snuggling up to my dad. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the sucker he is illegally giving her. Actually he has found about the only way to keep her wiggly bum still.

Yes there are more pictures of Sophie from this campout, but Regan was kind of MIA as well from having so much fun with her cousins. Kandra, I need you to send me the pictures you took. Anyway, it took me all of last week to get everything clean and put away from the trip. I have been working to get things ready to move and so I haven't been online very much. Things are going pretty well for us, but I think as the time draws closer to moving and starting a new life, we are kind of internally freaking out....well I know I am. So just bare with me as these post may not be timely for a while. I hope you all are doing well. -Ciao!

New page

Thoughts

I was getting ready for bed and I just kept having these thoughts go through my head and I had to get them out. It's really not that interesting or life altering.....just thoughts.

I love my blog. My blog, my little corner of the world where I can let myself out. I try to use it as a sort of journal, letting some of the best and funnier moments of my life shine forth. I paint lovely, pretty pictures of my darling girls (which they are), and exclaim how wonderful my life is (which it is). I don't like to put negative things on here because I think manure repells people, even me, to my own manure pile. Having kids is hard enough when you dwell on it. So I paint pretty pictures to help me focus on the good aspects of being a mother.

However, I have to get these thoughts in my head out and "on paper" so to speak. I read other people's blogs about how much they love being mothers and I wonder where I missed the train. The day to day stuff is boring, hard, and monotanous. Those mother's must love their kids more than I love mine. It would be a lie if I said that I loved being a mother. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE my girls, but I'm not head over heels in love with being a mother.

I don't love waking up multiple times in the night, just to have to wake up early and not get a nap during the day to make up for it.

I don't love changing poopy diapers (or underwear for that matter).

I don't love trying a dozen different things before I figure out that Regan wants turkey meat and pickles for breakfast.

I don't love picking up the same messes day after day.

I don't love being a referee between the girls.

I don't love not being able to do things that I want to do.

I don't love trying to entertain the girls to keep them happy day after day.

I don't love cleaning up lipstick, pen, marker, vaseline, you name it, all over eachother and everything (like our new couch).

I don't love disciplining.

I don't love to hear whining.

I don't love wrestling the kids through church.

I don't love looks the girls give me like I've just broken their hearts.

I don't love seeing them sick or in pain.

I don't love being with them all day, caring for them all day, and doing pretty much everything for them all day, for them to favor their daddy over me.

I don't love the guilt that comes from wondering if I'm doing a good enough job.

I love moments of being a mother.

I love when Sophie kisses me and makes the "muah" sound.

I love when Regan sings with me.

I love watching them hug and kiss eachother.

I love hearing Regan scream that Sophie is climing the stairs and then go get Sophie and see a triumphant look on her face.

I love watching them dance.

I love looking at them while they are asleep.

I love watching them discover something new.

I love doing Regan's hair (when she lets me).

I love looking at their smiling faces and thinking that they are the most beautiful children alive.

You know, it seems that the cons outweigh the pros. I mean how does a little dance hold up to poop smeared all over the bathtub mutliple times? Or barf, food, pee, and pen all over the new couch? Yet somehow in this crazy world............it does. The world continues to be populated. Families continue to grow. We will have more children (not this minute mind you).

I guess in all my rambling, I really want my girls to look back when they are mother's and realize that some of the same things they are feeling and going through are normal. I want them to know and understand that I truly do love them and want all things good for them. I am new at this motherhood thing and most of the time I just pray that I get it right.....that what I'm doing is going to help them. Isn't that the common bond that links mothers together? The hope that what you are doing will make a difference and help your child reach their full potential? So maybe I am a real mother and not just a faker like I've felt for a long time. Maybe I do rank up with those mothers that have that same goal in mind. Maybe I didn't miss the train, I'm just on the caboose and trying to get my bearings. Maybe....just maybe.

Disney Princess

I can see this about me. I mean she is an intellectual person and not some cheesy, dripping with mush love-sick girl who can't think for herself. Plus she has a killer voice and is crazy sexy so I KNOW that's me (hahaha)! ;)

You Are Belle!

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your apperance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

7 Big Ones!!

Today is our anniversary. If you can't guess from the title is has been 7 big years. I was looking back through old pictures and had some good memories that I thouht I'd share with you. Beware: there are going to be alot of pictures.

While we were dating. (Left): Dixie College Homecoming Dance
(Top): Jason's College Graduation
(Bottom): Watching movies at Jason's house

Wedding Day

I love these "Cutting the Cake" pictures. This was at the reception in Heber

We moved to Salt Lake just before our first anniversary to go the University of Utah. I worked at the hospital as a CNA and Jason worked at Sky West. We were able to fly for free to many places. We were able to fly to Chile (where Jason served his mission) on First-Class for VERY cheap.

We saw people he knew which was great but we got roasted in the sun sooooo very badly that we had to return home after 5 days instead of staying 2 weeks. All in all what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime ended up being the worst trip of our lives.

However, we did have many fun trips like this one to 6 Flags, CA to celebrate Jason's BF's birthday.

And this one to northern Idaho to see Jason's other BFs. We got all dressed up to go get dessert. People couldn't stop staring but it was a great time.

After a year we moved back to SG and went to Nitro racing in LV with my bro.

For our second anniversary we went to Yellowstone camping and then on up to ID to see our friends again.

Graduating with my AS.

Hanging with good friends.

(Left): Casey and Kelly Niederhauser

(Middle): Travis and Amber Sheffield

(Right): Two good-lookin' people

4 Year Anniversary

Bringing Regan Home '06

Christmas '06

Kristal 34 wks pregnant, Jason 29 wks, and Mark 24 wks.

May '07

December '07

Life has been good to us these last 7 years. It seems like it hasn't been that long, yet thinking about all that we have done and all these memories, it seems like a different life time. We have moved 4 times and are about to move again. I finished dental hygiene school, and Jason is about to start architecture school. We have two beautiful daughters. We have made many amazing friends that we will have for life. We truly have been blessed. I know I have. Jason is without a doubt the perfect match for me. I don't know how he puts up with me the way he does. He is the best thing that has happened to me. Love you and Happy Anniversary!

The Office

Which Character From The Office Are You?

More on The Office. Created by BuddyTV

So you all know that I LOVE the TV show The Office so I found this character quiz. Hahaha, not what I was expecting, but pretty funny if you ask me!