A video of funny Zoey

I finally figured out how to get the videos on my computer. Definitely different and little more steps then I thought was needed, but I got it. I have had the camera for 4 days and now have 7 videos, 2 of which Bryce recorded. I was only to upload 1 of the 3 I was going to share. Hopefully I can get it to work later and share the other. This video is of Zoey watching herself in the camera. the screen is able to flip over so she just played with herself really. It's pretty funny.

Stuck in Washington

So, the huge snow storm that has come to Washington/Oregon has dumped a total of 8 to 10 inches in areas, and some area more. Plus freezing rain. So far this storm has been the worst this area has seen in a while. The last snow storm they had was about 5 years ago and everything was shut down. Last night, we had some friends over, and one of our friend's spouses and baby was stuck in Chicago, trying to figure out a way to get home from New Hampshire because Portland airport had been shut down. Both Alaska airlines and Southwest (the major company that flies through Portland) canceled all flights last night. Last we heard is that anybody that wants to fly in or out might have to wait until Christmas day, all because of the storm. We have plows here but not dirt or salt trucks to help with the slick roads so it is slick everywhere.

We are suppose to have maybe just Sacrament for church today because of a Christmas program but because of slick roads, they might cancel again for the 2nd week in a row. Last week was canceled because of slick roads. This week is worse than last week. We got about a quarter of an inch of freezing rain. So on top of the slick snow, we have slicker ice due to the freezing rain. It's just insane up here. I can't believe how bad this storm is.

In addition to the slick roads, from here to Boise ID, the roads are terrible. They have closed a portion of I-84, due to lack of visibility so we cannot get out of Oregon and into Idaho. Last night is when they closed it and it continues to stay close now. There were a few people stuck on the highway that had been there for a few hours. We have been planning on going to my parents house for Christmas but that has changed. We are going to stay here in Washington. Our main concern about driving was going through the passes and into the mountains but the news has said if you do plan on it, go in a truck(which we don't have), have chains on( haven't got those yet), and pack an emergency kit for about a day(that's just scary and I don't want to be stuck in the car for a day or more!!). Just after the passes, in Ontario(just before the Idaho border) has posted winter storm warnings. They are expecting to get 12 inches of snow followed by freezing rain. So I think the storm is moving into Idaho and Utah. Good luck if you live in the path of the storm. It might not be has bad as what we had up here, but it hot us hard. Plus it doesn't help that the Vancouver/Portland area and outside do not have the right equipment to handle this kind of weather.

So, unfortunately, we don't get to spend Christmas in Idaho with my family. The weather is just to bad for driving. I was really excited for Zoey to go to Grandpa's house because she was so excited but I am not excited about driving there. I would rather not risk everything this year in the weather. It's just to scary out there. We are excited to have a few of Bryce's high school friends and their families here. They got lucky and missed the storm on their way up. So to all of those we were hoping to see, it is going to be a while until we make it up there. We are thinking it might not be until Luke's mission farewell, around March. The weather should be better then.

I do hope everyone is being safe. We sure are going to be inside longer then we probably want. I have a few videos I would love to share but have yet to figure out how to get them on my computer. Once I do, I will share.

Have a very safe and Merry Christmas!!

It's snowing in Washington!!

We have had winter storms a lot this week, and have had enough snow to cover the ground. The picture above was snow from yesterday. Most of that snow melted. Today it started out raining and then next thing we notice is more snow falling. It was a little bit more than yesterday plus it was heavy wet snow. I didn't get a picture of the snow on my car but I had to scrap almost an inch of snow off my car this morning. The roads out in town are wet and in alot of areas the snow has turned to slush but as the day goes on a lot of it is going to melt. Hope fully this is the last of the snowfall, I am hoping for 2 weeks. That will give us plenty of time to drive to Idaho and back fo Christmas. So far I am not looking forward to the drive. The news channel has said that the higher the elevation, the more snow and we get to drive through the mountains to go to Idaho. I really am hoping that it won't be to terrible of a drive.

Zoey has been so excited about the snow. We went out to play in it this afternoon and she didn't want to come back in. I got about a 10min video, with my new camera, also a early christmas present, but I have not figured out how to get the videos on my computer. I can get the pictures but not the videos. Hopefully I will figure it out soon. Zoey LOVES to watch herself doing a video. It's a small camcorder and you can flip the screen around so people can see themselves and my child LOVES it. I have a video of her just doing silly things becasue she can see herself doing them. It's funny.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. We are with our little surprise of snow. Zoey will have plenty more to play with at Grandpa's house. Merry Christmas to all.

I just so excited!

Zoey is just so excited to go to Grandpa's house for Christmas. She tells me everyday. Today we made a paper link countdown for the day we leave to go to Grandpa's house and for Christmas. She was having so much fun and I found out how much more smarter she is getting. She helped with the pattern and did VERY good. She got the hang of it real quick and did it right. I am amazed at how much she has learned this year. She is a very smart girl.

Also she has been trying to negotiate/manipulate mom and dad lately. This morning Bryce said that he gave her some orange juice and he got a drink of Sprite. So Zoey, all by herself said "Zoey drink her juice all gone and then get some soda, okay, okay". Bryce just had to laugh and then he asked if she wanted a little bit of sprite in her juice and all she said was, "that's a BIG soda daddy, that's a BIG soda". She is so funny and I love her so much. Last night, when I was trying to get her to finish eating her dinner, she turned to me and said, "Hey, listen. I'm sorry". She kept saying it to me. What a goof.

The first "real" encounter

Bryce's parents have a really old grouchy cat named Yogi. She is a very interesting cat who absolutely loves Bryce's dad, Ken. She usually comes out and is somewhat social when he is gone for days. It's pretty funny. When he comes home she is right by Ken's side and follows him every where he goes. Anyway, we try not to let Gunner out and run around the house by himself because of potty issues and also to avoid any encounters with Yogi because we have found out she hates him. They have met each other and know the presence of each other but usually when they do see each other, there is a baby gate in the way to protect somebody. But today I let him out to run around with me while I got ready for work, hoping that Yogi was sleeping in another room and not out and at first Gunner ran all the way down the hall and stopped to turn to go down the other hall. I was trying to get him to come back to me but he was gone. When he turned, he saw Yogi, what I didn't want to happen. I couldn't see for sure what happened but all I heard was hissing and a lot nails scratching the carpet. So I run down the hall and Gunner is flat on his back, curled up in a ball, scared out of his mind, and Yogi is standing right next to him with all of her hair standing up. I'm pretty sure Yogi won that fight, if it really was a fight. What ever it was, Gunner was scared and it was funny that Yogi scared him. What a wimp.

Twilight

So Bryce and I went out and saw Twilight yesterday and it was a good movie. We didn't go to the really nice theater out here called Cinetopia, which if you do ever come to Vancouver you have to see a good movie on the living room theater. It is awesome. We saw IronMan in that particular room and it was amazing and I would have to say that it made it one of my top movies becasue of the cool surround sound. It's a really fun theater. It is expensive but it is almost worth it for the living room theater. You can order food and drinks, separate from buying tickets, that come from the restaurant Vinetopia found only in Cinetopia. If curious, visit www.cinetopia.com.

Anyway, back to Twilight. Bryce and I really enjoyed it, except for all the stupid screaming girls when Edward came into the picture. He is good looking but for Pete's sake, you know his is in the movie and that he is suppose to be drop dead gorgeous and I'm pretty sure you have seen pictures and videos of the actor before seeing the movie but do you really have to scream and get over excited about actually seeing him in the movie? It was a little annoying and hard to watch when everyone in the theater was like that. Bryce thought it was hard to enjoyed because of the stupid people, mainly girls, screaming. Other then that, it was a good movie. We got to the theater later then we should have because we had to sit in the very front row, closest to the screen. I had a hard time following things because it was so close. We waited for the credits to be over but I was feeling really nauseous and ended up throwing up outside, before going home. Not fun but it didn't really ruin anything. Anyway, Bryce and I had a really good night. We haven't been out on a date for a while because of lack of extra cash and also the last month of me being sick all day long, so it was needed. Now I just need to finish reading the last 2 books.

Our first Doctor's appt with baby #2

Our first doctor appointment went really good today. Bryce was able to come, which was nice because Zoey was coming no matter what so somebody was there to entertain her. She was actually a really good girl and a big jabber box in the waiting room. She was a goof. Anyway, we were able to hear the heartbeat which was really good. It's always weird to hear that first heartbeat. It really sets in that a living thing is growing inside of you. The doctor asked her if she wanted to hear her baby, so with a concerned look on her face she lifts up her shirt, because she thinks she has a baby inside her belly as well as mommy's. It was cute. I got chewable prenatal vitamins because I cannot swallow those big pills. Some of you, along with my husband, probably think I am a wimp, but I have a hard time swallowing pills so I was glad that I could get chewables.

Our next doctor's appointment is December 18th, just before we leave to go to Idaho. I can't believe that I am already over with the first trimester. I am still a little nauseous, but it is gradually getting better. I have been getting some headaches and plus I have some days where I am just exhausted as soon as I wake up. Anyway, I will update with any new information that I get. Hope all is going well and for those that are pregnant and waiting for your little ones to show up, you are almost there and I wish you all good luck.

The color quiz

I saw a couple blogs and was curious to see what color I was....so here you go.

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors. While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around. Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease. You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Finally...an announcement

I have been waiting to post this, and it's been longer than expected but I had to wait for my husband to tell his family but we are expecting our second baby, due June 3! We are excited. Zoey is not sure what is going on. Anytime I mention the baby in mommy's tummy, she says she has one too.

So far, this pregnancy is completely different then with Zoey. With Zoey, I was sick at night and if I stayed up past 9pm, I was bound to throw up. With this one, I am nauseous all day long. The last few days seem to be getting better, but for the most part, I gag all day long, which upsets my stomach more than it already is. I have found that toast with butter or bread, butter and jam and for a while until they were gone, multigrain cheerios, were all pretty good. I have not had my doctors appointment yet, just because it took a month to get insurance through the state to be approve and once it did, I set up an appt. for the 21st of this month. I will definitely post our first picture when I get it. So, I am, according to the doctor's office when I talked to them, I am about 11 weeks, and due June 3. It might change once I actually see my doctor, but that's the estimate. Anyway, we are all excited.

A surprise "visit"...so to speak

I say "visit" because ..well just read along. What is in parenthesis are Zoey's EXACT words she told me.

Today just before lunch, Zoey said that someone was at the door. I had heard nothing but she was convinced someone was there. She stood by the door saying "hello" a few times when she came back and said that "Mr. Krabs" (from Spongebob if you don't know) was here!! She was so excited!! She proceed to tell me that he "come to see me". She went off and played with her baby, got a little distracted and then I asked her if Mr. Krabs was still here. She said "no, he had to finish krabby patties". I am not sure what she really meant by that, but he had to finish them before he came back. She also told me that she ate a krabby patty and I asked her how it was. She said it was "yucky" and some other things that were hard to understood. I told her to tell me when Mr. Krabs came back and that's when I started to write all of this down so that I wouldn't forget and let others know about this surprising visit through the imaginations of my daughter.

While I was writing this all down, she said that he came back and that he was underneath the table. She also told me that "she was showing baby Mr. Krabs" and he "was so excited for me", and then Yogi the old grumpy cat came in and then "Mr. Krabs give Yogi a hug".

There were lots of other stuff that she said, but I couldn't understand her for some of it. It was hilarious. She made all of the stuff up. I had asked her some questions just to she what else was going on in that mind of hers. She is such a goof and more of a bigger fan of Spongebob than I thought she was.

Zoey's Piggy Bank

Since Zoey has had her piggy bank, she has found lots and lots of pennys and other coins to put in it. Grandpa Harmon keeps giving her handfuls of coins to put in her piggy bank. So today I counted to see how much she has collected over the months. She has $5.30! What a good girl. I don't know if we should go to the dollar store and let her buy something or save it for Christmas. Anyway, she loves her piggy bank and will continue to collect more.

Singing Zoey

Zoey sings many songs but lately her favorite has been I Am a Child of God. For a while she kept asking me to sing for her, probably so that she could get the words right. It is super cute watching her sing all the songs that she does. Her list keeps getting bigger. I caught her a few days ago singing I am a Child of God while playing the piano. I got a video of it but you can barely hear her singing over the one note song.

Halloween time

First of all, sorry for not putting this on sooner. I haven't been feeling well lately. Zoey had lots of fun trick or treating for Halloween. She was a unicorn and wasn't quite sure what to think of wearing it. It was a little tight around her head but Grandma fixed it and she enjoyed it. In fact she likes it and keeps wanting to wear her "halloween" (that's what she calls it).
This was her first actual year that she went out. I had tried to explain to her what we were going to do and she didn't quite get it until we went and did it. She has a 11 year old friend how lives across the street that had a special treat for her. It was a cookie with orange frosting and sprinkles. She thought it was a cupcake at first and then when we got home she said it was a cake. She really liked the sprinkles.
We just went around our little neighborhood and cul de sac. Then came home and ate a few of our goodies. Grandma wanted to visit a firends house who had there garage decorated for little ones Zoey's age. It was cute and of course Zoey was a littel shy when we went but then she loved looked at everything. They had lights down the side of the driveway and a big blown up decoration that had a ghost, witch and something else spinning inside of it. Zoey kept saying it was scary but then she was spinning along with it. Over all, she had a lot of fun trick or treating. Here is one last picture I got of her eating her "nummies". Her favorite thing to eat is suckers.

Carving the pumpkin

I would have put this on along with the pumpkin patch post but our internet works every so often. Anyway, Zoey had lots of fun carving the pumpkin. Bryce cut the lid for us and helped us get a lot of the seeds and gooey stuff out then he cooked dutch oven cherry cobbler. We have had the makings for a few days and thought it would be a perfect night to cook it.

I explained to Zoey that we were going to cook the seeds and eat them later. Well, she didn't get all of that so she ate a few of them straight from the pumpkin. Gross!!! She had fun stirring the seeds as mom and dad got all the stuff out.


Once we got the stuff out we picked out a stencil to use for the pumpkin. Zoey liked me putting them on the pumpkin while decided, that that was all she wanted to do until I finally picked one and started to poke out the lines. She loved this. She loved to help me poke holes in the pumpkin. She got mad at me a few times because she wanted to do it all by herself. She watched me as I cut out the eyes then once I got the first eye out, she thought it was time to eat it. I think she was getting a little hungry. She took a bite out of each eye, nose, and mouth piece I cut out. Gross!! She thought it was yummy. Here is 2 pictures of the nose piece I cut out that she took 2 bites out of.
After telling her lots of times to not eat the pumpkin anymore, we finished our 34 pound pumpkin and here is the final product. Zoey had lots of fun with the pumpkin. It was fun to see what she would do with all of it. The Cherry Cobbler turned out great. We had a very fun day.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday and we had lots of fun. Zoey wasn't so sure about things at first, especially the big blown up witch. She was a little scared of it.

We invited Bryce's mom, Carolyn to come with, which she was planing on picking up some of their very delicious apple cider. It's like eating a apple. So good. Anyway, Zoey wasn't so sure on what to do there. Once we started to pick out a pumpkin, she kind of got the idea of picking the pumpkins up so she tried with a big one, which didn't work out so well. But we found some small ones that she started to pick them up and put them in the wagon we had.
They had a lot of other things there other than a pumpkin patch. They had a small place under a tent where there was a hay maze. Zoey was a little unsure at first but then had lots of fun going under and through the tunnel.

They also had a fun little fort maze as well. It was $1 for each person to go into the fort maze, but we all went in except for grandma. She had fun guiding the way around the maze. There was a little place the was like an actual fort. It has stairs to climb and a few spots to look out. Of course she loved just going up and down the steps.

There was also a big tepee that was made from corn stalks. Again, Zoey wasn't so sure until I went in with her. There was a family that came in and all she did was stare at them. Here is a picture of her in the big tepee before all the people came in. It was a huge tepee.

She had fun once she got use to what was going on. She saw a lot of people walking around eating apples so she was demanding one or saying that she "needs" an apple. Carolyn bought about 1 1/2 pounds of apples, which are so much better then ones you get from the store. Zoey got to hold the pumpkin carving kit, which she enjoyed. We came home with a 34 pound pumpkin and one small pumpkin for Zoey to paint, plus a gallon of the best apple cider, 1 1/2 pounds of fresh yummy apples.

An eventful but fun weekend to Utah

I was able to visit Starla and her family in Ogden this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. The 12-13 hour car ride to a fro were not so fun but the time spent was a blast. I was very excited I got to see Sofie before Christmas. She is so cute and so tiny. Zoey wasn't so happy that I held Sofie the first day we got there. She was very jealous. She kept wanting me to hold her and not Sofie. After the first day, she was use to Sofie and it didn't bother her anymore when I held Sofie It was pretty funny.

Emma and Zoey had lots of fun playing. They both learned new things from each other. Zoey loved to play with all of Emma's toys in her room. They also had lots of fun pretending to wake up Grandpa. Zoey likes to growl like a lion. Bryce has her do it all the time. So she did for Grandpa and then it turned into screaming and Emma and her were screaming to wake up Grandpa. My mom got a very funny video of the girls doing that. It was funny and super cute. Zoey was such a goof and wormed up the everyone pretty fast. I was very proud of her when we were there for going potty and having only one accident the whole time we were there. Very good girl.

We had such a fun time in Utah and thank Starla and her family for letting us stay at her house. We almost had to stay longer then intended due to weather. It snowed Saturday night and all day Sunday enough that I-84 was closed for a while. Starla had about 5-6 inches of snow at her house. At Church, we had to wait for Ryan to finish a meeting. Emma was playing with a friend and Zoey was staring outside at the snow. She was mezmerized by the snow. She kept calling it snowman. She even told me she wanted to touch the snowman. But when we were outsid ein it, she was "freezin". It was funny how was staring at the snow like she had never seen it in her life. She obviously doesn't remember snow and was confused. It was too cute. Emma was wondering why it was winter time and got upset that "we skipped Halloween". What a cutie.

Carolyn came to pick me up, trying to leave a little eariler to get ahead of the storm but just before she got to Starla's house, we found out the highway was closed. So we waited, had some lunch then checked it again and the highway was open. We left around 3:00 and were confused as to why they close the highway wehn we approached the section that was closed. There was snow on the ground but the roads were completely dry. There was only a small part that had snow close to the road but we hadno problem driving home. Even the pass through Oregon was clear with no snow. We got home at 2:00am and went straight to bed. I had training yesterday for my work that was boring but am glad I could make becasue we needed the extra money. A

Before we got down there. my brother told me he had some exciting news. Both Starla and I were not sure what the news was going to be. We both thought that he might have gotten engaged over Conference Weekend, but he surprised us all by telling us that he started his mission papers on tuesday last week!!! I am so excited for him and was very surprised that he is going, not that I didn't want him to, but am very glad that he chose to go. I am sure that he will find it to be a wonderful experience. Congradulations Luke and am excited to hear where you get to go. Looks like we wil have to make another trip to Idaho around March to see him off. Any guesses on where he will go? I have no idea.

Anyway, our trip was very fun and wish it could have been longer but can't wait till Christmas to see everyone again. We love you all!!! I wasn't able to get pictures because I had no batteries for my camera but my mom got a ton and Starla got some of Emma and Zoey giving hugs before we left. If I get some, I will definitely post them for all to see.

6am surprise

Yesterday at 6:00 am I woke up to a little hand on my face and foot pushing on side . Zoey was in bed with me. I thought that maybe she had a bad dream and Bryce brought her in with us but then it was at 6 in the morning and Bryce usually comes home at that time so I was a little confused on how she got in bed with me. I remember Bryce coming in around 6 and seeing her and I both taking up the bed so he went to the family room to sleep. When I got home yesterday from work, I asked Bryce if he had brought Zoey in our room and he said no. So, somehow, during the night, Zoey came in our room and fell asleep on the bed with me and I didn't even know it. What a surprise!

Going nigh-night

One morning, I was finishing my laundry and had everything out of the basket and getting ready to put things away when Zoey decided to play in the basket. She had lots of fun and was claiming she was going nigh-night. She would climb in and out of the basket with a pillow from the couch and her blanket. I had to put the blanket over her to completely cover her which she thought was hilarious. Here are some pictures.



After she was done playing in the basket she got her "Pooh Bear" out, with these little My Little Pony "chairs" and a play envelope which she called the "table" and had them set out so the Pooh bear could eat. She was so proud of what she did when she told me I had to get pictures. This is Pooh Bear eating his dinner at the table. I did not help in anyway. She did this all on her own. She still does this quite often. So silly and cute.

My poor puppy

So, Friday night when I got home from work, Bryce told me that Gunner had something in his eye. He had a big red, swollen mass of something in the corner of his left eye. It didn't look very good at all so on Saturday morning I took him into the vet. After waiting for over an hour, (there were lots of other people there with their dogs and cats, who Gunner went crazy trying to get their attention and get them to love him, both the owners and the other dogs; he loves anyone he meets plus it a whole other story), we got in to see his doctor. She said that dogs have a 3rd eyelid, which I kind of remember hearing about but wasn't ever sure if it was true. The 3rd eyelid has one of the 2 glands that produces the tears. This particular gland produces a significant portion of the tears. Anyway, his had slipped out of place and was swollen. They call it the Cherry Eye. It happens often in smaller breeds like Boston Terriers (which Gunner is), Cocker Spaniels, bulldogs and beagles, because the 3rd eyelid gland is not strongly held in place.

To fix it they have to do surgery. They stitch it permanently back in place. We were planning on getting him fixed and micro chipped soon. They said the earliest we could have him fixed was 6 months old and he will be in a few weeks so we are just going to everything all at once. She got me estimates which it wasn't as bad as Bryce and I thought it would be. With everything we are going to do it will be about $280. It's not that bad plus it has to be done. Until the surgery, she gave us drops to put in his eye 4 times a day to help with the swelling and probably the uncomfortable feeling it would be to have a bulge in your eye. He didn't eat at all Saturday morning which the doctor said it probably because he was thrown off with his eye but after putting the 1 st drop in, it went away. He kind of has a darker spot in the corner of his eye, where the bulge was now but he is better until the surgery of course.

I feel so bad for him. He is such a good boy, granted he is really hyper but he is only5 almost 6 months old. We have lots of fun with him and Zoey loves to run with him. He is getting big though. He is now 17 pounds! We have read they get to be between 15 and 25 pounds so I think he will be closer to 25 pounds we he is full grown. Anyway, I will keep you guys posted on his surgery. We don't have it scheduled yet but we have to do it in about a week. My poor puppy!

"I sinks its...."

Zoey's new words lately are "I sinks its...." followed by her answer to, most of the time, a question. Everything she tells me has usually started off with a "I sinks its...". For example, tonight when I got home she was telling me that Daddy and her went to the store.

Zoey: Look, mommy, I got a sucker.
Mom: Oh you got a sucker! What color get you get?
Zoey: I sinks its was....lellow
Mom: It was yellow
Zoey: yeah and I lick it and then I bite it
Mom: Oh my goodness, what did it taste like?
Zoey: I sinks its....lellow
Mom: Did it taste like banana?
Zoey: No
Mom: Did it taste like lemon?
Zoey: No, I sinks it taste like lellow.

Pictures this if you can....

So last night as I was getting Zoey ready for bed, I was in the process of taking her shirt off. She decided that she wasn't ready for the shirt to come off, plus she was in a goofy mood, so she grabbed the bottom of it as I was pulling it off. She didn't let go so her hands were in front her face, still holding on to her shirt, and then her shirt was covering it all. She has done this many times before. She is a goof some days. While we were standing there, with me trying to get her shirt off and her still holding on to it, she proceeded to run in place. She did this for about 2 minutes before I couldn't hold on to her and her shirt anymore because both Bryce and I were laughing to hard. It was a moment that I wish I had my camera close by.

Mommy's shoes

Zoey likes to wear my shoes, especially ones that have heels. Here she is in my new church shoes. She still wears them when she can. It's too cute. I have tried to put a video of her walking around in my shoes but I couldn't get it to work.

The Foltz family

There is a family in my ward that just had a baby girl and before she was born they found out that she has a heart problem. Basically, only 2 of 4 valves in her heart are working. I got an email from our relief society president with a web address that the family has set up to inform all friends and family about the progress of the first surgery which happened yesterday when she just born on the 4th of this month. There now 2nd to youngest girl is in Nursery with Zoey and I, so I have talked with her mom alot. Anyway, I get pretty interested in things like this other than it being people that I know plus I have been thinking about them alot lately and they have been in our prayers here at home. If you are interested as well, here is the web site http://www.foltzfamily.com/

I am so grateful that Zoey was born heathly and also that the technology is amazing in our time now and that it is only going to get better. They were able to diagnose the problem a long time ago before she was born. I am so grateful for those doctors and the succesful surgery that this little girl has already had.

I've been tagged

4 Things I love about my husband: They way he tries to get me to laugh everyday is cute and it works. His motivation to try to improve our lives as a family. Being a wonderful dad to Zoey. Supporting my in things that I do everyday.

4 movies that I would watch more than once: Finding Nemo, Shrek, 13 Going on 30, Transformers

4 TV shows that I watch: Spongebob Squarepants, House, The Office, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager

4 Places I have been: Idaho, Concord NH, Cancun, the Oregon beach

4 Places I would like to go: Hawaii, Australia, Maine, Boston

4 People who email me regulary: Carolyn, My mom, Courtney,

4 things I would like to eat: my leftover birthday cake, yougurt raisins, strawberry milk, mozzerella cheese sticks

4 things I look forward to in the next year: Being out of debt, Bryce in school or into his career, having another baby (no I'm not pregnant right now but wish to be) and in our own place whether a small house or apartment

4 people I tag: Starla, Jessica, Karalee, Chelsea

Update on my Externship

So I thought I would update everyone on my externship. It is going really well. In fact, I was able to assistant on my own, with the help of another assistant as well as the doctor, on a treatment or filling of an 18 year old boy. He actually looked older than me, but I am used to that. I did pretty good. Dr. James, one of 3 doctors, said that other externs he has had were shaking with the saliva ejector, but I didn't which was good. The rest of it, I really didn't know what to hand him next, so Christy helped me, She is the head dental assistant. It wen t pretty good. I just need lots more practice. I have done a few cleanings on a few kids that were really good kids. I am going to hopefully finish by the 21st of this month which would be fabulos. So far I have been told that Dr. Shebani, the head dentist, likes me as well as her husband Geis who runs around the clinic as the toy man entertaining all the kids with his magic tricks. I hope that it turns into a job and I can stay there and earn lots of money. This week although has been really slow because school just started on Tuesday and nobody wants to bring in their kids in the first week on school. So Saturday's are very busy. But the weekdays are slow enough that they are closed tomorrow and monday because of 4 or 5 appointments each the enitre day. Anyway, I am planing on going in all next week and a few days the week after to finish it all up. Wish me luck.

Dinner's ready

As the timer went off for dinner tonight, Zoey followed me to the kitchen saying "Oh, dinner's ready. Have to wait for daddy and say a prayer." She went for the table at first and started to climb it then came and stood by me, continuing to say "have to wait for daddy and say a prayer and close eyes" while folding her arms and closing her eyes. Too cute!!

His name is...

Today as I was checking my email, Zoey was showing me her crayons and I was asking her what colors they all were. Her response was "his name is....." and then guess the color. She has few of them down but I thought it was funny that they had names and they were all boys.

Zoey's Piggy Bank

Zoey has been collecting pennies so we decided to get her a piggy bank. We found this cute one at Target (my favorite store) for only $2.50 and she loves it. Here pictures of her putting the pennies in her new piggy bank. (This is actually her 3rd time doing it)

"Don't eat the baby" and tantrums

One night at dinner, we had pasta with chicken and Zoey thought that a pasta looked like a baby. She was holding it in her hand very carefully and telling me that is was a baby. So, like any parent would do, I tried to get her to eat her food instead of playing with so I said "don't eat the baby" and she thought that was funny. She contined to say, "don't eat the baby" and now we do it every night. At least I can get her to eat her food. Since she thought the pasta looked like a baby, she thought popcorn from Les Schawb were different animals. "Look mama, a puppy" or "Look mama, a kitty", and so forth. I think there was a giraffe, frog and more. Her imagination is starting.

Since she has been back this week, she has been throwing major temper tantrums. I can hardly get her to do anything without it turning into something huge and dramatic. On Tuesday, she cried in one spot for 45 mintues because I told her to give me the phone that she wasn't supposed to be playing with but she wouldn't do it. She kept crying "no like it give phone to mommy" over and over again or when I reminded her to bring me the phone. Very dramatic little girl. Her tantrums consist of kicking her legs and throwing her arms around as well as her entire body. She just rolls around while kicking. So, while she does it, she gets hurt because she hits things and then they become owies and she "needs" a bandaid. Everything the last 2 days have been "needs" instead of "wants". During snack, "I need more Juice mommy". She bumps something on some part of her body, mainly legs and fingers, and toes, so "I need a bandaid mommy". She has worn me out so much this week.

My Zoster

Here are some cute pictures I got of Zoey being Zoey.

Zoey's back!!!

Zoey is back from her week long vacation to the Harmon Family Reunion. Yeah!!! I am so excited for her being back. I missed her so much. She was exhausted when she came home becasue she only splet for 45 min ther entire 13 hour trip. She had lots of fun from what I hear except that she whispered the whole time she was there and they wanted to put a bell on her because she was so quiet. She went around the house so quiet that nobody could tell where she went. She went swimming probably everyday or anytime that she could. Carolyn has pictures but she is in Vegas for another week visited her kids Kenny and Nicki with thier families. So as soon as I get those pictures I wiil post them for all to see.

News from quiet land

So I don't have any pictures to show you but I probably will once Zoey gets back from Utah. She is having fun, so far that I hear from Carolyn. She loves to go to the swimming pool which is not a surprise. That's her favorite thing to do. My week is going by kind of slow with her not being here. I have been able to scrapbook which hasn't happened in a long time because Zoey would take stuff away. I have been able to do about 6-8 pages. Most of them are 8x8 but those are my easiest ones to do. It has been very quiet during the days without Zoey. I keep thinking to myself that I need to go find out what she is doing or if she is staying in bed and going to sleep. So it's been very lonely while Bryce is sleeping as well. I don't have anybody and then I also don't work this week. So I am all by myself and not knowing what to do.

I have however been still trying to find an externship and today I FINALLY was able to set one up. It is with a pediatric dentistry close by my home and I am starting tomorrow. They currently have another extern there and the lady that I spoke to didn't want to have us overlap on time spent so that "we would get the attention we need", those were her words. I really appreciate that. So I am working Thursday and Friday from 8:30am to 12:00pm and then Saturday 8:30 to 3:00. I am excited to start. I will continue to look for something on Mon., Tues., and Wed., so that it will go by faster. One thing the lady mentioned as well was that that is how they get thier best employees. So hopefully a job will come out of it. I am very excited. Two out of three places that I wennt to, other then this one, said that they will give me call back so it sounds like I could have more soon, which I would LOVE that. Anyway, wish me luck!!

Zoey's Friends

Zoey has some new friends that she play with, Sarah and Victoria. They both are 9 and Sarah lives across the street from us and has come over before to read books to Ken and Carolyn's cat and dog when they were gone and Victoria is Sarah's friend. Anyway, they have come over lots, usually they see me pull up after I get off work and then come over to play with her until dinner. And she loves it. All this morning she was crying because she wanted to "play with Sarah and Vicki". So when they showed up tonight she was such a goof and so excited to play with them that she was showing off as well. She makes them do things for her like put all of her toys away. She loves it when they run with her or even when seh does something funny and they laugh at her she thinks its funny and laughs right on with them. She loves to play with her new friends, Sarah and Vicki.

Starla's new baby!!

Starla had her baby Sunday night and I have seen her pictures and she is so cute. They named her Sofie and that's all I will say becaseu you will find more on her blog. I am very excited for Starla and her growing family and wish I was there but hope to see them in a couple of weeks. Love you Starla!!!

Zoey's Quotes

Zoey has many funny things that she says and I thought I would share a few of my favorite ones that she says almost everyday.

(growling) "I make noises mommy" (continues to growl)

When I try to help her, "No Mommy stop it" or "No Zoey do it"

"ABCDEFG (long G), HIJKLMNOP (long P) QRSTUVWXYZ(long Z), Now I know my ABC(long C) Next time you sing with me (long me)" This varies. She will add mommy, or daddy or anybody that she sees a pictures of to the parts where she continutes the letter.

Mom: Do you want to say bye bye to Starla?
Zoey: No like it say bye bye to Starla!
A simple no would have worked but.......

After eating a chocolate chip cookie, I looked at her I said "Oh my goodness you have a messy face", So a few minutes later I heard, "Oh my goodness have messy face" Really cute.

"I so silly Mommy"

"Oh my goodness" and "Oh my gosh" over and over again

"I sad mommy"

Zoey: "I peed"
Mommy: "You peed?!"
Zoey: "Yeah. (as she is running down the hall to the bathroom) Go potty, make pee come out, get m's-n-m's"

Sometime's when I ask her if she got me something that I asked for earlier, I will get "oh... yeah"

There are tons more that she says, these are just a few of what I get everyday. She repeats a lot of stuff that I say and it's always funny to hear it coming from her.

Zoey singing...or least trying to get her to

You can see what a goof she is. She is like this majority of the day.

A few of Gunner's sweet, calm moments

As I walked by Gunner's crate tonight, I saw him like this and had to get a couple of pictures of him.

Yes, his lip is on the crate door, showing me his teeth. Grrr.

If you notice that he has a blanket on him. It's white so its a little hard to see in the picture, but he manage to get underneath it and lay like that. Look at those big ears!! He is so cute but so crazy. I can't wait till he is out of his puppy stage.

Zoey's Books

Zoey loves books. I mean she loves them. Most her playing time is reading books. We have read everyone enough that she has almost every single one memorized to the point that sometimes when I try to read books with her she does it with me. My favorite one to read with her is "Moo, Baa, La la la" by Sandra Bouyton. If you have read the book, it has pigs singing "la la la" so she thought that thats what pigs said. If you asked her what pigs say she would have told you "la la la". She now knows, after a long time of trying to convince her, that pigs say "oink". Anyway, the picture below is of almost ALL of her books on her bed. She does this every time she wakes up in the morning or for nap. There is a load of books laying on her bed. She gets not just one or two, she gets almost ALL of the books that belong to her. It's pretty funny and shows her love of books. And I say almost all becasue there really is only maybe 5 or 6 books missing in that collection. You can't see the 7 books hiding under the blanket that I found after I started to get them off and put them away. She is so funny. So if you ever want to get her something, get her a book. She will love it.

The many faces of Zoey

I can get the best pictures of her when she is eating. She is a goof at the dinner table.

Poor Bryce and Funny Zoey

Today we went to the doctors for Bryce. Since Saturday he has be complaining of his right ear hurting and feeling like it plugged. The doctor said that he has a middle and ear canal infection like swimmer's ear in his right ear. I used to get swimmer's ear all the time and had to put in this purple dye medicine. It wasn't fun. While we were waiting in the room, Bryce was telling me that his ear hurt more than yesterday and explaining what it was feeling like, then Zoey turns to me and says "My ear hurt too" along with a sad face. It was really cute and funny at the same time. I think she was trying to be sympathetic for Daddy. Bryce then proceeded to say that his knee hurt and Zoey was convinced that her knee hurt too because she was "running and fall" on it. It was really funny. She is such a copy cat. Bryce got 3 prescriptions for his ear. Vicodin for the pain, amoxicillian for the middle ear infection and drops for the ear canal infection. He will be pretty drowsy from the vicodin. Gotta take care of my poor sick hubby!!!

Zoey's songs

Zoey loves to sing her ABC's all day long. And its not very quite. This morning had a different take on it. "ABCDEFG Mom, HIJKLMNOP Mom, QRSTUVWXYZ Zoey". She knows them so wel I am very proud of her. I try to get her to sing them for the camera but she ends up wanting to instead of doing it. Another on of her favorite songs she sings alot is "Wishing Well" from Snow White. If your'e not sure which one that is, it is at the very begining of the movie and the words that she sings in when Snow White actually sings into the wishing well and it echoes back to her. If I can find it, or have Zoey sing it for me I will definetly post it. SHe hasn't been cooperative when it comes to videos or pictures lately. Some how I will get something to share with all of you.

Update

So I didn't get the externship at Dental Designs like I thought I would. But that's okay because there are still plenty of options everywhere. I just hope I can start going ASAP. I would love to start this week but we will just have to wait and see.

Poor Zoey had to get a shot on Monday and was running a fever along with headache and her leg hurt where the shot was. She was very dramatic and clingy wanting me to hold her all the time yesterday. She took a good nap and was better for dad in the afternoon, but when I got home, she got all dramatic again. She does this quite often where she is difficult in the morning with me and then fine for dad in the afternoon until I get home. Goof.

We had a very fun 4th of July weekend. We went to Albany OR to visit Bryce and Courtney or Corty as Zoey called her. Zoey had lots of fun. Their bosses, I guess you could call them, finished their pool so we were able to go swimming. Zoey was freezing but refused to get out. She loves to go swimming. Eventually she got out and walked around the pool with Gunner. Gunner had lots of fun playing with Banjo. They ran around the house playing forever until Banjo got tired and was running away from Gunner who was still going 100%. He has tons of energy which is expected from a 3 1/2 month old puppy. He almost got eaten by german shepard. Their bosses have 2 german shephards and chocolate lab. When my Bryce went to take him out for potty, the german shepards pushed on the gate where there kennel was and was able to push it open. Bryce yanked Gunner up to him, (surprisingly, he didn't get hurt) and then turned his back waiting for the dogs to jump on him. Instead they ran after Bandit, Bryce and Courtney's other pug, and were picking on him. Bryce yelled at the dogs which scared them. One went running into the forest and the other went back into the kennel. Bryce was surprised he scared them. Bandit was okay as well as Gunner. Funny but a little scary.

Hope all is well for all you guys. Hope you had a fun weekend. Hope to hear from you!!!

Potty Training

I am happy to say that Zoey is close to 100% potty trained. I am very surprised how fast she has caught on to going potty. She is such a big girl. I am very proud of her. Way to go Zoey!!!

Graduation!!

I have graduated from dental assistant school. YEAH!!! Graduation was at 2:00 on saturday. All I have to do now is 52 hours of externship at a dentist's office. I have did 8 hours done at the dentist office the school is ran out of and it was fun. I didn't do anything except clean a room but I was at least able to see the basic how to's in a dentist office. Just watching everything was a learning experience. I went out today to see if I could get my externship going and already have a possibility of starting. The place is called Dental Designs with Dr. Heppler. I have heard from someone in my ward that the Dr. is in our ward. I thought the name sounded familiar. I didn't met him yet so I am not sure who he is. But hopefully I can start this week or next. I am excited. I am almost done!!! I have pictures of graduation being sent to me through email so when I get them I will post them for you all to see. We are suppose to have it outside but it was like 100 degrees outside that day. I could not cool off at all. It's 10 times worse with the humidity. Not fun. 80 degrees here is like 100 degrees in Idaho.

Zoey Pics

Here are some pictures of Zoey being Zoey

Zoey's got this rocking horse from Grandma Harmon. It took a while to come but she was so excited to play with it when we finally put t together.
Zoey loves to walk around in my shoes and thought it would be fun to try on my boots. I zipped them up to see what she would do.

Boots some more!!