so cute

tonight we were at Gringo's with Cortney's family. I overheard Oli having a conversation with his cousin.
cousin: when you die that means you never are alive again ever.
Oli: Nu-huh...Jesus. When Jesus comes we get to live again.

I just thought it was so cute. And I was so proud.

No show...

The day we went to go see the Hill Cumorah, there was massive rains. The whole night before it just poured. So when we went to see it we couldn't see much of anything. Here I am looking out...I could kinda see the base of the hill but the fog was SOO thick.
Because we couldn't see it we decided to go into town and see a museum that they have there about the area...about the hill and the artifacts they have found there (think...weapons and such). Anyways...they had a huge picture of the Hill and we couldn't help but take some pictures in front of the big picture. We were pretending we were actually there and could see it. We got a little carried away.
Here Cortney is pretending to be hiking near the hill (it is the big one in the back). Notice how wet is jacket still is.
Then of course I had to do some jumping pictures...
Please ignore my jumping faces...But...isn't that awesome???

Justin jumping too. It was funny and fun. Being rowdy in a museum is always a good time to me.

good sunday

Sunday morning was stake conference. I thought I heard Elder Hales was going to be the speaker. So I told my parents (who are here by the way), and they decided they were going to be coming to church with us. So we headed over to the Stake center 30 minutes early and there were tons of seats left. I thought there was no way I was right about Elder Hales...because the place would be packed if that were the case. I was right though...Elder Hales and his wife were there along with a couple from the 70 ( I thought the name was Elder Moon...or Boon or Coombs...I have no idea). It was so awesome to hear a General Authority speak. Especially in such a small setting. Afterwards I stayed for a Youth question and answer fireside. That was even cooler because just the chapel was filled. It was great to hear them. He talked about the "decade of decision" and how the decade they were in would have the most effect on their lives in the eternities. I loved everything he said but it REALLY made me realize that I wasn't in that decade anymore. It also made me so grateful that the church was important to me in my teen years...because that is when I got married. Anyways...enough about that it was great though.

Kae Lynn had her baby today. I don't know all of the details but I do know she was like 8 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long. Baby Abigail. I am glad she is finally here.

Baby Abigail

We had a little get together last night and they gave KaeLynn and Mike a blessing. It is crazy getting ready to send Mike off...and my parents. It will be really hard. But I am excited for both of them.

ohhh...I was also tagged by my friend Andrea Jewkes...
here goes...



Do you celebrate Christmas? um...of course.

How do you greet people at this time of year? Oddly enough I don't greet many people...but when I do...If I remember it's Christmas time I try to say "merry Christmas". Mostly people just walk by laughing at me because Cali's kids and my kids are being so bad...I just smile back with a look that says "i know, they are crazy aren't they?"

Do you believe in Santa? Ummm....no...I wish....Craig Stark ruined Santa for me when I was a measly 5 years old. We were at my dad's office (where his dad rented an office) after school. He let me know right there in the hall.

Do you have a Christmas sweater? NOO. I think it would be really funny to have a really gaudy one though and where it with stretch pants. I actually think I would wear it. hahaa

Do you have Christmas socks? No...I am lucky if I actually have girl socks. As most know I just wear Cortney's...and the heel comes up past my ankle.

Favorite Christmas cookie? Cali and I make these cream cheese dutch cookies every year. They are covered in cornflakes and have a marchino cherry on top (for looks only). I got the recipe from a childhood neighbor. I LOVE THEM. Too bad no one else will try them...it is an acquired taste. Oh...I also love love love a good sugar cookie with frosting.

Eggnog yes or no? No eggnog. My brother in law JoeZone...loves it though. I bought him some eggnog taffy on Saturday.

Open Christmas presents Christmas day or Christmas Eve? We like everyone else would open PJ's on Christmas Eve...and an ornament from my Grandma Earl. I still do both for my kids.

Favorite Christmas smell? Peppermint by far. I ordered a twisted peppermint wallflower (smelly thing for houses) on November 23rd and it still isn't here...what the heck??

Does Santa Wrap presents? Yes he does...I don't have enough kids yet for there to be things unwrapped...Christmas would be over in 2 seconds if that were the case. I wrap every little thing...so they have tons of little things to open. (it backfired on my when Oli was 2 though because he kept crying "too many presents")

Do you hang mistletoe? No

Favorite gift ever given? I have always been a good gift giver. (not to brag) I just can think of things easily. Last year I made my mother in law, and Grandma in law an ibook. It was filled with pictures of all of their children and grandchildren. It was awesome. The both loved it, and hadn't seen a lot of the pictures I used. That was the best.

The year before that all of my siblings were home in Moses Lake for Christmas...We had ordered a jade sculpture of the tree of life hyroglyph for my dad. It was expensive and we had to order it over the phone in SPANISH from a Brenda Fong at the Marriot Resort in Guatemala city. Cali was on the phone with her for days. We had it rushed (it was one week before Christmas) and when it came it was broken. Arghhh. So we got back on with Ms. Fong and she had another on to us by Christmas Eve. He loved it, but we also had made them a little poem book with all of the grandkids and he had tears pouring down his face as he read it. That Christmas was great.

Favorite gift ever received? Cortney and I don't do too many gifts. But last year he had my wedding ring fixed (as a surprise) I hadn't worn it for a year and didn't even know he had taken it. He also gave me some really good sunglasses (the white ones I am wearing in every picture). They were a great gift and he didn't spend very much so I didn't have to stress about it. The perfect gift...sentimental...and under 50 bucks. I loved it.

White Christmas? Heavens yes...I love snow. I love winter period. In fact when we lived in Rexburg and it would snow...I always thought "yeah I think I can live here." Although...a lot of the time we are in Mexico for Christmas I love that too...but I like it to be snowy before I leave to Mexico.

Favorite Christmas carol? Sam I and I always loved the spoof of the 12 days of Christmas that is called 12 Pains of Christmas. We recorded off the radio and would sing it all the time. So I downloaded it a couple of years ago and it is still one of my favorites. I also love Oh Holy Night. When I was younger Laura and I would sing it in opera voices all the time.

Do you send Christmas cards? I wish. I am the worst at things like that. This year HONESTLY I am sending out a Valentine card. That is if I get a good family picture while we are in Mexico.

Real Tree or Artificial tree? Um...that one is tricky. I love a real tree and I ALWAYS had a real tree growing up. We always had a real one before we had kids. But I am also a REAL cheapskate. I hate spending 25 dollars on a tree that is dead by the time you get it home. We cut one down one year and it was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. So now...I set up my 16 dollar tree from target branch by branch every year. Every year I think "this is the biggest pain to set up...that is it, next year we are putting up a real tree". But then next year comes and I put up my 16 dollar tree once again.


What is your favorite Christmas memory? I have nothing but great memories. Here is one that sticks out...One year KaeLynn had a family in her ward that was really poor. We all (all my siblings that live here) decided to be their secret Santa's and we went a little over board. We got each kid like 2 school outfits, and a sunday outfit, two pairs of shoes (tennis shoe and dress shoe), then we also got them a whole bunch of toys. Plus clothes and shoes for the parents. I am not kidding the whole back of our truck was filled with gifts. Cortney then dressed up in a Santa suit and knocked on their door. They opened it and we just started piling in the gifts. The kids just stood there with a shocked look on their face. Cortney was saying funny stuff...and telling them to be good. It was awesome. The best part is everytime we saw them they were wearing clothes we had given them.

That is it. Merry Christmas.


Holy Hannah...I just realized how long this ended up being. Sorry I typed so much. Just skip to the end like my friend Shane does.

i jus' wanna say

I wanted to sit down and write some about the trip...before I am too far removed from it. I am not going to write about what we did...because that will come later. I just wanted to say...that it was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. I already have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I always have. As a kid we traveled to the church history sites (nauvoo, sacred grove and such) often. I KNEW from a young age that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It helped me out so much to see with my own two eyes...where he walked...and lived. This trip really brought the Book of Mormon into a whole new perspective for me. It was crazy to see how they "could" have lived...and hid, and fought. I could have never imagined...Guatemala is amazing. Such an amazing country. The people there still live the way their ancestors lived. It is also so beautiful, and lush. This trip will be something I will always remember (thanks to Cortney's 5000 pictures). Cortney and I loved every minute of it. I love traveling with Cort...we get along so well. Also I wanted to say that the people we were on the tour with were awesome. I learned so much from them. A lot of them I knew before...because a lot are from Moses Lake. We were all connected through someone. I got to see so much generosity. These people wanted so bad to help out the people of Guatemala and Mexico. I hope someday when I can afford to I can be as generous. Honestly it was one of the best parts of the trip to see. We had people paying fast offerings to the stake in Villahermosa...where the week before they were devastated with flooding. Also some people on the tour donated 100 blankets they bought at a Guatemalan blanket factory...for the relief of the flood victims. I was really sad for the whole thing to be over. The last morning together at our devotional...we sang Book of Mormon Stories. I couldn't get through it, because I was crying. Crying for everything I had seen...crying because it was over, crying out of gratitude to those Lehietes that lived, so we can have the Book of Mormon...and crying for my little boys whom I had just spent 16 days away from. It was awesome. If you go anywhere...go on this tour. My dad is taking another one in two years...start saving your money now. It is worth it, every penny. Oh...I also wanted to say something about the tour company...Book of Mormon Tours they were awesome, our tour guide Blake did a great job, I can't say enough.
Here is our whole group....minus cortney...sigh. I do have some shots that he is in and I will put in some of those once we get all of our pictures. I also have a real smirk on my face...but that is how I really am...it is nearly impossible to get a picture where I am being normal. We rode around on a tour bus for 16 days...close quarters. I miss them all. But, I am glad to be home...
Look at this cute face. It has been great being back with my kids.

cb images

Cortney has a photo blog now...cb.images
he has uploaded a few of the pictures from the trip. enjoy.

holy freak

On our last night on the trip we were in Mexico City and were heading to the very center of town. I was showing Angelique something out the window, to which she said "holy freak". I thought that was an odd reaction to the thing I was showing her. It turned out she saw a fully naked Mexican woman standing there in her birthday suit. The lady was just standing there like nothing was going on. I of course screamed for everyone on the bus to take a look. Then we realized that the whole town square was filled with naked people protesting someone in the government. It was awesome. Everyone on the tour was taking pictures. Cortney unfortunately only had on his lens that doesn't zoom at all. My mom said "this is so exciting". Here is the picture we did get...the guys were wearing loin cloths of some sort...the women however weren't so lucky. They were completely "desnudo" except for their tennis shoes.

It really made me glad to be an American. It is nice to live in a country where they don't let just anyone walk around in the buff.

d300

So I know everyone is waiting for trip pictures...they are coming. Cortney took 20 gigs of pictures though...so there are a lot to go through. Plus my dad has more than half of them on his computer so I have to wait until this weekend to get them when they come down to Utah. I kept a journal the whole trip...so I will eventually write it all on here day by day. So it will probably be boring but there will at least be more pictures.

We have news of a new addition to our family though. Cortney's Camera is here, he is so excited. He set an alarm yesterday morning so he could wake up right when they opened to go pick it up. He was shaking as he was unwrapping it.
Here it is in all it's glory. It is pretty sweet. It is a big day for us....and one he has waited for, for like three months. In fact any time we had down time on the trip he would take out his paper the photography store gave him about his camera...and read it. Over and over. Needless to say he is on cloud nine right now.

Being home has been so wonderful. I absolutely love the USA. It just always feels so great to be home. My kids of course, are adorable. I wish I had Rob's face when he saw us for the first time. He was just SHOCKED. He couldn't believe it and then ran to Cort (no offense) and hugged him so tight. Then Cortney went outside for a little while to take out the luggage and Robbie freaked out. He thought he was leaving him again. We spent yesterday listening to Christmas music and putting up the tree. (only three ornaments were broken in the process...nothing that I can't fix though...I can hear my mom gasping all the way from Washington). We then had Family Home Evening and we told them about where we went and sang some Christmas songs...along with once there was a snowman...about 4 times. I missed my children so much while we were gone. But honestly...there is nothing better for a mom than some time away. I have always thought that it is very important for married couples to go away together...alone...no kids. And this trip was perfect. There is no one I would rather travel with than Cortney...after I got used to him photographing me the whole time...of course. It was just the break I needed. Now I feel refreshed and ready to be back. Everything my kids do for now is so cute instead of annoying and I feel so grateful to get to do what I do.

we're back

ohhh....we are back. It was a great trip. Å trip of a lifetime. Honestly...I can't say enough about it. But for now....I am going to sleep. I am oh so tired. I will catch up soon...
Cortney and I at Palenque Ruins...amazing place. (we don't have too many good pictures of us together...since it is hard for other people to use corts camera.)
angelique justin and I at a mega museum in mexico city.
This is Cortney on the trip...everyday taking a million pictures. He would carry around his camera equipment everywhere. (it probably weighs over 25 lbs) He got a lot of great pictures.