Tribute to "Bandit"

My parents beloved dog, Bandit passed away today, after 14 1/2 years. It's sad for many reasons, but for Austin especially (and my mom, of course), as Bandit was a best buddy to him. Austin has always LOVED dogs (to put it lightly), and Bandit was definitely at the top of his list. Pretty much everytime we visited my parents, Austin was by his side every moment-playing along side him, laying on him, taking him for "walks" (often forced by Austin's will!), feeding him treats, swimming with him in the pool, taking him to the dog wash with my mom, you name it. He even named one of his stuffed animals, an identical Border Collie, "Little Bandit" and insisted on taking him with us on the airplane anytime we visited CA.

So, as I was telling Austin tonight about Bandit's passing and how he's happy now in heaven because he can run again without pain, catch frisbees and play fetch, Austin said with a smile on his face, "does that mean he's with "Pooter-Pie" now? (my parents deceased cat)" It was so cute how he put that together and seemed to understand that Bandit is in a better place. Of course, that doesn't mean he won't miss him (esp when we visit)! We will miss you Bandit!


Austin and Bandit swimming in the pool (Summer 2007)


Austin and Bandit on my parents boat (Summer 2007)


Austin and Bandit cuddling on the floor (Fall 2007)


Austin playing "the Shepard" with Bandit as his "sheep" at Christmas (Dec 2008)

Small moments

I found this scene in Carson's room this morning...Austin had found his way into Carson's crib and was laying there with his arm around him and a blankie over them, as Austin was singing Carson songs! How cute is that??? For once I was just glad Austin wasn't trying to take his little brother down, which is usually the case!

Then, the another day there was this crazy hailstorm outside and Austin was watching from the back door, while Carson crawled over to him and stood next to him. Austin put his hand on Carson's back and said, "Carson, do you see that? It's not snow and it's not rain, that's called hail? Isn't that loud?" Carson just looked up at him and listened and I was lucky enough to get this shot! Too precious...



It's moments like this that make being a mom, or chef-maid-chaffeur-mediator-nurse-and-whatever-else-you-can-think-of... worth it!

Austin-isms retired

"Grandpa, I appreciate you." (he says with his hands cupping my dad's chin-totally out of the blue)

"Mom, don't worry. I don't have diarrhea. Just poop." (he says LOUDLY in a public restroom!)

"I will be a big boy when I'm 5, Mom. Then I can ride the bus to school."

"Carson, if you want something, you have got to stop whining!" (good thing Austin knows whining isn't tolerated in our house! :)

"That is so lame!" (he says all the time, learned from me)

"Are you my buddy?" (he asks every kid he meets)

"Mom, you have got to stop bugging my brother. He doesn't want that many kisses."

"Dad, what seems to be the problem at work?" (he asks seriously at the dinner table)

"ARGHHH! That's what I say when I am a pirate and I find treasure."

"Mom, will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'm all out of gas, Mom. I need milk. Milk gives me lots of energy, ok?"

"You have two options. You can either sit in time-out or you can go to your room." (to Dad)

Happy Valentines Day!

A day late, but it's been a little crazy around here...We've had fun the last couple of days for Valentines...first it started with Austin's preschool party on Thursday. The kids were too cute exchanging Valentines and treats with each other. They also played some cute games. Then later that day we made Valentines cookies with some friends and their kids-it was a ton of fun, but quite the mess! The kids went a little crazy with the sprinkles to say the least! Of course, Austin only would eat the frosting, but Carson loved those cookies! He got so mad when I wouldn't give him anymore! Friday we took some of the cookies we made to Eric's work and made handmade Valentines for Eric. Austin even wrote his name on the card for the first time!

Saturday Eric and I got a sitter and went to the temple and then to dinner. It was fun and nice to enjoy some time without kids! All in all, a good Valentines!

Bucket List

Have you seen the movie, "The Bucket List"? Eric and I watched it the other day and it inspired me to create my own bucket list (things you want to do before you "hit the bucket" aka die). I decided this would be a fun to put some pictures scattered in as well!

1. Travel the world. Really there's too many places I want to visit or re-visit but to name just a few... New Zealand, Africa, Thailand, Israel, Tahiti/Bora Bora, Greece, Norway, and Costa Rica.




2. Write a health and fitness book.
3. Spend time doing humanitarian work in a foreign country.


4. Learn to sew.
5. Climb Mt. McKinley with Eric.


6. Have a large involvement in a childrens charity organization (or even start one).
7. Take salsa dancing classes with Eric.


8. Travel the U.S. by Winnebago when we are retired (this is really Eric's dream)
9. Start a part-time photog business.
10. Heli-ski in Alaska.


11. Re-learn how to play the piano WELL.
12. Go skydiving again, this time NOT tandem.


13. Take cooking classes.
14. Help and inspire hundreds of people to take control of their health and change their lifestyles for good. I would even love to be a motivational speaker on this subject!
15. Bungee jump off of a tall bridge (in New Zealand preferably).


16. Serve a mission for the church with Eric (when we're retired).


17. Be financially capable of HELPING to pay for my kids' and grandkids' college educations and missions.
18. Which leads to... see all my kids graduate from college and serve missions.
19. AND see all our kids get married in the temple and have families of their own.


20. Hence, be a grandparent.
19. Go on a safari in Africa.


20. Build a home near (or in) the mountains someday.
21. Get scuba certified and dive on the Great Barrier Reef again.


22. Go to the Olympics again (preferably summer).
23. Learn to speak Italian (ok, maybe not fluently, but enough to get by!)
24. Witness the Tour de France in person.


25. Meet the Prophet.


Looking back through my list, does this seem lofty or what???!! Plus, more than half of these we'll have to do when we are retired, hope we aren't crippled! :)

SLC ski trip

We spent the weekend skiing in Salt Lake, it was a BLAST!!! One of my best friends, Elisa and her hubbie, Danny came from D.C. to ski, so we decided to make a trip down to join them. We also got together with our other college friends for dinner one night, went to the Draper Temple Open House, and even got to hang out with some family. Eric and I used to ski all the time in college and pre-kids, but haven't much the last 4 yrs, so it was extra fun or us. (And it made us miss SLC a lot more for that reason!) Here are the highlights from our exhausting 3 day trip...


Eric, me, Elisa, and Danny freezing our buns off in the wind at the Draper Temple-it was so beautiful though!


Elisa and I at Alta, I seriously love that girl! (and it snowed about a foot that day, it was awesome!)


Elisa and Danny at Alta, what a cute couple they are!


Eric's sister, Kimi, watched the kids while we skiied! She is the best aunt!


My sister, Jen and I at Snowbasin Saturday. I forgot how amazing that resort is-and the day couldn't have been more perfect. Great snow, warm weather (for the most part), good company (there were 8 of us), and amazing terrain! We seriously had a blast, except when Patrick, Elisa's brother jacked up his wrist and shoulder snowboarding! Some fun times though!


Jen, Eric, and Matty (Jen's hubbie, being a goofball!) on the ski lift


Eric and I at the end of the day-exhausted! We skied hard and pretty much on the toughest terrain all day, our legs just aren't used to that anymore! (Or is it the old age? :)


The group minus the injured one-Eric, Jen, me, Elisa, Danny, Matt, and Dave at the top of the mountain!


Eric and his little brother, Dave


The girlies-me, Elisa, Brittney, and Katie (best friends since freshman year of college)

Carson the hamster

Lately the joke has been that Carson is a hamster because he likes to keep food stashed in his cheeks (I have no idea why he's suddenly doing this)! The first time I said this we were eating lunch at the table and Austin thought it was so funny that he had tears in his eyes and practically fell off his chair from laughing so hard. Carson seemed to think it (or most likely Austin) was pretty funny too, and it was like this chain effect. Once he saw Austin laughing uncontrollably, he started laughing and then of course, the food in his cheeks started spewing out! I wish I could've video taped it, it was hilarious!

Inside Ride

Eric particapted in a little charity fundraiser yesterday, called the Inside Ride, which takes place inside the Boise Towne Center. Teams of 4 ride as many miles as they can on their bikes (on trainers) for an hour! So, he and a few co-workers made their turn and averaged 23-24 miles/hr. All proceeds raised went to St. Alphosus Hospital Cardiac Care. Pretty neat! They had fun sweating and spinning those wheels to music blasting in the mall! I only wish I could've rode too, but somebody's gotta take care of the little rascals!

A "taste" of Cincinnati

While we were living in Cincinnati, one of the locals' (and Eric's) favorite places to eat was a place called Buffalo Wild Wings. Hot wings and chili are a HUGE Cincinnati fave (although we didn't like their chili) and so when they decided to put one in Boise, you can imagine how excited Eric was! On their Grand Opening Day last week, they gave the first 100 customers FREE WINGS FOR A YEAR! Needless to say, Eric wanted me to go and wait in line for him-forget it! The place was packed with people! Plus, who wants to do that with 2 little kids?! We're pretty excited though-a little reminder of some good memories from the 'Nati'!