I Voted.

Nathan voted before he went to work.

But that meant he wouldn't be able to catch the bus, so he had to take the car.

So once the girls woke up and we were all ready,we bundled up and walked about 3 blocks to vote.

SO glad the weather let us do that. 

SO cold but, not raining or snowing. ;-)

 So toasty warm.

 Even though it's cold, it has been a battle to get Marley to wear her coat. 

Marley gets picked up by a little school bus and one of the rules is that you have to have your coat on and you have to keep it on for the whole bus ride. 

She is the first one to be picked up so, I was letting her wear long sleeves and a sweatshirt over the top. 

Then we'd stuff her coat in her backpack for when they play outside.

That was perfect for her at the time, but, I think it's getting cold enough that she's starting to relent. 

 Township Hall on the right.

No small town is not complete without a water tower.

 The girls behaved perfectly while I voted. 

Before we went I let Marley know what to expect and we talked about what I would be doing and I needed her to sit in the stroller next to Isi and keep them both quiet. 

They did great!

 I Voted.

  I love this picture!

I'm such a good photographer! Ha!

 Then we waited for the bus. 

 Usually she rides all over the drive way. 

But, the neighbor's car was there and our car was not in the garage and the garage was open and she really wanted to do donuts in the garage. 

I had my doubts but she maneuvered great.

 Should have gotten a picture when the bus came. 

Oh well.

So, other places I have voted they gave out stickers that said, "I Voted!" 

Not here. 

So, I made my own. 

Pretty awesome eh?

Yummy Salmon Chowder

Here's a yummy recipe for Salmon Chowder!

I follow the recipe exactly....except I half the butter and the salmon. 

This baby calls for 32 ounces of salmon!

I just get 2-3 of the 5 oz. cans and it is so yummy with less than half to half of the salmon. 

It's a little bit more chopping and peeling than I normally like to do, for one meal. 

But, on cold days...any good soup is going to have some peeling and chopping.

There was a 10 for $10 deal on Pillsbury biscuits just before conference!

We are down to 2 packs of biscuits after tonight's dinner. 

Mmmmm......Salmon Chowder with biscuits!

 Before I added the milk, salmon, cream corn and cheese I spooned some out for Isi.

Basically it was onion, celery, carrot and potato in chicken broth.

Mashed it all up with a fork.

She LOVED IT!!!

Marley loved the oatmeal baby cereal. 

Isi likes NOTHING baby food.

She likes our food.

 Mmmmm....

 In other news. 

This is Jammy Dress.

 Jammy dress is a Gap jersey 2T dress. 

It was given to us when Marley was about 1 year old.

We tried it on her...a little big. 

She wore it to church once and then I decided it looked like Jammies. 

And Jammy Dress was born. 

She has been wearing it as jammies on a regular basis ever since. 

As you could see above, it's getting short. 

So, Marley wears Monkey Jammies with Jammy dress. 

 I am planting seeds with Marley.

Every time she wears it, I tell her that soon we will have to put Jammy dress away.

I point out the tattered edges and splitting seems.

Marley gives me big puppy dog brown eyes. 

(I should take a picture of those and show you. They are killer!)

I think that she'll agree if I tell her that we won't be saving it for Isi, 

but we'll put it in her memory box. 

And here's the picture Marley had to take since I took pictures of her. 

Ooooo....does it still look like my house is in shambles? 

Laundry day.

Oh Poop!

It's only day 4 and I almost went to bed without blogging.

Totally forgot.

And I had nothing planned.....

Well, nothing planned that I can pull together fast enough to get myself to bed fast.

So....

I'm copying my friend Anna's post idea from Saturday. 

Only guess what!

Her's is WAY better than mine.

Well, as far as the pictures go....she found great pictures!

But, my joke is way better!

Go check it out. 

Here's my favorite knock knock joke.

Me: Knock Knock

 You: Who's there?

Me: Impatient Cow

You: Impatient cow

Me: MOOOOOO!

You:

If you know my mom.

Ask her to tell you her favorite Knock Knock joke.

My house is in shambles....

I shouldn't be blogging about a perfectly messy house when there are people on the east coast with water logged homes and homes that seem to have blown away or homes that were batted like a baseball with an uprooted tree(s). 

But, here I go anyway.

Total shambles. 

Yes that is my little pony on the TV.

And

Yes that is my little baby in the middle of all this mess.

There are definite problem areas in my house. 

One problem area is the bookshelf right there between the entry way and the kitchen entrance. 

I LOVE that bookself there...when the top is clean and there is nothing dumped right in front of it.

Can you see that my church bag (brown with polka dots), the diaper bag, a reusable grocery bag (bright green), and Nathan's backpack are all right there?  

And the stack of mail that was on top of the bookcase has fallen off and is jumbled on top and all around the bags.

Yes, this is our dumping ground. 

Each of these things have a place to go in our coat closet but we never put them away when we first walk in the door. I don't know why!

And then, as evidence of my church bag...they sit there for days.

Another problem area is in the kitchen. 

After we go grocery shopping, all the cans wait on the kitchen floor until I have time and the desire to rotate the cans. So, the cans sit on the floor, spreading ever closer to taking up the whole kitchen floor.

Until October 23, I had had enough.

I got online just to dream of having some self rotating shelving and ended up impulse buying the Harvest 72" Food Rotation System from Shelf Reliance. 

It's weird because I NEVER impulse buy anything but smaller grocery items.

I NEVER purchase anything over $20-$30 without discussing it with Nathan, in depth.

But, guess what!

They had one in there Scratch and Dent Discount category!

For 57% OFF!

It boasts storage for 406 cans! 

We did text back and forth about it...so I DID NOT purchase this without Nathan knowing.

And well, it came in the mail yesterday. 

(hence the HUGE shelf reliance box blocking our entry. AKA Marley's hot tub!)

And well, that put our house in shambles. 

 The scratch and dent section said that it could be scratched it could have slight dents but nothing that would compromise it functioning properly or its sturdiness. 

It also said that the parts could be all different colors. 

NOTHING is wrong with this unit.

Well, there was one cross bar that had a SLIGHTLY bent corner and Nathan got some pliers and easily fixed that. 

Oh, and the SHELfReliance sign on the front top is scratched and smudged.

NO BIGGIE! 

 So, today we are working on getting our house put back together. 

And

You know Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday.

SO, we are getting ready for Sunday too.

I HAVE to make some nursery visual aids and singing time props because those little ones are eating me ALIVE.

Oh yea, Nathan is changing our front brakes.

 But, there will probably be a post about car whoa's sometime this month...so I won't expound.

Just know that if you want to do something with us today....

We can't.

PS - I'll be doing a house follow up...shambles resolved. 

Oh kids!

Yesterday, I had lunch at Marley's school.

With Marley.

And all her little friends too.

While we ate, I asked the cute little girl next to me if she dressed up for Halloween.

She excitedly said, in her cute little squeaky voice,

"Yes! I was a witch!"

While she pointed at to different locations on her face:

one offset on the tip of her nose

and the other offset on her chin

she said, 

"I had one nipple right here. And one nipple right her."

In the matter of one half second I thought,

"Did she just call her warts or moles NIPPLES!?!?!?!

BWAAHHA HA HA HA HA AH AHA HA!!!!

But really I just held in a little giggle.

Before I knew it.

In the matter of one quarter second Marley corrected her by saying, 

"Those aren't NIPPLES!" 

And then she pointed, by touching MY NIPPLES. 

"THESE are NIPPLES!"

Her point, by touching alternated left to right, left to right.

I was instantly embarrassed and even faster I was trying to get her to stop pointing and touching MY NIPPLES! 

It was hilarious.

And embarrassing.

Once I finally got Marley to STOP! 

I said, "She's right. They are actually called warts or moles. What were yours?"

Cute little squeaky voiced girl got embarrassed (but not as embarrassed as me) shook her head and said,

"OH! Yea! They were warts!"  

Oh kids!

PS - Blogging everyday this month!

It's November!

Wow! 

Where has this year gone!?!

Seriously.

Like, yesterday, it was January.

And I could NOT wait for Isabelle to arrive. 

She did, and

BAM!!!

She's 6 months old.

AND

It's November!

Well, November means I and many others blog EVERYDAY. 

I'm excited because this means I'll get caught up with our summer trip. 

Maybe you don't care about that at this point...

but, it was DANG fun, so you're gonna read about it and see lots of pictures.

I will also wax profoundly.

Complain, probably.

Try to be funny, of course. 

\

And give many many thanks.

It doesn't really matter.

The point is - 

Blogging everyday this month. 

Cascade Springs

My mom and I have started a fun tradition. 

We randomly send each other emails with the subject:

"Remember when...."

Then we just write a line or so of rememberance regarding fun we have done together. 

Mom, 

Remember when....

We went to Cascade Springs!

That was so fun!

I think Marley had a blast too!

Isi fell asleep during the glorious canyon drive, so she and Grandpa stayed in the truck. 

Thanks Grandpa!

munching on Grandpa's sunflower seeds!

with crazy eyes, of course.

This little stretch was actually really steep. The pictures don't do it justice. 

Maybe if I rotate the picture. oh yea, I can't. Just tilt your head to the left. THAT's how steep it was.

Big Ol' Vacation

Temple Tour!