Bear World

While on our trip we were able to visit Bear World. It is a division of Yellowstone Park. It's located just outside Rexburg. We had a lot of fun there. You actually get to drive your car right in the caged area were the bears live. They have 39 bears in there! It was pretty cool because the bears can come right up to the car. They told us to lock our doors because they know how to open them!
These were some pictures I took through my window. The bear in the bottom left corner cracked me up the way he was sleeping. Silly ol’ bear!


There were a lot of other animals as well, like Buffalo, Elk, Deer, Fox & Wolfs. They had this large petting zoo with a wide rang of animals walking around that you can touch and pet. The kids had such a blast in there. Here is a video clip of a really cute baby goat that liked Jenaya’s dress.



Yay! I was finally able to upload a video on here. I have tried a few times to do it through blogger, but it always cuts off in the middle saying "there was an error". Plus I think the MB were to big for the blog to handle (that’s why you hear me reminding Josh not to do the video too long in the clip, because we wanted to see if that helped) So if you ever have a problem uploading one, try YouTube. It’s so easy.


(Such tame deer)





This picture doesn’t do the peacock justice. It had the most beautiful turquoise feathers.

There were a few carnival rides too. Here is one that Benny started to cry on when it started because it bounced around. The worker was nice and stopped the ride so he could get off.



My li’l sister Cammy came along too. She is the baby of the family. She just turned 11. Jenaya absolutely adorers her aunt Cammy.


Dad & Benny on the train.


It was funny, but this girl squeezed in the same caboose with the girls. Lanessa’s in there too! I guess she just really wanted to ride in that one, because there were plenty of others empty. Heehee.


Brave li’l Nessa. She’s fearless!



All tuckered out!! I think Benny was asleep before we even pulled out of the park.

Last Day of School

Today was Jenaya’s last day of school. She missed a week while we were on our trip.


Here is a picture of her at the Kindergarten graduation with her teacher Ms. Shacie (It was the day before we left on our trip) She was confused when I told her she still had 3 more days left when we came home.

Busy, Busy Two Year Olds!

*UPDATE*
This is an update to some more mischief that went on that day. Josh later told me that they must have hit our laptop with something over and over again and managed to pop off 14 button keys. He was able to get most of them back on. I found a cut in Benny’s shirt when I went to wash it. They also got into the plant one more time before bed. (but not as bad) GEEZ!




So, I’ve had quite the morning today. I needed to shower so I thought maybe I’ll just put on a cartoon for the twins and give them their sippy cups while I hop in. BAD IDEA!! While I was blow-drying my hair Lanessa comes in crying that Benny cut her. WHAT? She had a cut in her brand new (tags removed that morning) shirt, one on her pants & a little scratch on her tummy.

I was off to find Benny. He was down stairs with multiple cuts on his pants and a huge smile on his face.

I think to myself, 'where did they get the scissors from?' I checked up in the family room and saw that they had gotten two chairs to get into my scrapbook cupboard. But I didn’t see “the” scissors. So I asked Benny to bring them to me. He had hid them in a drawer. So while I was putting Ben in timeout I hear Lanessa coughing. I turned to see her throw up chocolate milk on the carpet. Lovely. I’m so glad they didn’t get hurt or cut each others' hair, but I’m upset about their new clothes getting ruined. Benny had only worn those pants twice!

See, that is why I usually lock them in the girl’s room (we turned their nob/lock around so it's on the outside of the door) while I shower or put them in the tub across from my shower so I can see them and keep them contained. Now, you must know our house is VERY child proof. We have locks on everything. But it doesn’t seam to matter with these two. They will find away! We actually had to do away with the so-called “child proof door handle knobs” about a month ago because our two year olds knew how to grip n’ twist every single one. I’m not sure if they are baby geniuses or little devils.

Don't let these looks fool you!


(yes, Lanessa is taller)

So things seamed to calm down and I was able to get some house work done. I remembered an errand that we need to go do. I ran up the stairs to grab something in my room and was right back down and saw this HUGE mess:

They had pulled out my plant Jenaya gave me for Mother’s Day

and spread the dark wet soil all over the carpet! They went back to timeout while I tackled the not-so-fun job of cleaning up the mess. It wasn’t even 11:00 AM yet. When we got back from our errand, we had some lunch. I put on a little cartoon for them so I could cleanup after lunch. I called them down for diaper changes and their naps. That’s when Benny showed me his hand. He had MARKER on it. Oh no! Yep, they had climbed over the computer desk and found a permanent marker to color the room with. The reason I say “climbed over” is because Josh built about a 10 inch ledge around our computer to make it taller and more difficult for them to get into everything. He also added a little gate to close the opening to the “office area” (it also locks) .


Seriously, we need another room in our house for our office. Next house WILL have one.

There have been days when it’s been like this from when they wakeup until they go to bed. They can make one huge mess and while my attentions on cleaning it up, they are doing another. Yes, life is a bit crazy right now. Kids must have a sixth sence telling them when to be the most naughty because it always seams to be when you’re busy trying to get ready for something (like packing for a trip). Oh the life with twins...

And to think, we’re going to potty train when we get back.
PRAY for us!

Daddy's Little Boy!

Oh, how pretty is Ben? Answer…. so pretty!
Ben LOVES to dress-up (even more then the girls do) the sad thing is, all we really have is girly dress-up. So it’s been my goal to find him more boy items. I found a couple of super cool boy capes while I was up in Utah last week. I’m trying to find a few more items to give him for his b-day next month. Maybe some hats since he loves those so much. Anyway until then we will have a very “pretty” boy!

Richard's Graduation Invite.

I made my brothers graduation invites in Photoshop and had them professionally laser printed on a really nice glossy cardstock. They turned out pretty good. I’m still learning my way around Photoshop (there’s a lot to learn!) All the info is printed on the back.



I’m going to brag about my lil’ brother now. He is graduating Valedictorian of his class and is also receiving his Eagle Scout award. He will be the first boy in our family to receive one (out of my dad & other bros.) My other little brother Robert is real close to getting his too. We will be going up to help celebrate with the rest of the family this next week. This has been quite the year already for Richard. He had the honor of being a Paige for the Senator of Idaho for 5 weeks! Josh and I are so very proud of him!! WAY TO GO RICHARD!!

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Happy Mother’s Day to All You Wonderful Moms!!!!!

Look mom, hats!

Say cheese!



They thought this was super funny while trying to take off their bibs.

Tag.....7 weird or random facts about me.

I was tagged by Debra & now you get to know 7 weird or random facts
about me : ) So here goes….

1. Sometimes I think out loud and wonder…. did I really just say that?
2. I traveled England & Paris with my friend when we were 17 (what were our parents thinking?!?!)
3. I love getting pedicures. Do you want to go?
4. I’m lactose intolerant. I’m sure you wanted to know that one ; )
5. I’m a bit obsessed about keeping my van clean. I’ve found that by keeping windex, baby and antibacterial wipes (the packet sizes) inside the driver & passenger side doors helps cleanup everything. I also wash/vacuum it once a week.
6. I love “LOST” it’s the only TV show I watch (except for when I Netflix the “Hills”)
7. I don’t have a middle name…. well I guess my maiden name is now my middle name.

I tag: Rebecca, Boston, Brittany, Shantel, Kim, Kassie, Leah
Have fun ladies!

1. On your post, link back to the person who tagged you - that would be me, in this case.
2. Post your assignment on your blog - seven weird or random facts.
3. Post these rules on your blog.
4. Post links to seven bloggers that you will be tagging.
5. Go to those blogs and give them a comment on their blog to let them know that you have tagged them.

Sweet Piggies

I walked by Ben's room while he was taking his nap and this is what I saw sticking out from under his door! I guess he decided to sleep on the floor instead of his bed. Silly boy.

Women's Conferences at BYU

I’m back from Women’s Conferences. My friend Audrie & I drove up to Provo on Wednesday. We stopped in Springville at my sister April’s house to say hi and happy B-day & to shop at Rod Works. Then we were off to the Quilted Bear. I had actually never been in there before. Audrie had pre-warned me to save up some money and that we needed to give ourselves “enough time there.” She wasn’t kidding! We ended up staying in there for 3 1/2 hours. It was seriously the CUTEST store ever! I got some really great items for my house. Then we were off to find some food. We were starving since we hadn’t eaten a meal in 8 hrs. Thursday & Friday we went to the BYU’S Women’s Conference from 9-5. This was my first time attending WC and I think I will have too attended every year from now on. The Sprit was so strong and the messages were so uplifting. I can’t even begin to tell you how great it was for me personally, but I want to share a couple of things out of some talks that I heard.

I learned from a couple of talks on Motherhood, "Cherish That Role That Is So Uniquely Yours: Parenting for Young Mothers." Some of the things taught were:

• Remember the things that matter most, and to have a sense of humor. Tell our children “Good try” and give encouragement often.
• Don’t wallow in our imperfections.
• Slow down & refocus.
• Remember that we are enough.
• Value motherhood, it’s the most important thing we can be doing, and this is the time to be with our children.
• Talents and hobbies are good but don’t let our purpose and outlook change.

One mother told of how she hated doing the never ending mounds of laundry, and would have rather been spending her time doing other things. Then she decided to change the way she was thinking and instead of having to fold their laundry, she was grateful to be able to serve those family members that couldn’t do it for themselves. She also challenged herself; Every time she folded a piece of laundry for a family member she would think of one way that person has blessed her life. She told of how the laundry became more pleasant, and she also became more grateful for her family.

Personally, I am always feeling bad that I don’t do more service outside my home. It just never occurred to me that doing things for my children is service. It has already changed my viewpoint since I’ve been home and back to doing the mounds of laundry.


I also wanted to share a thought from a talk by Elder & Sister Bateman, how we need to liken our homes to a Temple by bringing temple manners in the home. Such as; begin & end each day with prayer, to speak with soft voices, to be clean and organized & orderly. A house of order is a house of God. See Josh, this is why I’m a grouch if the house is a mess. There is a reason for the clean-freak in me!

April was able to meet us for the Friday meetings (barley, but that’s another story). It was so nice to spend the day with her.


We were so pleased to have President Monson be our concluding speaker on Friday.
I have never been in the same room as our Prophet before, & I will never forget the feeling of the sprit that filled the room of the Marriott Center when he entered the room. It was so strong and sweet. I know I was suppose to go to Women’s Conference, If not for any other reason but to have my testimony strengthened by feeling Pres. Monson’s strong sprit. We were also graced by the presence of Pres. Monson’s sweet wife and the entire board of the General Relief Society & Primary & Young Women’s Presidencies. Sheri Dew, Julie B. Beck, the President of BYU & also the Pres. of the Provo temple. Just to name a few. It was truly a memorable couple of days.


Well, we had a great time. We shopped until I heard Audrie say she was sick of shopping. (Never thought I would’ve heard that one. This is the girl who couldn’t stop talking about all the shopping we were going to get in while we were away from our hubby & kids.)

We ate at some great restaurants such as:





We took April out to eat at for her B-day.

We headed home Saturday after stopping back by Rod Works one last time. Thanks Audrie for a fun week and a great time. There was never a dull moment and I can’t believe how much we can talk & laugh!!!

Thanks girls, for making me look really tall!




Sorry for the longest post in blogging history : )