A Barrel Full of Monkeys

Our Daughter the Star!

2009-12-20T20:45:00.001-08:00

December has been busy for Sami. She was in the play "A Christmas Carol" at her school. She didn't have any speaking parts, but she got to dance in one of the scenes. I don't have any pictures of her performing, Jacob barely let me watch the scene where she danced. I spent the rest of the play outside with him. I guess I will have the watch the DVD we bought of the performance to see how they all did.

Sami and her best friend Drew.

Sami also was in her school choir again this year. They did such a good job! My mom was nice and stayed home with Jacob so I actually got to watch this one!

Sami and her friend Lexi, they sang their little hearts out!

And here is what our boys have been up to, not quite as ambitious!

Just lying around watching Christmas movies!

One Crazy Kid!

2009-12-08T15:03:00.001-08:00

So this morning Jacob wanted to go outside and I told him that he had to get dressed first. After I changed over some laundry I went into the kitchen and found the back door open. Jacob was out back, I guess that this is his idea of dressed!

Attention: No one has died!

2009-11-10T00:33:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are all still alive at our house. I just keep putting off my blogging duties. It seems that there is always something more pressing that needs to be done. So for posterity sake here is what we have been doing with our Spring, Summer and Fall.

Spring:

We took our annual trip to Red Cliffs with our good friends the Anderson's and Andy & Myrna. While there we celebrated Easter, hiked, and the kids got to rock repel. My friend Cami and her family came and stayed one of the nights with us also.

Coloring eggs.

And then of course you have to find the eggs!

And of course who can go camping without eating marshmallows the size of your fist!

Good sticky fun!

Then Brad and Braden went to Lake Powell with the Hintze boys.

We went on a couple of trips to the Zoo, always a kid favorite.

Brad and I also went on Braden's school field trip to the Zoo. We love being able to do things like that!

Field day and last day of school:

Sami's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Elmer. Loved her!

Sami's best friend Drew. Love her too!

Summer:

Family Trip to Carlsbad Beach in California:

Pony Express Days 5k race:

(My first race since my college days)

I ran with my friend Teresa, oh and Spiderman!

4th of July in Oak City:

At the Derby

It had been a long day, Braden actually fell asleep at the derby!

The parade

1st Annual Hintze Olympics

Jacob's 2nd Birthday:

This is the piñata that my mom and Sami made for his party.

Ethan and Luke

Sami and her cousins Jessica and Bubba

Braden and Ethan's Birthday Parties:

The boys both decided that they wanted summer parties this year, so we did them in July instead of the usual October and December. I did them on the same day, one right after the other. A little crazy, but tons of fun!

Ethan's Party

He wanted a monster cake and Sami helped me make it.

They played "Pin the nose on the Viking", don't ask why it was a Viking. That is what you get when you ask the kids to help you make the games! We also had a ring toss, a monster bean bag game, a fishing pond, face painting and a piñata. The kids loved it!

Then it was time for Braden's Party

He wanted a Castle Crashers cake (it is some computer game). Sami helped me with this one too, she is becoming quite the little cake decorator! At Braden's party they just played water games. Easy Peasy! I would show pictures of the water fight, but my 2yr. old is naked in all of them and this isn't that kind of blog!

Sami's Birthday:

Sami didn't have a big party this year, it was just our little family. I can't believe she is 10 now, where has the time gone!

First Day of School:

Sami started 5th grade and Braden is now in 2nd.

Red Rock Relay:

Brad and I participated in a relay race in September. Our team had 12 runners and we had to run 180 miles between the 12 of us. It took us 27 hrs. and 50 min's. to complete the race. It was so much fun!

This is me at the end of my 3rd and final run, I was so happy to be done!

This is all of our team at the finish line.

California Girls trip:

So every year my friend Shelley and I celebrate our birthdays together since they are only a month apart. This year we decided that we needed to plan a trip to California to celebrate.

So Shelley and I, along with our friends Holly and Hilary and their two babies (both named Olivia), jumped on a plane and flew to CA and played for a couple of days.

It was nice to just get away and lie on the beach and do absolutely nothing!

Miami:

So Brad and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this year and we went to Miami, Florida to celebrate. Talk about Heaven! We stayed for 6 days and it was so nice to just be with him! One day we drove down to Key West and went on a sail boat that took us out so we could go snorkeling and kayaking. It was so amazing!

The Miami Duck Tour that we went on.

We bought "Miami Go Passes" so we did a lot while we were there. Lots of tours, museums, the Zoo and quite a few shows. Seeing the dolphin show was probably my favorite, they are so fun to watch!

We had so much fun and it was very relaxing.

I love this guy!

Fall:

In October we went with Brad's family to St. George and then on to Vegas for the Ute game. As always it was a lot of fun!

Hanging out in St. George

Utah/Vegas Game

Ethan's Actual Birthday:

We took Ethan to "Pirate Island" in Orem to celebrate his 5th birthday. Now all the kids have decided to go there for their birthdays, they loved it and so did Brad and I!

Halloween 2009:

All my kids were sick the week of Halloween so they missed out on most of the celebrations, but luckily when it came to trick or treating Sami and Braden felt well enough to go so they pick up extra candy for the two sickies left at home. Also we had thrown a Halloween party for some of our friends the week before everyone got sick so they didn't miss out on all the fun.

Braden was a Ninja, Sami's a bee, Jacob a cowboy, and Ethan was a vampire (the non-sparkly kind). And Brad and I were characters from the movie Sweeney Todd. I have never seen the movie, but I am up to playing a good psycho any time!

The Duncan's

The Wilkerson's

The Coe's

My Mom

Shelley (I didn't get a picture of her boys)

And here are part of the Robinson Family

(I stole these off of Lyndee's blog, thanks girl!)

And of course we had to have a piñata

Random things:

My artistic children

This what happens when Jacob gets a hold of baby powder. He looked like a ghost, but he sure did smell good!

Ethan's first year of T-ball

He was so excited, he was tired of watching everyone else play and it was finally his turn!

I love this picture because you can see the determination in his eyes as he is running to the next base!

Ethan and Braden also played soccer this fall, but I don't have any pictures cause I was Braden's coach and Ethan's assistant coach. Kind of hard to take pictures when you are busy coaching!

Muddy bike ride

One day while out riding his bike, Ethan found a mud puddle and he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Family Home Evening

Sami planned a FHE lesson about modesty and the activity for the night was to make some modest clothes out of newspaper and then model the clothes. Here is what we came up with:

Here is the outfit I made for Ethan, complete with baseball hat!

This is the dress Brad made for Sami.

This is part of the outfit my mom made for Braden. He wasn't really cooperating so his fell apart. I guess it wasn't his kind of thing! :)

And so there you have it, that is what we have been up to. It probably took you 6 months to read all this, but I hope it was worth it! I know we had fun living it!

My Favorite Cake Ever!

2009-03-27T14:30:00.001-07:00

My mom and I made this cake for Enrichment last night for the Relief Society birthday party. I have made a lot of cakes and so has my mom, but I think this is by far my favorite! The colors were so happy and fun and I love circles. The green layer was a white cake with butter cream frosting, the pink was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and the yellow was lemon with a lemon filling and lemon frosting. We then covered it all with fondant. By the end of the night it was all gone so it must of tasted good. I am glad I got to work with my mom on this project and that she has taken the time to teach me one of her many talents. Now if I could only find a cleaning fairy to come clean up the mess afterwards!

Super Cute Hats!

2009-03-27T11:12:00.001-07:00

My friend, Lyndee, has recently found out that the only way they can have more children is through in-vetro fertilization. To help with the cost she is making these way cute hats and is selling them for a donation. I am serious when I say the are really cute and she does a really good job making them. Check out her blog and see for yourself. www.wilkersonivffund.blogspot.com/ There is also a button for her blog in my side bar.

She also makes children sizes.

1st Day of Spring!

2009-03-27T10:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, okay, I know it is winter outside right now, but on March 20th, the first day of spring, it was beautiful! So the kids and I went into town and met Brad at the park and had a BBQ and played.

Brad and Ethan rolling down the hill together.

I love those blue eyes and those smiles!

Jacob enjoying a Hot Tamale popsicle. Yum!

I had to laugh to myself this week as I was doing laundry, washing shorts and capri's, and then I look out the window and the snow is coming down! Were these pictures really from last week? Oh well, it at least gives us something to look forward to!

Family Fun!

2009-03-09T19:11:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we decided to take the kids and stay in a hotel in Provo. I know, you're thinking " why Provo?". Well, we can swim as much as we want and it was free! While we were there we went to the Walter Wick exhibition at BYU's Museum of Art. Walter Wick is the guy who makes the I Spy books. The kids really liked seeing how he made all the models he photographed. There was also an exhibition from an artist named Dan Steinhilber. He is one of those artists who make art out of random things and garbage. The kids really liked that!

This is us in front of a sculpture made out of balloons.

When we got back on Saturday, my mom, Sami and I went out for a "Girls Night". We went to Desert Star Theatre to watch Home School Musical. It was Sami's first time going there and she loved it! Brad and I may have a hard time going there without her now. It is always fun sharing new things with my daughter, I can see our relationship changing and I love it. We are starting to have more things in common and I really enjoy spending time with her.

Ice, Ice, Baby.....Can't Touch This!

2009-03-02T08:01:00.001-08:00

Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer came in concert on Friday and my awesome Sister-in-Law, Tosha, won me and Brad tickets. It was such a blast from the past!

Here is Vanilla Ice doing his thing.

It was fun being there and seeing everyone dress up like the 80's. The funny thing I noticed is that probably 3/4 of the people who were there either weren't alive or were still in diapers when these artists were famous the first time! Good Times! Also after seeing the styles they were sporting I have to say some of those styles really need to stay dead and buried!

This is the best picture I have of Hammer. He is the one on the left side wearing a red long sleeve shirt, black vest, black pants and black hat. In this picture he had invited up a bunch of people from the crowd to party with him.

He was pretty entertaining too. You could tell he loved being on the stage again and hearing the crowd yell "Go Hammer, Go Hammer, Go!". It was cute because he had his 13 year old son up on stage as one of his dancers, the mom in me wanted to cry cause it was so cute seeing father and son work together!

This was the first time Brad has been down on the floor in a concert so it was quite the experience for him. He loved it! Me, I kind of got tired of the pushing and I was still so sore from working out that the craziness kind of became a little much for me. But it was fun seeing Brad enjoy it.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-02-23T11:37:00.001-08:00

Okay, I know my birthday was in September, but Brad's parents gave me money for my present and I finally found something that I couldn't live without.

I love this dress! Now I just need warm weather so I can wear it!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-02-21T07:59:00.001-08:00

Last Night we took the kids to the Draper Temple Open House. It was amazing! The kids were so good and they asked a lot of questions. It felt so good to be there with my kids and I had flashes of the future when I will be able to take them back there to receive their own blessings. As we sat in the sealing room Sami and I talked about how someday she would be there with the man she loved. It was a sweet experience. Halfway through Ethan complained that he was getting tired so he sat on my mom's lap and not long after he was out, he was so cute!

Yes, We are Alive!

2009-02-19T13:37:00.001-08:00

Over the holidays I got in a funk and didn't feel like blogging, but really we did do some fun things as a family. So hold on and enjoy the ride down memory lane.

Here are some of our December activities:

We visited my dad and decorated his room with Christmas cheer. I enjoy taking my children to visit my dad, they don't always enjoy it, but I am starting to see a change in them as they are starting to realize how much he likes to see them.

I love that my dad always has a smile on his face!

We also took a trip downtown to Temple Square. We haven't been there for a couple of years so it was fun to take the kids and see all the lights.

We got to party with family.....

On Christmas Eve Brad made us an amazing dinner. It was also his birthday and so he usually gets some new toy to cook with. It has kind of become a tradition to have him cook his own birthday dinner because he enjoys cooking so much and he can go all out on that day.

I don't mind it at all when Brad cooks!

Jacob really enjoyed the Jello, in fact his face was stained red the rest of the night!

Of course then there was Christmas.

We all got new Jammies on Christmas Eve. Ethan was a little disappointed that jammies were all he got so he wouldn't cooperate for the picture.

The kids were all happy with their presents. It was a nice Christmas filled with lounging around in our jammies, being with family, playing games and Brad not having to work! I think it was one of the best Christmases yet.

January not much happened, but Brad did take Sami and Braden ice fishing with his dad and brother.

February has been a busy month. To start the month off we had a ward Valentines Dance. Brads dad is in a band called the Moonlighters and we had them come play for us. It was so much fun!

It was fun to go and dance the night away with my husband and get a few dances in with my boys. Who could ask for a better night!

Next we had my moms birthday. Sami and my nephew Andrew designed my moms cake and Sami helped me make it.

I let go of the control freak in me and let Sami do all the dots and stripes on the cake, she was so proud of herself and she had a lot of fun doing it.

The birthday girl and her crew!

I have been thinking a lot lately about my kids and what can I do to help them be more charitable and loving. I got the idea to make valentines for all the residents at the care center where my dad lives and then have the kids deliver them. I really want my kids to feel more comfortable going there and I thought this would be a good way to help that. I invited some of my family and friends to join in with us and it was a lot of fun.

The kids all did an awesome job and made close to 100 cards. When we went to go deliver them they were a little shy at first but quickly learned how fun it was to hand them out. They also enjoyed seeing how happy it made those who received them. This will definitely be a do again next year!

On Valentines day we went to Great Grandpa Hintze's 90th birthday party. We are so happy to have him in our lives.

They had a huge party and tons of people came to celebrate with him.

To serve as refreshments all the grandchildren were asked to make a cake that represented a memory of grandpa.

This is the cake Brad and I made. Our memory was from after we got married we went camping with the family to Snow Canyon in St. George. In the morning Brad and I laid in our tent and listened to Grandpa outside singing. He sings the best songs! The Jelly beans on the cake are supposed to be Easter eggs because they always went camping at Easter time and would have an egg hunt.

So that is what we have been up to. It has been fun!

"All I want for Christmas is my two front stitches!"

2008-12-22T18:40:00.001-08:00

Poor Sami! Her first official day of Christmas break and not even half way through the day she trips while playing out in the snow and smacks her mouth on the neighbors porch! So we braved the blizzard that was going on outside and went to the doctors so she could get two stitches right below her lip. She was so brave and so was I, this was the first time any of my kids have had to have stitches so it was a new thing for me too. Sami was proud of herself because she didn't cry while they were stitching her up.

Sami got glasses!

2008-12-16T14:59:00.001-08:00

Sami knew exactly which glasses she wanted and I think she did a good job picking them out. They are black with turquoise on the inside. She has been so excited to go get glasses so this was almost as good as Christmas...... almost!

Ethan: Demon or Angel?

2008-12-14T20:44:00.001-08:00

So about a month ago I had an interesting conversation with Ethan, here is how it went:

me: Ethan you have been kind of naughty and ornery lately, it makes me sad. I miss my happy Ethan who is nice and loves everyone.

Ethan: (straight faced) Your Ethan is dead.

Okay,.... what do you say to that? I couldn't help but to hide a little laugh, because where does he come up with these things? Is he seriously possessed? ( He has started to act better in the past month, thank goodness!)

Then this past week he was acting silly and I asked him this...

me: Who are you?

Ethan: (proudly) I Am A Child Of God! And he has sent me here!

Sami told me that in primary they ask the kids this question and they all respond in this manner. So thank you the primary leaders for changing my Ethan from and demon to an angel!

The Great Adventures of Pengy!

2008-12-14T19:30:00.001-08:00

A couple of years ago Braden got a stuffed penguin that he named Pengy. Braden loves Pengy, he used to carry him around everywhere. Over the years Pengy has been know to get himself into a little trouble from time to time, like jumping into the bathtub with the kids. Well this past week Brad went on a business trip to Boston and Pengy jumped into his computer bag so he could go along too. Brad documented Pengy's adventures and emailed them to the kids, who in turn had a blast seeing all he did.

The Picture above is Pengy sitting in his airplane seat.

Pengy looking out the airplane window. My kids were a little jealous cause Pengy has been on an airplane and they haven't.

Pengy in his hotel bed and getting into the hot tub!

Pengy going to Brad's meetings with him. All of Brad's colleagues loved Pengy and helped take pictures of him.

Pengy talking on the phone.

This is one of the side effects of hanging out with Brad so much, you can't help but become a phone user!

This is Pengy hiding in a Christmas tree and riding Rudolph!

Apparently Pengy has a sweet tooth. He finished an ice cream sundae and then ate a bunch of mini candy bars!

The kids thought this one was pretty funny, it is Pengy trying to win a friend out of one of those toy machines.

After a long trip it was back to the airport so he could bring our dad back to us. This is him going through the security check, luckily he behaved himself and didn't try to smuggle anything!

He did take a little time out to get a massage!

Waiting to board the plane.

He was so happy when he found a friend to talk to at the airport.

We are glad both Pengy and Brad arrived home safely. We missed them both so much!

Chef Cluzey !

2008-12-08T20:47:00.001-08:00

Brad has finally launched his recipe blog! It is called Chef Cluzey. You will all have to go and check it out.

Chef Cluzey

A Little Ute Love!

2008-11-24T15:01:00.001-08:00

Here are some cookies that Brad and I made for our friends, Cameron and Holly. They love the Utes and we wanted to celebrate Utah's victory with them. I am sure they were super happy that Utah killed BYU! Love ya guys!

Anyone? Anyone?

2008-11-22T08:47:00.001-08:00

So we were violated this morning! Does anyone want to confess?

"Hangin' Tough" with "The Right Stuff"

2008-11-17T22:00:00.001-08:00

So as many of you already know, on Saturday I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. I had talked myself out of being very excited about it because I kept thinking to myself that it would be kind of silly to watch grown men dance around on stage like teenagers, but let me tell you, as soon as they stepped foot on stage I was 14 all over again! It was so much fun!

So lets take a little walk down memory lane......

Here are my ticket stubs. The top is from last Sat., Nov.15,2008 and the bottom is from Sept. 1, 1990.

This me 18 years ago at my first New Kids concert. I am on the far left looking down, then it's my friends Cami, Shar, and Yvette, my mom is taking the picture and yes she went with us because we were too young to drive ourselves.

These were the New Kids I feel in love with all those many years ago. And by the way in case you were wondering, Donnie was my favorite. I loved the rebel in him, he was hot!!!!!

And now I am going to really put myself out there. I will probably be made fun of for this, but remember I was young and oh so in love. I used to write poems and NKOTB was the inspiration for a fair number of them, so I thought I would share with all of you my awesome talent.

Donnie

Donnie you are so very sweet,

your smile knocks me off my feet.

When I hear your name,

I scream and shout and go insane.

Your looks are so fine,

I want you to be mine.

My love for you is very strong,

I hope this lasts oh so long.

New Kids on the Block

They are the New Kids on the Block

and they are here to rock!

Jordan's got the move

and Donnie's got the groove,

Joey's got the butt

and Danny's got the strut,

Jon is shy,

but he's a really sweet guy,

they are here to stay

and they're never going away!

Okay hold your applause! I know it is mind boggling that I could come up with such earth moving verses, but it is a rare talent!

So now we come to the present time.....

Here Cami and I are again, a little older and more mature. Of course when the lights went off and the music started playing all maturity went out the window!

I also went with my sister, Tana, and my cousins wife, Lorri. My mom chose not to come with us this time since we could drive ourselves.

Yep, that's my Donnie!

Donnie is the one in the red hat holding up a shirt that a girl threw to him. It said "I love mormon girls".

It was fun to get away and act like a kid again! If they come back I will probably go again, they were quite entertaining. The big difference between then and now is I wasn't swooning over how hot they all were. I have my own New Kid now, he inspires my poems and he is better than all my old dreams. And he does have "The Right Stuff" and "I'll Be Loving Him Forever"!

Random Things

2008-11-17T14:53:00.001-08:00

I love it when Brad cooks! I am so thankful that he has a passion for it. The other night he made homemade spaghetti sauce, he put it over noodles for the kids and we had ours over spaghetti squash, cantaloupe with honey and lime sauce, french bread with basil, garlic, butter and parmesan cheese, and broccoli with myzithra cheese. He has also been on a creme brulee kick so I think he made a different batch every night this past week trying to perfect it, which he has...yummy! And last night he made homemade candy cane oreo ice cream, if he keeps this up I will need new pants for Christmas! He also wants to start a recipe blog and he was asking me what he should call it, I suggested "Hot Sexy Cook" , but he wasn't too sure about that, so if any of you have any suggestions let us know.

This is what happens when you don't keep an eye on Jacob and the pantry door is left open. He pulled everything out until he found some white chocolate chip and then he helped himself!

Ethan got his hair cut this past week and he asked to have his hair washed too, he takes after me , that is my favorite part of getting my hair cut. When I am rich I think I will hire someone just to wash my hair everyday!

This is one of my favorite pictures! How could you not love these guys?!!!!

Ward Fall Carnival

2008-11-17T14:01:00.001-08:00

Brad and I are on the Activities Committee for our ward along with Shelley and Heber, so that means that pretty much it is Shelley and I that plan everything and Heber and Brad help with the set up. Our friends Trent and Jamie were just called to the committee also so we are looking forward to working and playing with them. On November 1st we put on a Fall Carnival for the ward and it turned out so good, tons of people came. Here are some of the things we had planned:

We a couple of the Young Women there to do face painting. Thanks Jo and Bell!

Gourd Bowling

Bean Bag Toss

Petting Zoo

(Shelley and I giggled at ourselves for this one!)

We had another one of the Young Women there taking family pictures. Thanks Adria!

And we had a Hay Ride.

We also had potato sack races but I didn't get pictures of that. I couldn't believe how much the kids enjoyed all the games, they just kept playing them over and over again.

We had tons of people sign up for our Chili and Salsa contest. Let me tell you that it was all delicious, our judges had a hard time picking the winners. In the end Brother Carter won for his salsa and Sister Schmidt won for her chili. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-17T13:14:00.001-08:00

So here I am once again playing catch up, the story of my life!

October was full of fun times and good food. We went to a party that our friends, Holly and Cameron, put on.

It was fun to get together and just visit, eat food and carve pumpkins. I thought everyone's costumes were really cool too!

Brad and I dressed up as BYU fans. We don't really care about sports, but his family are die hard UTE fans so it was a joke.

My mom was awesome, she dressed up as Nanny Mcfee. She made the costume herself and did a great job!

Then a week later we had our own party with some of the people Brad used to work with. This is usually a huge party but we down scaled it a bit this year, but it was still fun.

Here are some of the treats we made for the party. Leave it to Brad to go all out.

Brad used jello molds to make all these body parts.

We had a pull string pinata for all the kids.

We also made haunted houses out of rice crispy treats, that is a tradition of ours.

We would like to thank those who came; Lyle & Jill and family, Alain & Wendy and family, Mike & Heather , and Shelley and kids.

This month we also went trick or treating at the Heritage Care Center where my dad lives. The kids look forward to this every year.

Although they don't look too excited in this picture! It is fun, they have a dinner, games, face painting and other activities for the kids to do and the residents there hand out the candy.

I am Braden's room mom this year so I got to plan his class party, it is always fun to go and play with them.

Then here is Halloween night. Sami was a vampire pirate, Braden a black ninja, Ethan a dog, Jacob was Elmo and their Aunt Tana was Dorthy from the Wizzard of Oz.

So that pretty much wraps up October, it was a lot of fun!

Someday!

2008-10-28T21:29:00.001-07:00

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a Ford Mustang. Not just any old mustang but one from the 60's. Those were the best years! Right after high school I came very close to buying one, it was beautiful. It was white with red pin stripe and red leather interior. But then came the hard news that you actually had to have credit to get a loan. :( Silly me! So the dream slipped through my fingers. Then after my mission I lived with my brother and his family, my brother being a mechanic and sharing my love for mustangs talked me into buying a fixer upper. We had great plans of making it beautiful. I bought it from his neighbor for a whopping $250 and we had to push it down the street to my brothers driveway. I would sometimes go out and sit in it and close my eyes and pretend I was cruising down the highway, my eyes definitely had to be closed so I could ignore all the rust and holes in the floorboard! But alas it was not meant to be, shortly thereafter I married and you all know how that goes, we were trying to put food on the table not throwing money into dreams. So it was sold for a mere $200 dollars, which happily put more food on the table and probably bought a few diapers for our little one.

So in August when Brad and I were on a little get away for our anniversary I saw this little old gray haired couple getting into a beautiful mustang and I asked Brad if I had to be that old to finally own one, he laughed and said no. But I can see it now, Brad and I cruising down the highway with gray hair and sagging body parts, feeling cool in our shiny red convertible 'stang. Of course I will be driving, and for kicks and giggles and to relive the old days we will be listening to something like New Kids on the Block (Brad will probably have earplugs in). But until that day I will just have to sit in the parking lot at Walmart and covet all the one I see there!

3 Crazy Boys + 3 Crazy Moms = Fun, Fun, Fun!

2008-10-27T21:52:00.001-07:00

So over Fall Break my friend, Shelley, had the awesome idea of taking her son Carter on a fun getaway and inviting two of his friends to go along with their moms. So Braden and I got to go along with Austin and his mom Holly. We kept it a secret from the boys until they got home from school the day we were leaving. Needless to say the boys were way excited when they found out!

Here the boys are goofing off in the car while getting ready to go.

We started our date by going to Liberty Land in Lehi. It was such a fun place to take the boys. We played mini golf, rode on all the rides and finished by playing Laser Tag, which was my favorite!

The boys had fun fishing all the golf balls out of the water.

Boys will be boys! They were having fun throwing all the balls they found in the hole and listening to the bell go off.

We all felt pretty cool in our gear!

We also went to Cafe Rio for dinner. I love their food! The boys entertained us with a little show of their own, they can't keep their hands off each other. They are Crazy!

After we were done playing, we headed up to Midway to the condo that we rented. We did a little swimming and watched Napoleon Dynamite. The boys thought it was cool to not have a bedtime and be able to eat all the licorice and popcorn they wanted.

We had so much fun with the boys! It was fun to just be crazy with them.

Future Gamer in Training!

2008-10-27T20:34:00.001-07:00

For the past few months Jacob can rarely be seen without a game controller in his hands and one of his favorite things to do is sit on the edge of the coffee table and pretend he is playing even when no one is playing games. He carries them all over the house too. I thought this picture was funny cause he had both the xbox and wii controllers.

A tag I couldn't ignore

2008-10-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

Shelley tagged me and I just couldn't ignore it.

Where did you meet? We met while on our missions in Thailand. Our houses were right next door to each other and I used to cut down coconuts and give them to her. I would also stand at the fence between our houses and beg her and her companion to make us brownies.

How long did you date before you were married? We got home from Thailand in February, started dating in April, engaged in June and married in August ( almost 6 months to the day from getting home from our missions).

How long have you been married? 10 years

What is your favorite feature of hers? Her cute little hands.

What is your favorite quality of hers? She is so kind and such a peacemaker. She never gets into an argument (a very good thing for me) and is always willing to pitch in and help.

Does she have a nickname for you? :-)

Does she have a favorite color? Earth-tones (brown, grey, greens), just look in her closet.

What is her favorite food? Definitely Thai food, especially when I make it for her.

What is her favorite sport? Soccer and chasing the kids.

When and where was your first kiss? On her front porch. She was so sick with a cold and really just wanted to go to bed, but she humored me and gave me a kiss anyway.

What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Traveling and just spending time together. Sadly, when we have time away from the kids we usually end up at Walmart just walking around.

Do you have any children? 4, Samantha, Braden, Ethan, and Jacob.

Does she have a hidden talent? Sewing with hot glue. For Sami's first Halloween, April made her a cute flower outfit complete with a bonnet covered in flowers and petals for her neck and hands. She held it all together with hot glue. Ironically, she is now the Relief Society sewing specialist.

How old is she? 32, I am 1 year and 3 months younger than her, but it seems like more!

Who said I love you first? Me

What is her favorite type of music? Unfortunately, country. Also a strange love of New Kids on the Block.

What do you admire most about her? Everyone loves her. No matter who we meet or what we are doing everyone loves being her friend and spending time with her, an enviable quality.

I tag Mike & Heather, Eric and Matt.

-Brad

Tagged!

2008-10-14T09:41:00.001-07:00

My friend Holly tagged me, it is about my husband, Brad.

*Where did you meet? We met while on our missions in Thailand. Our houses were right next door to each other and he used to cut down coconuts from their tree and give them to me.

*How long did you date before you were married? We got home from Thailand in February, started dating in April, engaged in June and were married in August ( almost 6 months to the day from getting home from our missions).

*How long have you been married? 10 years

*What is your favorite feature of his? His beautiful blue eyes and his bum!

*What is your favorite quality of his? There are so many! I love how spontaneous he is, he always brings fun into our lives. He is loving and romantic. He is the best dad, the kids can never get enough of him! I could probably go on forever.........

*Does he have a nickname for you? I don't think so.

*Does he have a favorite color? I think it changes all the time. I know he likes blue and green.

*What is his favorite food? Definitely Thai food, but he is also a lover of fine foods.

*What is his favorite sport? Probably Dr. Mario on the Wii! He isn't into regular sports. Not into sports or hunting, how did I get so lucky?! Ha,ha,ha!

*When and where was your first kiss? On my porch. I was so sick with a cold that all I wanted to do was go inside and go to sleep, but the next morning when I woke up and remembered that he kissed me I was so excited. I think I danced through work that day!

*What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? It doesn't matter what we are doing, as long as we are together.

*Do you have any children? 4, Samantha, Braden, Ethan, and Jacob.

*Does he have a hidden talent? Playing piano, but that isn't so hidden. And he is an awesome cook. Ethan is always telling him "Daddy you are a good Chef!"

*How old is he? 31, I am 1 year and 3 months older than him, but if you ask him I am like 20yrs older!

*Who said I love you first? I believe it was him.

*What is his favorite type of music? His first love is classical, but he also loves Good Charlotte, Panic at the disco, Coldplay and other groups of that genre.

*What do you admire most about him? His ability to teach himself anything and his dedication. I also admire how in shape he has become, he has accomplished so much in the last year and a half.

Before After

Good Job Sweetheart!

I tag Shelley, Lydia, and Gina.

Races and Rides!

2008-10-12T19:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Sami, Braden and I went and watched Brad race in BYU's Homecoming 5k race. The kids were really excited to finally see their dad run, even if it was freezing cold!

Braden, Brad, Sami and Mike Walker waiting for the race and trying to stay warm.

Brad and Mike warming up at the starting line.

While waiting for Brad to finish, Sami found this moth laying on the ground. Her Grandma Jill would have a heart attack, she hates moths or anything with wings!

Brad finished in 21min, 33sec. A personal best for him. He came in 4th place in his age division, the 3rd place came in 4 seconds before him so he was a little bummed about that. But we were all proud of him!

Brad getting victory hugs after the race!

After the race they had a drawing and gave prizes, this is what Brad won.........

Anyone who knows Brads family knows that if any of us wear this then we will probably be thrown out of the family!

After the race we all went to Lagoon for Frightmares! It was cold, but fun. There were no lines and it was fun to run from ride to ride. At one point we rode Wicked 4 times in a row and never stood in line. It was a blast! They have fun haunted houses set up and different shows you can watch. We went to a Hypnotist show and the kids loved watching the people up on stage acting funny. They danced with mops and played butt drums for us.

You can't tell from this picture but Braden really did have fun, I think he was just tired by this point of the day. We would definitely go again, it was so much fun.

Mommy's Little Helpers!

2008-10-09T13:44:00.001-07:00

So today is Shelley's birthday so of course I had to make her our deliciously ugly cake! And let me tell you it lived up to its name.

Trust me it tastes much better than it looks! Happy Birthday Shelley!

Anyway, I had a couple of little helpers who were very anxious to help clean up.

They were more than happy to lick everything clean. Jacob was covered in frosting too, but I couldn't have him running around like that so I don't have any pictures of his chocolate face.

I love their big smiles!

Fun at the Park

2008-10-09T13:26:00.001-07:00

I love having time during the day with just my two youngest, they are so fun!

Jacob

Ethan

Goodbye Summer!

2008-10-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

Last week my friend Shelley and I took the kids to the park and we were dying because it was so hot! We decided that when all the other kids got home from school we needed to have one last hurrah to say goodbye to summer. This past year a bunch of us in the neighborhood went together and bought the "Vortex" from Costco, so we set it up one last time. The kids had a blast!

Carter, Braden and Brookie

Carter and Braden

Carter and Sami

Gretta, Sami, Sara, and Brookie warming up on the Sidewalk. Do you remember how good a hot sidewalk always felt when you were cold, oh the memories!

Luke and Jacob playing it safe away from all the big kids!

Oh to be a kid again!

Girls Birthday Bash!

2008-09-28T10:47:00.001-07:00

So my friend Shelley and I only have a month between our birthdays and we love to party so this year we planned to have a big girls night birthday party. Shelley owns time share so we booked a big 3 bedroom condo up Ogden Canyon at Wolf Creek and invited a few friends. We were so excited to get away and just relax, then a week before we were to leave Shelley's sister and friend had an awesome idea, we all should wear old Prom dresses! We thought the idea was hilarious so I grabbed my old prom dress and Shelley put on a dress she had we walked around the neighborhood personally inviting our friends and let them in on the new theme for our party, we were glad when everyone seemed excited for it.

Us in our beautiful dresses! Don't you like the white tennis shoes, I think that made the outfit.

Unfortunately my dress wouldn't zip up so I chose to wear a different one the day of our party.

Here are a few of the girls before we left. It was fun to see all the side pony tails, crimped hair, hair bows and scunchies! Oh the memories!

We all went to this really cute store called "Dear Lizzie" to do some window shopping and eat lunch in their bistro. We got lots of fun looks from people and there was this one little girl who was talking to her grandma about all the pretty princess dresses and telling her which ones were her favorite. Shelley knows the owner of the store and she loved that we came to have a tea party there, she wouldn't let us leave without taking a picture first! The girls from left to right starting in the back: Kelly Jasper, Lynette Story, Holly Robinson, Julie Nelson, Katie Gee, Becky Lillie, Cami Callister, Shelley Anderson, Angie Monson and me.

After lunch we headed up to the condo and relaxed a little. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and while we ate we couldn't help giggling about how quiet it was with no kids there.

Here we are enjoying our quiet dinner.

After dinner we went for a walk and decided to see what there was to do at the condos.

We played tether ball, volley ball and tennis.

Shelley and her sister, Angie, showing off their awesome skills.

Then we headed back to the condo for a little karaoke. It was fun to let loose and feel like a teenager again.

My favorite part was when my friend Cami and I got to serenade everyone with a little New Kids on the Block! Oh, the good old days!

Our friend Julie also made us the famous Chocolate cake that we always make for each other on our birthdays. It usually looks ugly but tastes delicious!

The girls wrapped up razors and laundry detergent in paper towels so that we would have presents to unwrap!

We ended the evening by hanging out in the hot tub, doing pedicures and watching "Never Been Kissed". It was such a fun night, thanks girls! I can't wait until next year!

Success!!!

2008-09-18T09:47:00.001-07:00

I am still blown away with how well the yard sale went. I live in such a good community. There were so many people who donated goods for the sale, and I even had a complete stranger leave me his trailer so I could go pick up some of the bigger items donated, and then he returned on Monday to take a load of things to DI that didn't sell!

I am also very blessed to have the friends that I do, thank you Shelley, Holly,and Becky who put in loads of hours to help me sort and price all the items. They also put up with my crankiness (apparently I don't deal to well with that kind of stress when kids are mixed in with the equation). Thank you for still being my friends! Luckily everything went smoothly on Saturday. My daughter, Sami, ran the goodie table, she loves playing store so she was in Heaven. And thank you Mike for running the cotton candy and snow cone machines, they were a huge hit! At the end of the day we made over $1,200, but more importantly through doing this we were able to find out about a friend of a friend who works for a company that helps people in financial need get the surgeries they are in need of. So we are currently looking into that. Keep your fingers crossed!

Later that night we went to the "Movie Under the Stars" that the Activity Day girls put on for my mom. We all gathered at the park and watched Enchanted on a big screen.

Thank you cute girls for loving my mom so much!

They also sold goodies for us to eat during the movie.

Here is my very grateful mother. She felt a little overwhelmed by the whole weekend. I think she felt a little unworthy, but I can't think of anyone more deserving!

Thanks Lyndee for sending me those pictures.

Unfortunately, half way through the movie the sprinklers came on and ended the night. But secretly I was glad cause it had been a long day and my bed was calling my name! They also made quite a bit of money that night too. The girls came over the next day and presented it to my mom, they were so excited!

Everyone was exhausted that night. I told Ethan to go get his jammies on and here is what I found a few minutes later. I felt like laying down next to him, but somehow I dragged myself to my bed.

I can't end this blog without also thanking my in-laws, Jerry and Jill, they also came this weekend and brought the cotton candy and snow cone machines and helped with the set up. They have been life savers more than once, thank you for loving me and my family! All I can say is I truly am so Blessed!!!!!

Calling All Shoppers!

2008-09-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

As many of you know my mom, Peggy, is in desperate need of a double hip replacement. She has struggled for some time with a lot of pain. She was scheduled to have the surgery on July 1st but that date has come and gone along with a couple of other dates because she was waiting to see if she would qualify for medicaid. We were told all along that they deny everyone right off the bat but we were holding out hope..... she was denied. We can fight it but in the mean time she is suffering. I wasn't quite sure what to do about it until one day a flyer was put on our door. The Activity Day girls in our ward are doing a fund raiser in her behalf. On Sat. the 13th (this Saturday) they are doing a "Movie Under the Stars" at our local park, they are asking for donations and selling goodies. This touched my heart because I was told that this idea came from the girls because they wanted to do something to help my mom. I realized that I couldn't sit around any more hoping something would happen so also this Saturday, the 13th, we are doing a Huge Yard Sale. I have sent flyers home with all the kids at the elementary school and put ads on KSL and craigslist.com and have had a good response. A lot has been donated to sell and I am hoping we have a good turn out. So if you like to go to yard sales, come and shop and know that all the proceeds are going to a good cause. And if you have any other ideas of what we can do please let me know. I have learned that God won't do everything for you, he wants you to learn how to help yourself and he will always be there for support and guidance.

The yard sale starts at 8am and will be at my house, 1470 Raptor Rd, Eagle Mountain. My # is 801-789-2749, if you have any questions. Thank you everyone and thanks for all the prayers in my moms behalf.

Summer of Fun!

2008-09-03T14:02:00.001-07:00

Wow, it was a fun and crazy summer! Due to having a broken computer and not taking the time to write, I haven't written forever. So here is my summer catch up blog.

I was determined to not sit home this summer. I figured that my kids were getting older and I was going to be brave and go places with them by myself and we had a blast. Our days were filled with picnics at the park, mini golf at Trafalga, slides at Seven Peaks, rides at Lagoon and bridge jumping off an old bridge in Lehi. Needless to say I am kind of tired now and ready to spend a little quality quiet time at home. Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

Bridge Jumping in Lehi:

Sami and her cousin Kyleigh

Sami and her cousin Jessica.

The whole family had fun jumping except for Ethan and Jacob who just watched.

Hanging out at the Park:

Lagoon:

Sami and Braden cooling off in the fountains.

You can't tell by these pictures, but Jacob was not a fan of the Merry-go-round. He screamed the whole time!

He was a bigger fan of the train!

Good Charlotte Concert:

It has been a while since I have been to this kind of concert. It was fun but I have to admit that it was kind of nice to be old enough to stand up in the bar area away from the mosh pit. I was content to stand up there watching the show while sipping on my Pepsi.

We went with our friends, Mike and Heather Walker.

When the first group came out on stage, I had the momentary thought of "what the heck am I doing here", they looked like they were 14 years old, but soon that was all forgotten and my old concert going self took over and I had a blast! We got to listen to 4 groups; The Maine, Metro Station, Good Charlotte and Boys Like Girls. When "GC" was on stage we were graced with the presence of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. They were sitting right off on the side of the stage, woohoo! lucky us!

4th of July in Oak City:

The 4ht of July in Delta is the one time of year that the redneck in me comes out. I look forward to the Crash up Derby all year long! I love dust flying, engines burning and metal crunching! It is so fun! I think the rest of the family likes it too, but I am too enthralled to notice.

This was my favorite hit of the whole night! The guy on top had been in like 3 other rounds that night, but each time he got in the arena his car wouldn't start so he would end up sitting there watching everyone else compete. This was the last event of the night and his car finally worked and this was his one and only hit. He hit the other car so hard that it flipped it and his car went on top of it. The driver was so excited he jumped out of his car and ran a victory lap, then he checked on the other driver. The crowd went wild!!!

Jacob and Sami's Birthdays:

Jacob is One!

Sami is Nine!

First she had a party with family then she had one with friends. The theme of her friends party was a Pajama Party.

These were the cakes Sami picked out and I made one for each of the girls.

The girls decorated pillow cases and made flower necklaces.

After opening presents they ate cake and then headed outside to play night games and have a pajama fashion show. We ended the evening with a movie and at 10:00pm I took them all home. Much better then a sleepover!

Family Vacation:

Okay I know this may not sound very exciting, but for our family vacation we stayed in a Hotel in Layton and took the kids to Lagoon, the dinosaur park and the aircraft museum at Hill Air Force Base. It was a ton of fun.

The kids got to make paper rockets and launch them.

The kids liked the Dinosaur Museum in Ogden. We could barely keep up with them, they were running around trying to see everything.

I love being with my family, it is good to have nothing to do except focus on my kids and husband.

When all the fun was over it was time to focus on getting ready for school.

First day of School:

Sami is now in 4th grade and Braden is in 1st. They both love their teachers and are glad to be back , seeing their old friends and making new ones.

Ethan started his first day of Preschool. He is excited to be like his older brother and sister.

He has had this backpack for a whole year and is so excited to finally be using it.

The house sure is quiet with just me and Jacob at home. It is a lot easier to get things done without a herd of elephants running through the house. It is also fun to have that quiet time to spend with Jake and Ethan.

Last but not Least...

No Training Wheels:

It amazes me how much Ethan is growing up. He wants to keep up with his older brother and sister. One day his friend took off his training wheels and he just started to ride. I came outside and there he was riding like a big boy. He is so proud of himself!

Haircuts and Loose teeth

2008-06-16T22:57:00.001-07:00

My scraggly haired kids are gone! Yeah!

Sami wasn't going to get hers cut but then when we got there she changed her mind and decided she wanted it cut like mine.

I love new haircuts, they always make me feel so good. It is probably one of my favorite things.

And Braden lost his first tooth! When he put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy he also left a questionnaire for her, he wanted to know more about her. He is very inquisitive, I love that about him.

Multi-tasking at its best!

2008-06-12T23:21:00.001-07:00

So I finally figured out how to cut down on the time that my daily chores take. Jacob was inspired and helped me see how I could multi-task , and make life a little more fun along the way!

So from now on I am going to bathe my children and do laundry at the same time!

My Tri-athlete...well almost!

2008-06-09T00:02:00.001-07:00

Isn't he so cute!

Poor Brad has been training for months to do the Salem Triathlon, which was on June 7th, but Mother Nature had plans of her own. We woke up Saturday to quite the down pour. The rain finally let up but by that time they had canceled the bike part of the race and cut the swim down by 300 meters. So in the end he didn't get to do his triathlon but he still did get to swim 500 meters and run 3.1 miles.

Brad and his friend, Michael Walker, waiting for the race to start.

Go Brad go!

As I stood at the finish line waiting for Brad, I was getting really excited and kind of emotional, I was so proud of him. I kept telling myself that I couldn't cry (and no I am not pregnant!). I love that he did something he wasn't sure he could do.

Yeah Brad!!!!

Let's Play Catch Up!

2008-05-25T12:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have been meaning to blog for over a month now and haven't for a few reasons: 1) I lacked the know how of putting pictures up and I really wanted pictures on my blog and 2) if you know my life then you know my husband has been working tons lately and by the time I get the kids in bed I can barely drag myself to bed let alone type complete sentences! So here I sit now with a little more knowledge and my Brad around to man the fort. So I want to play a game called " What's been going on with the Hintze's ". We have had some fun excursions and laughs over the past couple of months so let's start!

1) SPRING BREAK!

This year for spring break Brad had to work so I decided that I didn't want to sit around all week alone with the kids and plus it was cold here in the Wasatch Front (surprise, surprise!) so we headed south to St. George to visit with Andy, Myrna and Bailey, Brad's brother, his wife and their daughter. We camped out at Red Cliffs, which is probably one of my favorite places.

It was a little bit windy! We also took my nephew Aaron with us.

Andy taught the kids how to repel. This is Sami and Braden showing off their skills.

Then my usually scared to death daughter took on the 75 foot repel! My heart was beating so hard, I thought I would be scared to watch her but more than anything I was extremely proud of her!

Of course then I had to do it so I could make my children proud of me. Do you know how good it feels to do something while all of your kids are cheering you on? Pretty incredible!

Jacob and Ethan playing safely on the ground.

I think Jacob liked camping, but then again he is always happy and smiling!

Two of my favorite boys!

The kids had fun playing in the water.

After we left Red Cliffs, Brad had to go home and the rest of us stayed at Andy and Myrna's for a few more days.

Braden and Jacob at the Pioneer Museum.

At the St. George Temple.

At the Dinosaur Tracks Museum.

When our visit was done in St. George we then headed to Brad's parents house to spend the rest of the week with Grandma Jill and Papa Jerry. At the end of the week Brad was able to come back and spend the weekend with us. It is always good to have him around! I love how much the kids love him and play with him.

This is just one of my favorite pictures of Jacob.

For one our next adventures we bought Season Passes to Lagoon and took the kids for their first time.

They had a blast and Braden has turned out to be quite the dare devil! He has become Brad's little roller coaster buddy. Sami still needs a little convincing but I know she will come around. She has gone on the white roller coaster but that is the extent of her bravery.

Next let me say that I love it when my kids play together nicely! A week ago they built quite the fort in our backyard. And they spent hours playing in it. It was also nice that the sun was out long enough to enjoy it.

Next we have Slurpy Monster!

It is so funny to watch Jacob eat noodles. He makes the funniest slurping noises. I think noodles are his favorite food, he always gets so excited.

And last but not least I need to give my husband a little praise. Yesterday he ran in a 5k race and came in 3rd in his age bracket. The kids were so proud of him. This is just a warm up for the sprint triathlon he is going to do in June.

So there you have it. I hope I can keep on top of blogging better from now on. I'll type more later.

Sawadii Kha!

2008-04-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

On Friday I got to go to my 10 year mission reunion, holy crap I can't believe it has been that long! It was so much fun seeing people that are from a time period of my life that I love so much. The best surprise of the night was that Cin was there. She was a member from my last area. After I left she served a mission herself and then married an American missionary and now lives right here in Provo! Woohoo! is all I can say. It was so fun talking to her, but also frustrating because I am so nervous to speak Thai anymore. Needless to say since that night that is all I have spoken to myself in my head. I am determined to be comfortable in speaking Thai again. So don't be surprised if you call me and I answer the phone with a "Sawadii Kha".

A Few of My Favorite Things

2008-03-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

As many of you know life as a parent can sometimes be a roller coaster ride. Luckily I am blessed to have those little moments that make it all worth it.
Sami has become my ray of sunshine. Over Easter we were talking about the candy she got and I mentioned that the peanut butter eggs were my favorite and next thing I know she gives me a handful of them that she picked out of the bowl. This touched me because it showed me that she really does listen when I talk and she does find joy in doing things for me.
Braden, the other day, informed me that I have "too much love for him". I have a book called "Loving your child too much", it is about not spoiling your kids, he doesn't know that is what it is about, he thinks it is about just loving your kids too much. Well he told me that I need to read it because I have too much love in my head for him, because I tell him "I love you" all the time. I asked if he doesn't like it when I say that, but he said he does like it, but I still have too much love. I am glad that my son knows I love him and I hope he never has to wonder how I feel about him.
Ethan, luckily has a cute smile, it saves his life daily! He is such a cute little boy, his only fault is his attitude. He is so moody, but thankfully I can usually break his mood by asking to see my favorite smile. He also loves to snuggle, which is one of my favorite things.
Jacob is my life saver. He is always so happy to see me and he can't talk yet so he is the only one who doesn't argue with me. Everyone needs someone in their life like that!
Brad is one of my favorite people too! Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for him. He is so wonderful! He has recently lost over 30 lbs. and now weighs less than when we met. I feel like I have a new husband. Now if I could only keep up with him!!!!!