where to start, where to start

Laine singing in the assembly today, precious! She did great, and she was adorable when she said her lines, of which I didn't get a picture. She had to speak Spanish in front of the whole school, don't ask me what she said, all I caught was 'Me llamo Laine'

Gabey enjoying the birthday festivities

Happy 5th birthday Laine!

The girls getting their sass on

Laine and her teacher, Mrs. Adams

Birthday treats for school

Once you've fallen off the proverbial blogging bandwagon, it is pretty much a beyotch to catch up. I find myself alongside this train running and running as fast as I can {okay, not really, my gait is more of a lazy Sunday stride if I'm being honest} ...but I see the train in the distance, moving on without me and I feel powerless to ever catch up. I'm too lazy to even put the above pictures into proper order much less drag them down to the bottom of the post where they belong.

Oh well.

So much has happened. Did I even fully finish my Christmas posting? I can't even remember. And I keep on almost posting, except Ben says he's got a post he's working on that I keep hoping will magically appear. Since that hasn't happened...I guess he'll keep us all guessing on that one.

So I've still got our trip to New Zealand in March, our trip home to CA, UT, and FL in April and May and then all of the other bits and bobs in betwixt, like two assemblies Laine has been in -so cute! She sang her little heart out and made her mama proud. And her birthday was two days ago too. We have a 5 year old in the house ya'll, and she already seems older and wiser. Today she told Gabe she was 'so proud of him'. She cracks me up with her maturity, and her sweetness never ceases to melt the 'ol heart just a little.

Last week she leaned over to Ben and asked 'Dad, what's the Jesus password?' -we surmise meaning she wanted to go up and offer the sacrament prayer. Hilarious.

She is so sweet and is really trying to be a good big sister and a good example. She is talented and tries hard at everything she does. She is making me so proud and happy with the way she practices her piano without being asked and loves her dance class. She has her moments too, but she has always had a real zest for learning and has been an easy kid to love. She really is just a big ball of sweetness, and we just love her so much.

So there you have it, life is good, the kids are growing up and we are just soaking it all in. As for us, I'm loving work and Ben is stressed and working lot's but finding enjoyment as well. I honestly have just been feeling this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and happiness lately. It's like, I look around, and I have nothing but hope and optimism for the future and the present couldn't be better. It's not perfect, and far from it, but when I take a look at the glass before me, I realize it is not just half-filled, it's pretty much filled to the brim. Even through my trials and frustrations, of which I am so grateful.

The last laugh

Okay, so do you remember the whole swing set debacle of 'ought 5? If you don't, read up on it here. And then chase that down with chapter II here.

Okay, everybody up to speed? Well, we moved from the house with the big yard to the house with no yard, so the 11 year old piece of junk couldn't come with us. Sad. In our haste, we just left the POS for the new owners to deal with it, until we got a letter informing us that if we didn't come remove it from the premises we would be charged $240 to remove it.

So we listed it on ebay, stating that they needed to show up, dissasmeble it themselves and cart it away. It took all of 45 seconds of my time to do so.

Please see the listing here, including what we got for the thing.

Looks like we get the last laugh. On top of that we've moved and changed our phone number, so as far as we know PSM doesn't know where we live anymore.

Another round on us everybody!

...uh, testing, is this thing on?

So... We've been busy going and doing a lot lately, and are in fact home in the US of A right now! We've had a lot on our plates, especially since I started working. Did I already mention that I work now?

I have been for the last two-ish months. I'm now the Director of Culinary Relations for Thrive / Shelf Reliance. I've been working with their food, creating recipes and ideas for people to use and incorporate their food storage into their everyday meals.

I was super hesitant since many of you know I'm pretty pretentious about food and mainly use fresh. But I started getting interested in building up my storage about a year or two ago and especially in the months leading up to Thrive approching me.

I must say, I'm UBER-impressed with the product and have come up with some really inventive uses that I hope people will like! Some of the items are definete 'food storage' items that I'll be really glad to have on hand for emergencies... but most are foods I will use on an everyday basis now, I'm not kidding. It's actually been a lot of fun!

So I've been in Utah the last week FILMING what I've been cooking up at the fabulous, practically paved in gold Orson Gygi theater. I did about 20 recipes that will be featured as 3-5-7 minute films that will be placed on Shelf Relicances website on the product pages, and then also made into a DVD at some point possibly.

I also did a photoshoot with Kelsey Nixon, since she is going to be working with them as well but I won't blow her secret on exactly what her role is. We're doing a commercial later in the week and then I'll be on Good Things Utah on Friday, May 1st talking about my job, the products, etc and I'll showcase some of the food I've made. 10:00 am if you're intersted in that...

There is more to my job than filming, I'll talk about that later.

Okay, that's all for now, we have about a bajillion pics and stories on what we've been up to lately but I can't make any promises on when I'll get to that! But here you go, so you at least know we're alive!

Perth Ya'll

Okay, this was so long ago does anyone even care anymore? But I'm still doing my dangdest to get this blog caught up and up to date and I don't want to miss the big stuff.

As you may remember, we took a little jaunt to Perth, WA about 6 or 7 weeks ago. It was awesome, we loved the city and surrounds and found so much to do and see. It honestly was just beautiful and wonderful, and I personally found it to be the perfect mix of city without being so full-on like most bigger cities we usually visit.

We started off with a night in the city and took the next few days in the sleepy beach town of Rockingham. It was so just what we needed during the stress of being knee-deep into the move. It seriously was the best. We explored the beaches, hunted for dolphins, and enjoyed the boardwalk. We really just took a big deep breath and relaxed and rocked it out, as evidenced by our photos:

Gabey doing what he does best

just kickin' up his dogs after a long day of beachin' it

this was so funny, I couldn't just pick one


Kicking it along the beach, Laine spending some time in a tree

Lunching a quaint cafe 'downtown'

Diaper Dude and Dad enjoying the sunshine and some cheeks

Kisses above a gorgeous beach in R'ham

Climbing aboard the 'lollipop express'. Yeah, we made that mistake. As we were lunching we saw this train going up and down the boardwalk. It was painted bright happy colors and as soon as we let the name out, it was game over. Laine was GOING to ride that train. And purely because it had candy in the name I kid you not. The whole rest of our time spent here, every two minutes we heard 'I wanna ride the lolly etspress, I wanna ride the lolly etspress! Is it time yet to ride the lolly etspress??'

After we accomplished Laine's lifes' dream, we rocked over to Fremantle, which was a completely artsy type of sleepy town. It was one of those kinds of towns attracting those kinds of people. So naturally we fitted right in. No really though, it was a super fun stop and we found a lot to do and see mainly in the quaint weekend market we happened into



Speaking of lollies... We took a minute to do some window shopping at the market and then couldn't find Gabe. Finally we looked over and saw this, it was hilarious

Let's not be shy, we all know Australia's history. We had an awesome opportunity to visit Freemantle Prison, one of the original 'buildings' of 'the day' shall we say...



It was really neat to see it and learn more about the actual prisoners and what went on back then

It was impossible to resist this cheesy jailbirds pic

Unfortunately we have no pics of being in acutal Perth city on our Perth trip... but we had a great time there as well. We spent Australia Day there {4th of July Aussie style} watching the fireworks and throwin' another shrimp on the barby. It was really great and I'd totally go back if we get the chance!

More Laine-ism's

Okay, I'm cracking up. I just recieved a blessing, a blessing from my 4 year old daughter. We had just finished stories and prayer, the nighttime routine, when Laine announced she wanted to give me a blessing.

I was curious, so I went with it, wondering where this would go. She proceed to stand above me {I was still kneeling} and place her hands upon my head and give me a 'blessing'.

It was so sweet, she said lot's of nice things about us both being nice and not cranky and Gabey being nice... lot's of specific things about him not throwing stuff down the stairs etc. etc. It was too funny, and very sweet. She wanted me to give her one next, but I told her only Daddy could.

The girl is funny. She gets it from me, what can I say.

Earlier tonight, as we were cooking together she said,

'Mom, did you make me'

I wasn't getting it.

I said, 'Did I make you what?' wondering what the little ingrate wanted now. I kid. She continued,

'No, did you make ME?'

Oh. Got it.

'Uh, yup, I did'. I went into it a little bit but she was still confused.

'What did you make me out of? Did you make me out of...{scanning the room for ideas}...salt?'

I probably could have used this as a great time for a life's lesson, especially now that she is in school and may get educated by other Kindies. But we're still in the stage where we call her 'lady region' a 'taco'. Yeah, it is confusing when we go out for Mexican food, but since there really isn't much to be found here we've stuck with it. -Gabe's is a 'winky' in case you're wondering. Perhaps this is TMI, I'm not sure. I think I might be missing the chromosome that would tell you if it was or not. Either way I think it is funny to know what others are telling their kids, so I'll share what I'm telling mine.

Anyway, back to The Girl. She has the gift, the gift of gab which I'm pretty sure she got from me as well. She loves to use big words to sound intelligent -though it doesn't seem as calculated as when I do it. She does crack me up with her silliness though, and her often circular logic. Some new Laine-isms:

{said very enthusiastically} "It's a nice day for a sunny day!"

Laine, looking at a paint can with a picture of a Mom and daughter on it, "I like that little girl. She's my friend. I need to go to her house and play. That little girl is my friend. I like her"

There are so many more that I've missed that I've forgotten to write down, which is such a shame.

Anyway, as I mentioned, she started Kindie. She goes to all-day Kindergarten which is 9-3. She attends Ironbark Ridge Primary {'prime-ree'} School and she has to wear a uniform, as you can plainly see above. She must wear her hat to play outside as well. Her teacher is Mrs. Adams and she is loving it, which is really good. NOT the best pics, but you get the idea.

Weekend-ing

Up until this point, there really hasn't been much evidence to prove that we actually live where we say we do. I think there have been deuce pics of kanga's, but they've both been in zoos of which could have been taken anywhere, right?

Well here it is, we really are here. Yup, it's official. I'm not sure why it took us a year to gather photographic proof...that dang camera is so elusive when you need it most.

This is our trip to the city via the ferry. Take notes everyone, because this trip was hot, and when you come visit us this will fur sure be on your itinerary. It really was amazing.

Me... and my hair. Boat rides are not the way to travel if your about looking good upon arrival FYI

Isn't that the sweetest little face?? And Gabe looks pretty cute too.

B&W for the trendy effect

Gabe's windblown face is the BEST, seriously, it doesn't get better

I've spoken too soon. His 'I'm asleep standing up' face might have inched windblown out

Not sure why I love this pic so much, but I do

Laine's hair freakin' rules in this shot. It was a rather blustery day ya'll.

The End

{Is ending a post as awkward for anyone else, or is it just me?}

Christmas Part III -The Utah Chapters

I do not recommend attempting to blog after this much time has passed. I don't even know what to say about this part of the trip, the memory has gone quite fuzzy by now. Pretty much I may just describe the pictures, which is something you could do for yourself with one glance so it's a bit redundant. Three cheers for redundancy!

Laine and her Grams 'makin' cooookies' I love the glossy eyed look but my favorite has to be that she is making frosting while holding a balloon with her Grandma -as a kid does it get any better??

Still has the balloon. Nothing like balloons and sugar! Great combo

Frosting the cookies {pretty much pointless, should have just given them a spoon to eat the frosting and saved ourselves the mess} with their cousins Lexa and Josh

Laine feeding baby Joss. She is so baby crazy this girl, she really bonded with her cousin! As proof we spent some time with Kristine and Jordan, that is Kristine's knee

This is the day Auntie Katie spoiled my kids rotten! Ben and I went to SLC to visit Bodyworld's while Kate took the kids to play at McDonald's playland, followed by hours of toy shopping then chased that down by and rotting their teeth out with lolly's galore. They loved every minute of it and Mom and Dad had a great date {a whole entire day!} and were just glad for the kids to be there with someone who loves and squeezes them so much


Still missing are the rest of the photos on the camera we left in Utah. We always leave a little something to remember us by...

I never would have thought pictures of us sledding down the snowy hills would be novel, but seeing as how it's been a summer heat wave here recently I now get why it would be, so it's too bad I don't have them. The kids do love sledding with their cousins every year!

We also made snowmen and snowangels of course, and drank plenty of hot chocolate and apple cider. Santa came and brought way too many toys and we enjoyed the family parties and holiday sweaters and driving in the ice and snow.

It was a great trip, thanks for the memories friends and family!

Alive

Hey, the move was hell. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. It was a really beyotch.

I honestly didn't think I would survive the last day. I had stayed so strong through the whole ordeal! But I really nearly crumbled in the end it was that bad. Long story, but the movers tricked me into thinking they had packed up everything up but the fridge and Laine's bed, which wouldn't fit, and we headed off to the new house. I paid them and went home to meet the cleaners only to discover most of the upstairs large furniture was still inside {long story, seriously}. They also had said they would take the piano and then when they showed up they said no, they wouldn't take it so the piano was still there too.

Did I mention I was by myself while Ben was on a business trip? So, I then hauled everything out myself and wondered what the hell was going to happen next. My stuff sat half of my house belongings on the lawn until nearly 10:30 at night when some awesome men with a van came to my rescue. We loaded up and they drove the van over and I got into my car to drive my load over and just SOBBED like a baby the whole way. I stopped to get some cash to pay the cleaners and it was really dark outside and no one was around so I continued whaling, like a child, unabashedly {I would have prefered to have done it in the fetal while sucking my thumb, but there was still work to do} and then I realized it was so dark I hadn't seen that there WERE people, people all around, taking what was supposed to be a nice evening stroll. I ran to my car, peeled out, and continued my cry, alone.

The men helped me load another load over and the house was cleaned and I was OUT! The next morning I moved in and ladies from the ward were there to help clean and men were there to help move big stuff and put stuff together and by noon the place as already livable. It was awesome. I love the new ward, new house, and new area. It has been a bit full-on and overwhelming, even in a positive way at times, but we are really happy.

I STILL don't have internet though! It is taking forever! Monday is the day I guess, so I'll be back up and running then. For now, please enjoy my current FAVORITE Australian ad campain. It's complete with billboards all over the city. I was just going to email it to my family, but thought maybe others out there might enjoy it as well. I'm not ashamed to admit I get a serious kick out of it every time it runs.

Christmas Part Deux -The Cruise

Here we are in Perth, and I've got more time and I'm more relaxed than I've been in months. I've given Ben his once a month allotted night to watch one of HIS shows rather than one of OUR {my} shows. He's toggling back and forth between the Australian Open -which he'd much rather be sitting at live... and The Journey to the Center of the Earth. I have no choice but to blog. It's working out perfectly actually. Nothing like a little time spent together!

Back to Christmas. So one week before Christmas Ben and I left the darlings with Ben's parents {THANKS!} and headed out to a cruise with my sister's, bro in law, parents, and Grandpa + New Grammie. It was awesome. If you've never done a family cruise I am here to tell you it is a must. You've probably been on the fence about it for some time and I urge you to pull the trigger on it. If these pictures don't convince you I don't know wha twill. That last one was a typo, but I kinda like it. It kinda works. I'm going to start a new word trend.

But I digress.

The ladies, catching a show

One of life's dreams fulfilled and you are now here to witness the box litterally being ticked. I swam with dolphins. This is the time the dolphin pushed my foot with it's nose whilst I rode on a boogie board. Best hundie I ever spent. Went with Sissy Kate. Sorry the pics are so far back, Ben, our photographer sitting on the sidelines {with a single tear running down his cheek for being left out] sadly could get no closer.

Rubbing her belly for good luck. Not sure if this was before or after the 18-year-old girl started FREAKING out and crying because she was scared of the dolphin. She was scared, trembling {later convulsing} with real tears streaming down. Katie and I could do nothing but snicker -not allowing ourselves to look at each other for fear of losing it more than we already had. It was pretty hilarious. Kinda like when people freak out about clowns.

Anyway, the trainer then tried to calm her down by having her swim over to her {she was standing outside the pool, yeah, she had climbed out. It was more pathetic than I can describe} and he said to the dolphin "do you like this girl?" and the dolphin shook it's head yes. And then he said "are you going to bite her?" and the dolphin shook her head no, I think a little 'uh, uh' escaped it's lips too. It was so funny, seriously, I think a little pee might have escaped. I'm pretty sure.

I DO know however this was around the time that another hilarious incident started, involving a 45-year-old-ish woman who had come with her "Mommy". Mommy was an 85 pound woman who's skin was as wrinkly and saggy as her swimming suit- of which the crotch was hanging down a good t 2-3 inches. She was a possible Alzheimer's sufferer and just stared off into space with a blank stare as she shivered from the cold of the water {as you do when you weigh 85 pounds}. She seemed truly oblivious to her older adult daughter shouting 'Mommy, Mommy, watch me! Mommy, did you see me? Did you see me and the dolphin Mommy??!"

Again, could not. even. look. at each other.

Right before our big moment -this pic, besides embarrassing me, reminds me of that one of Ben taken a few months ago. The one where it looked like his head had been photoshopped on. Here it is so you can snicker again, I know I always do. The similarities are striking.

After this we enjoyed a FANTASTIC day at my favorite place on earth, a place where if I could spend every day of my life I would truly be happy -the water slides. It was included in our ticket so if anyone is heading to Puerta Vallarta -please let me know and I'll hook you up. The cost without he dolphins is $14. A steal since the place is both deserted and awesome. You can run up the ramp like a 12 year old kid- or was that just us? and hop on slide after slide with no supervision. The slides were sick, seriously sick and the food was delicious. Possibly my favorite day, ever.

I'm not doing this sequentially, you should know. Here we are about to ride our horses. On the excursion we took in Mazatlan Look at that enthusiasm! We were humoring Mom actually. See, we had purchased this way awesome {not} excursion online and it was built up as this awesome day spend on Stone Island. Long story short, after being off the ship for 3 hours, we finally arrive to the 'port' of the island -only to find the ship was literally 50 paces away by water. It was sadly funny.

Anyway, pretty much the rest of the excursion followed suit -I do not recommend this tour unless you are with family who can make you laugh your head off at all of the ridiculousness! The horses were almost as hilarious as the fact that we were riding along this lame town rather than the beach that we could see in the distance. My horse kept being naughty and getting spankins' -not as cute as it sounds. He would jump with a stir and nearly buck me off after being spanked for eating people's front gardens. Just more fodder to laugh at.

Water Weenie. Need I say more? Here is where we really made our money back. Especially riding with Nick {brother-in-law} who's crack was in my face the entire time as he jumped up and down like a 10 year old kid. And the time my Mom got bucked off the back and called us 'jerks' repeatedly was pretty funny too.

These next shots are for a calender the "Gildea" men are secretly putting together. I've probably said too much. Since Nick is the sexiest, it is mostly of him. Shoot them things straight Nick!

"When in Rome!" was Nick's reasoning for this picture taken in Cabo

This one is very Art Nouveau

The crew, including New Grammie at a Cathedral in Mazatlan.

Mom and Dad's Prom Picture. Sexy.

Nick and Ben's Prom picture

Is that it? It feels like I'm forgetting something. Is there anyone still reading this post?

-

busy.

Some crazy people think they want to put up with this jack hammering and drama... so we are out of here! I kept praying and praying that everything would work out with a move -especially since Laine starts school next week so we really needed to be somewhere and have it figured OUT! And oh beauty has it ever worked out. We found this awesome house who accepted our total lowball offer and could vacate in the 2 minute's notice our agency gave us. They've been a dream to work with, which we really deserved after the beyotch of a peach we've been working with the last year.

It is in an awesome little town close to Ben's work and in a beautiful area with a funny name {Rouse Hill, yeah, we sound like hillbillies}. But we just couldn't be more excited and just when it seems like things couldn't get better -great new ward {we hear} awesome schools, duck pond and nature reserve close...then we find out that we live across the street from another American family who are in our ward. Hi, perfect.

So I'm in the midst of moving and knee-deep into a trip across the country to Perth for a few days. I'll be all alone until February 7th since Ben will be traveling from now until then. But things are good and I'm feeling truly blessed and grateful for all of the good friends and support I'm getting here through all of this.

Sorry I keep giving empty promises about what is to come -am I the only one who is losing interest in blogging? Please tell me I'm not alone. I'm sorry, but besides having to move with 2 weeks notice while you've got a 5 day trip planned in the middle and your husband will be gone for the whole thing, it's summer over here ya'll! And that sunshine just calls me a lot more than the radiating heat from off of the computer desk! Seriously, it has been so hot. The towels feel like they're fresh out of the dryer, not exaggerating! The whole house just radiates HEAT.

Okay, no promises this time, I'll be back when I can. It might be March, but I will update Christmas and all things Perth and the move.

Merry Christmas everyone!

What? I missed it? I happened already? So you're saying I'm too late? Shoot.

I had these pics uploaded and all ready to go, they're now almost a month old, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm not going to miss out on telling you one moment of our trip, so I guess this is part 2 {or is it 3?} in a 15 part series. Buckle up folks, it's going to get a little bumpy.

So this was a month ago {as afore-mentioned} at my Dad's Firehouse Christmas Party. It really took me back being there, since again, it was something we never missed when I was a kid growing up. All that was missing was the already-over-sweet punch that had 2 cups of sugar added per gallon. Other than that it was just about as I remembered. Gabey seen here treating Gaengy like a buckin' bronco

Laine and Santa, pretty explanatory

Gabe and Santa, not so much. Maybe next year

What says Christmas like a Creepy Santa man, 2 gals +kid and an old-timey firetruck?

Mom and I bakin' away. We made cute treats to spread holiday cheer, the kind that last the whole year through.

This was the day Laine slept with Cujo, funny story.

I used to sleep with Cujo, the family dog, when I lived at home. She's so sweet! Anyway, when Ben and I had been married only a couple of months, we took a weekend and slept at my parent's house. We slept in my old room in my old bed in the basement. Cujo was so excited, she thought she was in on the party. And see, I'm forgetting an important part of the story. Ben had tricked me. He had pretended that he and not only Cujo were bff's, but he and ALL animals were bff's. Not so. He hates them. He is a clean person. He doesn't do dog hair nor does he want to go around smelling like a monkey's butt. But he allowed me to believe he did when we were dating so that I'd think we were mfeo and both animal lovers.

But I digress... so we head down to bed for the night and Cujo is trailing right behind, her ears perked up and her tail a'waggin'. Until Ben shuts the door behind him, all but hitting her in the snout. I was sad, really sad, but not near as sad as Cujo who sat outside the door whining and scratching, too naive to understand things weren't the same anymore.

I was so sad at this point, probably a good 20 minutes into Cujo's antics, and I began to cry. Think of me what you will, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I knew I had to choose my new marriage over Cujo, but the wine was bittersweet...

Anyway, so for old time sake I let Laine sleep with Cujo. It was so precious!

Okay, and this last one REALLY takes me back! Little girls earnin' their keep. Yup, that one rings a bell. I think washing walls and baseboards was next...

And who could forget the day Laine slept in her funny glasses after removing the slinky eyeballs

K Peeps, stay tuned, TBC...