The Packards

To blog or not to blog

2012-01-13T17:10:00.000-08:00

I can't decide if I want to carry on with the whole blog thing or not...it seems as though it was more of a fad, and now that fad is slowly fading away. I guess I would rather read people's blogs then facebook, except that most people don't blog enough (myself absolutely included) I chat on the phone with friends and family often enough that I know what is going on in their life, so is it pretty pointless to be chatting with the world wide web? Im not really sure it. Anyway, thought I would post a few cute pictures from the holidays.

New Years at a cabin with some friends, lots of fun!

Christmas morning

Christmas eve

Mom and me :)

Lexi's first time at skate world...she didn't like it

Lexi's christmas dance performance...so cute

Hi Roz

The 2 divas Lex and Lei at lexis's gym showcase

And a partridge in a pear tree...

2011-12-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to type a quick post about holiday stuff. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Blackfoot this year with Justin's family. Thank you Babcocks for hosting, you did a fabulous job:) We went bowling on Wednesday night, and then relaxed and ate wonderful food on Thursday. Then late Thursday/early Friday I had my very first "black friday" shopping experience. We hit walmart and the mall in Idaho falls. I didn't buy much, but it was sure fun!

This will be mine and Justin's 7th Christmas together. Growing up my family always did the fake tree thing, and I was fine with that, but oh not Justin... he doesn't do the fake thing. So every year we have cut our own tree down, but last year I convinced him to buy one from the local grocery store. It was the prettiest tree we have had. So naturally I lost this year, and we had to go snowmobiling to find the perfect tree. Needless to say we were short on time, and ended up with a hideous tree. BUT we had a lot of fun snowmobiling to find it, and as Justin says "it's all about the experience." Whatever. Next year will be from the grocery lot :) We are looking forward to spending a week in Oregon with my family over Christmas.

Just checked on Lex, and she looked so cute, soI had to snap this shot...but anyway, here is holiday stuff:)

The cutting down tree experience

She was excited about her hat

Amber and I at Thanksgiving

Rozlyn checking out black Friday deals

Roz and Grandma at Thanksgiving

The Packard fam after bowling

My Girls

2011-10-16T15:50:00.001-07:00

Rozlyn is our little sweetheart. She is always smiling, and loves having me or Lexi close by. She loves to play with Lexi's toys. She has quickly become a fast crawler, and loves to pull herself up on as much as possible. She is 8 1/2 months old, and has yet to sleep through the night. She longest she has ever slept is 6.5 hours. (I'm hoping that by the time she turns one, I will be getting more sleep..but I'm not really planning on it.) She also likes to wake up around 6 or 630. Lexi used to do the same thing at that age, but I would just bring her to my bed, and nurse her, and she would fall back asleep..but not Roz! She loves to touch our faces and jabber as loud as she can until she can get everyone awake. Both of the girls love to dance. If you turn on Just the way you are, or Single ladies, both of the girls go crazy. I have some really cute video, but the file is too large to upload.

Lexi enjoys having friends over to play, especially her cousins. She is always talking about Daniel, Jake, and Soleil.

Lexi's first day of preschool was September 9th, and she loves it! It's only two days a week, but she asks almost every morning if she has school that day. She is getting better at identifying her letters, showing more intererst in learning to read, and loves to craft. The kids in the class alternate bringing a snack to share with the class. On her day she really wanted to bring cupcakes. I brought 12 cupcakes for the 4 kids that showed up that day, and when I picked Lexi up at the end of the day, they were all gone. There are only 2 girls in her class, so Lex gets quite a bit of attention from the boys (I'm pretty sure she likes it that way). She also is still taking a gymnastics class twice a week. She has been doing it since she was14 months old, and she still loves it. (This makes Justin very happy) She will be 4 in February so she will be able to compete in 2014. We will see if she can keep up with the competitive team.

Lexi can be such a handful for me sometimes. She is such a picky eater, she is full of attitude, she loves to be entertained all the time, but she is also my little side kick, and I don't know what I would do without her! She is such an amazing big sister, I can't believe how good she is with Rozlyn, she always wants to help entertain, change diapers, and feed her treats and food. She keeps talking about having another baby, and is always asking me when we can have 2 babys..it's really sweet. We love this girl!

I can't believe how much fun it is having two kids. I was so nervous to have two, but sometimes I think it's easier than having one because they can entertain each other. I also thought I would have a hard time having two girls, but I love it. I love doing hair, and getting them dressed, and just doing girly things. I love being a mom, I have no clue what I ever did with my time before my girls.

Bursting at the seams

2011-09-11T16:40:00.001-07:00

Wanting to blog about all of our summer adventures! There are a lot of pictures, but I promise Im going to be better about blogging so my posts are a little more organized :)

Idaho State Fair

Conner Back from his mission!

Family Reunions

We had all sorts of family reunions this summer. We had one at Wallowa Lake in Oregon with my family. We stayed at a huge cabin and enjoyed the small town charm :) Then we had one at west piney lodge in Idaho with Justins mom side of the family. It had a huge slide. Then we stayed in a cabin by green canyon with some of Justins family. We spent a ton of time with family this summer, and we love doing that.

Races

Last but not least, Justin and I have been busy with races this summer, from 10ks to half marathons, to triathlons. I ran two 10ks and one half marathon. Justin ran two half marathons, raced in two sprint triathlons, and one olympic triathlon. We are addicted to races, we love them! Actually let me rephrase that. I hate the night before (because Im nervous) I have the during (because it's hard) but I love crossing the finish line! Personally, I sign up for races, because it forces me to keep running, and trying to stay in decent shape. I don't race to run, Im actually really happy to place in the middle of the pack. Justin on the other hand, races to run. He took in the top ten in all of his races. He is so awesome. In his first olypmic triathlon he placed first in his age division.

Family Pictures

2011-07-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

We had our pictures taken about a week ago from a girl in our ward who is a photographer. She did a great job, and we had a lot of fun. Her website is http://www.dash-photography.blogspot.com/ Justin and I felt like we were getting engagement pictures all over again :) The only thing that I was annoyed about was my hair! We took our pictures at 6pm, and it was still 90 degrees out. Believe it or not, i curled my hair for these pictures but it went flat the moment I got in the car!! lol Next year we are doing pictures in the fall!

Accomplished

2011-06-16T20:34:00.001-07:00

Im not even sure how to start writing this post, it is pretty random, as are most of my thoughts. I have been thinking a lot lately about the things I have accomplished in my life. I hope this doesn't sound like a "toot my own horn," type of post, because I'm not meaning to do that. I just have a lot to be grateful for. I have a lot of goodness in my life, and I guess I just wanted to give a shout out to all of the good things about my life...the pictures are not in any sort of order. First of all, I have to give my family some love :) I really do have a great family. I was privileged to grow up in the family that I did. My parents raised me and my three siblings humbly, in a humble home, on a simple street, but we have some awesome memories. My siblings suprisingly ended up marrying some pretty cool people, and ended up having some pretty cool kids, that I am crazy about.

I have awesome friends. I don't think I am the type of person who needs a lot of attention, but it's so great to have friends that I know I can count on whenever, and who love me even when I'm not at my best.

I own a gymnastics gym...it's completely a love hate relationship. But regardless it's cool that I work for myself.

I graduated with a bachelors degree in three and a half years with a reasonable GPA...Im proud of that.

I got married to my sweetheart in the temple, the best place on earth. I am grateful to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. How blessed I am to know the truth without a doubt!

I gave birth twice, I gained 40 lbs with the first, and 50 lbs with the second, and I lost it all. I worked hard to do that, and I am proud of that.

I am a mom, and I try to be better everyday. It's hard work! I have to constantly pray for patience, but I try hard, and I am crazy about my girls.

I have been married for 5 and half years, and we are really happy. Having a happy marriage isn't always easy. It's a lot of give and take, and alot of unselfishness, but it's so worth it, and I'm so lucky that even though I married a guy I only knew for 4 months...I'm happy to say it's the best decision I have ever made!

I ran a 10 K last week in 58 minutes, it was the first race I have ever done, and it was so much fun. So fun in fact I signed up to run a half marathon in 2 months. Crazy, but I know I can do it...even if I have a very slow pace.

All in all, I am proud of my life, I have accomplished a lot, and there is still a lot I want to do. I hope to keep my head high, and my goals close at hand. :)

California

2011-05-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last day of Disney, we were there for 12 hours!

Lexi with Jasmine, she was being so shy!

Awesome roller coaster at CA adventure...Ashley is already screaming, and it hadn't even started yet!

CA adventure!

Roz being cute at the hotel

The girls worn out at the zoo

Ash and Daniel, lazy night at the hotel

Roz being sweet at nationals

Pier in long beach

Nationals

Its been so long since I've done a blog post that I almsot forgot how to create a new post. My mom was mad that I didn't put up pictures of our trip yet, so mom these are for you :) May has already been a very eventful month. We had our winter olympics at the gym on April 30th, Rozlyn was blessed on May 1st, and then we left for California from May 2nd-15th. The first week we were in long beach because two of Justin's boys qualified for junior olympic national gymnastics competition. So we spent that first week watching the boys at competition, going to the beach, and eating a lot of good food. The second week we spent in Aneheim. On Sunday we found a spanish speaking ward to attend sacrement meeting :) On Monday we went to Disneyland, on Tuesday we went to the Los Angeles zoo, Wednesday was disneyland again, Thursday was the beach, and Friday was our last day of Disney. Then Saturday (My birthday) we drove for 14 hours! Lamest birthday ever! This was my third time at Disneyland. My grandparents took me when I was ten, but I don't remember it too well. Then Justin and I went with my family for a day in 2007, when I was pregnant with Lexi, so this was the most enjoyable trip I have ever had to Disneyland. Three days was the perfect amount for us to do everything we wanted to, and then some! The best part was seeing lexi enjoy it so much! She had a blast. Her favorite part was meeting the princesses. So enjoy all 18 pictures I just uploaded! (I took over 200 on the trip, so this is just a taste)

eye roller panties and a quick update on life

2011-03-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

First of all, funny story. I was at Walmart last week, and I bought a couple of things. Two of those items were garnier fructis eye roller pen, and another thing was a pair of underwear (for when I work out ;) ) There are just certain things that are embarassing to buy...tampons, pregnancy tests, panties..etc (you know..the kind where you stand in front of the isle until no one is looking, put it in your cart upside down, and cover it with the paper towels) When I went to check out, I picked the least intimidating checker, and unloaded all of my items from the cart. Just as I was slipping away unnoticed (with a line behind me) The checker says (so loudly) "what are eye roller panties?" I mean really? Does this guys really want to talk to me about this? He hands me the receipt, and says "look, it says eye roller panties." I could not believe he wanted to have this conversation with me!! I said..umm they are two seperate things, I guess they just ended up on the same line. LOL wow..I basically ran out of the store.

My sister and her fam came to visit us all last week, and we had a fabulous time. I sware I didn't see Lexi all week. She was constantly being entertained by her cousins. Us girls did a lot of shopping, the boys snowmobiled, and we got pedicures. AND my sister and I ran a couple of 5Ks, and it was actually so much fun!

Rozlyn is an adorable, and sweet baby. She is almost 7 weeks old, and I had to put her newborn clothes away today...she is growing up way too fast. With Lexi, I kept rushing to the next step, but I just want Rozlyn to stay tiny forever. A few nights ago, Rozlyn slept for 7 hours straight. I actually woke her up at 6am because I needed to feed her! The only thing that I have to complain about is that she wont let me eat chocolate....she will not nurse if I eat any sort of chocolate. In fact the other day, I seriously had a bite of chocolate cake, and she wouldn't nurse. I have to pump, and give her a bottle if I want to eat chocolate. Lexi is totally in love with her sister, and is usually more of a help with her than a nuisance. We sure didn't want our kids to be three years apart, but it definately has it's benefits :) Thats all for now.

a few quick and cute pics

2011-02-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Lexi on her 3rd birthday-she was so sick, but she is faking it well in these two pictures

Roz fell asleep like this :)

Sporting her cool new boots from Aunt Des

Life is going so good, its been a bit crazy, but we are all adjusting. Lexi loves her baby sister (sometimes a little too much) and Rozlyn is a perfect baby so far!! We are so grateful

Rozlyn Evelyne

2011-02-11T15:32:00.001-08:00

We are all crazy about this little doll, and couldn't be happier with her! She loves to eat and sleep, and is a happy baby:)

Pictures coming soon!

2011-02-08T09:11:00.001-08:00

Im at the hospital right now, and forgot my camera cord...sorry! I went in for an induction yesterday morning, and everything went fabulous. I was induced because I wanted to be, and my mom got into town yesterday, so it worked out really well. When I got to the hospital I was dilated to a 3, so they put me on pitocin around 830am, I was a 6 at 12, then an 8 around 115pm, and a ten at around 2pm. The doctor wasn't there yet, so the nurse had me do a practice push to see how close the baby was, and she was like STOP! Um she has a lot of hair, lets wait for the doctor. So when the dr got there, I pushed through one contraction and she was out. Rozlyn Evelyne was born at 240pm 6lbs 10 oz, and 18.75 inches long. She looks exactly like lexi looked at birth except her hair is longer and thicker. She is the sweetest thing!

I enjoyed this labor and delivery so much more than I did the first time around. I was completely relaxed, and everything went so smooth. I can't stop kissing her sweet cheeks. Lexi came and visited last night, and couldn't get enough of her baby sister. Im a little nervous to bring Rozlyn home tomorrow morning, but Im so grateful my mom will be staying with us for two whole weeks to help out with the girls. I will post a few pictures tomorrow. :)

And thanks for all the name suggestions! We had a hard time deciding on one, but Rozlyn was the only one we could agree on, and it fits her perfectly. :)

Help us pick a name!

2011-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

I am about 3 and a half weeks until my due date. We have gone back and forth on a few names, but seriously I can't decide, and we probably wont know for sure until we see her. Her middle name is going to be Evelyne after my mom, but I want to see what you think is the cutest, please comment and leave your vote so we can name this child with confidence:) Thank you!

1. Roxanna
2. Whitney
3. Rozlynn
4. Jenna

Some of these Justin likes, and some I like, and we can only agree on one.

Because you want to know about my exciting life...

2010-12-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Us four kiddos

Lexi's new favorite spot with a blanket over the heater

She took out all of the winter stuff and spread it throughout the house!

So just a quick update...we are currently in oregon until next Wednesday, and I love it. I love my mom and sisters cooking, the restaurants, the shopping, etc. We decided to come up this week for my neices baptsism, and to see my family because I didn't feel comfertable traveling over Christmas. I am 9.5 weeks away from my due date...I wish it was closer, but I know the time is going to fly. So far my weight gain has been 30 lbs, which is a lot of a 5ft 1 frame, so ya Im getting pretty big, but I just have to keep telling myself that it will come off sooner than later. :) Other than feeling fat and unnattractive, I have been feeling really good. Sore and achy sometimes, but that's about the worst of it. I think we have come up with a name, not because I am crazy about the name, but because it's the only one we both like enough. But of course we will have to see her first. With Lexi's pregnancy Justin and I felt nervous and scared, and really didn't know what to expect. With this one, we just can't wait for her to be here.

HUGE

2010-11-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

No I don't have pictures, and I may or may not post some I haven't decided yet. Justin looked at me last night while I was um busy baking a pumkpin roll (which may be part the cause of the hugeness) and he was like "seriously this is how you looked right before you delivered Lexi." Really honey? I'm not feeling incredibly self conscious already, oh and don't remind me I still have atleast 3 months left. But really I myself can't believe how much bigger I am with this pregnancy than I was with Lexi. Everyone always told me that you just get bigger with each one, but guess I thought since I got back to a pretty flat stomach after Lexi, that I woudn't get that big with my next. Boy was I wrong. AND Im already feeling a little tight in my maternity clothes..so then what? Pajamas and sit on the couch all day? Okay enough negativity. I'm thrilled and so grateful to be having another baby girl, and I'm just going to have to worry about the weight issue some other time. The baby is always moving around and kicking, and I love it! Hopefully these next few months just fly by!

In other news, miss Lex is a little fire ball. She is constantly making me laugh because she is so full of personality or cry because she is so darn stubborn. A couple of weeks ago after nursery she comes into the kitchen with a towel on her head and says: "look mom I'm Jesus!" I had to laugh. We have been off and on potty training for the last 5 months, and she told me the other day that it was my fault she is still in diapers. Lol I really didn't even know how to respond. She seems to be really excited about having a little sister, and I just hope that they can get along. :)

Update

2010-10-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Lexi and her nebulizer treatments...lol sad

Scott and Shilo's reception! Love these two

Me at 20 weeks, I blew up from 18 to 20 weeks!

In front of the Spokane temple

Lexi feeding the ducks
Lexi with my nephews Daniel and Jake, and my neice Soleil

Lexi being crazy
Yes, dumb face, and dumb sideways, but I cant fix it-18.5 weeks

I guess it has been about 2 months since my last post...oops sorry! We have had a pretty good couple of months. We left Lexi for the first time last weekend to go to Spokane, WA. Justin was the best man for his friends wedding. Lexi stayed one night at my brothers house, and one night at Justin's sister's house. I missed her so much, but it was good for us to go without her, and good for her to be away from us. This weekend we are going to Portland for three nights for a gymnastics competition. I wish we could stay longer, but it will be a good amount of time to see my family and a couple friends. Our most exciting news is that we are having a baby girl in February. I am 21.5 weeks along. I cannot believe how much bigger I am already with this pregnancy than I was with Lexi!! Yikes :) This baby and Lexi will be almost exactly 3 years apart. I am due February 10th. When I was about 12 weeks, I took the intelligender pee test, and it said it was a boy. The test is supposed to be about 90% accurate. So although we weren't 100% planning on a boy, we were suprised at the ultrasound 2 weeks ago when it was a girl. She was so cute, and she totally has the side profile that Lexi does. I would have loved to have a boy, but I'm really excited to have another girl because I don't have to buy anything new, and we don't have to give up our office upstairs because she will be sharing a room with Lexi. Anyway, I am already counting down the days until I can meet this sweet girl, and give up my granny maternity jeans :) Here our some pictures from the last month.

Taylor Reunion

2010-08-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yes I realize this is a ton of pictures, but I took about 120, so I thought this was narrowing it down pretty well. My family and I spent a week in Island Park at a cabin for our reunion this year. We really had a lot of fun. For me the funnest part was just relaxing and laughing with my family. The boys golfed and played paintball, the girls did some crafts and some cooking. My mom even tried to teach my how to crochet...but I just couldn't get the hang of it, so I talked her into making me a blanket. We went for bike rides, 4 wheeling rides, and some of us went to yellowstone for the day. I love my family, they make me happy, and they don't disown me even when I'm obnoxious. Im already looking forward to next year:)

summer in a nutshell

2010-07-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

So for the past few weeks I am constantly thinking "oh I need to blog about that," but the truth of it all is that i would rather read other peoples blogs than take the time to post my own. This weekend is the first weekend in that I have been home sitting on my living room floor in four weeks. I did shower (didn't wash my hair) but got back in my pjs, no makeup, took an hour long nap, and it's 330 and I haven't left the house yet. It has been very nice. So the past four

weekends went like this:

Weekend 1- The zoo,Camping with some friends, Justin running a 10K (he took 2nd place, I was so proud).

Weened 2-Off to Provo, threw a shower for my bestie Erin. I loved this. I have been able to visit Erin for the past three summers without Justin (because who wants to involve their husbands in girl talk?) I drove up with my friend Amber, and I also got to see one of my old roommates Annie, which was wonderful. It's refreshing to just be with the girls. Unfortanetly since it was father's day weekend, and since I left Lexi with Justin, I only stayed one night, but I was still so glad I did. And Erin you seriously look amazing!

Weekend 3-Drive back up to Utah for a small family reunion, one day at Lagoon (yes we spent $30 on a ticket for Lexi, but she loved it!!! and I didnt feel so bad when they made a lady in a wheel chair pay the full price for her ticket...that was just rude) So we drove up on Thursday morning to Kaysville, spent the day at Lagoon, slept, then woke up and drove to Soda Springs for a family reunion and camped for a night.

Weekend 4-Another family reunion, and the 4th of July Parade. We headed out to Island park on Thursday night to go camping, we went back home on Friday night to get ready for the annual Rexburg parade, did the parade, which turned out really fun, and then drove back to Island Park Saturday after the parade, and stayed camping until Sunday evening. While we were in Island Park we went to the playmill in Yellowstone, and saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which was really fun, and Lexi even sat in my lap the whole time, and loved it. Since Eastern idaho celebrated the 4th of July on Saturday night instead of Sunday, we went to the fireworks in Island park, and that was awesome!

Happy Summer!

Justin's Race

2010-05-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Justin competing in a triathlon in Rigby. We are so proud of him, he just kept going and going, and placed 8th out of 104 people, for his very first triathlon. The triathlon was a sprint triathlon, so it was a 1/2 mile swim, 12.7 mile bike ride, and a 3.2 mile run, he finished in 1 hour and 23 minutes. He has been really looking forward to this competition, but when we woke up this morning, it was cold and rainy. By the time he finished the competition, it was only 46 degrees outside, and the swim was freezing! I felt so bad for all the swimmers.

Here is a picture of him getting out of the water, next was the bike race, and then the run.

By the end of the race, he was pale and crampy, but so happy to be done! Good job honey!

April Highlights

2010-04-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

April has been a fun month, starting with Easter. We went to Pocatello and spent it with some of Justin's family. I love putting together Lexi's easter egg basket and watching her trying to figure out what she is looking for in the morning. Here she is displaying her chocolate mouth (which she ges from me) and her new barbie sing along from grammy which she loves! We also finished (except for a few touch ups) our bathroom downstairs, and it looks amazing!! I would put up before pictures but they are on the other computer, and Im lazy, but think, pink sink, pink tiled shower, exposed pipes in the ceiling and blue carpet just to name a few. We wanted to remodel our downstairs before our upstairs so when we remodel our upstairs bathroom we can just use the downstairs one without being grossed out, because it was originally pretty gross. The other exciting thing we did this month was buy a new to us car. Its a chevy tahoe, and its awesome. Our Honda accord was getting to be pretty old, and we wanted to sell it before we couldn't get any money out of it. The Tahoe is pretty big its an 8 seater, and I really wish I had more kids to fill it up with, it seems pretty empty right now. Ive never driven such a big car, so its going to take some getting used to. Another fun thing we did this month is go to Oregon. I love my family, and Im looking forward to our family vacation this summer where we can all be together. Following our some pictures from Oregon, and my new nephew Henry that I met, he is sooo cute! Finally last weekend, Justins sister Corinne graduated from BYU. Yay Corinne!

Oh and there is a video of Lexi at the bottom from my nephews birthday party, I just like it, because she makes me smile!

Henry

2010-02-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

I am an Aunt again. I officially have 4 neices and 6 nephews. The newest addition to the Taylor family is Henry Randon Taylor. He weighed in at 8lbs, and 9 oz on February 18th! I have yet to meet him but I have heard he is very calm like his daddy, and I think he looks like the Taylor side because he actually looks a lot like Lexi did when he was first born:) I love him already! Rebecca and JD are so thrilled to have him, and they are doing great.

Miss Lexis 2nd birthday

2010-02-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

2 years old!
1 years old!
just a few hours old:)

Happy Birthday Lexi! We love you like crazy!

My two favorite dinners (not including eating out)

2010-02-15T17:27:00.000-08:00

I have really tried to not stick to the same old cooking stuff lately, and I have wanted to try some new things, so in the past few months, we keep coming back to these two recipes, which have quickly become some of our favorite family dinners, so I thought I would share the recipes.

First off is Taco Soup. Justin's sister gave me this recipe like a year ago, but it really didn't sound that good, so i never made it, but I was wrong, it's my favorite dinner! (pictured above, it tastes better than it looks:)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb-1lb ground beef or ground turkey (I use a whole pound, but the original recipe calls for 1/2 lb)
1/4 cup onions(optional) or 1 Tablespoon onion flakes
1 can light red kidney beans with liquid
1 can corn with liquid
1 can petite diced tomatoes with liquid (14.5 oz)
1 can tomato sauce plus 1 can of water
1 packet of taco seasoning
Toppings: Sour cream, cheese, Juanita tortilla chips (the best you will never go back! Available at Albertsons and Winco)

Use a large sauce pan (spray with non stick spray beforehand) to brown ground beef with onions, drain fat. Add the rest of the ingredients except for toppings. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, then top with toppings.

Second is called crock pot fiesta chicken, I love this one it is so easy!

Ingredients:
8 chicken tenders
1 can black beans drained
1 can corn drained
1 jar of salsa
Toppings (Cheese, juanita chips again, and sour cream)
cooked rice

Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot except for the toppings and rice, cook until chicken falls apart, then shred chicken, mix all crock pot ingredients together and serve over rice, then top with toppings. Easy and cheap if you are feeding a group.

In other news Miss Lexi will be 2 on Saturday. Justin will be at a gymnastics competition, so we will celebrate on Sunday with some family. Lexi is a busy body, but she is so much fun, and so cute. I put her hair in curlers the other day, and she loved it, I also painted her toe nails and finger nails, and she sat still for both. Im not a prissy girl, i can't remember the last time I painted my finger nails, maybe 5th grade? But she loves that kind of thing. Also her favorite color is pink (naturally) we didn't even teach her that color, but somehow she knows that color, and never fails to point out something pink. We tried a trial run of potty training the other day, but its a no go, Justin thought she was ready so we gave it a shot, but three poopy underwears later, I was done...maybe in a few months will go at it again. Its just not going to happen when she clearly doesn't mind sitting in her own feces. Lexi loves to sing and dance, read books, play with barbies, and her one ken, and watch movies "starring" Barbie:) I love her tons. It is hard for me to be patient with her sometimes, but obviously it's something I need to learn. Here are some cute pictures of the past few weeks:)

Lexi in her valentines present
curlers!

Warning: BORING post...read only if you are bored

2010-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Yea the inevitable Christmas/New Years post, because I'm sure everyone was wondering what I did for the Holiday season right? Well you are in luck, because here is a nice long post for you...oh and I even included pictures as an added bonus. You know how some peoples blogs you are just dying to read because it seems like every post is interesting/funny/exciting? Im sorry Im not one of those bloggers, but here goes:
This was the first year in our marriage that Christmas day was not spent on a plane, or a long drive in the car. Our first 4 Christmases we had been traveling on Christmas day to make it to both of our families house for Christmas, and as nice as it was to see all our family on Christmas, we learned last year that its just too crazy. Last year I went to Portland a week before Christmas to have some extra time with my family, and Justin was going to fly in a few days after me. Turns out he never made it, (since Oregon doesn't know what to do when it snows) and spent Christmas eve day traveling back to Utah to be with his family, and i stayed in Oregon. Anyway, he missed Lexi's first Christmas, and it was just sad. So this year we decided to have Christmas eve at our house and invited my brother and his family over, we ate delicious food and played games. Lexi, Dom, and Gabe watched the Grinch, we had a great time. We woke up early on Christmas morning, and opened presents together as a family, Lexi really loved her presents, and it was so fun this year to see her actually get excited about the present, and not just the paper. When we finished opening our gifts we headed over to Justin's parents house to have more Christmas, AND to talk to Justin's brother who is on a mission, which was wonderful. We also ate a lovely Christmas dinner of Turkey! YUM. We spent the rest of the day lounging and enjoying not traveling. On the 26th we headed to Boise then flew to Portland to see my family. We arrived around seven to more great food, and presents. We had such a relaxing week in Oregon, and we even brought the snow with us! It snowed for about 6 hours, heavy snow, which isn't typical of Oregon. They don't even plow the roads there because they never get enough. It took my dad 2.5 hours to get home from work when it usually take 1/2 hour. People do not know how to drive in snow, some even left their cars and walked home, or had a 4 wheel drive vehicle pick them up, it was hilarious! Justin went skiing with our brother in law Jeff, and I did some shopping, but mostly we just enjoyed being far away from work, and life, sometimes its just nice to have a break. I also had the opportunity to meet up with some old friends for lunch which is always fun.
In anticipation for a new nephew in February my sister was going to throw a shower for our sister in law, but no one could make it because of the bad weather, but we still opened gifts for the baby (Lexi opened most of them) and baby boy Taylor has some fun stuff waiting for him. For New years Eve we went to my sisters house and ate of course, and played games, and talked with my sister and her family, and my other brother and his family. All in all we had a great holiday, Im sad that it's over, I miss my family, but Im just glad that we had such a great couple of weeks.

Out with the old and in with the new!

2009-12-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post a few things that we have been working on lately. As if our lives aren't hectic enough with a toddler, and the gym, we are constantly working on and remodeling our house that was built in the 1950s. We bought our house in may, and moved in in August of this year. There were a few things that needed to be done right away, that I just couldn't live with. Our house is 5 bedrooms, 2 baths. 3 beds up, 2 beds down, 1 bath up, and 1 bath down, and a little over 1000 sq feet on each level, on a quarter acre. The first time we looked at our house, I was like no way, not doing it, too much work, no. After looking for a few more days, our realtor suggested our house again. So we went and looked at it again, and I warmed up a little, but still wasn't really sure. This was Friday, and on Saturday night, I turned to Justin and I was like we need to make an offer on that park st house. He was like really? So we talked about it for a while, and decided why not? Lets just see what happens. So Monday rolled around, we made an offer, and it turns out there was already 2 other offers on it as well. After a few counters, and waiting we got the house, and we love it! Im so glad that everything worked out with it. The house was just so old, and hadn't been remodeled in so long, that I couldn't see the potential. Lucky for me, someone else had better insight and helped me to realize that it was perfect for our family. Anyway, I just wanted to post a few pictures of what we have been working on We took pictures of the house during the inspection last april, and then have been taking them as we remodel. We have done all of the remodeling by ourselves because Justin is so talented. The only thing we hired out was new carpet downstairs. The first two pictures are the stair well going downstairs. Before it had some hideous wood walls, so justin tore it all off, sheetrocked, and repainted. It turned out nice. There was also a wood stove surrounded by bricks at the bottom of the stairs, so we tore that out, because it was dangerous, and so ugly. The next two pictures are of the downstairs family room. Again more wood paneling, ugly light fixtures, etc. We aren't finished with the family room yet, we need to cut in a window, cover up a funky light fixyture, and replace doors, but it has come along way. The last two pictures is of the upstairs living room before and after. The living room is my favorite. We went to put in pergo, and new carpet throughout the upstairs right after we moved in, and discovered beautiful wood floors in every room but the kitchen and bathroom. The floors were in excellent condition, but looked like a basketball gym floor, so we sanded, and restained the floors, and decided to keep the wood floor throughout the upstairs, which we love! Anyway, the living room is the only room in the house that is completely finished, and we love it. We have been so blessed with a great house in this cold Rexburg weather (-5 degrees right now) and we are so grateful.

Oh another post

2009-11-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

I just want to say how grateful I am for my little Lexi, she is such a joy in our lives. In ten days she will be 21 months. The other morning I was doing dishes, and she was in the bath, and all of a sudden she was singing as loud as she could "Ya ya go....moo moo moo." Over and over again. (Old MacDonald) I got most of it on video until she looked up, and was suddenly embarrassed. Much to the joy of her daddy, she is quickly picking up some gymnastics skills, she can walk half way across the low beam by her self, and she jumps off and says ta-da. She can also perform, a straddle, tuck, and pike on demand. She is working on her forward roll, but needs a little push at the end. She copies a lot of what we say, and then we are so excited that she has learned something new, we ask her to repeat it, and then she acts like she doesn't know how to say it, and says "dat" which is her word that she says when she doesn't know how to say something.
My mom came into town this past week to visit her new grand baby Soleil, and she stayed with us. It was so nice to have her around, but it makes me lazy because she does all of my dirty work. (Thanks Mom:) My nephew Jake was blessed on Sunday. Of course he was an angel the whole day. Justin and I are slowly but surely buying some Christmas presents and we hope to be done by December 10th? I can't wait to do some secret santa stuff this year, we already have two families in mind. There is no better way to get into the Christmas spirit then to buy for a family in need! Anyway, looking forward to hearing all of your christmas ideas and fun activities.

Things of the fall

2009-10-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Jake
Jake, just a few hours old

Soleil being cute (I stole these from her mom)
Soleil with her attitude

It's been awhile, I know I'm a slacker. Much has happened around the Packard home the past month, but I haven't been on the computer as much because the computer is in Lexi's room, until we get a wireless card, and the only time I write is when she is asleep. So anyway, great news, I have an adorable new nephew (Jake Gordon Babcock sept 14th 8lbs!) and an adorable new neice (Soleil Mabel-Marie Taylor September 24th 5lbs 10oz) They are both so cute, and it's so fun to be around newborns, Lexi was the last new baby on both sides of the family. Jake is an angel, he only cries when he is hungry, and I think he will be a good balance to his crazy brother, which is a relief for his parents. Soleil is much like Lexi in the attitude department, she is only 2.5 weeks old, but she definately already knows what she wants. She loves to be held all the time by her mom :) As for our little family, we are consistently working on our house. yesterday we painted the whole kitchen this green color, but today we both hate it, so we are going to repaint. It turned out kind of a mint green, and we were going for more of a sage green....such a pain. A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a trip to Oregon, just Lexi and I to see my family for a few days. It was a good time, just relaxing, and I need that. Justin was in Seattle for a gymnastics competition over our 4th anniversary, and I was like Heck I am not sitting at home alone on my anniversary, so thats what we did instead. The flight to Oregon was fine, but the flight back home was terrible. When lexi was about 4 months old, i vowed that I would never fly alone again, but I had obviously forgot how terrible Lexi can be on a flight. I was actually crying, it was so embarassing. Lexi was on this steriod for her cough that made her so psycho and grumpy, and to top it off, all those Oregon Liberals who don't believe in having children until your 40 gave me the dirtiest looks. During the five days at my parents house, I got mistaken for a teenager 3 times from 3 different people! So basically everyone at the airport probably thought I was a seventeen year old single mother who couldn't handle her child im 24...gah! Anyway, thats about as exciting as my life is right now. I've actually been pretty lonely lately, all of our good friends have up and left us here in Rexburg. I keep thinking I will meet someone I click with in the ward or someone, but I just haven't. There are a lot of great people in our ward, just none that I would feel comfertable hanging out with. Luckily we do have family close by that I love, but I can't always bug them, (they both just had new babies, so their pretty busy :) Justin is pretty fantastic at entertaining me, but sometimes you just need to hang out with the girls you know?
Poor me right ? :) anyway, here a few pictures, including one of Jake and Soleil.

17 again....I wish

2009-08-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Justin's sister Corinne's wedding. She married Justin Hoskin (yay for 2 Justins in the immediate family) These are a couple cute shots from the wedding last weekend. First of all, as cheesy as it was, and as cocky as Zack Efron is, I have to say that I loved the movie 17 again, it was very entertaining, but that's not the plot of this post. My friend Amber stopped over for a few hours the other day to hang out. Lexi had fallen asleep for a couple hours so we couldn't go anywhere. We ended up chatting about the past, friends, flings, high school, etc. We were trying to figure out what year it was and what time of year she was dating one of her many flings. So I decided to pull out my old journals to try and figure out when this all took place (not so long ago I was faithful in writing in my journal like once a week). Anyway, we ended up reading some old journal entries from high school and early college days and we had all these oh yea, and omi gosh I can't believe I said or did that moments. We had some good laughs over a few things, and that was that. I realized after reading through a few entries that it had been so long since I had actually read my journals. That night I was going through more entries, and reading the worth a laugh ones to Justin, I can't believe how mean I was to some of the guys I dated, or how self centered I was in high school. I wish I could go back and change the way I treated certain people. Wouldn't it be so amazing to go back in time, and know what we know now? Although I didn't necessarily like the person I was in high school, I do miss the care free lifestyle, where the only thing I had to worry about was what color I wanted to dye my hair, I miss crazy girl talk and pranking people, I miss wearing tight jeans, and looking decent in them, I miss someone else cooking for me, and paying for my car insurance, but most of all I miss feeling like life was always going to be so cushy and easy. I have a good life, and Im so blessed, but there are so many responsibilites, so many people depending on me, bills to pay, laundry to fold...etc etc. Thus the plot of this post is me complaining because I am feeling overwhelmed, and tired, and Im wishing I could go back to a time when life was almost always sweet. On a good note, my house is put together, we have working internet, Im eating yummy peanut butter cookies I just made (why cant I fit into my jeans again) and Im blessed with amazing friends and family.

Mostly just blabbing

2009-07-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Me and Lexi-Lexi has a black eye from falling into a door frame :(

Me and Erin and our baby girls at her sisters wedding in Draper

4th of July parade! Thats justin in the air!

Just catching up on some things...first off we finally move into our house two weeks from today...hooray, its crept up fast, and I have no clue how we are going to get everything packed. Our living room is already stuffed with boxes, and you can't even tell we packed anything. We probably wont have internet for awhile, but as soon as we get it set up and going, i will post some pics. I took a lot of pictures of those when we did the inspection, but the first month we will be doing some remodeling so I will put some before and after pics up. Its actually quite overwhelming. Most of the house has not been remodeled since the 70s. The upstairs bathroom looks maybe 90s but thats about as new as anything is...so as you can imagine the house needs so much work which equals time and lots of money. We have already spent a lot just on the flooring, so we have to cool it for a while, and save up until we can do more. Anyway its a lot to look forward too, we aren't going to have any boring weekends, thats for sure.

Today my brother in law went through the temple for the first time, it was a neat experience, but let me tell you, I have never been so irreverent during a session! Instead of going to the chapel first, we just went straight to the endowment room. There weren't many people there yet, maybe ten, and the officiator gets to the front of the room, and rips a loud one. Wow. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't look at him, so I looked over at Justin but he wouldn't look at me ( he said he couldn't for fear of loosing it) So that basically set the mood for the rest of the session. Ten minutes into it a guy in the back row snoring away, head back and everything...funny! Someone finally nudged him awake (a good 5 minutes later) Then an older man, had to have been like 90 was sitting in his wheel chair making all these loud noises with his chair, then forgetting stuff, and shrugging his shoulders at the officiator, and raising his hand at random times. (funny again, he was way cute though) And then last but not least the witness couple probably age 40 or so, had to have been newly weds. Every time they had to get up, he would jump up, grab his wife's hand, and they would gaze in each others eyes for a moment, and then up to the front where they would whisper sweet nothings to each other and giggle (hello distracting!) and then he would walk her back to her seat where they would gaze at each other again ..this continued each time until I just had to laugh out loud (it wasn't too loud though, more like a whisper laugh, but still), I just couldn't handle it. Then in the Celestial room someone asked justin when he was going on his mission...yea he served his mission like 6 years ago. Wow it was a lot of fun though. Very entertaining session, although I didn't feel I got much out of it!
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the past month. We have had a busy summer already, but Im loving it, sad to see that its already half over!

wii fit vs the wii active

2009-06-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

Just to throw it out there, I have to say if you are in it to work up a sweat, the wii active is the way to go!!! I did a 20 min medium intensity workout, and it kicked my butt a little. I like to think I am in pretty good shape (not shapely body or anything like that, more like I can run three miles in a decent time and not faint) but it worked me good, and it was fun, I will do it again. The wii fit is fun...but I think that's all it is, I don't really get a good workout from it. Hopefully I did the right thing by purchasing the wii active. Anyone else have an opinion about this? Share please if you do.

All American

2009-06-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take a minute and say how grateful I am for this country. When I was younger, saying the pledge of allegiance, and the star spangled banner didn't mean much to me, but today it brings tears to my eyes, and although its kind of embarrassing that I get emotional about it, I am so proud to be an American. I can't believe how blessed I was to be born into this country with so much blessing and opportunity. I am so incredibly proud and grateful for all those people who fought and risked their lives to make America what it is today. It's true that America isn't seeing the best times right now, but there is still no where else I would rather be. Justin said to me the other day, "honey, we are living the American dream, we own our own home, we own our own business, we have a wonderful family, and we are happy." I was like wow, isn't that the truth. I and so many of us are so blessed. I hope everyone remembers how lucky we are and takes a minute to celebrate this upcoming 4th of July.

posing for pics, grapes, and auntie times 2

2009-06-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

I seriously LOVE Yellowstone. There is so much to see. I want to go again this summer!
Erin and McKenna came into town last week, we had a blast! I love them!
Whenever she gets into the toilet paper, I say "Lexi, give it to mommy!" and she tears off a small piece at a time, it takes forever! She also enjoys eating it....what the??
Conner's high school graduation!

This is what happens when I take a 3 minute shower!

This morning we went over to Beehive bank in Rexburg to pose for some pictures. They told us to dress casual, and they wanted us to pose with our lender who gave us the housing loan. Justin, Lexi, and I had to sit there and pretend like we were signing our bank papers all over again. We felt so retarded. How much cheesier do you think we could get!? Anyway, so if you happen to see a pamphlet or poster at Beehive, just know that I tried to get out of it the best I could, but failed.
I'm really excited for this weekend. We are going to the Robertson reunion, (Justin's mom's side) and we are going to Lava hot springs all day on Friday. YAY! I actually totally spaced until a week ago that we even had this planned this weekend. So it should be a lot of fun, hopefully I will have some cute pics to post.
Grapes-Lexi has a new obsession with grapes. A few days ago I had thrown a small handful of grapes away that looked like they didn't have much time left until the mold started to grow. The next thing I knew Lexi had retrieved them from the garbage and was snacking away....yuck right? It gets better. On Monday I went grocery shopping and picked up another bunch of grapes. On my way walking inside I dropped a couple on the ground outside our door. (I didn't notice at the time). So on Tuesday I went to grab the mail, and Lexi followed me outside. I stopped to talk to a neighbor, and I noticed she had sat down and was playing with something in her hands. I finished chatting, and went over to see what she had found. Of course she was munching on a few grapes she had found which were already half eaten by ants....gross!!!! So I took her in, cleaned her up, and gave her some fresh washed grapes from the fridge.
Good news I will be an aunt of two more sweet babies by the end of the year, a girl and a boy!!! YAY! Its going to be awesome, one in September, and on in November. Congrats to both Des and Ashley!

The stomach flu, our house, and the water park

2009-05-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Lexi-so done at the water park!

Okay fine I will touch the water, but only once

Cute pic of Daniel! Before he got sick :(

Liking the dry play ground much better

Grumpy on the way back from Home Depot

We have been trying to ignore Lexi through the night when she cries, because she still isn't sleeping through the night, and I think for heavens sake you are 15 months old, you should be able to go through the night without a bottle! Anyway, we started this trend a little over a week ago, and last Wednesday night she cried twice throughout the night, and both times I ignored her, and it wasn't so bad because both times were very brief. So at 7am my internal alarm clock wanted me to go check on her, so I opened her bedroom door and immediately smelled something foul. I figured it was a messy diaper, but when I peered over her crib, I noticed some dark brown looking pieces scattered all over her crib. (she was still sound asleep with her butt in the air) I thought to myself great, the one night she is wearing two piece pjs without a onesie she poops and fishes through her diaper and scatters it all around her crib, and then falls back asleep in it. Real cool. Anyway, I call in Justin to come and inspect because it really didn't smell like poo. We eventually figured out that she had puked up green beans from dinner the previous night. So I got a bath and clean clothes all ready, and woke her up, bathed her, cleaned up the mess in her room, and then figuring the beans just hadn't set well with her, gave her a bottle while I was getting her dressed, and she puked all over herself again. (this repeated for 4 days, no joke) Then Justin got sick all day Saturday and Sunday with the same thing. So basically I had a weekend of a sick husband who couldn't help me clean up puke or change diapers that were full of soup. Toward the end of the day on Sunday, Justin felt a lot better so we went to Pocatello and spent memorial day with Justin's family, and had a good time eating good food, and visiting the cemetery. On our way out of Pocatello we stopped in at Home Depot to buy a wood floor for our house, and Lexi puked all over herself, the cart, and the floor of Home Depot. We went and told someone as soon as it happened, and the guy was like no prob we will take care of it, and an hour later as we were leaving the store it was still there....Anyway, so that was my weekend, Lexi threw up a couple more times on Tuesday. So this morning I shampooed our carpets cuz as you can imagine things were starting to get pretty stinky. Lexi is doing a ton better which is such a great relief because it was really starting to ware on me, I was getting so worried about her keeping hydrated. Although she did puke today and yesterday (its clearly her new attention getter) so we have to rid her of that fun habit. And ode to cousin Daniel, somewhere in the mix of interactions in the past week, he got sick as well. (sorry Daniel, we love you!) Good news though today my parents arrived in town, so its wonderful to have them here, and we are going to Yellowstone on Saturday...which I am so excited about! :) And also WE FINALLY CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE TODAY! I just have to say it was well worth the wait becuase we ended up paying zero dollars for closing, and actually got 500 hundred dollars back! (paying your tithing really does bless) So tomorrow we are going to buy furniture for our living room, and we already bought wood floors for the living room and hallway, and a nice rug. Its going to be a lot of work and a lot of cash to make it how we want, but I think in about 5 years we should be done with the improvements. SO yay! We are moving in sometime in July not sure of the exact date, but I will be posting before and after pictures as we slowly but surely remodel. It's going to be a really fun project for Justin and I (mostly Justin:)

me day

2009-05-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

I wish I could put pictures up, but our computer is being retarded, and I don't want to risk losing pics. Just wanted to update on whats going on with our family. Sadly, we are still waiting to close on our house, after three addendums to the closing date, its finally looking like we will close on Monday, but really who knows...I don't get it. My sister in law Ashley found out she is having another cute baby boy in September, so we are pretty excited about that. Today is my birthday, so I took work off, and Justin took most of the day off, and we went to Idaho Falls for dinner, shopping, and a movie. There really wasn't any movies we were dying to see so we ended up going to see mall cop, because we are both obsessed with Kevin James. I left my phone on the charger and when I got home I had nine missed calls...I felt loved. Shopping was fun, we ended up going to six different stores before I found an outfit I liked, it was pretty frustrating. Justin ended up buying me a shirt and jeans from hollister for $83. I don't even like that store normally because it is soooo expensive, but Justin insisted, and since it was my birthday I let him...but never again! I am all about the shirt and jeans for $30 or less, but I guess splurging once a year isn't going to kill me! Am I a terrible person for supporting such a dumb store? Don't answer that. On our way back from I.F. Justin and I were talking about how weird it is that Im 24, and we met just a week after my 2oth birthday. I actually just heard this song on a country station today (don't quote me on the lyrics) but it was something about how I thought I loved you when I first saw you, I thought I loved you when I asked you to marry me, I thought I loved you on our wedding day...etc etc, and then it goes on to say that even today I don't think I can love you anymore, but I know the day will come when I look back on today, and think look how much more I love you now....pretty sure I slaughtered that, but thats what I remember from it. Its so true though. We were so in puppy love four years ago, but it has grown into something so awesome. Justin and I definitly have our arguements, but I love him today more then ever, and Im so grateful that we found each other. Yay for true love (not like benjamin button our love is only based on sex love...bla that movie is still bugging me, but that's for a different post) :)

Whats new with the Packards

2009-04-30T20:17:00.001-07:00

We have had a pretty fun month of April, the top two pictures are fhe on Monday, swimming in Jared and Des's club house pool, then I loved Lexi's one eye peaking out, then the bottom one is of Lexi wrapping herself in our comforter. Whenever I make the bed, I throw the blankets on the floor, and Lexi attacks them, and wraps herself in them, she is so cute. She is getting a couple new teeth, so these past couple weeks have to say the least been rough. Its getting harder and harder to take her to work with me. Justin was out of work for the past few months, so it was so nice that she could stay at home with him, but justin started working again this week, and it's been crazy! We have been so used to Justin being home during the day, and not working until like four, but now hes been leaving at 8, and we don't see him til like 7. But I'm not complaining, because we really want to buy a washer and dryer. Which brings me to our housing issue. We were supposed to close today, but Idaho housing has been so backed up, that we have had to wait to close until next Friday....bummer, everyone is buying a house right now...its really pretty frustrating because if the sellers wanted to, they could put the house back on the market...so we are pretty worried, and we have been praying a lot:) Anyway, I guess we will have to accept whatever happens...but Im not going to feel excited about the house until we sign the closing papers. I never knew buying a house was so incredibly complicated. I was talking to my sister in law the other day, and she said when they bought their first house that they walked in, and stated what they made, and how much housing payments they could afford, and the bank said "okay" it is so not like that anymore! They require so many documents, I cant count how many times Ive been to our bank to request statements, and rent check images, or how many times I have had to sign my name, or how many times I have had to dig up old tax info...blah, can we just have a house and be done?! Although it has seriously been a crazy, stressful month, I have realized how truly blessed we are, we have had more money pop up then I have seen in months, its so random. $1200 for our gaurentee, inspection, and appraisal, don't ask me where that money came from, but we came up with it no problem, not to mention we have more money in savings for our closing costs then we have had since Lexi was born..what the heck? Im so grateful, that we have been faithful in paying our tithing, I know that we are being blessed for that right now. Sometimes times are rough, and it feels like they will never get better, but wow, other times, the blessings are just showered down....I just have to remember that during hard times I guess. Last Sunday I had the opportunity to go to this really awesome fireside. It was for RS presidencies, bishoprics, and EQ president, so Justin couldn't come with me, and I really didn't want to go cuz I knew it was going to be 2 hours long, but I am so grateful I went, I learned so much! It was mostly about the welfare of the church through broadcast. I learned how important self reliance is. One thing that President Monson said, that really stuck out to me about helping others who are in need, he said you can't give someone food from an empty shelf, and you can't lend someone money with an empty wallet. He also talked a lot about getting and staying out of debt, and living within your means. When we are living within our means, we can help others who are struggling, wether it be family or friends, or our ward family. You just never know when something unexpected will happen. Anyway, I really loved it. Thats about all that is new with us, sorry for the blabby long post:)

lazy poster/25 random things

2009-04-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been lazy in writing posts because I enjoy reading everyone elses so much, but anyway, not much new going on around here, I have been super busy at work lately, we had the Spring Olympics on Saturday where the gymnasts do a performance for their parents and stuff, it's fun, but it's a lot of work! Then I have been working on the summer schedule for the gym, which will start on June 1st, so I finally got that all done today, and last but not least we bought a house, and we are closing on it in the next couple of weeks. Needless to say we have been crazy busy. We were so blessed to get locked in at a 4.64 % interest rate on our house which we couldn't be happier about, the only sad part is that we don't get to move in until July or August. The people we bought the house from are going to rent back the house for a couple of months until they can move to their new home. Anyway, it will be good to save up for a while, so it's not all bad. Everyone has been tagging me on facebook to do this 25 random things about yourself, and I can't really figure out how to do it on facebook, it's kind of fun, so if you are reading this, then you should write one about yourself that I can read too....
1. I don't have a middle name, my parents didn't give one to me or my sister
2. Im obsessed with BBQ flavor anything, yum chips, sunflower seeds, rice cakes, you name it, i love it.
3. I really enjoy working out and trying to feel like I'm in shape, I try to hit worlds gym 3 or 4 times a week
4. Im sad Easter is over and I have to wait a whole year until I can eat another cadbury cream egg.
5. I can't wait to have more kids, we want at least 4 but I'm thinking we will end up with 5.
6. I love chick flicks and scary movies, but lately scary movies have actually scared me, so it's not as fun :(
7. I love being around people with a sense of humor, and can make me laugh
8. Sometimes I can't believe the stuff that comes out of my mouth :O
9. I am the youngest of four kids, 1 sister, and 2 brothers, 3 brother in laws and 4 sister in laws, and my whole family and Justins family are pretty awesome.
10. I love to watch the biggest loser, I love to see how people can change their lives in such a short time.
11. Justin and I only knew each other for 7 weeks to the day before we got engaged!
12. I got married on October 8th 2005.
13. I love to read! Give me a good book, a babysitter, and the day off, and you wont see me all day
14. I am currently trying to grow my hair out....its taking forever...I think Im going through a mid life crisis because I recently thought to myself "I don't have much time left to grow my hair long because I have never done it before." I really don't think gray/white long hair is pretty...its kind of icky
15. My husband is a pretty fantastic gymnast, he competed nationally for a couple of years before his mission.
16. I have a 14 month old who cracks me up.
17. I currently have 4 cavities that I need to get filled (darn throwing up for 5 months during pregnancy)
18. I can't stay away from chocolate no matter what I do, it makes me mad
19. I love the beach, even if it's freezing cold, there is just something about the cool breeze and the sound of the ocean that is so comforting. I think it's the only thing about Oregon that I miss, besides my family.
20. I will never buy any type of couch or love seat that isn't leather or microfiber. We bought a microfiber sectional about a year ago, and it is the best thing that has ever happened to me, you can draw with pen all over that thing and it comes right off!
21. I'm 23, got married when I was 20, and had lexi when I was 22.
22. I really love Disneyland, and I want to go back again when Im not pregnant! We went as a family 2 summers ago, and my parents paid the $85 each to get in, looked around for 45 minutes, and then went back to the beach house....it was too crowded for their liking...lol that's just the type of people they are...they crack me up!
23. I love my religion, it's my life, and it makes me truly happy
24. I enjoy the cool weather, but Im really really looking forward to warm sunshine.
25. I have some pretty awesome friends and family that I love so much, I am so blessed.
22.

Food Storage

2009-04-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, my mother in law made me a binder of food storage information, and Ive been trying really hard to buy food storage every week. My mother in law got me into it, and has really stressed the importance of it. In the binder there is a list of what you should buy every week, and at the end of 52 weeks, you will have enough food storage to sustain 2 people for a year, eating humbly of course. A few friends have asked for the list that I use, so I thought I would post it on here. The list can be started at anytime.

Week 1 6 lbs salt
Week 2 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 3 20 lbs sugar
Week 4 8 cans tomato soup
Week 5 50 lbs wheat
Week 6 6 lbs macaroni
Week 7 20 lbs sugar
Week 8 8 cans tuna
Week 9 61 lbs yeast
Week 10 50 lbs wheat
Week 11 8 cans tomato soup
Week 12 20 lbs sugar
Week 13 10 lbs powdered sugar
Week 14 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 15 50 lbs wheat
Week 16 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 17 1 bottle 500 multivitamins
Week 18 10 lbs powdered milk
Week 19 5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 20 50 lbs wheat
Week 21 8 cans tomato soup
Week 22 20 lbs sugar
Week 23 8 cans tuna
Week 24 6 lbs shortening
Week 25 5 lbs honey
Week 26 50 lbs wheat
Week 27 10 lbs powdered milk
Week 28 20 lbs sugar
Week 29 5 lbs peanut butter
Week 30 50 lbs wheat
Week 31 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 32 10 lbs powdered milk
Week 33 1 bottle 500 asprin or tylenol
Week 34 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 35 50 lbs of wheat
Week 36 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 37 6 lbs of salt
Week 38 20 lbs sugar
Week 39 8 cans tomato soup
Week 40 50 lbs wheat
Week 41 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 42 20 lbs sugar
Week 43 1 bottle 500 multivitamins
Week 44 8 cans tuna
Week 45 50 lbs wheat
Week 46 6 lbs macaroni
Week 47 20 lbs sugar
Week 48 5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 49 5 lbs of honey
Week 50 20 lbs sugar
Week 51 8 cans tomato soup
Week 52 50 lbs wheat

I know thats a really long list, but it has helped me a ton. You don't even have to do it in order, right now if I see that sugar is a really good deal, I will buy 40 lbs, and just cross to sugar weeks off my list. What I also started doing last month is collecting non food items. I just buy one item a month, last month I bought an extra container of laundry detergent, and this month i bought shampoo and conditioner. The cost of it all usually ends up around $10 a week, which adds up fast, but if you can budget for it, then its totally worth it, and it's really comforting to know you can feed your family even if you are out of a job, or a natural disaster happens, or suddenly money has no worth, and a can of tuna fish is a $100..sounds kind of stupid but its happening in other countries right now. Anyway enough preaching about food storage (for now) ;)

cute lex video

2009-04-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Update on the packards

2009-03-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Pictures-Lexi let me paint her toe nails, and she was fascinated by it, Lexi and Daniel playing in the crib, Lexi's evil face, and Lexi hiding under the desk reading.

This week has been kind of busy. On Monday we went and looked at our first pick of houses, but we didn't find any we were to overly impressed with. We did round two on Thursday, and found a 3 bed 2 bath in Sugar City that was small, but really cute. We wanted to see it again on Friday morning, and then make an offer on it, but later that day our realtor called and told us that just hours before the house received an accepted offer! The house had been on the market for over 6 months...what are the odds! Needless to say there was quite a few tears (mostly from Justin..jk) but I finally came to the realization that the house was meant for another family. So yesterday at the insistence of Justin, we went to see a small manufactured home on three acres with the idea that we would live in that house until we could sub divide the land, and build a house of our own. I was really not interested in a manufactured home...no offense but they just feel like a trailer to me. Anyway, we went and looked at it and of course...no thanks. Then our realtor suggested we take another look at one of the houses that we checked out on our first day of house looking. So we went back with an open mind and realized that the house really has a lot of potential. With a few updates the house can be worth quite a bit more when we want to sell it in 6-8 years. Anyway, it has only been on the market for 2 weeks, so we are going to put an offer on it on Monday (if it doesn't get sold before then) and if we don't get the house, then we will consider building. If we build we will have to live in a much smaller place, but it will be new at least. The house we want to make an offer on is 5 bed and 2 bath, so we would have plenty of room to grow, and its actually only about a mile from where we are now. So wish us luck on the offer! As for other events we have just kept really busy with gym stuff, which is always fun, and also Justin's parents are moving back to Rigby this summer! It will be fun having them close again, Lexi misses her grandma. As for miss Lexi she is growing up so fast and she is soo cute. She has a strange obsession with toilet paper. I can't keep her away from it! She likes to rip it in tiny peices, and then eat it, it's so weird. The other day at the gym, I got to take care of one of our coach's babies for about an hour, and she is 3 months old, so her and lexi are about 10 1/2 months apart. Lexi loved her, and she wasn't jealous at all, which was good, hopefully she maintains that mentality when we have baby number 2! (not announcing anything, just saying) Anyway, that's what is new with us.

House Hunting

2009-03-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

So we have been married for three and a half years, and I always thought when the time came to look for a house, that it would be fun and exciting...wrong. It's stressful and discouraging. Don't get me wrong, when we find the right house, I know I will be very excited, but right now it's stressful. We got pre approved for a loan last week, and we had our first trip with our realtor this morning. It was frustrating how different the houses looked in real life rather then the pictures on line. Most of the houses in our price range are either small and new, or old and big....and I can't decided which is better. We looked at a couple of older homes that have some real potential, but I was getting a head ache thinking how much work we would have to put in to make it nice. We figured out yesterday that the first house we buy we will need to stay in for around 8 years if we want to build enough equity for a down payment on a nicer home, so this has to be something I can be happy with for at least 8 years (assuming the economy gets better and we can sell for what we bought it for or more) So I guess my question is which is better a newer home with not much space and storage or an older home that needs at the least new carpet, paint, and other little remodels, but has a lot more square footage? The lazy side of me thinks it would be nice to move into a newer home, and leave it the way it is, but the more adventurous side of me thinks that maybe taking a risk on an older home would be fun. What do you think?

So Im a blog stalker

2009-03-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ya I just spent an hour reading people's blogs that are not on my friend list. Yes they were people I know or knew, but still it's kind of creepy right? I am really enjoying this blog thing, I like it better then facebook even. In fact if all my facebook "friends" had a blog, then I would get rid of facebook. Anyway, updates for the week.. Lexi has been throwing up all weekend, but of course no one believes me because as soon as Auntie Des and Uncle Jared come over she is totally fine, and is all giggly playing with Dom and Gabe, and she seriously has barely smiled all weekend. I was able to get a few running sessions in last week which is really good for me, but I need to gripe and be mean for a second. If I didn't live in Rexburg then I most likely would be running outside in the fresh air, but considering it's below freezing for over half the year, I don't really have a choice but to run on the treadmill. So this happened to me twice last week while running (and keep in mind I'm about dying of exhaustion anyway) some stinky guy gets on the treadmill right next to me when there are at least 15 free treadmills that are not next to me. Why would you do that?? Give me my space! I can hardly breathe as it is, so it's really kind of frustrating. I understand I'm at a gym, and people are going to stink, but out of the courtesy of other people I more often than not chew gum, wear deodarant (alot of it), and usually a few sprays of perfume. Why can't everyone do the same for me? Anyway, that's my pet peeve at the moment.

getting in shape

2009-03-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

So when I was in Oregon, Justin and I went on a couple of runs. The first day we were there we ran 4 miles! I was so proud of myself, and I was so sore, but it felt awesome! Running makes me feel really good. So my goal was to run fifty miles in two weeks, I figured 5 miles a day, 5 days a week. So on Monday I headed over to Worlds Gym and ran my five miles..it was rough, but it felt good. Then on Tuesday my friend that I haven't seen since before pregnancy and nursing showed up, and I had horrid cramps...I never get cramps! I ran two miles, and about died, and still hurting today...I am so bummed!!! So now I have to start all over again tomorrow. Worse things have happened I suppose, but it still kind of stinks

fun pictures

2009-03-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

These are just a couple pictures from our trip to Oregon that I thought were cute. Now that I'm back home it seems extra cold here in Rexburg. It wasn't by all means eighty degrees in Oregon or anything but it got up to about sixty, and i was wishing I would have brought my capris and flip flops.

Does anyone know how?

2009-03-07T11:27:00.001-08:00

Does anyone know how to add a private blog? I have received a couple invitations to view private blogs, but I want to add them to my friend list, and I don't know how....any ideas?

oregon

2009-03-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Justin and I got to Oregon last night for a gymnstics competition on Saturday. We suprised my sister and my neices who thought we were coming in on Friday night. So we had fun last night! My family hasn't seen Lexi walking yet, so it was fun for them to see her walking all over the place. She got a late birthday present from JD and Rebecca. A hula skirt, necklace, flower, and bikini top from Hawaii! I will have to post pictures when I get home. This morning when my mom gets home from work, Justin and I are going for a run, for two reasons. One its a clear blue sky this morning and a dry ground, which you don't usually see here this time of year, and two my mom thinks that when we come into town she needs to provide chips, cookies, candy, and panda express....which is great but I always come home home about 4 lbs heavier then when I left :) It's worth it right?

such is life

2009-02-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

Some weeks are just rougher then others. I really love my job. The gymnastics gym is so full of energy, and I feel like I have made a lot of good friends there. The trouble with actually owning the gym is that sometimes our clients don't take me seriously...Okay so Im almost 24, but I look like Im 19. I had a dad tell me last week, that there was no way I was old enough to be a mom....hmm. Anyway so today I wasn't scheduled to work, but I had a meeting with a parent and one of our coaches to work out a misunderstanding...which is always fun, but right after the meeting I was out in the waiting area, and this mom comes up and she's like um can I speak to someone in charge? So I wasn't wearing my mgc shirt or anything, but I was like oh I can help you, I don't know where the manager is...anyway so this mom proceeds to tell me that she has dropped her neice off with her daughter to do a free trial class, I asked if her neices mom had signed a liability waiver. Of course the answer was no. I mean who needs a waiver right? Who cares if her neice brakes her back and sues the gym for a billion dollars..no big deal. Anyway, she argued with me for a few more seconds, then walked away, and then came back and proceeded to guilt me by saying "you mean to tell me you are going to make my neice sit here in the waiting area just watching all the other kids do gymnastics? you have got to be kidding me!" No I was not kidding gyms have been put out of business in a matter of seconds because there was no liability waiver signed. Wow, so then she goes and grabs her neice and storms out to her car. People are so nice and understanding.

sunshine

2009-02-20T15:00:00.000-08:00

There is something about a beautiful day that can bring people's spirits up. Yesterday was the worst day that I have had in a long time. Justin and I got in an argument, and I was wrong, so that made it even worse, so we weren't speaking to each other, and he took the car with lexi's car seat in it, so I had to call me sister in law to give us a ride to work holding lexi on my lap, and then I had a run in with one of our coaches, who I do like, but we had a disagreement, and I was frustrated because we could not see eye to eye. Then Justin didn't come home until almost 11, and we argued some more and I also ate a cupcake *see previous post. Needless to say, all was solved by 2 o clock this morning, and today has been wonderful so far. It's Lexi's first birthday today, so we have just been chilling, and then we will have a party for her tomorrow night at the gym with friends and family. The sun today has been wonderful, and I am so ready for summer to be here. I don't really like the heat but I have felt a little caged in this winter, and I can hardly wait to walk around bare foot for three months. Oh the ups and downs of life...

My new resolution

2009-02-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

I am really starting to realize just how much sugar I eat. I love candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, I wonder how much healthier I would be if I didn't like those things so much. So anyway, Im starting tomorrow to cut all added sugars out of my diet. This is going to be so hard for me, I have no self control when it comes to yummy foods...I NEVER say no. So Im starting out slow, and my goal is to do it for one week. So from 2/16 to 2/22, no added sugar. As a reward, I am going to buy myself three tanning sessions. No big deal right?

so im new at this

2009-02-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

So much pressure to get a blog! This could be fun though, I hope its a good way to keep in touch with family and such. It's late, and I just finished making the ward relief society directory, which took around 9 hours. Thank you Justin for figuring out a template (six hours later:) Anyway, I will definitly be keeping in touch!