If I forget.....slap me!!!!

dear sara,

remember to:

*look at your calendar~you are a forgetful person

*take time for yourself

*wash behind your daughter's ears

*not step in the wet,.......very wet, unlandscaped dirt with slip on shoes

*buy gas when you're not in a hurry

*thank everyone who does kind things for you

*........especially family

*think of easter~ish activities more then a week before easter

*not stay up too late~you're not a morning person

*quit packing so much into your life~you're gonna miss out

*oh yes, get an 'a' out of stats the first time around~yes i got an 'a' :)

Guess who's excited....

....for SUMMER!!!!!!!!! Brynlee! And the rest of our little family. We seriously can hardly stand it any longer. I have a list of about 50 things that are summer- only kind of activities. I can't wait! I bought this swim suit for Brynlee not because it is cute (because really it isn't exactly all that cute), but because she is in love with Dora and I knew how happy she would be to just see it and try it on. She was thrilled. You should have seen how much she giggled and smiled while I was putting it on. I'm just glad it made her happy (and it was only about $5). I'll probably find 1 more swimsuit that is more eyepleasing for me, but chances are she will want to wear this one every time. Oh well, whadya do? I will post more on what we've been up to later. Luvs!!

Yes, he ran into a wall........

When we were in San Fran in January my Mom called in a panic. She said "something's happened to Rusty". Automatically I thougth hit by a car, stepped on by a great dane...etc. Well, not exactly. Rusty had been chasing birds in the front yard. My Mom called him to the back yard and he was cruising. He ran so fast that I guess he did not see the spout sticking off of the brick on the house. BAM and he has a gash the size of a quarter on his shoulder. My Mom was so good to baby him and wash his wound and bandage him up for a few days for us. He is so funny. With those bandages wrapped around him he acted so pathetic. Obviously he knew that he looked like an invalid wiener dog. {The pic below is not for the faint of heart} I am happy to report that the wound is barely visible now. The Roo is back to himself.

This is sooo cute. Brynlee takes the Daddy doll and baby doll and carrys them around everywhere. They give each other kisses, play in the doll house, ride on her car, and pretty much everything else you can think of.

She LOVES her Daddy!!!!

And can you guess where I always find the mommy doll?

{Dramatic pause....and gasp}

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I still don't quite know what to think of this.......

In LOVE with Grandma!!!

Bryn loves her grandmas so so much! You can see how excited she gets when she sees them. I also love them too! They are so special to us!!!

At Grandma Scott's

She get's to see her at least 3 times a week for 3-4 hours while I'm at work. Not sure for how long, but for right now that is our schedule. Grandma Scott has taught her so many fun things. Just today she taught Brynlee how to put her hand up to her nose and say Ah Choo! It's darling. Someday Brynlee will be Grandma's little quilting protege. Grandma S is so excited!!

Here she is with cousin Eliza. Grandma and Grandpa S wanted everyone sitting around the table and so got a couple of highchairs. The girls love being a part of the family dinner table.

{December 2010}

Brynlee's favorite corner at grandma and grandpa's is behind the couch in this corner with a special little cupboard of toys. She makes her way down there almost immediately to play with all the toys and sometimes finds special suprises (in the way of toys)! She LOVES it!! This cupboard was used by Kari and I growing up and was made by our Grandpa Robbins. It's fun to see it getting use through the generations.

{December 2010}

At Grandma Bates'


Brynlee also loves her Grandma Bates. Grandma Bates lives pretty much next door. Who wouldn't want to live next door to Grandma? Whenever we go to her house she immediately points towards the garage and waves goodbye to us. This is because she knows that grandma will spoil her with goody's which usually include a shake from Mcdonalds.

{October 2010}

Brynlee also likes to go to Grandma Bates' to see Uncle Casey, and to feed the fish. So much to do...so little time!

Brynlee can also almost always count on getting her picture taken by her Grandma Bates. For some reason she is a good little poser and smiler with Grandma B, but not usually with us. You can see who she favors :) And Grandma Bates is an awesome picture taker. Maybe someday Brynlee will learn some of her picture taking skills too!

{October 2010}

I am so grateful for each of Brynlee's grandparents! We love them so much!!!!!

Our HUGE blessing that stands about two feet high.

Brynlee Mae...what more can I say. We are totally in love with this girl. Everything about her!!! This is such a fun age. She is so fun to watch and play. She just loves to be with us and we love to be with her. She is learning so much and we are totally in awe. She is seriously such a sweetheart and I feel so blessed!

November 2010. This is at the kiddy place in the Newgate Mall. Brynlee LOVES it! She mostly stands around watching the other kids play, and then plays a little.

I think this is on the same day...just chillin while Mom and Dad attempt to do some Christmas shopping....

This one is a tid bit blurry, but it kinda shows how she is immitating everything we do!!! I mean everything. We yell at the dog...so does she. We fold our arms to pray...so does she. I put a sticker on my forhead...so does she. She is so impressionable!!!

And this is how she decides to wear headbands. It's so cute watching her put them on her head and then walking around thinking she looks beautiful. She does no matter what!!

Brynlee and baby Zach

Brynlee and Uncle Elmo. Ashley and Brock bought this shirt for Casey and she LOVES it!!!!

This is what she looks like most mornings when she's eating breakfast. She always wants to wear any coat "coe" and has to have her blankie "Beebee" by her side.

ps...if you're wondering why I never dress my child in anything besides jammies and never do her hair. Well, this girl has a little mind of her own. She loves certain outfits and anything comfortable. I have done her hair in piggies several times, but pretty sure she just pulls them out within 10 minutes...

Hold those you love close!

It truly amazes me at the amount of faith that people have. Their faith strengthens my faith. I stumbled across this blog a few days ago. It is so hard to see the struggles this little family is facing from recently losing their little girl in a drowning accident. But then I see how strong they are in their testimonies and I am inspired and strengthened by them. I think you will be too.


http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2010/07/blessings.html

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2010/10/pay-it-foward.html

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2010/09/answers.html




I can't help but literally sob, thinking about what this young couple is going through. It makes me realize: that no matter what our Heavenly Father loves us and is there...especially during the tough times, that this life is precious...we should not take one day for granted, and that those around us are precious. Hold to them, hug and kiss them...and tell them that you love them!!!!

The Bag Lady

I really should be posting about Thanksgiving...and Halloween...and everything else in between. However, this seemed more fun at the moment.


Well, we have a little bag lady in our house who collects everything she can find or that she likes into her miniature shopping cart and baby carriage. As you can see here it becomes quite the collection.

We do not help her arrange any of it. She squeezes it all in like a puzzle and then pushes it up and down the hallway...looking for quarters I suppose...or maybe some pigeons to feed.

Other items we have found in their...garbage, dog food, ritz crackers, baby medicine, Mom's toothbrush, a computer mouse, remote controler, keys....all treasures to little Miss Brynlee.

Wow! You should be just as amazed as I!

First of all I am impressed with Digis.

My pictures are loading so much faster.

It might just be a joy to blog more often.

Second of all I am impressed with my Mom.

She always comes up with the most creative ideas.

If you have never looked at her blog...you should here.

This is where you will see the cutest growth chart ever.

She is caring on what my Grandma Robbins always did each year.

Pencil notches is what marked the spot on her door frame.

Man, I wish I had a picture of that.

All in favor of my Mom selling her stuff...say I.

I think she would do so well!!

(Thanks Mom for letting me borrow your blog tonight for a quick post. I love you!)

A House Becomes a Home

Has it been 4 months since my last real post. Yes! I think that time just gets away from you in the summer kinda like a dream, and then reality hits and it's dreaded winter again. To say that the last 4 months have been busy would be an understatement...more like a whirlwind, but it's over now :)

I think she looks like Tyler in this one...except with asian eyes and such.

A little more about Brynlee....

She is now 16 months old. Wow! She is such a joy to be around and I love her with all my heart! She impresses us each and every day with how quick she is catching on and learning things. She immitates us like crazy, so we are making sure to watch what we are saying and doing...because we now have a little shadow. She is very good at making the sounds of each animal and pointing to her body parts. She loves to help me clean and of course loves little songs and books. She has discovered the television. This is good for when I am needing a minute to do the dishes or fix my hair, but try to turn it off and she will tell you what she thinks. I think that she could become an addict of television if we allowed it.

She is a very social baby. For example, it was just me and her in church yesterday (Ty was sick)...we sat in the gym because of a farewell and she probably sat on 5 different strangers laps, brought back licorice, and toys of all sorts and flirted with anyone who would lay eyes on her. Oh, and then at one point I had her by the skirt, ya know the stretchy part. Oh did she think that was something to giggle at...well, somehow she got away and sprung forward into the collapsible wall thing. She laughed and unfortunatley so did everyone else...I really could've used Ty's firmness this Sunday. Oh well, I guess it was entertaining for all those around us.

And I could go on and on...hopefully I will be now updating this a little more, so if you care, I will be divulging more on our sweetheart.

A little more about Tyler...

*So happy to have his hot rod down here...to just look at for now until he has the space to work on it.
*Hates school from the bottom of his heart!! Just 2 more 1/2 time semesters...You can do it!!!!
*Is oober proud of being the only one in society to not be on Facebook.

A little more about Sara...

*Is suddenly much more aware of all of the crap that is in our food (high fructcose corn syrup, preservatives...etc.)
*Loves life, but would like it to slow down.
*Makes dang good zucchini bread...mmmm!!

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This was taken probably 4 months ago while Brynlee was helping us work on the house... Notice the circled area on the bucket.


Does this qualify me for Mom of the year? I think not.
We did manage to make a little fun for ourselves this summer. The funnest part was watching our little baby become a toddler. She is a walking diva now!! We also of course ate ourselves silly with hamburgers and hotdogs and swam a bit, well 2 or 3 times (which is miniscual - considering there is now a pool basically in our front yard) and thanks to the Butler's made it to one out-of-town sort of trip to Bear Lake.
(Butler's, Hodson's, Allred's....Rodriguez's came too, but had to leave early)

We spent the summer months mostly finishing our home in the 105 degree heat. Yah, that was fun and all, but I am happy that we are now just sitting here on a Monday night relaxing together as a family. THANKYOU to all of our wonderful family and friends who spent a lot of tiresome hours helping. We hope to someday be able to return the favor somehow.

These are pictures before we moved in all of the furniture. I will at some point decorate...and then put up some more pictures. My favorite rooms ended up being Brynlee's striped yellow room. Notice in the picture it still needs Chair rail around it....yep, still haven't done that. It is on our checklist of about 100 different things. That is not an exaggeration either. I also love how the kitchenn turned out ...oh, and the dark brown wall. I was a little scared for that, but am now loving it. BUT I'm not so much looking forward to the day when dark brown is out of style and we have to paint over it.

And that is all for now. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth writing on a blog. I had a good friend get rid of hers and so it kinda tempted me ( I won't mention any names, but her name starts with a K and ends with an ATIE.) It does seems like a lot of work and just one more to-do, but for now here it stays.

Sara Scott, Sara Hodson, Ogden, Utah

If you like Hip-Hop...

I started writing a blog, but now I am way too tired to finish...so tomorrow...or Sunday...it will happen.

In the meantime I found this amusing. Maybe you have already seen this...and maybe not. And I hate to admit it, but I really do love hip hop music...and Justin Timberlake. So prepare yourself for the Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake--History of Rap:



xoxo Sara

...and then we ATE ELMO...

Sunday was Brynlee's birthday. Can you believe she is already a year old? I sure am having a hard time believing. I think that this past year went super fast...which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. She is our little sweetheart and we couldn't be more thankful for such a good girl!

We ended up celebrating her birthday on Monday, because of the Monsoon that we had on Sunday. We really wanted to have it outside since we were grilling kabobs. Plus, that is how I had it planned out in my head. It turned out really nice! Thanks to our family for coming and for being so nice to spoil Brynlee with gifts. She now has a different outfit to wear for each day this summer, and lots of fun toys to play with!

A nice Monday evening....very different from the night before!

These were pretty fun to make. Luckily Tyler's Mom had a bear mold that I used which made them a ton easier.

Dig in!

Want some????

Mmmmm.....Cake....



It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!....We pretty much reached her happiness limit by the end of the evening.

On Monday Brynlee also had her 1 year check up. She is 18.8 lbs, and 28.5 inches long, so we will be holding off on the front facing car seat for a little bit. Too bad for her because I'm pretty sure she would love it so much better. She also got her MMR, Hepatits, and Chicken pox shots, but no fever this time :) . I asked the doctor about her little tantrums when changing her diaper and she told me to just ignore her...and to make sure to emphasize the good things she does when she does them. You catch more bees with honey.

So, we are still not in our house like we had planned. Things are taking a little longer then we had expected. Hopefully within the next 3 or 4 weeks...hopefully.

Checklist:

_Soffit/Facia/Raingutters

_Garage floors

_Driveway (We're doing)

_Landscaping (We're doing)

_Taping on sheetrock

_Cabinets

_Painting (We're doing)

_Tile (We're doing...maybe)

_Carpet

_Finish work...moldings etc. (We're doing)

_And about 100 other little things (We're doing)

Do you think we can do this in 4 weeks??? We will see....

Here's a couple of pictures of the amazing brickwork! Tyler loved Augie Romero's work and his bid was right around everyone else's.

Take time to slow down!

Even if you are not religious I think that THIS is an article that can be appreciated.

President Hinckley recalled that his father “never ceased growing” because he made time for “thinking, meditating, and pondering.”

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin observed how easily we fill our lives with “appointments, meetings, and tasks” and then act frightened at the prospect of some quiet time. Why would that be? He feared that we might “feel that the busier we are, the more important we are—as though our busyness defines our worth.” On another occasion, he reminded us that “being busy is not necessarily being spiritual”—for in fact, noise and busyness can actually crowd out the still, small voice of the Spirit.

“When we put God first,” President Ezra Taft Benson promised, “all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.” This is one reason President Spencer W. Kimball could say that “we will move faster if we hurry less.” Undistracted by other gods, we trust the Lord to help us allocate our time and talent to their very best uses each day. As a result, we do more good and we make real progress.

Life is SO busy! Sometimes it is so busy that we forget to appreciate and enjoy life. I am a partial failure at taking time to slow down. I want to work on this more and really enjoy everything that I am blessed with.

On Studio 5 this morning...(yes I watched studio 5 this morning)...they gave a summer parenting challenge part of that challenge included letting go of rigid expectations.

"Basically I am giving parents an excuse to relax; to have fun and enjoy their kids. I am allowing parents to "play hooky" from their regular schedule for 3 months, then to assess the aura in their home. Children who come from homes like this are happy. They have fewer illnesses.They are successful in school, successful in careers, and successful in relationships."

So, here's to a fun summer of 2010...They started on the insulation and sheetrock this morning, so hopefully we will be moving in within a few weeks :). Then we can relax and enjoy some fun times as a family.

ps This is more for my own benefit...I hope I'm not sounding preachy.

really?!?!

three things:

...this is a tag stuck to my straightner

...that i just barely noticed

...but luckily i didn't try to staighten my eyelashes with my straightner

...this is a monitor

...which we wish we would have bought about 11 months ago

...because it has been so nice to go over to our house and work with ty without having to check on little miss every 10 minutes

...this is a website

...that my coworker showed me

...to make brynlee's baby book because i am just now getting around to that...check it out...it's awesome

THE END

Untitled

I really mean to update this more often, but it doesn't so much happen. Probably because when Brynlee is asleep I have a list that's pretty deep of stuff that kinda takes the cake as far as being more important. Also, I lost my camera, then I found it, then I lost it again, and then found it again..........But this is what's been going on:

* Brynlee loves her baby cousin Eliza...well all babies really, but especially Eliza.

*Ok, the Rodriguez's are awesome!!!!! They had a Cinco de Mayo party complete with mexican cuisine, a pinata, and good company. I decided to try something different...so I made faux fried ice cream. I think it turned out pretty good....here is the recipe.

* One plus about living out here is you can burn stuff. We burned some old plywood the other night and then made hobo dinners....yummy!!!! I definitley recommend these more often then just when you go camping.

* I got a little crafty for Mother's day. Here's what I came up with. My coworker actually showed me these probably about a year ago, but I didn't really get around to making them till now. Mother's day was wonderful!!!!! Ty spoiled me with flowers and breakfast (not in bed because Brynlee is usually our alarm clock on Sunday's). Then we went and ate lunch at Ty's Uncle Terry's and Dinner at my Momma's.

* The Big Bang Theory.....Get it....watch it....LOVE it!...on NETFLIX

* 6 years = the amount of time Ty have been legally and lawfully married....and eternally. I LOVE him mucho mas and it seriously just keeps getting better and better. I am loving growing old with him!!!!

* Remember this post. Well, I haven't really been more committed to my first goal, so until I have made a valiant effort toward this, then I can't move onto other goals. I have tried...but not to my liking. Here's a picture of Brynlee and cousin Eliza getting ready to go on one of the probably 2 runs that I've been on.

*She's such a joy!!!

* Hey, aren't these cute. Well, as of a couple months ago I'm the personal progress go-to person in our YW's. I had the girls decide what goal they wanted to work on this month and then make a button ring to coincide with the value color. You can find the demo here. We have personal progress once a month here, which compared to my last ward is a lot. So I want to be creative and make it exciting for the girls. Well, needless to say, that's not so easy to do. So if you all have any suggestions or ideas I am more then open :)

* Sometimes she thinks I'm a little wierd.

* My dad = the newest bishop of the South Ogden 6th ward (as of 2 weeks ago). Congratulations Dad. We love you!! See you in 5 or 6 years.