Karate-CHOP!

HA! I came across this hilarious site and thought I would share the translations for each of our "Ninja Names."

They are quite interesting:

Grandpa {Dirt} = Tekischichi
Grandma {Angel} = Katojikuta

Brittany = Zushikichichikato
Sara = Arikashika

Nick = Tokimime
Juli = Zudotaki
Annalie = Katotokatakiku
Brooklyn = Zushimomometafuto

Chris = Mirishikiari
Hannah = Rikatotokari

Doesn't it just make you want to say "hiiiii-YA!"?

Hope you all are having a wonderful week. Love you!!

SMILE, it improves your face value. :D

Grandma Angel is Loved

We hope today is fabulous!! We miss you and wish we could be there to celebrate with you. Hope this little video lets you know that we are thinking of you today!

P.S. Watch the entire video. It's totally worth it!

HAPPY BIRTTHDAY GRANDMA ANGEL,

LOVE,

ANNALIE

No one's Posted in FOREVER

Our family blog was feeling a little left out. Especially since I have been adding extra pictures to my personal blog, so I thought I would try and even things up a little bit, by spreading the love around.

I thought since we are rapidly {and excitedly} approaching Nick's return from D.C., that now would be a perfect time to share pictures of the last play-day we got to have with him before he left. (I have been saving these for just such an occasion for 2 months now!)

We were lucky enough to have a little rain that day and Nick taught Annalie how to "dance in the rain." They loved it.





Funny how silly little things can leave footprints on our hearts and in our memories. :)


We are so looking forward to have Daddy back at home so that we can make more "footprints" together.

Thank you all for being so supportive over the past few months. Nick and I have grown a lot and learned a lot and we are excited to see what this next phase of life brings our way.

Love you all!! And remember, don't waste a minute! Take some time today and create happy "footprints" of your own! :)

~ Juli

Loved A LOT!

Last weekend I got a phone call saying to watch for a package coming in the mail. Grandma said she and Sara got "something little for the girls."

This is what it was:





BUILD-A-BEAR!!!


Brooklyn napped with her puppy today. And danced with it.


Annalie's frog's clothes have been changed I can't even count how many times.



Thanks for the package, Grandma. We hope you got our message on your phone and thought you and Sara would enjoy the pictures.

Love you!!

NEW ROOMIES :)

Hey Family! Its been a while since anyone has blogged much but thanks Juli! :) I just wanted to share with you some pictures of my new roommates. They are so much fun and I really lucked out again! Hope all is doing well with yall! You are the best I am so lucky to have you as family! I miss you all like crazy! Luv you all sooooo much!
-Sara :)

Randomness, k?

I read a quote tonight that really just hit home for me.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

Bet you can't guess who said it....Dr. Seuss. Smart guy.

Yup, it's true. We have a lot of random things going on at our house. Most of them coming from the three year old. But they are highly entertaining and I have to share.

Like today when she says to me, "Momma, why are train tracks NOT pink?"

She comes up with the BEST one-liners! I wish I could see inside her head for just a little while. I guess every mom feels that way at times.

So, on with the randomness! I saw the goofiest thing a while back and have seen it several times since then. Check this craziness out:


...so, does this mean that if I post something on my car that says,

"Not responsible for any damage due to distracting children in the backseat"

that I don't have to pay for any accident that occurs as a result of my children screaming, or fighting, or being so darn cute that I miss something in traffic and end up in a fender bender?

I also saw a bumper sticker today that said this, "I kiss my dog on the lips." (Yes, Chris I thought of you) but it gets better...it was followed by another sticker that read, "Dogs deserve better." I am still mulling that one over.

Well, on a more serious note...we are doing pretty good. Trying to avoid the heat, the roaches and making sure Brooklyn's neck is still healing nicely is keeping me pretty busy. (Did I mention before that I have a highly entertaining three-year-old as well?) Right! She adds to our adventurous life by "cleaning the toilet" with toilet paper wet down with toilet water, washing her hair in the sink with her toothbrush, frequently changing her clothes and forgetting to put a new outfit back on and, of course, telling us stories that I wish I had on tape.

I hope you all are doing well. I will do better at keeping you all "in the know" with what's going on by blogging more faithfully. Sorry about the ridiculously long lapse in typing skills.

I'll just finish with this, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." -Judy Garland

P.S. Beware of future quotage. Mom gave me some books that got me started and I have been reading and studying like crazy since then. Did you know there are some pretty amazing things said about women?? Just thought you would all want to know, so I will be sharing lots more to come!

P.P.S. Mom, the books were awesome and really did help lift me up and clear the air for me. Funny how a little pick-me-up can go such a long way. Thank you.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Silly Little Annalie

Annalie has been having a hard time sleeping at night. She is really restless and talks a lot. Here are a few of her latest little nighttime sayings.

"There's no more corn and I'm still hungry!"

"But I want to go for a ride with Grandma!"

Smile. Have a good day (or a good night)!

Glorious Adventures in Rexburg :)

These are my new roomies minus one! From left to right: Me, Alisha, Natalie, Kali and Mary Anne.

I love my new roomies :) This one has my actual room roomie in it! (Kaity far left) This was at our ward opening social.

Experimenting with science! OHHH YEAH!

Ya know the country song "Big Green Tractor" ???

.... Well i found me one :) Love that song!

Valentines Day :)

Our lovely decor!

Ebelskivers

Using Moms pan she gave me!

Having fun experimenting with flipping techniques!

Mmmmmm... one word, DELICIOUS! :) enough said!

DEAREST FAMILY WHOM I LOVE SO MUCH-
I dont know what my problem is but i can never get this part to go to the top, so I will just start it here:) HELLOOOOOOOOO!!! I Miss you all so much! This semester has been great. Hard with my nursing classes and all but still great! Besides studying and doing homework, we find lots of fun things to do in this Frozen Tundra, as you can see! :) We have done lots more stuff too but I would fill up this whole thing and that would not be good! (sorry there is so many pictures but I had a hard time choosing) I hope you all are having a fabulous week and working hard! Keep it up! Remember who you are and that I love you!
-Coolest Sister Ever ;)

Not that Much

Sorry to report that there isn't all that much going on here in the desert.

We DID get some rain over the weekend, but other than that, it's been pretty laid back around here.

That's probably since we've all been laying around for the past week or so.

Last weekend (after taking care of a tender-tummied Annalie for a week or so) Brooklyn and Momma came down with some nasty cold virus. Apparently it's going around. Here are my girls eating a bland breakfast one morning as we were taking it easy for Annalie's little tummy. Don't you love that they are glued to Curious George?


Just as Momma and Brooklyn started to get over the cold virus, Daddy and Annalie came down with it. So sad. Aren't the chapped cheeks on Annalie so sad? That's from the tears running down her face after coughing fits. :(


On the bright side, Brooklyn has discovered Elmo "MoMo" as she calls him.


She has also started saying "where are you?" but it comes out "weh-o-you" (SO CUTE). She has been having trouble sleeping and I think we have tried EVERYTHING (including the infant swing, which she likes, but doesn't help her sleep).


Oh well. Like I said, not too much going on. Just one last picture for you all:


it made me think of Dakota (who Annalie asked me about the other day. She told me that he was better because Heavenly Father fixed him. And she told me she will go to Heavenly Father's house sometime to play with him.)

I don't know when I'll get to post pictures again. Hopefully all my sub stuff will get worked out and then we can go get a new camera. Until then...Love you all!

Happy Valentine's Weekend

Hey Family,

Happy Valentine's Weekend! Last week was pretty crazy for both Hannah and I. Hannah has been teaching PE at a local school for her class and also we've been practicing her cool new teaching skills with our primary class. So far their favorite game is probably when we 'go on a bear hunt.' It is fun to listen to all the neat ideas and skills that teachers learn to teach and control a classroom of kids.

I have been swamped as usual with pharmacy school. This last unit we studied hormone replacement drugs including oral contraceptives as well as dosage forms, such as oral, IV, IM, SubQ, and liquid preparations. I was sort of surprised how much there is to know about each dosage form. You see a pill and think "Wow, thats easy" but there is a lot behind it that you don't see. Anyway, both of us are doing great and enjoyed a nice Valentine's dinner date at a Korean restaurant that we went to when we first started dating. It was fun. Tomorrow is the real day and I have a fun surprise for Hannah. Ha ha, i guess you will have to check in next week to see what it is.

Love ya'll!

From Annalie

feryf7twi4r7475486586irriefoirfhrukghriutgy4tgigu9t5ut878537695768rutitrgirguytoyutiuyityuhiytyytutu8tutuutr
ugufyuutyutuyuuuu yytituuiytiuiyti8u yhiuit6iytijyhoyokuyiouiuiyutiuyyhiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

She says, "I love Annalie, so I decided to do something. I love you so much. And I love you when you're smiley and care-beary. Bye!"

"I love you when you're happy. I love you when you're Ariel. I love when you play with the other pokey thing with me, Bye!"

"I love Annalie, I love you best. I remind you and I love you, but I really don't like when your sister says 'no Sara' but I like when she says 'Brittany' I love you and I miss you, Bye."

These are direct quotes from her. She told me that she was reading what she typed.


Isn't she lovely??

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Did you miss us? I know, I know, I have been such a slacker!!!

So, I am hoping to share a few of our silly moments from the past month or so and let you know what we've been up to since we saw you all last.

Annalie has discovered that she can make "silly eyes" and she likes to make them often since they make us all laugh.


Brooklyn finds joy in playing with lids of all kinds. This one was especially fun since you can see through it.


Annalie learned how to ride her bike. Don't you love the kissy face??


My girls have become pretty joined-at-the-hip. Brooklyn adores her big sister and wants to do everything that she does.


We also love reading books at our house. We have been studying the articles of faith as part of our family home evening lessons. Annalie even surprised us when she recited the first article of faith almost two weeks after we talked about it, nearly word-for-word. We are so proud of her.


We raked up all the leaves that have finally fallen off the trees here. It made quite the pile. Brooklyn didn't like them so much (which the occupational therapist thinks is a sensory "issue" —I'm not sure that's the right word for it— as a result of her stroke) ...


...but little miss Annalie just couldn't get enough of them. She even made a leaf angel for us!


It has been horribly cold here recently. I know, it doesn't get cold in Arizona, right? But I would say daytime highs of 35 degrees is cold pretty much anywhere. We even had a pipe burst to our sprinkler line in the backyard and ICE at the temple. Can you see it behind little Brooklyn? Not as cold as Rexburg, but cold just the same. (Jealous Sara? We love you and are sending warm thoughts your way.)


To try and combat (or celebrate) the cold, we decided to build snowmen. Here are my girls looking lovingly into each other's eyes as they waited anxiously for momma to bust out the snow.


I thought it was funny, but Brooklyn actually didn't mind playing in the sticky stuff.


Annalie on the other hand, didn't enjoy it so much.


They were both pretty happy about the snowman family we made though.


Don't they look so accomplished as they worked on them? It was a fun afternoon.


Sara, Brooklyn is your little twin, let me tell you. She loves shoes and any other accessory but especially hats. She will put them on and leave them there the rest of the day. She gets mad when we take them away. We thought she looked like you before, but wow...the more her personality comes out, the more she reminds us of you.


And last but not least, little Annalie has had some really goofy stomach bug off and on the past few days and to help brighten her up and make her feel better, we painted RAINBOW TOES! She picked the colors and loves them.


We hope you all are doing well and will try to be better about keeping in touch. We love and miss you all.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

First of all, sorry about not posting as much as I should-life is SO crazy right now. I am trying to keep up with school and my ICU rotation which is pretty intense this semester. The girls at my apartment decided to take a break Monday and we celebrated Martin Luther King day by going to Zupas. I've never been but it was delicious! Just that they give you a chocolate dipped strawberry makes it one of my new favorite spots:) For FHE, we went to one of our bishopric members houses. On the way, we found a radio station that was playing Martin Luther Kings speeches. Overall, it was a great Holiday-HAPPY Martin Luther King Day everybody!

Back in Rexburg

Using the cookie cutters!

Apparently snicker doodle dough and sugar cookie dough are not the same! haha but look at the top you can see my name :)

I told Dad I would put up  a picture in my nursing uniform! Thanks for the help pops!

Full Uniform Ready to go Baby! ;)

Sorry guys its been a while since last time but I am getting back into the weekly post hopefully! I am still loving rexburg but it is super cold! I miss you all like crazy and want to see you all again! For the most part i will see you guys in February (minus the desert Newmans) Hope you guys all have a great week! Once i get pictures of my new roommates I will post them so you can see who they are!
Luv ur guts
-Sara :)