YOU MADE A MATCH

Recognize this toy? Well, we go through spurts of putting it on our fridge because the kids aren't interested if it's there all the time. Plus, if left on...it makes animal noises randomly. Carter's been playing with it a lot recently.
Funny story: Chad was using the microwave and I needed to get in the fridge. They are directly across from each other with little space between. I thought: We can both fit. So I squeezed to get past him, when...Chad steps back and my butt hits the fridge farm toy and this is what we hear:

"PINK PIG." (followed by two snorts of a pig and ending with the song...) "Wow, you made a match, look what you found. You made a match. Hear a PIG sound: Snort, Snort."

Of course, all Chad needed to hear was the beginning part to start busting up considering my over sized butt hit the toy! How does that happen? Seriously, look at all the options. Any animal match could have been in there. It just happened to be left on. And you can mis-match all the animals and the toy tells you how silly you are for making a duck-sheep...or whatever. Just had to be the PIG!

Valentine Cookies

My Grandma used to always make us sugar cookies on Valentine's Day. She would ding dong ditch them to our house and tie a string to them so when we tried to reach for them she would be hiding behind bushes and pull them away. It was always something I looked forward to. Although, we don't tie the string yet...we have carried on the tradition of making the cookies.

Here they are! Alexis did most of the decorating. Those are lips and hearts. Can you tell which ones are hers? She color coordinated all her candy hearts! I must admit...they look better than the mix matched ones I did. This is the best sugar cookie recipe EVER...so SOFT! So I thought I'd share...

Sugar Cookies
1 C. Sour Cream		4 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Baking Soda		1 t. Salt
2 C. White Sugar		5-6 C. Flour
1 C. Butter
3 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
In a small bowl combine sour cream and baking soda till
fluffy. In a large bowl mix sugar, butter, eggs & vanilla.
Add sour cream mixture. Gradually mix in baking powder,
salt, & flour.		Bake: 7 min @ 350

Frosting

1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 t. Vanilla Extract
1 t. Almond Extract
3/4 t. Salt
1/2 cup Milk
32 oz. Powdered Sugar

All About Us (for you, Chad)

What’s his name? Chad

How long did you date? 1 ½ years before his mission and 9 months after.

How old is he? 28

Who eats more? He eats more for dinner. I eat more for breakfast.

Who said “I love you” first? I “think” he did. But give me credit…we were 17…and surprisingly, it happened before we kissed!

Who is taller? He is by about 3 inches.

Who sings better? He has an incredible voice. But for some reason he doesn’t like to sing by himself much. I wish he did. This is one talent that has gone under the radar. I guess his mission burned him out. And me, he says I have a decent voice when I don’t make fun of the song.

Who is smarter? It depends. Math: Chad, all the way --- Science: me

However, Chad may read this and go back to us taking the ACT in High School. He took it once and scored 6 points higher than me. And, well, I took it 7 times. (Thanks mom, I know it was worth it to get into BYU!) Plus, I had private tutoring for it that I made Chad sit through it with me in High School. That’s love. He wasn’t even taking the test again.

Who does the laundry? Me but Chad will do it if he sees it piling up and I’m a basket case!

Who does the dishes? Chad will say he does more. I might have to agree. I go through spurts of being good at keeping up.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me. Whenever we’ve moved apartments, I move so I am closest to the door to get a crying baby. That was a bad decision.

Who pays the bills? He does.

Who mows the lawn? Don’t have one.

Who fixes broken things? He does. Do crafty things count…because then that’s me.

Who cooks dinner? I do. What Chad? You wonder when? Recently, I have been much better at cooking. Benefits of having family close by…they call before I think of dinner to tell me they made too much. Chad makes an awesome homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs.

Who drives when you are together? He does. Chad says I’m a back seat driver. But all I do is put my feet on the dashboard, scream and yell… “Chad, stop brighting that person, don’t honk, don’t cut them off…(and my classic line)…I don’t want to be shot today!” Is that back seat driving?

Who is more stubborn? That might just be me! Don’t get me wrong…he puts up a good fight. I just take the cake for acting stubborn more often.

Who kissed who first? He finally kissed me after I asked him to a few times. I had never kissed a boy and my brother in law didn’t think I could hold off on Chad. He bet I would kiss him by the end of the summer (4 months dating). Chad found out about the bet and didn’t kiss me till after Christmas. That was 8 months after we started dating exclusively! He was my first kiss just before my 18^th birthday.

Who asked who out first? He did. And it was a failure. His friend wanted to go on a double date. (My friend that Chad liked wasn’t 16 yet.) So Chad asked me because I had just turned 16. We went bowling and to Dairy Queen to get ice cream. Chad picked me up at about 6pm on a Saturday night…and dropped me off about 8pm. When I walked in the door and saw the clock, I just about died. He swears to this day, my Dad told him to bring me back at a descent hour. The best part: Chad’s Mom made him come back and pick me up because she thought it was pretty ridiculous how short the date was. So Chad did just as his mom asked. He picked me up. We went to 7-eleven and picked up 3 slurpees. Who was the 3^rd one for? My friend he liked. We spent the rest of the date at her house. Oh, if only his Mom knew that then.

Who proposed? He did. He called me on my way home from a late night class when I was in Dental Hygiene School and asked if I wanted to meet him and go get Cold Stones by the beach. I invited my friends to come along while he was on the phone. Whoops! So they witnessed it. When we went to walk on the beach there was a bum selling jewelry by the pier. I kept walking with my friends. He stopped to buy something. I told my friends, “Watch…he is so going to fake propose because I keep bugging him about it!” So he walked up to me, got on his knee…and I didn’t listen…I turned around to tell my friends, “I told you!” Finally, he got my attention…and when he opened the box he got from the bum I realized he wasn’t faking it. It was the ring I wanted. The bum was a set up. One of his Aunt’s acting friends. The bum really did have the ring.

Who is more sensitive? Chad is pretty sensitive to my feelings but if you’re talking about an emotional roller coaster…that’s me.

Who has more friends? I might take this one. I stay in better contact with most of mine. Thanks to blogging. Chad says I should belong to “Blogs Anonymous” because I have an addiction.

Who has more siblings? Me. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He has 1 brother and 4 sisters.

Who wears the pants in the family? We both do. I think it’s pretty even.

I love you, Chad! I hope you read this because this is my sorry effort at a Valentine's card! I thought...what could a man want more than this...a post dedicated to him! J/K

Alexis' Prayer

If there is one thing we have down as a family...it is our bedtime routine! Around 7:30, we get the kids in their room, pajama's on, read scriptures (from the kids picture book), sing THREE songs and say family prayer. (If they act up...the number of songs we sing the next night gets reduced.) Tonight, as usual, Alexis requested to say the prayer. Her prayers each night are very consistent...no matter who says it, the following MUST be said according to Alexis...

1) Bless Grandma and Grandpa on their mission that they will be safe.
2) Bless Kelli (Chad's sister) and Andrew that they can go to the temple. (We keep telling her they already got married in the Temple...but she insists on saying it every night!)

However, tonights prayer was different.

Dear Heavenly Father,
We are shankful for our blessings. That's silly I said shankful instead of thankful. Please bless that the sky will not be gray tomorrow. Bless that it will not rain so we can go to the park. And bless that I can swim all the way across the pool so I can make swim team. We say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Amen to that! (When I originally posted I couldn't remember her swim team part! That was one of the best parts of the prayer. The gray sky thing came out of the blue and we are on the waiting list for her to begin swim team. All I said one week ago was..."Alexis, if they let us join you will have to try out and be able to swim all the way across the pool...otherwise you can't be on swim team" Guess it stuck with her!

MAD GAB

Carter cracks us up. He tries to repeat everything he hears. The other day we were trying to teach him his name. When we broke up his name he could say it pretty good. It sounds pretty dang cute…“(1)Carr-(2)turr (3)Peet.” Then when we tell him to say “Carter” he says, “Darr-durrt”. Where the heck did the “T” sound come from? Sometimes, we can’t even make anything out of it when we make him say his whole name together. Two syllables are just too hard! The best part was...that night we really grilled him on his name...someone came over about an hour later and said, "oh, Carter..." To which he replied, "PEET" (Pitt)! I guess he just couldn't resist finishing it off for them.

I know all kids go through this stage where they just can’t pronounce anything right. So I thought we could have a little fun with it. Try to figure out the words before you look at the answer key at the bottom. Carter says exactly what is written…but if you say it really fast you might be able to understand what he is saying.

Carter's MAD GAB:

1) Guuk

2) Hoo sit

3) Eee ay go

4) Hoo sat

5) Wick

6) Waat

7) Wuz sat

Chad has tons of baseball caps, wears them whenever he can and backwards most of the time. After we made Carter wear his baseball hat in the summer he went through a faze where he just wanted to wear Alexis’s soft pink hats! Oh the joys of having an older sister! Carter can be seen wearing it in the car and I’m sure people think he is a girl. But when it’s time to get him out…he knows he has to leave the pink crocheted hat behind. Recently, he decided he likes his red baseball cap again. Hallelujah! He’ll find it and scream, “Hat, hat!” And every time, without fail, he puts it on backwards. He then runs to Chad’s office to knock on the door and show him that he is just like his daddy. He wants that look of satisfaction from Chad every time he does it. If Chad isn’t in his office…Carter gets so sad. It cracks me up how serious he is about it!

1)Look 2)Who is it? 3)Diego 4)Who is that? 5)Click 6 )What? 7)What's that?

Ups and Downs

I find it truly amazing how one week everything seems to be going wrong and then the next week you feel like you couldn't be happier!

Take:1 week ago.

While we were at the River we got two phone calls. One from my brother to tell me the other Hygienist's dad had passed away Saturday. Then Sunday, one of my best friend's dad (kinda Chad's Uncle) had a massive heart attack and passed away. Both were unexpected so it was really sad. I ended up working more (filling in for the other hygienist) and watching my sister's kids so she could work...that way I could be home a little to do the laundry! I told my friend to bring her girl by so she could help make plans for her dad's funeral. Can you imagine 6 tiny little kids running around my apartment while I'm attempting to clean. It was hilarious.
I would try to sneak out to go to the laundry room which is located in the middle of our apartments...only to start loading and hear screaming ..."MA MA? MA MA? A-BER? A-BER?" Of course, I'm running back. Oh, things are fine. So I would go back to finish loading. This was me all morning.

Then, one time, when I brought the laundry in my sister's little girl Emily (3 years old) followed me into my room. She asked, "Umm, Amber...Why are all your clothes and baskets outside?" I laughed but wanted to cry because I was reminded I am doing laundry in a coin-op machine and I really wish I had my own. One that random people didn't take my clothes and especially underwear out of! URRGH!

I proceeded to run around like a crazy woman all day. So...what's next, oh dishes! I load the dishes, push the dishwasher next to my sink (blocking off all access to the kitchen) and start her up! After it's done, I'm pushing it back when...Jillonnie's little girl, Shelby (4 years old) says, "WHAT IS THAT?" I laughed but I wanted to cry because I am once again reminded I still have a portable dishwasher. (I know, I'm grateful for it because I was doing dishes by hand for a long time. Ok, fine...I didn't do them. I left them till they stunk...Chad would finally be fed up and do them himself and then he got sick of that situation and bought a portable dishwasher!) Back to my story. I explain to Shelby that it is our dishwasher. Alexis chimes in, "Yeah, we bought it from this man." To which Shelby replies, "Oh! We have a dishwasher but we didn't buy it. It came with our house!" I laughed and again wanted to cry. A house? I want a house! URRGH!

I work all day Wednesday and on this particular no good week...all the patients decided to come 15 minutes late. Hence, crabby Amber who tries to play catch up all day. I get out of work late. So I'm driving home and it starts POURING rain...the hardest it possibly could. I'm thinking. Great...I'm late out of work...there is going to be NO parking. So I park a few blocks away from my apartment and think. Umbrella? Don't have one. Cell phone to call Chad? Not charged. Guess I gotta run! So I'm running and approach our apartments and come to a skreeching hault. Unfortunately, the rain gutters are clogged and there is a waterfall pouring down right on the path I need to take to get to my door. (someone's got to report that to MANAGEMENT! J/K..I love you guys!) So I bolt threw it like any TIRED, CRABBY, FED UP person would...only to jump in a huge puddle soaking my pants, socks and shoes! Finally, when I get to the door...I stop and look back at the waterfall and laugh but I really want to cry because I'm thinking to myself, "Where do I live!" URRGH!

TAKE: THIS WEEK...

I don't even have any great stories for this week. It just ran so great. I cleaned the house. Well, most of it. Alright, part of it and it only stayed clean that day. But for some reason I'm feeling happy and cheery and everything is great. Chad is awesome and tells me to go workout at 6:30 every night. So I fix dinner, work out and come home to find he already has the kids in bed. YES, can you believe it...he did that every night this week! My kids didn't seem to get on my nerves. Maybe, because I felt like I got time for myself other than putting them to bed and playing catch up. For some reason, I'm feeling like this apartment living isn't all that bad. Work and primary are running smoothly. I don't even feel overwhelmed. (That is amazing!) Alexis and I made a ton of banana bread the other day for friends and the girls I visit teach. My VT supervisor is going to faint from that alone! I feel like cooking dinner and cleaning up and I know what your thinking...SO NOT ME! But really I feel like I'm on top of the world.

So my question is: Is it so normal to have these kind of weeks back to back or am I bipolar?

River Check

With my parents on their mission in Australia, someone needs to check on the river house once a month. The holidays got crazy so Chad and I took a quick two day trip out there this last weekend. It was so worth the drive! Our friends, the West's, came along and we enjoyed playing games and relaxing!

Always beautiful sunsets...on the dock of my parent home.

Carter and Mia

Britni is awesome...she got the kids cleaning!

Owen, Britni and Mia West
We met the West family when Chad was in school at BYU. We were so excited when they got a job offer down here and made the move. We didn't come till a year later...but we were hoping we would make it back! Chad and Owen love playing strategy board games and Brit and I could have fun doing anything together.

With the house clean, cars packed, we got this family picture on the dock!