Our trip to DC

Sorry for the picture overload! Here's a few tidbits from our trip to DC. We had a blast!

Will and Reagan holding hands - while going for a walk

Will was so excited to get outside and enjoy some fresh air!

It was wonderful!

Reagn is a little climber - this is what she does a lot, I think she is going to be a gymnast!
RUNNING!
Family picture at the air and space museum - it was way cool. There were tons of planes suspended from the ceiling!

THE space shuttle. This thing is HUGE, it doesn't look it on TV, but it is!

A giant turtle skeleton at the museum of Natural history.
Will couldn't resist saying "totally dude!!"

More turtles and more "totally dudes"

Will and Reagan again - what a cute couple!
Kisses....


You can't see it very well, but we are standing in front of a giant Mammoth. Will LOVED the museum of Natural History - it was very cool, I would go back anyday!

THE T-REX!!!

The Stegosaurus
Waiting for the metro - ready to party

On the Metro
The Mall

We just had a fabulous vacation in Virginia. Will and I packed our bags and tagged along with Scott to his Mayo Conference in Washington DC. We've got some great friends (the Healy's) that live just outside of DC in Reston Virginia so we stole one of thier beds, and took over their house. Will took over all their little girls toys and soon learned to say "don't take it Reagan!" It was pretty funny. We had tons of fun playing the Wii (ending up with very sore arms) and exploring some of the sites in DC, eating great food, and shopping (of course!). Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

My sweetheart....

It is only fair. I blogged about myself, but I'm nothing without my better half.... cheesy, yes, true? Also yes. Here's a little bit about Scott....

1. How long have you been together? Together 7 years, married 5

2. How old is he? 28

3. How old are you? 25 almost 26

4. Who eats more? that's debatable.... but probably Scott

5. Who said "I love you" first? It was pretty mutual, something we both kept eluding to, but were afraid to actually say the words. Finally Scott just said, "Man, I just love you!" Those were great words to here (especially after 2 years of dating!)

6. Who is taller? Scott

7. Who sings better? Definitely Scott, although he likes to tease me that I should sing in the choir at church.... ya right, I know those of you who know me are laughing your heads off right now!

8. Who is smarter? In what subject? I would probably say Scott all around, but certain things, like mothering/parenting, I think I have the upper hand :) Scott is an amazing father though, it is very natural for him!

9. Who does the laundry? Kara, but he will help fold if he's around

10. Who does the dishes? Scott actually likes doing dishes, so I leave them for him whenever I can stand it! :)

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Scott

12. Who pays the bills? Both of us, Scott reminds me that they are due and I send them out

13. Who mows the lawn? If we had a lawn, SCOTT! He LOVES yard work and getting his hands dirty. Scott is a wonderful "yard" man, he believes there is something therapeutic in getting your hands in the dirt, I believe him. Our lawn in Logan was spectacular!

14. Who cooks dinner? Kara, but Scott can cook up some great eggs and he's been learning how to cook fish. Oh, on Sunday, he cooked the bacon, or at least flipped it over in the pan

15. Who is more stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn, but he's much better at saying he's sorry FIRST.... I don't like to admit I'm wrong.... wait, I'm never wrong! Hahaha, just kidding!

16. Who kissed whom first? I kissed him first, he would disagree though

17. Who asked whom out? Scott asked me for my number on a Friday night and our first date was the next night. We went to an aggie football game, which I'm sure we lost, and then to eat at IHOP where I ordered a HUGE stack of chocolate chip pancakes. I think he ordered a milkshake or something.

18. Who proposed? Scott, and it was great!

19. Who is more sensitive? We are both pretty sensitive

20. Who has more friends? Scott, hands down. Although right now, I get to spend more time with my friends, he spends all his time with classmates or us.

21. Who has more siblings? I do, I'm the youngest of 8. Scott is 3rd of 6.

22. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We share a lot of the responsibility, but I'd probably say Scott

That a little about Scott. I really lucked out when I married Scott. He's been a wonderful husband, fantastic father, and my best friend! I couldn't ask for better!

Waffle Suday

For many years now, my family has been having waffle Sunday. It is such a great tradition, I thought why not start it here in MN on our own! So, we invited some friends over to share in our waffle feast! This isn't just any waffle meal, our waffle Sunday includes TONS of waffles, three kinds of syrup (maple, buttermilk, and blueberry), strawberries and whipped cream, ice cream, bananas, chocolate chips, and caramel. Oh, and of course peanut butter or powdered sugar for those less adventurous. The waffles are delicious whole wheat with the just the right size of squares - deep so they fill up nicely with your topping of choice. The hardest part of waffle sunday is not filling up too quickly, you have to have one with each topping!

Will was a little unhappy after his nap....

But what cheered him up? Licking the beaters of course!

Who wouldn't want to lick all that whip cream off?

Here's the group - thoroughly enjoying every bite!

Just one of Scott's creations - I think this one had

Ice cream, blueberry syrup, and whip cream...

A little bit about Kara....

Okay, I was tagged a few times for this, it is going around, so I better get on it!

10 years ago...

1998 - Wow, I was a junior in highschool, wrestlerette (stat girl) for the wrestling team and I had chopped my hair off. It was SHORT - remember that craze? I was also hanging out with my 3 best friends ever, those were good times.... oh, and I don't think I'd had my first kiss yet!

5 things on my "to do"list

1. finish yesterdays to do list
2. make dinner
3. call YMCA
4. send VT letters out
5. take the red fingernail polish off (way overdue)

Snacks I enjoy: ummmmm YES. I LOVE to snack. I love almost anything sweet, and chocolatey. Popcorn has always been a favorite, and so are peanut m&m's (which sadly explains the 3 lb. bag from Costco in my cupboard!). What I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire.... what WOULDN'T I do? We'd pay off school loans, buy a house, car, and we'd love to buy some land and a small farm, and probably go shopping. Then I'm sure Scott would want to invest some in our children's future?!

3 bad habits:
1. eating too much sugar, especially in the late afternoon before dinner
2. being selfish with my time
3. always looking forward to the future and forgetting to really make the most of today.

5 places I've lived
1. Mendon, UT
2. Venezuela
3. Israel
4. Guatemala
5. Minneapolis, MN (BRRRRRR - anyone want to come visit?)

5 jobs I've had
1. Hogi Yogi Sandwich artist (2 weeks, I had to quit because they weren't going to give me time off for our Freshman year of college Spring Break trip.... LAME!)
2. Famous Footwear - can I say TOO many pairs of shoes in my closet?
3. Deseret Book Bookseller - good times....
4. Adjunct Professor - USU - teaching Spanish 1010 & 1020
5. MOM - the best of all!

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I absolutely LOVED pregnancy, labor, and delivery... even the recovery (and no, it wasn't easy. It was very long, and hard. 14 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing, and a 4th degree tear... but for what I got out of it, I would have done it all over the next day!)

This me at 39 weeks pregnant.... I can not believe my body did that.

I never thought I would be normal again?!
2. I wrecked on my bike because I bug flew in my eye and it resulted in 2 years of physical therapy + shoulder surgery.
3. Lots of people don't know that I speak Spanish and some French or that I have a Masters Degree in Spanish Teaching
4. I'm a cowgirl at heart.... go AGGIES!

This is Will at 2 months and his first trip to the Bar J Wranglers -

you can't see the rest of the outfit,

but it was complete with wranglers and boots!
5. I make my own jewelry

Okay... I tag anyone that hasn't done this yet! I want to hear from everybody! Happy Blogging, hope you learned something about me that you didn't know before!

Our Budding Artist

Okay first of all, sorry for the bad pictures. This is Will's first finger paint, glue, and macaroni experience. It was huge. He thought it was great that we got to play with food and get messy with our hands. Plus he thought it was really cool squirting the paint onto the paper. We had a fun time being artists together and it was so fun for me to see such a happy face on my sweet boy. We only had one near mishap with glue in the eye... crisis averted, thanks to a quick thinking mom! Why is it, everytime kids have something on their hands, they either try to rub their eyes or touch their hair? Kids will be kids.

We decided to hang Will's great artwork in the window

so we had something cheery to look at. It worked!
When Scott got home, he saw Will's picture and asked "is it supposed to be a shark?" No Scott. Not EVERYTHING Will wants is a shark, or dinosaurs.... okay usually it is, but this time, no.

Shaving Cream

Since the weather outside is very frightful and COLD, we spent a lot of time indoors the past couple of weeks. So, Will and I have had to be creative with our time. Last week, after Will's nap, he got in the tub and "painted" with shaving cream. What a hit! He was in there for almost 2 hours.... he had tons of fun and I was able to think warm thoughts and of the coming months when we can go to the pool! He loved the floating shaving cream, he thought they were fish. THe only downfall, now he wants shaving cream at every bath! Good thing shaving cream is cheap!

If you look closely, you can see that

Will requested I "draw" a shark...

Oh I Wish....

For warm sunny days...... Actually feeling warm sun on my face sounds so wonderful right about now. We enjoyed a day with a high of 8 degrees. And it is only going down from there this week. It seems this winter is a bit harsher for me than last winter, maybe it is because I have an active toddler that I have to entertain, inside, pretty much all day. Today we went to Costco, and Will was SO excited to get out of the house (of course, who isn't excited to go to Costco?)... poor kid, too bad it took 1/2 hour to get bundle up to get there!

I don't think Spring can come fast enough for us here in Minnesota!

SHARK!!!!

We had a great adventure on Saturday morning! Will was in shark heaven! We got to visit the Underwater Adventure Aquarium at the Mall of America. Our friends Jess and Drew Horton treated us - they were so nice and we had a wonderful time. The sharks were Will's favorite part, along with the Nemo aquarium. He's been talking about this non-stop ever since. Now we have two things around our house... dinosaurs and sharks!

Will petting a sting ray in the petting tank....

Look Mommy!

We've hit a milestone! This week, Will started saying "LOOK MOMMY!"... followed by one of two things. He'll either show me something really small and insignificant (but very important to him!) or he'll show me something he's never done before - like standing up on the chair, or walking around with his blanket on his head. Most of the time, "look mommy!" precedes something like dumping a cup of water all over the kitchen floor... something we discuss not doing every single day. One of these days it'll catch on, right?

Not only is Will very expressively saying "look mommy (or daddy, or whoever may be at our house)!" but he has also started saying things like:

• "Where we going?".... and then when I remind him where we are going, he says "OH! Ya." (like he knew it all along, and forgot)
• "Who is it?" (pointing at random people in the store)
• "I play dishes/books/blocks/dinosaurs now" (as he goes from one activity to another)
• "Nursery? No want it...." (with a very sad pouty face) and then "Will crying... want mommy" (He fondly lets me know he was crying for me pretty much ALL 2 hours of nursery.) Although he does say "Singing time? Like it!"
• "Mommy do it" or "Daddy do it" as well as "Mommy come!" (whenever we're going somewhere and he's worried he's going to the babysitter, or just when he wants me to play with him, he'll take my hand, tug on it, and say "mommy come!")
• "Will kinda tired" obviously followed by "Nap? No want it..."
• After Scott or I do something funny and start laughing, or when I do something stupid and say loudly "Oh my gosh!" or "Darn it!" (like when I spilled wheat kernals ALL over the kitchen floor) Will will start laughing and say "Silly mommy!"

We are also constantly reminded at what a good memory this boy has. He has been telling me several times a day, for the past week about Grandma's cat, Meek, who scratches the furniture, and then Grandma says "No no meek!" In Will's words, the story goes like this:
"Kitty cratching! Meek cratching! Gigi says 'NO NO Meek!'" and then often he ends with "silly kitty." He also remembers fondly going with Uncle Jess to feed his horse and remembers that "Clover" (Jess's horse) eats hay.

It is so fun that Will can communicate, our days are FULL of play by plays of what he's doing, thinking, and wanting Mommy or Daddy to do. We love our little boy, he's always so happy and patient with us!

My Hubby....

Scott is a wonderful man, fantastic father, and a great student. Tomorrow, he is officially on the downhill slope to being done with school! He begins his 4th of 6 semesters of grad. school. He has proven himself an amazing student, getting excellent grades and still keeping up with family life, and a hefty calling at church. Will and I are so lucky to have him in our lives and we are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished and all that he still has to accomplish.

Thanks Scott, we love you!

Since we've been home....

We've been home from our Christmas break in Utah for two weeks now. My, how time flies! We've had all sorts of adventures since returning to our arctic home here in Minneapolis. Will and I have spent lots of time together trying to get used to Scott being gone all day, again. We've been out on some major grocery shopping trips, trips to the library, and the children's museum. The only thing that helps us keep our minds off of how much we miss family and our Christmas break, is being able to stay busy, and having the company of wonderful friends.

Yesterday when I tried to go to the gym at 9 am, I got about 1/2 mile away from our house and our car suddenly decided it was WAY too cold to be going anywhere and froze up. Literally, it just died.... everything started slowing down, freezing up, and not wanting to move. It was ONLY -15 degrees outside with a wind chill of -25. With the help of our fellow Minneapolis police, doing their civic duty, I was able to get back to my house where Scott was able to go with our neighbor to jump our car. Since then, it hasn't started again. We are praying it just needs a replacement of the battery! These are the life and times of truly living in frigid MN - oh the joys. Although it is cold outside, we stay cozied up in our apt. making cookies, baking bread, and playing games. Will always enjoys a good movie, his favorites lately seem to be Curious George, and the dinosaur movie from the library. Life goes on, and we are looking forward to warmer days. This week should get up to 7 degrees - HEAT WAVE!

The end....

After seeing moose at the cabin. We knew Will would really enjoy going to Hardware Ranch. Hardware Ranch is where TONS of elk come during the winter to get fed. It is really cool, we took a sleigh ride out to see the elk. Will really liked the horses!

The future home of the Mortensen cabin - we can't wait! The property looks fabulous!
"Our" property.... we even got to see 2 moose while driving through the property. Will thought that was great and wouldn't stop talking about them.
The Tetons - the cabin will be right in between Jackson Hole and Yellowstone - we are SO EXCITED!!