sundance

(me and the boys, enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the base of Sundance, by the fire.... I could have stayed there all day)

To sum up my week, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:
-we had a night out as adults to the BYU vs. San Diego BBALL game, it was so fun. My ears are still ringing. Go Jimmer.

-we took a drive up to Sundance Sat. morning. It was wonderful to get out of the house. It was a gorgeous day and I loved feeling the sunshine on my face! It is good for the soul, especially after another long, hard week. We sat by an open fire, watched the skiers come down the mountain, ate snacks, wandered through the shop and deli (which made me want to eat there, just because it looked so idyllic). It was the best 2 1/2 hours of my week. Getting outside and being with my boys was uplifting. It was also fun to dream about going to skiing together next year, when we can buy some gear!

The bad bad bad:
-Another week of sickness. Yes, I must have jinxed myself. Sunday night Will started throwing up, just after 10pm..... and by Friday morning, was still throwing up. Not to mention, the fevers, runny noses, and coughs all week long as well. My poor little man, he has not been himself, this illness has taken a toll on him. He just sits around, lays on the couch and stares off into space. He's lost all appetite, and we even had to take him to the dr. because we were afraid of dehydration. Now, Sunday, he's still feverish, still sad, still not eating (unless it's popsicles, or Doritoes.... at this point, he gets to have whatever his little heart desires), and we are still praying and praying that he gets better and that we won't be headed back to the Doc again tomorrow.

After two consecutive weeks of sick boys, I literally feel like I'm about to go crazy. Thanks for supportive family, we're surviving. All I have to say is that I'm glad January is over! I hope that the Spring comes quickly!!

***One more thing, I read this, this week and it was so inspiring. Please read it, if you have a little doubt in your life, have had, or think you will ever have a challenging time, it will inspire you too, I promise. My favorite part:

"And because of my faith—even in the seemingly worst of times—I recognize with peace and gratitude that in reality it is the best of times" - Richard C. Edgely

just thinking

(my cute little family outside one of my most favorite spots in OH.... I miss it)

I guess it is time for an update. Not much new and exciting going on around here, just trying to stay afloat through a pretty stressful time. One thing is for sure, we are SO blessed and grateful to such supportive family, who go out of their way to take care of us.

Some good things this week:

-we got a package from Grandma M! We LOVED getting packages when we lived out of state from Grandma M, they are always full of treasures and excitement. I'm happy to know they are not a thing of the past.

-we got to celebrate my nephews 6th birthday with him, enjoy his BBALL party, and eat lots of yummy cake. It is fun to see the wonder of the world through a 6 year old's eyes.

-we spent time with my parents who were in our neck of the woods for a few days, always fun. Not only was it my parents, but we were so lucky to meet up with Wes and Lorinda in Provo for dinner. That's always a fun time also!

-some friends and colleagues of Scott invited us over for dinner. It was a blast, I just love getting to know new people, especially those you have a connection with. All of us have lived in MN and gone to school for an MHA at the UofM. Not only that fun tidbit, but one couple was from MN and WI. Oh boy, how I just loved hearing that MN accent again, it seriously made me miss a lot about MN.... namely the State Fair. I am determined we will go back as a family and go to the fair again! It was also a great time because I just needed to get out after a long week, talk to some adults and laugh. :)

Some not so good things this week:

-MAINLY, Eli has been sick for almost 8 days straight. He's got some awful virus, making him cranky, clingy (which I secretly like), not eating a single thing, and POOPING more than I ever thought possible. Not just poop, runny, leak out of your diaper and clothes, EVERY single time, like 8 times a day. Sorry for the visual, but it has been a seriously rough week. One day it was so bad that he went through several pairs of clothes and three baths. I'm sure most of you can imagine, but let me describe some more for you...... when you have to clean a baby off that has poop everywhere, it is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, and it stinks. You have to peel off the clothes, trying not to spread the already disgusting-ness even more, peeling them off the baby's head, sticking them under the shower to get it off, then you have to do all bathing and the re-dressing all over again! I'm keeping my fingers crossed we are on the upside, plus I feel so bad for my normally very happy, chipper E man. It has been so sad to see him sick and sad and un-happy, and not eating! He has been through the wringer this week, I'm hoping it is nothing crazy and that we won't have to go to the dr. tomorrow. Wish me luck.....

-I didn't get my regular work-outs in this week (because of my little guy who was sick). That is a big bummer, I always feel it, physically and emotionally. This week must be better.....

-our house is STILL for sale

Happy Monday, I hope this is a week full of good things!

our weekend

For Christmas, Scott and I gave each other a little get-away. We planned a weekend to go stay in SLC at Little America, and just relax, and have fun spending time together. It was such a fun little get-away, I wish I could do it every weekend! I do have built-in babysitters at the moment. :) I could get used to this..... who needs a house of their own? JUST KIDDING!

We started our weekend as soon as Scott got off work on Friday. We headed to SLC, checked-in to our hotel and then went and wandered around Trolley Square. We were hoping some connections would come through for us with tickets to the Jazz vs. Caves games, but no such luck. No worries though, we headed straight to Gateway to see a movie. We saw The Tourist. I liked it a lot, it was a fun one. We completely indulged in buttery popcorn, dr. pepper, and hot tamales before dinner. It was great. Plus, it was extra sweet having time with my hubby, alone.

After our movie, we browsed around a bit while waiting for a table at California Pizza Kitchen. We shared a very large Tai salad, it was the healthy thing to do after all our artery clogging movie food. Okay, we didn't choose it because it was healthy, it wasn't even healthy, but it was SO yummy. If you haven't tried it, you should. We licked our plate clean, and I guzzled a peach italian cream soda. See how health conscious I am? It was delicious.
After dinner we headed back to our hotel to watch the jazz game, in our PJ's and king size bed. We had also grabbed some yummy snacks, so we stayed up late, ate snacks, watched TV and felt totally stress-free. We almost forgot that we have a house that won't sell in Cleveland, that we are living with family, and that these are the "dog" days of winter. It was great.

In the AM, we slept in (something that was on my Christmas wish list!), leisurely got dressed and ready to go. I didn't even put on make-up. We headed up the canyon to go snow shoeing near Park City, but not without our hearty McKee Dee's (McDonalds) breakfast. Don't judge, you all know that McDonalds breakfasts are tasty. Especially the parfait. We had a blast snow shoeing (see gorgeous scenery pics above), and laughed a lot. It was great fun, we could easily get used to that! After our snowy adventure, we HAD to go to the outlets. And did we score some good deals. Of course, it did not disappoint.

After the outlets, we ate another yummy meal at Quiznos, which tasted so good after a day of snow shoeing and shopping! Then we headed home. The best part of the weekend was being with Scott and having some time to chat, laugh, and hold hands. I sometimes forget what it was like before kids, and this was a good reminder. I missed our boys, A LOT, and a lot of our conversations revolved around them and how blessed we are. But it was great to have some quiet time, some un-interupted adult conversation, and some very fun adventures.

Thanks for the fun time Scott, Merry Christmas, and please, can we do this again sometime?

a post long overdue

I've been meaning to put up some of our family pics on the blog for a long time now. I was on the fence about sending out a Christmas card, so I didn't post them, just in case I wanted to use some of them on the card. Now that Christmas has come and gone, and I still haven't posted

them, I figured it was about time.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my brother in-law TY took some pictures of our family. He is just getting started with photography, and we were happy to let him practice on us! He has a creative mind, and a good eye for what's unique. Everyone knows outdoor pictures turn out great, so we thought we would give that a try. Well, it was freezing and there was snow everywhere and we were not prepared with snow clothes. So we only got a couple outside, and then we went to my other brother in-laws art studio to play around.

When Scott and I got engaged, and had our engagements photos taken by my friend who was a photography major at USU. Her entire portfolio was about "feet." She showed me her portfolio once and I was stunned. It had some of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. It really was incredible. So when she took our engagement photos, she asked if she could take a couple of our feet. We said yes..... and that started a little tradition for us. As our family has grown, we always take "feet" pictures when we have our family pictures taken. We have some of just Scott and I, some of us with tiny little Will feet, some with bigger Will feet, and now we have some with little Eli feet. So, it was only natural that Ty take a "feet" picture for us! I LOVE this one. It is one of my favorites so far. I love the wood floor, and I love those four little bare feet. All these feet have come a long way, in life, in love, as a family, from state to state, etc. We are so happy and we are excited for the journey we are on!

Yes, I know, these are the cutest boys ever to roam the planet. :) Getting Eli to hold still is a feat. So, as soon as we set him down we were all being loud and crazy trying to distract him from crawling away. We told Will to hang on tight!

Family of four

Scott took Eli outside and he thought it was the funniest thing to see us INSIDE and him OUTSIDE. He was laughing hysterically.

PS - I know it's a weird thing, but I am a little bugged by my bangs in this picture. I can't decide if I'm a fan of my bangs with my long hair. I've had bangs a lot with my short cropped hair, but this is the first with my extra long hair..... I just can't decide if I like it..... maybe it was the freshly cut bangs? Now they are growing out and I'm liking them a bit more, although I have to pull them back a lot. Anywho...., random, but I can't help it.

christmas 2010

Well, it has come and gone..... almost like it was never even here at all! It is always crazy how fast Christmas flies by, always a little sad, but always exciting to start a new year! We had such a fun Christmas this year. BOTH parents were home (not on missions) and WE were home!! Yay! We drove up to Logan for a Mortensen gathering a few days before Christmas. It was hoppin'! We had a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, a talent show.... sort of, and lots of laughs. We also sung a really pretty song that I had never heard called the Friendly Beasts. It was so sweet, it is my mission to track it down and add it to my Christmas music repertoire.

Uncle Scott and Norah. Norah has always loved Uncle Scott, even as a baby, we love to see Norah, she is so enthusiastic about life, it is infectious!

Caleb is a big kid. But still not too big to sit on Santa's lap! He is such a fun boy, I'm glad Will has a great boy cousin to look up to!

Norah was enthralled with Mrs. Claus. She wanted a crown.... or something, and was so excited when she opened her bag there was a crown!

Oh Lia. Sweet little quiet Lia, just sat there and wouldn't even look at Santa. It was awesome. She is so darn cute, I could pack her around in my purse just for those times when I need a little pick me up!

Will was last to "sit" or be by Santa and the Mrs. He was being so shy and lately, this is the weird shy face/hands that we get...... I'm always telling him to take his hands away from his face. :)

Even Scott got in on the action! What a trooper, he had to show Will how it's done.

Will in his fun PJ's from Grandma. He loves his Grandma and Grandpa Mortensen. I think besides me and Scott they are his two most favorite people! Oh, and his other set of Grandparents....... :)
All the cute cousins, minus Eli who was asleep and missed all the action. Cute, cute, cute, cousins and such a fun night for the kids. It is so great to be around family for Christmas. We are so blessed.
The BIG day! Christmas morning. Will was hilarious when he woke up on Christmas morning. He was amazed that Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk, and he was so shocked at what was in his stocking. It was so fun. He kept saying "OH MY GOSH!!!" He loved it. His big hits for gifts were his Kung Zhu, his remote control car, and his stuffed animal Rat that was in his stocking. He was a happy boy.
Eli was happy too! He loved driving around his new cars and playing with the wrapping paper. But mostly, he just wanted to eat breakfast. So he spent the bulk of gift opening in his high chair eating.... I guess that was all he wanted and that is what he got.
The coveted Gator Car. Will has been dreaming about this for weeks now. It was the highlight of his day. Especially when he got to drive it outside in the snow with Caleb. Look at his face, I love it.
Merry Christmas to all, it was a fun day. We spent the day with both families, had great food (Scott and I made the best ribs ever!!!) and enjoyed being together relaxing. It was a great holiday. Now..... back to the grind!

merry merry

Another Christmas has come and gone. What a good one we had. We hope yours was full of fun, food, laughter and family.

Happy Holidays!

sick day

Or week. Why is it that when you don't have insurance, for a mere 5 weeks, every person in your family seems to get sick. Not just the run of the mill cold, but I'm mean sick, sick. I'm going on day four of having delightful flu like symptoms. Plus, both Scott and I have an issue with a tooth filling that needs fixed asap..... can't wait for January 1st! Let's hope we survive the next two weeks.

Here's to health and insurance in 2011.

christmas fun

Last weekend was my family's Christmas party. It was up in Logan, and we had a blast. It was so fun to get together and see everyone. We missed the Brennans and the Mark Hopkins fam!! Maybe next year??

To start our day, we met at the Food Pantry in Logan to do some service. It was great, serving alongside each other, helping out, and having a moment to teach our kids about service. Plus it was fun. I couldn't believe the amount of food we helped sort, it was awesome.

Then we headed to Mike's house for some festive partying. It wouldn't be a Hopkins get together without a great spread of food. We had yummy appetizers and soup in bread bowls. Plus everyone brought their favorite treat. We were full.... and happy.

This is my GREAT-nephew Carver. Yes, I have a sister who is a grandma, and I have a niece who is a mom. Carver is just two weeks younger than Eli. They are going to be buds, I know it. He is so dang cute, I couldn't get over his big cheeks. He was a sweet heart. A little more mild mannered than our E man, and we had a blast watching the two together.
After dinner, we had a snowflake cutting contest. It was a lot of fun. Everyone hung their snowflake up on the lights to be "judged." They even had great prizes for everyone. They did a kids category and an adult category. It was awesome. I guess because we are temporarily homeless, we one two of the prizes.... people take pity on us. :)
This was Will's snowflake, as you can read. He was so excited when he won a prize, although he was really bashful going to get his prize. Will has never liked being the center of attention and his big win was no different. Where does he get that? I guess it is because Scott and I are so shy..... j/k.
Cutting out our snowflakes. My personal favorite was Mallory's "Smellma Pitts." That is what she named her snowflake.
Here's all the kiddos with Grandpa and Grandma. What a cute group! We still missed the Brennans and the Mark Hopkins clan!! Can you believe that, all those kids and there are still 7 missing from the picture. Actually, more like 9 because the two babies aren't pictured either. Crazy.
Last year at Thanksgiving and when we were in Utah to seal Eli, we took pictures with Carver and Eli together. It is so fun to see how they grow up! But they grow up too fast. This is my sis GayLynn.... my entire life I have been told I look a lot like her, and have even been mistaken for her. I see the resemblence... except she's a Grandma! ;) Wink, wink. And those boys are really too cute for words. And they are opposites.... Carver has tiny little features, except those big fluffy cheeks. He also has no hair. Eli on the other hand, lots of hair, big manly features! :) I love it!
And of course, it wouldn't be a Christmas party without the man himself. He came, scared all the kids, and we had a great time laughing at what they were asking for for Christmas. Eli sat there for about .2 seconds until he slid off and crawled away as fast as he could. Will wouldn't even get close to him. Until I bribed him, and then he would only stand by him, with me, and whisper what he wanted.

Eli got a candy cane from Santa. He bit into it and was trying to eat chunks of it. I took it away, this is what I got. He was SO sad.
But then he was happy when he got to open a present. Christmas is so fun at this age, mostly because they have no idea what they are doing.....

It was such a fun day, I'm glad we were in Utah. I haven't been to a Christmas party with my family in almost 5 years. It is good to be home. :)

Thanksgiving.... and beyond!

We've had a fun little vacation the past few days/weeks. We drove up to Logan on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had a blast, we stayed with Scott's brother, stayed up late into the night, bouncing in the bounce house (yes, they have a bounce house in their basement.... it is awesome), ate delicious Thanksgiving dinner, played in the snow, played with the cat and dog, .... the list goes on and on. Here are a few pictures for proof of the fun we've had!

Wahoo! The bounce house. When all the kids get in here, it is absolutely nuts, but they have so much fun.
On Friday after Thanksgiving, we took the kids sledding down Old Main. They had so much fun. Eli got a little cold, but he even rode the sled a couple of times. Will was so brave, and LOVED going sledding. He did it by himself several times. He was having a blast until I rode the sled with him and white washed us both. Then we had to go sit in the car and get warm.

We are so proud of ourselves, December 1st and we did gingerbread houses.... cross that one off the December to do list! :) Will and all his cousins had a lot of fun decorating their houses. I was so impressed with what sweet kids they are too each other. I heard so much positive talk among them, and they were so nice and sweet to each other, and helpful for the little ones to do their houses. It was a really fun thing to watch. They have a lot of fun together, laugh, and play.... and make a lot of messes. :) I also have to say, check out what beautiful kids we have!! Seriously, they are all so dang cute.
We had all but two of our little people here. We missed you Lia and JD! And in case you are wondering, they are just as cute as all these little people!

Lots of food, lots of sugar, lots of fun. While we've been in Logan, we've also enjoyed lots of time helping Grandma (who broke her ankle :( ), watching movies, playing with all of the millions of toys that Grandma Martha has, visiting Grandpa and Grandma Hopkins, going out to eat, eating Aggie Ice Cream, working out with the sis-in-law at 5:45 :), and just plain enjoying life.... and the snow, it is so gorgeous. And there is a lot of it!

random

This post is a little random. I haven't updated the blog with pictures for awhile now, so I thought I better get them up. On my camera I found pictures of our last few days in Cleveland, our drive out West, and our first few days here in Utah.

In between packing boxes and cleaning the house, we found an afternoon to drive to one of my most favorite places on earth. The John Johnson Farm. If you want to the see the inside, my friend Mary (hi Mary!) took some beautiful pictures last winter of the inside of the Johnson home, here. Here we are on the front steps of the home. These are THE front steps, original to the home where the Prophet Joseph Smith stood to preach on Sundays. Some of the other significant events that happened at the John Johnson farm were: several revelations given here that are now in the D&C, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith here, in the "revelation room," this is also where Joseph Smith was cruelly attacked, drug out of the house by his hair, down these very steps, beaten, tar and feathered, and left for dead. He was drug out into a nearby field and when he regained consciousness, saw the lights of the home and crawled home. Not only is this place spiritual, it is beautiful. Out in the rolling hills of Ohio, and I love it!

Oh, it was also the Saturday before Halloween, so Will had to wear his costume....

You can't go to the John Johnson home without stopping by Monroe's! They have fruit, veggies, and lots of other yummy treats. Our favorites are the cinnamon licorice, and the caramel cashew crunch. Yum!
Will wanted to take a picture of our pretty red bushes before church. They were so pretty and they turned just in time for us to see them before we left. They were SO pretty. I already miss our giant trees and beautiful yards and homes. We'll never forget our pretty street!
It seems to have become a tradition that we take a picture on our first and last Sunday in a place. Here we are, our last Sunday in Cleveland. :( Crazy!
We snapped this one after church. I thought it was a cute picture. Especially since Stacey and I both own the same dresses! You probably can't tell, but they are the same dress, just different colors, and we both own both colors. :) Great minds think alike!
These little guys were good pals! Will, Jackson, and Jack.
Happy Birthday Scott!! We packed our candles, so Scott got to blow out a tea light! The past two birthdays have been crazy for our family on Scott's birthday. Last year I was in Utah getting Eli and he spent his birthday pretty much alone. This year, we were two days away from moving. I promise you a big birthday bash next year Scott!
On our drive out West, we drove through South Bend Indiana. Having the sports loving husband that I have, we had to stop at Notre Dame! It was way awesome. My brother was with us, and he saw a maintenance guy coming out of the stadium so he stopped him and asked if we could just take a peek at the field. Well, not only did we get a peek, he took us up to the box where all the important Notre Dame people sit. It was way cool.
Touchdown Jesus. You can't miss this! The whole time I was there I wanted to start chanting "Rudy, rudy!" haha, I love that movie.
This is Eli. He's asleep. He did this about three times the WHOLE trip. Seriously. He does not sleep well if at all in the car. He would sleep for about 1 hour at a time and then was awake the rest of the time. Regardless, he's adorable, especially when he's asleep!
Our last night in a hotel, we upgraded our room to a King bed with a jacuzzi. Well, the jacuzzi was huge and it was in the middle of the room! Seriously, it was probably a foot from our bed. It was so funny. The boys loved it, and "swam" in it twice!

We were so lucky and happy to get to stop at Scott's brother's house in Greeley. We stayed for two days and it was the perfect rest stop for us. The boys LOVED it. Uncle Jesse found Will a frog about ten minutes after we got there and that completely made his whole weekend. He kept it either in an ice cream bucket full of dirt, or in the bath tub. Thanks Kari for putting up with it! We all loved spending time there and hope we can make it back again soon! Here's all our cute kiddos. JD, Lia, Eli, and Will.
We made it finally! Eli and Will have been happy as a clam since we arrived. Will has had a hard time adjusting to primary and preschool, but he's doing better. Eli is just happy to have all the kids around to follow and play with. Will has loved having his cousins to play with non-stop.

The boys are doing great. Eli loves to sit in his little high chair and eat, all the time. And Will was pretty proud of himself for making all these milk bubbles.

Now, if we could get our house sold, and find a place to live here, we would be all set! It will happen.....