Update to Gorgeous Pics

Thanks to Jami Stensrud of Life in Moments Photography for these gorgeous pics of my family. I've turned these into a 5x7 album that I plan to give to the kids' grandparents and greatgrandparents for Christmas.

Happy Halloween

Here's our family's jack-o-lanterns. Thanks, Uncle Jack & Aunt Michelle for helping the boys. Michelle drew several options of mouths, noses, and eyes so Adam could pick each feature of his jac-o-lantern, and then she helped him cut them out. Alex loves the pumpkin I carved for him and calls it his "kiki popo" (kitty pumpkin) or his "meow."

Gorgeous Pics

Thanks, Jami, for these gorgeous pics of my family. About a week ago, we headed up to Wheeler Farm, and Jami took these pics for us. My kids were a total pain (par for the course for photo sessions), but she handled it well and got all these great shots. Check them out on here photography site: http://life-in-moments.blogspot.com/2008/10/fife-family.html

I think she's still offering free sessions to help increase her portfolio, so have her take some pics, and then have me make a flip book to give as Christmas gifts!

Things of Eight

I've been tagged for "Things of Eight in No Particular Order..."

FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
1. Criminal Minds
2. So You Think You Can Dance
3. Life
4. Chuck
5. American Idol
6. Big Brother
7. ER
8. The Office

THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
1. I digi-scrapped with Kris
2. I watched my kids talk to their Aunt Lisa on the web-cam
3. I talked to my sister Lisa for an hour and a half
4. I finished my flip book for my grandparents wedding anniversary
5. I cleaned my office. Seriously. It's spotless.
6. I finally finished folding last week's laundry.
7. I ate oatmeal for breakfast with the kids.
8. I worked on long & short vowels with Kaleb (my nephew) on the way to dropping the 3 year old's off at preschool.

FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT:
1. MeKong Cafe (Thai restaurant in Sandy, UT)
2. Chili's (cinnamon apples... mmm...)
3. Olive Garden
4. Tepanyaki
5. Sizzler
6. Arby's
7. Ruby Tuesday
8. IHOP

THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. Adam in school all day, five days a week (also known as 1st grade, and won't happen for 2.5 years)
2. Visiting Brett & Lisa in Georgia some day
3. Going to Arizona for Christmas
4. Kirk being done with training at the IRS (next summer)
5. Bed time
6. Kirk getting back in town from Denver (in about 2 hours)
7. When I've had all my children and they can all dress themselves and buckle themselves in the car
8. Disneyland with Kirk's family (next summer)

WISH LIST
1. To be out of debt
2. To never lose patience with my kids
3. To find the balance between diet and exercise (I hate both!)
4. To feel caught up and balanced in all aspects of life - as a mother, wife, homemaker, business owner, church member, etc.
5. To be able to afford to buy whatever I want at the grocery store, like chips and snacks
6. To raise my children to responsible and respectful members of society
7. To get to read good books often
8. To find the trick to getting Alex to sleep at night

I TAG:
1. Kris
2. Heather
3. Martha
4. Jami
5. Raini
6. Kirk
7. Brandy
8. Steph

Thinking Ahead to Christmas

I know, I know... it isn't even Halloween! But if you happen to be an early shopper like me, I wanted to make sure you have this info now.

PhotoFinish (my business) is now offering Gift Cards. I have some standard ones that can be given as wedding, baby shower, and graduation gifts, but there are also customizable ones that would be GREAT for Christmas.

Is there someone on your list that has everything? Give them the gift of memories, beautifully compiled in book form! The gift certificates range from $30 to $200, or create your own. There's more details at my company website:

http://www.photofinishmemories.com/

Forget Feng Shui

I'm personally a fan of houses that can be played in. Thanks, Mom, for creating a nice, open living room for this... (only 11 seconds long, so go ahead and push play!)

Trip to the ER

Back in March, I was diagnosed with an ulcer (moral of the story there is don't treat Ibuprofen like candy). I took the prescribed medicine for about a month, started to feel better, and just kind of stopped taking the prescriptions. In June, it flared up really badly after I ate some chili, but I threw everything I had at it (Tums, milk, Zantac, Prilosec), and got it under control pretty quickly.

This past weekend I was in Idaho, and Saturday night right before bed, I ate two pieces of banana bread. I don't know why this affected my dormant ulcer, but I woke up at 6 am Sunday morning in all sorts of pain. I started throwing medicine at it and somehow managed to sit through the drive back from Idaho. At about 3 pm, I took some Zantac, and at 4, I headed out to Kirk's parents for dinner. I tried to eat, but I was in way too much pain.

Kirk's parents watched the kiddos while Kirk took me to the Urgent Care clinic. About 45 minutes later, I was the proud owner of a prescription for Lortab and instructions to see a Gastroenterologist about the ulcer. I didn't want to leave Grandma Tess with the kids for too long, so we headed back to the house where I laid down and asked Kirk to wait until 7:30 (when his sister Heather would get there) before filling my prescription. I took a Lortab at 8:15, and at 9:00 I didn't feel better at all.

So, we headed out to Jordan Valley hospital. After all sorts of tests (including a CAT Scan) 3 doses of morphine, and one dose of a very strong antacid given through my IV, they sent me home with instructions to follow up with a Gastroenterologist. We arrived home at 4:00 am.

I've since been taking my prescriptions for the ulcer, and I haven't been in any real pain since. I have an appointment with the GI Doc on 11/10, and I guess until then I just maintain with my ulcer meds.

What a way to spend a Sunday night!

How to Catch Wild Pigs

I've been trying not to take my blog in a political direction, but as the election approaches, that's what's on my mind. I'm still an undecided voter, and I'm weighing everything out really carefully in my mind. One of my major concerns about Obama is his "the government will" attitude. I do not want my children to grow up in a country where we expect our government to give us things that we did not earn, or things that are really not in the best interest of our country. Because this has been on my mind lately, I found the following story really interesting. Check it out:

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government. In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question.

He asked, ‘ Do you know how to catch wild pigs?’ The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. ‘You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how To forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms- just a little at a time.

One should always remember "There is no such thing as a free Lunch!" Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

Moments

I've heard more than once that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. Lately, Alex's overwhelming grouchiness (we're blaming it on teething) has been more than I can handle, and I've felt such a need to really be able to enjoy him again. I decided to dump the pics from my camera to the computer and realized that despite what has seemed like a terrible couple of weeks with him, there have been more beautiful moments than I could ever ask for. I post these today for you to enjoy, but more importantly as a reminder to me of the beautiful boy that is my son, Alex.

Alex in the dryer:

Alex in the laundry basket:

Alex asleep in his crib (we recently took the front off):
Alex at Adam's soccer game... just cheesin' it:
Alex trying to PLAY at Adam's soccer game:
Alex and his Grandma Casdorph at the piano: