What the Rain Brought In

Earlier this spring we had a day of really hard rain all day long. While I was cooking dinner I looked out the window and saw this turtle walking across our deck - so I grabbed him and stuck him in the bathtub so we could have a little adventure after dinner . . . and boy did we ever have an adventure! It looks like Bently has found a new friend - sort of. This is after about 45 minutes of talking about the turtle and having me hold the turtle. Bently finally decided he was brave enough to touch. Keira on the other hand, gave the turtle a swift salp across the back and decided that she was definately done. There was no getting her even into the same room as the turtle. Our poor little friend was terrified I am sure! He decided to take refuge in one of Bently's toys. Shortly after this we took the turtle back outside and let him go - all parties were very grateful the event was over! This video is after about 15 minutes of seeing the turtle. Still very unsure!

Oh, Oregon

In August we made the trip to Oregon and Washington to visit our family. Despite the fact that I do love to tease Dakota about the weather up there . . I will readily admit that I love the place. How can I not - the sweetest family is there, beautiful landscapes, amazing parents, blackberries, fine music, good friends and lots of fun to be had by all. I love paddle boating - especially when I can have my niece Peyton come along!

Wow, Dakota!

Really, I can't hold up to the incredible musical talent found in this family. But I've decided to give it a try!

And the best part of the trip . . .family.

Nauvoo Reunion

This is the handcart we pushed for three miles.

In June we had a family reunion in Nauvoo, Illinois with my mom's side of the familly. It had been two years since I had seen most of them so I was SO greatful that they made the sacrifice to drive all the way to Ilolinois for our family reunion. I cherished the week that we had all together - for they never happen often enough. Mostly there is nothing at all in Nauvoo except for a lot of historic Mormon church sites. We all camped together and had a wonderful time during the week. At the end of the week, we gave up the primitive life and headed to a nice hotel 30 miles away. The hotel, appropriately named "Fun City", was amazing! There was a full indoor and outdoor water park, laser tag, bowling, go carts, an arcade, restaurants, and so much more. From here on out no trip to Nauvoo will ever be complete without stopping at Fun City! This is most of the Stucki clan! I sure do love you guys!! The most handsome man in the world with his little girl. Here are my little prarie kids walking, and walking, and walking . . . just kidding! We took a little trek with handcarts while we were in Nauvoo which was an incredible experience! It was much harder than I anticipated but well worth the time and effort. However, unlike most pioneer children who had to walk across the plains, mine only took about 10 steps and then decided that this activity was not for them. Nor did they ride in the handcart that we had to push/pull. They were carried by loving grandparents, aunts, and unlces.

Recommitted

I MUST CONFESS. I stalk all of your blogs and am feeling very depressed about my "talents". I hope Dakota won't read this (which is a moot point because he will, as he is very supportive - one of the many reasons why I am in LOVE with him) because I complain about this to him without end. But really, as I observe your lives I am in awe of all that you can do! Some of you plan amazingly CrEaTiVe activities for you little ones and inspire them to go beyond their potential, some of you draw beautiful cards depicting emotions and events in your life EVERY week, some of you have made quilts that make me gasp and have a sweetness that often makes me weep, and some of you photograph everyday people like they are runway models, and there are others whom I love and admire greatly because of their support and patience. Incredible!! And what is it that I have to offer the world - what is it that I do from day to day that makes me me? Well, I am not sure. But really I love my life! I am so proud of my children and husband, I love this world and all the people in it, and I have a desire to offer some talent of mine to make this world a little better place - to make people smile or giggle a little. SO, until I find what that little something is . . . I am going to recommitt myself to posting weekly on my little blog here. It may not be exciting - but thank heavens for that! Exciting isn't always good anyway. So long for now, and I will see you much, much more often around here.

Now You're It!

My friend Liz "tagged" me (oh how I love Liz). So for her here is a little more than you wanted to know about me. Jobs I've Held: Paper Girl in my neighborhood for a very long time, Ice Cream scooper at Baskin Robbins - yum!, Clerk at Jewelry Store, Editor of Creative Marketing on BYU campus, clerk at the Flower Basket in Provo, Lifeguard at Seven Peaks in Provo, UT, secretary in Non-Student Employment Office at BYU, administrator for TDSN here in North Carolina. Movies I Watch Over and Over: Pride and Prejudice, Benny and June - anything with a happy ending. Nothing too scary please. Places I Have Lived: Provo, Utah (twice) - St. Joseph, MI - Cary, NC I Want to Visit: Michigan is always a great choice! Other than that anywhere with people I love. Also anything exotic . . . and warm! Places I Have Visited: Mexico, Europe, Malad Idaho as well as Idaho Falls, National Parks, and most of the United States of AMERICA! Shows I Watch: None - but if I had a tv I would definately watch Dirty Jobs. Favorite Places To Eat: Ponderosa (for the sheer memory!), Anywhere with Girlfriends, and anywhere without our children with Dakota. Websites I Visit: Blog City!, Photography websites, Craigslist I Tag: Kate Butler Jen Newton Ellen Stucki Tara and Taylor Randall Corlista Yech

What a BAD mother!!

This blog is a representation of my bad parenting. A few days ago I was shopping and saw a child (not an infant, a child - as in 3-4 years old) fast asleep in the bottom of a shopping cart. How cruel! Go home and put your little one to bed - she is so tired! You do no need to be looking at curtains this instant! So I go to thinking, "What kind of parent lets their child just fall asleep anywhere? Can't the parent see that clearly the child is tired - and if so, why not go home and place them in their bed?! Their nice comfy bed! And to say the least about a schedule!" So just as I was having these thoughts look what happened - I guess I was asking for a good slap in the face. It's just that Bently, for some unknown reason, slept in until 10:45 so I thought that maybe he wouldn't need a nap. That way we could put him to bed a little early and have him right back on schedule. Seemed like a great plan. So while I was out working in the yard, Dakota gave Bently a snack while he finished hanging sheet-rock in the laundry room. Apparently Bently had begun to whine a little and by the time Dakota went to see what was wrong this is waht he saw. When Dakota called me over to see, I was crushed. Even looking at this picture now I feel horrible. My poor little boy is fast asleep, with his backpack full of toys on, face first, on the cold hard floor.

First One In

On our camping trip the boys all decided to take a dip in the lake. Bently was the first one in and then quickly relinquished back to land. He later got brave enough to follow Ben and Dakota in and had a lot of fun splashing around. Swimming is one of the only activites that compares with throwing balls . . . right boys? We girls stayed ashore and took pictures of our cute boys. Thanks for the moral support Kalli and Keira!

Camping at Lake Jordan

Our very, very, VERY dear friends Ben and Kalli came to visit us and we had the time of our lives!! Although we are not as exciting as we use to be, we really love to be with such great company. . .we miss you both so much. Thank you with all our hearts! STAY BACK - - he's mine! Kalli got a run for her money with Keira around. Keira immediately took a very strong liking to Ben and clung to him all day every day. Thanks for being patient with her guys!

A Day at the Park

Keira's Park Debut!!

Well, not really. Keira has been to the park many times, at least once a week, and loves it. But these pictures were taken a few weeks ago and I feel like Keira is now starting to explore the park and have fun. So these are some pictures of Keira trying out all the park has to offer. She takes her lead from Bently and is therefore quite adventurous for a 14 month old. She is very cute - especially to her daddy!

Spring!

He Loves Me . . . He Loves Me Not

Spring has sprung! Flowers are blooming everywhere and the wheather is in the mid 70's - Yeah!! I love this time of year and watching Keira and Bently explore flowers, bugs, sticks, and everything else they can hear and see. On Sunday they had a great time examining the daffodils in our front yard. I am so glad that I can "feel" like my birthday is in the spring even though it's technically in the winter (such a disappointment when I finally realized that).

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Keira! We had a wonderful time celebrating Keira's first birthday with a little party and of course - CHOCOLATE CAKE! She promptly dug in and Bently couldn't stand it any longer so we gave him a piece as well. Once Keira had her fill of cake she began feeding Bently and he was grateful to take her offering - of course! For her birthday we gave Keira her first Cabbage Patch doll. As soon as she opened it and we took it out of the packaging she began feeding it the bottle. Since then one of our favorite roll playing activities is feeding the baby, burping the baby, and changing her diaper. We love Keira so much!

Helping Mom & Dad with the House Projects

Sorry it has been so long again since our previous post. The last five weeks has been busy with us trying to update and repaint our living room. You can see more pictures of before and after shots at the Our House Project link in the right hand pane. You'll then have to click on the Interior Projects Link to see the photos and get all the project details. These are just a few shots of Bently and Keira helping out. Bently has thought it to be very cool that the living room has been all taped up with no furniture. We would take his balls of all sizes in there and kick them around while laughing hysterically. He did at one point lose his 10" Superman ball down the HVAC air intake, which we had the vent off for repainting. It rolled like a roller coaster all the way down under the house through close to 35 feet of duct work to the outside unit at the back of the house. He was very sad. He kept returning to the vent looking for his ball, and would cry when he could not get it to come back. Despite Dad's best efforts I could not retrieve the ball alive. He had to kill Superman with a razor blade duct taped to the end of a broom handle so that he could pull it out of the HVAC unit. Mom was the real hero when she found a few weeks later the same Superman ball at the grocery store. The vent is now properly covered. Keira on the other hand does not have a preference between cherrios and paint chips for snack time it seems.

Only 4 More Days

There are only a few more days until Christmas and I think I am more excited than Keira or Bently!! I can't wait for the frenzy of colorful paper that Keira will thouroughly explore and for Bently to see the present that I am most excited about! This is our first Christmas at home and it has been absolutely wonderful. We've been caroling twice this week, have given and recieved many sugery goodies, and have sat on Santa's lap . . . for a second. We hope you all are just as excited to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with your families. Merry Christmas!

2006 Pics

Well, it is really time to get rid of the blue hair pictures from Halloween. Sorry we fell behind this last month. Charlotte was in Michigan for two weeks house-sitting and playing mother to, of course our two kids, and a 15 year old brother and twin 11 year old sisters. She said it was the hardest thing she has ever done, between being school bus driver at 6:00 am and homework tutor at 10:30 pm...not to mention 18 meals a day to make and cleanup (6 people x 3 meals). She also was heard saying, "You'd think teenagers could mostly mind them selves!" Well, good thing we have another decade before our kids get there. Here are a few picks from through out the year. It seems most of our shots are of our kids, and not so much of the parents. They are way cuter than us, so I guess that makes sense. That, and the fact Bently is not quite ready to hold the camera, look through the view finder, and push the button all at the same time. I threw an extra picture of Keira in so you can see that she is not still as small as in the shot with Charlotte. Well, Happy holidays, and there will be some Christmas photos coming soon I am sure.

A Weekend with Dad We had a great weekend starting on Thursday evening when my dad came in to town! On Friday morning he was up bright and early to help us out with a few home improvements. Our trip to Lowe's consisted of Bently emptying the bolt drawers in between tantrums. Not exactly productive! We stayed up late playing games and enjoying his company. We also threw a Halloween party on Saturday night in these great costumes we made! It was our first real get together in our new home. It is always so nice to be able to spend time with family! Thanks for coming dad! Bently got this huge dump truck from one of his friends for his birthday. He really loves to push it around the house and put stuff in it. We helped him put Keira in it so that she could enjoy a ride!