The Park

Last week I decided to be a nice Mommy and take Stella to the park. It's been so freaking hot lately that I haven't wanted to go outside, but since it's now below triple digits, I thought I'd take her. It's always more fun with more kids, so I invited Em and Sam and Clarkie to come too. It's been so long since Stella has been in the swing that she was giggling so hard! Forget the single swings, the tire swing is where it's at! They had so much fun, and you'll love Clarkie's graceful dismount!

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Sorry about the wind in the microphone and the motion sickness you may get from watching this, but Stella's laugh is so funny!

They're Back!

FINALLY! Lindsay and Hannah are back from Indiana! Stella and I went out to see them on Wednesday. Hannah is getting so big! Lindz was feeding her when we came in and she makes Hannah laugh so hard by teasing her with the bottle. Stella was so happy to see Hannah too! We went swimming in the FREEZING pool (it warmed up after a while . . . I think Stella peed) and before Stella had a chance to jump off the cliff, we headed home! We're so happy you're back!



Hannah fell asleep before we could go swimming.

Stella loved sitting in Hannah's bouncy chair.



"Hey Mom, can I go out on that ledge? . . . NO? . . . Ok, here I go!"

McClintock Chargers

Elliot, Stella and I went to McClintock High School's swim & dive meet yesterday. Of course it was the last home meet of the season and the first one we've ever been to. One of our young men from the ward is a diver and several other kids from the stake are swimmers. Stella absolutely loves Mario (she has more time to bond with him because he's always early to the Bishop's Youth Discussions every month). And she likes Jordyn (one of the stake Young Women) too because for some reason, Jordyn likes to just come and take Stella and walk around when I just want to sit there and watch.

Elliot got to be a timer for the relays.

Jordyn is there in the middle (I got her in action, but it's just a huge splash). She got second place in all of her events.

I've never been to a swim & dive meet and I was really surprised at how chaotic it was. The kids were just standing around, making noise, and if they so happened to make it to their event, good for them. During the relays there were some kids running up and down the side of the pool yelling at their swimmers. It just seemed weird that there wasn't more control over the kids. It was the most relaxed sporting event I've ever been to, but very fun.

Happy Happy Happy Birthday(s)!

Happy #12 Birthday to my nephew Cordell! We love you!

Happy #4 Birthday to Elliot’s niece Anabelle! We love you Princess!

Happy Happy Birthday to my lovely, adorable, hilarious, generous, beautiful, kind, courteous, trustworthy FRIEND . . . oh, I mean Mother-in-Law! I love you so much!

We look like . . . ?

I disagree. I think Elliot looks like his Mom. I need to find different pictures. I did Adam's and Beth's pictures too. Adam looked like his Dad by 4% (they have the same head of hair), and Beth looked like her Mother by 6%.


I also disagree with this one. I think I look just like my Mom. I did all of my brother's and sisters too! This was way too fun. Marci looks like Mom by 61%, Jeff looks like Dad by 5%, Miles looks like Mom by 20%, Natalie looks like Mom by 14%, Adam looks equally like Mom and Dad, and Lindsay looks equally like Mom and Dad!

It's a mystery!

This picture of Stella with the older pictures of us says she looks equally like both of us.


This picture of Stella with the younger pictures of us says that she looks like Elliot by 7%.

So I think we can safely assume that she's our child and that she is really cute!

Updated

I updated my other blog. Just a warning: only look at it if you're interested in a science lesson and fully committed to jumping on the encouragement wagon.

A Concert in the key of . . . Stella!

She can sing all of these songs WAY better than she does in these videos, she was just being silly. And please forgive the man's voice, I have a cold.

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Let me explain The Farmer in the Dale song. If you've seen Full House (that's you Lindz), Uncle Jesse is obsessed with Elvis. When he goes to Michelle's preschool, he sings The Farmer in the Dale and when "the cheese stands alone," he says, "Hunka-Hunka Stinky Cheese, the cheese stands alone." That's what Stella is sort of singing.

I was never good at tag . . . but TAG! You're It!

4 JOBS I HAVE HAD:
1. Ho...Hoer...is that what you call it? I weeded the onions (oh, I mean weeds) out of my dad's fields.
2. Cook at McDonalds
3. "Eeeeeeeeee-mergency Chiro-PRAC-tic, this is Whitney, may I help you?"
4. Administrative Assisitant at Renal Care Group (Dialysis) . . . no one knew I was an employee, so I got to do whatever I wanted.

4 MOVIES I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Ever After
2. Emma
3. Pride & Prejudice (A&E version)
4. One Fine Day

4 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Weiser, ID
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Kimberly, ID
4. Tempe, AZ

4 GUILTY PLEASURES:
1. the ribbon store
2. eating cookie dough
3. blog stalking
4. starting fantastic projects and not finishing them

4 PLACES I'VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Salt Lake City, Utah
2. Portland, Oregon
3. Weiser, Idaho
4. San Diego, California
(I'm hoping for a cruise or something next year . . . maybe Hawaii . . . someone tell Elliot!)

4 FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Ice cream
2. Cookies
3. Bread
4. Chicken

4 WEBSITES I VISIT:
1. Gmail
2. Blogs
3. Calorie King
4. Netflix

4 PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. In Atlanta, Georgia . . . Elliot is there this week.
2. On a massage bed
3. Hawaii
4. In bed, I don't feel good today.

4 BOOKS I LOVE:
1. These Is My Words (Nancy Turner)
2. The Hiding Place (Corrie ten Boom)
3. Superfudge (Judy Blume)
4. The Ensign

4 THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO DO:
1. lose weight
2. sew
3. garden
4. play the piano

4 THINGS I WORRY ABOUT:
1. Elliot on his trips
2. Sleeping while Elliot is on his trips
3. Stella being kidnapped
4. My weight

4 HAPPY MOMENTS (only 4?):
1. Meeting, dating, loving, and marrying Elliot!
2. Conceiving Stella, followed closely by finding out that we conceived Stella.
3. Giving birth to Stella and seeing her sweet face for the first time!
4. Watching Elliot with Stella and also just hearing Stella say, "Mommy!" (in a non-whiny voice, of course).

4 THINGS I WANT TO DO THIS YEAR OR IN THE FUTURE:
1. Lose weight
2. Have 3 more kids (I'm almost 30, they might as well be at the same time)
3. Go on a cruise
4. Teach Stella to sing the whole alphabet properly and the first Article of Faith.

4 PEOPLE I AM TAGGING:
1. Bethany Dibble
2. Corey Ward
3. Kennan Gregory
4. Myra Johnson

The Despain Family

Elliot and Tom Despain were best good buddies growing up until Elliot's family moved to south Tempe when he was 11 years old. They kept in contact (somewhat) through the years and email each other once in a while. I met Tom and Tabby almost 8 years ago and even though we all live in the same state (way out in Gilbert), we haven't seen them forever! We had them over for a little BBQ on Saturday night and had such a great time! Their kids are Derrick (10), Julia (almost 8), and Sarah (3, just like Stella). We brought out the ball challenge and ended up just having a great time and wondering why it took us so long to get together!

The greatest line of the night was when Tom as kneeling on the ball and said (just seconds before falling), "I could watch a movie like this!" Thanks for coming over Despain Family!

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I always forget that I'm not supposed to turn the camera sideways when doing video. You'll have to watch Julia's sideways, but it's impressive!

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Happy Birthday to my brother Jeff! We love you!

Jeff, always killing something.

Jeff and Dad

This may also be a tribute to Marci and her super sweet mullet.

Jeff and baby Whitney (I'm so cute)

PEACHES! Yummy Peaches!

Because of my BFF being great with child these days, I'm trying to help her with her PEACH order this year. She gets these most delicious fresh peaches from a farmer in Utah and is selling a 32 pound box for $23.00. It will be arriving around Friday, September 14th! If you'd like a 1/2 box or 2 or more (and you live in this state), please let me know! I don't want to leave anyone out this year!

I bottled my peaches from last year and it made 21 quarts!

Raymond's Baptism

Raymond got baptised today! We're so happy for him!

Evergreen Ward Campout 2007

We went to our ward campout this weekend, but couldn't spend the night because we needed to go to Raymond's baptism early on Saturday morning. We got there in the late afternoon and the guys played horseshoes while the Mom's sat around (almost everyone with a baby . . . or there were enough to go around) in the shade and ate M&M's (thank Myra). We only got to stay for a little while, but it was fun!

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STELLA (stel-a): (n) random

Do we really keep our house that cold? . . . or maybe I should fold the laundry faster.

I’ve got to put her in gymnastics.

Stella watched Dumbo today. When she came in to sit on my lap, she asked me to sing her “Baby Mine” which is a song that I have been singing to her nearly every night since she was born. When I started singing it, she started crying because on Dumbo it’s such a sad part of the movie. She wouldn’t stop crying . . . probably because I kept singing it just to see if she’d cry.

Stella decided to give herself a bath. I need to check on her more often.