Can I just say, AMAZING?

The limo Pres. Kennedy was assasinated in.

Autonomy- car of the future. Made by GM
one of the first snowmobiles

hangin with the crowd

enjoyin the show

While my parents were here we went to The Henry Ford Museum. Can I just say, AMAZING? It was the biggest museum I have ever been in. We were at the museum for 4 and a half hours and still didn't see the whole thing. I took a whole bunch of car pictures for all of you folks in Idaho, Papa Steve and the boys because if you ever get the chance to make it out here, we are definitely taking you there. I didn't realize how big the Ford company really was until I toured this museum. They were involved with not only cars, but airplanes and trains. This museum had about 4 REAL airplanes, 5 REAL trains complete with a caboose, 100's of cars and bikes, old fashion furniture and the special exhibit right now is the costume exhibit that has a whole bunch of costumes that they used in movies. This museum is truly amazing.

{HapPy BiRthDay Stevie J}

Boogers are like birthdays, the more you have---the harder it is to breathe!

Today is Steve's birthday. I had to clarify in the title his family nickname because his dad's birthday is coming up too. His name is also Steve, so when he is around I have to revert to calling him his family nickname Stevie J.

Steve is not big into birthday's and doesn't like me to do anything. Despite what he says I still have a few things up my sleeve. But first off I wanted to tell him 29 things I love about him.

Why 29, because he turned 29 today!

1. I think he is the best husband ever. He understands me and knows me better than anyone.

2. I love the way he loves his kids. He is always playing, wrestling, coloring, drawing and teasing his kids and me.

3. I love how he lets me snuggle up to him with my cold hands and feet.

4. I love how he thinks I am the most beautiful person even if I haven't showered or brushed my teeth yet.

5. I love how smart he is. Everytime I ask him a question, he rarely say's "I don't know", even if it deals with random stuff.

6. I love how excited he gets when he talks about things he saw at the hospital.

7. I love how he is the best story-teller. I know he gets this from his mom and aunt Kim, but he gets really animated with his story-telling and it makes the story SO funny. Very dramatic!

8. I love how he is constantly trying new things. Food, new hair do, clothes, sports, etc.

9. I love how Steve ALWAYS thinks he is right and he usually is.

10. I love how handsome he is. He seriously is the most handsome guy I have ever met. I thought that when we got married and I realize it even more now.

11. I love how he thinks ties are the best present ever, even though most of his ties are UGLY.

12. I love how talented he is on a snowmobile. He makes it look so easy and fun side-hilling, jumping off cornis', climbing the steepest tallest mountain. But every time I try, it isn't easy.

13. I love how he has no fear of anything.

14. I love how he doesn't let people push him around.

15. I love how he stands up for what he "thinks" is right, no matter what.

16. I love how he smiles when he is being flirty.

17. I love the look on his face when I tell him something Karlee did today and it was totally something Steve would do or has done.

18. I love how he turns comments I make into something perverted by saying "That's what she said." And I can't help but laugh because after I said it, I realized what was coming next.

19. I love how he whistles while he eats. It is so funny.

20. I love how he cooks the best BBQ ribs and chicken enchilada's.

21. I love how he uses more hair products than I do. What do ya expect with a mop like his?

22. I love how mad he gets when I wear his t-shirts to bed, like a little kid, he stomps his feet and straightens his arms and legs and says "your putting booby marks in them."

23. I love how he sings in the shower. I purposley brush my teeth just to hang out in the bathroom and listen to him.

24. I love how much fun he has with his family whenever they go boating or snowmobiling. He becomes totally stress free.

25. I love how he makes me feel needed because he looses everything and thinks I know where it is.

26. I love how he never complains about anything I cook. The experimental, out of the ordinary, never looked at a recipe stuff.

27. I love how handy he is, let me clarify, Handy NOT handsy.

28. I love how he will scratch my back and tickle my neck if I stay up with him a little longer.

and last but not least

29. I love how he is willing to go shopping with me and the kids, just for the simple fact of hanging out with us. I never have to beg him to go anywhere, he is happy too.

Happy Birthday Steve. I love you and think your the greatest!

Is it for REAL?

I know it is happening all over the nation, but I just have to share my excitement. When we moved to Michigan in July we were paying about $4.37/gal for gas. I really hated to go anywhere because the cost was outrageous. It seriously would cost us over $80 dollars just to fill up ONE of our cars. We could see our money flying fast. Just last night we had to fill up our car and for 21 gallons it cost just over $40 bucks. I was amazed! I haven't seen gas this cheap in a long, long time. Now we can start putting money back in the piggy bank.

Well not really because as most of you know, we live off of borrowed money. It wasn't ours to start with.

During the summer I would go to the gas pump,and truly feel like this comic. If over night gas dropped after I fueled up, I would be so upset at myself and I think, "I could have waited one more day to save 2 cents at the pump." Needless to say I usually drive my car until it is completely empty just to rationalize my spending on gas. It drives Steve NUTS! I have a small fascination with gas prices. Every time I drive by I gas pump, I have to look at the prices. I purposely drive past the gas pump now just to see how much gas has dropped again. I know this won't stay but I enjoy it while its so cheap.

How much is gas where you live?

TuRkeY DaYs

Last week Cannon brought home a paper turkery for the family to decorate. They wanted us to work as a family to come up with the decorations. This is our finished product.

A couple of days ago, when the weather got up to 70, we strolled around the block to find the prettiest leaves. We finally got a sack full and can home to dry the leaves. Steve came up with the idea of using dried orange peel for the feet and the beak. Too make the face white we rubbed glue stick all over and sprinkled powdered sugar on top. We used black frosting for his eye and a red balloon for that thing that hangs off of there face.

We think it turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

6 days!

Okay, so yesterday was the craziest day. My mom called me early yesterday morning and said "Dad and I want to come visit you". I said "Awesome, I'll start checking for cheap flights." After jumping on the computer we started talking about the best time to visit. She said "How about next week?" I was so excited. I spent a long time on the computer yesterday bidding flights and finding the cheapest and best ticket to come to Detroit.

My parents wanted to visit my brother in Colorado so they decided to drive there and then catch a plane in Denver and head to Detroit. It was such an unexpected surprise and I can hardly wait. I love it when family can come visit. It is the best. My kids are so excited too. Karlee lately has been claiming all of the neighbors grandma's as her own. When we leave she yells "No, I stay grandma!"

Now I just have to drag Papa Steve to Michigan.

I think he's too much of a mama's boy to be that far away for a week.

PLEASE, tell him I said that too! Ha Ha Ha!

{Sick Bellies}

Its finally come to an end. Yep! Halloween is FINALLY over. Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween but by the time Trick or Treating finally gets here, my kids have had enough, especially Cannon. His school had a huge Halloween party and then a parade. The little kindergartener's walked 3 or 4 blocks around the school. It was really cute to see all of his friend dressed up. He came home from school with his backpack full of candy.

We roamed a neighborhood in Fraser. The houses were pretty close together so the kids didn't have to walk too far, but by the end of the night, they were all asking parents to hold them. Atleast my kids were!

Buzz was leading the pack!

( Toy Story Alien... YEAH!, Buzz Lightyear, Michigan football player, Little Red Riding Hood, Black Spiderman)

We had a lot of fun and the kids are happy with all of the candy they got. We have so much candy! YIKES! Any ideas on what to do with it all?

This past week we have had a lot of fun partying. The Olson's invited us over for a Halloween party that Cohen & Nixon's Grandma brought to Michigan.

They all had funny faces, chased donuts and squashed balloons.
My Fierce Venom and My Little Red Riding Hood!

This year I decided to get creative and made Karlee her costume. It was a lot of fun, but I can't decide if it was any cheaper.

Never fear, I have plenty of superhero's here. Now the Cannon has two Spiderman costumes, Karlee gets to join the fighting crusade.

Saturday was the ward Truck or Treat. The kids played games and ran around to all of the doors "Trick or Treating". Steve dressed up as a Sen say, while I was Dr. Adams.

Now that we have been in Michigan for a while, we have been up-dated on all of the different traditions. I'm happy to say that Trick or Treating DOES occur on Halloween. In Iowa, Trick or Treating was done the day before Halloween and they called it Beggar's Night. Crazy, I know!

Cannery

This week I was able to go to the cannery in Michigan with Skye and her mom. It was such a fun experience to see everything that the church has to offer. This was my first time at a cannery and we had so much fun. It was nice to get out of the house and laugh and joke around with some great friends. Has anyone been to another cannery in Idaho or Utah? It would be interesting to know the differences in cannery's in the west compared to the one I went to in the east! Thanks Skye for letting me tag along with you! I can't wait to go back.

Tagged--are you next?

I was tagged by James and I was suppose to post my fifth picture in my fifth file but I only had one picture in my fifth file. Actually it wasn't even a picture it was a video of Karlee who had a lollipop stuck in her hair. It is really funny so if you have time, its a funny short video to watch. So now I tag: Chelsea, Trina, Amy, Skye and Debi.

Remeber the rules: 5th picture file, 5th picture in that file and then tag 5 other people.

Marathon Anniversary!

I can't believe a whole year has pasted since Shauni and I ran the Des Moines Marathon. It was such a great experience. Something that I will never forget. I didn't have a blog last year at this time so I only have the memories in my head, but I need to write them down so I will always remember. The story started after I came back from Idaho for the summer and Shauni and I were on a long run along the Neal Smith trail. We got this great idea to ask our manager at work if he would sponsor us for the marathon. It didn't take much persuasion, he said he would pay our entry fee which was $80/person. We were so excited and grateful. Then came the early mornings of training. We got up everyday about 6am before our husbands left for school at 7:15am and ran. On Saturday's we would do our long runs. Most of the time we were running in the dark. We ran up and down all of the trails and sidewalks within a 10 mile radius of our home. I think our favorite run was across the Saylorville dam early in the morning as the sun was coming up. The Saylorville dam was high enough that you could look out across and see the few tall buildings in downtown Des Moines which was about 12-13 miles from where we were running. Saturday's were our long runs which usually consisted of 2-4 HOURS of running. The time goes by fast. The first couple of hours we would just chit-chat and then we would run out of things to say so we started taking our i-pods and we listened to music the last 2 hours. We started eating these power gels to get us through our longer run. They were disgusting! But they helped out so much. So as time went on the marathon got closer and on Oct 21, 2007 we started our pace for the marathon. We were so excited and nervous at the same time. We knew this was once in a lifetime opportunity and we were going to do everything we could to finish. As they say at some point everyone hits there "wall". Mine was about mile 19 and I was getting so tired, my legs were cramping and I was getting very dizzy. I remember sitting in the port-i-potty thinking that it was going to tip over while I was in there. That was a SCARY feeling! About this time we saw all kinds of people laying on the side of the trail crying, or people just collapsing on the side because their legs were cramping. But we kept pushing ourselves and over the course of 4 hours, 45 mins we finished the marathon. I'm still amazed we finished while running. Don't get me wrong, we didn't run the whole time, we had to take some breaks and walk, but we did finish running. It took us longer than we had anticipated but at that point we were just excited we made it. I will forever be grateful to Shauni for helping me complete my goal of running a whole 26.2 miles. I couldn't have done it without her.

So today is the 1 year anniversary of the marathon and hopefully it won't be the last one I run. I did promise Steve that I wouldn't train for anymore until he was done with school. Until then, I'll keep running my 20 miles/week.