Moab Half Marathon

I need to preface this blog by letting you know that I didn't have my camera for this trip. Sad, I know. I accidentally left it at our friend's house and they weren't home when I went to pick it up. My cute sister-in-law, Charley, should be blogging about this same trip soon......so you can go to her page to see some fun pics. Brandon ran in the Moab half marathon, so Scott and I tagged along with the other Grables for the fun and adventurous weekend in Moab. Scott and I had decided that since we would be so close to Monticello, that we would take advantage of the opportunity and do a session at the temple. We left Friday around noon and made it to the Monticello Temple for the 5:00 session. Scott and I couldn't believe how small this temple is. However, it is just as breathtaking as all the others. The session was wonderful and the celestial room was amazing. It was the perfect way to start out our weekend getaway.After the session was over, Scott and I headed back to Moab to meet up with Brandon, Charley and the cute little boys. I have to say that Gage and Carter kept us all on our toes the entire weekend. They have more energy than Scott, Brandon, Charley and me put together. Gage is now at the stage where he will say whatever you say. Scott and I like to refer to him as our own little "sponge." We had to make sure that we watched everything we said and also did. Gage absolutely loves his uncle Scott and loves to do whatever Scott does. After the marathon was over, Scott and I were entertaining Gage while Brandon and Charley socialized with his running club. Scott thought it would be a lot of fun to through these gummy candies as high as he could and catch them in his mouth. After we got back to the hotel room....Gage started throwing his gummy candies as high as he could, but he forgot about catching them in his mouth. So, lets just say that the hotel room got a little messy. haha

One of the best parts of the weekend was being able to watch Brandon finish the marathon. Scott, Charley and the boys and I walked a little down the street so we could see Brandon before he finished and cheer him on. When Brandon heard us cheering for him, he stopped and asked for one of the boys. Scott got Gage out of the stroller the fastest and handed him over the railing to Brandon. It was such a precious moment to see Brandon and Gage finish the marathon together. Brandon said that while he was running with Gage, Gage continued to say "I running, I running." What an amazing moment! The best part, Scott got pictures of it....so head over to Charley's blog to check them out.

After the race, we headed up to Dead Horse Point. Scott and I had a blast up there looking out over the Colorado River. It was breathtaking. Oh and I ended up with my first Mormon tan! Aren't we all so excited? I officially have a farmers tan on my arms. haha

That night Brandon and Charley headed to dinner with his running club and Scott and I babysat for a couple hours. We thought it would be hilarious to buy fake tattoos to put on the boys while the parents were gone. For about 30 to 45 mins we were just putting fake tattoos on these boys! Gage was loving it, calling them "stickers" and Carter was so tired by this time that he didn't care. We tried to get the boys to sleep before Brandon and Charley got back, but no such luck. As soon as they walked into the hotel room, both boys popped up and yelled Dadda and Momma. They walked over to each of them to kiss them and noticed stuff on their arms and legs. Then they discovered the ones on the chest and back and after a while discovered the cute one on their bums. haha It gave us quite a laugh for a little while. Scott and I then left about 9:00 and met up with some friends for some good ol' hot tubbing. It was so relaxing and the best way to end our weekend vacation.Sunday, we woke up and headed home about 8:00 a.m. and have been here relaxing ever since. Well, pretty much been sleeping and catching up on some sleep that we missed over the weekend.

A side note: We also went on this Moab trip with Brandon and Charley last year. It happened about 2 weeks earlier last year. I actually thought that Scott was going to propose to me while we were down there and he didn't. I was quite bummed after the trip was over because the next week Scott left for an entire week to Florida. Well to my surprise he proposed the day he got home which was on March 19, 2008 (a year ago last Thursday). Love you babe!

The Month of Love

Scott and I have received invitations for 3 weddings all happening in one week. So, what do you do when you have 3 weddings in one week.....the economy is down the drain.....and you are trying to get out of debt???? Get Creative! I was at Macey's Grocery Store the other day picking up some cleaning supplies when I found the cutest soup bowls! They were only $1.25 a piece, plus a pack of soup for $2.50. These presents are a steal of a deal and very cute. Start looking for some deals!

Following In Our Footsteps

A few days ago I got a call from my cousin to let me know some "funny" information. During an outing with the rest of our family she found out that two of our younger cousins got a gerbil or hamster or some type of little pet. When asked what they named their pet, they promptly told her "Stephanie" after "Scott and Stephanie". Wow...are you serious! What an honor.....my little cousins named their pet after me. They must love me sooooo much. Wait...what....the story isn't finished yet???? My cousin continues to tell me that they wanted to name their pet Scott, but found out it was a girl, so they had to name her Stephanie. Just wanted to let the world know that there is a little pet out their following in my footsteps. Hope "Stephanie" lives up to her name and knows that she was suppose to be a "Scott". We feel so honored!!!!

The Prison

I would like to tell you all a story about two dogs. Let’s just say those two dog's names were Lulu and Makita.....

One day, a sweet loving family (let’s name them the Grables) decided to adopt a new companion for their yellow lab, Lulu. Lulu is so happy to finally have a buddy to play with and always have around. The first 3 weeks were going great. Makita and Lulu would play all day and then be so exhausted at nights they would just go to sleep right after dinner. The Grables were happy, because the dogs occupied each other so much that they didn't get into any mischief. Makita was the perfect fit for this new family.

The Grables are now into their 4th week with the new member of their family and everything seems to have turned against them. Lulu and Makita now work as a team to accomplish the impossible. The Grables are baffled that a yellow lab and a husky are more cleaver than they are. How does that happen?

One fine afternoon while the Grables were at work, the wife....lets name her Steph, receives a voicemail from their neighbor that goes a little something like this, "Stephanie this is your neighbor Sandra (name has been change for privacy reasons), it seems that your husky has escaped. We tried to catch him, but he is too fast and he ran away." Steph quickly proceeds to call her husband....Scott.....and tell him to leave work and go find Makita. Steph calls her neighbor back to get some more details. These were the details she received.....your husky escaped and ran north about 20 mins ago. We tried to catch him, but he ran too fast. I really don't know how he got out because his paw prints are on our side of the fence, but he didn't dig anywhere. It appears he jumped your fence. Now please tell me how a husky can jump a 7ft. fence. Steph thanks her and asks her to call if she sees Makita. About 5 mins later, Steph receives a call at her work from Sandra, "Hi Steph, your dog came back." Makita just went out for a half hour joy run for the day and promptly returned.

Scott is still on his way home at this point, trying to think of what the Grables need to do to keep Makita in the yard. He is just baffled that Makita can jump a 7ft fence. When Scott arrives home Makita is in the house sulking. Scott takes Makita's shock collar off and proceeds into the backyard. He discovers that Makita opened the gate to a small dog run where the Grables store all of their wood. Makita opened the gate and climbed the pile of wood and jumped over the fence. Oh one important detail left out.......he did all of this while being shocked!

For the next 2 days the Grables decided to put both Makita and Lulu in the garage for the day. Surely they can't escape from inside there!!!! Both nights when Scott and Steph returned home from work, both dogs were inside the house and the door was open. How could these dogs get inside the house from the garage???? Are you ready for this......they opened the door! They didn't scratch the door or chew through the door.....they literally turned the door knob and let themselves back inside.

Now, the question is: What can the Grables do to keep these two dogs contained? A dog run!

Scott and his dad have spent most of Saturday building a dog run for Lulu and Makita to stay in. This isn't your ordinary, everyday, run of the mill dog run. This dog run has to been equipped to sustain any attempts of an escape. Remember, these two dogs work as a team and they are much more cleaver than we give them credit for. This dog run will have a top on it, so that if they decide to climb the chain link they will not be able to escape through the top. This dog run will have chicken wire along with rocks and ice buried at the bottom, so they cannot dig their way out.

Please stay tuned for the next edition of the adventures of Makita and Lulu.

Here are some pictures of the dog run in the early stages. Notice that Lulu and Makita are inside the dog run playing....I don't think they realize that this isn't a play area and will soon become their prison!!! Mwwhahaha

The new addition, Christmas Eve, Christmas and the morning after

Okay, so there is a lot to write about. First things first.....we got our new addition on Dec. 11th! His name is Makita and he is a 5 year old Siberian male Husky. This is Scott's dream dog and it was love at first sight! Makita has been doing amazing and has been adjusting well to his new home. Lulu absolutely loves having a permanent friend around and they are always playing. You will see Makita is some pictures below. Welcome to the family Makita!!!!

Christmas Eve was so much fun! Scott and I headed over to his parent's house for our get together. We had a delicious dinner of soups and soup bowls with different kinds of salad. All the "kids" (Scott, me, Charley, Brandon and Stacy) sat at our own table and all of the adults sat at their table. Kind of funny we are still considered the "kids". haha Robyn put on a great program and we all were able to receive Richard Paul Evans book, "The Christmas Candle". If you haven't read it, I suggest you go and get it. After the program was done, Grandma Grable gave Gage and Carter their gifts to open. It was so much fun to watch both of these boys open their presents.

Carter opening his present. This is his first Christmas and Christmas Eve

Gage loved his Noah's Ark that Grandma gave him, but seriously who can pass up a chance to get inside the box it came from?????

What a prefect Christmas present.....Gage!

And of course, my husband can't be left out. He was my perfect Christmas present.

After leaving Robyn's house, Scott and I decided that we would start our own Christmas Eve tradition. We each got to open one present......

Of course Lulu and Makita pulled the candy cane bones out of their stocking.

Scott got the 2009 Office desk calendar

I got a bunch of hangers. I know you are thinking it is lame, but I really needed some nice wood hangers to match the others I have in the closet. Thanks Babe!!!!!

Christmas morning is finally here!!!!! The only thing I asked Scott for this year was to have the morning to ourselves. It was absolutely perfect (well minus the power going out for an hour or so)!!!! We woke up and he lit a fire in our fireplace, we made blueberry muffins and hot chocolate. Then we started opening presents! It was so relaxing and not rushed. I loved it. After the morning was over we left about 11:00 to start making the rounds. We stopped by my dad's and grandma's and then headed off to see Marley and Me with my mom. I loved the movie, but the ending was sad. You heard a lot of "sniffs" in the theatre. For the night we headed over to Scott's parent's house to open gifts and to talk to Trent. I am pretty sure Trent spent a good couple hours on the phone talking to all of us. He is doing great and we all miss him a lot. That was the last Christmas he will be gone for though......we can't wait for him to come home!

We had such a great Christmas and Scott and I are so unbelievably blessed! We have wonderful families and friends that are so generous with their time. Thank you for all that everyone does and has ever done for us. Thank you to Nick, Morgan and Kyle for calling to wish us a Merry Christmas....it was great to be able to talk to all of you. I hope everyone had a perfect day and was able to put all the worldliness aside and remember the real reason we celebrate CHRISTmas. We love you all.

My pretty stocking and it has a rose sticking out of it! Thanks Babe!!!

Scott opening his stocking

Lulu and Makita playing with the toys after opening their stocking

Emily got me this for Christmas. It is so pretty and works perfectly right above our table! She made it herself. She is so talented.
This picture must make the post. Charley and I have the same red shirt and we both wanted to wear it on Christmas....so we did. Aren't we just so lovely......

The morning after.......UGH. Fortunately I didn't have to go to work today, but my poor husband did. Scott came in and kissed me good-bye....I hear the garage door go up and then go down and then go up again. What??? So I got up and looked out the window and saw my poor husband trying to dig the car out. I jumped up and put on some sweats and shoes and out I went to help him. We got a ridiculous amount of snow and it took us a while to get the car dug out of the driveway and out of our circle!!!!! Looks like I won't be going anywhere today.

We are expecting.......

This may come as a surprise to everyone, it came as a surprise to us. In about 2 weeks, we will welcome a new member of our slowly growing Grable family. There seems to be a tradition of adoption in the Grable family and Scott and I felt that it would be appropriate to keep the tradition alive. The opportunity was right in front of our faces and we couldn't pass it up. We will be welcoming a 5 year old with the crispiest blue eyes you have ever seen. When you stare into his eyes, your heart immediately melts. When we get him, in about 2 weeks, we will post some pictures.

We are so excited!!!!

The Family Is Finally Complete

I am a little slow on getting this blog up and going. On November 1st the last Barton has finally entered into the blissful commitment called marriage. Kyle and Stacie were married in the Logan Temple Saturday morning and then had their reception in Ogden that evening. The Logan Temple is gorgeous and their sealing was amazing. I am so glad and grateful that I was able to experience and share in this time with them. Kyle and Stacie we love you and so glad you found each other!!!!

The happy couple!!!! Mr. and Mrs. Kyle and Stacie Barton

A couple of the sisters from both sides

The friends

Brother and sister!!!! Kyle how did you become the runt of our family? haha I am actually wearing heels.

While waiting for all the pictures to be taken, Morgan and I decided to have a skirt spinning competition. Enjoy