Market to Market to furniture shop!

I have 2 wonderful Aunts that are very successful interior designers. They are experts in the industry. I love all their advice! They invited me to go to Market in Las Vegas. Market is a furniture show only for wholesale/large buyers. It has all the latest and greatest. I thought it would be fun to get away for 2 days and shop and get ideas. Unfortunately, my Aunt Michelle couldn't go last minute because her husband had some health problems so it was just my Aunt Deann and I! There were 2 buildings... one with 10 floors and one with 16 floors, 2 LARGE tents, and 2 floors at the MGM Grand full of furniture and all the home decor you could ever imagine! You practically had to run from place to place in order to see everything. My legs are still killing me from all the walking. (I have shin splints and I wore my converse) It was so OVERWHELMING... so much cool stuff! I want to redecorate my whole house. The other fun part was all the vendors were catering to the buyers so we got free food, drinks,tote bags, and treats everywhere we went. We ate it up... we figured we walked it all off. It was a lot of fun, just tiring! Here are a couple of pics of just some of the stores I liked... there were so many!

My best friend, Janet, lives in Vegas and she came and picked us up after the first day and we went to dinner. We talked non stop for over 3 hours... they were ready to kick us out of the restaraunt. It was the highlight of my trip. I always LOVE talking, laughing and crying with this girl! (Thanks for picking us up, Janet, and thank you, Aaron, for watching the kids!)

Deann and I

MORE FURNITURE

Those are my bookshelves!

Look at all that fun stuff!

I love that table!

Grabbing dinner before our flight... it was delish and we had a view of a GIANT aquarium with huge fish and sharks. It was a fun trip. Now back to reality and my kids. (I really did miss them, my 2 days away).

The Winder's & The Jackson's

Last weekend we went to dinner with 2 of my very best guy friends from highschool... Cory Jackson and Greg Winder. Cory, Greg and I all lived in Provo together after highschool too. In fact, they were the guys that introduced me to Jason. We all hung out ALL the time and were the best of friends. We have some GREAT memories. Jason and I got married while Cory and Greg were on their missions. It is so fun to get together now with their wives, Tara and Tiffany (and Cory's two children... Carter and Ava). They both married well! The good times and laughs continue!

Jason, Greg, Cory and Ava... Seriously, no one can make me laugh like these guys!

Sweet Moment

After I posted about President Hinckley, Avaree was asking me about him so I explained to her that he was the prophet and that he passed away. Later she asked me, "Are we all going to die Mom?" I said, "Yes one day, but probably not for a LONG time and we can still be together after we die." She then turned to me and her eyes were filled up with tears and she said "Mom, I am going to miss you when you die!" It was so sincere and sweet. It totally made my eyes fill up with tears too!

President Gordon B. Hinckley

I just wanted to share my little testimony of this GREAT prophet... What a sweet, humble, inspiring man he was. I'm so grateful for his counsel in my life. When I first got married I read his book "Standing for Something." I grew such a love and appreciation for him after reading this book. My testimony grew and it truly made me want to be a better person. I also have the "BE's" displayed in my home. He truly taught how we should "BE" as people. I am also grateful for his Book of Mormon challenge! I didn't think I could do it but I did. I had honestly never sat and read the Book of Mormon like I did (in order to finish) and my life was truly blessed. I really did need to gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon and I did after his challenge. President Hinckley will always have a special place in my heart. I'm so happy he can be reunited with his wife although he will be deeply missed! (my friend Francine framed the above picture for me for my birthday and I love it... what a great gift Fran!)

"The Thirteenth Tale"

I hosted book club this month. I highly recommend this book. It was a quick, easy read for 400 pages with an interesting twist at the end. Has anyone else read it?

Ladies from the book club... always LOVE our discussions!

Everybody Needs A Tracy Fonger!

Let me tell you why everyone needs a Tracy... She is the friend that brings you dinner after having a baby, when you move, and is always bringing yummy treats over- from homemade salsa, sugar cookies, homemade peach pie... the list goes on and on. She is an awesome cook too (you WANT her to bring you food)! She will call and volunteer to watch my children ALL the time just to give me a break. She taught me how to make homemade jam which is a necessity at this house! She has 3 children and a baby on the way and she is SO giving of her time. She takes good care of her immediate family, her extended family, her neighbors (especially us), and the young women in our ward. She has been in the YW program for years and Baylee loves her. Anyway, just wanted to say... love you Tracy! Thanks for all you do for us! Oh and thanks for having us over for FHE on Monday night too! (see the list goes on...)

This picture was taken at Baylee's basketball game. She came just to support her.

Avaree eating lunch with Dawson and Hayden. Avaree fits in SO well with these boys. Dawson and Avaree are constantly pretending to be animals.

Husband/Lovebird Tag

I was tagged by my friend Janet and my friend Summer. Sorry, I am just barely getting around to it. They were actually two different Tags about the same thing so I combined them. Below is our engagement picture. (we finally figured out how to scan pictures!) Now here is our STORY...

What is his name?

Jason Allan Kessler... kind of a funny story... when we went to print our wedding invitations I wanted to confirm quickly how he spelled his middle name, so I called and asked him and he didn't know. So I called his Mom and his Dad and niether of them knew. They both said that they thought that it was spelled with two LL's though so I figured it was spelled with an "EN", because if it was one L it would be spelled "ALAN", right? Come to find out when we got our temple recommends to get married his middle name is spelled on the church records as "ALLAN". So his name is spelled wrong on our wedding invitations! Does that tell you a little bit about Jason?? He doesn't even care how to spell his OWN name!

1st thing said...
Hi. (then after he left, I turned to my girlfriend and said "who is that in the coat with fur on the hood?)

How long have you been together?
9 years

1st date...
We honestly did things a little differently. We never had an "official" first date. We just became good friends. In fact, he was dating my best friend and roommate at the time and we just got to know each other really well while secretly crushing on each other. He always paid for me, even when he was dating my friend because I was so poor!

How long did you date?
We pretty much got engaged 11 months after officially meeting each other

How old is he?
29, turning 30 next month

Who eats more?
He does but I can keep up with him believe it or not.

Who said I love you first?
He did... another funny story... he told me he loved me and I loved him too but I was a little scared to say it, so after he told me I said, "That's nice." He never lets that one down. He said he felt like jumping out the window after I said that. How mean am I! He confessed his love for me and I said, "That's nice!" Poor guy. I did and do love him!

Who is taller?
Him by a whole foot!

Who can sing better?
Neither of us can sing. In fact, you will NEVER hear Jason sing.

Who is smarter?
Jason for sure! He has a plethora of knowledge about everything. It's amazing. I learn from him everyday. I am smarter then him on a few things and that is Spelling and English.

Who does the laundry?
I do, when we first got married Jason helped but he found that I refolded everything he did so he stopped after that.

Who pays the bills?
I do after I check with him how much I can pay on some things

Who sleeps on the right side?
I do

Who mows the lawn?
He does. I never have... allergies.

Who cooks dinner?
Both of us actually. I am the casserole type cooker and he is the MEAT cooker.

Who drives?
He does most of the time. I actually hate driving with him. He makes me nervous.

Who is more stubborn?
JASON for sure, he is the most stubborn person I have ever met!

Who kissed who first?
It took Jason FOREVER to kiss me. In fact, I am NOT a forward person and I had to ask Jason if he was ever going to kiss me and then he finally did.

Who proposed?
Jason did on the New Years Eve of the millenium. He said that he wanted to spend the rest of the "millenium" with me. I had NO idea it was coming. We had talked about it but he kept it a secret as to when he was going to propose.

Where did you get engaged?
In my apartment in Orem (Jason was shaking, he was SO nervous!)

Long or short courtship/engagement?
We dated for almost a year and were engaged for 4 months

Where did you get married?
Salt Lake Temple

How did the reception go?
Good. Now that I look back on it though, I would TOTALLY have done things differently. It was a humble beginning, but still a special night.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Cabo San Lucas but we cut it a few days short because I got sick and we ran out of money!

Who has more friends?
Equal... okay... maybe him, he is very friendly and makes a lot of friends through work and he has lived LOTS of places.

Who is more sensitive?
ME for sure, Jason's not that sensitive and if I try to get him to be. He says, "do you want me to be gay?"

Who has more siblings?
He does... I have 5. He has 4 real sisters, 2 half sisters, 2 half brothers, and 2 step brothers. (but he would never clarify any of them as his half or step siblings. They are all his 'REAL' siblings.)

Who wears the pants?
I like to think we are equal. Some subjects he wears the pants and some subjects I wear the pants but he probably does a little more. (okay, I actually just asked Jason and my brother Brady this question and they both said that JASON WEARS THE PANTS.)

Do you have a song?
We do, kind of... it's nothing you can slow dance too but it brings back good memories. Jason lived in California for 5 months of our dating. We spent a LOT of time on the phone. One day he said, "I heard this song that reminds me of you" The song is "Kaelin" by Unwritten Law. (Kaelin/Karlin just one letter off) It had just come out and I hadn't heard it yet, so I asked him how it went?? The lyrics say... "hey little girl look what you do, ooh I love you!" (that was the closest I've ever gotten him to sing) Later he sent me the cd in the mail and the first time I heard it, I cried because he was basically saying he loved me! It was cute. In fact, we thought one day we might name a daughter Kaelin but I'm afraid it is too close to Karlin.

Now that you know more about us than I'm sure you would like too... I am going to TAG Tracy Burnham and Sara Decker.

What A Mess!

This is what you see when you first walk into my house...

A MESS!

No Exaggeration. The paper work that goes along with Jason's business is out of control! I am an organized person and I can pretty much say that every room in my house is organized except for this. The business stuff totally overwhelms me. We actually hired someone a few months back, which I was SO excited for, but it ended up being more work for us because we had to be organized for them. So now, it is back up to me. The hard part is... it is time consuming to stay on top of and the only time I have is when kids are napping and who wants to work?? I have to clean and do laundry and shower and truthfully I'd rather be blogging! The other hard part is... Jason is NOT an organized, paper work type of guy and I can't do much until he looks over everything and he just doesn't have time for it. I am motivated to get in a routine again and try to stay on top of all this! But really... who likes to file?? It's the worst.

15 months

Weston had his 15 month appointment yesterday. He had a growth spurt... he is now in 10th percentile for his weight instead of the 2nd. He is 50th for height and 75th for his head. So, he is skinny with a big head but SO cute! He is developing fine. Still not walking but he has taken some steps. I'm sure it won't be long.

GRRRR!

This picture so matched his shirt. It was actually taken in the moment of throwing a ball. This boy could throw a ball (and/or anything round) and fetch it all day long. Must be a boy thing!

Full Weekend

It was a full, fun filled weekend! On Friday night, we went to dinner and a movie with some friends. Thanks to my brother, Brady, for taking care of ALL the kids so we could go. (he took Griffin to his basketball game, along with my kids, and picked Baylee up from her practice, cooked them dinner, and put them to bed) He will be a great Dad one day. The movie we saw was, I AM LEGEND. It was good. Worth seeing, but different than I expected. It was kind of scary but I liked the meaning... Light Up The Darkness.

Then Saturday night we had all of our old neighbors over for taco soup, games, and catch up time. I really do miss living right next door to these people. Even though now we are just down the street but hey, they had to drive to our house...

The guys playing pool

The gals playing foosball

The kids were running wild, except for sweet Olivia watching a movie

Avaree and Logan

Cooper and Joe... aren't they cute boys?

Yippee! Future Aunt Ligia got back from Mexico after a month. Avaree in her boots! Notice the panties?? We are doing it and she is actually doing really good! I am praying it continues.

Me, looking tired after serving my family and Jason's Sunday dinner (15 people in total). I finally got a chance to sit down and Avaree snapped a picture. Now I better get to bed because I've got to wake up early to drive car pool.

Follow Up

Okay... I am officially scatterbrained! My Target bag of just boughten items has not shown up. I must have thrown it away, and now I misplaced a prescription for the second time!! I am so frusterated with myself. Oh well, right? I just need to be more aware of where I put things!

Scatterbrained

I've been on the hunt for some cute tights to wear with a dress that I got a while ago. I finally found some at Target, in fact I made a special trip to Target just for tights. I got home, brought the bag in (I know I had it on my kitchen countertop), and now I can't find the bag anywhere! I've cleaned and searched the whole house, including garbage cans. What did I do with it? Does that ever happen to any of you?? Sometimes I have too much on my mind and I can't stand clutter so I put things away but I can't remember where I put them! So dumb of me and I don't want to give in and buy a new pair because I know they are here somewhere or did I throw them away?!

Lunch at Dear Lizzie's

These are my friends from the neighborhood that make my life so meaningful, especially as a stay at home Mom! We get together for birthdays and girls nights, we trade babysitting, we do play groups, book club, and serve each other when ever we can. I always look forward to our get togethers! They keep me sane. I love each and everyone of these ladies. I'm SO grateful for their friendships!

Today we got together for lunch at the cutest boutique, called Dear Lizzie, in Alpine, UT. They have yummy sandwiches and soup and the best homemade treats. There chocolates, mints, cookies, and cupcakes are all to die for! Happy Birthday Holly and Alison!

Baylee vs Sarah

Yesterday, Baylee's school team played Jason's sister, Sarah's. It was a fun and exciting game. The final score was 31 to 36. Unfortunately for Baylee, her team lost. That was only their second loss so it was a big win for Sarah! Baylee was a little bummed to say the least. It was intense watching them play each other and cheering for both of them. They are both great players!

Grabbing sandwiches after the game with Jason's family

Baylee bummed about her loss and not wanting me to document it on the blog

Grandpa Randy carrying both grandkids (the game was great because I had so many helpers with these two, most days it is just me chasing them around)

Happy New Year!

2007 was a busy year for us... I know every year is busy but 2007 was especially busy... Here are some of the big events that happened in our family... (This is longer than I want it to be but this is my way of journaling. Please don't feel obligated to read this.)

~We sold our house and moved to a rental house for a few months while Jason finished building our house. Might I add... that Jason built our house in record time. The inspector for the city said he's never seen a house, it's size, finished so fast. (just to give you a taste of how hard Jason works) One hard part about building too was I had to pick everything out. It was fun but very stressful and time consuming.

~ We moved in and after moving twice this year, I've decided I hate moving with little ones. It is so much work and so hard to get anything done between taking care of two little kids under 3!

~ A couple weeks after we moved in, Jason collapsed and could NOT move. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Jason is not the type to let me call an ambuliance but I didn't have a choice. So we took an ambuliance ride to the hospital and Jason had to have emergency back surgery. We knew he needed a surgery, and he was in a lot of pain for a long time. In fact he had lost feeling in one of his legs but those of you who know Jason... he is so stubborn and couldn't stand the thought of taking time off work for surgery. He obviously ended up not having a choice. Thankfully we had already moved in.

~After the move and the surgery, Jason and his crew worked hard and finished our yard before winter and our basement just in time for Christmas. I know, the man is crazy but that is why he is so successful at what he does! The bad news is... he healed from the surgery but still has back pain and now the surgeon is telling us he is going to need to get his back fused. He is extremely young to have this done. Poor guy! The hardest part is he loves to work hard and now he is very limited.

~ In the meantime, I am always busy trying to take care of all the kids... I spent 4 months potty training Avaree without success. She is stubborn like her Dad. As most of you know, I finally gave up in November and am hopeful for the New Year!

~The end of August, Baylee and Griffin went back to school. (which was good for me after our crazy summer) Unfortunately, Griffin was incredibly sick his first 2 weeks of the BIG 7th grade. The stomach flu was going around and almost everyone in our family had it but I couldn't figure out why Griffin wasn't getting better. So I finally took him to the Doctors. The Dr sent us right to the ER at Primary Children's hospital. Another, emergency surgery! Griffin had his appendix removed. The surgeon said it had been ruptured for 2 weeks proir! No wonder he was so sick. He was in the hospital for 8 days and lost 20 lbs that he couldn't afford to lose. I don't think he ate for at least a week. We are thankful that Griffin is okay and back to good health with a good scar to prove what he went through.

~ On a better note some of the fun things and traveling we did were... a couple of trips to Southern California to see friends and family, a trip to Northern Cal, Lake Mead, Nevada (with our new boat that we didn't get to use much because of Jason's surgery), a trip to Idaho to the cemetary where my Mom was buried, and we hosted Jason's family a couple of times.

~One more big event was that my brother Brady got engaged to Ligia Perez and is getting married March 28th.

~ Some of our accomplishments were... Jason built and sold 4 houses (not including ours) with 3 more in the works. Baylee made the 9th grade basketball team and still hasn't ever gotten anything worse than an A in school. Griffin is the President of his Deacon's quorum in church and gets good grades. In fact, after his appendicitis a teacher said to him, "I've never met a more responsible 7th grader than you." Avaree continues to learn new things each day and make us all laugh at the things she says. Weston turned 1 and finally started to crawl at 14 months. For me... I think I just survived taking care of everyone. I guess one of my accomplishments would be that I started blogging. It's been so fun being in touch with family and friends that I don't get to see much.

So that is our 2007 in a nutshell. Some of our goals for 2008 are...

Jason's is to quit Dr Pepper, sell the homes he is building, and get a lot of jobs finishing basements to keep his business a success.

Mine is to finish getting my house decorated and organized and continue to enjoy my children and have patience with them.

Baylee's is to get her learners permit.

Griffin's is to get a 4.0

Avaree's is to get potty trained.

Weston's is to start walking!

As a family we are going to get in the habit of reading our scriptures again!

2008 here we come! I love the feeling of a New Year and the feeling of being able to start fresh. We are always striving to do better and learning from our mistakes. Those of you who actually read this.... I'm impressed. Happy New Year!