Happily Ever After

Disney World Trip

2011-08-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

Unpacking after a move is way better than the packing part. But I thought I would put it off a few more minutes and post some pictures from the last month.

At the All Star Music Resort

Squashing Serenity

When did she get so grown up?

Cadence did handstands all over the place.

At the Piano shaped pool.

The Guitar shaped pool.

Two snugly and wiped out girls.

Breakfast on our last morning.

My Serenity

Sing it with me. C is for Cadence. That's good enough for me.

Expedition Everest


What?! Going to Everest w/o Mom?! They rode it twice without me and we rode it six times together.

Dinosaur. Can you tell we are having fun?

Kilimanjaro Safari. Serenity was in heaven.

Rides, Baby!

Cadence loved it too, but it would have been better with Uncle Seth as our guide.

Tower of Terror. So fun. Although, Serenity didn't open her eyes once.

One of our trips down Splash Mountain.

Space Mountain!

We of course went on a lot more rides, but these are the ones we caught pictures of.

Other pics

Waiting for the bus.

Playing their DSIs in line for Soaring.

France was so much fun at Epcot World Showcase.

So hot!

Trying to cool down.

MMM, Lemon Gelato! This gelato may have saved our lives.

Guess what country showcase we were in. She makes a very cute viking.

¡Hola!

Found me a Norseman.


So much fun together!

Age 12 Disney World

Check Out the Growth

Age 7 Disneyland

Age 8 Disney World

Age 3 Disneyland

Family Portraits

2011-05-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

It was time. The last time we had family pictures taken was October 2007. Both Serenity and Cadence have grown so much since then. So we had some fun and went for manicures and pedicures and dolled ourselves up and went for our portraits. We were silly and fun, which is certainly our normal daily life. It was fun to let some of that be captured on film. We are super fun after all. We also hope that you enjoy our pics.

Spring Break

2011-04-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

The girls and I had a wonderful spring break. Uncle Matt showed us and cousin Sarah so many things in our nations capitol. Washington D. C. was wonderful and beautiful. We got to spend three fabulous, tiring days wandering and seeing and learning. We visited the National Zoo, the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Monument, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. All five of us piled onto the bench of a bicycle taxi (boy was that an adventure) when we were hot and tired and needed to get to the Metro station before we dropped in a heap.

Sore feet and screaming joints somewhat limited what we fit into the time. I really thinks we could easily fill another week or more with all that we WANTED to see. Oh well, I guess we will just have to go back a few times in the next few years. Maybe next time we can do some of our touring on the bicycles available to rent, ooh, or maybe on Segways.

Crazy fun girls

Hot and Tired

Monkey on the Metro

Some giant broke his teeth biting this doughnut.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

2010-08-01T22:23:00.000-04:00

Recent Pictures

2010-07-29T23:44:00.000-04:00

I thought I would just quickly share some photos of my most recent outings with Serenity and Cadence. The first photo is from dress rehearsal performance of the Hill Cumorah Pageant. One was a trip to the Seneca Park Zoo. The other was a quick trip to Niagara Falls before we dropped the girls off at the Buffalo airport to meet up with their dad and go to Vancouver, WA for the next 4 weeks.

I love this one. Cadence hasn't figured out yet that Serenity is getting so close in order for me to take a picture.

Windy day at Niagara Falls.

Did I mention it was a bit windy?

Crazy Busy and Helpful Girls

2010-03-24T17:18:00.001-04:00

Wow. I really have neglected posting anything lately. It isn't that nothing is going on. It has just been crazy busy. For the last month I have been working two part time jobs. I am still working at the Latter Day Harvest bookstore right here in Palmyra. I am now also working at Kohl's in Victor, New York, which is about 30 minutes away from our house. After working out some scheduling misunderstandings and having a gracious manager at the bookstore, things are now scheduled fairly smoothly. It, however, also means that Sunday is my only day off. Laundry and other household duties are still being worked out, more unorganized than usual but, I'll get it all figured out soon. The girls are being incredibly helpful and for a month minus a sick day for each girl, have made their beds everyday. They keep their clothes picked up and on Saturdays it takes no time at all to clean their room even better. They are doing more chores as well and it almost makes me cry thinking about what a HUGE help and weight off me and Grandma it has been. I had been worried that I hadn't taught them well enough and they wouldn't gain an understanding of the satisfaction of hard work. ;-) I think they will be all right. I am grateful to them for their willingness to help out and being able to reward them with a tiny bit of allowance is very nice.

I am super stressed out and have had a couple of meltdowns and I don't know if or when things will calm down but I'm sure they will.....eventually......right?

I Love My Super Kids

2010-01-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

We spent the day at the Strong Museum of Play on Martin Luther King Day. We had a great time and were grateful for some much needed together time after they were gone for so long for Christmas Break. Here are the girls looking SUPER!

Smudge

2009-12-15T11:11:00.006-05:00

This is Smudge. He joined our family about 2 weeks ago and he fits in quite well. I think he might be as quirky as Smokey, my childhood cat and Boo, our cat that died last January. I think he would also be a pea in the pod with Seth's family cat, Princess Tiger Lilly. The girls are both in love with him and fill their free time with him lately.

And this is Smudge chasing a mouse....pointer.

Some Traditions

2009-11-29T17:44:00.000-05:00

For decades now, someone in the Hippen family has participated in the annual Turkey Trot, Turkey Chase, Thanksgiving Day Race in Orem, Utah. Some years it has been many of us. Some years, only a few could be there. Well, crazy as it sometimes seems, like remembering how cold it was in 2007, Dad and the girls and I missed being there this year.

So we went over to the high school and had our own Turkey Trot.

The weather was unseasonably nice, but don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.

Cadence did a lap around the track and then had fun drawing pictures.

Serenity made it around twice and then went a little camera crazy.

Not being in our greatest shape ever, Dad and I just walked, but hey we did it. I walked 2 miles, like I would have in Orem and played with the girls while Dad finished his four miles.

Woo Hoo. It helps to do something like this to not feel as guilty about stuffing ourselves later on in the day. I'm glad we did it even though we didn't get a fun shirt out of the deal. Some traditions need to keep going.

Locks of Love

2009-11-20T23:11:00.000-05:00

Both Serenity and Cadence have loved having long hair and both have been growing it out for several years. Neither, however, have learned how to brush through it adequately and both dread getting their hair done each morning. Part of me feels like I should just let them do their own hair and don't worry about the rats nests that are being knotted up underneath the surface, and eventually they will learn what it takes to care for their long hair by themselves. The part of me that refuses to let them leave the house looking like orphans in the movie Annie or Oliver Twist usually wins out though. I hate to admit that I understand why my mom kept my hair short a lot of my childhood, but I do. I hate the tears and the dirty looks they give when I am just trying to take good care of them. I also hate the idea that they might get it stuck in their heads that girls are only pretty with long hair. Variety and change are healthy, beautiful, and fun and when it is all said and done, it is just hair and it will grow back.

So a few months ago I mentioned it to them that it was time for a fresh cut for each of them and that it would not only make life a little easier in the mornings but we could turn it into a service project and donate their hair to Locks of Love and help out in an easy and fun way. They had already done most of the work. So hooray for new haircuts and fresh starts. I think we will grow it long again and donate again. It is a good experience. They both look so gorgeous with their new do's as usual as well. Here are the fun before and after pictures. I don't think the pictures show well enough though, how almost giddy they both are at how cute their new looks are. They have both had "bob" hair cuts before, but with bangs. Without bangs might make them look too grown up. I haven't decided yet.

My Beauties!

2009-11-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

I know I already posted these new school pictures on my facebook, but I must post here as well for those who don't use facebook, don't you think. It is only fair to them. Hehe. We had the fun option of choosing the background colors for their shots, so each of them of course chose their current favorite colors.

Serenity's is green, as it has been most of her life. She loves all things nature and fresh.

Cadence's is orange, which totally fit her, since she is bold and sunny and it is a great autumn color.

Halloween In A Small Town

2009-11-01T17:56:00.001-05:00

Halloween was a week long event here in Palmyra when it comes right down to it. Last Saturday on the 24th was Trick or Treating on Main St., which is just IN the shops in the village so it didn't take the girls long, but hey, more candy. Serenity painted pumpkins for activity day girls while I helped the YW decorate for the games we setup for Friday's ward dinner and Trunk or Treat.

Then on Wednesday evening there was a costume parade and contest for the kids up to twelve years old and free doughnuts and cider, that was held at Cadence's school. Cadence won second place in the cutest category for her age group....more candy. Regardless of the fact that Serenity was robbed of winning a prize, the three of us had so much fun dancing with each other as we watched the different age groups and cheering each other on. I cannot be sure, but to look at us, I think we had more fun than anybody else.

Serenity is a beautiful pink flamingo on the lawn that we call life.

Thursday I made a new recipe of soup to take to the ward dinner. Roasted butternut squash soup with apples and bacon. It was so good. As usual I didn't follow the original recipe exactly, but tweaked it a little to make it my own. We came home with an empty pot, so I hope people really liked it. Which brings us to Friday. The girls' took their costumes to school for their class parties. School is business as usual until the last part. But both of them came home with plenty of loot. Then we went to the ward dinner. The food was good but the turn out was so good that we ran out of food. The games went pretty well. My personal favorite was digging for the bones of a miniature skeleton in a cauldron of slimy spaghetti. Then we paraded the kids across the stage and out to the trunks for Trunk or Treating. More Candy!

Cadence was The Blue Nosed Witch, which is from a favorite book I read as a kid and that we found and read together from Cadence's school library. I love passing on traditions.

My sad attempt as a China Doll.

Saturday was a fairly normal rainy Saturday of chores and me at work with a migraine. That made me more grateful that I had already asked Grandpa if he would take the girls out Trick or Treating. The rain had stopped by then, but it was windy. They needed gloves and coats and covered ears. That doesn't seem too bad after looking at pictures of more than two feet of snow at my sister's house in Colorado. For the first time since becoming a mother ten years ago, this was the first Halloween I didn't go out. It was so relaxing to sit and watch mildly scary movies and pass out candy. Our house isn't next to too many residences so we only had about twenty kids. The girls were home and showered and in bed by 9:00. Woo Hoo. Happy Halloween everyone!

Autumn Walking

2009-10-13T10:27:00.001-04:00

Autumn is my favorite season. It has been for as long as I can remember. I love the cool snuggle-time weather, the cute clothes, autumn colors, baking more, and sometimes being able to slow down into a smooth routine. Although I don't think we have slowed down much this year. Busy is good....right?
We took the time Columbus Day gave us together to get out for a walk and see the leaves before they all fall. There are still a lot of green leaves but it is already getting so cold that I won't be surprised if autumn is short lived.

Back to School

2009-09-08T09:35:00.000-04:00

Well, school finally started for the girls here in New York. They have been waiting with baited breathe for weeks now. The morning ran pretty darn smoothly and hopefully we can make a trend of that. We'll have to see how it will have to change if at all once I am working again since my summer job is done. I am so pleased that both the girls love school so much and I hope their first day is a fabulous one. It seems so strange to have them in separate schools, but at least the bus for Serenity goes from and comes to Cadence's school so with a little bit of a wait they can walk together and with me for now. People talk about how safe and comforting it is for children to have normal set routines. It is so true and it is comforting to moms too, I'm sure most would agree. So here are my cute girls in their twin outfits, all raring and ready for the new adventures ahead.

Tired!

2009-09-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

Nothing new or exciting has been happening with us lately. I realized how lacking my blogging has become this summer and decided I needed to come up with a little something. My Dad and I put up a tire swing in the back yard for the girls after I replaced the tires on my car. We are creative recyclers, ya know. So here are a couple of pictures of the girls enjoying their new toy. The pictures are a bit on the fuzzy side, but action shots are hard for little inexperienced photo takers. But we have so much fun.

Summer Showers

2009-07-03T19:57:00.000-04:00

I have had a number of conversations lately that included talking about the rain we have been getting lately. NORMALLY, it doesn't really rain that hard in Utah. You can tell if it rained hard if while you were driving in the rain, it was hard enough to get the back window of the car wet. I have noted a few times in the past year before we moved that that usually was not the case in Utah. Here in New York it definitely rains hard. Karalenn told me about a friend who would shampoo her hair during warm rain of the summer. So we thought that sounded fun and we would try it. Wouldn't you know that the rain would fizzle out just as the girls got going. Well, they had fun anyway. I just ended up pouring warm water from the kitchen over them to get them rinsed off well enough.

Easy Going Laid Back Summer

2009-07-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

We have recently taken advantage of our close proximity to LDS church history sites. We had a nice time just taking our time walking around. When we were here in August 2005 it was so hot and humid that my memories of these places are pleasant, but slower and on cool evenings has made for better times. Here are just a few of the pictures we had fun with, and for those of you who have requested pictures of the beautiful scenery. Sorry a couple of the pictures are fuzzy. The camera was on a weird setting for some of them and I didn't realize.

The Hill Cumorah Monument

"Strike a pose, Mom."

Looking out from Cumorah Hill

Serenity loves it here. Can't you tell?

Cadence taking a quiet moment in the Sacred Grove.

The Frame House on the Smith Farm

The Log House on the Smith Farm

The Sacred Grove. One of the most peaceful places I've ever been.

Enjoying our time together.

To Dad ~ Love Serenity and Cadence

2009-06-21T14:40:00.000-04:00

The girls wanted to post a little something for Father's day. Of course being on opposite sides of the country, their dad wasn't able to enjoy the song all the kids at church sang for the dads, so we filmed this especially for him. They even changed a couple of the words to personalize it to their dad.

These are two of the sweetest girls in the world and they love their dad. They are so thoughtful and they are a great team. I am glad they have each other.

My New Job

2009-06-14T13:18:00.000-04:00

So, I am sure a lot of you already know, but I thought I would post a little something about my new job. I finished my first week of working part time at the LDS bookstore right next door to the Grandin Press Building where the Book of Mormon was first published. In the picture, the bookstore is to the left of the Grandin. The store is called Latter Day Harvest. There are only two of them, one here and the other in Nauvoo, IL. I am really enjoying it. It is such a good environment to be in. It's gonna get a lot crazy during the Hill Cumorah Pageant, or so I am told, but I'm gonna have fun doing it. Although our list of things that the girls and I want from the store make me wonder how much of my pay check will be spent right there. The other perk is that it takes me about three minutes to walk to work from our house, so, score.

Spring Chorus Concert

2009-05-22T17:04:00.000-04:00

Serenity joined the school chorus here in Palmyra. Both of the girls were in chorus in Utah, but here they only allow fourth and fifth graders to join. This week they had their final spring concert ever at Palmyra Elementary. Next year all the third, fourth, and fifth grades from Palmyra and Macedon(the little town just west of us) will go to school together in what WAS Macedon Elementary and will now be called Macedon Intermediate School. All the kindergartens, first, and second grades with be here and called, Palmyra Primary School.

I captured some of the concert on my camera as video. I couldn't zoom in any further so sorry it is kinda hard to see Serenity. I tried to keep her in the center of the screen, but admittedly hard to pick her out. The audio quality isn't wonderful either, but it isn't from a nice camcorder.

I am pleased with the little young lady she is becoming and how at least during performances she isn't fidgety like a lot of kids are. We enjoyed it despite the heat and we hope you will too.

Spring School Pictures

2009-05-14T00:07:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to share the girls new spring school pictures. I really love them this year other than the fact that both my babies look way too grown up.

Zoo Field Trip

2009-05-08T19:14:00.000-04:00

Cadence and I had so much fun today on her class's field trip to the Seneca Park Zoo. We were rather worried about how the day would turn out since it was supposed to be raining most of the day. Well, that is weather for you, ever changing. We dressed in our layers and had rain jackets prepared because the plan was to go, rain or shine. Hooray for shine. It ended up being a very nice clear day. We were so warm we had to shed some of our layers and we may have a tiny hint of pink on our cheeks. It wasn't the most amazing zoo I have been to, but all in all very fun. Some parts were better than other zoos I have been.

For the Birds

2009-04-25T20:40:00.000-04:00

Having a park next door to the house sure is handy. It is definitely turning out to be one of the girls favorite things about living here. We are over at the park almost daily and some days more than once. It is an extension of our back yard, in a way. The merry-go-round still makes me nauseous even if I am just spinning them on it and not even on. The girls could stay on the swings all day and the teeter-totter too. Say that 5x fast.

It got too hot for the birds in the sun so the blankets made it harder to get great pictures.

This is Seymour.

Little blind screech owl. That is our house there in the back of this shot.

Barn Owl.

Big Horned Owl.

Today we got up after a little sleeping in and got ready and went over to the park for Palmyra's Bird Festival. It got into the mid 80s and was breezy. Very nice after such a long winter. There were booths about bird feeders and food to attract birds to your yard as well as plants and flowers for that purpose as well. There were birds from bird rescues, both for pet birds and wild birds that were injured at some point beyond being able to be put back in the wild after healed; like the cockatoo that used to be a performer at Busch Gardens until it attacked it's trainer or the little screech owl is almost completely blind after being hit by a car. We had a lot of fun and we learned a lot too. Serenity looked like she thought it was a little bit of heaven. All the birds were beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T19:49:00.000-04:00

It has been years, but I let Heidi talk me into sewing Easter dresses with her for the girls. I used to sew all the time in high school and a little bit after, but that last major sewing project I did was my bridesmaid dress and Serenity's flower girl dress for Hanna's wedding. I am sad to realize that I had let go that part of me so long that my girls had never really seen me sew anything more than pillows and blankets.

They didn't even know what a pattern looked like out of the envelope. It was fun to watch how excited and impressed they were by it all, even with my skills a little on the rusty side. They all wanted different colors, so we used the same pattern and their individual colors and they turned out pretty cute. You cannot really tell by the picture, but the dresses are two layers with a more sheer chiffon fabric on top. Both Serenity and Cadence have expressed the desire to learn so that with be fun to teach and share with them something that was very much a part of my growing up.

Yesterday we also had fun at the town
Easter egg hunt in the park right next
to the house. You might have guessed
by the looks on their faces that it was
FREEZING but they still managed to
have fun

and that sneaky Easter Bunny
even got into the house while
the girls played at the park so
that their baskets were more
than overflowing.

Trying To Get Organized

2009-03-26T23:49:00.000-04:00

I have had a few people ask me to post pictures of the house. Since most of you haven't been out here to see it, it might be nice to have a frame of reference when you think about us. Mind you, part of what we are here to do is to fix up the house, so even though our stuff is in them, these could be considered before pictures. We don't have everything up on the walls and everything unpacked and in it's proper place, but it is a start.

Getting Settled in Palmyra

2009-03-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't posted in a month and that I really should post something now that we are in Palmyra, NY. There isn't really much to tell just yet. We are getting the house set up and organized which is time consuming for sure. I am looking for a job and updating my resume and things like that. I have also been trying to set up a network between my dad's computer and mine so that I can use his internet access, but so far it is a no go. I have been out of the computer loop for too long and I haven't figured out what isn't right so I can correct it. All I know is, it wasn't this hard when we networked my computer, my dad's, and Sheri's when we moved in there.

Other than that, it is a little weird to get used to the layout of these little towns and villages and country roads. It has also been so bitterly cold that I haven't taken the chance to get out and explore like I would like to do. It is supposed to warm up to the 40s this weekend so maybe I will do something then.

The girls are doing well. It took a week after we got here to get everything squared away for them to start school. So now they are back in school and they love it. The really seem quite happy. Serenity's paperwork from her teacher makes me feel like her class is very strict, but she has good things to say about it everyday when she comes home. She thrives in an intelligent, challenging environment. Cadence raves about how fun her class is. She loves that it is all day kindergarten here and that she gets to eat in the cafeteria. She had P.E. yesterday and described an obstacle course and climbing to the ceiling and what a "blast, blast" she had. That does seem just up her alley.

Well, hopefully I will have more great things to report very soon.

Serenity On The Mountain

2009-02-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

Here in Utah there is a school program that takes the fourth graders to go skiing at Snowbird. I am so glad that Serenity was able to participate in it before we head off to New York. She only got to go on one of their trips, but hey, that is more skiing than mommy has ever done.

She looks like a natural from my inexperienced point of view and she looks so cute in all her gear and wearing mommy's sunglasses. They got vouchers for skis and boots, a two hour ski lesson, and a few minutes a little more on their own.

She had a blast and she says she only fell four times and only crashed twice. She described how the snow flew when she crashed into the padding around one of the posts that goes to the ski lift. I have a very funny cartoon-like image in my head and wish someone had caught that part on film.

But thank goodness for those wonderful cushy pads that served their purpose so well. Next time I'll do better about sunblock too, she got a little bit pink. I truly hope that it isn't her only experience with skiing and that Cadence and I can share in this newly discovered source of fun someday.

My Upside Down Girl and the Tooth Fairy

2009-02-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

I have said before so I know a lot of you are aware that I call Cadence my upside down girl. Since she was a baby, she could be found standing on her head in the corner of the crib. She watches T.V. hanging upside down from the couch or in a chair. She loves the monkey bars on any playground and has even turned the canopy of her and her sister's beds into a jungle gym. She cannot really tell me why she likes doing these things, but as her modest mother, I think she finds value in looking at life from a different perspective. I took a few pictures/videos of her swinging on her bed since I am not sure how conducive her next bedroom and ceiling will be for such activities.

Cadence is creative in many ways. Life with her is never boring. Its fun to look at things from her point of view.

Cadence was also very excited this week to lose her first tooth and of course her first visit from the tooth fairy. The little blue bag in her hand has her little tooth in it to put under her pillow. That tricky tooth fairy put her dollar in the bag and took the tooth without her even feeling it. How does time get away from us so much. We measured the girls within the last few weeks and Miss Cadence is already 4' 1". My baby isn't a baby anymore *sniff, sniff*.

In Loving Memory of Our Cat Boo.

2009-01-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well, this morning we had to say goodbye to our sweet old man cat, Boo. He was a good cat and very old, we think he was about 19 years old. So he lived a long good life and gave us a lot of love, but it was his time. We are unsure of his exact age because we got him when he was already adult size in October of 1991. We rescued him after he was cared for by my mom's friend for a bit, but the weather was getting cold and her kids had very severe allergies so he couldn't go into her home. She knew what animal lovers we are at our house and called my mom. Of course she was willing and we all fell in love very quickly. We named him Boo since we got him in October and he looks like a ghost with his white fur and one yellow eye and one blue eye. He has moved from Utah to Arizona and back to Utah, although with his thick fur, we thought he was a goner our first summer in Mesa. But he was a stronger cat than that. A fighter when he had to be, even though whoever owned him first had had him de-clawed. It didn't seem to slow him down. He was just a more creative fighter. He was also a cuddler with a very loud purr when you got his motor going. In his old age his affection became even more adamant than earlier years and he even got demanding about us sharing our food with him. Such a funny old man, he was. He always slept in the strangest positions. He had a fun Garfield & Odie act that he put on with Merlin. He would egg Merlin on to attack and then he would box Merlin's ears. They were quite entertaining. We will miss him immensely. We were worried about him staying here when we move to Palmyra, New York next month. We knew it would be hard on him to have us gone, but way too hard on him to take him with. So, at least now he is at peace and taken care of before we go. Thank goodness for pictures and long memories. We love you Boo.

Computer Dependency

2009-01-22T00:36:00.000-05:00

Oh, how on earth did we ever get along in the world before personal computers? As is the same for quite a few of you, I am completely dependent on the ever changing, inexact science that is the PC. My computer has been acting up lately. Which really shouldn't be shocking since it was a Christmas gift in 2001. I took my tower in to have it looked at before we head off to New York. It turned out pretty much as I expected it to. The tech took it to the back to blow out all the dust and then he came back and told me immediately that my system is toast. Some of what he said after that I kinda already had guessed. But not ALL of what he said. Sheesh. The power supply is dying. The hard drive is dying and that might be connected to the fact that the CPU fan, isn't always spinning. Another fan next to it on the motherboard doesn't spin anymore. And finally, the fan on the video card is no longer spinning either. Also, there are at least four capacitors on the motherboard that are quite visibly blown. In short, it is amazing that I can EVER get this thing to boot up(that is why I usually just leave it on). Plus, I didn't bother taking in the monitor, but that is dying too. Anytime I turn is back on after being off for a bit, it makes a quiet but high pitched pulsing blank screen for at least twenty minutes before the screen finally comes back to life.

I really don't know it it will survive the move to New York. But hopefully I can get it to hop along for a bit longer, as finances aren't great for needing to replace it yet. I don't know how I would survive with out it though. I email, network,and blog all the time. I pay bills and such more on the computer than checks or mail, I hardly ever have to buy stamps. I relax online or playing freecell and listen to music. Losing it might not be tragic as losing other things in life, but I admit, I am somewhat obsessed and might flip out if I can't get a regular fix. AHHH! It hurts to even think about. So, if I disappear from cyberspace in the near future, you'll know why. Sad.

Feeling blessed this Christmas

2008-12-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

The economy being how it is right now, we knew that this Christmas was going to be simple and on the small side. The girls have been sweet and understanding and helped fill our home with the Christmas spirit. Serenity completely ended our Christmas day quite nicely. As she climbed into bed that night, she said that this Christmas had been pretty nearly perfect. That made mommy tear up a bit.

There are also many people who have contributed to that Christmas spirit as well. We are very blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. Thank you for being a part of our lives. We are very rich in all the truly important ways thanks to all of you. We wish you all a blessed new year and hope your Christmas was as perfect as ours. We didn't send out Christmas news letters and cards this year so I will update you a little here instead.

If all goes smoothly, we will be moving to Palmyra, New York in a few months. I will be helping my dad with some restoration work on my older sister Heidi's house. It is going to be a great adventure, to be sure. I think I will miss the mountains a bit, and we will definitely miss those we are leaving behind in Utah. Wish us luck. Woohoo!

November 2008

2008-12-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Pictures from my date. I went on a group date for Margaret Monson's birthday. We had dinner at The Roof restaurant and then went to the symphony. It was fun.

Thanksgiving. My girls were in Washington with their dad. I have continued walking at least 5 days a week for around 3 miles a day consistently for 5 weeks now, and that helped me improve my race time by more than 3 minutes. 2007 I did 2 miles in 30:13.1. 2008 I improved to 27:56.2. This year was quite warm and pleasant too. Last year was painfully cold. I think next year I will be ready for the 4 mile run, no problem.

GO ME!!!

2008-11-12T22:38:00.001-05:00

Well, it may not be much in the grand scheme of things but it is a big deal to me. I just thought I would post a little note because I am so pleased with the roll that I am on. I am beginning to form a good habit of working out. I really don't think I have done this well since P.E. was a part of life. Sad. I am starting off slowly with walking around the neighborhood or on the treadmill at work. I walked a total of 16 miles and for 5 straight days last week and so far 7 miles in the last 3 days this week. Cadence even went with me yesterday which helped me stay on my goal and we had a good time together from my point of view. I am a tiny bit sore but it is so worth it especially considering it has alleviated what had become almost daily headaches last month. Shocking isn't it. So this little post is me being my own little cheerleader (someone's got to do it.) I am very hopeful that this is a lifelong habit in the making. Taking care of me will make me a better mom and friend and employee, I am sure of it.

Halloween Time!

2008-11-01T19:05:00.000-04:00

We have had a very fun October full of witches and treats and pumpkins. It has been unseasonably warm and we have definitely taken advantage. Cadence decided last year that she wanted to be Dorothy and Serenity and I kinda decided around her idea. I was going to put together a costume to be a tornado but it didn't work out. So Serenity was a great cowardly lion and I still stayed with our theme as the wicked witch of the west. I hope you all had as much fun as we did.

Recent Fun Stuff

2008-10-16T23:18:00.001-04:00

So for those of you who didn't know me before my braces and for those kind people who have already forgotten how crooked and crowded my teeth were....here are a before and an after shot. And then the slideshow is just some of the random fun we have had recently.
Before
After

Weird and Random

2008-10-07T21:46:00.001-04:00

Six weird and random things about me:
The rules are:
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog
* Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

It really should not be that difficult to thing of six weird things about myself.....but it is.

1. I like to color pieces of my hair unnatural colors like pink and purple.
2. I love unusual names. Not made up names. Just uncommon with special meaning to go with my feeling as to what their personality is like. I think Serenity and Cadence completely fit their names.
3. I love to try out new recipes and twist them to my own tastes.
4. I am fairly mechanically inclined. I can fix things like old hairdryers, I can build my own computer, I have replaced roofs and done drywall and lay tile.
5. I have always had a fascination with vampire stories throughout my life. (The Twilight Saga played nicely into that fascination.)
6. I have a talent for remembering the lyrics to songs and find it annoying when people don't sing the right lyrics. If you aren't sure what they are, just hum instead.

I tag Christianne, Noelle, Julie, Sheri, Amber, and Christie.

Nothin' New

2008-10-06T22:51:00.000-04:00

Not a lot of new going on with us these days. We are just kinda stuck in a busy school/work/try to play once in a while routine that is happy but not much worthy of blogging about. Hopefully we will have something soon.

Back to School

2008-09-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Why does time have to fly so fast? It doesn't really seem to matter if you are having fun or not. How in the world did I suddenly become the mom to a fourth grader and another kindergartner. Well I guess that I must have blinked or something. I am very pleased with how enthusiastic my girls are about school and learning. They both have very fun teachers and the outlook for this year is definitely good. I cannot tell you how nice it is that evenings for us are spent with reading more than television. I am so grateful that their grandpa reads to each of them almost every night and now Serenity is reading to Cadence on top of that. I feel that they are creating memories that will serve them well throughout their lives and will bond them closer and closer to one another. Serenity got a small bookcase for her birthday and I was thrilled with how excited she is to fill it with books that she loves. Reading can be a contagious bug too, Cadence wants a bookcase of her own too.

Youth Parade

2008-07-26T00:11:00.001-04:00

The girls and I had the opportunity to be a part of the youth parade for the days of '47 pioneer celebrations here in Salt Lake. It was very fun to get to do this together. Cadi, very naturally fitting for her personality, waved her beauty queen wave. Serenity wasn't quite so bold about it but they were in my opinion the cutest two flour sacks in the the whole huge bunch.

Yes, flour sacks. Our ward building for church is on the same piece of land where one of the first flour mills in the Salt Lake valley was after the Mormon pioneers came here. So our float is reminiscent of that mill and we all got to be walking flour sacks.

The white part of our float portrays the different fields in which people of the Millcreek area have been pioneers like computers and medicine.

Each stake only gets asked to be in the parade around every nine years so we enjoyed our turn. I haven't been in a parade since I was drum majorette in junior high. Good stuff. It would truly surprise me though if this were the only parade the girls were in.

Memory Tag

2008-07-21T19:11:00.000-04:00

Tag! Here's the drill (This one's kind of interesting...)1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Think Pink

2008-06-19T00:58:00.000-04:00

So here are finally a couple of pictures of my pink hair(that I LOVE). Cadence took them at Seth's house last weekend. Not much new has been going on so yes this is the most I could come up with for a fun nonsensical update.

Owies

2008-05-23T14:39:00.000-04:00

I'll see your owies and raise you a couple of dog bites, Hanna. Well, I have been trying to find the time to post this for a few days now, but really the only time I had was during a power outage. Cadence's owies cannot be blamed on a growth spurt (even though she is in one), however, it has made for a difficult week.

She was playing with a little friend across the street and one of their dogs bit Cadi pretty badly. The story that the girls gave us was that the dog jumped at Cadi after she climbed down from the tree house. I won't bore you with all the gory details but the dog is in a 10 day quarantine, but he should be fine we expect. I hope he is okay and that it isn't necessary to go further.

Cadi is on antibiotics, which she hates. She certainly has kept her sense of humor through most of this as you can see her hamming it up for the pictures. Also, as we were waiting for the doctor to come look at it Cadi said "Well, if nothing else, it looks kinda cool." We decided it looks like she was attacked by a tiny bear. Much more interesting than a dachshund.

Laura Ingalls Wilder in the flesh!

2008-05-10T00:32:00.000-04:00

Serenity got to portray Laura Ingalls Wilder for a program her class put together of biography sketches. They all did great and Serenity even had hers memorized. She only looked at her notes a couple of times to keep the dates straight. I recorded hers on my camera. It started recording a tiny bit late so we miss her saying "I am Laura Ingalls Wilder" but I caught the rest of it. Hooray. Good job Baby, I am amazed by you.

Counting Down

2008-05-06T01:07:00.000-04:00

Check this out! There is a new TWILIGHT teaser and website. I can't wait!

Riding Bikes

2008-04-26T18:55:00.000-04:00

So here is the proof. It is a beautiful day out and the girls are
glued to their bikes, so I caught a few flashes of them on camera. I hope you all are enjoying spring as much
as we are.

Conquerors!

2008-04-20T01:22:00.000-04:00

Well, not by the sweat of MY brow but my girls conquered a skill that has up 'til now eluded them. Thanks to the neighbor girl, their friend from across the street, both Serenity and Cadence can ride their bikes sans training wheels. It is so fun to watch them and to see the joy that comes from accomplishing whatever they set their minds to. So far I don't have and pictures of them in the act, but I decided to stop putting off this post 'til I did have some.

The funniest part of it, to me, is that it was neighboring girlfriends who taught me to ride my bike when I was around Serenity's age.

Birthday Photos

2008-03-26T01:05:00.000-04:00

Hanna took some wonderful pictures for my birthday earlier this month. I love them. Here are some of my favorites, including one of her that Seth took. Somehow the photographer gets left out too often. Thanks Hanna. You Rock. Again.

Funny Kids

2008-03-14T15:42:00.000-04:00

Cadence and I were exploring online. I am not even sure how we found this, but I thought it was cute and funny. Kids do say the darnedest things.

The Girls Vision Boards

2008-03-11T18:51:00.001-04:00

Hanna, you are right, I should have posted their vision boards as well. I am not sure that their goals displayed on their vision boards will be as clear to others as they are to the girls. But hey, it was fun and I think they halfway got the idea. Anyhoo, here they are.

Vision Board

2008-03-09T16:53:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening each of us made vision boards of our goals and desires for ourselves. I am sure most of you have made them before or things like it, but for me it had been a while. I know what I want in life, but is fun/therapeutic and wise to get those kinds of things down on paper or, in this case, displayed where you will see it often and keep them in the forefront of your mind. I want to display mine here as well to put my wishes and dreams out there even more, so that the universe will send back to me what I am sending out. I know I will be blessed if I do my part and if my desires are in keeping with the Lord's will.

Yummy Recipe

2008-02-29T00:38:00.000-05:00

The girls and I made dinner together tonight, and it turned out really yummy so I thought I would share our online recipe find. Try it. It was easy, and fun for my girls, and not just run of the mill, in a rut kind of dinner. Salmon Fillets with Creamy Dill. I followed the suggestion of one of the peoples comments/ratings at the bottom of the page and used half mayo and half plain yogurt. It was a good suggestion. I am not sure that it made a perceivable difference, but we also used fresh lemon thyme. We all loved it. We served it with broccoli and rice.

I'm Lovin' My New Job

2008-02-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

I have just started a new job this week. I will miss my friends and clients down in Orem at Well Being Massage, but I feel like this new job is a great, positive step for me and my family. The commute was getting to be too much and now I cut that commute by more than half. I am working now at the Life Spa at Lifetime Fitness. It is an amazing facility and I am excited to work somewhere that will help me to teach my girls a more healthy lifestyle. It will help all of us with creating healthy habits that we all know we should have in our lives. Yeah!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T18:54:00.000-05:00

We LOVE snuggling and all things warm and soft that make snuggling more fun. I got a new robe for Christmas that the girls just liked so much that they have been continuously asking for robes of there own. So, as their little valentine gift from mommy, I found some robes that were even more cute than mine and on clearance to boot. Score!

We wish you all a very snuggly Valentine's.

Random Facts Tag

2008-01-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

My baby sister, Hanna, tagged me. This challenge is to list seven random facts about myself that most people don't know. I am running into the same issue she mentioned of being such an open book person that I am having trouble digging up more than one or two facts. I could steal a few from Hanna's list, but I am going to try for some originals.

1. I have played capture the flag in La Cite (the castle where Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves was filmed). It was a zone activity on my LDS mission in the south of France. I even scaled a couple of walls and cut my leg on some of the jagged glass embedded in the top of those walls. That was one of my favorite memories of a non-spiritual nature from my mission.

2. I had a rare blood disorder when Cadence was born called ITP which stands for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. "Idiopathic" means that the cause is unknown. "Thrombocytopenic" means the blood doesn't have enough platelets. "Purpura" means a person has excessive bruising. In my case it meant I shouldn't have had an epidural and I ended up having the epidural needle in my back for almost four whole days. They were afraid if they took it out I could bleed to death. The hospital had only EVER treated people for it six times.

3. I am not as physically active as I want to be, but that isn't my random fact. It just makes this fact on my list more impressive or shocking. I want to run a marathon. I would love to have the discipline to take on something that physically demanding.

4. I was told often as a teenager that I should be a model. Tall and super skinny and pretty, were compliments people gave as reasons. Well, this might not be an unknown fact to most, but I STILL would like to be a model. I hold back now though because now that I am at a much healthier weight than I was back then, I am afraid of the affect it might have if they told me to lose weight.

5. I am a hopeless romantic, but that again isn't the fact that I am sharing. But as a romantic, I don't believe in soul mates. I believe with like interests, beliefs, goals, and attraction it is possible to be truly happy with more than just one person instead of just looking for one who might be impossible to find.

OK, I have racked my brain to try to be original but I can't come up with anything more. So I am gonna share/steal a couple from Hanna.

6. I have never been a natural at flirting. I am 33 years old and the art still eludes me. There has only ever been one boy with whom I found it somewhat easier to flirt and I had a crush type friendship with him for almost half my life.

7. I have only ever kissed two guys and my first kiss didn't happen until I was 24 years old.

Insane Snow Day

2008-01-22T18:19:00.000-05:00

This is the condensed version of the story.
Luckily it was a MLK day so there was no school but I had to go to work. Or at least I was supposed to go to work. See, here is where the problem lies with me working way down in Orem. I left to drive to work around 7:50am. Which is a little early but it was snowy so I tried to give myself some extra time. Yeah, right. The freeways were a disaster. It normally takes me about 45 minutes to get to work. This trip, after 45 minutes I was 1/4 of the way there, still on I-215. So I let work know I was gonna be very late. Somewhere around 45 minutes later I was 1/2 way there. I called work again to see if there were any massages on my books. NOPE. So I decided it wasn't worth the insanity and decided to turn around and go back home. I took the surface streets home, because even though they weren't plowed either, they didn't look like a freaking parking lot. It took me another 50+ minutes to make my way home. THREE hours on the road. What a wasted morning. I hope everyone else had a more pleasant, less eventful MLK day.

Here is a view of the snow in our back yard after a little bit of melt time.

My Early Christmas Gift

2007-12-30T23:46:00.000-05:00

I was able to trade in my dream car turned nightmare lemon this last month. It was sort of my Christmas gift to myself that Hanna helped me wrangle. It got snowy fairly quickly after I got it and I didn't get a picture of it before the snow and road salt had made their mark on it. But the dealer took one and now I have a copy of that picture so I can post it. In the corner you can see a tiny bit of my old yellow VW Beetle. I still love those cars, but this one will be much less of a headache.

Elfin' Around

2007-12-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

I saw this fun link on my good friend Noelle's blog. I liked the idea and here is the link to our elves.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Traditions

2007-12-16T19:17:00.000-05:00

Christmas time is so full of fun and traditions and wonderful memories. This year my girls will be with their dad for Christmas and I hope they have a wonderful time. But before they go, we have had lots of Christmas fun of our own all month long. We have been making Christmas cookies, as mentioned in previous posts. We went with extended family to the Festival of Trees together. We have been to a few Christmas parties and sat on Santa's lap a couple of times. We have gone on drives to see Christmas lights and are constantly singing Christmas carols in the car.

This weekend, one of our Christmas activities was Ballet Wests, The Nutcracker at the Capitol Theater. We had a lot of fun getting all dressed up fancy and festive in the girls favorite Christmas dresses. You gotta love fun reasons/excuses to dress up. We don't do it enough in our culture any longer. Downtown Salt Lake is insanity this time of year especially with several events like this all going on at once, but you kinda just have to chalk it up to part of the experience and try not to let it ruin the Christmas Spirit for you. So we went to the ballet for Cadences first time and Serenity and my second time. Cadence thought it was a tad on the long side, but all in all we had a great time together as always.

Both of the girls tell me that Christmas is their favorite holiday for very similar reasons. Cadence likes that we get to be together as a family and nobody has to go to work. She also says that she is glad we can celebrate twice on these years that we can't be together and that while they are gone we can think about each other anyway and remember how much we love each other. Serenity loves celebrating as a family and just being together so much. She loves the true Christmas story of the Nativity and singing Christmas carols and hymns. They are both such smart sweet girls and I love them and can never tell them that enough.

My Precious Angel Baby Girls

2007-12-14T01:49:00.000-05:00

School pictures are fun and terrible all at the same time. I say terrible because when you look at all there school pictures side by side it is painful admitting how quickly they are growing up. It all flies by too fast and they just don't listen when I tell them to stop growing so fast or at least PLEASE slow down. Oh well. I just love them so so much.

COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES

2007-12-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

I had a few people suggest after my Baking Bug post, that I share some of the recipes that we use and enjoy. This week we made my version of Grandma Hippen's Molasses Mint cookies. They are super yummy and easy to let the kids help.

COOKIES

1 cup dark molasses
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger and salt; add to molasses mixture. Mix until well blended. Spoon the dough by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake about 10 minutes until edges are golden. Let cool on pans for 5 minutes before removing.

ICING

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
Milk
2-3 drops peppermint extract
green food coloring (optional)

Sift the powdered sugar then mix with the butter. Add milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach a smooth creamy consistency. Add flavor and color and blend well. Spread on tops of the molasses cookies.

Some Memories Aren't So Precious

2007-11-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

I hate when a lack of communication leaves room for my loved ones to get hurt. In this case it was Serenity. It was picture day at school. But the weekend before, we had put a temporary tattoo of a butterfly on her arm. So on the morning of pictures I told Serenity I wanted to take it off before she left for school. They come off fairly easily with oil. Alas, the craziness of the morning, we ran out of time. I didn't get it taken off. So I just stopped worrying about it. BUT...apparently I didn't voice that I wasn't worried about it TO Serenity. So she continued to worry about it. She thought I would be mad and she would be in trouble with me if the tattoo was still on for the pictures. Her teacher wouldn't allow her to go to the rest room to try to wash it off (that wouldn't have helped much anyway.) So.....she took things into her own hands....or more accurately fingernails. She scratched the stupid think off. She gouged her own skin off in the process. Being young, she had no idea that she was making things much worse. It got infected very quickly. We slathered it with antibiotic ointment and tried to keep it bandaged, but she is also allergic to the adhesive in the bandages. Anyhoo, it is healed up now, leaving her with a very faint scar shaped like a butterfly.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. The girls and I joined 13 other members of the Hippen families in the Turkey Trot races in Orem. I was extremely sore after my 2 mile walk with a time of 30 minutes 13 seconds, but it was great. The girls were in the same race which was a 1/2 mile. I don't know what their times were but my sweet Serenity chose to stay right with her little sister to make sure she was okay even though Serenity could have run much faster. They are so good to each other.

Dinner was delicious as well and it was fabulous to have most of the family together. There turned out to be 35 of us that ate at our house. Bakers, we missed you. I am truly thankful for all that I have, including my wonderful family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. What a great opener for the whole holiday season.

I Caught the Baking Bug

2007-11-10T00:26:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love about autumn and winter is catching the baking bug. It is one of those many instances where I wish I were a stay at home mom so I could do it more. Anyway, the girls and I have decided that every Friday for the next few months will be baking day. Last week Serenity and I made up our own recipe of chocolate peanut butter spiral cookies. It was a lot of work but they turned out purdy good. This week Cadence got in on the act too. She made brownies with white chocolate chips. Serenity made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I helped both girls, but really they did the majority of the work. We did it all from scratch and by hand too. No mixers, no short-cuts. I figure if they learn these things first the old fashioned way, then when they use modern tools it will be that much easier and they can be confident in their knowledge and skill. They are both learning really well and we have fun dancing to the radio while we are together in the kitchen.

Constant Change

2007-11-08T17:03:00.000-05:00

Change does not come easily to all, but really it is one of the few things in this life that you can count on. I feel like healthy, frequent changes can be fun and an opportunity for growth. It can be a chance for experimentation, exploration, and discovery. I am not one to think that that shouldn't apply to me OR my hair. People often tell me that I am so brave when it comes to my hair. Why not? It grows back. Mistakes can be fixed. You might as well have fun with it, is my thought on the matter. I do what I want to do with it, why stay bored just because others are closed minded or afraid of things that are different.

So, it is all gone... again. Well, not ALL. The before pictures are kinda awful, but mostly because my hair was a bit greasy. I wasn't gonna wash it before hand just to look better in the before pictures. We cut off about seven inches. How liberating.

BEFORE

AFTER

Whatdoyathink?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2007-11-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

We had a very fun Halloween this year. It was crazy and rushed and tiring, but we had a blast. We spent a lot of this Halloween with Seth's Family, we are enjoying them living so much closer. We also had a lot of fun pulling together our costumes for this year.

CADENCE

I doubt that anyone who knows Cadence will be surprised that she wanted to be a princess. Nor with it be a surprise that she wanted to be her favorite princess, whom she actually looks a lot like. BELLE. Seth helped me get a wonderful dress for her and I picked this one because it is really two costumes in one and therefore a little warmer. Doesn't she just look demure?

SERENITY

My beautiful Serenity DID surprise me a bit when she informed me that this year she wanted to be .....a WEREWOLF?! Are you sure? Yup. Not only that, but she couldn't wear a mask to school. So we went and bought some old jeans and a flannel shirt at the D.I. and bought some face paints. We also got some fur and some spirit gum for her face and some scary furry gloves. We ratted her usually beautiful hair. Put that all together and you have one scary werewolf that several people thought was a boy. To which I would say, "no, that is my beautiful baby-girl." However, she looked so freakin' awesome!

Hillory

Myself, I thought I would be clever and use the accessories I already have one this year. Especially since this will hopefully be my only Halloween with braces on my teeth. So this year I was "UGLY BETTY". I got a wig of dark frizzy hair. Bought some hideous clothing again at the D.I. Then the only make-up I had to do was to make my eyebrows bushy caterpillars. I am still confident in my real beauty to be comfortable enough that I don't typically look this bad. But it was fun and the looks I got from people said they thought it was clever too.

The whole day was fun, but the best part is being together. One of the most fun moments was at the end of the night. We got in the car to come home from Seth's house and the radio had on some really fun halloween-ish music playing. Songs like Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me", INXS' "Devil Inside". I think we were a bit slap-happy and hyper by this point. So even though we were exhausted, we sang along and danced the whole ride home. I so love these fun girls I've got.

Autumn Pictures

2007-10-12T11:48:00.000-04:00

I consider myself very fortunate to have such a talented family who are so willing to share our different talents with one another. I traded a massage for Hanna for some new family pictures. I give a fabulous massage, but I still think I got the better end of the deal because I get to enjoy the results of the pictures much longer than the effects of the massage can last. So, thank you so much, Hanna. You Rock! I will be using one for my Christmas cards of course, but I thought I would share some of the others here.

Cadence has the cutest cheesy grin sometimes. I love it.

Serenity belongs on a ranch or a farm where she can roam free. Both girls do, really. We can dream.

It was a fun, windy, autumn afternoon at Wheeler Farm.

We even had a super friendly horse offer to fill a void in some of our pictures. His decision was a sudden one that initially freaked Serenity out a bit as he nibbled on her sleeve for a few seconds. It was truly hilarious. Like I said, we had a lot of fun. Since discovering Wheeler Farm, my girls have fallen in love with it. If I think about it, the three of us are now very drawn to the animals and simplicity of environments such as that. We had a wonderful time feeding the ducks with Sydney, Hanna, and Eran.

Articulate Crack-Up

2007-09-20T21:41:00.000-04:00

Cadence is such a funny little thing. She just ran into me with a somewhat panicked look on her face. She said, "Mom, Serenity has something poking her in the eye. I asked her if I could look and she won't let me. She insulted me. She insulted me by not letting me see."

I replied while trying to keep a straight face, "she insulted you?"

To which Cadence said, "Do you know what that means?"

I smiled and said, "do YOU know what that means?"

"What does it mean, Mom?"

"It means she hurt your feelings."

Then she yelled, "YES, EXACTLY. She insulted me and Heavenly Father is watching her."

Luckily, it was made 'all better' by a kiss and a hug from mommy. I hope that solution keeps working for a good long time.

Make Lemonade

2007-09-04T19:31:00.000-04:00

Most of us know the phrase, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, the girls and I made some lemonade yesterday. I got off work a little early to use some of Labor Day to do something fun as a family. I was melting from the 98 degree temperature outside, but since the AC at work was broken, it may have been hotter than that while I gave massages inside. So to cool off after I got home, we decided to go see "Stardust" at the movies. We were very excited. We got there with only five minutes to get our snacks and seats. THERE WERE NO SEATS! Mind you, the movie was NOT sold out. I guess not everyone was there honestly. Anyway, we were very disappointed as we went back to the ticket counter, still carrying our snacks already to go. The manager was very nice and asked if we would like to see a different movie AND she would give me our money back for "Stardust". The girls were not easily talked into it, they had their hearts set. So the manager told us if we saw "Mr. Bean's Holiday" we would get out in time to Still see "Stardust" at 7:00. COOL! So we made it a double feature, which was a first for the girls. Seems like people just don't get to do that much anymore. BTW, "Mr. Bean's Holiday" was fun. Serenity and especially Cadence thought it was weird that there was so little dialog. All three of us absolutely LOVED "Stardust" and it will definitely become part of our DVD collection. We recommend it highly.

2007-09-01T01:12:00.001-04:00

First Attempt

2007-09-01T00:47:00.000-04:00

Realizing that first attempts are rarely ones to merit attention, here is my first real blog entry. I have a myspace page and have played around a tiny bit with that, but I wanted to do something that was for my family, not just me. Plus I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs of family and friends. I will give it a try and hopefully, every once in a while come up with something as clever and enjoyable as on their blogs. I have two amazing, beautiful daughters to help inspire me and to get material from. Wish me luck as I embark on this new adventure.

Big Hug,

Hillory