Puppy Love

Your Honor... I plead temporary insanity!
One look and we were hooked!

I mean PLEASE.... who could NOT fall in love with this adorable little face?Yes.... we did it.... we adopted another puppy. Ryan will say it was all my doing, but don't let him fool you... it was a family decision.
Meet ?????? a Cocker Spaniel and the newest addition to the Dennett family. We picked her up yesterday while in Cedar City. ( I promise we only intended to visit the orthodontist and attend a baptism)She already has every one of us wrapped around her little paw.
We just have one little problem.... we can't agree on a name for her. Kids like Lily, but I'm not quite sure. I like Daisy but the kids think that's too cutesy. Others we've considered are... Gypsy, Alice, Sophie, Glinda and Scarlet. At this point we're totally open to suggestions.
(If we wait too long her name might be "Puppy") Please feel free to leave a comment with your name ideas or preferences)

Gus, our other dog, isn't too sure about this new family member yet. He sniffs her to death and drools all over her. Gross... definitely need to pick up some puppy shampoo tomorrow.
I had to wake up a couple times to comfort her last night (I'm such a pushover), but she did pretty good in the kennel. She hasn't had an accident in the house ...yet (knock on wood & fingers crossed) and I hope she'll train quickly.

So here's a little video of her just to make you go awwwwww... how cute

SMILE

Miranda no longer has a tin grin :DAfter 1 year 1 month and 16 days her braces are off! We went to Cedar with the hopes they would be coming off, but weren't entirely sure.
Mark took a peek at them and before I knew it ..... they were off! Woah... are you sure she's ready I said... but there was no going back now! Because we went in after hours (I don't know any Ortho offices open at 10:30pm) So nice to have an Orthodontist friend. Mark didn't have any staff on hand to help him out. So first Miranda was in charge of her own suction tube deal, but that was a bit awkward...So mom stepped in.... Just lovin' the pink gloves! (I think I have a back up career if I ever need one)Finally, after cleaning, scraping and making retainer molds, she was braces free!Miranda was a fabulous braces patient. She rarely complained and they never slowed her down from singing. But she won't miss the cankers they caused.
Next in line.... Parker.... (hope he's as nice with braces as Miranda was)

Springtime Planting

Last year Ryan and I started a pot garden. We planted a few veggies just to see how things went. We didn't have a huge success, but decided to give it another chance. I also enjoy planting flowers in the small flower bed in the front yard. However, due to weather and lack of time, I hadn't gotten either of them planted.

I had a brainstorm before we left for Chicago that would help me get both planted while I was gone. Raynold, Ryan's dad, loves to garden and work in his yard. It's still too cold in Cedar for him to work on his own yard, so I thought he might like to help me with mine.

I didn't want to assume that he would want to "work" while on vacation, so I called just to be sure. He seemed pretty excited and willing to help me out.

So before I left I went to the nursery and stocked up on flowers and vegetable plants (I know I cheated, but it is too late to start seeds now) . I told Raynold that I trust his judgment of placement completely and to do whatever he thought best.

When I returned home on Saturday... this is the gorgeous site that welcomed me home....It truly made me so happy! I love driving up and looking at the flowers in bloom. I already have daffodils and gladiolas that will be coming up soon too, so I will need to plant a few more once they run their course. But doesn't this just make you smile :)

Then I took a peek in the back yard at our garden pots.... We now have 4 kinds of tomatos, cucumbers, zuchinni, squash, jalapeno, habinero and green peppers growing. I can't wait!
I'm so glad Raynold has a green thumb and was willing to give me a hand with the planting. I hope it helped him pass the time while "babysitting" the kids. Hopefully I won't mess up his work by forgetting to water or something.
I even left Nancie some very ripe banana's and recipe to make banana bread, and a couple shirts of Ryan's that needed some stitching. (She needed something to do while Raynold was working in the garden)

I hope Nancie and Raynold to know how much I appreciate them coming and staying with our kids. Miranda and Parker love them to come, (Parker especially loves the pancakes that he sweet talks grandma into making).

Thank you... thank you.... THANK YOU! You're the BEST!

The Windy City

No, I'm not talking about Las Vegas (despite the fact that we've had 40mph gusts the last couple days). I'm referring to THE Windy City... you know.... Chicago, Illinois.

Ryan had to go to Chicago for work, so we decided to make it a mini vacation and I'd tag along. I rarely do this because it's so much work to get the kids arranged. But thankfully Ryan has wonderful and willing parents who offered to watch the kids for us. (Now that the kids are older I'm sure it's not quite as hard as it used to be for them)

We left early Wednesday morning around 7am and didn't arrive at our hotel in Chicago until 5:00pm (Chicago time). So there wasn't too much time to do any sight seeing that day.
Our Hotel was beautiful. Here's a photo from the 7th floor down towards the lobby. ... yes those are real plants everywhere.
Thursday we hitched a 45 minute ride on the subway to downtown. First stop was the Sears Tower. We took the tour and went to the 99th floor lookout balcony. WOW
What an amazing view of Chicago. I couldn't believe all the skyscrapers. Because the kids were not with us and I was armed with the camera, poor Ryan had to endure being in many of the photo's himself.
Thank goodness for other nice tourists who offer to take our photo . We headed to the Magnificent Mile to do a little shopping and ran into a Chicago Harley Davidson shop. Ryan had forgotten to bring a hat so decided a new one was in order.
Love it Babe!We ended the day with a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.We only had an hour, but we were able to see a lot of the more famous paintings.

Friday we ventured Northwest of Downtown and visited the Chicago Temple. At first glance I thought, hey this is just like the Las Vegas Temple and felt at ease knowing I'd know exactly where to go. However, it was much different once inside. It was much smaller but equally as beautiful.
It was nice to be able to do a session and relax that morning.
We headed back downtown for a little more sight seeing at the Navy Pier.

I had printed out the address of a Chicago Scrapbook store so Saturday morning, before heading back to the airport, we cruised over to check it out. (Thanks Ryan!)

We arrived home Saturday evening about 5pm. The kids, of course, were well taken care of. I appreciate Nancie & Raynold coming to help out. I didn't want them to get too bored while babysitting, so I left them each fun little "jobs" to do. (more on that later). It's not too often Ryan and I get the opportunity to venture away from home together. It was a wonderful relaxing vacation, despite the cold, and I look forward to going again sometime. Next time, however we will plan it in the warmer months.

Move That BUS!!!

Today was the day for the big house reveal to the Certa family. I picked up the kids from school early so they would get to be there. We arrived around 1:30 and the reveal was supposed to happen around 2:30. There was already a huge crowd gathered and we weren't sure how close we would get. But thanks to knowing the right people.... we moved right ahead and joined the VIP crowd (thanks Anjuli!).
The famous bus was already in front of the house so I couldn't see it completed yet.
We waited for a very long, hot, tiring hour before anything "happened". The film crew began staging and filming the crowd shots.
That's when Ty appeared... and the crowd went WILD!
He was very cool and perhaps a bit snobby (Miranda thinks). He was reading his script, memorizing lines before the family came.
They had an empty limo drive in and we had to pretend we were cheering for the family to come home. This is Ty opening the empty limo.Then we had to yell "move that bus" over and over and over and over again. But, the bus still didn't move... (remember they were filming the crowd shots).
Then, they finally moved the cameras onto the bus and we yelled one more time.... MOVE THAT BUS... and it moved!! (Twice)
The house was finished and looked amazing! So after all the crowd and staging shots it was more waiting... waiting for the family to arrive.
It was very hot and our legs were getting tired, but it was worth it.... finally they came!!!


As you can tell from the video, the camera men were right in front of us, but I actually had a pretty clear shot of the family coming home.
Here's the Certa family meeting the Builders & Designers... lots of hugs and gratitude going on there!Then it was time for the official moving of the bus.... I couldn't videotape because we were being filmed. The family was truly shocked and amazed.
Then Ty said the famous line... "Certa family, go check out your new house"
Three times.... They literally walked up to the door, came back, walked to the door again, and came back. Then the cameramen went inside the house to film them coming in....

It was crazy to see everything done over and over just so they had options for editing.
Finally the family went inside. Then Ty came back out to the street so they could re-tape his close-up. He asked a member of the crew to stand in as the family so he wasn't talking into thin air... it was pretty funny.Then all the crew went inside the house and we decided it was time for us to go. I'm sure we missed out on some more filming, but everyone was so hot, tired and hungry that we were finished.
It was an amazing thing to experience first hand (and up close). I have a great admiration for all the people who worked so hard to get this house completed in one week. I wish I could have done some hands on helping, but it just didn't work out for me. I hope Brent Wright, Daniel Bartlett, Byron Christofferson and all the others who worked 24/7 sleep soundly tonight... they deserve it!
I've heard that this episode of Extreme Home Makeover is scheduled to air on TV on May 10th so be sure to tune in.... you just might recognize someone you all know and love!!!

Home Makeover Update

I went to the Extreme Home building site again to check things out today. I was amazed at the progress that had been made just on the outside...
They had the house painted, rock on the house, copper on the roof (that's the green you see), the pool was in, and they were starting the landscaping. Just in the time I was there they put up the garage door... guess neighbors will know when they're home because it's all glass.I even had a couple more Designer sightings... here's Paul walking by in the red hatAnd that's Dee Dee in the yellow shirt climbing up on the roof to do some filming.But still no Ty.... hopefully I'll see him Tuesday at the big reveal!
Unfortunately they are behind schedule and Eric and Nathan were supposed to help Byron set fixtures today around 2:00. But at 8pm they still were far from being ready so they decided to head back to Cedar. I think they are planning to come Tuesday to join in the reveal!

Extremely FUN

Today I had the opportunity to go help out at the Extreme Makeover Home Edition site. We are good friends with the designers/engineers Brent Wright and Daniel Bartlett. Eric, Ryan's brother is helping Byron with the plumbing for the house.
It was quite an amazing sight! The house isn't too far from our house ( Ann/Tenaya).
Parker and Brecken came along with me and were able to hob nob in the VIP tent with Ryan and I.Ryan, Eric and Nathan (Eric's son) were also chillin' for a bit. Eric and Nathan were there last night roughing in the plumbing from 6pm until 3am! I was so amazed at the number of workers and they all knew what task they needed to do. It looked like a bunch of worker ants building and running around their ant hill, each on a missionI went to help serve the food, but Raising Cane's brought their own serving staff, so I was out of a job. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Ty Pennington, but only saw Eduardo Xoi another guy on the "design team"

It was getting dark, but that didn't slow the workers down one bit.... they brought in the flood lamps! Before you knew it, the stucco was done and I could actually see "walls" inside the upper bedroom. What an amazing transformation in just the few hours I was there. Ryan had a hard hat, so he was allowed inside. He took this shot of the inside of the house looking in from the back door. No sheet rock here, but I'm sure it won't be long.

I'm just simply amazed at what can be accomplished when everyone puts their time, talent and energy together. Everything for this house is donated as well as the food for all the workers. What a wonderful act of service!
We're hoping to be at the "big reveal" on Tuesday. We may even sneak the kids out of school to go. I mean, how often do you get to experience something as fantastic as this?!

Called to Serve

Months ago the process began. Doctor check-ups, Dental exams, Passport photo's.... all the necessary steps to get ready to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My parents were ready, mentally, physically, spiritually. The wait was very, very, very long and they (well, mom) was getting a little impatient.

Today all the waiting was over, the official letter came in the mail. The family gathered around while they opened the envelope that held their future mission call..... (With family that couldn't make it on speaker phone to join in)






Yes... you heard right... (if you watched the video)


Philippines, Manila Mission
they go into the MTC on May 25th.
Many phone calls were made to spread the exciting news.
The next two months will be busy for them with all the preparations to go.
Congrats, Mom and Dad.... you're gonna be the Best Missionaries EVER!!!

Did YOU remember?

Today is Daylight Savings!
I remembered... whew!

In fact, the whole family remembered and we were almost an hour early for Stake Conference so we could get a good seat (I had to conduct the music and wanted to be close)

I've only "forgotten" once (that I can recall)
Thankfully it was in the fall and I was early, not late.
Normally I like... no...love...no.... embrace it in all it's timely glory....to be early. Ryan's greatest fear in life is that he will be the cause of making me late for something.... (oh yeah... there's a story that goes with that one... just ask him about D-day!)

Needless to say my kids were not the least bit happy when I awoke them from blissful slumber on a Sunday morning a whole extra hour early for church!

I wasn't too thrilled when I realized either, because one of the things I like, just as much as being on time, is sleeping. But, since I was up, I just had extra time to get "spiritually ready" to attend church that day. (always look for the silver lining :)

I truly don't handle being late very well. I start pacing the floor, my heart starts beating a million miles a minute, I seriously break out into a cold sweat. I'm sure my body would go into shock if I forgot to "spring forward" and was running an hour late for church, (or an hour late for anything for that matter). Notice how panicked and stressed the white rabbit always looks in Alice and Wonderland.

My family has gotten used to my little quirk. They usually go along somewhat willingly. Although, Ryan is positive that I'm wasting my life away with being 10 minutes early to everything.
"Just think of all you could be doing with all that extra time"

I argue with him that he's cutting his life short with all the stress (and reckless driving) associated with running 10 minutes late. (He's come up with every excuse in the book with the Judges when he's late for court).

Yes, Ryan and I have yet to meet this one eye to eye. And I'm not sure we ever will. After 18+ years of marriage nothing has changed, so it's a little give and take.

Just for the record...I usually end up winning the time battle and we go early because he's so scared of me (I'm such a meanie).

It's Payback Time

On December 17, 2008 a most wonderful, miraculous thing occured in Las Vegas
It SNOWED!
The kids were so excited and loved every minute of it.
The best part was... they cancelled School for this once in a lifetime experience!
Miranda and Parker couldn't have been more excited!

Well, Today is the day to "make up" that lost school day...
Instead of having the scheduled Staff Development day and enjoy a three day weekend.... the kids get to go to school... aren't they lucky!
Oh yeah.... Payback Time!

Sorry Kids !

In Two Hours

There are many things I could get done in two hours....

* Watch a movie
* Bake a batch of cookies
* Create a blog post
* Run a marathon
(well someone can anyway)
* Read a book
* Clean the House
* Get a Pedicure AND a Manicure
* Scrapbook a card or Layout
* Fix and eat dinner
* Do a load of laundry
* Go Grocery Shopping
* Volunteer at School
* Drive to Mesquite and Back
* Loiter in Michaels/Joann's
* Attend 2/3 of Church
* Have Lunch with a friend
* Decorate a Cake......

My list could go on and on,
but guess what I did for two whole hours today....


I TOOK A NAP
And now I'm going to be up ALL night
so if anyone is awake at 1am... give me a call,
I will be awake....
I'm off to work on a project or two!