Kemp's Krossing

Where has the time gone...

2011-12-03T11:43:00.001-08:00

I am such a slacker. It has been about 18 months since I last wrote, not sure if anyone is even checking in with my blog any more. I probably wouldn't lol... Anyway, I guess this entry is more for me more than anything. I felt bad I have let it go this long. There is no way I can capture what has happened in the last year and a half so I will just start with the last couple months or so..
As for our sweet little family of four, life is good.

Tyler started Kindergarten at a charter school and Syd is going one day a week to a wonderful little preschool three houses down. Tyler just turned 6. It's hard to believe I have a 6 year old.

Syd is 3 1/2 and is our little princess. She is a total girly girl and I love every minute of it. Braden has his jeep up and running and we have been out on a couple trail rides. If fact, they are going out again tomorrow. Tyler has really taken to 4-wheeling and wants to go often. As for Syd, she says it's to bumpy. I am not fond of the cold weather so she and I will sit this one out. Maybe we will go SHOPPING!

As for me, I have decided to start my own business! About 6 months ago I made it final. Design Insight is now open. I am a mobile Hunter Douglas window covering showroom, amid other things. I will also give design advice and help my clients with any aspect of interior design. So, if you or anyone you know needs window coverings or an interior designer please let me know! This has been a dream of mine and it was the write time to move on and venture out on my own.

I also am selling for Costco. I sell window coverings and carpeting for them as well as doing my own thing. This has been a great job so far. I can make my own schedule and the leads come directly to me. The travel hasn't been good, but I have made a few changes so I hopefully now I will be

working more in the SLC valley.

As for my close, extended family... my sweet sister-in-law who I admire and adore is fighting her second battle with cancer. We were so heart broken to learn her cancer had returned. She has a beautiful little girl who is very close to Sydney's age, they are about 6 months apart. I pray everyday that she beats this and is able to live a long, pain free life. You are a rock star and we love you all so much.

Christmas is almost here! We went to our usual spot up by Fish lake and cut our tree. It is always an adventure. A few nights back we heard a crash at about 3am and yes, our tree had fallen over. We have always joked about this happening in years past but this time it really did happen. It was a huge MESS!. Water and needles everywhere. I am sure we will remember this incident for years to come and laugh.

That is all for now.
Until next time...
Brenda

Our summer so far...

2010-07-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

This summer has gone by way to fast. I can't believe it is almost August. But, here we are and I need to blog about a few things that have filled up our summer.
Tyler absolutly loves Star Wars so I made him and a friend a costume to wear. Sydney turned 2! I can't believe it. She is such a delight to have in our family.
Tyler started swim lessons and is loving it. He hasn't learned to much thus far but his confidence in the water has grown immensely.We just got back from Glacier National park and the Tetons. We had a great time and saw so many wonderful things. The kids were a bit hard at times in the truck but that is to be expected on a 12 hour trip home...The kids are usually in their swim suit at some point during every day. They love to play in the water even if it is just a tiny kiddie pool.
The 24th of July is always a blast in our circle. Every year the kids put on a parade with there bikes and this year we had two bounce houses, a face painter and a great turn out. There were probably about 100+ people in our circle. It is always a good time.
Wow, if you looked at all those pics, you are awesome.

Our Memorial Day weekend!

2010-06-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to go with Braden's family on their annual Memorial weekend trip. Every year they go out to the Deep Creek mountains for a lamb roast. I have only been once before but Braden used to go every year up until we were married. This was the 45th year they have been putting this shin-dig on. There were probably about 70 people that all camp for the weekend and then enjoy a great meal on Sunday evening where they roast a lamb over an open fire. It had been so long since I had been that I had forgotten what it was all about. We had a terrific time and will probably try to make it again next year! The kids loved it. There was so much to do right by camp. The granite mountains were so fun to explore and there were lizards galore to catch. We went shooting two of the day's, again within walking distance of camp. There also was a little stream close by. Tyler made some new friends including a cute little girl named Francis. Here are a few pics of our adventure!

My transformation

2010-05-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by one of my fellow blogger friends (thanks Sarah) to show you my transformation from curly to straight hair. As some of you may know, I have always had very naturally curly hair ever since I hit puberty. I thought it would be fun to show a few pics throughout the years of my hair. I was teased all throughout junior and high school for my curls or frieze hair. I never even tried to straighten my hair. I didn't have a clue how to even do it. I thought that it may have involved a clothes iron but that is all I knew.In high school I embraced my curls and tried to make the curl more of a true curl instead of waves. I would sit on a bar-stool in the bathroom and curl my hair with a giant curling iron to make large ringlets. I liked this look for a while but it took hours to get it how I liked, so I only did it for about 2 years or so.After I had been married for a few years, Braden got me a gift card to a day spa. I thought that this was my chance to go straight and learn the process. My hair was down to my behind when I went in that day. I met Lindsay ( who is awesome and has helped me so much). When I called to make my appointment I asked for someone who knew a lot about natural curl. Lindsay is who they gave me and I have been going to her ever since. She is now in her own salon in her home if anyone wants her name.Anywho... here is a look back.

This is where it gets wild... I am warning you now.

High school senior pic:

Braden and I:

Graduation:

Our wedding:

Shortly before going to get it straightened:

Okay, so this is my twice weekly routine.
Start with freshly washed hair.

The necessary tools:

I use smoothing gel, round brush and molding wax to finish the job.

My lovely assistant:

After blow drying it out:

Start with the underneath section:

After blowing and straight ironing the first section:

Next section:

After round brushing and straight ironing:

Almost done!

One piece left:

Done!!

So there you have it.
Pretty scary.
All in the name of beauty, the things we won't do....

Progress

2010-04-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting our backyard one baby step at a time. A month or so back we went to the Home and Garden show to try to get some bids on starting our walkout basement. This is the first step in our landscape plan. We spoke to about 5 different groups of landscapers but only 2 out of the 5 actually came out to give us a bid. Both of these two bids were outrageous.
I decided to get on Ksl and try to find more of an independent, small guy to try to give us a bid. I had about 3 others come to give us a bid and out of those 3 only one got me a bid. I guess this job is just to small for someone.Anyway, the guy started and the first problem we had was that we didn't have enough rock delivered to the house. So we had to wait another week to get more boulders. After that he said it would only take one more day to finish... after about 1 1/2 hours of working his machine broke, or so he said. He told us he didn't have the money to fix it so there we were with only half the job done. I had to hire another guy who I wished I had called in the first place because he knew a lot more about what he was doing. Finally the dig out is complete and now we are just waiting for the door to be cut in and then we will lay the stone floor.Braden has been working on digging out our trampoline pit... I know, crazy. He dug the entire hole by hand. He had the bruises and pain to prove it too.He did a great job and I am so lucky to have a hard working hubby. I don't think anyone could have done any better of a job. The kids already love it even though it still is out in the dirt.
We feel like we are finally seeing the vision in our yard. We hope to start on sprinklers and possibly sod by fall. We will see though. I think it will be a 5 year time frame from start to finish and that won't include all the plantings...
Oh well, all in good time I guess.

Cruisin

2010-03-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago we got back from our fabulous trip to the Bahamas. We decided about a year ago that we wanted to take a cruise. We purchased our cruise a long time ago and it was so neat for it to actually be a reality.
We sailed out of Miami on a Monday and came back on Saturday. We had 5 days on the boat. We loved it!! The weather could have been better but other than that it was great. We were supposed to port three times but couldn't one of the days due to rough seas. We were really bummed that we couldn't get to see the private island. We were able to stop in Grand Turk and Nassau. Both of these two days at port were beautiful. At Grand Turk we took a city tour and spent a few hours soaking in the sun and snorkeling. At Nassau we took a catamaran tour out to a reef and private beach to snorkel. It was beautiful. Braden and I had never snorkeled before and it was so awesome. The water is the bluest water I have ever seen and the white sandy beaches were amazing! After that we rented a scooter and scooted all over the city, visiting two places Braden wanted to see. The queens staircase and an old fort. We only had two hours until the boat was leaving so we had to be fast. That is one of the bad things about the cruise, you are on their time schedule and you can only do a limited number of things. I think the scooter was one of the best times of the trip. We will do it again sometime.

We will cruise again but next time we want to go on "The Oasis" by Royal Caribbean. It looks amazing. It pulled up next to us in Nassau and it made our boat look like a dingy. We also decided it would be fun to have friends go too. So who is up for going with us next time?
Oh, and we are so glad we didn't take the kids. It was great to only be responsible for us. I will say though that it was good to see them when we got back home!

Our Room:
Formal night:Grand Turk:Going snorkeling:All the boats at Nassau, the one on the left is the Oasis.Our sweet ride:The Queens Staircase:The Fort:The Oasis of the Seas:We met this cute couple on their honeymoon. We had dinner with them every night!
We can't wait till our next one.

Busy

2010-01-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

It has been such a busy time around our home. I told myself last time I blogged that I was going to try and get back on track and ya... that didn't happen. So here it is almost 3 months since I wrote and I have missed blogging about Halloween, Ty's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Braden's b-day. They flew by so fast!!
Halloween was good fun as always and it was so great to see Syd be able to participate this year. She was the cutest Duck ever. Tyler dressed as an awesome Pirate and was a real champ at trick-or-treating.
Thanksgiving was fun. We spent the afternoon at my brother's home and had a wonderful dinner.
Christmas... it came and went so fast. We went and cut our tree as we normally do and again got a fabulous tree. I held the annual Christmas brunch at my home and this year we did something different with our gift giving. All of us went and spent a couple hours at the food bank (which was so much fun, I highly recommend it) and then we all bought a $20.00 gift that was wrapped and we played a gift exchanging game to see who went home with what. It was really fun and there was no pressure to find the perfect gift for each person.

New years was a blast too. We did our traditional fondue party which is something we all look forward to. It's always so yummy and a fun night to share with friends and family.

So there's a brief synopsis of what happened during the last few months.

Work still is so terribly slow. I have one very large project that is coming to an end and once that is finished I'm not sure what I will have to work on. I sure hope this economy turns around fast. My industry has been hit so hard....

Our cruise is coming up the end of February. I am so excited. We have never been but hear they are wonderful. The stressful part is figuring out the kid's schedule and making sure they are taken care of. We are seriously thinking about taking the kids to Disney Land in October too. Tyler has never been and it has been 10 years since Braden and I have been. I know Tyler and Sydney would love it.
Here are a few pics.

Where to start...

2009-10-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have completely let my blog go. I really need to get back on track. Our summer feels like it went by way to fast and time just got away from me. I think my life will start to slow down a bit. Oh wait... here comes Halloween, Ty's b-day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and so on and on and on....Life is just busy I guess.

Here is a brief re-cap of what has happened since my last post.

We all had our 6 mos. dental check up in August and Tyler had several cavities, I had 3 and Braden got away with none. It turns out they wanted to put Tyler completely out to have his teeth fixed. We scheduled his appointment for Oct. 6Th and I am so glad it is over. I had serious doubts about it and am just thankful it is done with. All he remembers is the doctor giving him a shot in the arm and the rest is history. My worry was that he would be afraid the dentist and never be able to go without having some fear set in. He was in the chair for about an hour and he had 3 fillings and one crown put on. He was so out of it when they came to get me and it lasted for about two hours after we left. It's times like these that really makes you realize how much you love your kiddos. He got his Daddy's teeth unfortunately....

In August we went to Yellow Stone for about 5 days and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We went with Braden's family and had a wonderful time. Braden and I hadn't been there in years and it was nice to go back and take our family.This is the crazy cat Man.. It was so strange, he was hanging out on a bench on a hike down to a waterfall. He tried to stick the cat on Tyler. Too funny....

In September we went to Capitol Reef for a weekend and again, had beautiful weather. We explored a slot canyon and took time to stop at the orchard and see some petroglyphs.

This past weekend I joined Braden for a work trip to Grand Junction and on our way home we stopped at Moab and took our buggy out for the first time. It was again good weather and we had a great time with friends. Tyler and Syd loved to play in all the red dirt and throw rocks. Tyler is at the age where he doesn't listen all that well and he loves to climb and get up close to all the cliff edges. Lets just say he gave me a heart attack a few times but all is well. Again, he is just like his father..

The Grand Junction History Museum.

This is our good friends who tipped over on Rocker Knocker. All they needed was a little help from Braden and a strap to pull them back on there wheels.

Syd is growing and changing so much. I just want her to stay little forever. I love the way she smiles and giggles now. She just makes my heart sing. Syd loves to be chased by her brother. Nothing makes me happier than to see my two children laughing and playing together. I cherish those moments as they often only come once in a great while. Usually Tyler is tormenting her in one way or another. I guess that is what a big brother is suppose to do right?

Tyler is back in preschool and is loving it. He doesn't cry any more when I drop him off and he is excited to go. He really likes his teacher and school friends. He is learning to identify letters and tells me of new things he learns all the time, often days after he was taught. It's funny to see his little brain work.

He is all boy and loves to shoot pretend guns and play pirates. He is always talking about boy stuff and loves to get into trouble. He loves his bike and has gotten so good at riding it. I love our evenings when he will snuggle with me on the couch. He loves to have his back scratched and be tickled. He gets that from his Mom...

Braden is heading to New York for work this next week. I so wish I could go with him but it just isn't in the cards. I am really looking forward to hearing about all the places he will visit and I will be eagerly waiting for his return.

I took a client with me to Vegas for the furniture market in September and it turned out to be a really good sale for me. Work is still terribly slow and I need all the business I can get. I am really looking forward to things picking up. I drove down and back by myself and it was a long, lonely drive but well worth it.

That is just a glimpse of what has been happening. I would have to say that it was a great summer!

Nothing Bundt Cake and the 24th of July!

2009-07-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

As most of you know the 24Th of July just happens to fall on my birthday... ha ha. It has become a tradition in our circle every 24Th that all the kids from our neighborhood participate in a little circle parade. Now of course this is not just any parade.. It is something Tyler looks forward to all month. He clearly remembered the parade last year and was so excited to get to do it again this year!

We invited some good friends and family and I think everyone had a good time. Good food, good friends and good fun.

We celebrated my nieces and my birthday on the 26Th at my parents home and I was in charge of the cake. A while back while visiting one of my favorite stores "Costco" they were having a bunch of vendors out front doing little demo's.. Well, one of the vendors was "Nothing Bundt Cake". They offered me my free sample and I gladly excepted and took the tasty little morsel of chocolaty goodness out to my car.

OH MY GOODNESS, this was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. I had to have more. Ever since that day I have wanted to try to duplicate this cake that tasted so yummy.

I typed into google "nothing bundt cake recipe" and wallah, there it was. My favorite recipe blog that I often visit and use already had a recipe and I didn't even know it.

So on Saturday I made not one but two cakes and they turned out great! It tasted just about the same, cream cheese frosting and all. I even tried to decorate it the same way they did.

It was a huge success at the party and I think this will be one recipe I will be using again and again.

Colorado!

2009-07-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

On the last week of June and first week of July we headed to beautiful Colorado for a wonderful trip. We started our vacation in Mesa Verde National Park. We spent two days there and were able to see most of the Indian ruins. Both Tyler and Sydney did great. Sydney was a trooper in the carrier and Tyler hiked most of the time without complaining. The weather was great and we found a beautiful camp spot in the camp ground. We took our trailer out for the second time and loved it!
Next we headed into Silverton, Colorado. If you have never been to this area, it is beautiful and there is so much to see and do. Silverton is a very small old mining town and this was our third time there for the 4Th of July.
We were meeting up with friends later in the week and they had told us where our camp spot was. They said it was beautiful but a little tricky to get to...
They said there was a river crossing that we would have to pull our trailer through to get to our great spot. So with us being the first ones to our camp we had to do it alone.
We started down the dirt hill and as we got closer I asked Braden "are you sure we can do this"?
He said he was 80% sure we could make it..
WHAT??
So after about 30 minutes of me telling Braden where to drive, him getting wet up to his knees, digging a trench for our tires to fit in, stacking rocks to create a bridge of sorts... We finally made it. PHEW. "I will never do that again", he said.
Well we had to do it one more time to get the stink'n thing back out, but we were there. It was a great spot and we were well hidden in the trees.
Over the next few days we did several mountain passes with our Dodge and saw some neat old ghost towns, mills and cabins. We partook of the most amazing funnel cakes and watched the old town gun fight. We traveled to Telluride and Ouray which are also fun places to stay. We swam in the Quray hot springs and saw the Box Canyon waterfall! On the 3rd or friends finally made it to camp and we had a great time around the camp fire. On the 4Th we went into town to watch the parade and the fire-fighter water fight. After that we did another dirt road and then came back to eat and go watch the best fire works display ever! Sunday was the day we headed out.
With careful planning and some work on diverting the river we were able to get through the river in one shot! Thanks everyone for the help!.
It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again.

Our camp spot in Mesa Verde.

Sydney and Braden on one of our many hikes.
Some of the cliff dwellings we saw.
One of two family photo's we took.
Tyler playing in the dirt..
There were lots of places we needed to climb ladders and Tyler was an expert by the end.

Tyler going into a Kiva.
Okay, so this is the river and I didn't get a shot with the trailer because there was to much going on at the time.
One of the many mountain passes. We saw lots of snow.

This is just one of the houses we went through.
This is an old mill.
Eating ice cream in Silverton.
Box Canyon Falls.Some of our fabulous friends.

Sydney and the dandy lion.
Playing in the snow.

And he's off!

2009-06-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Tyler is riding a bike!
Last week on our way home he told me he wanted to ride his bike with no training wheels and we said "okay"!! He started out in the circle with dad holding him up. Within a matter of about 20 minutes he was riding by himself. He got his little bike from his uncle Simon. It is the smallest bike they make and he is now riding the next size up also thanks to uncle Simon. He still can't get started by himself and getting off the bike is also exciting.
We are so proud of you!

My little girl turned one!

2009-06-06T07:37:00.001-07:00

I just can't believe it has been a year since she was born. Time goes so fast. This is the way I remember seeing her for the first time. Look at all that hair....

Here are a few things you may or may not know:

She loves to jabber.

She loves to watch her brother.

She has six teeth.

Her hair is finally as long as when she was born.

She is cruising and has taken her first step.

She hates wearing shoes.

She is still getting up once a night

She is now facing forward in the car.

She hates wearing head bands.

She loves her daddy.

She loves to type on the computer.

She has the prettiest blue eyes.

She still has red in her hair.

She still uses a binky.

She gets her feelings hurt easily.

She can climb all the stairs but isn't so good when comes to getting back down.

She likes to be outside with all the kids.

She's the cutest little thing in the world! I just can't imagine life without her.

Her first dolly.

Time goes by so fast!

2009-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since my last post... What have we been up to?
Well, we put Tyler in soccer and it took him a while to warm up to the idea but I think he is enjoying it. He still has a hard time with there being so many kids. I think they sorta scare him when they are all crowded around him trying to get to the ball. It's only a five week thing so his last game is on the 31st.
Sydney will be a year old in two weeks... Wow, it has gone so fast. I will definitely post pics of the big #1.
Braden has been working like mad to get his Cherokee done for Memorial day weekend coming up. He is headed to Moab with it for the first outing. He was trying to get the thing done before Syd was born but as you can see it took much longer and turned into a much bigger project than we all thought. He still has a lot of work to do to it but at least it will be drivable and he can scratch that itch he has been having. Me and the kids will be staying home for this one. I just don't want to take Syd out in a tent yet.
We celebrated Braden's mom's b-day last weekend and I just had to post a pic of the candles. This is a tradition in his family to load the cake with the exact age of the person. Needless to say it was a sight to see. Tyler also helped in blowing them out.
Sydney is really starting to cruise around. She walks with her Hippo so cute and cruises furniture. It won't be long until she is full blown walking...
Speaking of cruises... We booked one!!!
I am so excited. It will be in February of next year for our ten year anniversary. I am counting down the days. I have never been on one but hear they are wonderful!
That's is all for now. Hopefully I won't let my blog go this long again.

How we make it through our mornings...

2009-04-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

I often find myself getting ready in the morning with small children at my feet or Tyler asking if he can join me in the shower..... (Um yeah, I know he's getting to old so this stopped about 6 mos. ago but he still alway's asks.) If the door is locked, all I hear is him pounding on it until I come to his rescue. I don't know about everyone else but I always have found this time challenging. Tyler is getting to the age that my privacy is becoming more and more important and Sydney is still so small that I have to watch her very closely...

Once out of the shower it's on to getting myself looking halfway decent.

Tyler is in and out the whole time and always comes in with a question: "Mom, can I watch a movie?"... "Mom, can I go outside?"... Mom, can you play with me?"... Mom, can I go to Derek's?"...

All the while Sydney is now on the move and climbing up my legs or getting into my cabinets, etc. I often put her on the counter with me and give her my makeup bag to go through. She loves dumping it out and putting everything back in. Then that gets old so she migrates to the floor where she now starts going through the cabinets. All my hair stuff get pulled out and strung all over the bathroom and bedroom. Then I see her sticking her fingers in her mouth trying to get the hair out of her mouth.. OH GROSS.

I am always so thankful to move on to breakfast where a whole new set of question's/challenges occur.

Sydney and her toothpick!

2009-04-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

Sydney found a toothpick on the floor of the family room the other night and we didn't know it. Braden just happened to look down at her and she just had it in her mouth like anyone else would. It was too funny.

Also can you tell Easter is coming....

Like father like son.

2009-03-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler absolutely loves to be outside with his Dad. With the weather getting nicer daddy is starting to work on the Cherokee more. While I ran to the store this is what Tyler was doing with Dad. Last year he had a little tiny jack and now he has graduated to the big one!

The orange bucket

2009-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Just thought these pictures were worth posting.

She is growing up so fast. Sydney is now 9 months old and she is has quite the personality. She loves watching her big brother do anything. He is just the most entertaining thing around this house!! She now has two bottom teeth coming through and the top ones are almost coming through too. She weighs in at just over 15 lbs. and is in the 5Th percentile for her weight. She's a small peanut. She is in the 20Th percentile for height. Her hair is starting to come in a bit more with every passing week and the red is still predominate. She is going to be a blue eyed, red head gal. She is rolling everywhere but not quite crawling yet and she loves to stand. I love her so much and cherish every minute with her since I know she is my last...

Tylerism's

2009-02-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

The other day we were in the car riding to grandpa Paul Kemp's house and Tyler was kicking the back of Braden's seat (which he loves to do) and I turned around and said "You better shape up" and his reply to me was "No, I can't turn into a different shape".. LOL
Braden and I had to turn the other way to let our laughs out. It was so funny.
Just had to share.

My sleepy boy

2009-02-06T20:16:00.001-08:00

Tyler is getting to the age of not taking naps. Some days he does and some he doesn't. Today was one of the days he didn't take one. He played most of the day with the neighbor boy. They played pretty hard. They were in and out of the house all day long. At dinner he started getting naughty and we could tell that this is all because of no nap. You know how it is.. the whining, crying, nothing you do is right. Well he hauled up and hit me in the side and he was taken to time out right away. Our time out is the bottom step. I set the timer for 3 min. and walked away. He cried for a moment and then there was silence. Silence in this house is never good. Either he is doing something he shouldn't or .... oh my gosh... he fell asleep on the step. It was the cutest thing ever. He was just exhausted. It was only 6:45 but we knew he was super tired so we carried him up to bed and got him dressed in his jammies. Hopefully this doesn't make for to early of a morning.

Cafe' Rio sweet pork salad

2009-02-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

This salad is one of my all time favorites when I visit Cafe' Rio. I got a whim and decided for Super Bowl Sunday I would attempt to make these oh so yummy salads for Braden, myself, Chris and Megan (Braden's brother and sister-in-law). I researched online and found many different websites that all had there own take on it. I landed on a blog that grabbed my attention. Her recipes sounded the best to me so I went for it. I was so amazed. It tasted just like Cafe' Rio. I followed the website pretty close and only made a few changes. I will be adding this one to the recipe box. I highly recommend this one!!

The changes that I made were: not marinating the pork for a few hours and I did a mix of pinto beans and black beans other than that I followed the recipe.

Here is a link if anyone else is a big fan like us.

http://favfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com/search?q=cafe+rio

Great Savings!!

2009-01-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

So I went to Albertsons tonight and was able to save a lot of money again, yeah for me!! They are having a killer sale right now. I will definitely be going back to buy more. The diapers are an amazing deal but by the time I got to them my cart was so full I decided I would go back, lol. Here is a picture of what I got.

3 (8 mega rolls each) of Bounty paper towels

3 (24 count each) of Dasani water

5 mini warm delights (2 packs)

12 boxes of fruit Gushers/snacks

4 boxes of cereal

1 Dawn dish detergent

1 box Fiber One bars
5 bags of Cheerios snack mix
4 Progresso soups

1 milk and 1 minute Made orange juice

1 large chunk cheese

1 syrup

1 Magic eraser

1 scrub brush

2 (6 pack) of Yoplait kids yogurt

1 bag of Tostito chips

and not pictured 3 grape fruit and one head of lettuce.

I spent out of pocket $79.75 and still have $15.00 to use on my next purchase!!! So I really spent $64.75

This is so much fun!!

Tyler's first day of Pre-school

2009-01-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

Today was Tyler's first day of school. He has been waiting for this day for a long time. He has been asking for months now when he gets to go to school...

For the longest time we told him that when he learned to go potty he would be able to attend school. Well, we hit that milestone and then we had to tell him that when Christmas was over he would be able to go. We knew we were starting him today but had to give him goals a long the way to work at before he could go.

He is now going to two afternoon sessions (Tuesday and Thursday) at the Dancing Moose Montessori. This means that mommy gets to stay home till noon on these two days too!! I think he will really enjoy it there.

At home waiting to go

Arriving at school

Our New Years!

2009-01-01T15:31:00.001-08:00

We rang in the New Year like we always do... Every year we have a fondue dinner. It's something I always look forward to. Braden's and my favorite part of the dinner is the cheese. We could eat the cheese alone. It is so yummy! We always have Braden's brother and wife over as well as his mom. Often times we have our good friends Carl and Mandy too ,but this year Mandy was under the weather =(
Hope everyone has a great 2009!

OuR cHriStMas!

2008-12-27T09:28:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day!

Here is how our day/week went in a nut shell....

It all started on the Saturday before Christmas. I noticed that little miss Sydney wasn't feeling her best. She had gotten a cold. Her little nose was running and she had a slight cough. We had plans to celebrate Christmas with Braden's dad and stepmother as well as Braden's brother and sister-in-law the following night (Sunday). We normally do this on Christmas eve but because Braden's brother is a nurse he was going to be on call that night so we decided to celebrate early. I have started the tradition of cooking a dinner and we eat by candlelight. This was so fun last year and so we thought we should start doing it every year. The dinner went great and we opened lots of gifts. Sydney still wasn't feeling great but was a little trooper none the less.

The next few days Sydney seemed to get worse so I decided to take her to the doctor on Tuesday. Turns out she had RSV. All we could do was watch her close and make sure her breathing was okay. They told us to cancel plans and stay home...

What a bummer. So we called everyone that was planning on coming over on Christmas and told them they should probably stay away but it was up to them if they would like to join us for breakfast.

Christmas Eve rolled around and it seemed like later in the day Sydney felt so much better! Her nose had started to dry up and she was back to her normal smiley self. I decided not to call everyone back on the off chance she was still contagious. (Thanks mom for all your prayers).

On Christmas day it started to snow and snow hard. My parents decided to go ahead and join us for breakfast and it was so fun just to stay in and enjoy the morning. Sydney still seemed to be feeling pretty well.

Later in the day we went to my brothers house for dinner and opening of gifts. It was a lot of fun. The snow really started to come down and by the time the night was over we got about a foot of snow. I love a white Christmas!

Here are a few pictures of our fun filled Christmas.

This is a picture of a mom we helped out this year for Christmas. She has two small boys.

Our pre-Christmas Eve dinner and gifts.

Miss Sydney playing on Christmas Eve.
Tyler making sure Syd's heart sounds good.
Christmas Eve jammies!
Christmas morning!
Sydney with her Corona.... Just kidding. Don't freak out, it's just an empty bottle.
Un-wrapping gifts at my brothers.
Sydney with my dad. I think this picture is so cute!

Tyler's first gingerbread house

2008-12-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

We decided to breakout the gingerbread house I bought on black Friday. Braden and I had never made one before so this was a new thing for all of us. Tyler was all about the candy and getting his hands on it. I whipped up the frosting and got all the candy divided into little bowls. Once Braden and I got the walls stuck together I started to frost the roof. The instructions said to let the house dry for 24 hours before proceeding to frost but we didn't have this much time nor did Tyler have the patience. After the roof was looking like it had freshly snowed it was time for Mrs. Sydney to go to bed. So off we went. Once I returned Braden and Ty had FINISHED IT!! It actually turned out pretty cute. Here is the finished product.

Daddy's side
Tyler's side
The Back

And just one I thought was cute!

Tree cutting time!

2008-12-06T15:24:00.001-08:00

Every year we venture out to cut our own Christmas tree. This has become a really fun tradition that I think our kids will grow to love. Tyler already loves it... and wants to go again right now. We usually head out the weekend after Thanksgiving and go over by Fish Lake area. This year the day that worked best for everyone was Sunday. We arrived in Salina where we buy our permits and the gas station that sells them was closed... What to do now...

We ended up walking next store to the other gas station and she recommended calling the Walmart in Richfield, another town about 20 min. away. I did and they had me call someone else who ended up having some permits. Once we got them we started up the mountain. The day was sunny here in SLC and once we got on the mountain it got cloudier and cloudier. We quickly hit snow that blanketed the road. We were so surprised. Last year we were able to get all the way to the top and there was hardly any snow and we thought this year would be the same.. boy were we wrong.

We didn't make it very far before we got stuck and had to back up. Everyone decided that this was far enough and this is were we would have to find our tree. It was so cold and windy that day so Sydney and I stayed in the truck while the boys went out to cut our tree.

They soon appeared on the road with our beautiful tree. After the tree was placed in the truck it was time for some sledding. This is also a tradition. This is Tyler's favorite part. They spent quite a while sledding down the road. Tyler is getting big enough that he was able to hike up the road and sled back down without help from dad. It was soon getting late and we needed to head back home. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel for some dinner.. Mmmm good. It was a fabulous day.

Just grateful.

2008-11-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

Things I am grateful for...

I am grateful for my wonderful family. I am so blessed to have Braden, Tyler and Sydney in my life. Where would I be right now if I didn't have them....

I am grateful for my home. I am so lucky to have this beautiful home we live in, even if it isn't quite how I want it yet. All in good time. The neighborhood is wonderful and I love living in a circle. The kids have so much freedom to play outside without me having to worry.

I am grateful for my warm bed even if I don't get to see it much these days. I am still up all hours of the night with my sweet little girl. Ooh, but I am so grateful for her.

I am so grateful that Tyler is actually peeing and pooping on the potty. Huge milestone in my book. He hasn't had an accident in quite some time.

I am grateful for learning the secrets to saving a ton of money at the grocery store! Thanks Tracie and Stacy.

I am grateful for my job. Even if I complain from time to time, I truly have it good here. I work 4 days a week and have since Ty was born. There are a lot of freedoms here that I know I wouldn't get elsewhere.

I am grateful for my Mom and Dad. They help me out so much with the kids. My mom takes the kids every Monday and any other day that I may need her. She is so wonderful with them and Tyler says "grandma's my favorite". He loves to go to her house. He always comes home with a picture he has drawn or a fun little art project he has done with her. Thanks Mom.

I am grateful that gas prices are finally dropping. It is so expensive driving around in a jeep... Oh but I love my Grand Cherokee. I love how high I sit and how roomy it is. I like that I can haul big things in it. I will be sad to see it go some day. My next car will be something like what Braden drives, a hybrid!

I am grateful that I am able to breast feed Sydney and still work! This is a difficult task. My whole day revolves around this one thing... when I can schedule appointments, run errands etc. I know it is benefiting her greatly though.

I am grateful for my sister-in-law. She too watches my kids one day a week for me. They so love to go to aunt Sharrie's house. She always has good treats from what Tyler tells me. You have helped me out tremendously the last three years.

I am grateful for this computer. I like being able to share my thoughts with those who care. I love being able to look up someone or something at the blink of an eye. The Internet is amazing.

I am grateful for my garage. I was just telling Tyler how we used to have to park outside and how every morning in the cold I would have to go out and scrape the windows. Oh man I love my garage!!

There is so much to be grateful for in my life. Sometimes I think I complain a little to much or get frustrated to easy but I just need to remember all the good that is in my life!

My sweet Tyler turns 3 today!

2008-11-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Wow... I can't believe you are already three. People always warn me that your children will grow up so fast and this is so true! Seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital delivering you. What an exciting time for your Dad and me. We were so happy the day you were born. You have taught us so much and your little personality is so funny. You are just like your dad too. I know you will grow to love 4-wheeling us much as your daddy. You love to be out in the garage working right by his side. For the longest time you always had to have a screw driver in your hand. You are so much a little boy.
You are very sweet to you little sister (usually) and she will always look up to you. I'm so glad I have the two of you. Happy Birthday little man!
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of your life.

Albertsons does it again!

2008-11-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

I got word that Albies was having a sale starting today and going through next Tuesday! I decided I would try and be one of those people that gets there bright and early. I was going to try and get there at 6:00. Well... Braden had to be to work by 7:00 so that was not going to work.

I got the kids packed into the car and we were off to the sitter. I dropped them off at about 8:30 and decided I would just hurry and go to the store before work... I knew I didn't have much going on today so I just decided to go for it. I had already clipped all my coupons the night before and had everything divided into 4 separate transactions. I went to the one on 3500 South and about 3400 West. They were very well prepared I must say. I didn't see anyone else doing what I was doing so I was pretty stoked!! It took me about an 1 1/2 hours to get all my groceries. I was able to use all the coupons I clipped and headed to the cashier. I told her I had 4 separate transactions and she said that was fine, she had been doing it all morning... :)

When all was said and done I spent $100.24 and saved $188.00.... :)

This was probably my best shopping trip so far. Here is what I got. I forgot to put the milk on the table but here is everything else.

Halloween

2008-11-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween is always a favorite of mine. Our tradition starts with having my parents, Braden's dad and step mom and their son as well as Braden's brother and sister-in-law and their little one over for dinner. I made Taco soup and bone bread sticks. Mmmm... so good.

We are amazed to say we had a record year this year! We had 214 kids come to our home and trick-or-treat. I sat on the porch most of the night with Sydney on my lap. It was such a wonderful night. The temperature was perfect. Our neighborhood reminds me of what you would see in the movies. There are so many kids, it's so fun!!

Here are a few pics of our evening.

Pumpkin carving time!

2008-10-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

I stopped by Smiths on my way home and there were slim pickings in the way of pumpkins. (Note to self, don't wait until the last minute to get pumpkins) I was able to find a halfway decent one and took it home.

Tyler was super excited to get started. Dad cut the lid and started digging out the cuts.

I was on the computer and found a cute face for our pumpkin. I printed it out and Dad taped it to the pumpkin. Tyler wanted to help so we let him poke the holes to guide Dad where the cuts go. Once it was ready Dad removed the paper and got started cutting. It took about 30 minutes and then it was time to see how it looked. Here is how it turned out! Pretty cute don't you think?

"cha-ching" $$$$

2008-10-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

So I decided to post up my latest shopping trip. I went to Albertson's tonight and thought I did pretty well. Below is a picture of everything I bought. My total grocery bill was $91.92.

I saved $114.44!!! Had I paid full retail, not using coupons and buying on sale I would have spent $206.36 HOLY COW. That's a huge savings!!!

I purchased a total of 64 items. This makes every item average out at $1.44.

I did purchase some steak and a few other items that were not on sale but all in all I am really excited!

I even had a lady get out of the check out line to come ask how I was doing what I was doing. I gave here some info and she said she will be trying it. I invited her to the class but she had a funeral or something..

Hope this makes you excited to come to the class this Saturday.

Our first trip out!

2008-10-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we took our (new to us) trailer out for the first time. We purchased it from my dad who bought it new in 1987. They have taken excellent care of it and it's in great shape! They left everything in it for us to use. All we basically had to do was take food and clothes. It was awesome. Thanks mom and dad!!
Like I said, we left Friday around 1:30 and meet up with our good friends in Spanish Fork canyon. We started on our way to Colorado National Monument. This is just about 10 miles outside of Fruita. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there. We pulled into our campsite in the dark but got set up pretty quick. We pretty much just went to bed after getting unhooked and settled. The next morning the kids wanted to ride their jeeps around camp. It was so cute. They loved driving over rocks and driving in the dirt.

We then took a short hike with all in tow. Tyler did awesome. We figured he hiked about 2 miles in the morning and only asked to be picked up when we got back to the truck. Sydney was in her snugli and she did great too. We then went back and ate lunch, gave the kids a nap and then went on another short hike. Tyler had his best bud there with him so they were together the whole time on all the short hikes which I think really helped.

On Sunday we did another short hike that was a bit more of a climb but again all did well. Syd fell asleep on the way out.

We headed for home after we ate lunch. The weather was perfect and we didn't have any problems to speak of other than trying to figure out how the percolator worked to have a cup of coffee in the mornings. We are so excited to use the trailer next spring/summer. Again, thanks mom and dad... we love it.

Saturday the 25th brunch!

2008-10-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

So a few of you may know, I am hosting a grocery smarts class on the 25th of this month. It will start at 10:30 and I will be serving a light brunch. Hope you all can make it. Please let me know if you are interested!

The tips you will learn will save you a ton of money at the checkout stand and I am so excited to share it with others. Here is the invite!

One day at a time...

2008-10-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

I write today feeling sleep deprived, but very blessed. I am so lucky to have my sweet little family. I am so blessed to have two happy and healthy kiddo's. I am so blessed to have a happy marriage. I know I will look back at these days and miss them. All the sleepless nights and trying times and sometimes chaos that each day brings. I now know how hard it is to be a mommy, (the hardest job in the world). Time is so precious and goes by so fast. Everyone tells me this: cherish each moment because tomorrow will come and your children will be gone, going to school, getting married etc. Sometimes I think we get in a hurry for our children to grow up... just slow down and take each moment for what it's worth. I can't believe that Ty will be 3 in about a month. It seems like just yesterday he was born. He is such a smart, healthy, awesome little boy. I love you Tyler! Sydney is already 4 mos. Where has the time gone? She is such a little smile machine! I am so glad I have her. My mom used to sing a song to me when I was little called "I'm so glad I have a little girl". She made up all the lyrics and I still remember most of it and the tune she sang it to. I will sing it to Sydney one day.
Anyway, these are my thoughts for today...
Cherish each day and live in the moment!

Potty training saga...

2008-10-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler has been in underwear for almost 3 months and so far has done pretty well, but.....

I decided in July that before I came back to work (about 2 weeks before) that I would start potty training him. On a Saturday morning we made Tyler throw away all his diapers and told him he was a big boy now and he gets to use the big potty from now on. I think the act of actually throwing the diapers away got through to him a bit better than just starting cold turkey.
So, for the past two and a half months we have had our share of accidents and I understand that, but yesterday the kid did something I just don't get...
He told us he had to go #2. We said " okay Ty, lets go to the potty" He gets in there, sits down and then says he is done. He hasn't done a thing. We fight him all night because we can clearly see he needs to go. We even promise to take him to the park once he goes. He kept telling us he doesn't want to go and so we finally let him go outside and watch daddy change the oil on mommies car.
Well... I come out to watch daddy too and all the sudden I see Ty run up the stairs into the house, he looks like he is finally heading to the bathroom. After waiting about 3 minutes I decide to go in and check on him. The minute I walk through the door I see him, standing there in a puddle and he has clearly gone #2. (Sorry to Gross everyone out, I just need you all to feel my pain). He is literally standing by the bathroom door. I just don't understand why he would rather go in his pants than in the toilet. I know with boys it's a lot harder to train them, But he is such a smart boy and I think sometimes he does it just to have control. Ughhhh...
I made him clean up his own mess (well as much as he could) and had him take a coldish shower to try to get through to him that this was just not the way to go potty.

If anyone else has any ideas on the Poop saga let me know... Hopefully I made a bit of a impression on him and he will think twice about doing it next time.

Sleep.. oh sleep.

2008-09-29T13:04:00.001-07:00

So.. As most of you know I have a 4 month old sweet baby girl. She is so wonderful and I love her to death but I am so ready for a good nights sleep. She is still waking up anywhere from 2 to 6 times a night... that's right. Our pediatrician said we need to wait until the 6 mos. marker before we can give her rice cereal. I am hoping that in two months my nights will be better. Now on the other side of this coin is Mr. Tyler. He is also discovering it is neat to get up in the middle of the night, come down stairs, look out the window, open the fridge, stand right by mommy's ear and say "Can I watch TV"? This is a new thing for Ty. This is the boy who never used to get out of his bed. He has been in a twin bed for about a year now and for the longest time he would just yell for me to come get him when he woke up. He usually always slept through the night, but now he thinks this is pretty neat stuff to get up and roam the house at night. So yesterday I decided to start a sticker chart with him. He gets a sticker for every night he stays in bed and at the end he will get to go pick something neat out at the toy store. Hopefully this works!
Now Sydney on the other hand.....

The Circus!!

2008-09-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening we took Tyler to see the circus. He had a great time and did really well. We dropped Syd off at grandma Nancy's and headed to the arena at about 5:30 so Ty could see the animals for the "all access pre-show". I must say that there wasn't too much to see. They did have about 6 elephants out and you can see the tigers from a distance. There were a few miniature horses and a few goats too. We weren't all that impressed and will probably skip that next time around. After that we headed inside to see the clowns that were entertaining the crowd until the show started. This was much more fun to see, and we were able to snap a few photo's of Ty with the clowns. He wasn't too sure what was happening at this point. We decided to get something to eat and that was a nightmare. The line was forever long and it took forever to get our food. Once we were seated we were able to eat and the show began. Tyler was so intrigued by all the performers and with what was happening. He kept asking " what are they going to do now?" He did really well and even told us when he needed to go potty. He did start to wear out about 2 hours into the night and started asking to go home. We got some more sugar into him and then he started having fun again. He got to pick out a little souvenir to take home so he will remember his trip to the circus. All in all it was a great night.

Here we are before going.

Got me a background!

2008-09-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is way too much fun. Here it is 10:00 o'clock at night and I'm still fidgeting with the fonts, colors, music etc. I love it. Here are the most recent pics of the family.

I'm Blogging!!!

2008-09-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, my first blog! What can I say, it has been a long time coming. I'm so excited to share our life with everyone. Hopefully this will let my family and friends keep up on all that is new with the Kemps!
So, this week is very exciting. Tuesday evening Tyler is going to his new school for back to school night ... I know he isn't even in school yet but will be in a few months and they only hold one of these per year so I thought it would be fun for him to get to know his teacher. He is very excited and we have been telling him he can't go to pre-k until he learns to go potty and he is doing very well.
On wednesday night Tyler, Braden and myself are going to the circus. I am so excited for him. We have never taken him anywhere like this before. Sydney gets to spend some quality time with Grandma Nancy. I will let you know how it went.
Also, for all those wondering I will be hosting a Grocery Smarts class the 25th of October (Saturday) at 10:30. If you are interested in coming please let me know. You will learn how to save a ton of money using coupons. Feel free to check out the website. http://grocerysmarts.com/utah/lists/splashg84csj.php