A SHOUT OUT

To my awesome hubby!!! Valentine Day turns out to be a good day to reflect on love. And Randy did not disappoint yesterday! We are not much for going out and joining the crowds on this holiday so we stayed home and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with the kids! Randy brought me home some very thoughtful gifts yesterday and even a beautiful orchid. Now my goal is to keep it alive so if any of you have them and have some helpful hints to keeping them alive, I would greatly appreciate the sharing of knowledge!!! I typically don't keep live plants in my house because I can't keep them alive.

Since my hubby was so thoughtful, I thought I could share some information on this great man that I get to call mine forever & ever!

One of the first things I realized about him was that he was kind, and that sometimes his kindness has a weird sense of humor!

He is creative!

And sometimes has good ideas!

He is a great cook! Especially on the grill. Just ask Kylie where you can get the best steak .... she'll tell you "Dad makes the best steaks, even better than the Outback."

He can sleep anywhere!

He likes to keep everybody warm. Everybody knows when you are camping with Randy he is the fire tender, and at home he keeps the stove going and we are never cold!

He is funny!

Did I already mention that?

He is a worthy Priesthood Holder!

He is a hard worker and last but never least, he is an awesome hubby and daddy!

We sure love you babe! Thanks a million for all that you do!!!

ALL THAT SPARKLES AND SHINES . . .

I have now had my first official week of Nail Tech classes ... I love it! Even the not so fun pedicure I had to give couldn't spoil all the fun. Here is a run down of this week . . . .

My first day I had book work (which there is every day) and then learned manicures, so I received one and then had to give one. Then I practiced on Randy at home (without the polish). The next day I did 4 chapter reviews, learned pedicures, I received one and gave one. I had to leave early that night for Young Women's which was a fun night also. We are getting ready for New Beginnings next Wednesday. I'm slightly nervous but I know it will be a great night. Yesterday I took 4 tests (thankfully passed each one) and learned glitter toes!!! I received and then gave.

Sorry about the pic of my own, but they are so much fun! I saw these for the first time at the last craft fair that I did and thought they were fun and now I know how to do them. So starting next week I will be needing "models" to come in so I can practice. Ky gets to be my first and she is pretty excited.

Part of taking this class means Ciara has to go to a sitter on Thursdays for about 3 hours until the kids get home. The rest of the days Randy is home and it works out well. Ciara has never been tended by anybody but her big sister, so I was very nervous. Apparently without a reason because I took her to Nicol's and she pretty much didn't even care if I was there or gone. She immediately went to exploring and trying everything out and didn't even want to give hugs and kisses when I left. Shortly after I left she told Nicol that she wanted a nap and laid down on a bed and went right to sleep. WOW or PHEW? I'm not sure which to feel maybe both? And add a little sadness that she didn't mind me leaving, at least I don't have to worry about her feeling abandoned when I leave her there.

ARE FISH HOT?

The other day Ciara was playing in the living room and all of a sudden started doing her "scared" thing. She wouldn't step on the rug where the fish is because she said it was HOT! She wouldn't touch it and was doing her little fakey cry because it was hot. So she went and got her Tinkerbell doll and made Tink touch the fish and then hugged her and said "hot fish!" It was really quite funny. She is okay with the fish on the rug now, but last night she and Randy were looking at a fish book and she pointed at one of the fish and said it was hot. I'm really not sure where this all came from. We haven't eaten any fish and we don't even own any live fish!

After I tried taking a picture of the whole fish thing, she decided to actually pose for pictures of her and Tink!!!

Saturday the young men and young women went and did baptisms for the dead at the Provo Temple. We had a really great time!!! The baptism area was very busy so they only got to do 2 names each, but still enjoyed it a lot. Afterwards we went and got a bite to eat. It was fun getting to spend some time with them outside of church.

Last Friday I registered over at the MATC in Spanish Fork for their Nail Tech class. Figured I better do something since after the 10th of February I won't be able to legally sell my hair bows anymore! (CPSIA) : ( This is actually a good thing though and I am very excited because I have wanted to do nails for quite awhile and once I finish it allows for flexible scheduling compared to working in an office. So let me know if you want to be my guinea pig ... oh I mean let me practice on you!!!

On a final note .... my friend Kristina (she did our family pictures), is running a special promo and contest so get over to her website and book an appointment if you want some fantastic pictures done!

http://kristinacurtisphotography.blogspot.com/2009/01/january-special.html

I love looking at our pics that she did for us and I get many compliments on them! And it's not just the great looking people in them. They are just great photos and we will be using her from now on for all of our pics!

THE COLOR PURPLE WEEKEND

This past weekend I got to go out to Colorado and spend some time with my sis and her family! A couple weeks ago Rich had called me and asked if he could fly me out for a surprise for her as an anniversary present and send us to a show. He got us tickets to "The Color Purple". When he first told me that was what we were going to see I was so nervous cause I kept thinking that it was Purple Rain, which I've never seen but heard it was pretty naughty. LOL It wasn't until a few days before I left that I realized they weren't the same. I flew out on Friday and we went to the show that night. I had never heard of it (obviously), so I really did not know what to expect....it was a good show, not the greatest show, but was good. There were definitely some really funny parts. Sophia was hilarious and my kinda gal! Most of the show was surprising and sometimes shocking, but we had a good time. Saturday morning Kaden had a basketball game we went to. That was fun and really intense! I've been to NBA games before and they've never seemed quite that intense. We did some shopping and went to "Bride Wars" .... so cute and funny! Since I was out there we had to do some Guitar Hero competitions and I even managed to beat Kris one time!!! Wahoooooo! I love spending time with my lil' sister and I am grateful that we have such a great relationship. Thanks a bunch Rich for bringing me out there, even though it was a gift for Kris it felt like one for me too! I am glad that I have a great hubby that let me go too and that he was happy to be home taking care of the kiddos!

I finally got some pics of Ciara's ears! As usual she wasn't super cooperative, but she is just too cute! She still likes them and likes to get them "sparky" clean!!!

I had to throw in the one of her trying to hide from the camera. This is her new "don't look at me", or "I'm scared" face.

And on a final fun note ... both Ky and Dal drew out for the Turkey hunt this spring. They are both excited, especially Dallin! He even did some happy dance thing that was quite funny!

DANG IT!!!

We had a fun weekend and of all things, I forgot my camera both times I needed it! So that means I will post our fun without the pictures because I am apparently not tech savvy enough to get the pics I did take off of my phone.

Last Thursday Randy and I took Ciara to get her ears pierced! I knew it wouldn't be great fun for her but figured we could get it done while she is young enough to not want to play with them. So far that part of my plan is working well. I asked her that morning if she wanted to wear earrings and she said "yes!" and took off to my bedroom thinking she was going to wear some of mine. It was really cute. We took her over to the Provo Towne Center to get them done and I don't know if the guns they were using were not so great or what, but it took longer then I've ever seen it take. The girl looked like she was really having to squeeze it so hard to get the earring through and of course Ciara was quite upset! She does like her earrings now, and likes to have them cleaned or to have them sparky (sparkly). Soooo stinking cute!!!

Thursday night we surprised the kids and told them they weren't going to school on Friday because we were going to St. George for the weekend. They were excited and so were we .... if nothing else we were getting out of town!!! The weather was sunny and in the mid to upper 40's so it wasn't warm, but it wasn't snowy either!!! We went up to Snow Canyon and did some hiking around and it was great getting to see the beautiful scenery. Ciara really enjoyed the hike too. Sometimes she wanted to walk, jump, or just be carried on daddy's shoulders. She really liked the little squirrels running around too. I think Ky and Dal enjoyed it more than being at school too! We thought it was too cold to be swimming outdoors so we took the kids to an indoor pool out there. There was a large water slide there that actually went pretty quick and Ciara loved it. She would laugh the whole way down. It was a great weekend that we finished by going to Delta to see Randy's family on Sunday, and stopped by the cemetery in Deseret. I just want to tell Randy a big "THANKS" for thinking that we needed to get outta town and taking us out for a fun weekend!

If anybody knows how to get pics off my phone (motorola krazr) please tell me!!!!

HAVE A LITTLE SNOW

I am not a huge fan of snow . . . especially if I have to drive in it. Every once in awhile when it snows (and I don't have to drive in it) it can be really pretty to look at it. Our most recent snow storm brought the pretty kind of snow! We went to bed Friday night and it was raining and woke up Saturday to a new blanket of pretty, white snow!!! We got about 5-6 inches of new snow, so I thought I would share some pics of it with all of you.

OUR MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I finally am getting around to adding some pics from the holidays!!! We had a nice and quiet Christmas and like a lot of you we got a lot of snow!!! It still looks like a white Christmas out there. I thought for sure Ciara would love all of the wrapping paper, but she didn't quite get it this year . . . . maybe next year?! Ky, Dal and Ciara came to our room at 6:04 am Ciara saying "present, present" over and over. I think the kids may have woke her up so they could get out to the presents. There was a doll stroller for Ciara that was sitting next to some gifts that was for Ciara and as soon as she saw it she didn't care about anything else. She just wanted to sit in it!!! I finally pushed the stroller with her in it to her presents and she opened one but eventually Dad ended up opening her gifts for her. Ky and Dal enjoyed their Christmas and Dallin has barely put his MP3 down since then. Ky is at the age where clothes make the best gifts and other teenage kind of things. It makes shopping for her super easy.

2 days later we had Ciara's 2nd birthday!!! She understood opening gifts better so she opened her gifts but once the paper came off she would just want to play with whatever she opened! It was a lot of fun and very cute. She had her 2 year check up on Friday and it went well. The doctor put her in the 66 percentile of her height and 3-5% of her weight. Not to worry though, all of our kids are tall and thin. She is healthy and developing normally, and to me that is all that really counts anyway.

I hope everybody enjoyed their Christmas! And are you ready for another New Year? It seems like each year goes by too quickly. I'm not one who really sets goals for the new year, they are just always on going. I do hope we are able to finish most of our yard this year though!!! ( Good Luck to Us! )

Have a great and safe New Year!!!

Christmas Photos

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas!!! Our Christmas Eve has been kicked off with a tradition of the kids opening their Christmas PJ's. This year Grandma Osborn made them and they were very excited for them. Ciara even wanted her picture taken! (WOW!!!)

We hope that you all have been able to enjoy the spirit of the season. I wish it was always so easy to focus on this special spirit. I am so grateful to celebrate the birth of our Savior and to remember the greatest gift that has ever been given to mankind. We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives, and are blessed each day because of the gospel. I am thankful for our Savior and his great sacrifice and what it means to each of us and that through the atonement we will have the wonderful opportunity of eternal families and eternal joy! I can't think of anything greater than this gift of an eternal family .... even on the not-so-great days!!! May your Christmas be filled with joy and peace and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Love, The Ogden's

THE OFFICIAL START

Of the crazy Christmas season began about 2 weeks ago. I know it is crazy for everybody but we are normally pretty relaxed during this time, until this year. I thought that we were good this year so we signed the kids up for hunter safety. The class began last Tuesday. Not the best timing but thought it should be okay, then it happens . . .

Ky has musical theatre practice everyday after school!

Ky also has a dance concert, orchestra concert, and school play!

Dallin has basketball games!

Throw in a church calling, activities, and meetings!

Mix in a little hair appointment

and top it all off with the FLU!!!

That's the way it goes though right! Needless to say that our Christmas season has turned quite busy and I'm so grateful today is the last day of school (at least for a couple of days) and that I already finished my Christmas shopping! PHEWWW

Early Monday morning Ciara woke up throwing up and continued to do so for the whole morning and most of the day. Every time that we thought she was getting better she starts throwing up again. Apparently last Sunday the Nursery leaders had to send some kids home because they were throwing up, I guess that was just a little late!!! LOL She woke up in the middle of the night again this morning throwing up again and this time she got company from her big brother. Dallin now has the flu too and that is the way to start Christmas break! If you've got to be sick it's better to find it out at home rather than at school.

Ciara thought that she wanted to eat this morning so I made her some oatmeal and she had a pop-tart and she was just sitting in her chair staring into space. I could tell she was so tired and tried taking her to lay down but she did not want to leave her chair. Finally after about an hour she fell asleep in it and I tried moving her again and she still did not want to move, so she took a nice long nap in her high chair for about 2 hours! I guess she will sleep somewhere besides her bed if she has been sick for several days!

I do enjoy this time of year so much! Even the craziness and the sickness because it is still great to just feel the great spirit that everybody seems to have.