Our Beloved Prophet

How can I not comment on the passing of our beloved Prophet Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. Last night when I found out my first reaction was complete disbelief. Pres. Hinckley had become a person whom I thought would live forever! I guess at 97 you should expect your time here on earth to come to a close, I however would have loved to hear him for another 97. Pres. Hinckley was such an inspiration to us all. With his sparkling eyse, great whit and the ability to make us all laugh were characteristics I think all of us loved and looked forward to seeing every general conference. I will truly miss his upbeat spirit and the feeling he always gave me that no matter what happens in the world there is always so much joy and happiness to be had if we "look forward with faith" and stay optimistic. I think one of my favorite stories he ever shared was when he was on a mission and struggling. His father wrote to him and said something to the effect "Forget yourself, and get to work". Pres. Hinckley was such a hard worker and was always on the go up until the very end. What a great example he was to all of us and what amazing work he did while here on the earth. Although I am sad at his passing, I am so happy for him to be reunited with his sweet wife, dear friends and Our Heavenly Father and Savior.

I've Been Tagged!

My cute Hubby!


1. What is his name? Darin

2. How long have you been together? Well that is kind of funny, cause it has been a really long time! We have been married for 7 years, but we started liking each other our sophomore year of high school so that makes it a whopping 13 years!

3. How long did you date? We dated for 4 years before his mission, and wrote every week for 2 years and were married 4 1/2 months after he came home.

4. How old is he? 28

5. Who eats more? That would be him---he has a never ending stomach and is one of those people who CAN have one with not consequences!

6. Who said "I love you" first? I believe that was him--but I'm sure I was thinking it!

7. Who is taller? Him by a few inches

8. Who is smarter? Well I think we both are in our own element---he definitely has me beat in his line of work, but I think I am smarter when it comes to the things I do best.

9. Who does the laundry? That would be me---just one of those wife duties, but he helps me out if I ask.

10. Who does the dishes? Mostly me--especially during the day, but If I make him a great dinner then the deal is he will do the dishes.

11.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

12. Who pays the bills? That would be Darin


13. Who mows the lawn? That would be Darin also---I think I have tried it once or twice in my entire life!

14. Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Darin is great to help out especially when I am pregnant and don't really feel like cooking.

15. Who drives when you are together? Darin---however if he had it his way I would drive while he sat in the back and played nintendo with the boys!

16. Who is more stubborn? Probably me---but I would have to say Darin is a very close second!!

17. Who kissed who first? Darin kissed me---it was the first for both of us and I think it lasted a nano second but was the best nano second of my life!

18. Who asked who out first? That is a tricky one, because when we started liking each other Darin still had 5 months until he was 16---yes I am a few months older, so we did a lot of just hanging out with all of our friends. However our first official date I can remember came about a month after his birthday and he did the asking.


19. Who proposed? Darin did. It was 5 weeks after he came home from his mission. We went to "our spot" at the temple grounds and he acted as though he was going to break up with me--romantic huh! He said he couldn't take all of the pressure he was receiving to marry me and then paused and whipped out a ring and got on his knee and said "so in that case will you just marry me!" It was great! I laughed----not cried---I couldn't believe it was for real!

20. Who has more siblings? He beats me by two.

21. Who wears the pants in the family? I like to let him think that he does, but he would tell you that it is me. I try to think we both have one leg in each---you'll have to ask him if that is true!

Darin is the best husband and father I could ask for! Thanks for all you do hun---I love you!

Now I would like to tag Angie, Katie G., Rachel, Jen, Lesli and Laura M.

Rolie Polie or Thumper....28 weeks and counting

So I feel as though I have been officially been taken over by an alien! Any of you who have been pregnant before know exactly what I am talking about. Last night I got up with one of the boys and when I went to lay back down my little diva decided to put on a show of her own! She wiggled and punched and kicked and my stomach felt as though it had a mind of it's own. I have to admit it is the most incredible feeling to know you have a little person inside of you---and no it hasn't got to the point that all of the moving is painful so despite my need for sleep I just laid there and enjoyed knowing I had a little baby snuggled inside my tummy. I am hoping though that all of this activity isn't an indicator that I will have a overly active child---we are hoping #3 comes out as our most mellow child. We are still struggling with a name to call her. I try to come up with new names almost everyday, but there are a few that keep sticking out as front runners. So if you would like to vote on your favorite, here they are in no particular order 1. Mauren (I actually like the spelling Maren, but we want to pronounce it Mar---like March not Mare and we don't want the poor girl to go through life always having her name mis-pronounced.). 2. Chelsea (Chelsea Chase is kind of cute, don't you think---drawback, all my kids would start with the letter C---something I had never intended and if we have more children no more C names are on our list). 3. Hannah---love this name, always have---kind of common as I have several friends with daughters this same name. 4. Myah---wanted this name if Carter was a girl, but am still trying to convince Darin that it could be the name for his little princess. I have a bunch more but those are the top runners. So if you'd like to give me your opinion or any other names you would like to throw out there I would love any input! In the mean time I am just going to call her Thumper (or Thumperina would be more fitting) as that is what she does best!

Winter Wonderland!

Finally after I don't know how many years, we had a really white Christmas! The kids have loved playing in the snow and I have loved how pretty it makes everything look! Here are just a few pics of them enjoying all that white stuff!

Christmas with the Chase Clan

On Christmas day we were able to spend time with the entire Chase clan. Something that hasn't happened since the year Darin and I were married. Darin's mom rented out the church and we all spent the afternoon together. It was a lot of fun. The kids (all 16 of them) had a lot of fun playing together. It was just fun being together again! All of the guys were in heaven having an entire basketball court to play on.
I think the mom's all loved a gym for the kids to run around in and they had a lot of fun as you can see!
Uncle Dan---my kids always tell me he likes to act like a monkey climbing all over the place--I guess they are right!
Camden and his cousin Tom. Camden had a lot of fun with Kathie's boys who he has only met once before in his life. They live in New Zealand so unfortunately we don't get to spend much time with them. Camden kept referring to them as his best buddy's---we already miss you guys!
We had a fun time---thanks everyone!

Christmas morning!

I've decided there is nothing quite as fun as watching your kids on Christmas morning. I was awake before they were just anticipating their excitment! Both Camden and Carter were so excited they just kept squeling. Santa brought them each three gifts and the one below was Carter's big one. He got his very own tool set and loves it (Camden loves it just as much which is always a bonus).Camden's big gift was a Leapster L-Max. He always wants to play big kid video games and this was the perfect solution. It is very easy to use and he learns a bunch while he plays. I definetly suggest it for any preschooler!
This was him for about 45 min. I've never seen him that content to play anything for that long in his life!
Here are my favorite boys in the whole world!
Camden and Carter were so excited that they could hardly contain themselves. They just kept giving each other hugs. It was pretty cute!
Carter love Mickey Mouse clubhouse--so he was pretty excited about his very own Mickey Mouse!
And of course some Lightning Mcqueen shoes that light up. From a mom who swore she would never purchase character shoes or clothes--this was a pretty big step for me. However I decided that the excitment on his face was worth way more than my pride! He absolutely loves them!
It was a great Christmas morning. It was fun to just be together as a family and see the smiles on each others faces. It's times like these I wish that I could pause time and just keep my kids little forever!

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve with all of the Parson clan. We had a good time! We draw names every year and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. I guess I only took pictures of everyone opening gifts that night so here are a few.Carter was so excited to open presents---his or anyone else. I was glad I waited until Christmas eve to wrap presents (even if I was up until 2:00 a.m.), because otherwise we would have been having a present battle everyday I am sure!

Camden is still in love with anything from the movie "Cars", so he was quite excited about the Lightening Mcqueen jacket that lit up. I guess my mom and I had the same great idea because I have another jacket that is exactly the same sitting in the closet that needs to be returned! Oh well---he loved it either way!
This is Lesli's little girl---She was just wondering what in the world all of the excitment was about!

Camden's Preschool Program

So I am a little slow at getting Christmas pictures on here, but here is Camden at his Preschool Christmas program. I thought he looked pretty cute in his reindeer get up. I thought Carter might like a turn, but as you can see, he just kind of looked at me like "Mom, what are you doing?" It has been fun to watch Camden learn so much this year. His teacher has been wonderful!

A New Year: Lessons Learned

So the other day I was thinking about New Year's resolutions and what I wanted to work on this year. Well I needed to clean my house and decided to listen to the new MP3 player that Darin gave to me for our anniversary. I love listening to music, but with 2 kids at home, usually I don't have the chance to blare my music and just get swept away like I use to. Well with my headphones on I started listening to a Carrie Underwood song---one I have heard a million times before, but had never really listened to the words. I guess with all other noise and distractions gone I had a chance to finally pay attention to the words and for some reason it really struck me so I thought I would share it with anyone who wanted to read. The song is from the album "Some Hearts" entitled "Lessons Learned". If I was a little smarter at this whole blog thing, I would download the song for you to listen to, but I haven't quite learned that yet. Anyway if you get the chance to listen to it you should. I started thinking about all of the experiences that I have gone through in my life---some good and some bad---that have made me the person that I am. I often hear others say that they would go through a certain trial over again because of what they learned from the experience---sometimes I agree and sometimes, to be honest, the thought of repeating certain times in my life is the last thing I would want to do. However, despite the fact if the experience would be re-lived or not, there were definite lessons learned. I think Heavenly Father has a way of molding us into who we are. Sometimes we do the molding ourselves and other times we have absolutely no control of what we are going through. In the end however, if we can look at each experience as a time to learn life's many lessons we can look forward to anything that comes our way. One of the phrases in the song says "Every tear that had to fall from my eyes, every day I wondered how I'd get through the night, every change life has thrown at me, I am thankful for every break in my heart, I'm greatful for every scar, Some pages turned, some bridges burned, but there were lessons learned." As I look at my life and the lives of those around me I realize that we all have so much to learn and to be greatful for, regardless of what lessons we need to learn. Our job is just to learn what we were sent here to learn. So this year, one of my goals is going to be to take everyday and see what lesson it is that I need to learn. I am thankful for a wonderful husband, great kids and loving friends and family! Aren't we lucky to all be on this ride together! Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Cards!

So I had great intentions of making a really cool Christmas card this year. I had learned how to play with my pictures on a new computer program I never knew we had. So I spent a long time getting them ready and then saved them and tried to open them up in Kodak Gallery where I would turn them into Christmas cards---no such luck. It wouldn't except .png files and I was running out of time. I decided to just download the original pictures to Kodak Gallery and tweek them there. I have done this many times in the past and really liked them, so I thought that it would be ok. Well I got the cards ready, bought them and eagerly awaited their arrival in the mail. When they came I have to say I was pretty dissapointed. They were soooo blurry---I have never had that problem in the past and decided to email them to see what they could do to help (conveniently they don't provide a phone number). Well luck would have it and they never responded. It was already the 20 of Dec. and no time to do anything about it. So those of you who might receive a family Christmas card---I realize the pictures were fuzzy---what can you do? Oh well, next year I won't put it off so late and hopefully I will have better luck! In the mean time you can look at the great pictures I really wanted to send....MERRY CHRISTMAS!

San Diego Fun!

We just had the opportunity to go with all of Darin's family to San Diego. It was a lot of fun! There were 27 of us in all so it was a little crazy, but great to all be together. It had been about 7 years since that had happened. We rented a beach house and it was amazing. The picture below is the view we saw out of the family room window. The kids had a blast playing with all of their cousins (all 16 of them). We went to Sea World and Legoland which was a lot of fun---but a lot of walking for an almost 6 month pregnant mom! I have officially dubbed myself a wus (spelling?) I was exhausted by the days end! It was a really fun trip---Thanks Oma!

We all had to pose for a family picture on the rocks. Camden was anything but pleased. Luckily we got one picture that acutally makes him appear quite happy---oh pictures can be decieving!

Carter once again was loving life playing in the sand. That kid could play in the sand all day! To bad we don't live by the ocean---I guess I should be better at bucking up and taking him outside to play in the snow--he loves that almost as much!

Here are a few pictures from Legoland. It was a fun little place. We had never been there before and it was fun to see all of the stuff made out of lego's! Camden was a little adventure seeker. Something I never thought of him as. He wanted to go on all of the roller coasters and even at the end of the day, he went on a ride with Darin---see picture below--and he started to cry because he said it wasn't scary enough. You would never think this was the same kid who won't even dare get in a swimming pool--I guess he must just be afraid of water and other than that he must have his dad's thrill seeking gene!

Here is a picture of the whole Chase clan!

Sea World---It was great, who doesn't love spending an afternoon with Shamoo!

Here is another picture of the view from our house. It was so pretty. None of us wanted to come home, especially not to the cold Utah weather! It was a really fun trip, one that I am sure all of us will remember forever!

What a Guy!

So this year I really wanted our entire roof lined with Christmas lights. I kept nagging at Darin to get them hung before it got to cold. Well as life would have it things were crazy and Darin ended up putting the Christmas lights up in the cold. It was a moment straight out of Christmas vacation as he clung for dear life trying to get our steep roof lined with lights. I just stood out there waiting to watch him plummet to his death! Luckily all turned out well and he ended up being the perfectionist-- when I told him to stop for fear of his life---his reply was "If I am going to do it, it is going to look good!" And it does look good---Thanks hon---you are the best!

Thanksgiving

We had a fun trip to South Padre Island Texas with all of my family. My parents took us all to support the Aggies in a tournament (we love when they go somewhere fun to play!) Unfortunately the weather wasn't quite what we had hoped for. It rained almost everyday and was windy and cold. We still made it to the beach to look for seashells though and Carter was in heaven in the worlds largest sand box! The Aggies lost their first game but won their second so we had a good time cheering them on! The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and Camden wanted to do everything that Gabrielle did! (Thanks for entertaining him Gab!) We stayed in a large beach house big enough for all of us which was a lot of fun---luckily we all still liked each other at the end of the trip! I would love to go back when the weather was nicer. It was a great place to go and just relax----I had really been looking forward to some time relaxing on the beach--oh well maybe next time!

Having fun at the Aggie game!

Although it was freezing, Darin, Brandon, Lesli, Max and Gab thought it just looked like to much fun to miss out on playing in the waves. They said it was fun while they were in the water, it was getting out that was a killer!

Lesli was the craziest of all and jumped right in her clothes!