For anyone with a little girl!

I have ordered some headbands and flowers from this girl before and have loved them. She has to get rid of everything so everything is discounted to super cheap. If you are interested, click on this link http://crownyourprincess.blogspot.com/2009/01/inventory-blowout.html
and order before everything is gone.

Cleaning Dad's House

This past weekend we went up to Idaho. All of my siblings and I got together and decided to clean out my dad's house. My dad has a little house and to much stuff in it. I hate to say it, but he kind of gave up on it and just let the mess take over and pile up. Us kids were sick of him living in a mess that makes him depressed and drains his energy just being there so did something about it.
Steffany, Justin, Justin's daughter Chelsie, Celeste, Celeste's husband Rob, Greg, Doug, and I all got together and pretty much within a day had the whole place turned around and livable. He had dark green carpet in there that was making it feel like a dungeon so we ripped it out and had it replaced with some tan shag carpet that completely lightened the room up. He has more books and movies than I have ever seen anyone own, so we got him some bookshelves and organized all of them. We got rid of most of his furniture and rearranged it to create a sitting area and moved his desk where the kitchen table used to be since a desk was more important to him than a kitchen table. Steffany's good friend Kristi donated her green leather loveseat and an end table so that we could have a sitting area. He had probably 6 or more random chairs placed throughout the room that had no rhyme or reason to it so we got rid of all but 2 and brought the loveseat in.
I am so pleased with the way that it turned out. We weren't able to completely finish, but it is seriously a million times better than what it was. The pictures don't do it justice on either end. They don't show how bad the mess really was and they don't show how good it looked afterwards but it gives and idea. There are still some boxes for him to go through and some things didn't get hung on the wall that we wanted, but we ran out of time. A storm was starting and we needed to get back to Utah before it really hit. I hope my dad can keep it up and use it as a starting off point to motivate him in other areas of his life.

Here is Doug shoveling outside. My brother Justin brought a truck from his work so we had somewhere out of the snow to put my dad's stuff while the carpet was being layed.
Justin, Celeste, and Doug working on clearing out the room.

Rob and Chelsie starting on the Kitchen.

The Kitchen Before it was cleaned.

The Kitchen after it was cleaned and had the desk in.

Cleaning Dad's House Continued.

Family Room T.V. Area Before.

Family Room T.V. Area After

Where the desk was Before.

Where the desk used to be is now the sitting area.

She is 5 months old today.....

and it is a bittersweet for me. I love seeing her grow and learn new things everyday, but it makes me sad to think that my baby is growing up so fast. I have taken quite a few video clips of her in the past few days so I thought I would post some of them. I like to do video clips more than pictures so that James' family in Colorado can feel like they are a part of her life as much as possible and not feel like they miss out on a lot of stuff.

This clip is of her in her play chair on Wednesday night I believe.

Here she is in the bathtub obviously. She was kicking like crazy so I had to get her on camera.

Here she is just out of the bathtub and her newest thing that she just started yesterday is talking in her own jibberish talk which is so cute!

Where has the Passion gone?

Is change good? I always thought so, but now I don't know what to think. When I was a teenager and also when I was first married (which I was still technically a teenager) I was what I call a "Roller Coaster" person. You could also call it Bipolar without the mental illness part. Anyway, I was 2 extremes, I was a very out-going, hyper person who always wanted to have fun, and then I would get in these moments where I was, I guess you could call it depressed. I was always looking for acceptance from other people to make me feel good about myself and I was angry alot. I would get mad very easily and I would take things people said very personally and very seriously.
In the past couple of years, I have worked really hard to get rid of that person. I wanted to be a more balanced person and through reading, seminars and experiences, I believe that I have become that person. If the Lindsi from even 5 years ago went through the things that James and I have gone through in the past year and a half, I don't think my husband would have wanted to have stayed married to me. I have liked who I have become, but things that I have heard recently have made me wonder otherwise. With becoming more balanced, I have gotten rid of the anger, the self hatred, the depression, all of that stuff.....but along with it went my excitement, my hyperness (which I always did consider a good thing in most circumstances), and more than anything, my passion. I don't consider myself a boring person, but when you look at the "chart" or "graph" of it originally going up and down and now it is pretty much even kill, it looks kind of boring. I have been thinking lately about how there isn't anything out there that I am passionate about. When James and I first got married, I didn't want kids for a really long time because I had so much passion and ambition that I wanted to go out and make something of myself. Through the years that disappeared and I then all I wanted to be was a mom. I absolutely love being a mom and I wouldn't change that for the world, but I wish I still had the passion and ambition I did back then. Also, my passion towards my husband went too. I guess I hadn't really paid much attention to it until lately, I think James has been wondering where his wife went. I want to stay the balanced person that I am right now, I truly am the happiest I have ever been with myself right now in my life, but I want the excitement, ambition, and passion that I used to have back and I don't know how to get that back in my life.
I guess I feel stuck. I don't feel that I am progressing in my life right now. We are at my parents house, we were only supposed to be here 6 months at the most and here it is almost February, and we are creeping up on a year now. Our Eagle Mountain house is holding us back. The renters want to buy it but haven't been able to qualify for it yet, we can't move into it because it is more of a payment than we can afford, and we don't want to put if up for sale because then the renters will want to move out and we don't want to be stuck with the payment. I really am not one to get down or depressed over things, but it is a bit discouraging not being able to see an end near. I used to be so passionate about Interior Design, and with not having my own place or being in a situation where I can use my design skills, I really don't even feel like I can call myself an Interior Designer anymore. Other than creating some scrapbooks for Brooklyn and my twin nephew and niece, I can't rememeber the last time I was even creative in any way. I feel like I am losing who I am and I hate that.
I am allowing myself to write this post, and then I am not going to dwell on it anymore. I just needed to get it off of my chest so I can move forward. If anyone has any advice, it is gladly accepted. I just wonder where has the passion gone? And how do I get it back!

She's not much better

Well, Brooklyn hasn't gotten any better really at the jumper. I really did think that she would be really good at it with the way that she kicks her legs all the time. You will see in the video clips what she would rather do. Notice the back of her head.......we joke all the time that she is wearing a really bad toupee, we hope it will start growing back in here soon when she starts sitting up more.

Gabler Boys

Last Thursday, James' two brothers Aaron and Josh came from Colorado to go snowmobiling up at the cabin. Brooklyn and I came along so we could see her uncle's, but it was completely a boys weekend. They were gone pretty much all day on Friday and the majority of the day on Saturday up on the mountain. We pretty much didn't see them a whole lot and I joked with James that the only reason he wanted me to go up there was to cook them dinner and be the 4th player in Rook.
Saturday night after they got back and got cleaned up, we headed into Park City. We went to the outlets so I could get me some jeans at the Old Navy outlet store and I can't tell you how fun it is to shop with 3 adult boys. They were getting hungry so our shopping was cut short to go find food. We headed into town to go to the Pizza & Noodle on Main Street and boy were we sorry. We had no idea that the Sundance Film Festival was going on! The roads were horrible and there were people everywhere. He got out of there as quickly as we possibly could and headed back to Heber. We drove around for awhile and couldn't find any food that wasn't fast food so we headed back up to Midway by the cabin and went to a really good place called the Mountain House. It is kind of funny that we drove all over and ended up back where we started.
This was Brooklyn's first snowmobiling experience and I wish I would have gotten a picture of her. We put her in warm clothes and then wrapped her up in blankets and James just held her in his arms. I thought maybe she would cry, but she was such a trooper and did really well. On our way back from dinner, it was dark and 12 degrees and it still didn't bother her to be on the snowmobile. I think she was most definitely sent to the right family with all of the outdoor stuff her dad likes to do. She is a trooper with that stuff.
The boys left Sunday morning and I think they had a really good time. James was so excited to have them up and he is already wanting to plan for them to come again. The next time they come, Julie for sure has to come with the twins, I need another girl to keep me company, it got kind of boring with just Brooklyn and I all day.
Thanks Aaron and Josh for driving all that way to come and play, it really meant alot to James and he had an absolute blast. James, you can't say that I don't love you. I cooked for you guys and let you just have fun with your brothers, now it's time for Julie and I to plan something :)
Here are some pictures of the boys up on the mountain. On Saturday, they decided to take some sleds up and try some sledding. Now I think that looks like fun on the video clips.
James and Josh

Aaron and Josh

Slap Happy

On Sunday night, we were up in my mom's hobby room playing around and I stood up over Brooklyn and said "Boo", and she just started laughing really hard. That is when we know she is tired, she gets slap happy. James ran down and grabbed the camera, so we were able to catch some good footage of her laughing.

Husband Tag

1) Where did you meet?
We met at a dance at LDS Business College.

2) How long did you date before you were married?
We dated 2 weeks before we decided to get married and were engaged for 6 months before we actually got married.

3) How long have you been married?
It will be 7 years in March.

4) What does he do that surprises you?
It surprises me how he doesn't get upset. I have never seen him really mad at anything our whole marriage. He might get bugged about something, but he NEVER gets mad, and I mean that in a literal term.

5) What is his best feature?
This will embarrass him, but I tell him all the time what a nice behind he has :) I also love his lips, Brooklyn has his lips and they are so pretty.

6) What is your favorite quality of his?
How caring he is to people. I have seen him in bishoprics and Elder's quorum presidencies, and he is always concerned about people who may not be as active and may not feel apart of the group. He goes out of his way to make them feel welcome.

7) Does he have a nickname for you?
Lindsi Lou, Honey, Babe

8) What is his favorite food?
He likes all foods, but I think he gets most excited over fish. (it's healthier)

9) What is his favorite sport?
football, football, and did I say Football!

10) When and where was your first kiss?
Out in the parking lot of my dorm room in college, he was leaning against the car and while I was in the middle of a sentence, he pulled me towards him and kissed me. It was our 3rd date at night.

11) What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
Go to our cabin, go snowmobiling (before we had Brooklyn), go out to dinner, watch movies in my parents theatre room.

12) Do you have any children?
Brooklyn, she is almost 5 months old.

13) What are his hidden talents?
some people may know this, but he was a state champion in gymnastics growing up, so he is really good at doing tumbling on the ground..back flips, back handsprings..etc...
Making breakfast.....he does it way more than I do.

14) Who said I Love You first?
I believe it was him. I remember when he tried to tell me he did and was a little nervous to do it, but I don't remember the first time it was actually said.

15) What is his favorite music?
pretty much alternative type music, usually what's playing on the radio.

16) What do you admire about him?
I hope I can put this in words and have it make sense...... He never holds a grudge or gets upset at people. He always puts himself in their shoes and tries to feel what they are feeling. He tries to look at the eternal perspective of things. He forgives instantly. This is something that even my parents admire and look up to him for.

17) What is his favorite color?
Blue

18) Will he read this?
probably

19) Who do you tag?
Whoever would like to tell their story (as Heather said)

A Little Late.....

I am a little late at posting my New Year Resolutions, but this past week was a bit busy. This past weekend we went and babysat our neighbor's kids while they went to Arizona. Their kids are 14, 12, and 9. But anyway, here are my resolutions.
-Exercise every morning. Main goal is to trim down my waist by 2" and flatten my tummy from having Brooklyn. (We are going to Hawaii in August, so for sure it has to be flat by then!)
-Say my prayers every night (I had gotten lazy with that this past year)
-Read my scriptures every day. (At least read the Book of Mormon in it's entirety)
-Finish my main chore that I have given myself for that day (laundry, cleaning, etc.)
-Prepare my Primary lessons in advance, don't wait until the night before or the morning of.
-Get out more often and try new things. (My first reaction with babysitting my neighbors was no, it would be to hard with Brooklyn. James said yes and I thought I would go with it. I ended up enjoying it, even though Brooklyn didn't sleep real great. I don't want my life to be on hold, just because I had a baby.)
-Get our Eagle Mountain house sold! We really need to get this sold so that we can move forward with our lives and not be living at my parents forever.
-Be better and more organized with birthdays! I have not done well at all at getting cards out to people or calling them, so I am creating a birthday chart to post up to remind me of birthdays and anniversaries.

Those are pretty much my main ones. I may throw some in down the road, but I don't want to overload myself up front. Keep up on me and make sure I am keeping up on all of these!

Swimming with the Family

We spent our New Year's week as we usually do, with my family here at my mom's. This year I felt like a bit of an out cast. The older boys were hooked on Acquire (a board game) the whole week, the younger boys were glued to the video games, and my mom and two sisters all got IPOD Touches for Christmas, so they were all playing games on them. When I was able to get some people to play board games I had a lot of fun, otherwise I would just chill with Brooklyn.

On Saturday, we went to the Lehi Swimming pool and had a lot of fun playing with Brooklyn. At first she wasn't sure about it and looked like she might cry, but after a few minutes she really started to enjoy it. She lasted quite a while.

My nephews and nieces and James and Brooklyn

Jaidyn, Maddie, & Dyllan