Florences at the PCC

I'm sure that you will all agree that this is such a cute picture! I love, love, love it! My parents are having such a great time on their mission! I miss them so much, but I know that they are being taken care of, and are doing such an amazing job! For all of you who do not know, Brother and Sister Florence are currently serving a mission in Laie, Hawaii at the Polynesian Cultural Center. They love it and are doing many great things! They have lots of friends (obviously) and my mom has even found a substitute daughter to take care of. Believe it or not, her name is Melissa as well, and she is a BYUH student from Austrailia. I have talked on the phone with her and I think that she is a very capable and worthy replacement.

Here is a picture of Melissa and her husband Scott. Aren't they cute!?

Vids, Pics, and why I have none.

I have officially been informed twice today that I don't have enough pictures and videos on my blog. I know people! Get off my back, okay? Just kidding. ;o) I'm a little computer dumb. I'm really trying to figure out how this whole downloading thing works, but it takes a little more time than I have lately. I'm really going to try. Don't worry. I think that I'm going to take the whole setup to my Website Wizard, Master of the Mouse, Conquerer of Computers (yes, that needed to be capatalized) cousin Nate. He'll hook me up right. Then I'll have so many pictures and videos you won't know what to do with yourself... Watch out!

Cute Backgrounds

I added a link on my favorites list for the place that I got my backgrounds from. If you want to use one of these backgrounds, go to "Layout", then "Pick New Template" and chose "minima" template. This is the first template available and is all white. Next, go to http://www.cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com/ (also the link on the side of this page titled "Cute Backgrounds"). Choose the background that you want and copy the url. Next, go back to your layout page and click on "Edit HTML". Scroll down about 1/4 inch on the scroll bar and find the part that looks like this:

body {
background:$bgcolor;background-image:url(direct link: center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed;

Then cut out the part that is the direct link (probably something with "minima" and paste the link for your background there.

It's that easy!

My Trip to Utah

So a few weeks ago my big sister Heidi called me. She said that she was going to be having surgery and wondered if I could come and babysit her and her two children, Emma (4) and Ethan (2). So of course I said, "yes!" Her surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, so I left Monday morning.
I stopped at my other sister Holly's house, in Nampa. She breads Scottish Terriers and had a puppy that needed to go to Burley. I loaded up and left, but not before I noticed how hot that Holly is these days! She is on this amazing diet and has lost 30 pounds in six weeks! Holy cow... She looks incredible.
So off I went to Burley. I met that puppy's new mommy, got a wad of cash for him (breading puppies might be my calling in life) and then got back on the road. I borrowed a few books on tape from my friend Amy and I was listening to one called "Being the Mom". It is so funny. So I was really absorbed in this and didn't notice that my fuel was getting low. Thank goodness for the little *ding* that the car gave me as a warning of a nearly empty tank... At this point I knew that I had about twenty miles to get to a gas station before the car would stop. So, I knew that I had just gone past Snowville. What I didn't know is that there would be a dozen exits ahead, all with "NO SERVICES". Don't even worry. I prayed a lot. And I cried a lot. I was making plans of what I would do when the car finally sputtered to a stop. I never went over 60 mph because my dad said that you get better gas milage when you go slower. There were a few places that were so up hill I had scary visions of running out of gas and actually rolling back down the hill. Then having to walk back up the hill. In the wind. With Whitney and Lucas in tow. I thought of one time that I ran out of gas and some kind of emergency responce vehicle came and gave me gas. I tried to figure out how I could get one of those trucks to come and rescue me, but I didn't know how without actually calling 911 and looking like a complete idiot.
911 Operator: "911- what is your emergency?"
Me: "Um, hi. I'm running out of gas."
911 Operator: "I'm sorry, ma'am, did you say that you are out of gas?"
Me: "Uh, no... I'm running out of gas."
911 Operator: "I'm sorry, what is your emergency?"
Yea, I definitely was not going to call 911 until I was actually out of gas, and was completely sure that I was really stranded. So I was back to praying. A lot. Everytime I could see a sign up in the distance, I would get a little excited, but then my hopes were swiftly dashed by another "NO SEVICES". Aggrivation! So enough suspense: I did not run out of gas, though I should have. I pulled into the gas station in Tremonton 37 miles later (remember I was supposed to run out of gas 17 miles before that) and filled up my 18 gallon tank with 18.09 gallons of gas. Yikes. I think that was a little bit of a close one. I said lots of prayers of thanks.
So I got to Heidi's house a little before 7:00 p.m. Her surgery was scheduled for 10:30 the next morning. At 9:00 a.m., she got a call from the hospital. They told her that her appointment was being changed to 11:30 a.m. Irritating, mostly because the poor girl couldn't eat anything past midnight the night before. So we got her there on time. She called me 15 minutes after I dropped her off and said that they were going to start the surgery for two more hours! I felt so bad for her.
I went to the hospital at 4:30 and had to wait a little while for her to wake up, then I took her home. So here I am at Heidi's house. It has been a little bit of a zoo with 4 kids who are all under 5 years old, but they are having fun. Heidi keeps telling me how happy she is that I am here. I love her so much. I wish that she would move back to Idaho so that I could take care of her all of the time.
Today I am going to try to go see Kaitlin BYU. I don't know if I will be able to, though. Heidi has been feeling a lot better, but Kaitlin has a lot to do today. I would feel pretty bad if I got this far and didn't get to spend some time with her.
I'm going to be going home tomorrow. I miss Nick and Peter so much. Peter calls me occasionally, but I can tell that he would rather be running or playing the wii when he is supposed to be talking to me, but what can you expect from a 6 year old? Oh, I love that little boy.
Lucas doesn't crawl much anymore. I got a few really cute videos. I'm going to try to figure out how to put a one on this thing. (I'm kind of computer dumb.)

Lucas, getting his move on

Lucas is a walker! Most of the time. Wow, it's just so cute. I always think, 'why do babies need to learn how to walk so soon? Where do they have to go and what do they have to do?' But, oh, they find lots of places to go and lots of things to do when they get there. One of Lucas' favorite things to do is play in the kitchen drawers. He takes it as a personal insult if you stop him from emptying every dang reachable drawer in the place. Serenity now! I think that I fill all of the bottom drawers back up at least fifteen times a day. Oh, but I love that little monster!

Tricky, tricky! What a foolish day!

So yesterday morning I was rushing around, trying to get out the door by 9:00 (it was 9:05) to go to the store to get something for Peter's class when the phone rang. It was my good friend and neighbor ShaRee calling.
"Hey, Melissa. Did you get that notice from the trash service on Saturday?"
"Um, no. What notice?"
"Oh, Nick must have gotten it and forgot to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"They left a note in our mailbox on Saturday that said that they were going to pick up the trash on our street a this morning at 9:15!"
"Oh, shoot. I've godda go. Thanks, ShaRee..."
"No problem."
*Click*
Remember: it's 9:05. So I raced around the house collecting all of the trash, silently cursing my husband. I get it all outside in record time and notice that our other neighbor doesn't have their trash out either. Just as I'm thinking that I should run over there and tell her, a thought occured to me. I should look to see if ShaRee has her trash out. Nope. Jerk. I had fallen for it. She had fooled me. I should have seen it coming, but who remembers at 9:00 in the morning what day it is? Not me. Heck. Sometimes I can't even remember what month it is!
So I made it to the store and to Peter's class a little late, but it was okay. The class (kindergarteners) were just sitting having their snack when I ran in the room with all of my clothes on inside out. I started shouting about how the president of the United States of America had called me this morning and said that everyone had to wear their clothes inside out, or else they would go to jail! You should have seen the looks on those kids faces. It was awesome. Some of them were totally ready to change, and their teacher was trying not to lose it. So funny!
Then when I got home I emptied out a bunch of soda cans by poking holes in the bottom and refilling them with water. Then I took them over to ShaRee for her to trick her husband with. She said that it was really funny. I gave one to Peter to drink with his lunch, then to Whitney and Nick to have with their dinner. Nick was so funny. He totally couldn't figure out how I got the soda out, the water in, and resealed the can to look like I didn't open it. Awesome. I also called my mom and dad who are on their mission in Hawaii and told them that I was pregnant. With twins. Maybe a little below the belt, but my mom thought that it was funny.
It was such a fun day yesterday. I'm going to have to do some more planning next year to get ShaRee... watch your back, my friend. Watch your back.