The Fraziers

New pictures of Lucy...

2012-01-21T09:34:00.000-08:00

...over on the photo blog. These were taken at six months and now she's 9 months.

December

2012-01-17T01:05:00.000-08:00

Just a few of the things we did in December.

First...drumroll...Shane graduated with his Masters! *Confetti*
It was a long road, but we made it through and I'm so proud of this guy!

The Hooding

This is Dr. Cena who was Shane's professor and commitee chair for his project. Shane would be embarrassed if he knew I was writing this, but I have to say it hon. When I met Dr. Cena at the graduation, he was pouring on the praise about Shane and then said, "Your husband has been one of the greatest scholars I have worked with." Way to go Shane, you deserve it!

Jayne turned 3!

This little girl is all sass, but all sweetness too. I know, it's a weird combo, but she pulls it off somehow :)

My best pal in the world was in town and came to Jayne's party with her cute kids. Jayne and Ruby hit it off...especially after Ruby gave Jayne this Snow White dress.

Little did Ruby know that Jayne lives in dress up clothes. (see example below later) Her favorite present, bar none.

So for some reason I had Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T." stuck in my head the day of Jayne's birthday. So I decided to play it at her party and dance. I had no idea how much my kids would love it. They beg for it daily and it has been a non-stop dance party ever since, especially when people come over.

Max's performance.
We put Max in a little singing class since he has already had 2 years of preschool. Max was always really outgoing, but then he went through a really shy stage...almost had anxiety to do anything new, even fun stuff like birthday parties. Primary programs, no way. Wouldn't even get up on the stand. He has slowly been coming out of it. You can imagine how proud I was when he was actually excited to get up on stage. He sang all his parts and did all the actions.

He's the one in the middle, second row, next to the kid in the argyle sweater.

Christmas!

Christmas was as wonderful as always. We loved being together, starting some new traditions, and thinking about our Savior's birth.

Picking out a tree and decorating it

We loved our elf on the shelf (thanks Al and Em!). So cute to watch the kids find him and sneak private conversations with him. They named him Charlie. If Lucy would have been a boy, she would most definitely have been Charlie. I guess the kids didn't want the name to go to waste :)

Leaving a treat for Santa. I'm pretty sure Max doesn't think Santa's name is Stu, that's just how he sounded it out :)

Fort Christmas. So when I was a kid, my bros and I would build a fort to sleep in on Christmas Eve. We have loved carrying that tradition on in our little family.

The fort lighting ceremony

Dad was cordially invited into the lair

Christmas Morning

This constituted much of the kids activities at Shane's parents house. Our nephew, also Max, lining the kids up and jumping over them, sans shirts. They couldn't get enough of it.

our Christmas card

And we'll end this gigantic post with some random cuteness...enjoy!

Lucy finds a friend :)

Jayne in some of her daily uniforms. The last two are with her friend Lily.

Silly faces with cousins Masey and Kaya

Halloween 2011

2011-11-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know my posts are always a little anticlimactic because they're always at least a month late, but here it goes anyway...

I think it's no secret now that I LOVE Halloween...everything about it. I start dreaming up what costumes we could make sometime in July (actually, most of the time sooner...I usually tuck away ideas throughout the year. I already know what half of us are going to be next year :)

Shane and I didn't really dress up this year...I know lame. Not sure what happened, but we still had fun with the kid's costumes.

Now I want you to know that I don't force my kids into their costumes. I do ask them what they want to be (yeah occasionally I plant ideas, but still :). Just lucky for me, they haven't wanted to be the commercial stuff yet (you know like Disney and what not...nothing wrong with those at all and i know they'll want to be those soon enough, but I can have a lot more fun with the generic stuff.).

Max requested to be a robot. So without further adieu, meet the xam bot 3000.

Max and I had a lot of fun together planning his costume. He gave a lot of great ideas and even drew a few blue prints. Here is one of them:

Xam bot slices, dices, vacuums your carpet, and even lights your way on a dark night.

He is also very eco-friendly. As a hybrid, he runs on fuel and electricity. And he's made from recycled materials. I know, we're very green around here.

Don't forget to put candy in his fuel tank or he'll go into meltdown.

Can't get enough of that cute robot bootie :) This is the part of the photo shoot where he was "powering down" if you will. He was d.o.n.e.

Luckily, we fueled him back up later on and got a little robot boogie out of him

So technically, I didn't ask Jayne what she wanted to be and wait for the response, but I did ask, "Do you want to be a cupcake?" and thankfully she was all for it. I saw this genius idea from a friend's sister-in-law and I was instantly smitten and had to do it. Just made a couple changes to make it our own and voila...

...a delicious cupcake with a cherry on top. Made with a lamp shade, spray paint, an old sheet, some plastic bags for stuffing, ribbon, rolled up paper and a little felt.

Jumping in a cupcake can be tricky, but she pulled it off :)

Now for Lucy, I could not decide what I wanted her to be. Thank heavens for my friend Sig...she came to the rescue and sent me a link for this awesome idea and as soon as I saw it, I was on board...

Lucy: hot air balloon pilot extraordinaire . It doesn't get much cuter than that folks. Sorry, it just doesn't.

Well, so I said Shane and I didn't dress up, but as we were running out the door to go to our neighborhood trunk-or-treat, Shane whipped together this little concoction

I think this partly came because of the fact that I almost had us dress up as Magnum P.I. and Higgins. (Maybe someday soon :) Yep, I'm a sucker for a good 'stache, what can I say :)

Happy late Halloween y'all!

Pix of my kids...way late

2011-09-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

I guess while I was pregnant with Lucy, editing pictures was one of the last things I wanted to do because these pictures have been sitting in my computer collecting dust. So, although I stayed up WAY too late tonight letting Jimmy Fallon entertain me via hulu whilst I edit, I vowed to get them done! So here they finally are, basically a year later, Max's 4 year pictures and Jayne's 2 year pictures. To see them all go the my photog blog. Scroll down an extra post to see Max's. I know, I know, you want to squish their little faces. Wish you could :)

Happy Birthday to Max!

2011-08-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Max is 5...what! It's crazy how fast that came. Max is such a fun kid. Although a little shy in public, he's super goofy when he's comfortable. And he is oh so sweet (when he wants to be :) Here is a prime example.

Translation: "I love Dad cause I love kissing him"

Translation: " I love mom more than this" (and then drew 2 ice cream cones)

He is constantly writing notes or just flat out saying stuff like this. Sometimes he writes more than my favorite thing (whatever that is at the moment) or more than a hundred trillion gillion or bigger than the biggest heart. Stuff like that. It melts me every time. The reason I said he is sweet when he wants to be because you might notice that the ice cream cones have red x's through them. He got mad at me later that day and crossed them out. He then saw that it made me feel bad and so to make up for it, he later wrote "100" meaning 100 scoops of ice cream. So we're good :)

To start off Max's big day, we did our traditional pancakes shaped like the first letter of your name and also how old you are. I need to work on my pouring skills, but you get the point.

Earlier this summer, we went to the lake and Max knew from that point on, he wanted a beach party, so that's what we did and it was a blast. Good call buddy :)

Ben, Madelyn, Cohen, Max, Justin, Jayne

They made boats and used their straws as the sails

Happy Birthday Max...we love you!

Scenes From Our Summer-Part 1

2011-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is basically a HUGE post of pictures (with a few captions) so I can catch up a little. This consists of our May and June adventures. Part 2 (July and August) will come at the end of August. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I won't post anything until then anyway :)

Max finished another year of our neighborhood preschool. This is a little project I did with the kids. Ours was the only bean that didn't grow. Beans are pretty much the easiest things in the world to grow! Thus, I really suck at growing things.

Max helping us unload the wood chips-what a stud

This is classic Jayne. We had put her to bed only to later find her naked and playing with an umbrella that was in the closet (and breaking it-also classic Jayne)

Classic Max-cut off shirt, shorty shorts and cowboy boots-
this is the kind of stuff he would wear all the time if we let him

Classic Lucy-the happiest, sweetest baby you've ever met in your life

Reading to Lucy

The next series of photos is from our annual trip to Island Park with Shane's family

Classic Shane with the nice tuchus :)

Lucy and cousin Trey

The whole Frazier clan minus Shane's youngest bro and his family

Jayne and Keri

Kaya, Jayne, Keri , Masey

Jayne, Max, Justin, Masey, Kaya, Holli, Keri

Max participated in a little sports camp with his cousin Cohen. He is going through a shy phase so he really freaked out at first, but then jumped right in and loved it.

Showing off their medals (and their new found muscles)

And, just for fun, I leave you with this. Don't lose your lunch.
*No boogers were eaten in the taking of this picture

Sorry...

2011-06-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

...a real post is coming, but in the meantime, I want to win this SO bad!

More of Lucy

2011-04-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Had me a photo shoot with sweet little Lucy :) See more here.

Lucy's Birth

2011-04-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, my good friend Sigrid took some pictures of Lucy's birth. Don't worry, nothing graphic. Thank you so much Sig for capturing these special (and very first) moments in our girls life.

Shane cozying up with his Sports Illustrated

It's a girl!

Sig & Luce

Gma & Gpa Wilding

It's a girl! Introducing Foodine Frazier

2011-04-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

*Note: For those of you who think I would actually name my child Foodine, I'm insulted. And for those of you who may actually know a Foodine, sorry if I just insulted you. :) More on Foodine later.

Meet Lucy Joyce Frazier. Born April 6 at 12:12 p.m. and weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 13 oz. I could tell she was going to be big and i think anyone who saw me could tell too.

Day before Lucy was born

I only have so much height for these giant babies to go, so yep, I stuck straight out. We don't really know how to make small babies I guess.

Everything went really smoothly with the delivery and I was pretty shocked when I saw that it was a girl. I convinced everyone including myself that it was a boy. Shane guessed girl all along and it turns out he was right. I'm so glad he was, obviously, because I can't imagine anyone but her. It was a little hard at times not knowing the gender (especially when I had to refer to her as "it"), but it made it so exciting and even more emotional somehow. Anyone out there considering not finding out, DO IT! It's so worth the wait.

Max and Jayne were a little weary at first, I think mostly because I was in the hospital and they weren't sure if everything was ok. Once they eventually figured out what was happening and that Lucy was the baby that I had been carrying around for months, they became obsessed with her.

Foodine is actually a name Max came up with long ago. We were putting out names that we liked one day and let the kids in on it too. Max threw out a few gems he thought were appropriate including Stank, Whitey, Mom, and Vixiwheel (all catchy), but Foodine became a fast favorite of his and stuck. And why wouldn't it :) He would often come up to kiss my belly and sweetly say, "Hi Foodine". After she was born and we told him her name was Lucy, he didn't hesitate to say, "Nope, Foodine." He hasn't let it go and continues to call her that. I'm not even sure he knows who this Lucy is that we keep talking about :) I'm ok with it though, it can be their little thing together. I'm sure if people only talk to Max about the new baby, they will be told with assurance that her name is Foodine :)

Lucy is actually a name we have loved ever since I was pregnant with Max and it just seemed to fit her. Joyce is after Shane's sweet grandmother.

Jayne is completely gone over Lucy. Her constant question is, "Mom, where's Wucy?" Lucy will definitely have to keep one eye open (see previous photo :) with Jayne around. Jayne is always there trying to shove Lucy's binki in, maul her or feed her chips. I'm glad she loves her and all, but sheesh, I'm a little worried for Lucy's welfare!

This picture above melts my heart. I have all brothers, which is wonderful, but I always wanted a sister (although, i have been blessed with amazing sisters-in-law :) I am so excited that Jayne and Lucy get to experience that and I guess I can live sisterhood vicariously through them somehow :)

When I got home from the hospital, there were 'I love Lucy' hearts everywhere. That Shane...so cute :) We feel so blessed to have her sweet little presence in our home. We love you Luce (aka Foodine)!

P.S. Many more pictures to come of course including some my friend took of her birth. Thanks again Sig!

Well...

2010-11-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

...me and Sloppy Joe got married...

.. got 2 kids and we're doin' just fine...

...down in lunch lady land.

sloppy joe, Slop-sloppy joe

If you haven't a clue what I'm talking about, feel free to enlighten yourself with this complimentary video.

Poor Shane...he makes one ugly lady. No offense hon, you're really hot as a man.

Oh, you're a freak and I love you for it. And who would ever think that Chris Farley could high-kick better than you. :)

I have asked Max in the past what he wanted to be, but he hasn't really cared until this year. And boy did he! He changed what he wanted to be about every day. There was a trucker, (I don't know where that came from-I don't think he really knew what that meant, but I was prepared to have a lot of fun with it) a train engineer and then finally, when he saw some cowboy boots at the D.I., the heavens parted for him and he was true blue, through and through

Hank the cowboy(the belt was given to Shane from girlfriends past. It has little love notes engraved on the inside:) Couldn't care less, it's a cool belt...thanks girl).

And just a side note, Max hasn't taken off his blessed boots since. Insists on wearing them to church every Sunday.

Every good cowboy needs to know how to rope,

handle a six-shooter,

be a horse whisperer,

intimidate other rascally cowboys with a good crazy-eye,

and pick his nose. Hey, it get's dusty out there.

For Jayne, I decided that since I made her be corn on a stick last year, I'd let her be something a little more girly this year. Hence, Little Red Riding Hood

On the way to Grandma's cottage, Little Red met up with some woodland creatures, (and was pretty terrified of them, I might add)

got lassoed by a rascally cowboy,

and, well, just couldn't help herself. Sorry Granny.

And if you haven't already had enough of our belated Halloween post, I'll leave you with one more costume ( I wore this one to a YW activity)

Surprise! Yep, I've got a bun in the oven. We're pretty ecstatic (especially now that the morning sickness has finally let up). Maybe the slightest bit freaked out by the notion of 3, but mostly we're ecstatic. This little bun will be fully baked by April 12. And no need to ask what we're having. We won't know until April 12. Shane thinks I won't be able to hold out until then, but I'm actually so excited NOT to find out until that magical moment.

Well, Happy Halloween from all of us until next year!

Post Script: Thank you to my friend Joelle for making Jayne's AMAZING little dress (I am so happy it finally fits her Joelle!) and to my friend Emily for taking all the Sloppy Joe and bun in the oven pics!

Frazier Family Photos-2010

2010-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

My wonderful and talented friend Sigrid took these for us. She did such an amazing job and we can't thank her enough. Love you Sig!

Love how Max's little Hanes are poking out. Why? Upon further inspection you'll notice his pants are undone. Why? He just relieved himself in the nearby bushes.

I love this because I realize that I really don't have very many pictures of my kids with me since I am usually the one behind the camera. I need to change that.

5 Years

2010-05-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Oh this poor blog, so neglected, so lonely. What better post to come back with than a post about love...ahhh. Yep, Shane and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in May and we had such a good time, that I couldn't let the good times sit stashed away any longer.

So each year we trade off who is in charge and this was my year. I thought 5 was a pretty big one, so we went all out. I didn't tell Shane anything we were doing. It was fun to see him squirm. I decided it would be fun to go back to all the spots that were stepping stones in our relationship. So off to Logan we went.

First stop, meeting

We actually first met at Ricks college...he asked me out, I couldn't go, yada yada yada, I never saw him again. Well, I wasn't about to spend our whole night driving to Rexburg, so I improvised...a Ricks blanket, some pictures of us from that year, and a bit of the bubbly to start the night off.

Next Stop, our reunion

Well 4 years after Ricks, much had happened in our lives, but the stars finally aligned and we were "reunited and it [felt] so good" (dang I wish I would have downloaded that song for this stop just to amp up the cheese factor). We met up again at a little campus concert put on by Kalai at the amphitheater. I was smitten right away and remember wishing that he would ask me out. Whew, he came through.

And of course, we couldn't leave campus without visiting this little site

It counts anyway since Shane made me a true Aggie

Next, our first date

We actually did this later on, but I'll just put it in the order that it happened back then. Sorry, we forgot to take a real picture. Too busy stuffing our faces with that goodness.

Next, the big "L"

Yeah, I know what you're all thinking, "You guys said I love you in a Wendy's over a frosty!?" Call, me crazy, but it was actually terribly romantic. Here's why. I'm sure Shane (he said it first) wouldn't have picked Wendy's as the first spot he would choose to tell me this, but he decided he just couldn't hold it in any longer. So, instead of saving it for another day, he let me know right then and there. I love that about him...he's an open book. You know what, it feels incredible to hear that no matter where you are. :)

Next, the engagement

This is where it went down a little over five years ago. At the time, Shane and I played a lot of scrabble together, so he worked it in (I still always beat him at it by-the-way, hee hee). He set up hundreds of twinkle lights, coaxed me to the spot, and when he plugged them in I saw this

Sorry, it's probably hard to see, but it says 'Elise will you marry me'. It was such an amazing night (despite the fact that my hands were so cold, they swelled up and I couldn't get the ring off) So, for this stop on our anniversary, I repaid him with this

Next, our Wedding day

For this stop, we went to the Logan temple grounds and read what we had written in our journals about that day. Our wedding day is burned in my brain, but it was so fun to read about it again and to hear Shane's version.

Last stop, wedding night

We stayed in the same room at the same bed and breakfast we stayed at on our wedding night. Sorry, forgot real pictures again. The funny thing is as we were reading Shane's journal entry at the temple, he had written something like, "We stayed at Parrish Place in Salt Lake. It was kind of a weird place in a creepy part of town. We probably won't go back." Little did he know we would be going back in a couple of hours. :) I think what weirded us out were the owners. They were a little shady. But when we went back, it was under new management and we found it to be very charming and inviting. Who knows, maybe we'll be back in another 5:)

I just have to share what Shane got me...he did a great job. I have been wanting him to engrave my ring since I got it and this year, he did it. So on his ring I engraved 'Therefore walk with me' which comes from a scripture I love in Moses 6:34 (Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.) This is the Lord talking to Enoch. When applied to us, it reminded me that when we are married, we became one with each other and one with the Lord (which is also why there are three diamonds on my ring) and that I wanted him walking beside me through all that would come in our life together.

In my ring, Shane engraved 'D&C 90:24 Walk Uprightly' (This is the whole scripture: Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another) He gave me the ring along with this photoI was very impressed with his photography prowess :)

And finally, the crowning jewel of his gift giving :)
I love when he pulls out stuff like this. This was purchased at the D.I. and my sister-in-law described the sheer genius of this video best when she said, "First of all, who would buy that video and second of all, who would ever give it up!" Amen. I'm getting buried with that thing. If anyone is throwing a Hip hop country themed party, we are more than willing to rent it out for a small fee. Call me.

Man that boy makes me laugh. This is how it all started
And that is how it has been ever since. We just have such a great time together. And yes, I have wet myself on several occasions due to laughing so hard. Ok, not really, but have come really close :) I love you shnoogums-boogums :) and I could almost bust from being so lucky to have you. And when kids as cute as these come with the deal, what more could I ask for.

More of Jayne

2010-03-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

But this time the pictures were not taken by me. This beyond amazing photographer (definitely a favorite of mine) was in Utah filming one of her online courses-this particular one was how to photograph babies, toddlers and kids. As I was reading her blog the other day, she had a casting call for it and although I knew there would be many entries, I thought, what the heck. How great would it be if Jayne got chosen and I got to see Nicole in action and get incredible pictures of Jayne out of it. So, I sent in Jayne's picture. And what do you know, she got chosen! I was excited, to say the least. I absolutely love Nicoles clean, classic style. Timeless. To see Jayne and all the other cute kids, go here.

P.S. Max, I promise the next post will be about you little buddy.

Finally

2010-03-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

I finished Jayne's 1 year pictures. They have been sitting in my computer for way too long. To see the rest, go to my photo blog. I don't know, I think she's pretty cute, don't you?

Love, Grammy

2010-02-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

That's how she always signed her little notes to us and oh how it endeared her to me. New Years Eve was bitter-sweet for us. Bitter because Shane's sweet grandmother passed away and we knew how much we would miss her light in our life. Sweet because we knew there were many on the other side who had been missing her too and so many others she had not yet met that would now get to feel of her love. That is without a doubt the greatest thing I admired about Grammy Nelson...her ability to love so freely and sincerely. I haven't had a grandmother since I was six and Joyce filled that void in such a profound way that I truly felt as if she were my own and not just my grandmother-in-law. Shane and I weren't really planning on staying up until midnight that night, but when we got the call that she had passed at about 10:30, we ended up reminiscing and writing our thoughts about Joyce to ring in the new year. Here are a few things I wrote that night which reiterate some of what I wrote above:

"I remember when I first met her. Shane and I were dating and had volunteered to drive her to Teton (Idaho), the home she loved so dearly. From the very moment I met her I felt completely loved. There are so many incredible qualities that she possessed, but this is the one that stood out the most. The instant anyone came in contact with Joyce, they felt uplifted and so important. This is something that I hope I can possess one day. To feel that must be just a taste of what it must be like to meet the Savior for the first time. I can scarcely imagine how wonderful that moment will be if it is greater than how I felt around Joyce. I am so happy that she is experiencing exactly what that feels like at this very moment."

That night, my mind kept going back to the scriptures in Moroni 7 about charity (45-47 in particular). She was definitely one who was "found possessed of it at the last day". Everything in these scriptures describes all that Joyce stood for. It reminded me of a comment Shane made at the Nelson family reunion last summer. Referring to how kind and accepting Grandma is, he said, "I think she would probably even invite the devil himself in and tell someone to go down and get a bottle of cherries to share with him ." She got a kick out of that.

She was very aptly named Joyce...she felt and radiated joy, even in the simplest of things. I remember a time we were in Island Park with her and we were watching some little mountain bluebirds chase each other from fence post to fence post. She quietly watched with the biggest smile on her face and would occasionally giggle at them. She was a great example of stopping and smelling the roses. As we were talking about her name, we realized that Jayne's name is a perfect combination of Joyce and Wayne (Shane's grandfather). If you read in the past about why we gave Jayne her name, you'll remember there was a big list of reasons. Too bad we didn't think of the combination right away, but I am glad we realized it now. I truly hope Jayne can learn and grow from the stories she hears about all those whose names she bears.

As we went to bed that night, our hearts were full of gratitude. Gratitude knowing that Grandma fought the good fight and lived an extraordinary life. She epitomized a good and faithful servant. Gratitude that Joyce and Wayne were reunited after 20 years. Shane smiled and said that she must have not wanted to go into another year without him...she got to kiss him at midnight :) And finally, we felt gratitude to have the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the plan of happiness.

These were taken the last time we visited her. I am so grateful for all of the sweet pictures we have of her with our kids. If you want, you can see some of them here and here . One of her greatest joys was children, especially her grandchildren. One of Shane's cousins wrote (on her blog) that during the funeral, Grammy was probably too modest to be in the chapel listening to all of the wonderful things everyone said about her. She would much rather have been in the nursery with the children. I love that thought (thanks Emily). I think that is exactly where she was.

A Cool Yule

2010-01-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

{Little note about the post title. Hanging in Shane's parents home is an infamous block of wood. Many years ago, Shane and his brother Derrick hatched up a little present for Mom and Pop Frazier (Shane describes it as what only could have been the two of them panicking on Dec. 24 when they didn't have a gift for them yet). Etched on this piece of wood (in chicken scratch) are the words, "Have a cool yule". I laugh every time I see it and love that it is hanging there faithfully every year. Anyway, just had to use it.}

We did, in fact, have a cool yule. I'll give you a quick run down although just know that there is a "lots o' pics and info warning" attached to this post.

Somtime leading up to Christmas:

Temple Square, oh so beautiful.

Shane claims that I am never in pictures (which is probably true). So here you go honey.

Christmas Eve Eve:

We held the 1st annual Hyde/Wilding Olympics. The Hydes are family friends that go back before I was even born. We get together every Christmas and get our game on. This year (with Amber's party expertise) we went whole hog with the gamein'.

The kids started it out with Santa Santa Elf (Duck Duck Goose!)

Then on to the Rudolph Dash (stick paper nose on with vaseline and run without it falling off )

Max needed a little coaxing

Santa Says (Simon Says)
Christmas Bingo
And nothing says Christmas like a butterfly pinata :)

As soon as the kids had their fun, the big kids came out to play and there was pride and a trophy at stake.

1st Event, three-legged elf race

Poor Lyndsay thought her leg might need amputation due to how tight their rope was

Next, Ornament Smash (tie balloon to ankle and try to pop opponents)

Stocking Snatch (put socks partially on feet, crawl on all fours and pull off opponents socks)

Ribbon Pull (Tug o' war)

Jingle Bell Relay (Having to hold about 20 jingle bells while running through a relay course and not drop a single one)

And finally Christmas Family Feud

When it was all over, the points from each event were added up and it seemed the Hydes were the champions. Fortunately, there was a miscalculation and in the end, the Wildings were victorious!
Until next year Hydes!

Christmas Eve:

We spent this day with Shane's parents in Downey. I didn't get very many pictures (I'm not sure why), but it was great to be with them and share stories from the past. Thanks for everything G and G Frazier!

Christmas Morning:

Was spent with our little family quietly at home.

Max's little pjs were Shane's when he was a boy(his mom made them)...couldn't let their cuteness go to waste.

Christmas Evening:

Spent with the Wilding clan. We had a pretty typical night...food, presents, etc. Little did we know pure mayhem was about to ensue. We played a game that goes like this: Get a present and wrap it A LOT (we passed it around beforehand and each wrapped it 20 times, equaling 80). On each layer of paper, write something that the person who opens it has to do. We also each brought 3 white elephant gifts that everyone got to choose and steal. Some of the layers said to take a gift or pass a gift.

Woops, my mom got the fur-coverd, leopard print handcuffs. Don't want to know.

The other layers had requests that had us rolling.

We had jigs

Alan's paper said to dance like my mom. Generally she doesn't can can, but you have to commend his high kick...wow

Gene Simmons from KISS. Sorry mom, I know you might kill me for posting this, but it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right? :)

Gorillas

Preening cats

Eating a teaspoon of horseradish

Originally Emilie got the horseradish command, but when she refused, we decided Alan had to take one for the team. Her punishment was a big, horseradishy wet one.

and Jowling. Oh the jowling. Basically just relax your face and shake it like mad. I got this idea from these amazing photographers (I don't know them, I just follow their blog). If you have an slr camera, set shutter speed on high and let the good times (and your face) roll. (sorry, the pictures turned out pretty dark because of the fast shutter speed in a fairly dark house, but you get the point)

Greg and Hannah decided to go with the tongue out method which can be very effective

Everyone looks great, but the jowling prize definitely goes to Big Al. A face only a mother could love :)

Some of the other requests were compare your first kiss the something (the flu was the answer), fat guy in a little coat impression (I got that one), dog with itch (also got that one and they made me be accurate and use my leg), what your pro wrestling name would be and why, reveal a lie you told your parents, and the best impression of my brother Blair. The possibilities are endless...give it a try! You won't regret it!

It was just an all around great night
This also made for some great comic relief. Upon opening some gifts, my mom found that she had received a magic Bullet from my bro Nate, Nate received one from my dad, and my dad received one from my mom. There's gonna be a lot of frappe goin on. Anyone need a Magic Bullet?
And, of course, you must sit on Santa's lap for Christmas to be complete.
And, of course, you must have a "crying on Santa's lap" picture for childhood to be complete.
Setting aside all the crazy antics from above, the best thing about Christmas is, as always, our Savior Jesus Christ. It is so special to be able to teach my children about Him and to see them catch on. I look forward to seeing their faith in Him grow year after year.

Shane built this amazing little manger for a seminary project, but we decided we couldn't let it just sit around for Christmas

Well, in typical late blogging fashion, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas season filled with joy, peace, and love.

Our baby girl is 1

2009-12-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

This last Tuesday, we celebrated little Jayne's 1st b-day. Just a small party with our family and my parents, but I still wanted to do a little decorating.

This fun garland my sis-in-law let me borrow. She made it out of coffee filters! Love it.

Here are closeups of the month-by-month frame if you want.

I decided we needed a happy birthday sign for our family, so I looked through my files and found the template for these light covers and punched out happy birthday. It took some doing, but I am so excited to have it now.

I thought it was high time Jayne had a doll, so that's what she got. I made the rag doll when she was born, but it has been sitting on a shelf in her room, so I let it down for a little while so it could introduce the new doll to the family.

This little doll may look old and ragged, but that's why I think she is all the more charming. Being the sentimental fool that I am, I wanted to give Jayne my favorite doll that I grew up with. I was never into dolls all that much as a child (being somewhat of a tom-boy you see), but this one always had a special place in my heart and I think she was the first one I ever received. I hope Jayne loves her as much as I did...she seems to already.

Gertrude and Ruthie, together at last. Gertrude because when I was little, I felt horribly bad that I didn't have a middle name, so my brother Nate gave me one...Gertrude. For a while I would introduce myself as Elise Gertrude Wilding. And as for Ruthie, I just thought it fit. Jayne can rename them later if she wants.

We bundled her up in a little doll blanket my mom made (when I was little), her original little nightgown and some other dresses I had. This one in particular is special because not only is it adorable and sweet, but it was a doll dress my mom had when she was a little girl. (I told you I was a sentimental fool) :)

On to the cake! Jayne didn't quite know what to do. She went from "Seriously Grandma, quit holding out on me!"

to, "What is that thing?"

to, "Hmm, not bad"

to, "I'm goin' in!"

Want some? (Trust me, you do!! We all went nuts over them! Go here for the recipe. Warning, if you are opposed to butter, not the cupcakes for you. Also, I only added 1 stick of butter and 1 8 oz. cream cheese to the frosting and added sugar as needed. I also ommited the almond extract from the frosting because I thought the cupcakes had plenty.)

And ever the model of a proper lady, she made sure that when she was done, she wiped...

...and cleaned her hands

Happy Birthday!

We interrupt this pretty irregulary scheduled catch up to give you...

2009-11-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

...a Halloween catch up.

Featuring Nacho,

his favorite snack-corn on a stick with mayo and chili powder,

and (totally unrelated) a couple of pieces of gum stuck to the bottom of some shoes.

I had a blast last year making Max's "Max" costume, so I decided to give it another go this year. As soon as I knew I wanted to do Nacho Libre, I began my search for all the pieces. My good friend Deseret Industries always comes through for me and this...

...became this

I worried about the cold on his little bare chest, hence the Chancho (two sizes too small) sweat shirt.

I really wanted Jayne to be Encarnacion the nun, but wasn't sure if that would be offensive to some of our neighbors. So when my sister-in-law suggested she should be corn, I thought, "perfect" since Max's favorite line from the movie is, "Get that corn outta my face!" Sorry, I don't have a before shot, but I made it out of a nylon camping blanket. Only one person really got it without being told which I knew would be the case. Poor thing. One day she'll say to me, "Mom, how come all the other little girls got to be princesses and butterflies and I had to be corn with mayo slathered on it?" I'm sorry Jayne, I'm weird, but I hope one day even later on you'll look at this and appreciate it.

As for Shane and me, we weren't even going to dress up, but at the last minute saw the gum-on-the-bottom-of-your-shoe idea. It was fast and easy so we went with it. Again kind of obscure. Nobody got it and kept wondering why we had shoes on our heads. I know, it's kind of lame, but if you make fun of us you'll have to deal with this

and you may get a nice pile drive to the face

or a punch to the face

and trust me, you do not want to get caught in the anaconda SQUEEZE

Happy belated Halloween. Hope you had a good one too!

ooxxooXoXx (hug, hug, kiss, kiss, hug, hug, Big Kiss, little hug, Big Kiss, little kiss),

The Fraziers

My little boy ain't so little anymore

2009-10-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Max turned three this summer. I can't believe what a little man he is now. Those little baby features are starting to melt away. Three has definitely proven to be far more terrible than two, but thank goodness for opposition in all things. Along with being super stubborn and coming unhinged over the smallest of things, he also has a really sweet side. And oh the laughs we have over the things that come out of his little mouth.

We decided to throw a swim party with all of our little neighborhood buddies.

Entertaining his guests like a good little host :)

The cake...to this day, no matter how many times we correct him, he says, "Remember my frog cake, yeah that was fun."

To go along with the whole water theme, we got him two speckled goldfish. He immediately named them Gerald (which was no surprise since every story of his has a Gerald in it) and Buster. Unfortunately, Buster and Gerald had a very short life, so we now have Buster and Gerald the sequel. Happy to say we did a better job the second time around and they are still with us.

Here are the rest of the three-year pictures we took.

Love you little buddy!

Pioneer Day

2009-10-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Beaver, Utah...a place that is very near and dear to my heart. My mom grew up in this small town and we spent a lot of time there when I was a kid. One thing we could always count on was spending the 24th of July in Beaver. Aside from celebrating the pioneers of course, Beaver IS Pioneer day to me. I don't ever remember spending this holiday anywhere else. As we kids got older and moved away from home, it became a little less frequent. But now that we have kids of our own, the tradition is back in full force. Very little has changed as far as what goes down in Beaver on Pioneer day...I absolutely love it. I'm so glad to be able to pass this tradition on to my kids and hope they cherish it as much as I do.

(P.S. I am completely aware that I am still posting stuff from July and it is now October. Yes, I'm a loser)

(P.P.S. I know we always post a billion pictures here at S and E Frazier, but I am a very visual person, so that's just how we roll.)

I love the sense of community that exists in this town and the parade reflects that well.

Max and Cohen get a kick out of each other

My little 2nd cousin Amanda

Amanda and her Uncle Jonny

My cute Aunt Sylvia on her 50th reunion float

Jayne rockin' her silver sandals...she's so festive

My bro Greg with his boy Cohen

This is Jayne's infamous bitter beer face. She spends 3/4 of her day like this

Max gearing up for the foot races

And he's off!

Shane and I participated too. We were in the 20-35 division. We weren't first, but we weren't last either, so job well done. This is Shane and Jonny faking it for me since their race was right after mine and I couldn't get to my camera in time. Upon seeing John Beck there (his grandma lives in Beaver) they were a little nervous to race, but were relieved when he didn't join in the festivities. Jonny actually came in 2nd...not surprising since his legs are as long as I am tall. He won 50 whole cents for his accomplishments...way to go big guy.

The 24th in Beaver wouldn't be complete without a visit to the horse track. If you have never been to a live horse race, GO! It's a blast.

We all waited with bated breath to see if our horse would win

Some, however, did not find it as exciting

As we were waiting to go to dinner, we stopped by this little peacock farm. There were at least 15 of them strutting around and we were lucky that this one decided to put on a real show.

This little rooster was cracking us up. He looked as though someone had put him through a garbage disposal, but he was strutting around behind the peacocks as if he was one of them.

You can't go to Beaver and not visit the Creamery to get some yummy cheese samples and a huge ice cream cone. This was Max's inaugural visit.

And what would the 24th be without lighting off a few fireworks.

My Sister-in-law Amber

I won't go into how grateful I am for the pioneers since I did that a few posts ago, but I love to celebrate them on this day.

Viva Las Vegas

2009-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Time for yet another summer catch up post. This time, Las Vegas style. Last year, we went to one of those time share shpills and won a free 3-day trip. We chose San Diego because that is where we spent our honeymoon, so we thought we would celebrate our anniversary there. Come to find out later, there was a huge catch. Our flight would leave Monday at 10:00 p.m. and return at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday. That left us with crappy red-eye flights and only one day in San Diego. What a joke! So I called and they let me switch to Las Vegas. We would drive, so that meant our hotel was upgraded and we got a few other perks (which turned out to be jokes too, but I'll spare you the rest). It was a fun time, but it was a short trip because we wanted to go celebrate the 24th of July with family (post to come). We took our purple goo camera and luckily it came through somehow.

The Bellagio fountains and gardens

M&M Factory

Rocky Balboa and Smokin' Joe Frazier (Funny side note: When Shane was a kid, he thought Rocky looked really tough and would do exercises to try to make his eyes droop like his. I think he is channeling that childhood dream a little with that face he is making)

The dreaded Stratosphere...well dreaded by Shane anyway. I told him we had to go on it and he would love it. I had been on it years earlier. I had no idea he was a little scared of heights until we were shot to the top and he turned to me and said, "I'm going to kill you!" It didn't help that it was really windy up there and they actually were contemplating shutting down the ride until it calmed down. When the ride was over, he looked at the next kid in line and said, "I wouldn't sit in this seat...it may be soiled." He says the darndest things. I think he still had fun though.

Freemont Street. If you've never been there, it is a street with a HUGE t.v. screen that covers it. I bet you are probably wondering who that guy is that Shane is cozying up to...yeah, me too :) As I was taking Shane's picture, this guy was trying to get out of our way and Shane just randomly asked him to be in the picture. "He was all decked out, I had to ask him," Shane told me later. He was very nice and flattered that Shane thought he looked so hot.

Back at our hotel and exhausted. Looks like purple goo decided to finally join us as well, so we'll leave it here. Farewell Vegas with your bright lights and gratuitous porn, farewell.

EWF Photos

2009-10-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well, since I kind of live behind my camera these days (much to the annoyance of all those around me), I decided to make a little place to put some of the fruits of it. It's nothing fancy nor by any means professional, but just because. Most likely, there will be some repeats from this blog. If you want to check it out, here's the link and there is also a link on my side bar.

ewfphotos.blogspot.com

The Farm

2009-09-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is the Nelson Family Farm where Shane's mom grew up. Every year, all (well, all that can make it anyway) the Nelson children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren gather here as a family to be together. It is a really beautiful place that rests in the shadow of the Tetons. Well, they're actually pretty far away, but you can still see them. It just sounded better saying in the shadow of the Tetons. :) We had a good time and it was nice to be miles away from civilization, even if there isn't any running water :) We'll just let the pictures do most of the talking.

The Matriarch of it all, sweet Grandma Joyce (always holding a baby as I have mentioned before)
Having fun on the huge swing set

Cousin Thomas

Jayne and her Great Uncle Bruce

I think Bruce had more fun than the kids

Our niece Masey

Kisses for Grandpa Frazier

I absolutely LOVE this old bus and had to get some pictures of it. Shane's grandpa bought it years and years ago and converted it into a camper, complete with a wood-burning stove and chimney. Shane and his family would borrow it every year for their annual Island Park trip, so needless to say, he LOVES it too.
Here are a couple of other cool old vehicles that I thought would be great models. They also belonged to Shane's grandpa.

The kids had a lot of fun when Grandpa Frazier pulled out the butterfly nets.

Kaya got one

Max got one

Then Masey thought, "Nets are for kids." Who knew she was a butterfly whisperer.

These two love holding hands whenever they're together.

My cute sisters-in-law, Patty and Janet

And, of course, the Nelson Family Reunion wouldn't be complete without a trip to Green Canyon Hot Springs. It was Jaynes first time swimming and she loved it and well, it's pretty obvious how Max felt.

65 Years Young

2009-09-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

This is my dad, David Malin Wilding. Born July 7, 1944 in Brooklyn, NY. We had a blast honoring him on his 65th birthday this year. We threw an all out surprise party with a New York theme. (Sorry the first picture is so messed up, but he was really surprised)

My Sister-in-law, Amber (who is a genius party planner) came through for us again and made it really special. Each table was a different borough of New York. There was also the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, and Grand Central Station. To make it the complete New York experience, we played a little Frank Sinatra in the background.

The food was amazing too...New York strip steaks, incredible salads and although the appletinis were virgin :), they were delicious! Dessert? New York cheesecake of course.

One of my favorite decorations was all of the pictures of my dad throughout his life. We hung them everywhere.
My dad is the one directly right of the guy in the suit.

This is one of my all time favorites of my dad and all us kids.

My dad has been wanting a work bench for his garage, so Greg and Amber (my bro and his wife) made this awesome miniature version and we put a Home Depot gift card from all the kids in the mini toolbox.

It was such a great night and the best part was when my mom and all us kids got to stand up and pay tribute to my dad. My mom wrote a sweet little poem about their life together that had us all laughing. The kids each got to stand up and express to my dad what he means to us. Among the list of qualities we all talked about (extremely hard worker, great cook, great father and grandfather, ridiculously intelligent, etc.) two themes ran throughout every single one of our speeches: his love of fishing and how meticulous he is about EVERYTHING. We all have wonderful memories of our dad taking us fishing and we continue to make new ones. My dad immersed me in the fishing tradition when I was pretty young and I thank him for that because I'm not so sure Shane would have married me otherwise :). If any of you have ever been fly fishing, you know it can be frustrating at times, especially when you are learning. I talked about what patience my dad has to possess to be willing to take a kid fishing. I hooked him on several occasions and basically pierced his ear once (don't worry, the hook was small and he hardly bled:). As far as being meticulous, my dad is an engineer and he doesn't necessarily leave that title at work. Everything he does is very precise. My brother Greg joked that when you ask my dad a question about how to do something, you better be prepared with your T-square and protractor for the answer. Well put. It's not so much annoying as it is endearing and we always know that everything my dad does will be well thought out and well done. I really don't think my dad realizes how incredible he truly is, so it was fun to be able to bombard him with it :).

I love you dad! Hope you had as much fun as we did!

Trek

2009-09-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is the first of many catch-up posts from our summer of '09. We had a busy and unbelievable summer and it all started out with pioneer trek. I need to give a slight warning that you will see a lot of haggard, unshowered, frumpy hideousness in this post (from me anyway), so just beware.

I'll never be able to fully express how incredible it is to experience Trek. Those of you who have gone hopefully already know and those who haven't (yet), then jump on the first chance you get to do it. I was a little reluctant to accept the call at first because Jayne was only a month old when they asked us. I didn't know if I would be able to leave her, but it worked out that I was only able to nurse her for 6 months which was just before Trek. I am so grateful we could go. It was truly life-changing and I will remember it vividly for the rest of my life.

I took my camera, but it had been wigging out on us. I hoped that I could at least get a few good shots, but alas, they all turned out like this:

Purple goo. I was devastated. Thank goodness we had a top notch Trek committee who had enough foresight to call a photographer to document the whole thing. Now we actually have pictures to go with our memories.

"The Herriman Family" at the starting line, where we are all bright-eyed and fresh-faced. We had such amazing kids in our family. I think one of the greatest things I took away from Trek is how impressive the youth are. I haven't worked with the youth on such a close level before and it was such a blast. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember President Hinckley saying something about how good the youth are and that the future (of the Church) is in good hands. I witnessed how true that is. I love these kids!
Janelle, Peter, Cami

Blake, Amanda & Skylee, Adam (Unfortunately, we didn't get individual pictures of Rees and Dallan because of the camera issue)

We had the privilege to pull on trails that were right alongside some of the original pioneer trails. We got to see markers they left to guide future companies and graves where they buried those that didn't make it. There really was a special spirit that accompanied that place.
These are some of the fantastic trail sides we had. People from our stake dressed up as figures from the Book of Mormon or some of the early pioneers. It was always the boost we needed to keep going. Clockwise from top: Some old coal kilns they used for the early railway-we all went inside to listen to another trail side. The acoustics inside were amazing, so we all decided to sing "We thank thee O God for a Prophet". The Spirit was strong and we later found out that one of the boys in our family, while singing this song, gained his own testimony that Joseph Smith is indeed a true prophet and did all that he said he did. There were so many stories similar to this which is the beauty of Trek. The next picture is someone dressed as John Taylor. He talked about Carthage Jail and then sang the original version of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"-the tune is slightly different than the one in the hymn book. It was crazy how real it felt and how he actually seemed like he was John Taylor. The last two pictures are of King Lamoni. He recounted the story of the Lamanites burying their weapons and making a covenant to not fight anymore. We were asked to think of something in our life that we need to let go. We then wrote it on a piece of paper, threw it in a big hole and buried them all. We were asked to make a promise with the Lord that we would give up whatever it was and leave it there on the trail. It was a great reminder of all the junk we let into our lives that we don't need and that keep us from being close to our Heavenly Father. It was definitely one of the most powerful trail sides we had.

This is Missfortune. As you can see, she was quite a daunting presence. We all know that the pioneers faced so much adversity on the trail. Missfortune was there to let us in on a small part of that. Most of the time it was things such as a toothache and you couldn't talk for 30 minutes, or getting sprayed by a skunk and had stay at least 50 feet from everyone or you hit a ditch and all of your belongings came out of your cart (in which case we had to unload our cart, walk forward 20 yards, then go back and get our stuff and reload). But then there was the misfortune we were all dreading...the death of our babies. Every family was given a rag baby at the beginning of Trek. They were cloth dolls stuffed with cotton and beans and were given a name and story that belonged to a real pioneer baby. Many babies died as the Saints crossed the plains and our little Trek company was no exception. As we walked, I imagined having to care for my little children in such extreme circumstances as the pioneers did. I can only imagine how difficult and heartbreaking it was for them to see their children suffer. But when we had to bury these little rag babies, I completely lost it. Again, I couldn't believe how real it was. At first, the kids were a little apathetic towards these "dolls", but as we went along, we all became quite attached and to lose them was very hard. All I could think about as they buried these babies was sweet, little 6 month-old Jayne at home and what it would be like to leave her little body there on the plains. Oh man, I dreaded those burials, but I am so grateful I had the experience to feel the tiniest portion of grief that the pioneers felt.

This was the woman's pull. As we pulled our cart to the bottom of a huge hill, a woman was there to greet us. She told us that all the men in our company had become ill and died and the women were left to pull on their own. All the men then walked up the hill to wait for us. This woman told us a story of a woman whose husband had died and she was left to cross the plains alone. She said that her feet got so numb and frostbitten in the snow, that she eventually had to crawl. When her knees and hands became too numb, she dragged herself on her elbows until she could go no further. It blows me away how they never just rolled over and gave up when it would have been so easy to do so. We all said a prayer together before we ascended. It was definitely not easy as the hill was steep and the cart heavy. The men had a difficult time as well as they helplessly watched us struggle up the hill, but almost everyone (including the men) said that it was one of the highlights of Trek. The Spirit was SO strong and many felt the pioneers giving them strength to keep going.

Well, it wasn't all work and no play thankfully. We had a lot of playful times too. This was the same day we had the women's pull and the first of the burials (also, our baby got kidnapped by Indians because we left it napping under our cart too long-long story in which ended up in me bawling again. We got him back though). Needless to say, it was a long, emotional, exhausting day and these games were welcomed by all. Clockwise from top: Shooting rifles; Next, a game where you hold hands around a garbage can and try to get your opponents out by making them touch the garbage can-it was so much fun and I admit I played a little dirty (but legal) to got Shane out a few times; The next was a game in which one person stood on this frame and the others grabbed a rope and had to tip the frame on one leg and see how many times they could spin it around without falling; and, of course, the stick pull.

That night it poured on us and even hailed a little. Many of us woke up soaked, including our boys who were stuffed in their tent 5 deep. They were pretty discouraged until Peter, who is autistic and doesn't say very much, yelled out "Stinkbomb!" This was his infamous phrase whenever he farted. Obviously, we didn't enjoy the stench, but it always cracked us all up. Because everything was all wet, we stayed in camp that day instead of walking. It was much needed by everyone. We had Sunday services which consisted of some excellent talks and then testimonies. As we were bearing testimonies, there was a shepherd leading his sheep down a hill behind us. How appropriate. I watched as he would nudge them along and then hang back and watch them for a while. He was always close by as they would go explore on their own for a while. He would then come behind them and nudge them along once again. I couldn't help but think of the Savior who is our Shepherd. He too nudges us along so lovingly. Sometimes we try to go off on our own and rely on our own strength, but thankfully he is always watching and close by to pick us up and nudge us along again. He was most definitely close by to pick up the pioneers when they felt they couldn't go another step.

The highlight of our Sunday services was to witness the baptism of this little boy. He was baptized right there in the creek that flowed through our camp. One of the girls in our family has not been baptized, so it was really special that she could witness this ordinance in such a unique way. The water was cold and he let out an audible gasp as he came out of the water. At a reunion fireside we just had, his dad told us that after he pulled his son out of the water, he asked him how he felt and he just replied, "warm." It was really beautiful and I am so glad we could be a part of it.

This is my good friend Emily, poor girl. She signed on to be one of the nurses and as you can imagine, this is how she spent the majority of her time. Blisters, blisters and more blisters and, as you can also imagine, Trek feet=nasty feet. She commented that she doesn't get why someone would be drawn to podiatry. I couldn't agree more, but am thankful there are those that are. Bless your heart Emily, you did an amazing job and now I know we are friends for life since you have seen my toe jam :)

The finish line

Our company captains, the Johnsons

We made it! Top, left to right: Rees, Dallan, me, Shane, Blake, Adam & little Tommy (Adam, by far, became the most attached to Tommy, so we let him take him home). Bottom, l to r: Cami, Skyelee, Janelle, Peter

I really could go on and on about Trek (and I have :). We each got to walk for an ancestor or pioneer that crossed the plains. I love that we could honor them. I have no doubt that they were there with us. I am eternally grateful for what they sacrificed and endured for their faith and I love them for it. I know we only got the smallest taste of what they went through, but I will never think about them in the same way. I only hope I can have a smidgen of their conviction and courage. That Wyoming wilderness will always be a sacred place to us and not just because it is where the pioneers walked. It is where testimonies were gained, tears were shed, and promises were made to our Heavenly Father. It was difficult to leave that place, where everything was pure and simple, and come back to our noisy lives. The contrast really struck me as we were at the parking lot of the stake center. I was talking to a mom who was there to pick up her son. She asked me about Trek and as I answered, she was texting and looking at her cell phone. I'm not trying to sound uppity and judgmental, I wasn't thinking bad of her. I was just more aware of it than ever because we had just spent the last four days without stuff like that. We really do get so caught up in all the distractions life has to offer these days. They are not necessarily bad things, but distractions nevertheless. I noticed that as I got away from all of it, the Spirit could speak to me so much more, and He did. We definitely can't fully get away from all distractions, but I realized that I need to seek out more opportunities to get away, even for 10 minutes, and just be with my Heavenly Father.

We loved being Ma and Pa Frazier...here's hoping that four years from now, we get called again!

Family Pics

2009-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

We finally got rid of that awful picture that has been in our header and got some real family pictures. My friend Brittney and I swapped and took family pictures of each other. It was slightly crazy trying to keep all the little ones happy, but we got through it. Thanks Brittney for all the great shots! Not only am I jealous of your camera, but you've got skills too!
Classic Max

Here are a couple I shot of Shane trying to keep Jayne entertained while Brittney took some of Max. What a sweet Father/Daughter moment...I love watching them together!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

6 months...What!!??

2009-06-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

How did this already happen? She can't be 6 months already, can she?

Little Jayne is quite possibly the best baby in the world. Yeah, yeah, I'm her mother, but it's still true. She is so happy and calm and can mesmerize anyone with those incredible eyes. She has made me obsessed with all babies. Usually, when you have one of your own, you have your fill, but it seems wherever I go, I am always looking at babies and saying to Shane, "Look how cute that baby is." I guess it's because I am so enamored with Jayne. Am I bragging too much? Too bad...mom's prerogative. We love you sweet girl.

Guess We Should Stick to Our Regularly Scheduled Nap Time,...

2009-06-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

...or this might happen.

It was getting close to Max's nap time one day while we were out running errands. I figured it would be ok to make one last stop at Target. Max is not one to just fall asleep anywhere, not even in his carseat most of the time. So, needless to say, I was shocked when I pulled up to the check out line to find this. The boy was just plain tuckered out! I mean, how comfortable can a shopping cart be!

I guess rolling over can be a lot of work too. Jayne was just learning to roll over and fell asleep mid-roll!

And make sure that when napping, you keep yourself hydrated. (notice his nose :)

Man, if only we could sleep wherever and that soundly as adults!

4 Years with this guy...

2009-06-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

...ain't a half bad gig. I love you babe!

S.P.A.M.=SPECIFICALLY PROCESSED for A MOTHER

2009-05-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

So, this is what I woke up to Sunday morning...a heart-shaped SPAM loaf with mayo "frosting". Do I like SPAM? NO. Did I eat this morsel for breakfast? HECK NO! Do I love my man for making it for me? Definitely. He never ceases to keep me entertained. I laughed my head off and frankly, I brought it upon myself. Shane keeps coming home and telling me (in a very excited manner mind you) about different SPAM recipes he has heard of, as if he thinks I will get on board and try them. I immediately decline and thoroughly make fun of him, once again, for his love of the food group that includes all things processed. So, I guess this was payback for all the verbal lashings. Well, the card was nice anyway (ok, and he did make me a fantastic chuck wagon breakfast (thanks hon!), sans the SPAM. However, did Shane serve himself a generous portion? You betcha.)

Other than SPAM stinkifying my refrigerator, it was a lovely Mothers Day spent with some of those that we love most. No Mother's Day would be complete without admiring these wonderful women:

Grandma Nelson

She is sweetness personified. Her kindness and care truly know no bounds and her smile lights up your soul.

Ellen

(circa 1979. Shane is the one on the left)

Confident, loving, and always true to herself. She never lets fear stand in her way, especially when it comes to right and wrong. The other day, Shane was looking at Jayne and said, "She already has a very loving face." As I thought about what exactly that meant, my mind immediately turned to Ellen...I guess Jayne inherited that from her!

Jeannie

circa 1981

There is never a dull moment with Jeannie. She is fun-loving, generous, and always looking for ways to serve and then acting on it. She taught me early on that if you are feeling down, then you are too tied up in yourself and the best cure is to go out and help someone.

Thank you for raising us, putting up with our antics, and loving us and our children unconditionally.

And, of course, my life would not be complete without these little gems. They are the reason I have the privilege to be called mother. Happy Mother's Day!

Grandpa Vern-

2009-05-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

Max and Vern, June 2007

fisherman, cowboy, gardener, poet, and friend. We had the great opportunity to celebrate the life of our dear friend Vern Krebs a couple of weeks ago. He passed on from this life on April 23 after a battle with cancer. Shane met him through a friend about 7 years ago and they were instant pals. He then introduced me when we got married and I fell in love with this sweet man as well. That was the thing about Vern...there was no age limit when it came to friendship. Some of his closest friends were half his age or more. On a visit with Vern you could count on some words of wisdom, taking home goodies from his garden, a few rounds of May I (a card game much like Skip-bo), and some great cowboy poetry. He was constantly coming up with new poems and they are some of the wittiest I have ever heard. On one occasion, we asked if we could have a copy of his poetry and he obliged. It's hard to choose a favorite, but this has always been one of ours:

Snore Cure

It was approaching May on the Lazy K and a change was in the land
Spring had sprung and the calves were young and we were needin’ another hand.

The bossman said we’d have to share a bed with the new hand we anticipated
So me and Jake we’d hafta make a decision we both hated

That was askin’ a lot for the pay we got, and against the cowboy laws
But Jake and me said we’d agree and Jake said, "let’s draw straws"

Well...well I knew I was licked ‘cause the straw I picked was short and jakes’ was long
"I’ll share my bed" to old Jake I said, but hope I didn’t think it wrong

Well, The dye was cast, the day went fast – I looked for night with dread
As far as I’d known, I’d slept alone, since the day my diaper was shed

I approached the shack, and threw down my pack and opened the bunkhouse door
I closed the latch, lit a match, and then I heard that new hand snore

Well, I took my place in the meager space that was left for me to rest
I needed my sleep and my bargain I’d keep – and somehow I’d pass this test

Well, I counted birds, antelope herds and buffalo stacked three deep,
I counted cows and calves and divided by halves, and almost counted sheep

Well, the night was gone, it was time for dawn, so I headed for the mornin’ chuck
When I saw old Jake, he did a double-take, and said, “looks like you lost your luck

Your eyes are red, and sunk in your head, like something the cat drug in”
So I told my pard, that the night was hard, and how loud that snorin’ had been

My pal Jake said, "you can take my bed, I’ll release this load you’re under
You need a lift, so I’ll take my shift, tonight I’ll sleep with Old Thunder"

Well, with all due respect, I began to object, but old jake was a true blue pard
I said "Jake, you can’t do it", he sez "shucks, nothin' to it" so with that I didn’t argue too hard

Well, the night came and went, and with my conscience still bent, I opened the chuckhouse door
There stood jake with a smile, narry a sign of no guile, bright-eyed and bushytailed as before

"Where’s Old Thunder?" I said, "didn’t he sleep in your bed?"…just then Old Thunder dragged in,
His eye sockets was deep like a dude that needs sleep, and a long days growth on his chin

From my pal tried and true, an explanation was due, this mysterie's like a cow in the mire,
With a smile Jake said, and with a nod of his head, "you gotta fight fire with fire"

"It was easy" said jake, "I just kept thunder awake, the solution ‘gainst snorin’ came clear
As we went to bed, I just kissed him and said, 'good night dear'."

It is, of course, much better when recited by Vern, but you get the idea.

This is a picture of all of us the last time we visited Vern. You'll notice that in both pictures, he is sporting his coveralls. I have a hard time remembering a visit in which Vern was not donning his coveralls. I credit him for a comment I heard out of Shane's mouth one day..."I can't wait until the day when I can just wear coveralls all of the time."

You will surely be missed Vern. We feel honored to know you and we are grateful to call you friend.

Good ol’ Vern

Vern’s a good pard – a true blue kinda guy,
How true? Friends compare him to a dark indigo dye.

It don’t take too long to learn his passions (and his peeves),
He’s honest and straightforward – wears his convictions on his sleeve.

A rancher by trade, he loves an honest day’s work,
Some loathe shovels and hoes – he calls them job perks!

But along with the toil and the sweat from the sun,
Vern’s not opposed to an outdoorsy brand of fun.

Whether hunting or fishing, or throwin’ a saddle on a brown,
His favorite spots are miles and miles from downtown.

Whether a housefire, engine failure, or some other disaster,
You’d be hard pressed to find someone who helps others faster.

“The best place in the world” he has said of Cache Valley,
Where people love people and ‘round each other they rally.

But be careful at the card table when he gets a gleam in his eye,
You wouldn’t be the first to lose a game of “May I?”

Ol’ Vern likes a good joke – got a wit like a knife,
Enjoys writin’ and recitin’ poems ‘bout cowboy life.

Anything that has to do with spurs, cattle, broncs or tack,
Is worthy fodder for poetry (he’s got quite a knack!)

Twas Vern’s grasp of poetry that first got me to consider…
So I got out a pencil and yammered and piddered.

I wrote and I thought, and I wrote even more,
Well…I’ll just never equal a poem like “Snore Cure.”

Well, Vern, we love ya, there’s no doubt about that,
Why? ‘Cause a true blue pard lies under that old tattered hat!

(After our last visit, Shane wrote this poem and sent it to Vern along with the picture above. He passed away weeks later. We were touched to see the picture displayed at his funeral)

Finally...

2009-04-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

a real post! Well, it just wouldn't be a Frazier post if it wasn't extremely late and outdated. So, without further ado, here is how we spent our Easter weekend.

...dying Easter eggs.
this is the part where Max just couldn't wait any longer and took a big bite...shell and all.

Here we all are in our Sunday best. Yes, Shane did get mocked endlessly for his purple shirt. My favorite comment was from a ward member who saw Shane and then saw the primary president who was wearing the same color and asked, "Did you two go to Sadie Hawkins together or something?" I think you look hot honey...it takes quite a man to pull off purple.

Easter egg hunt at Gma & Gpa WsMax found the grand prize, $10 egg and immediately made this face upon opening it,...

...but we soon found out the real reason for his elation. No sooner had he found the $10 than he tossed it aside and began to pound the jelly beans within. And he didn't stop for the rest of the hunt.

All the little hunters: (clockwise from top) Hannah, Max, Brinlee, Ellie, Cohen. {Notice again Max grasping a jelly bean and the jelly bean shards in his teeth}

And, of course, you can't have Easter without blue Robin Egg lips!

So, Happy Easter everyone...I mean, hope you had a good one!

Last One, I swear...for a little while anyway

2009-04-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry about all the youtube stuff, but this is too crazy not to share. I want y'all to think about this next time you are talking to that squelchy voice at the drive-thru (ok, so really I want me to think about this next time at the drive-thru)

Merry Maid

2009-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have picked up a couple of cleaning jobs lately for some extra dough. So, with those and trying to keep my own house clean, I am starting to feel a little like this: (woops, I guess I ruined the whole prison illusion by telling you it was about cleaning...sorry!)

And, as long as we're youtubing it, here is an awesome stop motion film that has been floating around out there. If you haven't seen it, take a minute...it'll make you happy, I promise, and the song that goes with it is just as good!

Jayne's Blessing

2009-03-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

We blessed Jayne on March 1st and it was a really beautiful day. It is a wonderful feeling to have your family close and to hear your precious baby receive a blessing from her Heavenly Father.

Something that made it even more special for me was that Jayne wore the same dress that I was blessed in. I hope someday she will be able to use it to bless her daughter as well.

Jayne was blessed to draw close to her grandmothers whom she was named for (My mom's real name (she goes by Jeannie) is Clara Jean. We went between Claire and Jane for a while and of course finally settled on Jayne. We scrambled Jean to get Jane and added the Y to stand for my mom's maiden name, Yardley. I know, complicated...we also just liked the name Jane a whole lot and liked the spelling with a Y :) Nickala comes from Shane's mom who also goes by her middle name (Ellen). We certainly hope Jayne can emulate these incredible women in so many ways.

She was also blessed to be a good friend to her brother...

...to know her parents love her and will always do so...

...and to be a light to those in her life...and that you are little Jaynie :)

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-02-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

Blushing Buttercream Pettiskirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Rockaby Sweet Baby Jayne

2009-02-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

Used to think that James Taylor really was rocking sweet baby Jane, which I thought was perfect, but Shane informed me it says James. I am pretty notorious for getting lyrics to songs wrong...kind of runs in my family. I don't care, I'll continue to sing it Sweet Baby Jayne anyway.

This girl is growing up way too fast (almost 2 months old), which is sad, but fun because she really just keeps getting cuter and sweeter. She is the best baby which is a blessing because Max has switched into demon mode. He of course is still hilarious and has his sweet moments as well, but he sure has a spit-fire personality and is pretty defiant these days. Oh well, at least he is in love with Jayne and doesn't take it out on her (purposely).

He really does love her to death...literally if we let him. This is how we find him if left too long, laying right on top of her. She has also received a couple of head bumps because of Max's excitement to see her. Let's hope Max's little "Jaynie" survives him!

Here are a few more pics just for fun!

Patty (Shane's sis) and me at the Jazz game. Look how close we were to the court! Thanks again Patty!!

Jayne's Great-Grandma Nelson, Possibly the sweetest woman on earth and always happier with a baby in her arms.

Four generations

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Jayne Nickala Frazier

2008-12-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

She's here and she's a real peach! At 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long, little Jayne graced us with her presence on December 15 at 11:22 a.m. I was actually induced, so we knew she would come that day, but we had no idea how fast that pitocin would work! They started me at about 8:30 a.m., I started pushing around 11:10, and she was here by said birth time above. It was smooth sailing and MUCH better than the 15 hours of labor which included 2 hours of pushing that I did with Max! (hello, have you seen the size of that kids noggin? :)

Gma and Gpa Wilding

Gpa and Gma Frazier

We were excited to hear that one night at the hospital, you could order a candlelight dinner for you and a guest. We ordered the steak and eagerly awaited our meal. When it got there, we found a tough piece of pot roast accompanied by a tiny mound of mashed potatoes and a massive mound of boiled peas (which I can't stand). Not to sound like an ingrate because we were thankful for the meal, but let's just say we poured a bit of the bubbly and toasted to the fact that Crown Burger was across the street (which we enjoyed immensely later that night!)

Oh well, nothing masks a crappy meal like getting sloshed :)

Max has definitely run the gamut of emotions...from complete indifference (not even wanting to look at Jayne) to the "baby Jayne yucky" phase to acting out towards his parents to overachiever in the brotherhood category. Luckily, the last one has stuck and he is always asking, "Where's Jayne?" or "What's wrong Jayne?" and he constantly has to be kissing her. He always has to kiss her on the bow on her head no matter how awkward it is to get to because it's "a hurt".

It truly is the most amazing experience to welcome these little beings into the world and we are so in love with this one already. It's overwhelming the gratitude and joy that we feel to have Jayne in our family.

The Latest

2008-12-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yo, Adrian...

Well, if you remember way back when, I posted about Max always calling us by our 1st names and he has never quite grown out of it. When he is trying to find us, his voice usually gets really low like he's channeling Rocky or something. I'm not sure why he thinks dropping an octave will accomplish the goal better, but it's pretty entertaining. Please ignore messy room, half-naked child, and creepy voice at the end of this video.

And this is what I hear from Max's room every morning and afternoon when he wakes up as well as every time he has a question or wants to show me something (i.e. Aweese, watch this)

My Hosiery is bunching...

Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of Shane in tights, he goes and wows you once again. Shane just had surgery on his shoulder which was a result of a bike wreck about 5 years ago. It has bothered him ever since and thankfully, because of insurance, he was finally able to get it taken care of. One of the lovely perks of orthopedic surgery...T.E.D. hose for a week or more! We're happy to report he is doing great and although he looks hopped up on pain pills here, it's just Shane being Shane.

The Final Countdown...

As you can see, I'm huge and ready to pop! She could come any day now. Both of us (the baby and I) are ready and out of room. We can't believe it is actually here and can't wait to see her! Also can't wait to see my feet again, breathe again, and be able to eat and drink without having to pop 80 Tums!

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, right?

I love Halloween-the smells, the costumes, and let's be really honest, the CANDY! Anyway, this year was just as fabulous.

We started off the season by supporting our local farmers and picking some pumpkins from their patch followed by a hayride around the farm. No, I wasn't trying to smuggle a pumpkin out of there-just very pregnant!

Max staking his claim. He wasn't about to let anyone else get their grubby mitts on his pumpkin!

Ever since I was little, I have loved the book 'Where the Wild Things Are'. When Max was born, I went out and bought it. I had forgotten that the boys name in the book is Max, so when I pulled it out to read to him, I was pleasantly surprised. I was determined he had to dress up as "Max" for Halloween one year and I figured that this might be the last year he'll let me choose for him. So, with a little felt, some bristles from our broom for the whiskers (don't worry, I thoroughly washed them), a feather boa, and of course, a little help from the D.I., he went out as king of the wild things.

If anyone is wondering why Shane is bearing his sexy gams in a pair of black nylons, he was going for the "old lady with her hair up in a weekly set" look which I believe was much more frightening than any vampire or werewolf costume out there. I wasn't going to dress up at all, but at the last minute, Shane convinced me to go as his counterpart (somehow I end up dressing like a guy every year). I thought since I have bulge to boot, I could go for the "old man trying to cover his gut by pulling his pants WAY up" look. Shane felt a little self-conscious that I used some of his pants to pull it off. :) Sorry, we forgot to shoot any pictures of me. Thank goodnessthough, it was even creepier than Shane's costume!

This wasn't on the first time I posted, but Shane just forwarded it too me and I had to add it. These are our neices (Shane's brother's daughters) Kaya and Masseh who went as McCain and Obama for Halloween. Cute eh? I think they were the hit of their party and it's so classic that they are holding hands in this shot!

Think Pink

2008-11-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

Meant to do this at the end of October (which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and never got to it, but we still wanted to pay tribute to one Ellen Frazier (Shane's Mom) who finished up her final round of radiation recently. They were able to find the lump early because she was walking by a mammogram bus one day and felt like she needed to go in. So, ladies, it's a good lesson to us all to keep up on regular exams! Hearing that your mom has breast cancer is definitely one of the last things you want to hear, but we are SO grateful for how well she has done and admire the positive attitude she has kept through it all. We love you Mom!

Gonna get myself an education

2008-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Because I feel like I don't got no brain no more :), I have decided to enroll myself in Lady DI's Grammar School for Stay at Home Moms (translation: buying a couple of old text books at the D.I. and giving myself assignments from them). This semester-algebra, american history, and of course, brushing up on my portuguese. I finally decided that an education that comes from Cash Cab or those gigantic cardboard books just isn't going to cut it anymore. Wish me luck...here's to a 4.0 grade point average!

2008-09-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law posted about these on her blog. As she put it, "If you are Mormon (member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), know a Mormon or live in Utah, you'll find these cards with mormonisms from Line upon Line pretty funny." The designs are great and I thought they were hilarious. Here are some of my favorites. You can find more and order here.

Being in the primary, I know all about this next one :)

Tagmania

2008-09-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I really don't get tagged too much, but for some reason, I got tagged 3 times this last week. Luckily, 2 of them are the same tag. If for nothing else, it's for journal purposes, so, sorry if you don't want or need to know this much about me, but here you go...

I,I,I...

I have...way too much water being retained.
I always...beat Shane at games (ok, almost always) and he hates it.
I hear...PBS kids in the background and Max's contagious laugh.
I smell...EVERYTHING! I am pregnant afterall :).
I wish...I could eat some good, authentic Brazilian food right now.
I wonder...if my house will ever be clean all at once.
I regret...not keeping in touch with people better.
I love...when Shane and Max dance together.
I am...craving a Jamba Juice. Anyone want to help out with that? :)
I know...what is really important in life.
I want...my adult onset zits to go away once and for all!
I always...turn on music when doing dishes. It makes it bearable because I hate doing them!
I am not...a real girly-girl.
I am like...Shane in a lot of ways actually. I guess that's why we get along so smashingly!
I believe...that we can overcome anything with faith and prayer.
I am happy that...Max is showing an interest in potty-training. I really hope I won't have 2 sets of diapers to change!
I lose...control of my bladder sometimes when I sneeze. Again, pregnancy does weird things.
I never...swear.
I listen...to and find new songs I hear on commercials.
I am scared of...having to live without my family.
I read...old classics when I can. Favorite books are probably Pride and Prejudice, Les Miserables, and The Count of Monte Cristo.
I need...a new brain sometimes.
I tag...Lyndsay Wilding, Jonelle Morris, and Annie Hansen to do either this or the tag below (or both if you want!)

Four random things I love about my husband:
1) His love of spam and processed cheese. The guy is easy to please when it comes to dinner.
2) He loves Neil Diamond just like me!
3) He always puts his family before himself.
4) He is a walking pun. I think he mainly says them to get a reaction out of me. I try to act disgusted, but end up laughing anyway.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1) CPD (Centerville Parks Dept.) Mowing, trimming, weeding, cleaning, etc. of parks and cemetary. I even got to bury my fair share of dead people! Even with that, probably my favorite job.
2) Packer at Bailey's moving and storage. Don't recommend this unless you have fun people to work with. Only thing that made it remotely fun.
3) Great Harvest Bread. Man I miss the free loaves!
4) Receptionist for Human Resources at Zion's Bank.

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1) The Princess Bride
2) Napoleon Dynamite
3) Remember the Titans
4) What About Bob? Priceless

Four TV shows I watch:
1) The Office. How do they do it-it's sheer genius
2) Lost. Love the mystery of it all.
3) Way more Super Why (PBS kids) than I would like.
4) Wipeout-haven't watched it a whole lot, but always fall off the couch laughing when I do. Guess I am a sucker for slapstick comedy-that's what you get growing up with 4 brothers!

Four places I have been:
1) Washington D.C.
2) San Diego-going again soon!
3) Sao Paulo, Brazil.
4) Ohau, Hawaii

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Rice and Beans (Brazilian style, of course)
2) Potatoes! Mashed, fried, scalloped, whatever-just however I can get them!
3) A good steak-medium to medium rare. I like 'em mooin', just a little
4) Strawberry Trifle (mouth now watering)

Four places I would like to visit:
1) New Zealand
2) Italy
3) Spain
4) The Southern U.S.-mainly just to eat!

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1) welcoming our new girl!
2) Going to San Diego-especially because it will be almost free to go! Don't worry, we had to go to one of those sales-tactic seminars to earn it.
3) hopefully mastering my new camera and photoshop (as much as that is possible)
4) getting back in shape. It's been way too long since I've been in a good exercise routine!

Catching up...yet again

2008-08-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have no reason to be this bad about blogging...it's just the way it is. So I feel bad that I'm a tad late in reporting that our little man is 2! He is such a fun boy. We never knew someone that small could make us laugh to the point of tears! We are so happy to have him in our lives. We love you bud! Here are some pictures from birthdays past:

And here is this year. Don't look too closely at the cake. It's pretty dilapidated. Thanks mom for saving what you could of it and to my amazing chef friend Lindsey, I need major help in the baking dept. whenever you get a chance!

I also failed to report on our fun Island Park trip with Shane's family. This is an annual tradition that we always look forward to. They are such a fun family and I am so grateful for all of them and that I can completely be myself around them. Thanks for the good times everyone. We love you all! (no Janet, I'm not saying any of that because you guilted me into it...I really do feel that way! :)

Howard Springs-Fresh mountain water you can drink and wow is it good! Also, because it is freezing, we always have contests to see who can hold their hand in the longest. Congrats to Jaden, our winner, and to Janet for beating your man. Grandpa, we want to see the whole hand in next time, ya hear!

Sara, Jaden, Max, Keri, Matt doing yearly skits
Marie and Max
Man that water was dirty after! Marie, Kaya, Max, Justin
No, he's not checking for fleas or lice. Derrick just using Matt's head as a turn table-typical D :) The Maxes

And this is me getting my knees caught in the railing outside. I know you swell a little while pregnant, but c'mon! Yeah, yeah, this is something the kids are supposed to get themselves into, right? I really thought they were going to have to saw off the logs or my legs, but luckily, Hoss came to the rescue and let me sit on him so I could shimmy out (sorry it's not the most flattering picture of you Hoss, but you really did save me that day:). 10 minutes and a couple hundred tears (from laughing so hard) later and I was free.

Max feeding the birds at Big Springs. Obviously, pictures will never do anything real justice, but if you ever go to Island park, you have to see Big Springs! I think it is one of the most beautiful little places there is. And the fish are about the size of Max! (No lie)
Yellowstone
Also, you need to visit the lodge at Yellowstone Park if you haven't. Amazing!
The whole Clan (minus Derrick-taking the pic, and little Max-taking a nap)
And last but not least, Mom and Pop Frazier who made it all happen

Love My Girls

2008-08-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to St. George with my mom and sisters-in-law. I was never blessed with sisters, but I couldn't have hand-picked better sisters-in-law and I'm so grateful that they fill that void so perfectly. And of course, Mom, you are truly my best friend. Thanks for putting this together for all of us. We had such a blast! Some of my favorite memories: Lyndsay (you know what I'm talking about :), Les Miserables, navigating Amber until she went crazy, dancing in the aisles at 'Mama Mia', telling Chilis all about "piddle", brain freezes and freezes of other sorts :), and just laughing our heads off. Thanks girls...I love you!

AND...

I'm lovin' this girl too!

Just found out on the 30th. We are so excited and can't wait to see her! Just hope she's not as husky as Max :)

It's a heck of a town!

2008-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, so sorry you've had to look at the barfing lady for so long. We've been in sort of a blog funk, but hope to be fully recovered from said barfing and said funk. (Also, sorry for the serious lack of comments on everyone else's blogs as of late!)

So, last weekend to celebrate finally feeling like normal people again after killer morning sickness, Shane and I packed it up, shipped the little bambino off to Grandmas, and flew to New York! It was a blast! Here are the highlights:

*Disclaimer: Don't be too quick to judge that we are wearing the exact same clothes in every picture...our luggage got lost. Luckily, our friends Jimmy and Jen were kind enough to let us borrow their underwear and toothbrushes. You did say that was ok, right guys? :)

*Warning: Kind of long and lots o' pictures)

We flew into Cincinnati on Wednesday, planned to fly to JFK that night and then rent a car and drive to Palmyra. Unfortunately (and fortunately really) our flight got cancelled because of crazy weather in New York. We were actually happy though because we got to fly into Rochester instead of JFK which was only a 30 minute drive to Palmyra instead of 5 hours. Also, while waiting in the airport, we got to meet this ladySome of you might recognize her...Pat Summit of University of Tennessee fame. She has been the head coach of the womens basketball team there for over 30 years. Also (and I copied this from Wikipedia) her career win-loss record as head coach is 983-182, making her the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history. So, she's pretty famous if you keep up with that stuff. I actually don't really keep up with womens NCAA, but I even knew a little about her. Anyway, she was VERY nice and down to earth, especially after Shane flattered her by saying she was the John Wooden of womens basketball. Ironically, she was on her way to California to play in John Woodens golf tournament.

After staying the night in Cincinnati, we finally made it to Rochester only to find our luggage had been sent to JFK. Oh well, Shane got two free Delta Skyteam shirts out of it which you will see him sporting in many a photo (and which I think he'll burn and vow never to wear again after being forced to. Don't worry, we washed our undies in the sink, just to put your mind at ease!)

Upstate New York is BEAUTIFUL! In Palmyra, we got to see the Hill Cumorah, The Book of Mormon Printing Press, the Palmyra Temple, the Smith Family Farm, and of course the Sacred Grove. It really is a special place and solidified even more to us the gravity and truthfulness of what took place at all of these sites.

That night we drove to Manhattan and man were we happy to drop off the rental car and not have to drive in that city! It really is a crazy place, but has so much flare, history, and personality. It really is the city that never sleeps. We had so much fun just walking around and seeing all the sites and people.

Friday we saw: Statue of Liberty (from Staten Island Ferry), a bit of Brooklyn, Chinatown, Little Italy, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Time Square, and the Empire State Building (sort of, we didn't go to the top). Also, I always tease Shane because he knows everyone and no matter where we go, he runs into someone he knows. Once again, he didn't fail me and as we walked the streets of Little Italy, we ran right into one of his sisters (Patty) best friends. Small world for Shane I guess.

Saturday with the MacFarlanes: Harlem-Shane had to see Rucker Park which is famous for street ball , the Bronx-Yankee Stadium (old and new), the Manhattan Temple and Central Park.

Jimmy and Jen, we really can't thank you enough for letting us crash at your place and for showing us around! Thanks again for the good times. You're the best!

What We've Been Up To

2008-05-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought we'd update everyone about the goings-on at the Frazier home:

This is me, most of the time... (don't worry, not really me-that would be disturbing)

...which means Shane has been turned into this...

...and Max into this...

...and it's all because of this little guy! (um, or girl for that matter)

Surprise! Comin' at you December 21, 2008.

As you can see, we're all really excited. Now, it's just getting through the pukey-stage (which is something fierce this time!)

Shout Out to Royal Crest 214

2008-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this all week, but blogging has sort of not been happening as much around here. Anyway, last Sunday, I got to hang out with my roommates from forever ago (man we're gettting old you guys!). I can't believe it has been 7 years since we've all been together! My memories from Rick's College are some of my favorite and you girls are to thank for that. I love you all!!!

Court, I just had to put this one on. I still get a kick out of the whole thing.

Then

Now

Thanks again Joelle for getting us all there and thanks everyone for all the laughs that night! Can't wait to see you all again at Deb's wedding!

P.S.

Jo, I think this could work. They look great together, am I right?! So, he's a little younger, but it won't matter down the road...just think about it k? :)

3 Years and Counting

2008-05-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

I guess it's true...time flies when you're having fun. Today is our anniversary and it has been an incredible 3 years. I am so blessed that Shane was willing to put up with some short, weird girl from Utah (and continues to be willing)! He is such an amazing person in so many ways. Here are some of the reasons I love him so much:

S ense of humor (He always keeps me laughing which is good for the soul)
H onors his priesthood (I never question what he believes and stands for)
A lways thinking of others (He is always serving me and everyone around him)
N ever loses temper (He is so level-headed and easy to get along with)
E xceptional father (I love watching him with Max and hope Max will learn all he can from him)

(and he's hot, what can I say!)

I love you so much Shane! Thank you for everything...I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Signs of Spring...

2008-05-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

~sigh...the birds are singing
~mmmm...the sun is shining
~ahhh...the flowers are blooming
~uhhh...Max is running around in the backyard stark naked while Shane hoses him down after a dirty diaper?

(This is not a fabricated story folks. This is the exact scene I came home to yesterday afternoon. I think Shane took the concept of 'wet wipe' a little too far this time! I'm pretty sure this would make perfect material for Jeff Foxworthy's "You know you're a redneck..." routine.)

Cooleyhighharmony

2008-04-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

So I've been helping my mom out lately by cleaning out her closets and cabinets. One of the best thus far was the tape and cd cabinet. I got a good laugh when I came across some old loves...first and foremost, my boyzIImen cooleyhighharmony tape that my brother Alan gave me one Christmas when I was in elementary. I'm surprised the thing still works with how much I listened to "End of the Road" and "Motownphilly" over and over again (I say 'still works' because yes, Shane and I stuck it in the old tape deck and sang along the whole way home :).

Also found this guy and laughed some more when I recalled staring at his picture as a young girl and thinking, "He's so cute". I wasn't even really boy crazy, but I don't know...maybe I liked parachute pants! Look at them...can you blame me? Perhaps that's what drew me to Shane later on...his vast collection of parachute pants ;)

So, my taste in music may have changed a bit over the years, but I'll of course always have a special place in my heart for my boyz.

Obsess Much

2008-04-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Are these signs that your child has an addiction?

Yeah...I think an intervention is in order.

Wallace Dudley Yardley 1901-1990

2008-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to honor my wonderful Grandpa because today marks 18 years since his passing. He was a true-blue cowboy and loved every minute of it. His hard-working, no-nonsense attitude was contagious, but the thing I remember most about him is his faith. Some of my favorite memories of him are the times I heard him bear his testimony. He had a difficult time getting around in his later years, so when he bore his testimony, he would just stand where he was and yell it out for all to hear. It was almost like you were at some religious revival, but he managed to still do it with reverence. He had dentures that didn't quite fit, so as he spoke, they would clatter together, but he didn't let that stop him. When he was done, you had no doubt in your mind that he really meant and believed every word that he said. I was amazed to later find out that when he was called on his first mission to England, he had never gone to church or even prayed! His first prayer was on the ship to England where he found himself very seasick. He promised the Lord that if He would get him through it, he would serve Him all of his life. And that is just what he did. He helped me through many hard times on my own mission as I thought about his courage and wondered if he would be proud of what I was doing. Thinking about that, I would suck it up and forget my worries. I know that he is on fire up there in the mission field. I am so grateful for the legacy that he left for all of us. All of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are active members of the LDS church and I know that can partly be credited to my grandma and him. I hope my children will carry that legacy on as well. I love you Grandpa!

(This is a picture I took of Max (9 months) to give to my mom alongside the picture of my Grandpa)

Back to Basics

2008-04-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

I love conference. It seems like a lot of what is said are ideas and principles that we have heard before, but they are said in such a way that I find myself saying, "Hmmm" and the Spirit carries it to my heart as if it were the first time hearing it. I always feel rejuvenated and am reminded to get back to the simple and most important things in life.

One of those important things is family. We had a great time this weekend being with each other and our families-

We found Max in a foul mood on Saturday after he woke up from his nap. We tried snacks, toys, books, but to no avail. We finally remembered the cure-all: "Bubbos!" He cheered up right away. After he was consoled, we found that we couldn't get enough of them either and it turned into the 1st annual Bubblympics with events like biggest bubble, most bubbles sticking to each other, blow the bubble on to your opponents side before it pops, and the ever popular land a single bubble on top of Max's head. The list goes on, but I'll stop there seeing as all of you already think we're losers. :)

Hanging out at the park with cousins...

We met up at the park with Shane's sister and her kids between sessions. After being in the house all day, this was much needed by all.

Riddle Me This...We spent most of Sunday night at my parents house with my brothers just eating, talking, and throwing out riddles and trying to solve them.

Riddle: Get the egg into the can using only the handle of the broom.

Riddle: Balance 10 nails on the head of a single nail without them touching anything else.

Riddle: Why is it that Max never stops eating?

It was such a great weekend. I am grateful for all that we learned. I am grateful that we could stand and sustain President Monson as our prophet. It was easy to see the change that has come over him as he takes on this awesome responsibility. I think Elder Holland said it best when he stated, "President Monson...I cannot help but feel that the most important privilege we have all had has been to witness personally the settling of the sacred prophetic mantle upon your shoulders almost as it were by the very hand of angels themselves...All have been eye witness to that (this conference)."

'My Baby's Got Sauce'

2008-03-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

We are proud to say that Max is developing normally because he is well into the 'sauce on everything' phase. That is one of the stages of development isn't it? He loves it on everything i.e. bread, crackers, pickles, dipping his binki in and out, and just dipping his fingers. His favorite thing to have sauce on?...his face and clothes! Love this kid!

Yardley Beef

2008-03-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun a couple of weeks ago at the annual Yardley Bull Sale. My Uncle Gib owns a cattle ranch in Beaver, Utah and we get to go down each year to support him. I have loved it ever since I was a little girl and I'm glad to see Shane and Max enjoy it as well. Max got to ride his very first horse and loved it! He kept bouncing up and down on the saddle as if to say, "Yeehaw!" Maybe we have a little Lane Frost on our hands, who knows!

The Abyss

2008-03-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

The black hole that is my purse. Sure, it looks all nice and neat laid out here, but don't be deceived. Shane didn't give it the name "abyss" for nothing. Peggy, you really got yourself into some unchartered waters tagging me, but I will do the bag tag nonetheless.

Key Items:

-wipes/dayplanner: sorry ladies, you can't buy them like this. They just happen to glue to each other while down there together. But, if anyone wants to go halfsies on the marketing, we could probably make millions, eh?

-infiniti+1 receipts: I always have good intentions of keeping them in an envelop and clearing them out regularly, but as you can see, good intentions pave the road...you know the rest.

-Ice Breakers tropical sours: These are so good! Try them!

-balm: So good too! Try It!

-Leatherman & mini tapemeasure: Surprising how much I use these wherever I go.

-various and sundry baby items (as you can see from the picture, I need them): I bought this bag extra big for this very purpose, but it also perpetuates the problem of not being able to find anything in there.

The Good Ol' Days...

2008-03-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

...when you could ride your tricked out, pink banana-seat bike (seat low, handle bars straight up, and baseball card in the spokes-very Harleyesque) with your posse down to the local associated food store (Dick's Market in this case) and buy yourself some PENNY candy and a 50¢ deli burrito. Now...strapping kids into car seats with your posse and buying yourself some 2¢ candy and a $2 burrito. Man inflation stinks! Nevertheless, it was a great trip down memory lane. Love you guys! Thanks!

ok, so we're a little old for our banana seats here, but it's the only one I could find

The 80's at its Finest

2008-03-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

The passion, the heartache, the mullets and air keyboard...
(This is a gem we found a while back and we would feel remiss if we didn't share it with all. Remember to pause the music player at the bottom and enjoy!)

Seperate Ways-Journey

(Sorry everyone-for some reason it stopped working. If you really want to see it, you'll have to go directly to the site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxxOyGK1pMk)

On a First Name Basis

2008-02-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Max has found it easier as of late to call us by our first names. He'll walk around the house trying to find me calling "Eeesh? Eeesh? Eeesh?" all the way. (He's doing it right now as a matter of fact...the irony) If he's with me and Shane is in another room and I call Shane's name, he'll follow with a loud "Ane!" We get a big kick out of it which is probably the reason he does it all of the time.

Fried Pickles and Harlem

2008-02-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

This post is to brag a little on the love o' my life. He always keeps me laughing and on my toes. For my birthday, he asked me to go to the neighbors as he slaved in the kitchen. When I got back, there was a plate of, well...I didn't know at first. All I knew is that he had been frying something. I took a bite and to my surprise (I know this isn't that suspensful because of the title, but humor me) FRIED PICKLES! He saw it on the travel channel on a show called "Bizzare Foods" and decided I might like them and you know what, I did! Dip them in a little ranch and bon apetite! Then came the main course...STEAK! I was really impressed. It was fantastic! Of course you have to have a cake and who else would I want on it than my boyfriend Spongebob. Actually, I haven't watched a full episode in my life. Just Shane being random once again. :)
After dinner, he gave me a series of 6 clues. I guess I'm a little slow, because I didn't figure it out until the last one.
1-On Monday, we'll be attending some entertainment. The program will likely be colorful; mostly red, white and blue.
2-Like Monday Night Raw, there will be a lot of big, sweaty men doing their thing.
3-The performers are known as magicians and world travelers (in a manner of speaking).
4-A handful of times their show has been ruined by a group of jealous Generals from Washington D.C.
5-Children of all ages will enjoy the entertainment, but with names like Goose, Curly, and Twiggy, you'd think it was Sesame Street.
6-You may need a little help from I-tunes at this point...specifically from "Brother Bones." Look for him under Recently Added Songs!
Finally, after hearing their theme song, I got it!

Insert video of Globetrotters here (It didn't work-Sorry, I'm still a rookie)

(Finally figured out a way for it to work if anyone still cares :)

As you can see, we spared no expense and got courtside tickets. (Okay, to be fair, there was one other row behind us. Ever the optimist, Shane looked behind us and said, "Just think hon, it could be worse")

What a guy! Thanks for a great birthday hon!

The Fashion-Forward Man Child

2008-02-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we will walk into the room and find Max being pretty creative, if you will. He is famous 'round these parts for his "hats". Here's why:

For the life of me, I can't firgure out where he picked up this fixation...