Home Life

It's About Time!

2011-07-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

We have never been a family to get professional family pictures done. I guess it's probably because it can be expensive and because there is a lot of stress involved trying to make sure everyone is happy, clean, cute and cooperating.

A few months ago we were lucky enough to win a free family photo session with my friend and very talented photographer, Bethany!! They are priceless and I cannot wait to be able to get them up on my walls!

Snow!

2011-02-20T18:00:00.001-07:00

haha.. just found this that I had posted from my phone... it still says draft so I guess it didn't work. Also added some pictures from the trip...

stuck. we are stuck. sitting in the car on I 17 south from flagstaff. i think we have traveled about a mile in the last 30 minutes. or maybe it is more like half a mile? traffic is so backed up. we had a whirlwind trip to flagstaff starting yesterday afternoon! we found out it was finally snowing in flagstaff and the kids have been begging to go see some snow all winter. we thought we had missed our chance until a big storm hit! we had a great (freezing) time in flagstaff! my poor deprieved kids have never played in snow until now. and no, the manufactured snow at the zoo doesnt really count.it was funny to watch them play and dis cover the wonders of snow.

Hello Yumminess!

2010-09-07T12:28:00.009-07:00

I've been on a diet for months now. Sugar is not allowed. Because of this, I spend a lot of time thinking about desserts and what I would eat if I could. Pitiful, I know. Yesterday we were invited to a Labor Day BBQ/swim party and Sage and I were excited for an excuse to bake! We leafed through cookbooks and all the yummy recipes I have saved for 'someday'. And finally just made up a recipe of our own. I can't believe I have never thought of making something like this before. It was too perfect. I think we'll call it S'more Bars (wow, that's really unoriginal... is that even a word?).

I didn't know how tasty they would be or I would have taken more and better step by step pictures. I wish my pictures were scratch n' sniff! Oooh or maybe scratch n' TASTE!! Now I'm on to something!

S'more Bars

1 Box Brownie Mix (Prepare batter as directed)

1 Jar Marshmallow Creme (Or just a bag of marshmallows! I think we'll use them next time)

1 Sleeve Graham Crackers

1 1/4 Sticks of Butter (melted)

6 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Put the graham crackers in a big ziploc bag and roll/smash with a rolling pin or in a food processor and make them nice and crumbly. Pour the crumbs into a 9x13" pan. Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and mix until evenly coated and (dare I say it, Shannon??!) moist. Doesn't that word just give you the heebie jeebies??! Anyway, then you press the crumb/butter mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Prepare you brownie mix as directed on the box and pour the batter over the graham cracker crumbs. Looking good! Put it in the oven and bake according to the brownie mix directions. I think we baked ours for about 25 minutes... ?? But I can't remember, so check your box. Meanwhile, I scooped out the marshmallow creme into a bowl and added a little water and stirred (to make it thinner... but these brownies will not make you thinner!). I just got it thin and pourable. When the brownies were done and a fork (because I don't have any toothpicks!) comes out clean about an inch from the edge of the pan, I put them on the cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Pour and spread the marshmallow creme over the top of the brownies and admire your 3 layers from the side. pretty :) Turn on the broiler and put the pan back in the oven with the oven door cracked open so you can watch carefully (they will brown quickly). Just wait about 30 seconds to a minute until you're reminded of sitting around the campfire and the marshmallows are nice and lightly browned (don't wait until they turn into flame throwers like I always do at a bonfire!) Take them out and back to the cooling rack. If you want to use marshmallows instead of the creme, just pour them over the baked brownies and brown them under the broiler. Note: I lowered my top oven rack to the middle of the oven to broil these, otherwise I think they would have burned.

If you're living without sugar, like I am, I wouldn't recommend making these! They are very hard to resist. But if not, please enjoy them for the rest of us (um, me... ) !!

When I took them out of the oven, the marshmallow layer was perfect, but within a couple minutes it had shrunk so it wasn't as pretty anymore. With actual marshmallows it wouldn't do this and it would be gorgeous!

Side view of the layers of yumminess

There are only 3 left. Photo opportunity pickings were slim... but I think this one looks tasty!

Enjoy!! Let me know what you think!

Grace

2010-09-07T10:09:00.001-07:00

I was looking through old pictures and found this one of Grace. I love it. :)

Random

2010-09-06T11:01:00.004-07:00

Sage made some yummy (or so I heard) blueberry muffins

and she ate some blueberry muffins

we moved in march.. this is our new home :)

It's Labor Day and I spent several hours outside this morning laboring on the yard. It looks nice, so I took a picture. I am SO boring right now!

2010-08-29T21:04:00.004-07:00

Dear Alex,

You are having your night terrors again. You haven't had them since we lost the house and had to move. I guess school is stressing you out. It breaks my heart when you wander around crying, still asleep. But Dad and I tuck you in, safe and sound with your 'bug' and 'man blanket', and give you lots of hugs and kisses. I love you so much, and will do whatever it takes to make you feel safe and sound 'all days'. I love you, my boy.

Love, Mama

(this picture is from when we went out on our first, official date recently)

School Has Begun... I Feel iLL

2010-08-09T10:16:00.006-07:00

It looks like Alex doesn't feel too sure of this school stuff either... Luckily Sage is thrilled about school and will do great, I'm sure.

school days... i can't believe it starts tomorrow! yikes!

2010-08-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

2010-07-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Pioneer Day ;)

All Is Well... watch this.. it's worth it

2010-05-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

too long...

2010-04-12T21:51:00.004-07:00

It's been way too long since I've updated. I'll just jump in with some pictures :)

Sage LOVES to cook/bake!!!

Here's Gracie 'painting' rocks (a suggestion from Michelle that is ingenious!!) :) She loved it!!

The lineup

Posing in front of a Magnetix creation :)

Alex is always building something!

We have really enjoyed the cooler winter months and are sad to see them come to an end. We have given the AC some pre-season use already! Life keeps us pretty busy! Sage is almost done with 2nd grade and she takes piano lessons!! Alex missed the cut-off date for Kindergarten, so he's been home keeping me busy and playing with Gracie. Grace talks so much (!) and is so active and just a joy! We all love her so much. She'll be 2 in a little over a month, and I can't believe it. We moved in March, so I'm actually kind of still recovering from that. I don't enjoy that much change (and stress) at once, but luckily it all turned out well. We moved only about 1 mile down the road so we could stay in the same ward and keep Sage at the same school as before. We really like our new home and feel extremely blessed to have found it. What a relief. So many wonderful friends helped us with packing, moving out/moving in, setting up beds, moving around furniture, bringing us food... the list goes on and on. We talked about service today in Relief Society and ladies were taking turns going up to the front and telling a service someone has done for them... I have countless blessings. It's so interesting to me that when we have the most trials, we also seem to have the most blessings... 'my cup runneth over' for sure.

As for Dave and I, we have been trying to be good parents to these very strong spirited and energetic (difficult!??) kids. I really hope I am doing it right! Dave is getting ready to leave for 4 months for a new summer job. I'm excited he'll be working with my friend Michelle's husband... again, blessings, blessings blessings! We are excited about the potential this job holds for our family and hope Dave does well. He's just finishing up a few things here and then he'll be on his way. We will really miss him and I panic hourly at the realization that I will be on my own with these 3 kids! I am outnumbered for sure!! yikes! And I (Rachel) am still doing data entry (it's been almost a year and a half now) twice a week and have been babysitting a sweet 3 yr old boy once or twice a week. I spend my days juggling the kids and all the other responsibilities a mom has. I got a child seat for my bike a few weeks ago and have loved riding it all around with Grace. She loves going out for bike rides and I do too. Also, I have been making cleaning supplies. Some may think I'm nuts, but I'm having fun with it, learning and will be saving money in the long run so that's a good thing, right? Maybe I'll post some recipes and pics of the cleaners I've been making some time.

I have plenty more pictures I should post, but for now, this will have to do!

Have a great day! :)

Regrets

2010-01-15T14:31:00.004-07:00

Grandpa Bill was always so good to all of us. He never missed a birthday or anniversary. He never missed Christmas. He always sent a homemade card from the Chico Everett's; so much love and thoughtfulness. We decided, back in June, that it was well past time that we repaid the favor. We started a birthday package for him. It was his 84th birthday. This is the picture and letter Sage made for him. I never got around to sending it. I regret everything I wanted to do for him or should have done for him, and didn't. I love him and am grateful to call him Grandpa. I will miss him so much. So many regrets...

I can't wait to see him again someday :) and I am so glad to know that I will.

Still Here...

2009-12-13T21:48:00.001-07:00

Jill and Kevin's Last Day

2009-08-03T22:08:00.002-07:00

Some people made this video after the first one (see below)... this is great!! Enjoy!!

JK Divorce Entrance Dance @ Yahoo! Video

Forever... !!!

2009-07-24T16:20:00.001-07:00

Sa-weet moves! ;) Love this!

Winter In July!!

2009-07-19T17:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/11511/1/33

Alex is famous! Check out pictures numbered 29 and 30!!

Do you live around here?

2009-07-04T23:47:00.002-07:00

Tonight I went to see the fireworks with the kids. We ended up on a street in a quiet neighborhood. We watched the fireworks, took lots of pictures (I'll upload those later) and it was nearing the end when Alex, looking ahead of us, starts pointing and saying 'we don't show our tummies! she is showing her tummy!' I tried to quiet him down as I noticed a twenty-something girl walking down the street in only a skimpy bikini! Yes, it is 100 degrees outside at 10pm, but really?, I thought... couldn't you put some clothes on? lol Anyway, moments later she was right in front of me talking to me. Alex still hadn't stopped saying 'we don't show our tummies!! hey, she's immodest!!' She asked me if I live around there. I told her no. She then told me that she was at a party and she wanted to go find the fireworks and no one else wanted to. So she started walking through the neighborhood to get closer to them and now she didn't know how to get back! So here is this lady, in only a bikini, with no phone, no shoes and HER TUMMY SHOWING, for crying out loud!!! Alex was horrified!! It was so funny! So after she explained to me what happened and I told her again, that I'm sorry I don't know my way around that neighborhood she started to continue on her way. Alex stopped her by saying 'you know, we don't show our tummies. It's not modest to show your tummy'!! I was in shock!! I didn't know what she'd do!! She told him 'oh I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' (she sounded sincere... it was funny), and then she walked away. I turned around to see where she'd gone and she was turning the corner. I know she didn't come from that direction, because she hadn't passed us before. I sure hope she found her way! I would be terrified if I were in that situation. Actually, I would never be in that situation unless it was one of those dreams where you wander around searching for something and you never have enough clothes on! That was so random and strange. I actually felt worried about her. But I feel a bit better now that Alex remembered her in his prayers tonight, asking that she make it home safely to her clothes so she can cover up her tummy! I love you Alex! You are SO funny!

Happy 4th of July!!

So Great!!!

2009-06-10T21:25:00.001-07:00

I am entering to win this amazing bike! Click on the picture and you could enter to win it too! :)

Photos = Happiness!

2009-05-10T20:15:00.012-07:00

Grace and her best friend, Kendal (the Photographer's daughter)! They are so cute together! Unfortunately, they just moved away.
:( We miss them already!

So curious...

My best helper; sweetie :)

There is a nice, calm, gentle boy inside of Alex, somewhere.. here is a shot of when his 'good side' came out for a moment!

My babies :) who aren't babies anymore! Sage is turning 7 tomorrow!

My wonderful friend, Emily, took these gorgeous pictures of my kids this week! I LOVE them so much! If you look at the top right of my sidebar you can see a slideshow of many more pictures from that Happy Day!! :)

So, what do you think?

I wonder...

2009-05-02T11:50:00.003-07:00

We're sick. The kids and I are sitting at home, watching Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I was just thinking, I really should read the book this movie (and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory) was based on. Everytime I've seen a movie after I've read the book, I've always liked the book better. I wonder if it would be the same with this one. The kids and I really enjoy this movie... so we'll see.

I wonder which other books (that later became movies) would be worth reading... ?

Darlybird

2009-04-06T09:14:00.003-07:00

I found this cute site that sells all kinds of clever, cute, and fun treasures. You really should check it out! I want to buy everything!

It's been so long...

2009-03-09T10:27:00.003-07:00

Gracie is now 9 months old! And I haven't posted new pictures of her for so long... you might not even recognize her! She has changed so much and is such a joy! Here are some pictures my friend, Emily, took of Grace about a month ago... Thank you Emily! These pictures have made me so happy! :)

I hope to do some catch-up posting very soon... but here's a quick list of Grace's current new tricks! (everything she's been up to since I last posted)

rolling

crawling

sitting

pulling up to a stand

cruising!!

eating solids

saying things like: ba ba, da da, ma ma (occasionally)

and lots of squealing and random cute sounds!

oh and she finally moved from the pak n play in our room to her actual crib at about 8 months old (she's so grown up, sharing a room w/ her big sister!)... ok I'll admit it, I was the one who didn't want her to make the move!.. but I finally gave in to the inevitable!

How did life ever exist before Grace?? :)

10 Years

2009-01-02T21:41:00.006-07:00

13 years ago, I met this guy..... (isn't he amazing??!!) As Debbie Gibson would say, I got lost in his eyes. It was Debbie wasn't it? Anyway, look at those eyes...

I saw him after my Spanish class (at Ricks College) and there was something fascinating about him... everyone/everything else was a blur around me... I followed him and was devastated when I lost track of him. I met up with my friend and went to the cafeteria for lunch and upon finishing my silent mealtime prayer, like all the good little boys and girls did ... I looked up and saw him right in front of me, waiting to talk to me. !!! It was meant to be. He asked if he could join me, and the rest is history!! ;)

Fast forward to just over 3 years later and here we are right after we were married in the Logan, Utah temple on January 2, 1999.

Today is our 10 year anniversary of that special day; our wedding and more importantly, our marriage to each other for time and all eternity.

I'm reminded today, and lately, that we didn't agree to be together for only the good times, but for the hard times... in sickness, health, richer, poorer. We've been experiencing the hard times lately... the parts you don't really think about when you're standing outside the temple, in pure bliss, after finally being married...

I didn't even care that it was probably 5 degrees outside!! I was in love and
MARRIED!! :)

Those kids didn't know what was to come! But they were sure that they could work through anything!

I know that if we can just stick together and support eachother that we'll enjoy many more milestone anniversaries in the coming years. Here's to another 10 years (for a start), Dave. I love you all the much!

Love, your Rachel

(what is this? the paper anniversary or something? Hmmm?)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-25T23:27:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

I Love Coupon $ense!!

2008-11-10T11:32:00.007-07:00

I just have to shout it from the rooftops that I LOVE COUPON SENSE!!!

I few months ago I finally, after hearing people talk about coupon sense for years, took the plunge and joined coupon sense to see if it's all everyone tells me it is. Well, it is.

I have had many great shopping trips, thanks to my instructor and friends (who tell me how to get the best deals)... but I think today's trip was, by far, the best!

Ok, so here's what I got:

2 bags of cheetos

2 gallons of milk

3 containers of Tylenol (24 count in each, I think)

3 10 packs of disposable razors

3 Dial hand soap pumps

2 boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate

2 boxes of Zatarains rice mix

1 3Liter Arrowhead water

3 boxes of Hefty ziploc bags

5 boxes of Betty crocker mashed potato mixes

6 cans of carnation evaporated milk

Drum roll please.... I got all of this for a total of $1.39 !!!!

(yes, that includes tax)!!!!

I saved a total of 98.42 % WOW

If if you're talking dollars and cents... I saved $87.12!!

Incredible!!

Seriously, you really should look into coupon sense. The savings are ridiculous!!

Oh and if you end up joining, please mention my name (Rachel Peacock from Arizona). :)

http://www.couponsense.com/

I think I'm going to go back today for another round of savings!!

some catching up...

2008-10-22T20:48:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures of Alex in gymnastics class. I think it's so funny how he's looking at himself in the mirror during class. :) We're done with gymnastics for now. Hopefully there will be more to come! :)

2008-10-22T20:33:00.002-07:00

Gracie got a blanket from our ward's Relief Society... isn't it pretty?!? I love it! She does too :)

More than meets the eye...

2008-10-22T20:25:00.002-07:00

Alex is THRILLED to finally have his halloween costume (he's been wearing it almost nonstop since we brought it home)! His latest obsession is with Transformers and his favorite color is yellow so, of course, his favorite Transformer is Bumblebee! :) I told him to strike a pose and this is what he did (with sound effects, of course)!

He's also discovered that he loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's so crazy that my 3 year old likes the stuff that was cool when I was a kid! Oh and speaking of him being 3... he'll be 4in 9 days!! wow! crazy.

Cousins and Kitten

2008-10-22T20:02:00.002-07:00

For some reason schools around here have a 'Fall Break'. I don't really know why there's a break at this time, but we'll take it! Sage got a week off of school and we got to spend two of the days with Jessica and her kids! One day, we met at the Children's Museum (which was amazing!!) and spent many hours there (and could have spent many more)!! It was so much fun and it was really great for the cousins to play together! I hope to become a member of the museum so we can meet there for play dates at least once a month. :) Then a couple days later we headed over to the 'East Side' (lol, that's what Sage calls it) to spend the day playing at Jessica's house. The kids had lots of fun! And I had fun talking to Jessica and just hanging out with our babies :)!
Thanks for playing, Jessica! I hope we can do it again soon!
Here are some pictures from one of our play dates.

OHHh! and we rescued this cute little kitten (emphasis on little... I think he's only about 4 weeks old) a week ago!

Look Mom and Dad! We got a picture with all 6 of our kids together! Pretty cool :)

Ooh La la

2008-10-16T13:39:00.003-07:00

I want this. I don't know where I'd keep it but I must have it. How cool is this!! They call it a Food Rotation System. Anyone have one?

4 months!

2008-10-07T20:17:00.002-07:00

Our baby is growing up so quickly! Here she is at 4 months! As you can see she's still thoroughly chunkified! She's changing so much everyday. wow. :)

A new adventure...

2008-09-18T09:12:00.021-07:00

Sage and Alex are now in their first-ever gymnastics class! They have been to 2 so far and loved them! They are in different classes, but they are one after the other so I get to spend 2 hours there, once a week, watching! :)

Here's Sage in action... she's the same size as the other girls in her group but I'm sure she's the youngest. She's so tall for her age.

I didn't get to take any pictures or video of Alex yet... hopefully next time!

3 months old!

2008-09-18T09:12:00.016-07:00

Grace hit the 3 month mark while we were in Sedona!
I'm so late in posting this that she's already 3 1/2 months... oops!
It looks like she has red hair... but not in real life. I tell people I got my redhead (in pictures). ;) In real life she's blonde.

Grace has been reaching for and holding toys. She has been smiling, laughing, cooing, gurgling, kicking, and being so cute a lot! She is very good at holding her head up and steady and making everyone smile. She brightens up every day! OH and she's very good at eating (if you couldn't tell) ;)

Tales of our Trip

2008-09-18T09:12:00.013-07:00

We took a very spontaneous trip to Sedona recently and, of course, took dozens of pictures!

I think I'll let the pictures tell the stories for me. :) It was a wonderful trip! ... so nice to get away from this killer heat and into much less intense days and blissfully cool nights!!
we had to be creative... :) (yes, that is cereal in a coffee pot!)

Look closely :) it's not just a tree:

the squirrel was following us...

huge ants!

Have you ever been to Sedona?

Guess That Location

2008-09-09T08:38:00.002-07:00

We just got back from a family vacation :)
Here are only a couple of the many pictures we took.

So you tell me... where did we go? ;)

Some more Grace :)

2008-08-31T21:39:00.006-07:00

Here's Gracie at almost 3 months old...

Here's a short video of Grace so you can see her 'live' :) My parents (and most of my family) have never met her!

Grace loves to run! We even caught her laughing at the end :)

Even the baby is fascinated by movies!

Baby baby

2008-08-27T15:59:00.003-07:00

My sister, Jessica had her baby last week... August 21st! An adorable boy named Micah :) Grace and I went to the hospital to visit.

Congratulations!! Welcome to the world, cutie Micah!

Update

2008-08-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

At Grace's 2 month checkup she weighed in at 16.2 lbs (above the
100th % percentile) and she was 23 1/4" (75th%) and her head is 15.5
(50th %)! We have no shortage of cute baby chub rolls around here! :)

Hmmm...

2008-08-19T13:21:00.001-07:00

You Belong in 1982

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

A Look Back...

2008-08-16T14:02:00.009-07:00

Alex at 2 months old, back in January 2005

Sage when she was 2 months old, in August 2002

And here's Grace in August 2008

I'm amazed at how much Sage, Alex and Grace look alike. Especially how much Sage and Gracie look alike! It's like we have Baby Sage all over again!! :)

Has it really been 2 months?!!? wow!

2008-08-07T19:28:00.006-07:00

UPDATE:
At Grace's 2 month checkup she weighed in at 16.2 lbs (above the
100th % percentile) and she was 23 1/4" (75th%) and her head is 15.5
(50th %)! We have no shortage of cute baby chub rolls around here! :)

I took some pictures of Gracie today. She's exactly 2 months old :) (the date on the camera is wrong...I'll have to fix that.. it's really 8-7-08 today and not 7-8-08)

Adorable smile!!

Beautiful blue eyes

So squishy!!

This was my attempt at a self-portrait of us... but unfortunately she was all pictured-out by then! But she's adorable even when she's screaming! :)

She's chunked up very nicely :) (that's her job, you know) haha

Here's our burrito baby :)

oops! the flash woke her up!

I just love little Gracie :) What did we ever do without her?!

I know you're gonna roll your eyes...

2008-08-07T19:21:00.003-07:00

... but I had fun!!

I went out to Barnes and Noble for a late night with my sweetie friends Mandi, Amy and Hannah the other night. It was for the release of the last book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. We decided to live it up and get 'vampire bites'... although, I will mention, that the vampires I love to read about in the books are vegetarian vampires... meaning they limit their diet to animals and not people. Ok, I know, still gross... but it's just pretend guys. Anyway, it was silly and fun! :)

John Mayer concert :)

2008-08-07T19:07:00.002-07:00

We were lucky enough to go to see JM again this year. We didn't meet him this time, but no worries... once is enough. ;) Dave and I had good seats and had a really nice time listening to the guitar gymnastics of John Mayer. Colbie Caillat and Bret Dennen opened for him... :)

Thanks to Goldie for watching Sage and Alex!! And thanks to Mandi for watching baby Gracie! It was so nice to get out for the evening!! :)

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-05T13:15:00.003-07:00

I just started reading Stephenie Meyer's new book, Breaking Dawn... and the cover looks like my new blog background... at least until I'm done with the book. haha...

1st Day of 1st Grade!

2008-08-05T12:30:00.004-07:00

Fun!

2008-07-21T17:55:00.001-07:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember--it can be funny, weird, awkward, random, etc.!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

I hope you'll all play!! :)

Butterflies

2008-07-07T12:19:00.002-07:00

For Sage's 6th birthday she got a butterfly kit. Here's a picture I took this morning. On the 2 pieces of paper, there are 9 cocoons (2 empty)... 2 butterflies hatched this morning!! So far they're just walking around and flapping their wings (to dry them) a little bit. :)

1 Month Old!!

2008-07-07T12:05:00.003-07:00

I can't believe Grace is already 1 month old!
(That headband she's wearing is still too big... wow!)
Before we know it she'll be 1 year old!

I love you, Gracie :)

OUCH!

2008-07-07T11:55:00.003-07:00

We had a scare last week when Dave woke up in excruciating pain Wednesday morning. We were all packed and ready to go to Utah for a little vacation... but Dave had to rush off to the ER. He ended up staying all day and being admitted to the hospital later that evening. After 2 days of pain, and fasting, the doctors took him into surgery and removed his gallbladder. We learned first hand why so many people we know say to never go to this particular hospital... too bad we had to learn the hard way! The surgery went well and now Dave is at home and doing so much better! This is a picture of Dave the day he got to come home from the hospital (Saturday).

Thanks to all of our family and friends who helped us through this hard time!
PS... try not to ever have your husband stay in the hospital for 4 days and have surgery while you're still recovering from childbirth and trying to take care of a newborn and 2 rascal kids!! Thank goodness for friends and family!! :)

PSS needless to say, our trip to Utah had to be canceled

Cousins

2008-07-07T11:51:00.002-07:00

We recently had, Briea, Sage and Alex's cousin come over for a few days. Here they are at the bowling alley!

3 weeks old!

2008-07-07T11:48:00.002-07:00

Jacksy

2008-07-07T11:46:00.003-07:00

Alex got this little bunny, Jacksy, from the library summer reading program. It's so cute seeing how much he loves the bunny. He came up with the name, Jacksy, himself. :)

Daddy Loves Gracie

2008-07-07T11:38:00.001-07:00

SMILE!

2008-06-25T19:32:00.002-07:00

GOTCHA!! Dave captured one of Gracie's precious smiles :) We love those little smiles :)

And more...

2008-06-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

ouch... she had to get her heel pricked every morning when we were fighting jaundice... oww

Alex is always posing :)

our little angel face

Pictures galore

2008-06-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Alex loves Gracie so much!
Our 3 kids :)
Grace doing a little sunbathing! That's her Billiruben light for Jaundice. She is now officially off the light (yay!) but she was on it for 5 days. She actually really liked it.

Sage is such a wonderful big sister :)

more pictures :)

2008-06-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

Baby Grace has Arrived!

2008-06-10T11:07:00.001-07:00

Grace Virginia Peacock was born at 5:05pm on Saturday 6-7-08!! She weighed in at 9lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. She has lots of hair and lots of cuteness :)
We came home from the hospital Monday afternoon and everyone is getting to know eachother. Gracie has some jaundice (like Alex and Sage had) but it seems to be minor. She'll be going to her first doctor's appointment this afternoon to see if the jaundice is getting better. :)
More to come on baby Grace. Thanks to our family and friends for all their love and support!!

I've been Tagged :)

2008-04-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

How did you meet your spouse?
We met in the Cafeteria at Ricks College (in Rexburg, Idaho) in 1995... but before we actually met, I followed him/stalked him :) What can I say? I was intrigued by his white-boy afro :)

Where did you go on your first date?
He took me (and my friend, Jenn) fishing. He asked me out and he's such a big guy, I decided to bring a friend along, just in case he turned out to be crazy or something. Haha. There was no need to have a body guard after all :)

How long have you been together?
Well, since we started dating, it's been about 12 1/2 years! (but only 9 since we got married)

Who eats more?
haha! What kind of question is this... 'excuse me, Dave, can you give me the printout you've prepared of everything you ate today so we can compare?' Oh please! haha! But, I think I would have to say Dave does.

Who said I love you first?
Dave wins this one. I was a little hesitant with the "L" word. I wanted to be sure... it took me a few more dates than him to get to the point where I actually knew it and could say it. :) Plus, it was fun to watch him try even harder to win me over while he waited!!

Who is taller?
Dave is lots taller than me (I like it that way)

Who sings better?
I don't know. We both can carry a tune but neither of us would do a solo. Well, Dave is gutsy, so maybe he would. Dave has a nice voice.

Who is smarter?
I don't know our IQ's... lol. I don't know.

Who does the laundry?
I used to always do it, but Dave has taken it over in the past year or so. I don't mind so much now, because he's finally figured out that you really do need to separate the whites out... red and black don't do anything good for the brightness of whites. lol

Who does the dishes?
We both do them. We used to have a rule that whoever didn't cook would do the dishes... and it still kind of stands the same. But since I'm pregnant.. he's been doing them more often than me :)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
I do. I don't know why... it just worked out that way when we got married.

Who pays the bills?
Dave earns the money, I write the checks.

Who mows the lawn?
We both do. Again, I'm pregnant, so he's been doing it lately. :)

Who cooks dinner?
If Dave's home, he cooks dinner. If he's not home, I do, but it's almost always just kid food that I make. I guess about once a month I'll make a real meal (not just kid food). It works.

Who drives when you are together?
We take turns. If it's my car, I'll usually start off driving and I'm usually tired on the way home, so he'll drive. If it's his car, he drives... unless I'm alone and joy riding!

Who is more stubborn?
I think we might fight about who's more stubborn. I think I am. And I think he'd say he is. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, I know I'm stubborn...like a bull.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
Well, I'm never wrong!! LOL

Who kissed who first?
Dave wins this one. :)

Who proposed?
Dave proposed to me at a Santana concert in Utah. I think it was in Park City. It was quite a surprise and very sweet. He was so nervous, I think, that on the way to the concert he started have major muscle spasms in his back and so I had to take over driving and go to the ER!! They gave him muscle relaxers and fluids and got him feeling better... I drove the rest of the way and then he proposed when we got there, in the parking lot. He read me a poem he had written for me and then asked me to marry him and gave me the ring. :) I knew we would get married... I just had no idea he had picked up the ring and would ask me that night!

Who is more sensitive?
I'm way more sensitive... I'm a bawl baby. But he's sensitive too, in a 'manly' (haha) way

Who has more friends?
We both have lots of friends, I just keep up with mine and he doesn't. As far as current friends go (that actually live in this state), I would say that I do.

Who has more siblings?
That would be me. There are 8 kids in my family... 4 boys and 4 girls. But he's not far behind.. he comes from a family of 6 kids... 4 boys and 2 girls

Who wears the pants?
We both wear pants. He definitely prefers shorts though. hehe! We like to make decisions together. :)

I tag (that means you need to answer these questions and post them on your blog, too!!!) Vanessa, Hannah, Mandy

Wait... what??

2008-04-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

They're back?

I hope Dave won't mind me tearing out posters from the teeny bopper magazines and plastering them on our bedroom walls.... who ever did that anyway?? Hmmm?? :)

My blogging marathon is done...

2008-04-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

I posted several blogs today... so make sure you scroll down through all of them. I'll leave you with some pictures we took this weekend while feeding the ducks. I hope you're all doing well!! :)

Happy Easter!

2008-04-01T17:16:00.001-07:00

It was so hot outside...but we were determined to get a somewhat decent photo of our family... Here's the best we could get before the melt downs occured.
But then I managed to get this one of the kids (in the shade) ... so worth it!!

Spring Fling

2008-04-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

So here we are on March 22nd (man, I've had a lot of blogging-catch up to do today!)....

This was a petting zoo there... this pig is cute.

Sage really wanted to pick these flowers... but I convinced her to just capture them in a picture, instead.

haha
and here's Sage with the Easter Bunny (Alex was too freaked out to get his picture taken with the bunny... I can't blame him) but Sage is always up for a photo :)

Zoomation= free night at the zoo!!

2008-04-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

The zoo had a fun family night on March 19th... we had a great time!!

Here, Dave and the kids are showing off some chalk drawings they made!

The kids got to make flowers out of Legos. Here's Sage's....

And here's Alex's...

And here's a picture of Sage in the field of Lego Flowers...so cool!

They had so much fun dancing behind this screen.... I had fun watching! :)

And here's a little video of the dancing action...

The belly

2008-04-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here I am on March 16th...

And this one was taken today (April 1st)

You know, pictures are supposed to make you look bigger than you are... I feel like I'm really 3 times the size I look in these pictures! go figure! haha

The pregnancy is going well and I'm doing pretty well... just trying to manuver around an ever-expanding waist line (or lack there of)!!

Zoo

2008-04-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Alex and I got to go to the zoo with our good friend, Hannah and her kids.
Alex thought this statue was funny :)

Alex was so excited to get in the kangaroo's 'tummy' and be her baby. He's so silly and this just cracked him up!!

And here he is with some Bamboo he discovered. He's learned about Bamboo on the cartoon about Diego... he even managed to break off a little piece to take home to show Sage :)

And here's a video of some hillarious monkeys! I don't know what kind they are but they were making so much noise and they have a big balloonish thing (like bull frogs) in their necks that blows up when they screech! It was so loud and funny!!

St. Patrick's Day

2008-04-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Alex stopped for a picture...

And here's Sage :)

I didn't have a clover/shamrock cookie cutter, so we pretended this was one... hey, haven't you ever heard of the luckiest clover of all?? yep, the 5 leaf clover :)

Trixie

2008-04-01T15:33:00.001-07:00

Meet Trixie

After finding ourselves completely cat-less (gasp!!) we decided we needed to bring Trixie home to stay :)

This was her first night here... Sage was asleep and Dave found Trixie sleeping with her. Sage was thrilled to see the pictures in the morning!!

Around here, it's pretty well known that if your cat goes outside they will probably became Coyote lunch. Our last 2 cats were inside/outside cats (we brought them with us from Idaho)... it was impossible to keep them inside/safe and sound. So this time, we are keeping our cat inside (I think it's cruel, but so is death by coyote) and hopefully she'll live a long, healthy life. :)

Porter in L.A.?

2008-02-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

We have a bunny named Porter :) Here he is:

He's a good boy and stays in his cage... no escaping at night, that I know of.
But then I came across this picture while browsing some blogs...

and here's a close up of it:

Porter... you have a twin in LA. Who knew? haha! They seriously look identical!!

Apparently, this guy was out shopping and walking around with his bunny perched on his shoulder!! That is some serious bunny training!! Wow! We could never do that with Porter. Cute :)

Interviews

2008-02-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

I had to ask the kids a bunch of questions for primary spotlights and I thought I'd record their answers here! :)

Alex

1. What is your favorite food? Cheese!

2. What is your favorite color? Yellow

3. How old is really old? 78

4. What is your favorite activity to do during free time? Play with toys

5. How many brothers and sisters do you have? 1 sissy

6. What is your favorite Primary song? "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam"

7. When at the park do you prefer: slides, monkey bars, swings? play with the sand

8. What is your favorite movie? Wonder Pets

9. What is your favorite time of the day? bathtime

10. What do you like to do with your family the most? make cookies

Sage

1. What is your favorite food? blueberry pancakes

2. What is your favorite color? pink

3. How old is really old? 100

4. What is your favorite activity to do during free time? play with my friends

5. How many brothers and sisters do you have? 1 brother and 1 sister (on the way)

6. What is your favorite Primary song? "I am a child of God"

7. When at the park do you prefer: slides, monkey bars, swings? swings!!

8. What is your favorite movie? Ratatouille

9. What is your favorite time of the day? "store time"... going to the store-any store!!

10. What do you like to do with your family the most? play Ruckus (a card game)

So there you have it! :) I'm sure their answers would change if I asked them again today! But for that day, these were their favorites. I love my sweet children :)

Funny

2008-02-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Little kids say some of the funniest things!

Today, at the playground, I was sitting on the grass and must not have looked pregnant to Alex because he came up to me and said "Mommy, your baby fell off!" . He seemed really concerned and then confused when I was laughing.

Too cute!!! ;)

Another one bites the dust!!!

2008-02-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Tooth #2 has joined the first ... to be part of the toothfairy's castle (made of teeth, of course) !! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dave surprised me with these chocolate covered strawberries that he made himself!!!

Such yummy deliciousness!! Thanks Dave!!! I love you!! :)

1st Lost Tooth

2008-02-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Sage was so excited to lose her first tooth about a week ago!! The tooth fairy didn't disappoint! :)

A Tribute to President Hinckley

2008-01-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

My friend, Vanessa, put this on her blog... I know she won't mind that I'm putting it on mine too.

I will miss President Hinckley.

Little Baby

2008-01-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

We're having a baby!! :) Here are some pictures from our ultrasound on January 15th. The baby is due around June 17th and we (especially Sage) are very excited!!

some heavy thinking... or thumb sucking??

cute little foot ;)
Oh and in case you were wondering... It's a Girl!! (and Sage is so excited she can't stand it!!)

ps... I can't figure out how to make our blog stop cutting off the right half of the pictures... but if you click on the pictures you can see them full size.

School Pictures

2008-01-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

This is Sage's Kindergarten school picture :)

Alex even got to sit in, with his sissy, on one!!

Here's the class photo... remember your kindergarten class picture? (now would be a great time to post mine... but I don't have it) Anyway, fun stuff!

Giving Thanks...

2007-11-21T18:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!
I hope you all have a very warm, fuzzy, thankful day tomorrow. :)
We're thankful for all of you, our friends and family... all the time!!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Happy Birthday Gramma/Mom!!!

2007-11-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!!! We had fun celebrating Vicki's birthday at her house last month. I think we should do that every year!! It was fun getting everyone together.
You look great!
We love you!!

New Car

2007-11-12T14:30:00.001-07:00

Bye Bye Forenza....

Hello XL7!!

And we're off!....

Sqaw Peak (Piestewa Peak)

2007-11-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

A group from Relief Society (including me) hiked Piestewa Peak early in the morning. Here's the group before we started hiking.

The sunrise was gorgeous on the way up...

... the first group to make it to the top. I might add, I'm a wimp and this hike was very hard for me... I was very proud of myself for making it to the top!!

And the view going back down (yay!!...I was so glad to be done!) haha

Presenting....US!!! :)

2007-10-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!We heard that some of you wanted to see more of Dave and me. Here you go!! ;) We worked really hard on this routine.

square dance anyone?

2007-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Haha

Waiting on the World to Change

2007-10-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Since you all know I'm obsessed (haha) with John Mayer, I thought I'd share these videos with you.
The first is done in Sign Language. I've always loved sign and have been really interested in it...it all goes back to a talent show I watched once when I was young and there was a girl in a white dress and she signed to one of James Taylor's songs (You've got a Friend, I think it was). Anyway, random memories are fun. haha. The second video is one I just came across and I was impressed with it too. There has been a lot of hype about JM's song, Waiting... and how he must be telling people to just wait and not do anything to change the problems in the world. I don't feel like that's what he's saying at all...hold it right there!!, I'm not looking to debate. ;) So, the second one was done by a church in Naperville, Illinois and it's a nice message.
ta ta for now! ;)

I enjoyed both of these videos. I hope you do too.

The Logan, Utah LDS Temple

2007-10-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

Everytime I drive through Logan (once every few years), I take a picture of the temple. I was in Utah this past June and took yet another picture....Dave teased me that I keep taking the same shot of the temple. I hadn't ever thought of that; and he's right. But I will continue to do it anyway!!....so one day when my memory is completely shot, at least I'll be able to remember all the times I was there. ;)

A good one

2007-09-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was just looking through some of my pictures and saw this one of my mom and dad. I really like it. They are in Russia on a mission and I miss them. Write soon, Mom and Dad!! :)
love, Rachel

Super Powers

2007-09-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I thought I was the only one with super powers. hmmmm ??? ;)

OH Boy, I've Got Joy!

2007-09-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of Sage and her Joyschool classmates singing at their graduation in May 2007. I have never uploaded one of our own home videos to the web so we'll see how this goes! :) Oh and I didn't edit it at all...I'll just consider it a success to get it posted! Editing can come for future videos!!

The (long) Story

2007-09-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's the much anticipated story of how I met John Mayer :) (haha)

For as long as I can remember, I have been a big fan of James Taylor. My dad introduced his music to me when I was young. I've loved his music through thick and thin (even when my friends thought I should move on to someone more current). Well, I still love James Taylor, but a couple years ago, this James Taylor lover was suddenly caught off guard by a musician named John Mayer (JM to his biggest fans). I had heard his music on the radio back in the early 2000's (sounds weird to say that) and thought it was a bit cheesy. I never bought his music or anything until recently when I discovered the John Mayer Trio. He put together a trio with him, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino (amazing musicians...amazing trio!). I ran into it on the internet one day and decided to take the plunge and buy the album. I LOVED IT!! I couldn't get enough. I think I drove my family (well, dave actually) crazy with my obsession for that album called TRY!. After that I decided I'd give his other albums a listen so I got some of them from the library and LOVED THEM!! I thought, Yes! a new James Taylor (well, for me at least). So in the peak of my obsession, I joined JM's fanclub, anticipating his upcoming tour and hoping to get better seats with my membership. Well, the first time around, in October of 2006, it didn't do me any good. JM came to the Glendale Arena in Arizona as a support to Tom Petty. It was a perfect match, actually, because Dave has spent most of his life being a big Tom Petty fan and so I didn't even have to convince him to go with me. :) Big plus! Since JM was only a supporting act, and not headlining, his fan club didn't hold a presale for me. :( But we still went; had not so great seats, but loved it. Fast forward to June of 2007.... JM announced an actual headlining stop here in AZ!! I was so excited. We got some great great great seats, 2nd row center, for the show and if that wasn't enough...a few weeks before the show I heard through the internet grapevine that there would be some chances for fanclub members to meet John before the shows. Well, long story short (sorry, I've never been one to tell a short story) I won!! I was 1 of 5 fan club members attending the Glendale show who was randomly picked to meet JM backstage before the show. I only found out a couple days before, when someone from the fan club called to let me know! Each of the 5 winners could bring one guest to the 'Eat and Greet'. During my time of obsessing over JM's music, I'm sorry to say that Sage has come along for the ride. She loves his music and when she found out I was going to get to meet him, she really wanted to come. So I brought Sagey to the Eat and Greet and took her to a babysitter after and picked up Dave for the concert...very complicated, I know....but well worth it! The Eat and Greet was very cool. There was a lot of waiting involved, but Sage makes everything fun :). It was fun to talk to all the 'chosen' fans and their guests and to talk to John's photographer, Katie. She was our guide through the whole ordeal. I would have to say, I had much more fun meeting Katie and talking to her than I did with meeting John.... but that's just because meeting him was way too short. He came into the room, finally, and went around to everyone, one by one, to say hi, sign something and Katie snapped a picture of them. Sage and I were last in line. Sage captured his attention from the moment he walked in the room. It was very cute. She was trying to contain herself, but couldn't...she was jumping a little and waving and said "That's John Mayer! Hi John Mayer!!" and she was giggling. So JM mimicked her, jumping and waving and giggling. It was very cute and made her night. He scored lots of points with me for being sweet to my little girl. So when he got to us, he got right down to sage's level and was off and running, talking to her. :) He signed her Eat and Greet pass and then she handed him the picture she drew of JM in concert and he thanked her and said how nice of her it was to draw him a picture...it was funny, because I had to butt in and tell him she actually wants to keep the picture as a memory and she just wanted him to sign it. :) Everyone laughed. It was cute. So he signed it and he signed 2 JM (vinyl) albums I brought and then it was picture time. I am a really big fan, and I don't know if you've ever met a musician you really admired...but let's just say I was in a wierd dream state and didn't really know what I was saying or doing. So without thinking I stood in Sage's picture with JM; not realizing "hey! If I wait a minute I can get one of my own with him!" oh well. It's cuter this way!! :) Ok Ok I know you're all thinking, wow, rachel is much dorkier than I ever imagined. haha! well, ok, you're right. I love music and meeting someone who makes the music that I love was amazing. Now if I ever were to meet James Taylor (the musician I've loved my whole life and not just a mere 2 years or so) I don't know how I'd react!! It's so silly, isn't it? To put these regular people, with extraordinary talents, on such a pedastal. I guess I'm only human.
Anyway, it was so fun to meet JM and it was so fun to share that experience with Sage. She'll remember it for the rest of her life. (and so will I). I'm so glad Dave didn't put up a fight and graciously let Sage go in his place. :) Thanks Dave. :)
After all of that hoopla...we got to go to the concert! ...it was the best I've ever been to! I know, I haven't been to that many concerts, but I have been to enough to know that this one was amazing!! We were so close to the stage and it was so fun to be there with Dave. :)

Oh ...some of the things sage said to JM:

I love your song Gravity!! and JM responded...Oh really, because I'm going to play it for you tonight!! (too bad she wasn't there to hear it!!...but we took pictures)

Oh, I'm not going to your concert..it's just too loud. (and she didn't have a ticket)

She was determined to ask John for a ticket to his show (I was hoping she wouldn't) and luckily she decided not to. phew!

And when were were waiting in the back room (that was attached to a bathroom/locker room type place) for JM to show up, Sage suggested everyone hide in the bathroom and when John showed up we could all jump out and say "surprise"!! haaha! she's so cute...but no one else was up for it (she did it anyway, by herself)

Ok so there it is. I'm not going to edit it...I'll just put it out there. :) It was fun and I'm so glad I got to meet one of my favorite singers/musicians. :) Thanks Local 83 ;)

Here is JM admiring his TRY! album before he signed it :) (and sage, just giggling) :)

Below is a picture of our Eat and Greet group, in the shower. Thanks Katie :)

THE END.

A Long Lost Photo?

2007-09-14T12:30:00.001-07:00

You decide :)

Twilight Quiz

2007-09-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

I just saw this quiz on my friend, Tori's, blog. I also LOVE the Twilight series of books (by Stephenie Meyer) and thought it would be fun to take this quiz. :) So here are my results...

Which Twilight novel character are you?

You're" Esme Cullen - Your maternal instinct to take care of people and be kind draw people towards you. You're compassionate and loving, yet firm when you need to be. You appreciate hard work and value the beautiful results of your dedication to any project.
http://www.quizilla.com/users/twilightnexus/quizzes/Which%20Twilight%20novel%20character%20are%20you%3F

So there it is. I'm the Mom. :) I guess that's all I could have expected. Although, being told I was like Edward or Jacob would have been cool too. At least I'm a vampire!

Now what?

2007-08-25T13:45:00.001-07:00

So now that Sage is in school all day, Alex and I have been spending lots of time together. He really misses her and asks if we can pick her up, many times throughout the day. But when he's not thinking about sissy, he likes to have lots of fun with Mama!

Here he is, licking the spatula...his favorite part of making brownies!

I love his smile! and his silliness!

I love my little boy :)

First Day of Kindergarten!!

2007-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

August 6, 2007

Sage was excited for her first day of school (and a little nervous too). This first picture was taken in front of our home...love those purple flowers!

We walk to school every morning. Sage gets tired a lot (she's telling me what to write! haha) when she does that."
This picture was taken right after she sat down at her desk for the first time. She was so cute. It was really hard to leave her there. In fact, we stood outside the classroom window for a while (along with many other kindergarten parents) and were finally 'kicked out' of there. The school uses the colors of a stop light to judge how well the kids are doing (behaviorally).... Sage is so pleased to come home with a 'green light'! So far she's brought home a green light everyday!! We're so proud of her!

Sending our first child to school has been an adjustment. I never thought it would be so hard to send her away to school. But actually, come to think of it, it is a rather big step, considering when I went to kindergarten it was only 1/2 day and now the little 5 year olds go full day!

Greg Pattillo

2007-07-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

what do you think? :)

another great one

2007-07-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

This one is for Andrew and Daniel...

2007-07-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

slideshow

2007-07-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

John Mayer

2007-06-14T01:03:00.001-07:00

Here's some pictures from tonight....I'll write about it later :)

songs we love

2007-05-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Extra, Extra...Read All About It!!!

2007-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is from today's newspaper!! Alex is up close (in the group shot) on the right and Sage is up closer to the librarian, on a blue mat right in front of the boy in a checkered shirt...it's kind of hard to see her but she's there (not the one with piggy tails...the other little girl in pink to the right).