Costa Rica

Last week my brother Arian and my Mom returned home from an incredible trip to Costa Rica! Arian wanted to take my Mom on a magical vacation before her big surgery and it sounds like he did just that! Arian took some breathtaking pictures with his new camera and these are only a few. Go HERE to see more! And go HERE to read more about the trip!
Below I have included an e-mail which my Mom wrote about some of their

adventures in Costa Rica!

"Costa Rica was truly magical. I'm certainly glad I did it. Even the river rafting. Well, HALF the river rafting, because I opted out of the last day which included six hours of intense paddling. Since we were "off the grid" and there were no roads to scoot me out of there, I had to hike quite a ways until we (a guide and myself) came to a place where there was a cable and a basket that went over the river. I got in the basket and went hand over hand with the guide working from the shore. Another fellow was on the other side and we walked until hitting a "road". Sort of a road. Eventually, I met up with my son.

We spent three days with the river rafting expedition and the rest of the time deep in the rain forest in a tent camp. A bush pilot got us close to our destination (next to the Pacific Ocean) and we then hiked for almost an hour before reaching the camp. No roads, off the grid. There were some sitings of a puma in the camp during the night hours and I was so so so anxious to see one. Well, I didn't get that chance, although I was giving it my best shot whenever I had to leave the tent for my nightly pee. However, I saw lots of monkeys at close range, some coatis, an ant-eater, lots of tropical birds including several macaws.

My back survived with some help from my beloved friends, the pharmaceuticals. I even did eight zip-lines through the tops of the jungle trees. Most of them were approximately the length of a football field and they take your breath away. Also did some two stints of rappelling. And, of course, LOTS of paddling on our first day of the river trip. To my amazement, nothing tweaked my back. I couldn't help thinking, maybe I don't need this horrific surgery. But, I do have to stop my curves from progressing. That's that.

My son and I both came home with ticks. He was enduring fever and chills for the last three or four days of the trip, although he simply ignored it and kept up the pace. When we got home, he was diagnosed with the Costa Rican version of Lyme's Disease. My doctor did a careful inspection of my bites and she put me on the same heavy duty antibiotics as Arian.
Anyhow, it was a marvelous and especially meaningful since Arian gave

me this experience as a gift.

Tagged!

Recently Brinley and Avery were Tagged by their cousin Maddie

So here we go with Avery:

1- She likes to climb onto any object that is high off the ground. She especially loves to jump on our high kitchen table once she is on top of it. This gives her mother a heart attack.

2- Lounging nude is a favorite past time. She likes to dance, talk on the phone and jump on the bed in her birthday suit.

3- She loves sucking toothpaste off her toothbrush as she pretends to scrub her teeth and gaze longingly into the mirror at herself.

4- Attempting to do absolutely everything her older sister does and throwing some incredible tantrums when she is unable to do so is a new hobby.

5- Talking about animals and making animal sounds has also become a delight!

On to Brinley:

1- Brinley has been wearing the above pictured pink dress for 2.5 years straight, no joke! Nana gave it to her for Christmas when she was 2. It started out as a Church dress...for about a week until we gave in to the continual fits and let her wear it over her clothes on a daily basis. She continues to wear this same dress every single day as she dances to music. Of course today the dress is basically falling apart, but a loved item of clothing we will never forget.

2- School is Brinleys most exciting experience 4 days a week. She has loved her pre-school this year! We are in the middle of Spring Break and it's complete misery for Brinley to have to wait so long to go back to school.

3- She loves to read. She has recently begun to read small books on her own! Often time she makes up quite amusing plots as she reads her big library books on her own.

4- Often times Brinley believes she is Avery's mother and finds is necessary to use her own desired methods of punishment. Somtimes this is funny, most often times it really is not.

5- Brinley LOVES her friends. She really enjoys having friends come over

or going over to her friends houses!

Brinely and Avery Tag Kelly and McKenna!

A new Stampin' Spot

Stamper's

YOU have got to check THIS site out! Kristina was born and raised in Utah. She is now a graphic designer and creates darling projects using mostly Stampin' Up product. She tapes a video each week called "Make a Card Monday," which I think is fantastically clever and cute. Here is today's.

PS- Also check out the additional Stampin' Up links posted on the

lower right hand side of the page.

Our Easter

Real eggs are a MUST in our house. I have such fond memories of dying Easter eggs growing up and we have continued on the tradition.

Before bedtime Brinley brought them out of the fridge and left them on the table for the Easter bunny who came the next morning to hide them.

Because church starts at 9am and it's still like 12356643 below zero (or at least it feels that way at the crack of dawn) the bunny hid our eggs and baskets in the house. After the girls ran giddy finding eggs for a bit it was rush rush rush to get ready for church. Hence the very quick Easter snap shots. Brinley choose a ballerina bun hairdo.

Then we enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner with the Whitehead family (Rick, Heather and 3 darling kiddos) and Ross, Katy and Vanessa. The kids ran wild and we had a great time eating and getting to know each other better.

PS- Daddy Cody makes a very good horse.

Easter eggs, ham and candy are fun, but the true meaning of Easter is what

we celebrate on this day.

The Savior’s resurrection is truly amazing in itself, and beyond that, remarkably offers immortality to all people. Through the Atonement, each of us has the opportunity to not only receive immortality, but also eternal life. What a beautiful thing to celebrate!

First Day of Spring

Mommy Leah does not get into buying and displaying throbs of holiday decorations. Each month I fill these glass vases with a holiday / seasonal themed item. Then I rub my Uppercase Living phrase onto my front door and walla, decorations done!

This morning when Brinley came downstairs she exclaimed
"Mom, it's the weirdest thing ever. I just looked out my window for the first day of Spring and snow is all over our yard. It's totally weird!"
Here in our neck of the country warm weather could not arrive soon enough. I was at a spring brunch this morning (thanks for inviting us Jocelyn, we had a great time) and we were all talking about how sick we are of the gray skies which we have endured for months on end. Spring PLEASE COME TO US!

After the Snow Came

Daddy and the girls made an Igloo...meaning the girls sat

and watched Daddy make and igloo.

Then they ate lunch inside!

Health Care Issues Today

This is a poignant, independent film on government-sponsored health care systems. Everyone who plans to vote for our new President in 2008 NEEDS to see this, regardless of the person for whom they would vote for.

When there is a bizzard outside...

and your driveway looks like this,

and your back porch is covered with snow this high...(actually as of now 8pm the snow is piled up to the top of our mailbox. I'll have to take a pic. of that tomorrow)

and the weather man declares a level 2 snow emergency and says "do not leave the house unless absolutely necessary," and many businesses are closed and freeways too, and even if you wanted to there is no way that your vehicle would make it past the driveway, and church is cancelled which in Cody's terms "never ever happens,"

What do you do? Here is what we do!

After the girls play in the snow and Daddy shovels the snow for over an hour, he proceeds to conduct a series of "experiments" using basic household ingredients. Brinley loves these creative little moments.

Then it's onto the "Cheerio" game (another Daddy idea). He would give 3 Cheerios to both girls and tell them a unique way to consume the Cheerios before each "round" began.

Round 1= Fastest one to eat them won. Round 2= Eat them off the table without using hands. Round 3= Balance them on the back of your hand and then eat them one at a time. Round 4= Slide them into your mouth using one finger (as Cody so nicely demonstrates below) while making a funny sound effect.

Avery also seems to enjoy picking her nose on snowy days.

March Stamp Club

This month club members all made a "Smash Book." These little beauties can be used as mini scrapbooks, sign-in books for showers or circle journals.

They are fun to create and the final product makes a great gift!

We used products in our Boho West Style Watch including:

The stamp set "Priceless" and it's matching dry emboss template.

"Berry Bliss" Designer Series Paper.

Love & Happiness Rub-Ons.

Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa and Purely Pomegranate cardstock.

Coordinating ribbon.

"Define Your Life" and "Defining Alphabet" stamp sets.

Several punches.

Flower Fusion felt flowers & silver brads.

We added photo's and decorated BOTH sides of the book. Pictured above are two of the 6 squares in my book. This is on it's way to Yvette and Nikki with pictures from our Disneyland trip. Sorry about the sneak peak you two.

I made these little Easter baskets using our designer paper and punches. I filled them with candy and sent one home with each clubie!

Upcoming Scrap-A-Thon

On March 14Th-15Th I am going to be a vendor and "presenter" for a
Scrap-A-Thon fundraiser which benefits the preschool Brinley attends.

Along with lending out my stamp sets and punches I will be selling various items including:

Ribbon Kits (1 yard each of 6 different ribbons)

Hodgepodge Hardware kits (containing 22 pieces each)

Cards with matching envelopes (these little onsie cards are a new found favorite)

and...

Frames, frames, frames!

I am beyond thrilled that I have completed making the lot of frames to sell.

Pictured here are a few of them.

I will also be doing three 20-minute demonstrations on the "Main Stage".

As I create my demo's I will post the projects I come up with!