Happenings at the Hemmerts!

Jared's 2011 LOTOJA experience

2011-09-12T13:30:00.003-06:00

This is Jared's experience in his own words:

As you all know Dan (Hemmert) and I completed the LOTOJA race on Saturday. 206 miles, 3 states, one day. It went over three mountain passes, through canyons and valleys and finished at the foot of the Tetons.
We started in the dark at 5:45am. Everyone was lit up like a Christmas tree with light reflectors. I hit two pot holes that nearly took me out because I couldn't see them. The first stage (Logan to Preston, ID) went really fast and seemed like a quick warm up for what was to come. We met up with our support crew in Preston. Dave Shallenberger and Lara Stewart were driving Dan's car as our support. We also had Jane Stewart who drove support for Dave Stewart and his team. We rode with his team the entire way (well, mostly). They consisted of BYU professors from various fields - Dave Stewart's riding buddies. After a quick bite to eat and refill on fluids in Preston we were off again. We rode from Preston, ID to Montpelier, ID. There was a huge mountain pass that we had to climb over called Strawberry Summit. It was grueling and painful but I felt good. Dan was doing great. We all met at the top of the summit to refuel. Since I weigh considerably more than the others, I go a lot faster on the descents. I was going over 50mph descending down to Montpelier. I was in a huge group of guys and we were in a straight line cruising into Montpelier like a high speed train. I was the first to meet up with Dave and the Stewarts for support. We ate a quick lunch, reloaded, refueled and were off again. The next stage was from Montpelier to Afton. We climbed up the canyon and over the mountain just outside of Montpelier. I struggled a bit on this climb. The big monster climb was about to come where we entered Bridger National Forest and climbed up to the Salt River pass. I fell off the group and struggled up that climb tremendously. I ran out of fluids to drink half way up. My body was reaching its limit. I had officially "bonked." I stopped on that huge hill probably 5 times. I reached the summit and nearly collapsed from exhaustion and lack of fluids. Dan and Dave Stewart had waited for me. I told them I was done. We had only ridden 110 miles at that point but I couldn't go any further. I had given up and would wait up there for a while then ride to Afton where I would meet with the support vehicle. I also lost my phone somewhere around Montpelier. Talk about frustrating. Two of the professors in Dave Stewart's group had thrown in the towel as well at the top of that Salt River summit. The three of us laid on the asphalt for about 20 minutes. I drank and drank and drank. Then I ate some food. As I laid there I was having a huge mental battle with myself. I had trained all spring and summer for this race and was quitting half way through it. That didn't sit well with me. I was devastated thinking of not finishing the race. We got on our bikes and started to ride to Afton. There was a huge descent so I was way ahead of those other two guys. I rode alone to Afton and got a little emotional a couple of time because I didn't want to quit the race but my body was telling me otherwise. By the time I reached Afton I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to quit. I ate some food and rested a few minutes. They offered to drive me from Afton to Alpine and skip the next stage so that I could still finish. This was very tempting, but I knew if I did that I would regret it later and it wouldn't feel the same if I had ridden the course in its entirety. One of the two professors who said they were quitting decided to keep going as well. It was just me and him, Professor Dan. He and I rode together to Alpine trading off pulling and drafting. We made it to Alpine and met up with our support crew. The Stewart support crew was gone. It was just Dave Shallenberger and Lara Stewart in Dan's car now. We refueled and started again. Dan (professor) told me to go ahead since he wouldn't be able to keep up with me. I had 47 miles to go. From Alpine up Snake River canyon to Jackson Hole. Dave Shallenberger told me they would stop every 5 miles or so to check on me rather than meet me in JH because I wasn't sure I would make it. I really struggled through the canyon. Professor Dan wasn't too far behind me. At mile 171 one of my rear spokes snapped. When this happens your wheel turns into a noodle. I was done. No phone. No support vehicle anywhere near me. It was over. Then a guy stopped and asked me if he could help. I asked if he could drive me to the finish since my spoke broke. He insisted that I take his rear wheel and finish the race. We exchanged wheels and I was off again. I met up with Dave and Lara a few miles later. I told them I had nothing left in the tank and was ready to quit. Everything hurt. My hands and fingers were totally numb. Feet were numb. Legs were like jelly. Butt and crotch area felt like I had been beaten with a bat. Back and shoulders hurt. Everything hurt. Dave told me that they would stay with me the remaining 20 miles if I couldn't go any further they would just drive me to the finish. Me and professor Dan got back on our bikes and rode past Hoback Junction. I couldn't ride very fast at all. We were going about 14mph on the flats. The sun was getting lower and lower. I told professor Dan that when we see Dave and Lara that I would get in the car and be done. I kept looking and looking for them around each turn. They weren't there. I later found out that Dave and Lara knew if they stopped again I would give up. So they went to the finish and hoped that we would make it. Professor Dan "pulled" me over the rollers and winding roads into Jackson. He kept encouraging me the entire way. At about 10 miles to go my right leg cramped up. I couldn't peddle anymore. I was fighting off the tears as I thought this was finally my undoing and I wouldn't finish with the sun almost down. We stopped and I stretched and mustered up the remaining mental willpower left in me and got back on the bike. The sun dipped behind the mountains and I knew the race officials would start kicking people off the course. I don't know how I did it but I rode the remaining 10 miles at about 10mph in tremendous pain. Professor Dan kept encouraging me. It was totally mind over body at this point. He told me to look up. I saw some lights in the distance. He said that was the finish. I was so happy to see those lights. It seemed like an eternity until we got close to those lights. Tons of people lined the street and were cheering us on. We crossed the finish line with about 30 minutes remaining before they closed the course. I collapsed with complete exhaustion and emotional tears flowed. Dave Shallenberger helped me get up and gave me a big hug. Dan Hemmert has his own story to tell, but he ended up finishing about 30 minutes before I did. I got my finishing medal and was filled with such joy and happiness of accomplishment. I trained hard all summer for this. Although I didn't finish with the group, I did finish. I got on the phone with Jaime and she told me a quote from Lance Armstrong, "Pain is temporary, but quitting is forever." That basically sums it all up. I knew that I would regret giving up. I found a way to keep going when I didn't have anything left in the tank. With the encouragement of others and my mental fortitude I finished that race. Over 12 hours on the bike riding. Nearly 14 hours from start to finish. Epic! I never thought I would suffer and struggle so much. I knew it would be hard, but not that hard. I trained by tail off all summer for this race and thought I would be strong the entire race. That thing kicked my butt beyond description. I don't think I will ever do that again. I will do it in a relay, but not the entire thing solo. LOTOJA is checked off of my bucket list now.

Catch up time...stay tuned

2011-04-29T09:11:00.002-06:00

I'm going to be catching up on A LOT of things. Here's a sample of what you might see here in the near future:
*Our Orlando trip from October....I know, I know
*Halloween, Thanksgiving or maybe even Christmas....I know, I know
*Our trip to Hawaii in January....ya ya, I get it.
*Pinewood derby...hey, that was just THIS week :)

I've been really bad, but I'm catching up for posterity's sake, and I'm sure posterity will forgive me...someday.

The cutest boys ever

2010-09-22T12:50:00.002-06:00

Need I say more?

Karma

2010-09-20T09:01:00.002-06:00

I had a very 'interesting' experience with Preston last night. He has had his share of sleep issues (too scared to sleep in his own bed, sleeping on our floor for months at a time, etc.), but since he turned 5 he has slept in his own bed pretty well. Occasionally, he'll come down scared and I'll have to take him back up, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Last night, I was still awake reading my book in bed when I heard his door open. I thought here we go again. I waited for him to appear in my doorway so I could escort him back upstairs to his bed, but he didn't come, so I decided to investigate. I walked out and saw his shadow in our office. I turned on the light to find him standing there peeing on the floor! I turned on the light and said, "Preston, what are you doing? Stop! Stop peeing on the floor!" He didn't stop. He just kept going until he was done. (Sidenote: no more drinks after the bath from now on). He seemed a little out of it and didn't really answer me as to why he was doing that. I sent him up to bed and he went without complaint. I promised him a 'talk' in the morning. Fortunately, his aim landed on one of those hard clear plastic things that you put under office chairs to protect your carpet, so the cleanup was pretty easy. I bet the manufacturers never would have thought it would protect my carpet from urine. When I asked him about it this morning, he had no idea what I was talking about. I guess he wasn't truly awake when it was happening. You're probably wondering why this is titled 'Karma.' Jared had several similar situations when he was a child. In fact, he did the same thing right into his older brother's closet. (I still think that was subconsciously on purpose). Let's hope that this is the end of our sleepwalking adventures. At least the end of the adventures that involve bodily fluids.

Stewart Falls Hike 2010

2010-09-20T08:25:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, we decided to hike up to Stewart Falls between soccer games. The leaves up in the canyon above Sundance are just starting to turn colors and the views were amazing. Unfortunately, the battery on my regular camera died while we were hiking, so the pictures here are iPhone-taken. Oh well, you can still see the awesome colored leaves.
Chandler got hot on the hike down from the falls, so he took his shirt off and tied it around his torso. Of course, Preston wanted to do the same. Jared thought they looked a little like rednecks, so we had to stop and take a picture.

At one point on the way down, Preston was complaining and asking to be carried. I, naturally, refused (hello, he's 5!), but being ever the softy, Jared carried him for awhile. Oh ya, and did I mention he was already carrying Ashton on his back (asleep)? What a nice dad my boys have.

Jared, Ashton and Preston playing in the water at the Falls. We brought lunch from Subway up with us and had a picnic when we got there. For some reason, my boys have never been to
Subway before and now they think it's the best restaurant ever! (We don't get out much, obviously).

Jared and the beautiful leaves.

Family picture taken by some random hiker just before heading down the trail. Jared's phone was accidentally taking video, so this picture is actually a screen shot of the video that was taken. Gotta love the iPhone. The boys enjoyed getting really dirty, throwing rocks and playing in the water. The hike was a little long for them, but they did great. People would snicker as they passed us and the boys were saying things like, "This is the worst hike ever!" and "I'm never doing this again--EVER!" If you ask them now, though, they say it was fun, so I'm sure we'll do it again next year!

Freedom Run 2010

2010-09-08T13:30:00.002-06:00

July 5, 2010

One of our new family traditions is running the Freedom Festival 5k during the 4th of July celebration. This year my niece, two nephews, Dad, brother and sister joined in the fun. I use the word fun cautiously here.

The whole group after the race. It was awesome having my mom there to take pictures and drop us off at the starting line. Parking is terrible the morning of the race.

Connor and Jaxon. Jaxon may have won his division; however, it may have to do with the fact that we accidentally switched his and Connor's time chips. Studly 9 year old dominates most 6 year olds. I'm hoping to have Chandler and possibly Preston participate next year.

And then there's me. Still not a fan of running, but hey, I did it. And took a couple minutes off of my last time with little to no training.

Ashton's first haircut

2010-09-08T09:14:00.003-06:00

July 2010

Anyone who knows our sweet baby, Ashton, knows his crazy hair has always been part of his charm. For this reason, I was hesitant to cut it. Little boys look so much more grown up after their first haircut, and I wasn't ready for Ashton to be a big boy yet. Finally, around 10 months, enough people made comments about it needing to be cut, that I finally relented.

Before the 'cut.' He has no idea what is about to happen to him.

Cute, slobbery face.

When our boys are little, the haircuts have to happen in the high chair so that they are contained. Jared is very patient with them and a decent barber, so he is always the lucky one.

Of course, there are a lot of tears in the process. This picture looks like, "Mom, why are you taking pictures instead of saving me from this torture?!?"

After. Sad eyes, still recovering, but happy to be free from the high chair.

Our big boy, getting ready for his GQ debut.

End of school year 2010

2010-06-25T12:26:00.005-06:00

May 26, 2010

The First graders did an African drum dance for the dance festival this year. They were accompanied on some real African drums being played by students. It was really cool. They each made their own bandana to wear on their head and had their faces painted.

Chandler in his 'costume'

Getting ready to dance.

Another highlight of the end of school was field day. Chandler has been talking about the big race all year long. They take the top 3 boys and girls in each class and then have a final race with all of the first grade boys.

Chandler got second place in his class race. He was beyond thrilled. He didn't even realize he would have to run again.

He got Fourth place in the final race. We are so proud of our little athlete. :)

That same day was the First grade talent show. Chandler decided to show a picture that he had drawn. He did a great job presenting it. It's a rainbow house.

Preston finished his second year at preschool this year. This is him with his teacher. He is already an excellent reader and still has one more year before Kindergarten.

Both boys with their new fishing poles that they got for successfully completing another year in school.

Memorial day 2010

2010-06-24T10:53:00.004-06:00

May 31, 2010

Of course, I'm way behind again, but here it is anyway...

On Memorial Day, we (Jared) wanted to take the boys fishing in Midway. Due to school and other things, we didn't get to stay over, but just drove up early in the morning. Chandler and Preston got new fishing poles for their 'end-of-the-school-year' presents this year and were anxious to try them out.

Chandler fishing

Preston fishing. He actually had a lot more fun playing with the worms that sitting still holding his pole. I know, you're shocked about that, aren't you?

Jared demonstrating his boy scout, knot-tying skills. Judging by the number of 'bobbers' that ended up in the pond, he may need to practice more. :)

After fishing, we went home, let Ashton have a nap, and then went on a bike ride to Bridal Veil Falls with my family. This is a pretty long ride for little ones; especially since we had to start from our house and not from my parents' house where everyone else started.

Preston and Ashton enjoyed a nice nap in the bike trailer on the way.

My Dad at the 'rest stop' we had to take on the way up.

Jared and Chandler cooling off and rehydrating before finishing the ride.

The whole family! We made it! I was so proud of Chandler for making it the whole way. (15 miles round trip!) His bike only has one gear and he must have looked pretty funny on the way down trying to keep up with his pedals. He had the cadence of Lance Armstrong and then some.

After the ride, we had a barbeque at my parents' house.

Three cute cousins chilling out on top of the mail box.

Baseball 2010

2010-06-24T10:35:00.003-06:00

Chandler is playing coach pitch baseball this summer. He's having a great time, but we still have a few things to work on.

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

There...that's better!

Sister-in-laws night out!

2010-05-10T17:09:00.005-06:00

Last weekend, Jared's sister, Jennifer came to visit from Colorado to attend the Women's Conference at BYU. Her visit happened to coincide with a visit from our sister-in-law, Megan (Jon's wife) from Indiana. We took the opportunity to have a girls night out! I can't remember the last time we were together with all of the girls on that side of the family. It was a blast! I'm really blessed to have amazing sister-in-laws (on both sides of my family actually) and a fantastic mother-in-law as well.

We started the night with dinner at Teppanyaki. It is one of my favorite places! Due to horrendous Women's conference traffic, we were about 45 minutes late for our reservation, but they held it for us anyway. Thanks for being patient, Julie!
Pictured: Me, Julie, Heidi, Jennifer, Joyce, Ben (Megan's son), Megan, and Natalie

After a brief stop home to put babies to bed, we went to my very favorite place (of the moment). The Chocolate is a dessert cafe located too close to my house for comfort. They have the most wonderful desserts and such a fun atmosphere. I like to say that it is like a bar for those who don't drink alcohol or a coffee house for those that don't drink coffee. If you haven't been yet, shame on you! Click on the logo to see their website. They have some great pictures of their menu items.

All of us at The Chocolate. Sorry about the fuzzy picture; I think it was the 'inviting ambient' lighting and my camera being on the wrong setting, but you get the idea. We all shared numerous desserts and had a great time being together. I can't wait for the next time!

St. George for Spring break 2010

2010-04-25T20:51:00.011-06:00

For Spring break, we headed south to St. George in search of some fun in the sun. I think our school district's Spring break must have been at a different time than most of the rest of the state's because St. George didn't have that typical "spring break" feel about it this time. Normally, it's packed with teenagers cruising 'the boulevard' at night and every restaurant and attraction are packed. Not so this time. Maybe we're just getting so old that we're in bed before 'cruising' time. Who knows...

We went to the the Wild life museum with the boys to check out some bugs and animals. The boys like this place, however, we're not sure we'll do it next time. We spent $25 to get in and were only there for 30 minutes. We could basically have the same experience at the Bean museum for free anytime we want. Anyway...

Checking out the bugs. Very cool if you're a little boy.

Preston listening to the self-guided tour, and Chandler posing in front of a Chandler Mountain Roebuck. You probably aren't surprised to hear that the listening devices later became weapons on our self-guided tour.

One of our favorite venues in St. George is Snow canyon. This was Ashton's first time with us. We decided to carry him in the Baby Bjorn even though he's borderline too big for it. He had a great time (and so did the rest of us). What could be better than dirt, sticks, rocks and climbing for a family full of boys?

Ashton chilling in the Bjorn with Mom.

Chandler and Preston climbing around on the sandstone.

Preston climbing on the rocks.

This time, we were smart and packed a picnic lunch to eat there. Even basic Ham 'n Cheese tastes great after a morning of hiking around.

We discovered a new place in St. George this time. Downtown they have these great water fountains and little river system for kids to play in. It's a great spot to relax for awhile in the sun and let your kids burn some energy.

Preston playing in the fountain.

Preston and Chandler playing in the fountains.

Ashton lunching on some keys, and Jared catching up on the Masters. Did you hear Tiger was back? :)

Another first for us this time, was the Fiesta Fun center. It's a fun place with miniature golf, batting cages, bumper boats, go carts, and an arcade.

Bats=weapons for Preston, of course.

Chandler enjoyed his maiden voyage at the batting cages.

Ashton is such a happy kid. He didn't even care that he missed out on most of the adventure because he was too little or too young.

Jared and Preston in the bumper boat

Jared and Chandler in the Go Carts. The kids loved this.

Preston and I went next.

Our last day (Sunday) we visited a local church and then walked around the St. George temple. It was a beautiful day.

We had a great trip! Not pictured: playing at parks, seeing How to Train your Dragon, multiple Polygamist sightings, eating out, swimming at Las Palmas, visiting our favorite pet store, and much, much more. We can't wait to go back!

Easter Sunday outfits

2010-04-22T13:55:00.001-06:00

Easter Sunday was the same day as General Conference this year, so the boys wore their matching outfits the Sunday before Easter. Easter and Christmas are about the only times I dress the boys alike, but they sure look cute. Chandler is starting to resist matching the younger brothers, so we'll see how long this tradition lasts.

Easter 2010

2010-04-22T13:41:00.003-06:00

This year, Easter weekend was FREEZING! We started off with our neighborhood egg hunt.

Jared and Ashton, struggling to keep warm

Preston and Chandler ready to start the hunt.

Our whole group at the egg hunt. Toril and Maggie (visiting from Norway), Mallory, Ashton, Jared, Me, Preston, Chandler, Julie and Mason. Heidi, Devin, Tyson and Holly left early to get out of the cold.

Ashton on Easter morning. It snowed Easter morning. The Easter Bunny forgot to check the weather report and hid all of the plastic eggs in the backyard late the night before. They were buried in snow and so the egg hunt had to be postponed until the snow melted in the late afternoon. Note to reader: jelly beans can survive in plastic eggs buried in snow!

The "real" Easter bunny showed up for a scavenger hunt at the Hemmerts. Ashton warmed right up to him. You'd almost think they shared some DNA (hint, hint).

Preston and the Bunny

Chandler and the Bunny

The kids also had a fun "treasure" hunt with their Tucker cousins. Due to all of the snow, it had to be held in the basement so I didn't get any action shots because it was too dark.

**Chandler, Connor, Preston, Ashton, Hailey, Braxton and Jaxon**

Doing our part to further the cause of science...

2010-04-21T13:45:00.004-06:00

February 22, 2010

Ashton was asked to take part in a research study at BYU when he was 5 months old. They put this lovely net of sensors on his head and then showed him a series of video images and tried to determine if he noticed inconsistencies in the images. It was pretty interesting. He also did another study at 7 months, but there was no picture. He's so mild mannered he didn't even mind the crazy hair net.

Primary Talent Show 2010

2010-04-21T13:40:00.003-06:00

February 2010

This year for the Primary talent show, both boys decided to show Lego projects that they had made.

Chandler and Preston showing their projects to everyone.

Preston's project

Chandler's project

St. Patrick's Day 2010

2010-04-21T13:30:00.003-06:00

March 17, 2010

I am way behind and someday will be caught up, but I'm trying to make amends to posterity in advance so excuse the outdated posts!

Our boys are getting to an age when the holidays are so fun. Chandler and Preston were so into "catching" leprechauns this year. Chandler made some fake gold out of paper and built a trap out of an old shoe box in order to catch one. Unfortunately, the leprechaun stole all of the gold and left a note that said, "I got your gold, but you'll never catch me. Have a happy St. Patrick's day! Love, the Leprechaun." We decided the joke was really on the Leprechaun because the gold wasn't even real! ha ha. Take that, Leprechaun!

We decided last minute to have a green dinner as well. The kids really liked it. We had green soup in green breadbowls, green jello, celery sticks in green dip, green Sprite and green donuts for dessert. I did learn that next year I need to order my green breadbowls in advance. I got the last two so Mom and Dad had to eat in regular bowls. No fun!

Bring a grandparent to lunch day 2010

2010-03-11T12:12:00.003-07:00

February 2, 2010
Last month was the read-a-thon month at Chandler's school. As part of that, they had Bring A Grandparent To Lunch day. Wynn & Joyce were nice enough to come have lunch with Chandler at the cafeteria at his school. Fortunately for all, it was pizza day! Thanks for coming! It was "Grand!"

Teeth...again!

2010-03-11T12:03:00.004-07:00

February 5, 2010

I know my last post was about teeth, but seriously this is news to us. Just as I was saying (a month ago) that Chandler was slow losing his teeth, Preston decides to lose his first tooth at age 4! Craziness! I guess the race is on for who loses the most teeth first. So far, the score is Chandler 3 Preston 1. I think the tooth fairy better pick up a second job too!

The empty socket! Eww..gross. Not for us--we have our own dental professional in the family.

The cute, toothless smile!

Finally...a lost tooth

2009-12-30T10:49:00.003-07:00

12/18/09

Chandler (according to him) was one of the last first graders to have all of their baby teeth. He finally found a loose one, but held onto it for about 7 weeks. That sucker was dangling by a thread, but he didn't want anyone to pull it. Jared finally asked to feel how loose it was. Using his professional skills, he yanked it right out. Chandler was a little mad at first until he remembered the tooth fairy would be coming!

The empty socket (I don't know if that's the technical term or not. I'm sure Jared will correct me, eventually).

Yep, a straw fits where the tooth used to be!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T15:09:00.003-07:00

Here comes the required Christmas post. This year we spent Christmas Eve with the Hemmert side of our family. We saw The Princess and the Frog mid morning and then spent the afternoon cooking and preparing for the feast. It was well worth the wait. Yum! After dinner it was program time. After the nightmare that occurred last year during the 'nativity recreation' aka Hemmert boy mayhem, I was surprised that Joyce wanted to attempt it again, but I definitely underestimated her. She was all for it again this year. However, they did try to shorten it by 'paraphrasing' Luke 2 instead of reading it.

Chandler, one of the handsome shepherds.

Preston, another studly shepherd. Yes, he has that look of mischief in his eyes.

Fortunately, we were just spectators of the show. Ashton, however, being the youngest baby had the "starring" role. Yes, that one!

Some of the shepherds, wise men, and an angel.

Joyce even got the little boys to perform a bell ringing performance. Daniel Hemmert has started piano lessons this year, and so he performed (awesomely) one of his songs for the program. When he was done, Chandler said he wanted to play a song. Everyone looked at me wondering what he was going to do. I had no idea. This kid has not ever had a lesson in his life. We don't even have a piano. I had flashed of him suddenly coming out with some huge Beethoven symphony or something, but it was about 5-6 notes long, and he couldn't have been prouder. Love that kid.

Christmas morning mess. Dad helping the boys with their Lego projects. What is Santa thinking bringing toys with so many pieces? Yes, Preston is glowing. I also love Ashton staring up at Jared. Priceless.
For some reason, I didn't take any pictures at our get together Christmas day with the Tucker side of our family other than this gem of my niece, Hailey, with Ashton. We had a yummy brunch and a rousing game of Malarky with my parents and Natalie. Lots of fun was had by all. We also took some family pictures for our "New Years" card, but I don't want to spoil it until you open yours in the mail!

Funny song about Mormons from Conan O'Brien

2009-12-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

This is a really funny song that aired on the Tonight show this week. Enjoy!

Lumps of coal all around...

2009-12-14T16:40:00.002-07:00

I probably mentioned last year that Santa is on speed dial this time of year. We speak often. In fact, per Santa's instructions, Chandler and Preston have had their stockings removed from the mantle. It's quite sad, really. Christmas morning, they will look longingly at baby Ashton's gifts and be filled with regret, I'm sure. With only 11 days to go, please pray for my boys (and me) that they can get their act together QUICKLY. According to Preston, lumps of coal make your hands all greasy and aren't any fun at all.

Ashton-3 months

2009-12-09T15:49:00.003-07:00

I am a sorry excuse for a blogger as of late. But I wanted to take the chance and share these cute pictures of Ashton that my sister-in-law, Julie took over Thanksgiving. These weren't staged or anything. We were just sitting around and she just took some impromptu shots of him. Isn't he the cutest? P.S. I promise to post more often! I have a lot of catch up to do.

A double insult!

2009-09-28T14:10:00.004-06:00

What you are about to read is a TRUE STORY. I am not exaggerating or making up any part of it. Last Saturday, while watching Chandler's soccer game, one of the other moms came up to me and started asking me how many kids we had, etc. I told her we had three boys. She looked at me and said, "Are you expecting or are you just chubby?" SERIOUSLY. I KID YOU NOT! Who says that kind of thing out loud! I was in a stunned silence before I replied that I had a newborn. Of course she wanted to know how old he was. Probably to see if he he was young enough to justify the 'chubbiness' of my appearance. "One month, lady, he's only one month old!" I was screaming in my head. Not only would it be bad enough for someone to ask if you were pregnant when you AREN'T, but for the other option to be chubby!?! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I chose to laugh and to tell everyone I know. Jared had to step away because he was laughing so hard. Of course, after we got home, I was thinking of all the good comebacks I should have used. 'I may be fat now, but you'll be ugly forever!' and a few others. I was actually starting to feel pretty good since I was able to wear my regular jeans and everything, but I have since been put in my place. Gym, here I come!

Chandler's Poem

2009-09-26T09:02:00.003-06:00

Chandler wrote this poem last night, and it was too cute not to share.

Me by Chandler Hemmert

No one looks the way I do

That is true.

I am special

I am me.

There is no one I 'd rather be

than me.

I think the lesson here for us all is obvious. We sure love this kid!

Here's our winner!

2009-08-30T09:57:00.001-06:00

My sister-in-law, Natalie Hemmert, is the winner of our baby stats contest! If you want to see how close you came, click on the link on the right side bar. The game name is: Hemmertbaby (all one word). Thanks for playing, everyone!

Backyard fun and there's an app for that!

2009-08-28T15:19:00.005-06:00

Last Friday night, we got together with all of the 'local' Hemmerts for a party at Grandma/Grandpa Hemmert's house. We had pizza, swam, and then all of the little boys changed into their new PJs (courtesy Grandma Joyce) for Monsters, Inc. on the big screen (i.e. the white, vinyl fence). There are so many little boys close to the same age in the Hemmert clan that it can be chaotic at times, but they always have a blast. P.S. I shamelessly stole these picture from Matt/Julie's blog--I hope they don't care :)

TONS of cute boys!

They even sat still for most of the movie, if you can imagine that!

About halfway into the movie, I started having contractions. Not wanting to waste brain cells calculating how far apart they were, I decided to check and see if there was an iPhone application that does that for you. Surprise, surprise...there is! I found an app that kept track of the duration and time between contractions. It even gives you an alert when you should go to the hospital. (of course, there's the obligatory, "this application is no substitute for medical care, blah blah blah"). It really did make it easier to keep track of that, so I'm glad I had it. I'll do another post with the whole labor/delivery story later. It's a good one. I'm still trying to get my act together, so try to be patient with me. I also need to calculate the winner of our baby stats game, so stay tuned...

Another 'compliment' courtesy of my child

2009-08-21T14:02:00.003-06:00

The other day, Chandler said, "Mom, I can't wait to see you back in shape again." I honestly didn't even know he knew what 'in shape' meant. Me too, Chandler, me too...

Preston's first day of school

2009-08-21T10:03:00.003-06:00

Preston had his turn for the "first day" today. He went to preschool last year, so it's not totally new to him. He is right on the deadline for Kindergarten next year, and we haven't decided what to do yet, so there may be one more year of preschool to come.

With his new teacher.

Outside of his classroom, anxious to get in there and play (I mean work).

First day of school 2009

2009-08-20T17:10:00.004-06:00

My big First Grader. He was so excited to go to school this morning. He had a great day and made lots of new friends.

Getting on the bus. Preston was pretty bored without his big brother around all day.

A child's perception of MJ

2009-06-30T19:12:00.005-06:00

Preston has been getting a lot of press on the blog lately, so I guess it's Chandler's turn. Thanks to Comcast-on-demand and YouTube, Chandler is now a HUGE Michael Jackson fan. He loves Thriller, Bad, Beat it and Black and White. Out of this and the on-going TV coverage, he has come up with some pretty humorous questions.

"Is Michael Jackson a girl?" I'm sure it's no surprise where this question comes from. Make up, long hair, etc, but it's still caused a giggle or two from me.
"Did both Michael Jacksons die?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I asked him to clarify. "The one with the brown skin and the one with the white skin."
"It's a good thing, he named his song 'Black and White' since he used to be Black and now he's White.
After hearing his talking voice, he said, "Is Michael Jackson a grown up?"

There's probably a couple of more, but those are the ones I could think of immediately. Kids are too honest for their own good sometimes.

Another Preston funny...

2009-06-29T13:46:00.002-06:00

I just had to record another funny thing Preston said the other day for posterity. We were on our way to Chandler's T-ball game and Preston let out one of his famous high-pitched screams that we all love. I told him that if he did that again, he would have to walk the rest of the way. (for the record, it was an idle threat). He responded by saying that, "You sure are mean to Heavenly Father's children!" I guess he effectively put me in my place. :)

The contest!

2009-06-23T09:40:00.001-06:00

You may have noticed the link on the sidebar to our online baby pool. Make sure you click on it and enter your guess for our baby's stats! The winner gets a $20 Amazon certificate. We will close the game to guesses on August 1st! Good luck!

I might as well laugh...

2009-06-22T07:45:00.002-06:00

I just have to document Preston's latest insult so that someday I can blackmail him into something good. As we were driving to Jared's parents' house for Father's day, he asked, "Have you ever seen a really strong mother?" Giving myself a mental pat on the back for all those 6 a.m. sessions with the personal trainer when I really just wanted to sleep, I said, "I'm a really strong mother." He came back with, "No, you're fat!" There was a moment of silence in the car and then Jared and I both busted up laughing. What else do you do? Jared tried to defend my honor with the obligatory, "It's a baby in her stomach, Preston! She's not fat." But can you really convince a 3 year old? NO! Oh well, I'll go in search of my self-esteem in a couple of months...

For all you Saved by the Bell fans...

2009-06-09T11:21:00.001-06:00

You know who you are. Zack Morris, himself, showed up on Jimmy Fallon's Late Night show last night. Check it out (pause the music on the sidebar):

Boy am I in trouble!

2009-06-02T08:20:00.004-06:00

I recently watched the movie Enchanted for the first time with my kids. Even though it was a "Princess" movie, I knew they would like it for the silliness, sword-fighting and the dragon. I was right! Preston especially loved it and has watched it a few times now. Yesterday, I found out that while playing in the backyard with Chandler and a little neighborhood girl he often plays with, Preston experienced his first kiss. This little lover boy is only 3! I am doomed! I made sure that she wasn't upset and actually wanted him to kiss her. I guess they were playing "princess." We had a talk about not kissing people who aren't in our family (at this age anyway). I told him he could kiss another girl after his mission. A little extreme maybe, but it works for me!

Imitation

2009-05-01T15:53:00.001-06:00

is supposed to be the truest form of flattery, right?

What a glorious thing!

2009-04-21T15:31:00.002-06:00

The most exciting thing to happen in our house in awhile has finally happened! We are a diaper-free environment! Over conference weekend, I decided to really put forth the effort and try to potty train Preston. He's definitely old enough, and ready enough, I have just been too lazy to make the commitment. Knowing we weren't really going anywhere that weekend, I decided it was the perfect time. Days 1-2 were a little dicey filled with numerous accidents, but it got better and better and by about day 4 things just clicked. He is now totally on his own including #2 and nights. I will definitely be savoring the next 4 months without changing diapers and then it's back to square one with #3, I guess. Next up...sleep training...

I really am ALWAYS right.

2009-03-20T14:23:00.003-06:00

In case you're keeping track, the final vote on my gender poll was 10-1 in favor of our baby being a girl. I think no one was willing to vote boy because it included admitting that I'm always right. Shame on you, people! I had an ultrasound this afternoon, confirming my eternal "rightness." (NOT to be confused with righteousness). We having Hemmert boy #3. Jared gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw the "boy part" on the screen. I think he was scared of having a girl. We took both of the boys with us, and they thought it was really cool.

I still believe in my theory and think sister-in-law A has some explaining to do. JUST KIDDING! I guess there's always room for a little variance in every good theory. If I'm being TOTALLY honest, part of me was hoping for a girl, but I'll quickly move on and embrace the testosterone that will soon be completely overwhelming my home. We know what to do with boys! We have all the stuff for boys! We can almost have our own basketball team! We're going to save a TON of money when it comes to wedding time! Now I need to come up with some boy names. I had a hard time coming up with the other two, and this will be even harder. Any suggestions??????

It's almost time...

2009-03-16T09:17:00.002-06:00

This pregnancy is really flying by for me. (I guess that's what happens when you a lose a month at the beginning). I'm not mentally prepared to make the switch to maternity clothes, but that day is getting imminently closer. I thought this would be a good time to share a long held theory I've had about Hemmert babies, and how that might apply to me and this baby. First, a quick biology lesson: the father is ultimately responsible for determining the gender of the baby. (Told you it was quick). So despite all of the girls on my side of the family, it's Jared's family that counts. Having said that, we will not use his sisters as examples since they have nothing to do with determining their children's gender. That leaves 4 Hemmert brothers.

We will skip Brother A for a moment and come back.
Brother B: 4 boys, 0 girls
Brother C (Jared): 2 boys, 0 girls
Brother D: 1 boy, 0 girls
Brother A: 1 boy, and just had 1 girl (I said they should have named her 'Hope', but they didn't listen)

My theory was that Hemmert boys can NOT produce girls. It has effectively been disproven by Brother A, however, I still think there is some sort of bias towards "male" in the DNA. Brother D even asked an OB/GYN doctor while he was on that rotation if it were possible that there was something to my theory, and the doctor said it's still 50-50. The odds of having 8 boys in a row is .0039 if you're counting. In a week or two hopefully we'll find out if we've cracked the 'code' as well, but I'm not entirely convinced that the odds are in my favor. I'll put up the requisite 'blogger' poll for fun, but you know where my vote is!

Why didn't I think of that?

2009-02-24T19:24:00.002-07:00

Both of my boys have been learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington in school lately since President's Day was just here. We were driving home from preschool and they were spouting off facts like the cherry tree story, "I can not tell a lie!", etc. etc. I asked them if they knew who our current President was. They both correctly identified President Obama (They've been coached on this for months now, of course). Preston asked, "What coin is he going to be on?" I said I didn't know, but maybe someday he would be on one. (For or Against, he's still historically significant, people). Chandler suggested that maybe he could be on the ones at Chuck E. Cheese. "The Tokens!" yelled Preston. Apparently, taking the place of an overgrown mouse on an arcade token is a MUCH bigger honor than being on a piece of currency!

Here we go again...

2009-02-17T13:05:00.004-07:00

We are very excited to announce that our family is growing! We are expecting Hemmert baby #3 on August 29th! Normally we don't keep these things to ourselves as long as we have this time, but after experiencing a miscarriage last April, we thought we should make sure all was well before we made the news public this time. I went to the doctor today thinking I was 8 1/2 weeks and after the ultrasound, the doctor discovered I am actually 12 1/2 weeks. Nice! It's like an 8 month pregnancy without the premature birth! I have been feeling pretty good. I've been nauseous this time, but no vomitting. I think I have it pretty good considering how sick I know most people get. So that's the latest from here. I'm sure I'll have more reasons to update the blog more often now!

Preston's new friend

2009-01-14T11:38:00.003-07:00

Preston has been mentioning his friend, Aiden, for a few weeks now. I thought it must have been someone he met when Jared had the boys somewhere. After continually asking him where he met him, where does he live, how old is he, it has become pretty clear to me that Aiden is an imaginary friend. These are the things we have learned about Aiden thus far:

He has green hair and green skin
He's from St. George
He lives in a box
He drinks alcohol (Preston loves to talk about alcohol since we told him that we don't drink alcohol)
He got in trouble for playing in the snow too long
He shares his drinks with Preston (hopefully not the alcoholic ones) ;)
He almost died because he got a fever and had to go to the hospital

We have a niece that had multiple imaginary friends when she was growing up and I thought it was hilarious and adorable. Now that it has happened to one of my own children, it's a little creepy. I guess we'll just have to see how long 'Aiden' hangs around. Has anyone else had experience with this?

Change is good, right?

2009-01-12T10:26:00.003-07:00

Well the day I'd been dreading for a long time, finally came. Our bishop called me into his office and told that I was going to be released from Young Women's and put into Primary as the CTR 5 teacher. I actually shed a few tears in the Bishop's office. It wasn't because of what I was heading toward, but what I was leaving behind. I'm sure Primary will be a great new adventure and I will love it, but I am definitely going to miss all of the girls that I've gotten to know so well the past 4 years in Young Women's. Maybe it's because mentally, I'm still 16 years old, but Young Women's has been a really great experience for me. I guess I'll try to look at the positives!

I can plan a vacation for sometime in July instead of going to Girls Camp and getting dirty and stinky for days on end.
My Wednesday nights have just been freed up
There's a better chance of getting 'snacks' with the 4 year olds than the 14 year olds
I can become reacquainted with my long lost favorite past time of coloring
I'll get to keep an eye on my boys in sharing time and make sure they are really being as good as their teachers claim they are.

So I made it through my last Young Women's theme and didn't have a total meltdown. I guess I'll be ok. New Beginnings on Wednesday will be quite literal for me, but I guess that's what life's all about, right?

Silly Preston

2008-12-31T09:21:00.001-07:00

These are Jared's words describing what Preston said when he woke up this morning. I HAD to share:

When Preston woke up this morning he was talking to me and said some funny things. He came into the bathroom and said "Dad, I don't like to drink Coke because it makes me bounce off the walls and it makes me have stinks in my mouth." Then he immediately said "Dad, I love it down in Snow Canyon because I can climb on the rocks like Spiderman. There aren't any snakes there because they don't live in the snow, they live in the desert."

What an imagination...

2008-12-01T10:46:00.003-07:00

Chandler came home from school last Wednesday very excited and said that it was his "school" birthday on Monday (today). His real birthday is the 21st, so I was a bit confused, but figured his teacher must want to spread it out since his falls over Christmas break. Without a chance to contact his teacher since it was Thanksgiving break, I bought treats and sent them with him today with strict instructions to bring the treats back if it wasn't his "school" birthday. His teacher just called me and wanted to double check when his birthday was since he thought it was today and had already passed out the treats out and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. He even shared his big plans to play laser tag today with the class. I don't know where he gets it, but this kid has imagination to spare!

Coldplay

2008-11-23T19:07:00.004-07:00

This weekend has been TONS of fun, and very little sleep. We are usually pretty boring people, but we actually went out this weekend, so please forgive the excessive amount of posts today. Saturday night, we went to see Jared's absolute favorite band in Concert--Coldplay. The concert was amazing and we had an absolute blast.

The requisite self-portrait.

This picture is terrible and doesn't do justice to the show. There were tons of laser and light effects that really added to it. We can't wait til they come again. Our boys know most of their songs, and would have loved the show if they'd been a little older and more capable of staying awake that late.

Boys Night Out

2008-11-23T18:56:00.002-07:00

Thursday night (prior to my date with a certain vampire movie), I went with the Young Women to a BYU Women's Volleyball game. Since I wasn't going to be around anyway, my Dad took Jared and the boys to the BYU Basketball game. The boys loved it!

Notice the "Red Vines" on Preston. It's all about the snacks when you're that age (and my age).

Preston and his favorite person!

Twilight

2008-11-23T16:31:00.006-07:00

If you've been reading my blog at all, you know how excited I was to go to a Midnight showing of Twilight opening night. Unfortunately, I didn't buy my tickets as quickly as I needed to and was left stranded. That was, until, I realized there was a brand new movie theater only a block from my house that was just about to open and likely had not sold out of their Twilight tickets. Thinking I was pretty smart, I drove over there 3 days prior to the theater opening and bought enough tickets for some friends and family members. Knowing there would be long lines, we decided to show up 2 1/2 hours before Midnight. What we didn't count on was our theater seating for the movie WAY before we got there. My initial thought was, "Great! We don't have to wait outside!" A fraction of a second later, however, reality set in and I thought, "Oh no, we're going to awful seats!" I was right on both accounts. You can just call us all Front Row Joes.

Melissa and Natalie passing the time until the movie started.

My sisters, Natalie and Melissa, and my niece Hailey

Me and my sisters

Me and my friend, Laurie, and her friend Kami. I love the look on Laurie's face. :)

My mother-in-law, Joyce, and sister-in-law, Natalie, also came with us, but we were done with pictures by the time we got there. Sorry, guys.

It was a lot of fun to be among the first to see Twilight, and I really liked the movie. I'm trying to talk Jared into seeing it with me now. He doesn't want to see it since I've already seen it even though I promised not to make a peep the whole time. We'll see who wins out in the end. I just heard today that they are set to start production on New Moon, so we'll all have to do it again in a couple of years!

The problem with learning to read...

2008-11-23T12:47:00.002-07:00

Today was our Primary program in sacrament meeting. Chandler was unexpectedly nervous when he got up to do his part in the program. Instead of reciting the part we had gone over dozens of times at home, he looked down and read what was written on the script word for word. "I can help strengthen my family by share one way you can help strengthen your family." He then sat down and the primary choir sang a song. The primary president, probably feeling my pain, then let Chandler get back up and say his real part. "I can help strengthen my family by being nice to my brother." We got a good chuckle out of it, as did most of the congregation.

It's FINALLY back!

2008-11-20T10:52:00.002-07:00

This Sunday, Jack Bauer is back! Jared and I love 24 and have been waiting a LONG time to see it again. Sunday night is a 2 hour 24 movie that will bridge the gap betweeen last season and the upcoming season that starts in January.

Be afraid; be very afraid!

2008-11-10T19:10:00.004-07:00

Sorry the quality of this picture is not that great, but the pose itself is priceless! See what I have to deal with on a daily basis! Preston routinely brings 2-3 weapons to the bus stop each morning as we wait for the bus with Chandler. All of the older kids get a kick out of being chased by someone so young. He's very serious about it. He even told one of the girls that he was going to 'get that pretty girl.' I was mortified that he said that, but glad he called her pretty. She knows he is 3 and wasn't overly concerned for her safety.

Jared's boys

2008-10-28T09:14:00.003-06:00

A couple of months ago (that's how behind I am on this blog) we went to Salt Lake to pick out the carpet for our basement. Since we were there anyway, Jared wanted to go to the University of Utah bookstore to get something for Chandler because he thinks he is a Ute fan (thanks to Dad's brainwashing being more effective than Mom's brainwashing). Have you ever been in a church that is not your religion and it just feels kind of wrong? That's how I felt being in the U of U bookstore! After dropping some serious green on the red stuff, and throwing up a little in my mouth, we got out of there! I must admit, they do look cute, though.

NYC 2008

2008-10-24T16:42:00.008-06:00

Last weekend I had the awesome experience of going to New York with my 2 sisters and my mom! This was our second trip to the Big City. Our last trip was 2+ years ago, so we were definitely due! Unfortunately, the other "Tucker girl", Amanda (Tyler's wife) couldn't join us because she just had a new baby! (I guess it's fortunate, but her missing the trip was unfortunate--you get what I mean!) I'm going to mix in the fun stories with the pictures so bear with me! This is as much for my 'journaling' as it is for your entertainment. My mom ended up taking most of the pictures of us girls so she's not in very many of them. Lame on that!
This was the three of us in the back seat of our cab on the ride from the airport to the hotel. This cab ride was one of the craziest I've ever been in! Melissa and Natalie were both nauseous by the time we arrived at the hotel, due to the erratic driving of our driver. We were laughing our heads off, though, and texting my mom in the front seat about how sick they were getting. Lucky for me, I don't get motion sick.

This was after arriving at our hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in the financial district of Manhattan. It was nice place to stay. Good beds, good location and FREE hot breakfast in the morning. They may not be excited to have us back, however. While enjoying our FREE breakfast, my mom decided that the biscuits were a little stale for her liking. She decided it would be a great idea to split it in half and put it in the toaster. KIDS DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! It left huge crumbs in the toaster which would, of course, be a HUGE fire hazard in the toaster. The next toaster patron was me. You see where this is going? Smoke! Fire! Smoke alarm! Fire trucks! Fire fighters! (Melissa, the single-and-looking sister missed out on that since she decided to sleep late). Natalie, not realizing, who caused the 'situation' had some choice words for the dumb-@&*$ who put a biscuit in the toaster. After quietly slipping into the elevator to avoid being 'caught,' we had to tell her that her own mother was the dumb-@&*$.

The sisters with kids had to have their picture taken with Elmo when we ran into him at Times Square.

The night we arrived, we saw Legally Blonde the musical. If you like the movie (we LOVE it) you will love this musical. I think I heard that it is shortly closing, though. We really liked the show. It was Melissa's favorite of the trip. 'Woods comma Ella' is an honorary sister now.

After a busy day shopping, we saw Disney's Little Mermaid on broadway. There was about 10 new songs in the stage production and they were great! The effects and music were awesome. We all loved this one. It was Natalie and my mom's favorite!

All of us in Times Square. I think now would be a good time to comment on our shopping. A good portion of our fun shopping was done on Canal Street in China town. I'm not even embarrassed to say that we went there 3 times. OK, maybe a little embarrassed, but it was fun! Anyone who has been there knows that there are secret back room in the stores where they keep all of the designer handbags to sell. There are also 'finders' on the street who find out you are interested and take you to a waiting mini van down the street with shelves of bags inside. This is all part of the fun for us. We were actually kicked out of our first 'mini van' because we were taking too long. Big mistake on their part! We also got kicked out of one back room for taking too long. It's a big decision people! It takes more than 3 minutes! I bought 3 purses and I was the third place shopper!

Natalie bought a new sweatshirt and forgot to take off her new purse! He he. I had to post this one! She affectionately refers to her purse as "the cutest purse purchased." I bought it for her for her birthday which is this Sunday!

On Saturday, we saw a matinee of Monty Python's Spamalot. Yes, this is the one starring Clay Aiken. We got the understudy. What's up with that, Clay?!? This was such a funny musical. The voices were amazing and I laughed my head off! This was my favorite.

After Spamalot, we had dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square. While waiting for our table, we were looking out the window and noticed the bird (see above). It was an injured pigeon and it was very entertaining to watch people almost step on it and almost trip on it over and over again. (I guess you had to be there.) The bird eventually flew away after almost crashing into the window trying to get airborn again. So we had an early dinner and didn't have any more shows scheduled for that night. Hmm what to do... see another show! My mom and Natalie decided to just shop around Times Square and then head home early. Melissa and had other things in mind. She REALLY wanted to see Grease, so she did. I wasn't that excited about that so I got a half price ticket to see Spring Awakening since I had heard great things it. The music was great, but the subject matter is definitely for ADULTS ONLY! There is also some choice language. I just heard today that this one is closing in January. I guess the economy is hitting Broadway hard too, although every show we saw was packed.

We sadly had to go back to the airport on Sunday (after one last trip to Canal street and a quick trip to Central Park). Our flight was oversold so we gave up our seats in exchange for a First Class ticket on a flight 3 hours later and a $200 voucher! Nice! It was so great to be in First Class on such a long flight. The food is actually really good. Who knew? So we got home LATE, but it was worth it. We had such a fun trip and only got lost on the subways a couple of times!

Catch up!

2008-10-24T16:23:00.002-06:00

Warning! There will be quite a few "catch up" posts this weekend. I want to get them on here for posterity reasons, but they really are 'old news.' The New York trip is up first, though! Stay tuned...

For your viewing pleasure...

2008-10-10T10:00:00.002-06:00

I am seriously thinking I want to go to a Midnight showing of this when it comes out. Anyone want to come? Push pause on the music player on the right side bar.

I'm an aunt....again.

2008-10-07T18:45:00.002-06:00

My little brother, Tyler, and his wife, Amanda, just had their first baby! It is a boy whom they will be naming Braxon Tyler Tucker! After a LONG day and night of labor, he was born around 6:30 this evening and weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 3 oz. I hear he has lots of dark hair. I will be heading down to see him shortly! Congrats to the new little family. I'm sure pictures will shortly appear on their blog. Click here for the link!

Halloween can't get here fast enough

2008-09-13T16:30:00.003-06:00

Comic version:

Our version:

Your communites are much safer with these two on patrol.

This will definitely be a must see!

2008-09-10T16:24:00.002-06:00

This movie is based on Sophie Kinsella's best selling book, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I have read the entire series and loved every page. The language is a bit naughty at places, but if you can look past that, you will laugh out loud--often. This will be a Girls Night Out Must See! Check out the trailer below:

Lance is coming back!

2008-09-08T15:05:00.004-06:00

Today is a happy day if you follow the Tour de France like I do! It seems that Lance Armstrong is pulling a Brett Favre or Michael Jordan! He is joining the Astana Cycling team with his old manager Johan Bruyneel and will compete in several races including the 2009 Tour! Oh happy day! Can not wait! You can read more details here.

What self-esteem?

2008-09-05T07:57:00.001-06:00

Chandler was watching something on TV and a commercial for some sort of wrinkle cream came on. "Mom, you should get some of that green stuff! You would be so pretty!" Honesty....sigh.

"Preston, who's your favorite mom?" I asked, thinking I was a shoo-in. "Grandma!" Oh well...

Happy 3rd birthday, Preston!

2008-08-31T12:46:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe my little Preston is 3 years old!

He has gone from being a sweet, easy-going baby to a very fun, high energy little boy. I guess that has to do with following his big brother around. He adores Chandler and really enjoys playing with him. I don't know what they would do without each other for entertainment. He has toughened up to the point where he can definitely hold his own with bigger boys.

Preston is always busy with something. I have learned the hard way, never to leave him unattended for more than a moment (see above). He is very creative and adventurous. The most innocent looking of household items quickly becomes a sword or gun in his hands. He is definitely "all boy!"

There certainly is a downside of being fearless. Almost a year ago, Preston broke both bones in his lower leg. You would think this cast would have slowed him down some. You would be wrong! It was only 2 days before he was climbing out of his crib with the cast on. He quickly found himself in a 'big boy bed.' They even had to recast the bottom of his foot because he wore through the cast. Fun times!

Preston is such a joy to our family and things wouldn't be half as fun without him! We love you, Preston, and can't wait to see what your third year holds for us all. 911 is on stand-by. :)

Jared has gone to football heaven

2008-08-30T15:06:00.003-06:00

Jared has always wanted to go to a football game in 'The Big House.' In case you're football illiterate, that is the stadium at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It holds 100,000 people. His beloved Utes are playing them even as I type this.
He went to Michigan with his dad and his brother, Jon and his family were able to come up from Indiana to join them for the weekend. Jared even got Jon to dress in all red for the game. If you know Jon at all, you know this is a big deal. He, like me, bleeds BLUE.

The view from their seats on row 90! Yes, there are at least 90 rows! Crazy! I'm sure more pictures will follow when Jared returns. (These are sent via Jared's phone). Who knows, maybe he'll even post about his experience.

Back to school-part 2

2008-08-25T13:22:00.005-06:00

Well life as I know it is over! Chandler started Kindergarten today! He was so excited and not nervous at all. I thought this would make it easier for me.

All ready to go!

He has been dragging his new backpack all over the place (filled with toys) for the past couple of weeks, but last night it was empty and waiting.

Waiting for the bus.

Posing for the requisite pictures.

He was the last one to get on the bus.

I managed to hold it together until I got back to the house. I didn't expect to be so emotional. I was really excited for this day. While waiting at the bus stop, it hit me that my baby was really growing up and going off to school. I guess I'll get used to it....sigh. He is home now and had a great day at school.

Could this be the next Roger Federer?

2008-08-22T08:26:00.004-06:00

Chandler did a session of beginning tennis with the city this summer. He really liked it even though the majority of what they did was learn to balance a ball on their racket. I've been taking tennis lessons for the past few summers and have had so much fun with it even though I'm not very good. You'll have to depend on the paparazzi for those photos.

Learning to hit the ball.

What a little stud, huh?

Farm country

2008-08-22T08:08:00.004-06:00

Last Friday we dropped everything and decided to take the kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point for one last hurrah before school starts.

Jared getting cozy with a goat. Should I be jealous?

Chandler loves going on the pony ride there. He looks a little nervous, but really he loves it. By the way, I noticed that Chandler is wearing the same shirt as the previous post. He really does have other clothes. For some reason, he seems to like that one. :)

Preston, on the other hand, was nervous. Too nervous to ride, in fact. Being scared is really out of character for Preston, but I never knew a mom who would frown on too much caution.

Chandler on a fake sheep.

They have a little play country jail there. Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come for Preston.

Back to school-part 1

2008-08-22T07:54:00.005-06:00

My baby started preschool this week! It's very exciting and a little sad for me, but we'll go with exciting in the spirit of positive-thinking.

Preston with his teacher. Notice he's already trying to rip off the name tag and school hasn't even started yet! I bet she wasn't smiling quite as big at the end of class. ;)

Chandler is taking a class at the preschool to help him stay up with his reading and math. It complements what he'll be learning at Kindergarten. Expect Kindergarten pictures after it starts next week! Am I really old enough to have a Kindergartener?

**By the way, for security, I'm not saying where or when they go to school, so please don't say it in the comments. If you want to know, email me.**

Good news Vampire lovers!

2008-08-16T10:44:00.006-06:00

Twilight, the movie, has moved up its release date (from 12-12-08). You can now get your Edward/Bella fix on
November 21, 2008!

Technology Rules!

2008-08-12T16:57:00.004-06:00

Before you click away from this post, what I'm about to tell you is for everyone! Even, my Republican friends and family! You can find out who Barack Obama picks for his running mate via text message before it is released to any new media (other than those who are signed up themselves). Even if you're not a supporter, you should still be interested in who he chooses. Sign up yourself by texting VP to 62262. Standard text message rates apply, of course :) P.S. If you haven't registered to vote, click on the link on my side bar and DO IT!

Toronto 2008

2008-08-01T14:45:00.009-06:00

Believe it or not, it has been 5 years since Jared graduated from dental school. He was President of his class (brag alert!), and thus was obligated to help plan the 5-year reunion. We decided to take the opportunity to return to Toronto for the first time since we piled into our UHaul and made the trip home to Utah. We were able to make the trip sans children thanks to a lot of help from our families (Thanks again, everyone who helped). It was great to get away with just the two of us and to see all of our old favorite places. We stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel which is as close to our old apartment as we could get. One of the nice things about being without our kids is that we were able to see 2 movies during the weekend. We used to go to a movie almost every Friday night when we lived there. We also were able to walk all over the city without someone whining about being tired. It was a blast. Jared has more pictures so there may be a supplemental post of our trip at a later date.
One of the first places we stopped when we got into town was Spring Rolls Express on Yonge Street. We used to eat here all the time and loved it!
Our first morning, we grabbed some breakfast to go at Tim Horton's and ate it in Queen's Park. There used to be tons of black squirrels that lived in this park, but they aren't there anymore. (Any Toronto people know why?)
Me on the University of Toronto campus. You can see the CN Tower in the distance and convocation hall (where graduation was held) on the right.

Jared and I in front of one of the famous Canadian Mooses (or is it Meese-just kidding).

The view down from the top of the CN Tower. At one point, it was the tallest free standing structure in the world. There's probably something taller now. Google it if you're interested. It's still really, really high.

Looking down from the CN Tower. Isn't the city beautiful?

Jared in front of Toronto City Hall.

Me at Nathan Phillips Square downtown. They have ice skating here in the winter.

This is the best steak dinner anywhere in North America! (That we've had, anyway). You can find it at the Keg Mansion. I got a seafood version that is covered in lobster meat, crab and shrimp. Yum, yum, yum! And I'm generally not a steak fan!

This is the hospital where Chandler was born. 5 1/2 years ago!

Me in front of the Royal Ontario Museum. They have totally remodeled the outside. We were going to go in, but the line stretched clear around the outside of the building. Next time, for sure.

The R.O.M.

A sand sculpture outside of the R.O.M.

We took the subway out to one of our favorite areas-Greek town. One of our favorite places there was Mr. Greek. It has also been remodeled since we left there, but the food was fabulous as always.
Sorry about all of the food pictures, but the food really was a highlight of our trip. This is the yummy pork souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, greek salad and veggies.
Jared in front of the street sign of our old apartment. We loved living on Charles street. We even recognized one of the "transients" selling newspapers outside of the Manulife center. I guess he's doing something right if he's survived there for the past 4 years.

Another visit to Queen's Park.

Jared on campus.

Jared with some of his best friends from dental school: Gurjit Dhuga and Dan Hagi. It was great to see these guys again.
These are some of Jared's classmates who were at the reunion. This was taken early in the evening, so some of the people weren't there for the picture.

Us at the reunion.

One of the last things we did before heading to the airport was have a hotdog from the vendor at Bloor street and Bay street. They slice the dogs and grill them to perfection! The yellowish buns are also slightly grilled. Yummy!

Summer Fun

2008-08-01T13:47:00.007-06:00

It's been far too long since I've posted, so forgive me the long update. We've been really busy this summer and so it's all getting rolled in together to one picture-intensive post. Who knew summer could be so busy? I thought it was supposed to be the time where everyone laid around, watched the Price is Right and sold lemonade? I guess not.

One of our favorite things to do is to go to the Bean Museum at BYU. We used to go about once a month, but it had been several months before this trip. Preston, obviously, can't read the 'Please do NOT touch' signs. I was too busy getting the camera ready to stop him. I'm sure he's not the first kid to pet this zebra.
Chandler touched a snake. He was actually pretty nervous about it. Preston was not nervous at all-- typical.
Grandpa Wynn took all of the 'local' grandsons who are potty-trained camping over night at Deer Creek campground. (Jared and Dan came too--yes, they are potty-trained). Little Daniel looks like he's ready to hit the sack in this picture.

Jacob and Chandler enjoying the campfire.

Dan readying the fire.

Wynn enjoying some camp snacks.

While the bigger boys were camping, I took Preston to Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove. They have tons of inflatable jumpers, toys and slides to play on. Preston was in heaven, but would have had more fun with other kids to play with. Sadly, this is the best picture I could get. There was so much to see, he wouldn't look at the camera or hold still long enough to get a non-blurry picture.
A couple of weeks ago, we took the lift to the top of the Sundance Ski resort. There are several hikes up there and amazing views. We just walked around a little and then headed back down.

Preston and I at the top.

One guess how Chandler felt about getting off the lift...he wanted to get back on IMMEDIATELY!

Someone decided to give Preston a chocolate candy bar on our drive back down the canyon. Yes, it is even in his hair. He sure is cute, though.

Batman Mania!

2008-07-15T21:12:00.005-06:00

In case you've been living under a rock, the new Batman movie opens this Friday. My boys (who will not be seeing the movie) are huge Batman fanatics at the moment. They both love to run around the house wearing their Batman capes and chase each other. Preston's even a fan of Joker. Anyway, I must hand it to the movie marketing people, they are delivering an all out assault! Because it's summer, I had to take both boys to the grocery store with me. Bummer! By the time we got out of there, our cart was stocked with Batman Honeynut Cheerios, Batman Trix, Batman Go-gurts, and Batman Fruit-roll ups! If only they made Batman apples, Batman carrots or Batman broccoli we would be set! It's only a matter of time before my boys start begging to go to ____________ (fill in the name of a fast food restaurant) to get Batman prizes in their kids meals! You know one of them has got to have them soon.

Attitude of Gratitude

2008-07-10T13:45:00.001-06:00

It's been too long since I've done this. I was on a roll there for awhile, though. I'll try to do better. Here a few things I'm grateful for right now.

1. My sweet husband who took great care of me and the kids when I was really sick Tuesday night. He made dinner, cleaned up and got them to bed. I was overcome with fever, but hopefully I said Thank You!

2. The flowers that Jared sent me on Wednesday to say 'Hope you feel better.' (see picture)

3. Great swimming teacher, Ashley. She somehow got our timid, Chandler to swim without assistance across the pool, float on his back and jump off the diving board without his life jacket. He made amazing progress! Far exceeded my expectations!

4. Progress toward Preston being potty trained! He's not there yet, but he's getting closer.

5. Health! After being sick, I really appreciate how good I feel right now!

The rest of our 4th weekend.

2008-07-10T12:39:00.005-06:00

So our 4th of July weekend actually included more than just the 5K. After the race, and a shower (trust me, I needed it) we headed down to Provo for the big parade. The last 5 years we have been lucky enough to sit with our great friends, the Shallenbergers, on their bleachers. Parking is still a problem, but finding good parade seats is not a problem anymore. Thanks a million Shallenbergers!

Jared, our boys, and both Steve Shallenbergers.

Jared and Dave Shallenberger.

Chandler holding Rob's daughter, Lana Rose. Isn't she gorgeous? I think Chandler has a crush already. I double and triple checked my camera. I can't believe we didn't get a picture with Rob and Tonya! Sorry guys! At least we got their cute baby.

Jared being the "pyro" in our neighborhood.

My cute boys enjoying the fireworks at home. From this picture, you'd never think they fight!

The next day we finished off the do-it-yourself fireworks at Jared's parents house with the Hansens, who were in town for the holiday weekend. It was a great weekend. We can see the Stadium of Fire Fireworks from our back yard so we watched those from home and saved ourselves a wad of cash!

I did it, but it wasn't pretty!

2008-07-09T14:00:00.006-06:00

Remember how I was going to run the 5K? Well, it's over! Due to an ill-timed vacation and then Jared being out of town the following week, my training suffered a lot at the end. Notice the old guy in front of me in the picture (sorry if it's anyone's Grandpa or anything)? I did manage to shave off 10 minutes from my Oregon 5K time and beat my goal for this race by about 4 minutes, so that was good, but I may be retiring from running. I still don't like it. I'll probably still run occasionally because it's good exercise for the amount of time spent, but that's probably it.

I know this is not a flattering picture, but I just wanted to prove to y'all that I really was there! Sweat and all! The iPod made it a much more pleasant experience. Making my special 5K playlist was fun. I put some songs at the end of the playlist that I hoped I wouldn't get to; luckily I didn't get to those ones.

My sister, Natalie and her husband, Matt ran as well. Natalie ended up getting 5th in her age division and Matt did well in his too. They were long recovered and rested by the time I crossed the finish line. :) That's why they are runners and I am not. The race atmosphere and running down the parade route with all of the spectators was pretty fun, though, I must say. Who knows, I may do it again someday. Never say never!

It's here again!

2008-07-07T15:44:00.005-06:00

What would July be without the Tour de France! Jared and I have been huge fans since the early-Lance Armstrong days. We even upgraded our cable just so that we could watch the Tour a few years ago. (The Melrose Place re-runs were an added bonus, but I digress). Due to all the doping scandals of the last few years, there is no favorite in this years Tour. It's anyone's race! Versus has 4 hours of coverage each day, and it is a huge time committment to watch it all. Fortunately, we can use our DVR and fast forward to the last bit to watch the finish of each stage. I'm sure we'll watch more on the weekends. If you haven't checked it out in awhile, or if you have 4 hours to spare, tune into to Versus each morning;(The commentators are a hoot as well). You should know there are 2 new American teams this year too! Go Team Columbia!

One of my favorite shows!

2008-07-07T12:34:00.006-06:00

I have to share one of my new obsessions with you. It is a show called 'Flipping Out' on Bravo. It is a reality show about this guy, Jeff Lewis, who is a real estate investor who buys houses, remodels them and resells them. He is very good at what he does, but he also has OCD. It makes for some very funny situations. I really like it because I find 'flipping houses' really interesting and I guess I can relate to the guy in a very slight way. You know the basic everyone is imcompetent but me kind of way. (Note: sarcasm!) It is on Tuesday nights. I don't know what time since I always just watch it on DVR when I get around to it. You should have seen the episode in which his assistant forgot to order 'no onions' on his salad. It was hilarious!
Check out the clip below (pause the music player on the right sidebar):

Basement update

2008-07-02T13:56:00.004-06:00

Sheetrock is being hung as we speak! CAN NOT WAIT! Yes, I know I'm a nerd for even taking this picture, but cut me some slack; I'm excited!

My favorite Jedi

2008-07-02T13:48:00.002-06:00

Chandler chose The Empire Strikes Back (don't ask me why) for his movie from the library last week. I guess he's half Jared, so that explains it. I caught him pretending to be Luke while he watched it and just had to grab the camera. He was making the light saber sounds and swinging his light saber. I wonder what was going through his mind. "I'm going to defeat Darth Vader!" or something like that. It was hilarious to watch. I guess you had to be there...

HFR 2008 on the beautiful Oregon coast

2008-06-29T08:11:00.010-06:00

We returned last week from an 8-day family reunion/vacation with our Hemmert Family. About half of the family flew and the rest drove out to Oregon. We were fortunate enough to be in the flying group. As our kids were fighting on the way to the airport, we realized that there was no way we could make the 13-hour drive if we couldn't even make it 1 hour to the airport without problems. Our VERY lively 2-year old made the flight very troublesome for his parents. It was about as bad as you can imagine. Not staying in his seat, screaming, kicking the seat of the "not-so-friendly" passenger in front of us. But alas, we made it. After picking up our rental car, we made the 2 1/2 hour drive out to the coast. We stayed in a great rental house in Lincoln city. Check it out here. It should be noted that this was a LARGE family gathering. Jared's parents, all of his 5 siblings, spouses and grandkids. 14 adults and 14 children. Of the 14 children, the youngest 11 are all boys, and the oldest boy is 7! It felt like about 30 boys.
Our first full day was Sunday, Father's Day, so we just hung around the house and relaxed. It was nice after all of the travelling the day before. Monday, we headed towards Tillamook. Our first stop was Oceanside. (see above pictures). We played on the beach and collected shells and rocks. There is this little cave through the rock that leads to another side of the beach. It was really cool. Chandler froze, which is why he is wearing 2 of his own coats and one of Jared's in the pictures.
Our next stop was a short hike to the 'Octopus' tree. There is also a lighthouse there that we got to go to the top of. Very pretty! After this, we were all starving so we had lunch at the Tillamook Cheese factory. We got to see cheese and ice cream being made there. Sorry, no pictures, though.
We next stopped at Cape Lookout. More beaching. Preston, of course, found a stick to terrorize some of the other cousins. After a very fun, exhausting day, we headed home. Note Chandler's quote on the right-side bar. This applies here.
The next day was 'picture day.' Reese Christensen, a Provo photographer accompanied us to Oregon and took family pictures on the beach. He also spent the 'Tillamook' day with us and took a bunch of candid shots. I'm sure I'll be able to post some of those at some point. It was quite an adventure with so many people and kids. After the formal pictures were done, we enjoyed hanging around the beach. My boys found some microscopic shrimp on the beach and enjoyed watching them in a cup for awhile.

These pictures were taken around the house. Each family had a night to do a devotional. For Joyce's night, all of the kids were given cowboy or pioneer garb and she told them an old pioneer legend of 'Injun Joe.' The top middle picture is of the wind shelter that was built early on when it was quite windy. We flew kites and had a couple of illegal bonfires on the beach as well.
On Wednesday, we headed to Silver Falls and went on a hike. It was so beautiful hiking in the lush green forest and past multiple water falls. The boys did pretty good and only had to be carried briefly at the end. We had a picnic lunch by the river and then headed to the Aerospace museum in McMinnville.
This is where the 'Spruce Goose' is housed. It was Howard Hughes' enormous airplane that is featured in the movie, Aviator. You can tell from the pictures how enormous it is. There are also tons of other aircrafts and space stuff there. There was even some tanks outside. Yes, it was boy heaven! After another exhausting day of sight seeing we had another home day filled with lots of crafts for the kids and multiple trips to the outlets for the grown ups. Note: No Sales Tax in Oregon!
Friday, we went to Newport and visited a really cool aquarium there. The boys loved it. The picture of Preston with a glare is in a fish tank that you can crawl under and it is open in the middle so that the fish swim right by your face. Above is also some crazy spider crabs, a shark jaw and a little play area. We also got to stop at another lighthouse on the way home.

Saturday morning, a bunch of us participated in a 5k that was held on the beach in Lincoln city. After an exhausting week, I had decided just to walk it with some of the others who were going to walk, but then Jared decided to join us and decided that he was going to run. So I said to myself, "If Jared's going to run, so am I!" (For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jared's had many health problems and is not a runner). We stayed together and ran and walked our way through it. Jared even got 2nd in his age group! Matt got third in their age group! Don't ask how many were in their age group. (3) Wynn got first in his age group! Don't ask how many were in his age group. (1) The best part was the raffle after the race in which all registered family members walked away with prizes. Yes, it is a small race, but it was a lot of fun.

Staying with everyone was a lot of fun. It probably won't happen again for at least a couple of more years. Thanks, everyone, for being patient with us and our kids! Above is a video of Devin teaching Preston about the 'Secret of Silence.' He uses this to move things with his mind. You probably figured out that the 'Secret of Silence' is the antithesis of Preston's high-pitched scream. Video courtesy of Julie. Thanks!

Funny sayings from Oregon

2008-06-15T14:52:00.000-06:00

After a long day of sight-seeing in Oregon, we arrived at another beach, and Chandler threw a bit of a fit. Trying to get him out of the car, I said, "Come on, Chandler, it will be fun." He replied with, "I told you! No More Fun!"

"I don't like Julie! I'm going to throw up on her!" Preston was upset after his aunt, Julie, screamed when Preston had two rocks in his hands, arms raised at his younger cousin, Mason. This really is naughty behavior, but is kind of funny since no one got hurt. If you knew what a sensitive gag-reflex Preston has, you would watch out--he probably could do it.

Happy World Blood Donors Day!

2008-06-14T00:00:00.001-06:00

Today is World Blood Donor Day. Don't worry I didn't get you anything either. I am a BIG believer in Blood donation, so I thought this was a good opportunity to encourage anyone and EVERYONE who is eligible to donate. I am the coveted O-negative blood type, so I am harrassed into donating every 13 weeks. It is a good and important thing to do, but before you congratulate me too much, you should know it's really all about...

The Lorna Doones and juice!
Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to schedule your appointment to donate!

Strengthen your family!

2008-06-07T20:20:00.005-06:00

Awhile ago, our High Councilman gave an excellent talk that included 15 things we can do together to increase the strength of our family. Jared was out with Preston, and I was kicking myself that I wasn't taking notes so that I could share it with him and others. Fortunately, our Bishop decided to put the list in our ward newsletter this month, so now I have the opportunity to share it with all of you. (Talk was given by Bryan Pope, Sharon Stake High Council).

1. Turn off distractions.

Not just bad things, but anything that distracts from family unity.

2. Set meaningful, adequately high, yet attainable expectations.

Discuss and set expectations as a family. Be clear and make sure everyone understands them thoroughly.

3. Pray together as a family and individually every day.

There's great strength in having family members pray for each other.

4. Read scriptures together as a family and individually every day.

The promise of increased love and understanding is true!

5. Attend church meetings as a family every Sunday.

Then discuss what each person learned over Sunday dinner or in family council.

6. Hold regular Family Home Evenings every Monday night.

Actively promote harmony, understanding and involvement in the home.

7. Spend quality and quantity time together.

No one on his deathbed ever uttered the words, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

8. Mom, be at home at all costs.

Carefully consider what this means in your situation and to your family.

9. Dad, be at home at all costs.

It is easy to let outside distractions keep us away. Work hard, and then be with your family.

10. Hold regular, conversational interviews with the children.

Interviews, not interrogations. Make open communications part of a healthy family culture.

11. Give Father's blessings.

At the beginning of school, during difficult times, before missions, before marriage, etc.

12. Settle all disputes, issues, and differences before the close of the day.

Seek understanding and forgiveness; Live each day as if it were your entire lifetime; Focus on what is important today.

13. Actively inject spiritual influences into the home.

Listen to good, uplifting music; Provide mutual support of each other's undertakings and interests; Create opportunities to share spiritual experiences and feelings.

14. Eat together.

Prepare meals as a family and use this opportunity to teach valuable skills to children; Sit down and enjoy the meal with good conversation; Clean up together. Don't leave it to Mom or one individual; many studies support the power and positive influence of family dinnertime.

15. Create family traditions centered around gospel living.

Provide opportunities for service both within the family and to others.

Good stuff, right? Feel free to add some of your own in the comments.

Basement: before pictures

2008-06-06T14:24:00.005-06:00

We are in the process of finishing our basement. I am beyond excited to have the extra space. When all is said and done, there will be a large toy room (could be used as a bedroom, though), 2 additional bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room. We are also having some shelves built in the storage room area so that we can finally get organized. As of right now, they have just about finished framing. Here are some before pictures. Expect updates often!

One of the bedrooms.

Family room with the soon-to-be-former treadmill. (We found it a nice home with some people who will take good care of it.)

Preston checking out the pile of lumber that now frames the wall.

Pinewood Derby 2008

2008-06-06T13:59:00.005-06:00

From the title of this post, you probably thought, "Pinewood Derby? That's weird. They don't have anyone of 'scout' age in their family." This year our ward did an Elder's Quorum vs. YM pinewood derby. Jared got really into it. He took his car to his office and used his 'dental' tools to drill out areas and then filled them with amalgam. He spent countless hours in our garage working with our little boys observing. His car was painted and repainted at least a few times. BUT, it was all worth it, when he won FIRST PLACE! Jared's dad and Brother and 3 of our Hemmert nephews came to watch. Wynn said, that Jared finally broke the Hemmert Pinewood derby curse. (I guess they have come in second place numerous times over the years). Jared is already looking forward to Chandler being in scouts so they can do it again.

A Sampling of some of the cars. I think the Swiss Army knife one is really cool. His car is the gold one with black stripes: #5. Chandler chose 5, because he's 5 (obviously).

Chandler with the winning car.

The Champion and his car! **P.S. Sorry about the cultural hall lighting.

Good ol' Number 5 is now mounted and on display in Jared's office.

My name is Preston, and I'm a potty-mouth...

2008-06-03T00:00:00.001-06:00

Lately Preston's favorite words have been of the "naughty" variety, and we're getting pretty fed up with it. I'm not talking the 4-letter words that the parents of teens would worry about the the 3-letter variety that toddlers seem to love. Here's an example:

Me: "Preston, what would you like for lunch?"

Preston: "Pee!" followed by giggles, of course.

These words have found their way into every situation you can think of; even sacrament meeting. (Yes, we are the main entertaining attraction of our ward. Certain families like sitting by us because it's so amusing).

He even changes songs. Example:

Preston: "Twinkle, twinkle, little bum!" giggles again.

Cereal has gone from 'Frosted mini-wheats' to 'Frosted mini-poops'. You get the idea. No more examples needed.

We started out reprimanding him, but this only seemed to make it worse. Like most kids, Preston thrives on attention. We are currently trying to ignore the behavior. We'll see how it goes. We've talked about using soap or cayenne pepper, but we'd really like to save these punishments for the 4-letter words when they make their inevitable appearance. Any parents out there have any bright ideas?

T-ball is here!

2008-06-02T07:28:00.003-06:00

Well soccer is over, and we are onto the next sport: T-ball! Chandler picked out his new mitt at the store. Of course, he picked the one that has lights in it and lights up when you catch a ball-who wouldn't! His team has 15 kids on it, so the pace is much slower than it was for soccer. So far, he seems to really like it. It's so funny watching these young ones play. Chandler was playing third base and someone from the other team hit the ball near 1st. All of the kids, including those in the outfield, ran clear across the field to try to get to the ball first. I'm sure they'll figure it out as time goes by. Entertaining for all!

Posing in his new uniform. They are the only team who has matching pants and hats along with the requisite 'Orem City' T-shirt.

Batting. Look at that awesome swing!

Running between 2nd and 3rd bases.

Memorial day weekend '08

2008-06-01T15:58:00.004-06:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend up in Midway this year. All of the Hemmert clan that currently lived in the area were up there too. Some at the cabin and some at the Zermatt resort. We also had our annual ride on Thomas the train. My boys aren't really as "into" Thomas as the have been in years past, but they still wanted to go, so we went.

Preston and Chandler in front of Thomas, himself.

Chandler getting a temporary (sigh of relief uttered here) Thomas tattoo. Jared and I both got tattoos as well. Preston was scared for some unknown reason.

Preston and I on the train. (notice the lovely 'Rosie' tattoo on my hand).

Jared and Chandler on the train.

Another 'Midway tradition' for us is feeding the ducks at Wasatch state park. A word of caution: the ducks do have some aggressive tendencies! You will never see my mom there, in other words.

Another feature of Wasatch State Park is the large pond. Chandler got to fish in it with Jared and Wynn. Jared caught a trout and we enjoyed it for dinner.

Chandler riding the carosel at Zermatt with his cousin, Mason, and Mason's mom, Julie. Everyone is all smiles because we had just finished a wonderful prime rib buffet dinner. Yummy!

I'm actually going to run...I think.

2008-05-19T09:18:00.005-06:00

Let me start by saying, I hate running and always have. But having said that, I really admire and even envy my running friends and family members, so I have decided to run the Freedom Festival 5k this year. It's always been good for me to have something to work toward. By putting this out into cyberspace, I am trying to further commit myself. First of all, I know 5k is not that far, but I am not a runner, so for me to be able to run the whole distance will really be something. Most of my friends and family could run this (and beat me!) in their sleep, but I'm trying to not let intimidate me. My sister, Natalie, an avid runner who has even won a 5k herself, is going to run with me. (When I say run with me, I mean start the race with me). She'll be fully recovered and finishing her breakfast by the time I'm done, but that's okay with me.

I started running about 3 weeks ago. I still don't like it. For my runner friends out there, when does it get fun? Until this morning, I have been running on the treadmill at the gym. I'm up to a couple of miles, though now, and it is very boring at the gym. I just keep looking at the display panel wishing it would move along faster. I decided to run outside this morning, so the plan was to park my car at Will's and run on the path so that I would know how far I was running. It turns out you are not supposed to park there so I decided to park at Riverwoods and run the other direction. On my way to Riverwoods, I noticed there were a couple of homeless-types with all their stuff along the path, and NO OTHER RUNNERS. I guess it wasn't such a great idea, so I went home and decided to run from home. I did it, and now I need to find some places to run from my house. If anyone sees me running, pretend you don't see me; it will make me feel better about this.

My goal is not to run the race fast, but be able to actually run the whole distance. I simply want to be able to run 5k and not die. Whether or not, I continue to run after the race is a big question mark. I would like to think that by then, it will be enjoyable, and I will want to keep running. Only time will tell, I guess.

12 years of us!

2008-05-17T11:29:00.005-06:00

Today we not only celebrate Norway's independence (Syttende Mai), but our 12 year anniversary. We were married on May 17th because Jared served a mission in Norway and it was a special day to him. (I also was interested in having the tulips in bloom on Temple Square).

Our engagement picture.

Our wedding picture in front of a tree that is no longer there (destroyed by a tornado) on Temple Square.

We've survived 12 years of wedded bliss and what do we have to show for it?

2 great kids
many years of higher education between the two of us
a house
a dental practice
many great vacations
4 years living in Canada
8 1/2 years living in apartments and basements
a few more wrinkles and pounds
a few less hairs (only one of us)
many watches and sunglasses (Jared)
many purses and shoes (Jaime)
12 place settings of beautiful, albeit unopened, formal china

We've certainly had our share of ups and downs, but it's been an amazing ride so far. Jared, thanks for being a wonderful husband, father and partner to me for our first dozen years! I love you, Jaime

Snowbird 2008

2008-05-15T11:27:00.007-06:00

We just finished our timeshare week at the Iron Blossam resort at Snowbird last weekend. For the boys, the definite favorite attraction was the game room. They are young enough that they don't usually care if you actually put a quarter in. They think they are controlling the demo. Chandler is starting to wise up to that plan, though.

One of their favorite games was a snowmobile racing game called Arctic Thunder. Preston even beat Chandler a couple of times that they actually raced. The seat vibrates so it feels like you are really racing.

Our little race driver.

We went to this presentation given by this guy who is one of the trainers of the avalanche dogs at Snowbird. It was fascinating to hear about how the dogs are trained and how amazing they are at finding things in the snow. This dog, Emma, has had 5 "finds." Unfortunately, only one was alive. Avalanches are scary!
After the lecture, we all went out to the snow-covered tennis court for a demonstration. The trainer had previously hidden a glove in the snow.

The dog found it in about 10 seconds. It was pretty impressive!

Another BIG highlight is the heated swimming pool. It is outdoors, but they keep it really warm. Joyce, Heidi/Tyson even came up for swim and lunch one day. Swimming with the boys has become much easier thanks to their new life jackets. They just do their own thing the whole time. I do still watch them in case you're worried about their safety.

Look at the amazing view behind the pool. Last Friday, it even snowed while we were swimming. How often do you get to swim in the snow in May? We had a great time!

The end of Spring soccer (belated)

2008-05-15T11:14:00.005-06:00

Spring soccer is over, and we are all a little relieved. Not that it wasn't fun, it was just very cold for MOST of the games. Oh well, that's Utah weather for you.

Chandler loved playing and generally had a good attitude.

An action shot (sort of).

The two best parts of soccer are the medal the kids get at the end and the treats that they get at the end of each game. Here's Chandler with both.

Happy 65th birthday to Wynn

2008-05-05T14:00:00.004-06:00

On Saturday, Joyce threw a surprise party to celebrate Wynn's 65th birthday. I'm sure it wasn't a total surprise, but it was a lot of fun. I apologize that the pictures are a bit blurry. The lighting was pretty dim. At least those family members who live far away can get a feel for the party, right?

Joyce "made" Wynn wear this crown. On it are the words "Comb-over King" and there is a fake bald head with some fake comb-over action as well. He was a great sport.
Tom Carter, a neighbor of the Hemmerts, was the MC of the event and told some funny and embarrassing stories about Wynn. He did a great job. P.S. He's a democrat! :)

Wynn responding to the "roast." He gave a very nice, gracious speech.

Jared and his dad as the party was winding down. Jared spent MANY hours making a video slide show with music for the party. It turned out great. Everyone loved it.

After the party, we headed to Snowbird's Iron Blossam Lodge for the first part of our time share. We are back in town so Jared can work and Chandler can go to school. We will go back up to finish out the week and so that Jared and Chandler can get in one last "ski." Pictures and details will follow on this very blog!

It's coming! Oct. 24th!

2008-05-02T10:57:00.001-06:00

Ice skating with the YW

2008-05-01T18:30:00.003-06:00

Last night, I got to go ice skating with the Young Women in our ward. As the girls started showing up, we noticed Sandra and Kim showed in costume. Naturally, we assumed they had just been involved in something at school, a play, or something else like that. No! They just wanted to dress up for ice skating.

How fun are they? And so shy for the camera! :)

1. Me with Sharee and Gloria 2. The "train" of girls trying to stop for a picture 3. Brittan struggling to keep her balance 4. Kaitlyn and her mom, Amy (she's also a leader).
1. Jenny and Gloria 2. Kathryn and Brittan helping Sharee after she took a little tumble 3. Sharee talking to some boys she met at the rink after some intervention by one of the leaders. She was a little too shy and we couldn't let the opportunity pass by, could we? 4. Kim, Rachel and Allyse

We had so much fun! I absolutely love being in Young Women's and hanging out with all of these awesome girls!

Shhhhh.......!

2008-05-01T14:00:00.003-06:00

Just a quick note to brag about the fact that both of my boys are asleep at the same time! I can't tell you how long it has been since this has happened. Chandler hasn't had a nap of any kind for a couple of months now. I'm grabbing a book and plan to enjoy the next hour or so to myself!

A fun, time waster

2008-04-30T15:18:00.001-06:00

If you have some time on your hands, this is pretty fun. I know Jared will love it! He loves geography!

brought to you by TravelPod, the World's Original Travel Blog ( A TripAdvisor Media Network partner )

Tulip festival 2008

2008-04-27T15:13:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, we went to the annual Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. If you don't live in Utah, you should know that it has been an especially cold Spring and the Tulips weren't quite ready for their close-up this year. It was very cold and windy, but we went for it anyway. We went our Hemmert relatives that live in-state. Devin and Heidi were getting professional pictures taken most of the time, but we were still glad to have them along. Matt and Julie were good sports when Preston kept stealing Goldfish crackers and fruit snacks from their 1-year old, Mason, and Joyce was the fun Grandma, as usual.For my boys, the best part was all the wide open grass to run around on, and the hills to roll down.
The three of us. Jared was not able to go with us this year. He was missed.
Preston with his water bottle. Yes, most of it did end up spilled down the front of him.
Cute brothers!
My boys with Mason towards the end of the outing. Chandler was nice enough to hold him up for the picture, but look what happened when the photo-op was done....
Oops! I guess he was done being helpful! No harm done, Mason is tough, little guy! You have to be to hang around these cousins! We had a great time. The tulips and other flowers will probably be just about ready in 2 weeks, so you should all go check out the beautiful gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It's pretty spectacular when everything is in full bloom!

Embarrassing parent moment

2008-04-18T07:06:00.004-06:00

Last night we had a double whammy of humiliation. Allow me to set the scene. We were just leaving Tepanyaki after celebrating Wynn's 65th birthday. Jared was ahead with Preston and I was holding Chandler's hand walking out to the car. I look out to the door and about to walk in is a disabled person on crutches who was noticeable shorter than average. As I see this person, I pray that silent prayer that mothers always do, "Please don't let my child say anything. And if they do, please let it be quiet enough that no one hears." Admit it, you've been there! My prayers were not answered as I wanted this time. Chandler immediately sees the man, and says very loudly, "Mom, look at that little man!" I squeeze his hand, hoping he understands what that means. He doesn't! Again, because I ignored him, he says, "Mom, look at that little man!" By this time we are walking as fast as I can drag him out the doors. I give him the talk about how it would hurt that man's feelings if he heard him say that, etc., etc. When we get outside, Jared looks like I feel. Oh no, not the other kid too. Apparently, Preston saw the guy and said, "Look Dad! A dog!" Jared tried to shush him and say, "No Preston, it's a guy." Preston then said, "Oh, Dad, look it's a guy-dog! It's a guy-dog!" And as two-year olds tend to do, he kept repeating it over and over. Of course he also said it very loudly. So there we were mortified! I'm sure the guy, unfortunately, has heard things before, but we still felt awful. I guess we'll have to reinforce the concepts of whispering, quiet and tact some other time.