Pictures!

This is my Little Angel. We took her to get her 2yr old pictures and her Christmas pictures taken a few weeks ago. The entire way there before the pictures we were practicing how she was going to smile, by the time we arrived I was sure she was going to be great. Well, as you can see, once we got there and had the camera in her face all of a sudden she had no idea how to smile. quite frankly i think that running into Breq and Hazy (and their parents) before our session confused Sami especially since she saw how uncle Kyle had smiled for his pictures. She must have thought you are supposed to grind your teeth when someone takes your picture. Thanks Kyle!
But Sami is a lot cuter than Kyle so her pictures still turned out pretty good.
She was so excited with the lady telling her to pose different ways that was definitely her favorite part.

THANKS-GIVING

Thanksgiving was good this year. It was my parents "off" year so some of my siblings were eating with their in-laws. It ended up being just Lance and I, Sami, Clay and Lauren, Mist, Syd, Haybabe and mom and dad. It was good.
We have a lot to be grateful for this year. I am so privileged to be expecting and that in itself is such a miracle to me that I am beyond joy! I am so thankful for my dear sweet perfect little 2 year old Sami, she is such a blessing to me! Even if she is going through a rather difficult clingy phase. (at least I hope its a phase!)
Also one of my biggest blessings in this life has always been and will always be my parents, siblings and their spouses. I truly count all of my brothers, sisters, sisters-in-law, and brother-in-law as my family. They are all always there for me. We have had many opportunities in our lives to support each other through many trials and difficult situations, along with countless good times. . . the grand-kids being born and growing each year among the many that come to mind! We are a very close family and I don't just mean because we span in age of only about 8 or 9 years, but because we love each other so much and love each others company.
Even when my sister was living out of state and we didn't see much of each other we were always close. Living as close as we are now just makes it that much more easy to physically be there for each other, although I know as I'm sure the rest of our family does that we are always together and supporting each other in our hearts no matter where our physical bodies may be.
I want to let my family and anyone else that reads this post know how much they mean to me. I am truly grateful for all they have done and the great blessings they have brought into my life by letting me be a part of theirs. I love you all very much.
I especially want to let my husband know how very much I love him and respect all that he does for our little family! I could not have asked for a better man to stand by me through everything he has in the last three years. he is so patient with me! He was always there to support us while trying to get pregnant and I know he'll stand by me through this pregnancy and all the hormonal changes that it will bring! ;-) I Love you and how you have always been willing to help any of my family with anything they may need. You are a blessing to us all. I love how you have accepted my family as your own, and blended in so well.
I hope everyone has had a Great Thanksgiving!
& I hope all of you have a Wonderfully Merry Christmas!

SAMI'S TWO!!!!

Two years ago yesterday My little angel came into our lives! Last night we had a party to celebrate Sami! we had all our cousins and a few second cousins and all their parents come along with a huge array of grandma's and grandpa's. It was fun. The kids all took turns hitting a piniata which eventually needed help breaking, but once it did they all gathered all the little toys and candy into their sacks. The bouncy balls were a huge hit! Sorry the harmonica's didn't work so well. We then ate salads, chips, sandwiches and a bunch of othere stuff that was delicious too. (Thanks everyone for helping bring food.) We then had Sami open her presents, she got tons of adorable things.

I could not believe all the clothes everyone gave her. You guys are all so awesome and even though she seemed to be more interested in the toys, books, games, puzzles, playdo and coloring things I really appreciated the clothes and she looks adorable in them. (Yes today we did put on a little fashion show.) and she really wishes she could wear her squeaky shoes (they're awesome mom) and puffy vest (thanks Lauren and Clay) everywhere and over everything. She tried to explain to me why she needed those things to nap with . ;) I did let her wear her squeaky shoes with Shay's outfit today. (adorable) I'm sure Brian was really glad I did too since she spent the morning at the office with him today. I am so excited for her little scrap book and cannot wait for Mist to be able to put the rest of the pictures in for me ;) (right Mist ?)

After presents we did the cake and although I'll admit that I didn't put as much time and effort into this cake as I would've liked to and even though the towers did fall a bit I think Sami's castle turned out pretty good. It even tasted good, maybe even my best tasting cake yet huh Bri? Okay well these are the few pictures I have that were taken with my camera. . . .I'll have to get the rest from my dad. Isn't she adorable?!?

Oh ya so after everyone left and Lance and I were starting to clean up I realized we didn't even bring out the presents we had for Sam, so we hurried to bring them out and put them together for her so I threw in a few pictuers of Sami playing with the dolls and the art easle today. (bummer huh? ~I cannot believe no one said; hey didn't her parents get her anything? where were you Mist?) j/k :)

SaMi'S NeW sHiRt . . . Woo Hoo!!!

Ok So I know its been a while since I've really posted and mostly thats because of the move, no internet yet and totally busy, and also I've been a little sick . . . dont worry its an awesome sick . . . ok so maybe not the sick part, but definitely the reason!! well here Sami's shirt explains it so much better . . . ;)

Isn't that adorable? I got it off this really cute website http://www.cookiebabyinc.com/ and they added her name for free! but don't use their extra shipping options because it will pretty much double the good price making it not so good.

Lance and I are totally thrilled to have finally figured out how to get pregnant!! ;) The last year and a half has been really hard and sometimes very painful but we made it and couldn't be happier! I'm so thankful for my family and all their putting up with my complaining about and explaining (with way too much info I'm sure) everything we were going through. They even supported Lance really well in taking his "test" (especially after he passed.) ;) Thanks so much I love you all so very much and am the luckiest person to have so many caring sisters (and brothers) Your interest and caring has truly made it all easier for me. I know your all excited too. So now I invite any of you to go ahead and join me in this pregnancy bliss! ;)

Sami was so excited for a baby "brudder" or "sisser" right up until I told my family and they explained to her she would be sharing (a word my toddler is still struggling to comprehend and associates with extreme pain (or so it would seem)) her room and her toys with her new baby brudder or sisser. Then, all of a sudden she wasn't so excited and looked at me as if we'd all gone mad! It'll be interesting to see how my "only child" handles the change. she's been really supportive this far, watching me throw up, handing me a tissue after she tries to wipe my eyes for me, asking if i was ok and if i was choking. i've been a little worried that all this would tramatize her but my mom assures me that my oldest sister cared for the first couple but after kyle paid no mind to her sicknesses and treated it like an everyday occurance . . which for my mom i think it probably was. well atleast for the next 6 years ;) but she is almost completely certain there was no permanent damage done to the older siblings . . . . i'm not so sure.

A- Attached or Single: ATTACHED

B- Best Friends: Lance, siblings

C- Cake or Pie: cake

D- Day of Choice: Saturday

E- Essential Item: grape gatorade at the moment

F- Favorite Color: purple

G- Greatest Accomplishment: Samantha Leigh <3

H- Hometown: the terrace

I- Indulgences: Stephenie Meyers & long hot baths :)

J- January or July: July

K- Kids: Sami Sam

L- Life is incomplete without: my grape gatorade at the moment :)

M- Marriage Date: 10/27/05

N- Number of Siblings: 7: 4-Brothers and 1-Sister

O- Orange or Apples: Apples

P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders!!! Lots of them!! being home alone at night

Q- Quotes: none

R- Reason to Smile: (Favorite ones:) Sami talking/singing to herself. or her and daddy arguing! ;)

S-Season: FALL definately . . . so beautiful

T-Tag five friends: Ree, Rach, Lynn, Shay and Eliza

U-Unknown Fact about Me: I'm an open book . . . . ;)

V- Very Favorite Store: Maurices right now

W- Worst Habit: loosing my temper . . . usually w/Lance sorry babe! :)

X- X-ray or Ultra Sound: Ultra sounds lately like 5x a mos for the last year!! UGH

Y- Your Favorite Food: Funeral potatoes, pizza, mashed potatoes etc . . .

Z- Your Zodiac sign: aquarius

"Bye Bye Binky, Love You"

So our house is officially binky free!! YAY! (i hope)
On Thursday Sami bit through her binky before her nap. So after going through all her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents asking if each could "fis it" and me saying "no sorry" which resulted in a resounding "OOOooohh" she finally decided that we needed to throw it away. So she took her binky walked it to the garbage can, gently placed it in and said "bye bye binky, luv u" (which broke my heart into a million pieces!!) then she went down for her nap almost as usual . . . only 5 minutes later as I was dialing her dad to tell him the news she realized she didn't have a binky and decided she "needed it" so she cried for 10 minutes and due to pure exhaustion finally fell asleep! Now I'm not used to my child needing to cry herself to sleep. since she was about 10 months old she's been laid down in bed wrapped in her "woobie" with her moose by her face and goes to sleep. So this sudden need for bedtime attention is really starting to wear on me and its only been 3 nights. (It doesn't help that my reinforcement is up in the mountains somewhere trying to kill a defenseless animal. ;)) The first night her dad sat with her in her room and all she needed was to ask a few times if daddy was still there. Last night I held her for a bit and she fell asleep in my arms. Tonight I tried the same thing for about 5 minutes with no progression towards falling asleep, and since I am the patient person that i am, 5 minutes was enough for me and I finally just laid her in bed, patted her back, gave her a kiss, told her I loved her and I'd see her in the morning and let her cry for a few minutes before falling asleep (i think she's asleep, she's at least stopped crying for about the last 3 minutes).
My problem is that I really don't want her getting used to me rocking her to sleep again. I mean i love to hold my baby but she's almost 2 and I've really gotten used to this bedtime routine being over and done in 10 minutes, so I can have my "adult time". Any advice? I feel like a bad mom that doesn't want to snuggle with her 27lb 2 year old for more than 5 minutes this close to bedtime1(?)
So, this is I am these days. No husband and No binky. If i would've planned better I would not have had the two happen over the same weekend. My only consolation is that its conference weekend so I only have to get up and watch conference, not get ready and go to church. :)
wish me luck, and only tell me personal stories if they result in your child being over it after the 3rd night. j/k :)

HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES

• 1. Did you date someone from your school? I dated a few guys from my school . . . other schools and some that had graduated. I liked variety ;)
• 2. What kind of car did you drive? THE subaru!!
• 3. What was the most embarrassing moment of High School? O there's too many to make it just one. . . just kidding I dont remember . . . maybe it was so bad I blocked it out, although i'm sure it involved Tracey ;) j/k love ya lynn
• 4. Were you a party animal? we had fun
• 5. Were you considered a flirt? yes
• 6. Were you in a band, orchestra, or choir? yes, choir all 3 years
• 7. Were you a nerd? i don't think so . . .would you know if you were? :)
• 8. Were you on any varsity teams? never
• 9. Did you get suspended/expelled? i got suspended once but it was jr high and only for like a day.
• 10. Can you still sing the fight song? heck ya . .. school spirit rocks
• 11. Who were your favorite teachers? Cazier, Belnap and Porter.
• 12. Where did you sit during lunch? lunch room, denny's, hallway etc .
• 13. What was your school's full name? BONNEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
• 14. School Mascot? Laker
• 15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? not sophomore year even though i was asked (thanks mom);) the other years yes but i'd have to look at the pictures to remember who with
• 16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? It was fun while i was there but once is enough for me.
• 17. What do you remember most about graduation? UGH ugly gold . . . standing forever. . . . and not wanting to trip.
• 18. Where did you go Senior Skip day? the dam i think . . . didn't everyone?
• 19. Were you in any clubs? probably but none of significance
• 20. Have you gained weight since then? oh my gosh! heck ya
• 21. Who was your prom date? UH??? jr or sen? maybe jon?
• 22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? i dont know? probably
• 23. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? remember its only high school . . . you'll forget most of it afterwards. . . . do your homework/get good grades . . . . pick true friends who have the same values or respect the values you have. Respect yourself . . . you'll be a lot happier. . . . ENJOY you only experience high school once (hopefully)

I tag anyone who wants to reminice . . .

BIRTHDAY CAKES

So, just this last year i aquired a really neat, easy to make, birthday cake idea book for kids. As many of you know I am not a real crafty type of person but this book had some cute ideas and I love to make desserts so I ended up discovering a new hobby that I really enjoy. Now mind you I am no baker and all my cakes come from box mixes, but the decorating and such is really what i enjoy. So anyway, These are a few of my cakes . .. (please keep in mind i am very much an amateur and only do this for people whom I know will still love me no matter how they turn out.) :) btw thanks to all those who've let me use their kids birthday cakes as my guinee pigs.


This is my first "creative" cake. I made it for my daughters first birthday. (its a flower in case you couldn't tell) very simple; two round cakes layered, and a bunch of cupcakes placed strategically around as petals.


This was next, its not a very good picture but its a choo choo train cake for my nephew who LOVES trains. once again two round cakes, side by side, with sprinkles for grass, cookie crumbs for dirt and frosting tracks.



This is Hay-babe's cake. my niece looked through my book and picked a cake as a dress with a doll in the middle. The receipe only called for one bundt cake, but I quickly realized that wouldn't cut it and used two cakes and marshmallows to fill in the top. This was my first doll cake and I like to think they did get better with time. . . .


Syd and Breq liked hay-babe's doll cake so much they both wanted one: This is Syd's Ariel wedding dress cake, and probably one of my favorites; we used 3 cakes this time, cutting the top a smaller circle and made the dress bell. it was lots of fun!


This is the only picture I got of Breq's Birthday Cinderella cake. my mom and dad had to take the cake to the party while I took Lance to the doc and since it was a very hot day the cake had melted and fallen a bit before we got there. (sorry breqy) :(



Hazy's is my most recent cake. Shay found this really cute present cake, but My computer wouldn't bring up the picture and I only had the description. so this is my own rendition of a "gift" cake. one is a double layer sguare cake and the other is a bread pan cake. The ribbons and bows are those yogos rollers and the dots are yogos as well, which seemed to be a big hit with the 7 and under crowd we had!
So if any of you are wondering, this is what I do with my spare time!

hApPy BiRtHdAy LaNcE

Today my sweet husband turns 25 Yes that's right he's half way to 50 now! So I thought I would do a post to honor my most wonderful, handsome and intelligent husband!

I have LOVED lance since we first met. He made me want to date him and only him forever and ever. He is wonderful. He grew up in West Haven and graduated from Fremont High. He went on a mish to Michigan, and fell madly in love with his perfect companion (me) in Sept 04.

He has been a wonderful husband, father and provider. If there is one thing Lance does its work. He has always had at least 2 jobs since we've been married and though I miss the time with him I am so grateful that he is willing to make such sacrifices for his family. My family often jokes with him that its hard to find a place that Lance hasn't worked.

Besides his jobs Lance is also our family handy man I swear he can fix just about anything, even though he is way too modest with how much he knows, he is always willing to help others. He work on others homes, cars, yards and anything else that needs it, and always without complaint.

So if working 2 jobs fixing our home and helping out whenever needed isn't enough . . . Lance is also going to college. He loves learning even though sometimes he says he doesn't like school ;)

I cannot even begin to convey what a great person my lance is. I take him for granted way too much. But he has always loved me, and I know he always will. Especially since he has supported me through the bear pills, awful hormones and mood swings. He is a great dad and Sami LOves him. Infact I am hard pressed to think of anyone that knows him and doesn't love him!

Well, I hope You have a Wonderful Birthday Babe! I LOVE YOU!!

SHOES PLEASE

If you know my little babe very well then you know she has what some have called an "obsession" with shoes. big shoes, little shoes, girl shoes, boy shoes, mommy's, daddy's, aunt's, uncle's, cousins, grandma's, grandpa's, etc. She LOVES shoes. She's had this obsession since before she could walk, and since she could walk she's had an obsession with wearing all these shoes. my daughter has a very short attention span but if you put her on the floor with 10 pairs of shoes she will try them on and off and walk around in them for hours! Her most favorite pair of shoes are her mommy's high heels and if you know me you know when I say high heels I mean really HIGH heels. Now I don't want to brag or anything but I do believe my daughter is the only almost 2 year old that can walk gracefully in 5 inch heels and has been able to since shortly after learning to walk. Anyhow, I was just watching her as she made me take off the heels i had been wearing today to work so that she could strut around the kitchen in them and thought , I should really take a picture of that and post it on my blog. But of course I wasn't fast enough getting my camera so here are just a few pictures I do have of Sami and her Shoes . . .

This is Sami sporting pink rain boots 3 sizes too big (hand-me-downs from aunt Mistie), her daddy's hat and not much else

Here Sami "borrowed" these shoes from auntie Tracey when she happened to remove them after a shower we threw for a friend

These gems Sami found while digging through my closet one day and she wore them for 24hrs straight

Her poor daddy keeps telling himself this is a phase that will pass (not likely);) he insists that since she is obsessed now by the time she's 12 she'll be bored with all shoes . . . especially the expensive ones! Good luck with that one babe . . . I mean who am I to stiffle her creativity by not buying her lots of different shoes? :)

cAmPiNg . . .

We just got back Sunday from our annual labor day weekend with my cousins. It was fun! We went up to the Uintahs and stayed at Washington Lake Campground in one of the big group sites. We fished, canoed, hiked and had a blast! The little ones had lots of fun together, the road we were off of wasn't that busy so it was perfect for them to all ride bikes. The first night we got there after dark so we ended up putting our tents up on the asphault next to the trailers. It worked out ok, but after being in that close a proximity to everyone Lance and I decided to find a place in the dirt to park our tent ;) Good thing too because the second night it rained a lot and our tent was one of the only ones to not take on water. (see kyle you should've listened to your wife and moved your tent!) We did end up coming home earlier than planned because of the weather so that was a bummer, but a necessary bummer (I think it actually snowed up there after we left). My sister and brother-in-law came and brought their kids up for a night before they left us with them and went on a cruise! Thats right . . . they left us up in the cold stormy mountains to go on a cruise!! THE NERVE :) just kidding Mist. The girls had a blast and still are having one. We all hope you have lots of fun!!

Anyway, of course once we got up camping I realized that my camera's battery was dead and I only had a camcorder so I would love to post some pictures of all the fun the kids had but I would have to settle for a video, and as of yet do not know how to do that with my camcorder. :(

OUCH!

Okay just a quick post to help me whine . . . Today I got my first of (hopefully not many) HCG shots. Let me tell you it kills! The shot itself was ok but the nurse swore I would be limping by tonight and she was not lying. My cheek is killing me, but my hopes are still high. This will all be worth it some day. All these invasive doctors visits 5 times a month at 35.00 a cycle plus the "bear" pills and now these wonderful shots!(60.00 a pop for this literal pain in the butt)
Sami came so easy (too easy). Hopefully this hard time isn't a bad omen of how our next child will be once he/she gets here. Sami was such a good baby, but after all this I would be excited if I gave birth to puppies! well, maybe not puppies!

SAMANTHA LEIGH NOOOO . . . .

Okay so if any of you have known my daughter very long you'd know that she has a problem with eating inedible things. We have found numerous surprises in her diaper such as; rubber bands, hair elastics, hair clips, barbie shoes (thanks mist), stickers (also thanks mist) and etc. . . . So before she was even a year old she'd had a chest X-Ray and a Barium Swallow (two separate occasions). Of course she turned out okay so far. . . no permanent damage. . . and she had been doing a lot better you know being a toddler no longer teething with no need to put inedible things into her mouth let alone swallow them. So two days ago I was talking to my mom and while we were trying to have a conversation I gave Sami (my almost 2 year old) a little jar with those little colored, plastic coated, paper clips. When out of the blue my mom calmly said "I think she's eating those" sure enough I turn to her right as she pops a red paper clip in her mouth and as I'm yelling NO swallows it down. I frantically tried digging it out of her throat of course with no luck, so there it goes yet another fun surprise we'll (hopefully) find in a day or two.
Wish us luck. If no treasure is dug up in the next couple of days though, we're really going to need Brian to get his X-Ray machine up and running! :)

FAMILY VACATION

This year for our coombs family vacation we went back up to Island Park and stayed in a wonderful cabin we rented there. We had a blast 4wheeling, horseback riding, golfing, hanging out and of course driving through Yellowstone and seeing all the beautiful scenery and animals. This year we saw tons of elk, 3 bears, lots of buffalo and one coyote. It was great and the kids had a blast! My mom planned all of our meals (we're very spoiled) and with the help of my grandma they kept us well fed the entire trip with minimal acceptance of our assistance in the kitchen. No matter how many times we offered. Thank you so much mom, dad, grandma and grandpa for taking such good care of us and our kids (even though we're all capable adults .. .well maybe not Kyle) I love my family so much we always have a blast together. Even if we are slow getting going with all the kids and husbands ;)
We did miss Bry, Maddy and the boys. Hope they'll make it next year :)
Anyway, these are some pictures from our horseback riding trip special thanks to the Diamond P ranch they were awesome accommodating us on such a short notice, and to Mistie for persuading them! ;)

Corbi's Shower!

This is my friend Corbi aka Rach's Shower. she is going to Brazil in a few days to marry her sweetheart. Its very romantic!

Our friend Amy helped put on the

shower and it turned out great!
Thanks Ree

I am so excited for Corbi and Claudemir and I am truly disappointed that we cant afford for me to be there for the wedding. But the shower was fun and so were the games we forced the bride to endure . . .


This is the beautiful wedding dress the shower guests made for her. (yes tp) its very easily accessible (as all wedding dresses should be ;) j/k )the only flaw is that the temple may not allow this type of dress and she'll have to improvise :)
I have more pictures of the gifts she received but as i said, broken computer, so i'll have to post them later . . . most of Corbi's gifts were the requested money or gift cards as that is more sensible for a wedding in Brazil. but a few of us got her some space saving presents; like pj's (lingerie) and books to read on the plane (or in the bedroon) ;) it was a blast! and i hope rach enjoys all her presents because i'm sure claudemir will ;)

HAPPY PIONEER DAY!

On the 24th my family got together as we always do to put on our fireworks show. It was a blast! the kids threw pops all around and smashed the ones that didn't pop with their feet. Then uncle Kyle started the fireworks and the little girls sat all around yelling and screaming. By the end they had taken Uncle Clay and Aunt Lauren over to the blanket to sit with them. It was cute. We really missed not having Bubba and Camerin with us but we do have to share them with their other family sometimes ;)

So my sister-in-law has been telling me for probably a month about these books she's been reading. She tried to explain them to me saying they were my type of thing romance and such but then she threw in the part about vampires(?)What?!? so naturally i thought not my thing and put it into the back of my head. well about 4 weeks ago my husband got sick and started to read the least sappy romance novel he could find in my collection. this happened to be it. well he actually liked it and wanted me to ask Shay for the next one. well anyway they kept talking about it so naturally i had to be included and let me tell you in 2 weeks i abandoned all of my marital and maternal responsibilities and with the help of a few 3 hr baths i finished all 3 books and became completely obsessed with them i will most definitely buy the 4th when it comes out and maybe even join a fan club! (j/k) but seriously even though i have what some call an addictive personality and love to escape to fantasy at times I truly do enjoy this book and would recommend it to all those sappy romance love story addicts out there to give it a try. but please remember you do have husbands and children that will need you intermittently. :)

COUSINS = FOREVER FRIENDS

These are Sami's cousins and her best friends! There are 7 of them all within 3 years. My siblings and I are all freakishly close, we rarely go a week without seeing each other so it only makes sense that our children are just as close! Ok so left to right .. . Haylee Grace almost 2, Sydnee Mae 3 (Mistie & Brians girls), Breqlynn Lori 3, Hazel (nut) Lettie 1 (Kyle & Shayla's Girls), Devin Bryant 4 (Bryant & Madelyn's oldest), Sami Sam 1, and Camerin Corom 2 (Bry & Maddy's youngest). Aren't they just the cutest kids ever? I hope they always stay this close!