News!

I'm pregnant! I'm about 7 1/2 weeks. Due August 2nd. We've been waiting a while for this one! Kane will be 6 when this baby comes!!!

Boldness

Since I seem to be in a blogging rut lately, I stole this from Heather K.'s blog. The one's I've done are bold.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars (at Lake Powell many times, on my trampoline in Sandy, and on Trek)

3. Played in a band (does RockBand count?)

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (again, does RockBand count?)

11. Bungee jumped (no, but I've done The Catapult at Lagoon, it's kind of close)

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept overnight on a train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked (me & my cousin ran out of gas, and some guys in a VW bus gave us a ride to the gas station, I'm counting it)

23. Taken a sick day when your not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagra Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen Amish country

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (since when does money = satisfaction?)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (the car behind me in the drive-thru)

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in movie

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (in the process, hopefully)

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching (one of the most amazing things I've ever done, I got to see a humpback whale breach)

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (dang tattoo's)

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job (laid off)

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (not Matt's)

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (wow, I really don't think I have)

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (HEAVE)

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous (Savion Glover, tap dancer)

92. Joined a book club (Just this month, first meeting in December)

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a lawsuit (maybe not a lawsuit exactly, but I've been in contact with attorney's more than my fair share)

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. One cavity or less

Last California Post

I know I've been a slacker at blogging lately. This has been my life for the past two months: Get kids ready for school, get myself ready, pick up Kane from kindergarten and take him to Heidi's, drive to MATC for my school, pick up Kasey from volleyball or cheer, crash at home. Seriously, that's it.
If anyone would like to be my model at school for nail, toes, manicure or pedicure email me. I'm there from 12:30 - 4:30 M-F. ldyduchess@aol.com

Here are the final pictures from our October California trip. Legoland & Wild Animal Park

Cutest picture of my nephew, Luke. Wild Animal Park.

Matt & Asher next to lego dad & kid (This is one of the few pictures I have of Matt smiling!)

Wild Animal Park, Kane & Will petting a deer.

Asher, Lego Vader

Kane & Will, Lego Triceratops

California Beach - Day 2

This may be an overload of family beach pictures, sorry!

I LOVE this picture of Jairon (my brother in law) and Maya!

Kasey searching for shells.

Maya showing me her treasure.

Will & Kane

Kasey, that water was dang cold!

Will, Kane, Matt & Maya

Will & Kane

I want to go back!!!!

St. George/California Trip

I feel really bad I haven't posted pictures of our UEA vacation yet. I'm going to post pics throughout the weekend because I have tons!

Day 1 - Saint George

Kane and my friend, Chardell's daughter, Sage at a really cool park.

Asher & Luke

Day 2 - Escondido, CA The hotel pool - Kane hates it when I take sad pictures of him.

Kane & Asher all tuckered out.

Asher at the bottom of the waterslide at the hotel.

La Jolla Shores - Asher

Kane & Will loved playing with seaweed.

Kasey loved the boogie board!

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween!

Kane, Kasey and Asher

Kane - Optimus Prime

Asher - Indiana Jones

Kasey - Rosalie Cullen (Twilight)

Matt helped them with pumpkins last night. Kasey did Jack Skellington by herself :)

Had to add this one of our Star Wars theme, 2005.

Asher's Baptism

Asher was baptized on October 11th. It was such a wonderful and special day!

Asher has been so excited to get baptized for a long time!

Grandpa Hintze (my dad) got home from his mission just in time to baptize Asher.

Matt's dad confirmed him.

Glitter Toes!

I can now do glitter toes! I charge $20/set. If you want to host a party of 5 or more people I'll do yours for free! Or just come over and I'll do yours.

(Yes, some of those hairy toes belong to men)

Happy 8th Birthday Asher!

Today Asher is 8 years old. Here are a couple pictures from opening presents before school.

Busy day. I'll post more pictures later.

Not an Anti-Blogger

My sister, Heidi, has accused me of being her anti-blogging sister. I have been extremely busy lately. Asher is in football and Kasey is in volleyball. Kasey just made her school team too, ask me how I'm going to fit that in :)

Kasey's team has won every match.

My dad is helping coach Asher's team. Asher is standing in front of my dad (with his hand on his hip).

I also decided to go to school to be a nail technician. I start Monday. They tell me it will take about 3 months. I'm hoping to learn how to do Glitter Toes too, yay!

Rise & Shout

My family loves BYU Football. A bunch of us went to their first game on Saturday. BYU won, go Cougars! We didn't all sit together. But close enough to get pictures of everyone.

My brother, Darren, and niece, Katie.
Asher

Me & Asher

Me & Heidi (see the where the band is on the very right of the picture)

Me & Matt

Jairon (shaved head and sunglasses), sliver of Will's head, part of Asher's face and Y hat, and my dad. Remember how I pointed out the band in the picture of Heidi & I? These guys are sitting just by the band. Doesn't my camera have a great zoom? :)

Also, can I just mention how fun it was to be at a BYU game with my dad. Last year Heidi & I went to a game and had tears in our eyes most of the game, missing our dad because he was on his mission. Glad he went, glad he's home. Love you Dad!

P.S. Heidi, you OWE me!!

I know some of you are waiting for a post about my new house. Well, two bedrooms in the basement flooded tonight. So, I'm just not ready to post about the house yet! That one needs to come from a happy place :)

First Day of School

Asher and Kasey started school last Monday.

Asher, 2nd Grade

Kasey, 8th Grade

Kane started Kindergarten today!

Had to add some more of Kane, he kept wanting me to take more pictures of him.

Exciting!

My parents are coming home from serving their mission in Malaysia today! Yay! Their flight doesn't get in until about 10:30 pm. But I'm taking my kids to the airport to hug them anyway.

(I finally live in Saratoga Springs. I will post about that soon.)

More Silly Kane

My dad's brother, Uncle Hal, has been staying with us at my parents house since Saturday. It's been so fun to hang out with him. Asher & Kane love him! I haven't seen him since the 4th of July 2007 and for many years before that.
Yesterday Kane said, "Mom, am I having a big giant dream?" I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "I was just wondering if Uncle Hal is real." He seriously thought he might have been having a 4 day long, big, giant dream.
Uncle Hal took my boys miniature golfing today (picture below). He's been playing in golf tournaments daily, so I thought it was pretty nice of him to take my boys out.

Kane's Interview

Kane decided to interview himself in the mirror today. Here's the dialogue:

Okay, how old are you? Uh, five. Okay now, when is your birthday? Uh, June 10th. Okay goodbye. Bye. I love you. I love you too. Wait, when is your birthday? June 10th! I already told you that! K, when is your birthday? I already told you that, June 10th! Uhhh! K, do you have a pet? Well, I have a mom. And my dad always works at our new house. (I don't quite understand what he says next, something about his other new house). Then a close up of his awesome dinosaur shirt.

Alright, seriously, do you have a pet? Well, I have a mom?!?!?!!! Priceless :)

Self-Esteem

I've been having some issues with my self-esteem lately. I imagine most of us do from time to time. I often catch myself thinking of everything I don't like about myself, my weight, I am a procrastinator, I lose my temper too easily, feeling jealous, etc. Why is it so hard, or maybe it feels vain, to think of the things I love about myself. So I actually made a list. I think I am honest, loyal, funny, I like to talk to people, I am laid back, I am a good mom and wife.
A friend asked me to name something other people love about me. It was really hard for me to come up with something. So I asked them (my husband included) to tell me a couple things they love about me. Wow, I have felt so much better about myself the past few days! There's something comforting about knowing that both of my sisters think I have a nice rack! They did say more than that :) My husband came up with a great list of reasons he loves me too.
I added all of these to my written list. What a great thing to look at when I'm feeling bad about myself. The list of things I love about myself and the things other people love about me (physical things included is a big plus).
So, I am encouraging all of you to do the same. Maybe even in a blog. Ask people to tell you something they love about you. I think even just one adjective can be pretty powerful.

4th of July (finally!)

This is going to be quick. Not too wordy, mostly pictures. Give me a break, I've been busy.
These are pictures from the party at my parents house on the 4th of July.

I think Betsy did the decorating, thanks Betsy!

Thanks to my family for helping to get the yard looking so spiffy!

Everyone (Darren, what are you doing?!?)

I made Betsy take a picture of me, because I'm always taking the pictures.. ooh my bangs are too short :)

"The Volleyball Game"

Slip 'n Slide
Asher (with a blue "faux"hawk)

Sorry Kane for posting this picture! We went to the Stadium of Fire. This was right after the jet fly by. Scared the heck out of Kane. Really, he was fine :)

Also, notice my counter at the bottom of my blog?? 38 days until my parents get home!!!!

FYI - My family, there were 2 t-shirts and some adidas left at my parents house.