Stupid Blogging

This is random-but can I CONFESS that I hate blogging? I would dare say that I think blogging takes more patience than being a mother. What the freak is going on with our backdrop? I have been stubborn for months and just tried to fix it...but to no avail. I have edited almost everything behind the scenes in HTML---changed sizes, paper, pixels...and NOPE my blog hates me and I hate it back!

I remember laughing with Kristi Hartman about blogging when we first started. We both were talking about how some people take it so personal. There was one person that we randomly found out in the blog world that kept threating to take down her blog unless people commented. AKA Blog threats!

We were laughing saying--Man this is serious stuff if people are out there committing blog suicide. Well let me just tell you---it has crossed my mind more than a few times lately with this blogging backdrop mess.

Can someone please talk me off the ledge? :) JK

Snowy Montana-What are we thinking?

2008 Christmas will be in good ole' Bozeman, MT. We usually try to rotate where we spend Christmas each year and this year we are spending it with my family first in Bozeman at my sister's house and then we will drive back to Colorado with my parents so we can see Dustin's Family.


Everything was good until the snow started coming down. Maybe I am paranoid but I keep thinking we are going to get stranded---bears will eat us or something dramatic?? I don't know if it comes with being a mom but I have noticed I over analyze EVERYTHING now! Lame---I know. We were originally going to go to Mexico but I insisted that we didn't because I didn't want Brody to drown in the ocean!


Maybe I am being a good mom or maybe Dustin is right---I have lost my mind! Well if we don't return by the 31st please send out the search and rescue. Oh and have a Merry Christmas from us---we are lame and we still haven't sent out our Christmas cards.

A Tragedy Beyond Measure

Last night Dustin and I were driving down to Ogden to meet Kyle and Kristi for dinner. We were coming down the hill outside of Mantua when we saw smoke and commotion. When we pulled closer we could see that a bad car accident had just taken place. We pulled over as a fire was about to burst one of the cars into flames. A kind truck driver pulled out a fire extinguisher and put it out as others gathered to assist. I jumped out of the car to offer help and as I ran up the hill I could hear a child screaming and trapped in the car. My heart ached. As I got closer I could see that a truck and suv had hit headon. The woman in the passenger side was still alive but trapped. Some very kind bystanders broke the back window of the suv and pulled the toddler safely out. I remember thinking that he had a mother that loved him because he was in a warm coat and had socks and shoes on. She had taken the time to bundle him up this cold night--this made my heartache more....especially, because she couldn't hold and COMFORT him.


I knew they needed comfort and they needed it NOW. Just then someone yelled that they needed blankets. I knew we had blankets in the car so I went to get them. As I was hurrying away from the scene I saw the mom and I had the impression to take the mom by the hand and to tell her that her son was okay and that she needed to pull through so her kids could have a mom. (but I failed too)

I ran to our car and grabbed the blanket and animal crackers first-in hopes to comfort the little boy. As I was going to get the blanket an officer arrived. I hurried back up with a blanket and the officer took it from me. They ended up needing 2 blankets so I ran back to the car and asked Dustin to bring the second one up. Then a kind lady approached us and asked if the family involved was Spanish and if the needed a translator--it made me feel so good that someone had taken the time to think about this amidst the commotion-eventhough they were not. Then the ambulances arrived and I stayed in our car so they could provide medical assistance.

Dustin returned and said that he didn't think that the mom made it. I sat in disbelief. We later heard on the news that this was true...the mother, father, and a family friend age 9 (only child) had passed away. The toddler, a 5 year old girl in the SUV and the driver of the truck survived.

I post this because I know I will remember this the rest of my life. It hasn't even been 24 hours and I can't stop thinking about these little families and the pain that they must be going through. The driver of the truck had innocently fallen asleep and this was the tragic outcome. I stand in amazement how complete strangers in a situation like this can express empathy and show love for those that they do not know, how a mother's role stands true to the end...holding on until she knows her children are okay. I cannot tell you the gratitude that fills my heart to have my family and to have the Gospel in my life. How precious life truly is...what an eternal gift families are. No matter how bad our situations are financially, emotionally, phyisically, spiritually, it is moments like this that wake us up as people and help us to tap into the realm beyond the veil and hold onto the things we have in this life closer.

I know a few news stations have mentioned that the father of the 9 yr old girl recently lost his job and she was an only child. I believe a fund is set-up for both families at Wells Fargo and would encourage anyone that is able to help. May our thoughts and prayers be with them at this time and Holiday Season.

The Lemonade Theory

"Some people stop at Lemonade stands and some people don't!"

I can't remember where I heard about this theory but it has stuck with me ever since. If you think about this, this is the easiest way to understand people---black and white. If you were to think about the characteristics of someone who actually takes the time to stop at a Lemonade stand they are probably someone who finds happiness in the simple things in life-understands the importance of brightening a strangers day, etc. On the flip side the cranky, never have time to stop and smell the roses type of people are usually the ones that we all can't stand.

So why is it lately that it seems like more random people are the INCONSIDERATE type that don't stop and will do anything to TICK you off?


Example:

Went to Casper's ice cream the other night to get 2 Frappe's-we went through the drive through. We get Frappe's all the time there so we are used to CONSISTENT service-that's what franchising is about :). Well this time we received our frappes in practically a shot glass-it was apparent that they were out of the regular togo cups but instead of making 4 shots as the equivalant of ONE frappe. We get 1 shot glass each-totallying $5---we could see through the window what was transpiring. Dustin was in the driver seat and I told him that he had to say something. So when she handed us our crappy frappe cups Dustin sarcastically says "So you changed the size now huh?" This airheaded girl stares at him smiles big and says Have a great night shuts the window and walks off! AHHHHHH you lazy good for nothin' bum.

This has become a common theme with restaurants around here: Almost every restaurant is being stingy on stuff. It's creating this "Anticappointment" we enter anticipating good food and leave being disappointed. YES the economy may be down but it is your loyal customers that will keep spending and trying to help your business during down times. When you tick us off we usually don't come back-was it really worth the $.40 you saved in product costs? Shouldn't they be taking better care of us?

Then the other thing that ALWAYS makes me mad around the Holidays is for some reason I have more people slam doors in my face or not hold it open when I have a handful of bags and a child on my hip. Why is this?

Well maybe I just need to let it go and realize that people are people...but sorry...lately it has been buggin' the b'jeebers out of us!

Our Favorite Place

Last weekend we went to COLORADO. We decided to take some quick family photos at one of MY favorite places. This is a woodland area that is in my parents neighborhood. We went to celebrate Halloween and to help my parents MOVE. I just think it is the coolest place. Everytime I think about my dream house I always picture a road like this up to a cozy home tucked away in the country! Brody loved the leaves and had a blast running through the trees. It was so much fun despite going to the CSU/BYU Game and watching CSU BARELY loose. What a GAME! Brody and I were cheering for the right team... not the COUGARS.

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! FROM OUR WOOLLY LIL' LAMBKIN!

Brody at 13 months-FLYING TOMATO

Here is a quick snapshot of what our little man is up too!
* Weighs about 20 lbs now-and is still growing like a beanstalk!

* LOVES animals (dogs), other kids, storytime, outdoors, fixing things-I think he is going to be an engineer---he is seriously intrigued by every detail in life, CANDY, loves playing catch with a tennis ball, airplanes (of course), lights, plugs, and he is starting to cuddle more-hooray!

* He says things like: Mom, Dad, Ball, Tickle, Whoa, Ow, What is that? What is this? Yum Yum, Brrrr, and can make other noises/words.

* Foods: LOVES tomatoes of all things-he will sit and eat it like an apple-thus he is our little Flying Tomatoe-how fitting huh? He likes Alaskan Salmon baby food, potatoes, cheese, Vegeatable Soup, Salsa and spicy foods. Oh and he still covets his Cheetos. ( I promise he eats healthy foods too!)

She's Finally Here!

Well this week Brody had his first SLEEPOVER my boss Ben and his wife Alecia had their 3rd child on Thursday night. Little Fynlee took 14 hours of labor to get here. Poor Alecia! The kids hung out at our house and at 10:00 at night she finally came so we headed up to the hopsital and hung out with their new little sister.

Prior to the birth of their sister, Statton and Madie and Brody all cuddled in the same chair and we had a movie night with The Nightmare Before Christmas. These guys are practically our family and we were so honored that Ben and Alecia let us be a part of their special day!

My little Mess-Maker

Well after this week we know that Brody won't be taking after Dustin's squeaky clean behaviors. On Tuesday Brody woke up from his nap and I was finishing up a work call so I let him sit and play for a few minutes. Lately when we have gone to get him out of his crib he thinks it's funny to squat down and then jump up and scare us with a Rarrr! Well this time I got the scare of my life---when he jumped up his face was covered in poop. For a second there I thought Aunt Jamima had left a kid in our crib---I barely even recognized him. I have heard of kids taking off their diapers and smearing it on their cribs but their face? YUCK! So into the tub he went.So then an hour later I left the room for 2 minutes and came back to Brody covered in my new turquoise eyeshadow. Apparently he thought it would suit him well! So back in the tub we went to make bath #3 for the day. Then yesterday we had a repeat of Tuesday. Poop on his face and all over the crib-what else can you do but laugh-I seriously think he thinks it is lotion and he is so proud when he lathers himself up! What a gem!

My definition of strength

Well as some people know better than others, life is full of ups and downs-trials and miracles, heartache and pain. I am a firm believer that character is defined during the hard times in life and I continue to stand in amazement as my cousin Jennifer stands by her husbands side, Chris, as he battles with cancer. I know it is tacky to openly display people's personal lives-but I feel there is so much that people can learn from their journey through this past year. It has made me take a step back and appreciate the things that I do have and realize the strength that I don't have.

(so forgive me Jen-but I know that prayers are needed and hope that people will be touched as I have been!)

This is a recent post from her blog-and I couldn't put it in my own words so I thought I would paste parts of it over.

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of Chris having surgery to remove part of his brain tumor. (He was diagnosed with cancer on Sept. 14 last year and had surgery on the 18th). Poor Kim had to spend her birthday last year in the waiting room at the hospital while we waited for Chris's surgery to finish...and then she didn't even get to see him because they put him in the ICU and would only allow immediate family to see him (so no in-laws). What a great sister to spend her birthday supporting Chris and I! Here's to hoping you'll get to do something a lot more fun this year Kim. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since Chris's cancer diagnosis. Forgive me while I blog AGAIN about our journey through cancer. This milestone is sort of bittersweet for me. Sweet because it is a miracle that he has survived a year...and on the other hand bitter because really there's no end in sight. Ahh, if I only had a date or something to say, "By this time he will be better and we won't have to endure anymore treatments." But that's not the case. Maybe I haven't learned all I am supposed to learn from this small trial :). I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane to commemorate our year.

In the past year: (WARNING-- LONG POST)- Chris has had 2 surgeries- one on his brain to remove part of a malignant glioblastoma and another a week later to remove a benign tumor from his spinal cord.-Chris has endured 6 weeks of radiation to his brain- waking up every morning M-F to go to radiation, and then going to work afterwards. I think he must be part Superman!-Chris has endured a year of chemo so far...more still to come!-We have driven to Salt Lake many, many, many times. So many, in fact, that our car knows its own way there.-We have submitted more than half a million dollars in claims to our insurance company. Cancer is expensive!-We have received more bills and explanantions of benefits from our insurance company in the mail than I hope any of you receive in the next 10 years.- We have cried a lot (OK...I've cried a lot) and we've both laughed a lot.-We have learned to appreciate the little things in life- an "I love you", Chris being able to tie his shoes with one hand, spending time together even if we're doing absolutely nothing, etc.-I've had to learn to accept help from others. People have brought in meals, our ward repainted our living room while Chris had his surgeries, a man in our ward stained our fence, many people have helped Chris get to Elder's Quorum at church, we've had lots of help with our garden, our wonderful neighbor boy has taken care of our lawn while we're out of town for treatments and won't let us pay him....and there's so many more examples.-Chris has driven ONCE this whole year. Shhh...don't tell his doctor. I have become the designated driver ALWAYS.-We've watched as the cancer has gradually cost Chris most of the use of his right arm and right leg. And then I've watched as Chris has learned to do everything with his left hand (he was previously right handed.)-We have taken the journey of going through fertility treatments and are expecting our first child. Some people would call us nuts to want a child with so much going on...but let them think what they want.-We've found incredible comfort in our Patriarchal blessings.-Chris has graduated from physical therapy!-We've had our faith tried in more ways than we can count, but wouldn't trade it for anything.-We've learned greater sympathy for others.-We've met lots of other people battling cancer who have inspired us.-We've benefited from some of the best cancer care available in the world. Chris's doctor has been a miracle for us.-I finished my last year of pharmacy school amidst all this going on, graduated, and passed my boards. It was a rough year, but I made it!-Last, but not least, we've learned to appreciate each other and life so much more. And, if you care to hear what my advice would be after surviving one year of cancer- here it is:-If you have headaches, go to the doctor.-Always, always, have health insurance. You never know what might happen.-Get all the education that you can. You never know when your husband might not be able to work and you might have to support your family. Thanks for all of your love, support and prayers on our behalf. We really appreciate it. Happy birthday Kimbo and way to be a fighter Superman Chris!! You're my hero and my inspiration. I LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday Brody

We had a great weekend full of birthday fun. Brody turned the big "1" on Friday!. We had a trio birthday party with two of his girlfriends, Addyson and McKinley. They both turned 2 within a few days of Brody. Then we went to Heber Friday night and met my Dad and Grandma and Grandpa for dinner, cake and presents! We topped off his big weekend on Saturday with the BYU/ Wyoming game. Unfortunately, WYO lost and we were once again surrounded by annoying BYU fans--lol! But he did get to go on the field with Grandpa so he can start learning all of the football plays-hopefully they will come in handy some day! Happy Birthday Brody-we couldn't have asked for a better year with you!

Our Official Website

Kristi being the good egg that she is made a beautiful website for us! We now look a lot more professional and we are ready to take off. Feel free to give input, we are changing a few things but we are open to ideas!

http://www.stagedelements.com/

We are taking referrals in the SLC/Ogden/Logan Area so if you know of anyone that could use our services let us know! We promise we will make them proud!

Thanks for everyone's support and wish us luck as we hit this full-force now!

A row of Trouble-Makers

I had to steal this picture from my friend Marci's blog. It is too cute to pass up. Her son Bowen, 4th from the left is 2 weeks older than Brody and just turned 1!!! She had a party with blue cupcakes and a swimming pool. Hence some of them wearing blue lipstick and Brody looking like a drowned rat! Thanks Marci!

Our Most Recent Stagging Project

Well we just finished a busy past week with staging! Things are going really well. Our most recet home was a very fun and cool house in SLC by the UofU stadium. Here are some shots of the house... We are in the process of finishing our website with the Grand Finale pictures so if you check out our blog you will see some before and afters! We will keep you posted on some others!

Dumb in the Head

So Dustin and I have had many experiences lately where we are "not that bright"

Example:

The other day a BIG TIME Marketing guy e-mailed me to ask "WEATHER" or not he should fill out a form.

I forwarded the email over to my boss and wrote the following:



From: Chelsey Sanders Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 4:43 PMTo:

It concerns me that he spelt weather wrong. Marketing people should know this! BTW DC mentioned tat we really son’t have to pull the files anymore-but we haven’t finalized that conversation so I will keep you posted.

WOW!!! I know...then my boss wrote back.

BTW, is it “spelt” or “spelled”? And what does “tat we really son’t” really mean?

I about died! The last sentence was a typo but in my mind I really thought for 1/2 a second that spelt was a word!

So as I was sitting at my desk feeling dumb. Dustin called. Too prideful to tell him---I just carried on our conversation as normal. I asked him what he and Brody had been up to? He responded and said: " I bought Brody a new Sippy cup, and DOESN'T Nothin' come out"

And there I rest my case! The sad part of the story is I always say dumb people should never breed---Brody-good luck my friend!

Bronco-Mania

Dustin and I couldn't be more excited that football season is here-by the look on Brody's face I think he is stoked too! We bought Brody a Javon Walker jersey (despite him dying) and I love how it matches his hair! :)

I found them!!!

So lately as I have been on my decorating kick I have been looking EVERYWHERE for cute glass vases and apothacary jars to put fun little goodies in for Brody. I used to babysit for a lady that always had a treat jar for when her kids were good and now that Brody is old enough to appreciate treats-I had to find me some. Finally, a few weekends ago in St.George I found some at Interior Elements for $25-$30 bucks. They were cute and dramatic but the price was killing me. Then I went to the TJ MAXX and More and found just what I was looking for. Aren't they cute? $12 a piece!!! I was thrilled. Now the logan TJ Maxx has them---but at least I got a souvenir from my trip-right?

Sunday School Slip up

So Yesterday during Sunday school we had quite the time trying to wrestle Brody, listen to the lesson, and still have a good attitude. We were in the back of the class with our friends the Kecks and we had their little girl Kaayl and Brody cornered and we were trying to entertain them. At one point Dustin was standing with Brody and reached down to grab his scriptures so he could follow along. As he was grabbing them they slipped out of his hand and he tore part of a page out. I looked over to see the comotion and hear Dustin yell-"Oh Damn" I was laughing pretty hard. His face was priceless when he realized we were at church. And now you know why the Sanders go to church!

Additional Photos from July

Blogboard Confessional

I just decided I am the biggest hypocrite and mooch in the world. Tonight we had Enrichment and we glass etched our casserole dishes so when you take them over to people's houses your last name is engraved in the bottom. Well some of the girls brought an actual meal in their dish with the recipe of what they made to the side. After we had finished we got to "SAMPLE" all of the dishes.

My sampling turned into a full-blown 5 course meal and it was so good I went back for seconds and even 3rds on a dessert. I ALWAYS make fun of the church moochers that always come to the activities for the food and load their plate up and don't leave any for anyone else. Is it just me or does every ward have a few families like this where their kids pile in and out of the buffet line? Well I guess I am embarrassed to admit that I think after tonight I walk away with that title in my ward. Oh boy. The worst part was after I came home Dustin wanted to go to dinner and I pretended I hadn't had anything. I was so full I finally had to breakdown and tell him. Nothing like a free meal off of the church. LOL In the meantime I will be working on control.

Yowza's-Roomate Reunion 2008

Emily,Mary,Stephanie, Courtney, and Me-AKA "Whitie"






Well as you can tell we had a lot of FUN in St. George this past weekend. Courtney, Emily and I drove down together and then we all stayed at Mary's house. People always say that you can tell a good friend when you haven't seen each other in years and you pick up where you left off.

I consider all of these girls to be some of my best friends and sisters. We went swimming, ,shopping, and then to a Hibachi Grill for dinner. As you can tell in one of the pictures Emily was laughing so hard that she wet her pants. OK that's a lie her son Kaden spilled a glass of water on her but it still was pretty funny.

We all were roomates for about 3-4 years at BYU-Idaho. It is amazing how lucky we were to randomly be placed as roomates. I hope we continue this roomate reunion for many years to come. Love you Babettes!

Busy, Busy, Busy

To the left is a before shot of Marci's Dining Area.

We painted a milk chocolate color throughout her kitchen, family and dining rooms. Added Curtains, pictures, pillows, ligthing. See below for the afters.

Well summers always seem to be super busy for us but this year I feel like we haven't had a chance to breathe (hence why we have neglected our blog) With Brody crawling it seems the only time I get is at 10 o'clock at night. Well here is a re-cap of what we have been up to.

4th of July Ashley and Brandt and their kids came to visit for a few days. We went swimming, played miniature golf, and attempted to hike to the wind caves on the hottest day of the summer. We failed due to tired kids and lack of water.

Then the later half of the 4th weekend Dustin's family came to visit us. We watched the logan fireworks, went to Park City and rode the Alpine slide, and then had an enjoyable time jet skiing at Bear Lake. My camera was out of batteries and I am so sad that I didn't even get a picture of Brody on the 4th! :(

Then Kristi and I have been busy staging/decorating. We did my friend Denise's house and Marci's. Above are some shots of Marci's house. It is kind of dark due to her camera. We still need some extra lighting and a console table. We spent about $350 on her Family/Dining/Kitchen so not too shabby. Working with a budget was a little harder than I thought though. I was so mad when I got my Pottery Barn magazine this week because everything is Black/White/and Green. But for the record we had the idea first...:)

Brody Collin Sanders- 9 Months

Brody had his 9 month appointment today and it is a miracle we remembered. Dustin came racing in after a flight, I was on a call and was so confused when he rushed out of here! Later to find out that Brody had a Dr's appt. props to Dustin for remembering!

Here is what the Brod-man has been up to and his stats:

Loves crawling and anything with lights on it. LOVES Cheetos... Luring him in with a chip has helped his crawling on all fours.

Is happy and still has his happy hands where he gets really excited over music, noises, people, and food. Loves to clap and sing if you're happy and you know it...Randomly laughs and is self entertaining. Just a laid back little fella.

Can finally say Mama!!

A few weeks ago at church we were out in the hall-a few other moms were out there with their kids. Brody was playing on the ground with his tube of cortizone cream and before I knew it he was laughing, entertaining and surrounded by all of the kids. I think all 3 of us mom's appreciated it. :)

Still rolls his r's when he cries.

Fell head first out of his crib this week and likes to drink the Bath and Body Works Plug-in air freshners.

Stats:

Height 29 3/4 90% Percentile
Weight 18.4oz 20% Percentile

KANSAS CITY-GIRL'S TRIP 2008

This past weekend my mom, sister, and I had the opportunity of a lifetime to go to Kansas City on a shopping spree girls trip. What more could a woman want?? We went because a store called Nell Hill's was having a "WAREHOUSE" sale where all of their interior design stuff was marked way down. If you love the day after Thanksgiving sale then this is for you! We had to wake up and be there at 5:30 AM and wait in line until the store opened at 9AM. Once we got in it was a mad house! We had pillowcases and bags that we were stuffing full of accesories-most things were under $10. As we were pushing through things I found a lantern that I LOVED...moments later I looked down to see it shattering on the ground. But no worries, it didn't stop me I continued on shopping and grabbing for the goods. Enclosed is a picture of some of the stuff we got. They had kitchen tables and Armoires for $200!!! Yowzas!! But since we flew we could only bring small items home. Lantern in the picture $5, clock $3--Cheap huh!?

Some other fun things that we did is we went to the Brandi Carlile/Sheryl Crow concert. It was fantastic and my mom even managed to keep her clothes on-she can get out of hand. JK mom! :)

If you have never heard Brandi Carlile's music you should-I will try to download some on our blog. She was AMAZING...kind of feminist music like Sheryl Crow but good for the soul. At the concert Ashley and I were targeted as lesbians, saw some "free-spirit" dancers, and laughed until we cried. Ohhhh and we cannot forget the little yellow cavalier that we arrived in...AKA "The Bumblebee" See below.

These are some of Nell Hill's items too. I loved how all of her bedroom sets were mixed matched

This is the line outside of the warehouse, and my mom being a sidewalk sleeper on hotel pillows

The train station-we went to the Bodies Revealed museum where we saw cadavers that were displayed. It reminded Ash and I of our college Anat and Phys days! Then we shopped at the Plaza and had lunch with my friend Britney at The Cheesecake Factory! All in all it was a fun trip and was definitely worth the laughs, lack of sleep, and bargains! See you next year girls.