Elder Reynolds

{I stole this awesome pic from his facebook}

Last night this cute kid found out where he will be spending the next 2 years...

DALLAS, TEXAS!!!

We are so excited for him and so proud of him!

He goes to the MTC December 1st so we will definitely be missing him at Christmas,

but he can't wait to get out there!

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{Jer, Jake, & Josh}

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we will miss Josh's fun personality and sense of humor,

and his mouth-popping skills...

and his duets with Jer...

But we can't wait for him to start his adventure in the Lone Star State :)

life!

One of these days I will get this blog caught up with all we have been up to :)

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We are in full football mode in the Whiting house...

going to watch the football guys (and daddy) at practice, traveling to games, O-line dinners, etc.

We love every minute, but mix football with everyday life, work, school, family, friends, playdates, and all the other stuff that seems to comes up, we are BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

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And lots more to come...

* home game this weekend with some of the Whiting family coming to stay

* I think I am going to take Dallas on the charter to the N. Dakota game next week. I hadn't even thought of taking him, but the President brought his 3-yr-old to the Texas State game this past weekend and he did great. Plus, Dallas would think flying on the plane with the football guys and staying at the hotel with them was about the coolest thing ever!

* Francis family and my parents coming to the next home game

* HALLOWEEN!

* Dal's first trip to Disneyland once football season is over

* CHRISTMAS is going to be here before we know it...ahhh!

* AND planning for my trip to Ethiopia to pick up my new niece! My parents will go on the first trip when they have their court date, then 6 weeks later Lisa and I will go with Kim & Steve to bring her home!!! They don't have their referral yet, so we don't know exactly when we will be going, but it will most likely be sometime between January and June 2011.

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Fun stuff and fun times! I am so glad I have such great people to enjoy it all with. Life is Good :)

just had to share...

The other day Dallas and I were playing trains when out of the blue he came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "that's for being cute mom!"

How did I get so lucky?!?!

This boy absolutely melts my heart!

Teag's baby

this is Teag's new pride and joy...

I have been hearing about Traeger Smoker's

(and how bad Teag needs/wants one) for a few years now.

Teag's friend Dylan in Boise has one and we borrowed it a few Thanksgiving's ago and had THE BEST turkey I have ever had! Teag hasn't stopped talking about the Traeger and finally gave in and got one for himself.

Needless to say, there has been A LOT of meat purchased and smoked at our house since he picked up this bad boy...

everything from ribs to brisket, pork shoulders to steaks, and more.

And I don't really eat meat...good thing we know a few big guys that can eat a lot!

I tried telling him that if he really wanted one he had to get the pig...he didn't go for it :(

Newport 2010

our CHAMPION!

just had to give a shout out to my cute dad...

last Saturday he won the

Willow Creek Senior Club Championship!

This is the second time he has won it and we are so proud of him!

He is almost as good of golfer as he is a dad and grandpa :)

(which is saying a lot because he is an incredible golfer!)

Good thing he had all 3 of his daughters in town,

we made him get a picture by the scoreboard and celebrated afterward with one of his favorite's - banana meringue pie.

Nice work dad! We love you!

O-Line Breakfast

Training camp started last Sunday, so Saturday morning we had the offensive line

over for breakfast. Dallas was beyond excited that the "football guys" were coming to his house!

We had quite the spread...just to give you an idea of the amount of food:

12 loaves of french bread for stuffed french toast

10 dozen eggs...yes 10!

8 loaves of Great Harvest apple crumble bread

8 cartons each of strawberries and blueberries

8 bunches of bananas
2 ENORMOUS smoked pork shoulders

4 gallons of milk

4 gallons of OJ
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We wanted to give the guys some good food before they have to eat dorm food for 2 weeks!

Schauerhammer, Steve and Brock

Gavin, Russ, Greg, Big D andBrandon

Brock, Schauerhammer and Tony

Trevor playing with Dallas.

Dallas is getting pretty good at knowing all the guys names,

but it is by far the FUNNIEST thing to hear him say 'Schauerhammer'!!!

Teag is a total slave-driver so he had Russ on the elliptical after breakfast ;)

Brandon and Greg

Steve, Big D and Gavin

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These guys are all so great and they are all so cute to Dallas! We are so excited for football season and can't wait for the first game in just a few weeks. Hopefully all the hard work pays off and the T-birds have a winning season!

Whiting Reunion

King's Birthday!

Our little buddy Kingston turned 2 a few weeks back and had such a fun jungle party!

King is Dallie's little friend whose dad is Coach Walterscheid and mom is my friend Shauna.

There were tons of kids and tons of fun things to do...

pin the tail on the lion


Dallas and Owen Petersen playing in the bounce house and being silly with Coach Fernandez


The birthday boy with his daddy and Dallas

Dal didn't have a swimsuit but he couldn't resist hopping in!

Justin and Zesty hanging the pinata

Dallie's turn to take a whack at the monkey pinata

Dal had to be right in on the action of opening presents...

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Thanks for inviting us to your fun party King!

Seattle

With training camp and football season right around the corner, Teag and I thought we should have a little getaway before the craziness begins!

We weren't quite sure what to do without our little buddy in tow, but we managed to do a few things and enjoy just being together :)

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Neither of us had been to Seattle before and we were thinking the temp might be a little cooler than Southern Utah these days!

We drove around and explored, saw the beautiful UW campus, went to Pike Market a couple times, walked along the waterfront, checked out the floating houses and beautiful lakes and scenery, went to an awesome farmers market with the yummiest fruit, slept in, and of course, you can't go to Seattle without hitting Nordstrom and Starbucks!

Pike Market

we never did get a pic of them throwing the fish around!

the skyline

Puget Sound - I wonder if Derek and Meredith are on that ferry?! I really wanted to go to Seattle Grace Hospital, but we didn't make it ;)

The football and baseball stadium with Mt. Ranier in the background.

We didn't realize how rare it is to see Mt. Ranier! We had great weather while we were there so we were lucky enough to see it.
The Yankees were playing the Mariners while we were there, but neither of us are the biggest baseball fans so we skipped the game.

Teag next to our sweet rental car. Too bad he barely fit in it!
We swore we will never have a small rental car again...



us
(squeezed into our rental car!)

and of course, what is Seattle without NORDSTROM!

Teag was a good sport and checked out the global headquarters with me

I guessed there would be a lot of Starbucks, but who knew?!

There was literally one on every block - sometimes even 2 or 3!
Being in the Starbucks hub, I was able to find the VENTI size in my dream cup.

This one is for you Kelley!
This was our dream place in London! The only other place I have seen one was in Whistler, Canada so I was VERY excited to come across this!

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Of course we missed our little man (thanks gma and gpa whiting for watching him!)

but, we did have a fun just the two of us!

new fave

Our buddy is obsessed with Toy Story.

buzz, woody, and the rest of the gang!

And crocs are a staple for Dallas in the spring, summer & fall.

So, when I saw these I couldn't resist.

BACK to SCHOOL

Tomorrow night I finish my first official class of the

Master of Education Counseling Program

This is something I have wanted to do and planned to do for a while now. The program was originally going to start last fall, but kept getting postponed, so I am very happy it is finally underway.

The first class, Portfolio I, was an overview of the program. I was really excited about my first real class - Life Span & Family Development. It has been SO interesting! It was almost like a parenting class at times. I only do one class at a time, each lasting 6 weeks. It is kind of nice to be able to focus on one subject. My next class is Personality Theories and Counseling Models. I am learning alot in general and a lot about myself (it CAN be a little much at times, such as when we were studying adolescence and had to write a 5-7 page self-reflection paper?!?!). It is A LOT of reading and A LOT of writing, but I am truly loving every minute!

It has been about 8 years since I graduated from college, so obviously things have changed.

I went to the store to get my "school supplies" and wasn't even sure if I should get a notebook.

It is all laptops now - again, very different from when I was in college! Back then I was thinking I was really with it because I had a {HUGE} desktop!

This new adventure will be a lot of work, but also so fulfilling and exciting. I will be sure to post all the interesting things I am learning :)

dal

{ enjoying a red mango - his favorite!}

{playing with daddy}



{so proud of his potty chart - too bad he hasn't used the potty yet!}

{best buddies!}

{SO excited for Toy Story 3! He was all set for the big show-buzz shirt, toy story lunch box filled with toy story fruit snacks, buzz and woody}

{that's my boy!}

A few things about our little man these days...

* he tells me "mom, you fired" when he doesn't like my answer to his requests. Nothing like my 3-yr-old firing me from being his mom :)

* Teag has a football camp at SUU this week and Dallas has been telling everyone he sees that his dad had to go camping

* he is Teag's little shadow - he was so bummed when we told him he couldn't go to the workouts with daddy this week

* he is ALWAYS practicing his letters, numbers, and shapes-in the store, while we are driving, around the house. Leap Frog really works wonders!

* I was having back problems and Dallas was the best little helper carrying things for me because "mommy's back was sick". He was so excited the other morning when I got him out of his crib, he yelled "Yay mommy! Your back all better! Now you can carry me again!" So sweet.
* "why?" - this is what we hear everyday, after pretty much everything we say. I have been told I did the same thing to my parents :)

* Dallas hadn't been to school in a little while. Monday was his first day back, so when I picked him up I asked him how his day was. He told me his friend Keen-meister went to time-out. I asked Dal if he went to time-out and he told me no and changed the subject. A little later in our car ride home, out of the blue, he tells me "mommy I DID go to time-out today at school". Uh-oh. It took a while to get it out of him, but eventually he told me Keen-meister hit him, so he hit him back. He followed up with "Mommy, we don't hit or kick. We only kick balls. And we talk nice" Good point little man.

* I rarely get a simple "no" from Dal. Regardless of the situation it is "no way Jose" - even through tears. Love this boy of mine!

* he takes his job of watering the flowers very seriously and makes sure to get it done every night

* whenever Teag or I go somewhere he comes out in the front yard to wave goodbye, blow kisses, tell us he will miss us, loves us, and tell us "peace mom" or "rock on dad"

* he wipes off my kisses and thinks it is about the FUNNIEST thing ever! (But he is pretty good about giving me kisses, so I guess it is a trade off!)

* Last night I was talking to him, asking about his day at school, etc. and he finally just looked over and said, "Mommy, shhh!" Great. Now Teag will probably try to use that one too!

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{helping himself to a popsicle-one of probably 20 per day}

{so silly wearing my goggles in the tub}

{making cookies with gma-such the little helper!}

Makenzie & Memorial Day

We were SO excited that Jake, Em and Makenzie came to Utah for Memorial Day! We hadn't met Makenzie yet and were DYING to get our hands on her! Dallas called her 'baby Kenzie' the whole weekend - in the cutest little high-pitch voice :) Dallas also had a blast with Uncle Jake - he always had to know where Jake was. When Dal was going to bed he would give a general, "good night guys" followed by "good night Jake". I am glad he and his Uncle Jake had some bonding time ;)

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We had a fun weekend hanging out!

The only thing missing was the O'Neils :( we missed you girls and guy!

My mom, Em, Kim and I got pedicures Saturday morning while the boys played with the kids, Kim and Steve impressed us as always with a yummy BBQ at their house, we played at Sugarhouse Park, the boys had a good time watching some big UFC fight, we had a fun BBQ at mom and dad's Sunday, then headed up to Ruth's Diner (always a favorite) in Emigration Canyon for breakfast on Memorial Day.

Dallas and Jake

Great Grandma Reynolds with baby Kenz

Teag and Jay showing us their UFC poses!
Jay is doing and looking so good these days! I would say the best he has in 5+ years.

It was great that he was able to be with the fam!

the UFC stare-down?!

Jer, Teag, Jay, Jake and Josh getting in a little b-ball

Always a favorite activity of the guys when at mom and dad's

Don't yummy berries just scream summer?! Kim and Steve made quite the dinner Saturday night. Kim does such a great job entertaining and I love her presentation!

apps

more apps and homemade hummus - yum!

Wow Grandpa - you are GREAT with the grandkids ;)

Teag and Steve checking out Steve's awesome smoker

Stevie did ribs and everyone was LOVING them - especially Isaak - between he and Teag they probably ate 3/4 of the ribs!

Awwwwww! My Cooper! He is honestly the sweetest, cutest, most loving and best dog! Kim, Steve and the boys took Cooper when we moved and have given him the BEST home! They boys take him on multiple walks everyday, play with him constantly, take him to the park, etc. We couldn't be happier with his new family :)

Uncle Jay and a not-so happy Dallas

Cutest Kim and Steve

Dal-man having fun playing at Sugarhouse Park

Dallas and baby Kenzie - is she not the cutest?!

I could eat her up! I REALLY wanted to take her home with me, but for some reason Jake and Em weren't cool with it.

Giving loves or practicing headlocks???

Dallas tackling Uncle Jay

Bennie's turn for loves from Dallas!

and...more loves for baby Kenzie

I am hoping that being around Makenzie made Dallas realize a sibling WOULD be fun...

he and his dad aren't so convinced yet

Dallas and Daddy

And now Isaak's turn for Dallas loves

Ruth's Diner!

We love Ruth's - they have such a good brunch, including meals 'for their vegan friends'

I also love it because Teag took me to dinner at Ruth's the night he proposed.

Steph, Ben, Kim, Kenzie, Jake, Em, Stevie and Jay at breakfast

Dallas does not do well at restaurants these days. We have taken an eating out moratorium for a bit...after the running, yelling, not eating, dumping a glass of water on mom, everyone was able to see why!

Grandma was a good sport though and kept taking Dal to see the river.

As you can see, he obviously didn't want to come back

Mister checking out the river

Dallas doing his famous "booga-booga-booga-ahhhh!"

from his Letter Factory dvd

our little fam

Josh, Jake and Jer were exhausted after a fun and busy weekend!

me and baby Kenzie

I made the call that I think Ben and Makenzie totally look alike - it isn't just the lack of hair

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We had such a fun weekend! Counting down until Newport...2 months from now we will be chillin on the beach :)