Some BIG News!!!

So...we have some REALLY BIG NEWS!!! (No...we aren't pregnant...this is even more exciting!)

SHANE PASSED THE EIT!!!!

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the EIT is the Engineer-In-Training Examination. Most of the time, this test is taken during your undergrad, while you are in the midst of learning all of the material...and all of the material is covered in your classes. In Shane's case, however, since he received his Bachelors in Geology, he didn't take this test, nor all of the material it covered, while he was in school. Over the past year and a half, he has been teaching himself what he's needed to know...you know, all that stuff you get tested on but never use in your occupation! He had some great friends from the office who helped him out here and there, but in the end, this test has been a huge challenge for him!

He received the letter on Monday and it has been a HUGE weight off of his shoulders! Last night he even said, "now I can actually enjoy coaching baseball and watching LOST without this stupid test hovering over me!"

Now that he has passed this test, it is on the the PE...the Professional Engineer test. We aren't sure if he will be eligible for it in October or not, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that he will be! It should be a little easier than the EIT was!

CONGRATULATIONS SHANE!!! (I'm looking forward to him not having to study all spring too!!!)

Our Sweet Prophet

As those of you who are LDS are aware, or sweet and beloved President Hinckley passed away on Sunday. While we are so happy that he is with his wonderful wife now, he will definitely be missed. I found some info on his funeral that I wanted to post, just in case you were wondering. (this was posted on another blog...)

Funeral services for President Gordon B. Hinckley will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. (Utah time) in the Conference Center, according to LDS Churchspokesman Rob Howell. Overflow seating will be available in the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, as well as in the Conference Center Theater. Information will be forthcoming on how the public can attend the funeral, which will be broadcast live on BYU TV, KBYU, Ch. 11, as well as KSL TV and radio, Howell said. Other local media outlets may broadcast the funeral. The service will also be transmitted live via the LDS Church's satellite system and sent around the globe with translation available in 69 languages, Howell said. President Hinckley's body will lie in state in the Church Administration Building Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

I've Finally Read Them!!!

SO...I think I'm the second to last person to read these books! (My friend Aimee hasn't yet...anyone else?!) People have been telling me for months to read these, but I kept putting it off...let's face it, for those of you who know me, I AM NOT A READER! I pretty much run away from anything over 300 pages, and that's even pushing it...other than the scriptures of course! Any way...look at how FAT these books are! So, I have a friend named Mackenzie who has been begging me to read them. They are her favorites! She is on her 7th time reading them! (She's one of my girls at church, and she is so fun!) I promised her when I saw her last week that I would start them by Sunday. So, when I had a dentist appointment on Thursday, I took Twilight with me to get started. Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the book sucked me in! I was up until 2:30 a.m. Thursday night reading it. I finished it on Friday.

Friday morning after gymnastics, I went to buy books 2 and 3...I realized very early that these would be keepers! Much to my horror and embarrassment, I had to go to the Teeny Bopper section to get them...oh well! So, I started book 2 Friday night. Shane had realized that I was becoming, in his words, obsessed with these books, so he built me a fire to read by when he went to bed! I'm so lucky to have such a supportive hubby regardless of how psycho I'm being! I was up until 4:30 a.m...I couldn't put this one down! I finished it up on Saturday morning!

Saturday I had to be a functional part of the family and we had a great time in the snow and Shane took me on an awesome date! (I'll post snow pics as soon as I download them!) So, of course, after our date, I started reading book 3. I was up until 2:30. I stayed up last night until 3:30 and finished it!

So...I read these BIG FAT BOOKS in four days! They must be good if I would do such a thing! They were well worth it! I'm going to read them again, but I have promised Shane that I won't be "obsessed" this time, since I know what's going to happen!

It's kind of embarrassing that I'm reading the same book as my 12 year old niece, but at the same time, it's fun to talk about it with her...and Mackenzie, and my sister Kelsey, and Jill, and Amber, etc...!!! (Thanks again for the picture Amber!)

Stop the Madness!!!!

Ok...so yesterday was just ONE OF THOSE DAYS...first of all...the lamp on the big TV went out...YES PEOPLE...we have NO TV! The kids thought they were going to die! It was freezing yesterday so they couldn't go outside...and inside they couldn't watch TV or play the Wii! You would have thought they were in the dark ages or something! (Did I mention that the TV in my room and the Game Cube TV still work...but those weren't good enough!) Miracle of all miracles...our TV is still under warranty!!! This is the first time we have ever bought one of those extended warranty packages from Best Buy that we have actually used!!! Oh happy day! I guess it's a $250 part not counting labor...so you can imagine how happy Shane and I were! The guy is coming Friday...I hope the kids can survive!

On top of no TV and kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off because they had "nothing" to do, I was on the phone with Verizon (for an hour) for the THIRD time this week because our Internet connection keeps failing! AAAHHHHHHH!!! Got that fixed, again!

Last night, Shane and I were in our bathroom and he noticed a huge chunk of hair on his counter. He asked me where it came from, and me, being the on top of everything that goes on in my house kind of mom that I am, replied, "I have no idea!" Well...to take you back a little, Mason has an Alfalfa that sticks up EVERY morning. He freaks out while he is combing his hair because he can't get it to stay down. So, you guessed it...yesterday he CUT IT OFF!!!! I guess you can't blame the kid for taking some action...I just can't wait to see how that looks when it starts growing in!!! Yes, we told him to NEVER do that again!

So...that's the kind of day we had yesterday...one of those days that I'm looking back on now and laughing about! I guess if that was as bad as it got, I'm a pretty lucky girl!

Here's a picture of Rylie wearing her new obsession..."Her Wiggy Hair"! She wore it to a princess party this weekend...and now wants to wear it every day! We went over to Davis' house on Monday, and her first response when she found out where she was going was, "can I wear my wiggy hair?" Girls are so fun!!!

Rylie's First Date

So...Last night was Rylie's first date...with her dad, of course! She has been begging him for the past week to take her out on a date!

At first she wanted to go out for a Slurpee, but when Shane suggested Frozen Yogurt, she was all over that!
It was so crowded that she got to eat in the front seat of Shane's car...that's a treat in itself!
Rylie took this picture of Shane on their date!
Rylie and Shane on the night of their big date! They had a great time!!!

My New Obsession!

Ok...I'm hooked! I finally decided to see what the whole Digi Scrapping thing is all about...and I LOVE IT!!! I stayed away from it mainly because Photoshop scares me! All the layers...AAAHHH!!! Well, I found a tutorial online that taught me the basics of Photoshop and Digi Scrapping...and it is actually very fun! I've been up until all hours the past few nights downloading free digi scrap kits...thank goodness for my new portable hard drive...my husband gets me the best presents! (He's the one who pointed out that I'm obsessed!) My friend Amber once told me that she has to make herself do all the things she needs to around the house before she turns her computer on because Digi Scrapping is addicting...she is so right!

So...I haven't really scrapped anything yet. My first attempt on my own was my new header. I know, it's pretty basic...but I think it turned out pretty good for a newbie! Hopefully I'll get better! If I do anything worthy of posting, you'll see it!

Sorry there aren't any pics with this post...the holidays are always so exciting and there is always something to blog...now that they are over and life is back to normal...not much to post! I should be grateful though...baseball starts soon and then life is crazy once again!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy 2008! Sorry it has taken so long for us to post...we just got home! I'm sitting here with my cinnamon hot chocolate (with left over holiday marshmallows my kids haven't found yet!) and Shane is playing his fishing game on the Wii...so I'll make an attempt to sum up our holiday! Sorry, but this post is LOOOOONNNNNGGGG! And it has a lot of my family in it...yay for those of you that know them, and sorry for those of you that don't!

So...we took off for Dallas on the 20th...to spend Christmas and New Years with my family. We haven't all been together for the holidays since I was pregnant with Rylie...so we were all very excited! There are 19 of us in all now! 10 kids and 9 adults...and we all stayed at my parents!!! It was CRAZY and AWESOME!!!
The kids loved the plane ride...Shane and I were glad it was a direct flight!!! Especially with the 9 pieces of luggage we had!!!
So, after we spent an awesome time at Kari and Rick's (yes, they live about 30 min from my parents, and they still moved in for the holidays!) we headed out for the BIG FAMILY PICTURE! It was FREEZING and WINDY!!! But, such as it is, here we all are!
Here is my family...Kelsey, Kari, Donny, (a crazy space where Katie should be...no that wasn't planned) and me, with our parents!
Here we are with our spouses...one day Donny will have one...and she will be cute!
That night was my parents Christmas Party at church. There is a holiday talent show for the entertainment each year...so, no surprise to those of you that know my mom, she signed up the whole family to do what she called, "a production number"! Shane and Donny got to be trees! It was actually really good and more fun than any of us wanted to admit to mom at the time! It was good to get to sing with my sisters and mom...something that we only do at the holidays and at funerals...crazy I know!

Can you believe that we got all the kids ready for 8:30 church...and we were on time! (No, we didn't plan the outfits...sisters just think alike!)
Donny brought his airsoft rifles...the boys loved shooting them! Shane, Rick, Donny, and some of the little boys went out shooting "each other" a few times...they had a blast!
Santa made a surprise visit! The kids loved it!
For those of you who know my sister Kelsey...this is her with her daughter Samantha...or shall I say mini-Kelsey! They are exactly alike!
Our family on Christmas Eve! We always have a huge turkey dinner and then do a little program that ends with the story of the birth of our Savior. The program was fabulous this year!

On Christmas morning, my mom always used to make us line up on the stairs for pictures before we could go see what Santa brought. Sorry to say for our children, the girls and I have carried on the tradition! Another tradition we have carried on is "the piles"! Santa leaves each child a pile of presents with his or her own wrapping paper. Then, the kids open one present and we take turns all around so that we can see what everyone got. Believe it or not...all 10 kids took their turns! They were great!!!
Look...it's two Rylies!
Mason can't wait to dig in!
More games for Parker's Wii!

The day after Christmas, all of the girls went shopping...of course! First we went to Sam Moon...for those of you who have been there, I need not say another word! Then we went to the mall and took the little girls to Libby Lu. It was Rylie and Sami's first time there. They wanted to be "Rock Stars"! They loved being pampered!
Rylie, Paige, and Sami...our little Rock Stars! (Rylie and Sami thought they were Hannah Montana...thus the additions to our favorite songs on this blog!)
Kelsey, Kari, and Kristen...I do believe that this picture was taken after Shane and I beat the girls and their hubbies at the Newly Wed Game! (We weren't the big winners however, my aunt and uncle...who actually are pretty newly wed, won the whole thing!)
For Kelsey's Birthday we took her to the Texas Roadhouse. This is her with Mike and the twins (I think Gavin is next to Kelsey, but I'm probably wrong)!
She didn't know that she'd have to saddle up!

Me and Kelsey...in case you're wondering, she's older...she just turned 30 you know! (ha!)
Rylie and "Codeman" (Cody...Kari's youngest)
Grandma spent the day making gingerbread cookies with the kids! She had aprons made for each one of them! I don't kn0w if they put more candy on the cookies or in their mouths!
On New Years Eve, we have a tradition when we're at my parent's house that we get in the hot tub. This year was no exception. It was freezing outside...but all the kids got right in. The crazies even jumped in the swimming pool...every one of them! (Rylie and Cody stuck their feet in the shallow end...everyone else went off the diving board!) The adults got in after we got the kids to bed...around 1 a.m.! No...we didn't get in the pool!
Me with mom and dad...next to the fire of course!
Donny, Kari, and I...Kelsey and Mike left a few days before New Years.
Yes...the Bills Family still bangs pots and pans at midnight! Very OBNOXIOUS and LOUD...but there is no other way to bring in a new year!
Unless, you are toasting...with Martinellis, of course!


We had a great holiday! Now back to the rat race!