Kids are cute... especially when they aren't yours!

When JJ and I moved into my mom's basement and into her ward, I was nervous about what calling I might be given... I prayed that it wouldn't be the nursery, it's a calling I've never, ever wanted.
Background info first: Growing up I had always said I didn't want kids, wouldn't have any and if by some miracle I did have some, I definitely wouldn't have as many as my mom & dad did. I just didn't do well around them, they always cried when I tried holding them, etc. A few years before I met JJ I changed... slightly... I figured I could have one, Maybe two. Then I met and married my honey and after a year of marriage had a couple baby hungry moments.... but still knew I'd only want a small number, and most of the time those moments would be squashed by a screaming child or the realization of what immense responsibility comes with having a kid. Nope, not ready.
Back to the present: We were called to the nursery. JJ was instantly in agreement, big smile on his face - this was his calling - he loves kids. The bishop then turned to me, lost his smile a little and said, "Candace? You have this sheer look of terror on your face, are you ok?" Uhh, not so much. We accepted the calling, of course, and spent a year taking care of other people's kids for 2 hours every sunday. To say that it was easy, my favorite calling, that I eventually overcame all my fears would be a complete and total lie. :) There were good days and bad, awful moments that made me want to rip my hair out and moments of pure joy and happiness, bad kids and good kids, lessons learned and patience gained... lost.. and gained again. I hope the parents don't mind me posting these pictures, but I taught the kids to share so I have to be an example, right??

So here we go! At the beginning of the hour when each kid came into the room we'd pull out their own "bee" and put it on the board - this is our Nursery class:

Only 10 kids... wait... only?? That's too many in my book! ;)
Typical Nursery day: Play with toys, singing time & parade with instruments, snack time, lesson, coloring or water color, reading time, then we mix it up with music time, dress up, bubbles, balloons, monkeys being jumbled around in a sheet, or scouting for bugs outside when the weather was nice. If you don't get tired just reading all of that, then you're a better person than I!


This is Lydia, my princess! She immediately stuck to me and would run to give me a hug every time she saw me. For some reason my name came out "Candle" instead and it stuck, so much so that on the teaching schedule that's what I was called.

This is Colter, my prince. He is THE best kid. I don't think I ever had to yell or discipline this adorable kid. If I was ever having a hard time with one of the other kids, I'd stick to Colter and he'd calm me down. He's my bestest boy!

This is mini JJ. Ok, his name is Tyler but I swear these two are related. Tyler definitely had his ups and downs but he's a sweetheart and could always make us laugh.

Meet Cory and Tapanga, oh uh, I mean Shaden and MaKenna. These kids hold hands, play house with the baby dolls, and after watching JJ and I waltz during music time, started to copy us. If you asked Makenna who she were going to marry it was always Shaden and visa versa - keep a close eye on these two!

This is Bridger, our peach - seriously, enlarge the picture and you'll agree his hair is peach-esk! Light colored fuzz that sticks out at every point, stinkin' cute kid and always ready with a big grin - this kid would smile at anything!

This is darling Olivia, I could never get over how absolutely gorgeous this little one is. This particular sunday she wouldn't have anything to do with my camera and turned away at the last second every time, so sadly this is one of the only ones I could sneak of her. So it's not the best but had to spotlight her.

This is Amie inspecting baby Mazzie. Amie just recently joined nursery so she doesn't talk at all yet, chews on just about everything, and couldn't get enough of the baby. Mazzie isn't old enough for nursery but her mom was called to help replace our moving out so Mazzie got to come too.

Dress Up Time!


Bubble Time! That's Leah in the background blowing bubbles - we have to take turns cuz we get so light headed trying to keep up with the kids popping them like crazy.


Balloons for everyone!

And that's all folks! I very much enjoyed my first Sunday out of Nursery, but I have to admit I love all those kids and am glad I got to know each of their personalities! Thanks for the memories!

The Time Has Finally Arrived!!

We made it!! JJ and I moved into my mom's basement last year to accomplish some goals: pay off our credit cards - thus getting out of debt, save for a down payment, and finally purchase a home. Once the cards were done, finished, gone, defunct, etc. we were preparing for the challenge of house hunting when an idea was presented by my oldest sister: Why don't you not buy a house and put JJ through school instead? So that it only takes 4 years instead of 10-15??

Hadn't thought of that... so after some serious thought (and time at the temple) JJ and I agreed that it really was the best thing for us to do. A few weeks after that was when JJ lost his job (if you've read my previous posts you'll be in the know with that info), we were so very relieved that we hadn't purchased a home - we would have been in serious risk of not being able to make the payments. Phew! Thankfully, JJ found a part time job and has started his full-time student lifestyle. Having adjusted to the new income and schedule we thought it was time to get an apartment. We checked out a few places but were really impressed with Cascade Springs in West Jordan. After getting out of the car at one complex and feeling the need to not let go of JJ for any amount of time, get back in the car and drive away, I wasn't too sure we would like any of the apartments we had on our list. But I was saved! We got to Cascade Springs and I immediately felt like I was where I needed to be, it felt like home.

We checked out the apartments they had available and put a deposit down asap. So, with great excitement I tell you all - We're Moving!!!! Wahoooooo!!!!! We're moving this Saturday - please pray for good weather for us! Let me know if you'd like to help! :)

Here's our layout - 2 bed, 1 bath. We're getting a screamin' deal & can't wait to get settled!

Home Sweet Home!

The Zoo!!

Last Friday my sister told me she wanted to do something fun with her kids, I suggested the zoo but on one condition - she had to let me tag along!! And being an awesome sister she said of course! So my mom and I tagged along and got to see all the cute animals!

Baby Elephant!!! This is the newest addition to the Elephant Encounter - Zuri! We sat there watching her play for probably a good 30-40 minutes. It was so much fun to watch her attempt to pick things up with her trunk, figure out how to position her feet just right, move the red balls around - just so stinkin' cute!

Baby Zuri!

This is the new baby Giraffe - I couldn't remember/find the name of this baby, but it's still cute!

As the mommy giraffe headed toward this fence I raced over to get an up close and personal shot - look how close this guy got!

There were 3 Amur Tigers born at Hogle zoo as well - this is only one... pictures don't work out so well when there's a fence in the way...


This Orangutan was so fun to watch - climbing in and out of his hammock, playing with the "toys" available, etc. In this picture he's eating an orange - ironic?

We have our cheeks puffed out to try for that monkey look... didn't work all that well apparently!

HUGS!! Aunt Candace gave the kidlets a baggie filled with coins so they could buy something fun at the gift shop - I got hugs in return! It was totally worth it :)

Had to make a stop at the Carousel!

And ride the train! What the "white roller coaster" is to Lagoon, this train is to Hogle - I wasn't sure it was going to make it around the entire track!

All in all it was a fantastic day. I love going to the zoo at least once a year and really didn't think I'd get to go this year. So I send a thank you to Amy for choosing this activity for your kids. I loved seeing all the baby animals and spending time with family - can't get much better!

THE Event...

To say “we came, we saw, we went” wouldn’t do last night any justice. It was BIG night, so therefore this will be a BIG blog, and you have been warned!

To also say that I was a fan of this individual also wouldn’t be fair. My big sistay Amy asked me to go along with her… So I went thinking no big deal, right? Boy Howdy was I wrong!! But she can never doubt how much I love her, love spending time with her, love seeing her smile & laugh… Amy – you were worth it!! That being said, after the hours I spent cold, hungry, tired, uncomfortable, etc can be attributed to my becoming a fan.

So with Diet Coke close at hand to keep me awake this morning, let’s get this Blog started!!

Hot Chocolate $1.49

Blueberry Pop Tart $0.89

Cookbook $27.50

Spending the evening with your best friend/sister to meet The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond – Priceless.

Ree Drummond, thepioneerwoman.com, has published a cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Salt Lake was on her list of cities to visit on her book signing tour; she was here last night, one night only, at the King’s English Bookstore. Amy and I decided to meet there to save time as she was scheduled to speak at 6:30. I raced there after work to find a line going from the Gallery (where she was scheduled to speak) down to the corner of the block, turned and headed up the street… oh dear. I made a few rounds until I found an empty neighborhood street to park in. I walked to the bookstore and stood in line to purchase a book, as did many other fans. The lady in front of me bought 7 books!! Sheesh! I bought one for Amy and I, then headed back to the distant, very far away, end of the line. One of the workers came by, stopping every few people to give info & tickets.

The tickets are a very important part mind you…. To get your book signed you must have a ticket. Every ticket had a letter on it, A-Z. Every letter had 20 tickets (20 A’s, 20 B’s – you get the idea, yes?) So I asked for 2 tickets – we were L. I tucked the tickets into my newly purchased books and continued to wait whilst trying to take a good picture of the line in front of me… it didn’t work too well though...

Eventually the line started to move at a turtle’s pace. One by one we crammed into the Gallery, when I entered it was standing room only so we lined the walls but being extremely careful not to touch anything.

This painting was worth $14,500!!! That’s more than my car! Anyway, moving on…

Amy finally arrived, but to our dismay they refused to let her in as the Gallery was at max capacity. I gave up my position to get to her, when the vultures (the workers) had their backs turned for a split second she ducked in and we lost ourselves in the crowd… here’s the Gallery:

We weren’t able to get a straight view of her, I had to get on my tiptoes and put my arm in the air and snap away hoping I was aiming in the right place…

Here she is!! She talked very briefly but was sooo excited to see how many people came, told some great stories, answered questions, and successfully made us all laugh and smile and forget the annoyance with lines, standing in the cold, miniscule room and the vultures. When done, she was escorted from the room to the bookstore just down the street... snapping pictures while she walked by felt like a total paparazzi moment!

Now we come back to the tickets… ah, the golden tickets as they were. A’s were first, obviously, B’s and C’s lined up out the door to await their turn. We found a few other L’s to hang with, take jabs at the vultures, share love for the blog & Ree, give line-cutters a hard time and brave the coldness. This is also the point where we really thought about where we were in the scheme of things. L is the twelfth letter in the alphabet so even if we were in the very from of our little group there would still be 220 people in front of us… oy!

After an hour they were only at B…. A woman with and A had gone in with 28 books… I figured, one ticket = one person = one book to have signed, apparently I was wrong! So we waited, waited, ate the snacks in my purse, waited some more… slowly but surely they moved inside: D… E… F… G… the crowd applauding each time a new letter was announced. As the night progressed and the minutes clicked by our group of L’s dwindled to just Amy and I – we’re not quitters! Troopers we were! They came out and told people that were R’s that they might want to seriously rethink staying. There were even people that didn’t have tickets that were told that when the ticket holders were all done, they would be allowed inside on a first-come, first-serve basis. I was very grateful to be an L at that point!! However, I was starving, thirsty and freezing so we decided to walk to the car, hit the gas station for hot chocolate and “dinner,” and race back. We found a much better parking spot upon our return and got back in line just as L’s were at the door – perfect timing!!!

This is the front of the book store.... The next one is the line behind us...

Once inside the bookstore, however, you get a better feel for that line… you weaved around stacks of books in the center, up 3 stairs, down the hall into the kids room, around the pillar at the end, back into the hall you were just in, up 2 more stairs… and right to the table Ree Drummond was perched to smile, sign, laugh, repeat.

We were told she wouldn’t pose for pictures so I snapped what I could, but think it’s so cute that she’s signing Amy’s book in the picture.

(I was carrying too much stuff and was too excited that I didn’t realize until after all was said and done that I didn’t get a single picture of me… duh.)

She was oh so very sweet, when I told her I was excited to start using her book – she was going to teach me how to cook, she laughed and said, “Hey, if I can make gravy – you can make gravy!” I hope she’s right!

We maneuvered our way out of the bookstore, through the group of people still waiting and back to our cars. I got home, scrubbed my face, brushed my teeth and fell into bed around 11-11:15... I think…

All in all, it was a crazy, fun, tiring, amazing, first time experience. I don’t know that I’ll ever go to one of those again, but it was fun, something I’d never done before and I certainly enjoyed spending time with my sister. And I got to meet a fabulous woman and get a very cool cookbook. It was worth it!

Baby Girl!... and BOO!

Two Blogs in one: To start off this entry we'll begin with the birth of my neice - she came into my brother's little family at the end of October, I'm slow on getting the pictures posted!

Me and baby girl! I did NOT want to put her down!! She's gunna be spoiled!

This is her leaving outfit - time to go to your new home little one!!!


Happy Halloween!!! Every Halloween my mom buys everyone a pumpkin for carving, baby girl is just to little this year, but she still gets a punkin'! :) Sooooo Stinkin' CUTE!!!!

Happy Halloween!!! This is at my mom's pumpkin carving party - JJ was "preppie" this year and I was... I don't know - evil Candace? Dark Chocolate Candee? Whatever I was it was fun!

Rock On RockWells!

Getting the face on my pumpkin... Very serious work going on people...

And who gets to grace my first pumpkin in who knows how many years??

Jack Skellington!!

2 boys, 2 knives, 1 pumpkin... asking for trouble?

After the pumpkins are carved and lunch is eaten everyone gets a donut!! Tasty Treats!


Isn't my punkin' the coolest??? I love it!!!!