fab five update

Dax has been going about being the best husband ever, working his GUTS out at work, and at home, and on his degree. He rocks my world and rocks in the kitchen. This meal he made was so beautiful and delicious, it almost brought a tear to my eye.

Tristie...I have been enjoying the 4 seconds of warm weather we had last week, just in time for Earth Day. Dax and I got callings in our new ward and will be the Wolf Den leaders. We are thrilled to be working together with the boys!

I've had an insatiable appetite for cookies this week and made 2 batches back to back because after the one was gone, I needed more. I was able to do a girls' night out Saturday with my fun neighbor. We went to see the movie 17 Again. So nice to get out and have female interaction!

Preslie continues to love music and has built a playlist on her blog of over 30 songs including artists such as Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Kelly Clarkson. Like her dad, she has an ear for a catchy song. She comes home from school most days and turns on her music and stands on her stage by the fireplace and rocks out.

The rest of us ususally join in. I LOVE having our computer in the kitchen. We listen to music all the time while we make dinner and usually break into a dance party in the dining room.

Hunter has fallen asleep 3 afternoons in a row this week. One day at dinner he excused himself to use the toilet and never came back. I just figured he went to play but found him on the bathroom rug later.

Preslie wanted to make some earrings for herself and when Hunter saw how fun that looked, he made me a beautiful pair, too.


Mack continues to entertain and brighten our lives with his constant repetition of everything we say and his darling interest in playing trucks and anything motorized. I would for sure have more kids if they came at 18 months old. He has started to go to nursery at church but only likes it if we stay with him. Not a huge shocker. We will work on him.

He has also been counting to 10 with help, running in the street (gotta work on that, too), and

saying the cutest prayers ever.

Being a young wife and Mom is so crazy sometimes, but I am SO thankful for these people- especially my husband who has been my ROCK through thee craziest year of my life.

what $40 will buy

My first reaction when I see a salesman on my porch or get one on the phone is to put up a wall and try and turn them down nicely ASAP. I don't want to waste their time and I don't want them to waste mine.

I was not prepared for who showed up at my door Tuesday afternoon. I tried to put up my wall but was thwarted at every attempt. He was the most fantastic salesmen I have ever met. I wanted to say no, but I couldn't! It was weird. He was powerful. And I kept wanting to invite him to dinner. But instead I got a $40 bottle of wonder cleaner.


My husband laughed when I told him. We had the following conversation:

tristie: "spend less time scrubbin', more time lovin'"
that was the line that sold me, i believe
dax: crazy, you are funny. I can't believe you bought it.
tristie: i know
i am usually so good to shut them down
dax: I guess he hit you at just the right time, and had just the right skills to get you sold
tristie: true. no one can be a brick wall all the time. he cracked me.
dax: you are pretty sturdy usually, but it is good to know that you are human. It is usually me that ends up taking the telephone surveys
tristie: ha ha.
dax: I have really worked to try to get meaner and more aggressive with telemarketers
that is horrible, but true
tristie: i take the nice, but firm approach. they are trying to make a living and i respect that
dax: I usually just say 'no thanks' and hang up before they get a chance to give me their whole spiel
tristie: you are such a softy. no confrontations for you!
the confrontation itself is what will crack you.
dax: i really do hate confrontation
I know as a missionary, i did like getting the whole spiel out there before getting rejected
tristie: interesting. i think in anything you are trying to sell, it is totally about selling yourself.
dax: yep
some people have it, others don't



Well Jacob totally had it. And even now when I think of all the other (better) things that $40 could have bought me, a part of me wanted to buy the $100 kit. And I really wish he could have stayed for dinner...

spring break/Easter

Preslie had 2.5 days off for spring/Easter break so we celebrated in Santa Clara with Dax's folks. The kids were so excited. They started packing Monday and we left Thursday. I love celebrating with baskets and eggs on Saturday and celebrating Christ's ressurection on Sunday. The separation between the two helps me. And I hope it helps my kids. Saturday we colored eggs, found baskets, made foil dinners, and went on Grandma and Grandpa's egg hunt. That evening, Dax and I went on a date to Olive Garden. It was SO nice to leave ALL the kids, including Mack. We don't have that luxury too often. Sunday we attended church and recounted the last days of the Savior's life and His resurrection. We also had a lovely Easter dinner. Mack PUT IT AWAY. He ate and ate and his belly was huge afterward.

People in Southern Utah landscape so differently than those in the North. As I am at a total loss in the landscaping department, I looked around for ideas. I spotted this and fell in love:

On the way home, we stopped in WJ for a rest at the parents' house. My little brother, Trent taught Preslie to ride his mini-motorcycle. Yeah, of course I rode it too.

Mack was so into it and kept saying "Preslie, motorcycle" ("Bah-Bah, Adee-Adah") over and over.

unwanted guests

guest #1: baby in my bed. I have never been able or even wanted to sleep with my kids. When Preslie was a baby, another mother told me just to pull her in bed to nurse in the middle of the night. I could never pull it off. I didn't like the feeling of half-sleeping in an uncomfortable position and wake up with parts hanging out, cold, wet, and a kinked neck/back/arm, etc. I much prefer to get up and take care of the child's needs then return to bed. Alone. This held true for Mack last week when he would scream every night for up to an hour at a time and would wake up the second I put him back in his crib. So I got desperate. Half-sleep at that point was better than no sleep. But there is just no room in the bed for another person. Especially when the baby sleeps like this:

guest #2: WIND

No one would believe the WIND we've been having in town. Happens every Spring. SO annoying. I called and invited a girl in my neighborhood to come eat lunch at the park with us one day. It was breezy for the first 5 minutes and then all of a sudden I looked to the South and saw a HUGE wall of wind/dust/debris coming in our direction and shouted, "Cover your eyes!" Luckily I was holding Mack so I could protect him from blowing away. My bike and bike trailer didn't fare so well and got blown across the grass. My friend's kids got blasted and ended up crying. We finally made it home, she in her car and I on my bike SLOWLY pedaling INTO the wind...and uphill I might add. Anyway, the tumbleweeds are back.

*Mack has been to the doctor and received an antibiotic for his ear infection. Life is suddenly so much better. I don't mind the tumbleweeds so much because my husband and I can sleep in our own bed!

Isn't it ironic (don't ya think)

Yesterday I left the house with my kids to take Preslie to school and Hunter to preschool and realized I had locked myself out (remember my keys lost at my sisters in Rexburg?...and also remember that my new year's goal was to keep TRACK of my keys?...) SO. I was ticked. I was in my pajamas. And slippers. Preslie was going to be late. Again. I was NOT having a good morning!

After I dropped the 2 kids off at their respective destinations, I drove around deciding how I was going to kill a couple hours til I had to go and get Hunter from school again. I gassed up the car, then decided to go into a weird store in town that sells damaged and overstock freight. They have EVERYTHING from furniture to clothes to industrial supplies, sinks, tubs, styrofoam balls, toys, appliances, blinds, ... IF you can find it. It was the only store in town I felt that I wouldn't stand out too much because it is as big of a mess as I was. So I dug around whilst my stocking footed baby ran around semi-unsupervised (that's the way I roll when I'm in my pj's) and found some bright Orange panels for Preslie's window- FINALLY- after looking for fabric for months. And a cute green pillow sham to boot. As if my fate hadn't begin to turn already, everything was 50% off.



I picked up Hunter and went home to find Dax had returned from his flight and he told me to check the answering machine. I played my messages and this is what I heard...."Tristie! I found your keys! This is Tisha, I'll call you later."



A little too ironic? Yeah, I really do think.



Any-hoo. Since I last blogged, this is what has been going down. I gave Mack some applesauce and some hot dog chunks for lunch. He decided that combining them was his only option.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when Hunter saw that he said, "Hey, I'm gonna try that." and then, "Mmm, it's pretty good."



Preslie and I decided we wanted to paint a picture of a butterfly. Mack aided the creative process quite a bit...



Hunter earned his first Book It! certificate and scored a personal pan pizza, along with his sister, and I scored a night of not cooking dinner.

Matt and Abbey were going to come out for Conference Weekend but the roads were horrible so we had to power through eating these pull-apart rolls all by ourselves. We managed to finish them off. And also managed a stomach ache.

General Conference was awesome. I really felt the Holy Ghost and a renewed determination to step up and become closer to my Heavenly Father. Loved Elder Hales' talk. Loved Elder Perry's talk. And loved hearing the Prophet. How tender was the video montage of President Monsen while the Mo-Tab was singing "We Thank Thee, Oh God For a Prophet". It choked me up. I am grateful to live in a time when there is a living Prophet on the Earth.


Last night Dax and Hunter shot the BB gun pistol in the basement together and had a great time. I love seeing Hunter get into something. He is so sincere and sweet.

And for my parting shot: my kids reading a book together. Moments like these are my paycheck.

action packed weekend

Back to Salt Lake again this weekend for Mya's blessing. But first a quick stop to see my little brother's new house. We love it! If he wasn't a catch before, now he owns the door that the ladies will beat down. Seriously, he's 25, single, handsome, has a good job, and now a HOUSE!


Then we went to see Dax's bro's family. This was the first time my kids had seen Mya in person. They loved her. Matt gave her a beautiful blessing on Sunday and we enjoyed seeing family and friends, plus Mya's darling self.

Poor Hunter boy was not really himself all weekend. He wasn't even interested in holding Mya. And later, I was glad because he puked all over the floor Sunday afternoon. That little guy has been through a lot this week! Get better bud.

eww, sick.

This is how all of us felt last week when we were stricken with a nasty bug that's been going around. Special awards are as follows:

Hardest Hit: Hunter

Most times puked: Hunter

Top puke cleaner-upper: Tristie

Top diarrhea cleaner-upper: Dax

Largest area covered with their throw-up: Preslie

Best car puker: Mack

If there was ever a time to break out my carpet and upholstery cleaner, it was now. I shampooed beds and then went out and did the seats and floors in my car. I could not include a picture of the black mud I dumped out of the tank when I was done...this post is already gross enough.