"Eagle Port of Honor"

I can't speak highly enough of both of my brothers!  Maybe someday, my little boys will grow up to be just like their Uncles "Tater" and "Bebes"!  Maybe someday I will get to show this picture on a slide show at Tyson & Emmett's "Eagle Port of Honor"...(that's what Tyson calls it, haha!).

 More than a year after Taylor did his Eagle Project, and within a year of Heber doing his project, they were able to work the paperwork out to have their Eagle Court of Honor at the same time.  We had it January 29th and it turned out awesome!

 You can't buy the glow that comes from hard work, dedication, and service. 
 Taylor is so handsome!!!

 You can't buy the genuine love that these boy scouts show EVERY DAY to their friends and family.  Heber is handsome & loveable, too.  ...Mitch...I can't believe you got in the shot like that, haha!

 Liberty the Eagle Ambassador came to visit.  It was awesome!  Tyson was amazed at her shiny "boogers" when we were up close.  Oh, goodness.  Boys will be boys, right?

 We feel the missing pang in our hearts every time we take a group shot of us without Erin!  We love you, Erin & know you would have loved to have been there!  We know you are bursting with pride for your brothers, too!

 Senator Allen came and spoke to us!  How we love our affectionately named "Aunt Civil Rights" or "Aunt Civil Defense"...pick your favorite...I just call her "Aunt Civil"! 

Also, I shant forget to mention that you need to look at all of Heber's merit badges...I have never seen so many!  He had a goal to earn all of the possible badges...I don't know if he's reached that goal, yet, but he's sure done an amazing job working towards that goal!

 Linda Abbott of the Gilbert Town Council came, too!  We appreciated her support for Taylor & for our family!

 My mom & dad were so happy that night!  They're even happier that the boys did all the work themselves--they truly EARNED their eagles!  (My dad & his trio, Three2U sang at the ceremony, too).

This picture was actually from the middle of last year, but I included it, because it meant a lot to me that Taylor invited me to be on his Eagle Board of Review.  What an honor that he called me!  I actually didn't get to be in his room because the rules are different than they used to be, but the fact that he asked me to come was enough.  I was so happy to be there when he "passed" his board of review for his Eagle.  He's a great kid, and I love him so much!  I get choked up just writing about it!

I hope my brothers continue on being great American citizens, and continue to apply all the lessons they've learned through scouting.  There is something to be said for getting this far--they have learned lessons that they would have learned in no other way.  Way to be boys!  I hope my boys grow up to be just like you!

We should all strive to be

PHYSICALLY STRONG, MENTALLY AWAKE, AND MORALLY STRAIGHT!

Time to Celebrate: Before/After Weight Loss

You're not going to believe this...maybe you will...when I get pregnant I pretty much blow up like a balloon.  I have no idea why & it's not really fair or fun...and trust me, no one on this planet is more acutely aware of how much weight I'm gaining than I am...when I had Tyson, at delivery I was 50 pounds heavier than before I was pregnant, and my goal with Emmett was to gain less than 50 pounds.  Well...that didn't happen...after the most difficult pregnancy I've ever experienced, I was a whopping 67 pounds heavier than before I got pregnant...that's a lot of weight for just 9 months.  A full 20 pounds of that was pure swelling that fell off within a week of having Emmett, but I was still left with a devestaing 47 pounds to lose.  I knew that since I lost my baby weight with Tyson, that I could do it again.  But let me tell you, it hasn't been easy.

 This is my before picture--Christmas Trees 2009...I didn't zoom in more, because I personally LOVE Stetson's face in this picture. LOL, and I didn't want you to get TOO close of a view of muah.



A year and 3 months later...  WOOT! 

Good-bye Baby weight!!!!

After blood (yes, blood--it happened hiking once),

MUCH sweat,

and yes...there have been tears along this path...

...here is my weight loss award acceptance speech:

I would like personally thank my husband, Mitchell, for being so supportive and watching the children at any hour of the day or night that I wanted/needed to exercize (and thanks to my mom for also helping with the kids & inspiring me to celebrate this milestone now instead of waiting a few more months until I lose x more pounds, because this has been a big accomplishment for me).  After many prayers for help, I believe that Heavenly Father answered my prayers in the form of the following motivating people with similar health goals:  my running partners including my DAD, and brothers Taylor and Heber, my "coach" & friend Ashley, and my friend Rachel, my Slim in 6 group: Kari, Pam, Carol, Ashley, Anjuli, my weight loss e-mail diatribe that included people already listed and Cherryl, too, all my friends from any of the Beach Body series--P90X & Insanity--I love you (wish I owned the DVD's, but thanks to Kari for sharing and motivating!).  I should also give a shout out to The Biggest Loser Workout Video, the fitness channel, the Spark People website, my sister's health blog, the gazelle machine given to me by my friend Meghan, Sue's treadmill, the most recent 10K race I participated in, and the heart rate monitor on loan from Ash.  And I mustn't forget to mention the website Operation Beautiful that helped me with my self-esteem along the way, Jodi's surplus of make-up that helps me feel pretty, and I need to thank the YW program for helping me to remember what true beauty really is. 
Seriously, you guys ARE THE BEST! 

*No thanks to the gym that fraudulently sold my membership to another company and cost me a lot of time and money fixing it...especially because it's the SAME gym whose child care center (in ONLY 1 VISIT, mind you) gave my children pink eye and the worst case of croupe that I've ever seen resulting in the depletion of our Emergency Fund at an ER visit to stop my baby's chest from convulsing and having spasms every breath he tried to take.   Also, no thanks for the 8 Weeks to a Better You program, in which I miserably lost my $20 and motivation, resulting in a few steps backwards (it was a nice idea, but it just didn't work for me).

Not All Emoticons are Created Equal

In the eternal scheme of things, I suppose this doesn't even matter. . . . . .
                        . . . . . but let me tell you about something that bugs me!

If your cell phone carrier gives you the option to create a signature at the end of your text messages, and when that signature lets you include an emoticon, your cell phone company needs to be smart enough to transport the emoticon correctly to ALL other cell phones, not just people who have the same make and model.  I'm so irritated. 

All I want is for my cute little heart before my name to transport correctly to my friends' phones.  Is that too much to ask? 

Apparently it is too much to ask, because all they see is <<**D-Jo>. 

That is SO LAME! 

And when my husband wants to send me a

kissy face emoticon, all I get to see is :X  

TOTALLY NOT COOL! 

Will someone please coordinate the emoticon languages to something universal that all the cell phones can read?  I CAN'T TAKE THE EMOTICON INJUSTICE ANYMORE!  : )