Tagged by Mary

What is your full name- Michele (the rest is absolutely confidential)
Nickname- Belle (from the Beatles song "Michelle my Belle")
Coke or Pepsi? Not gonna do it, you can't pressure me. Ice water, please!
Song that resembles your life- ummm...not sure what song is out there to describe my life. Don't know titles.
Milk or dark chocolate- milk chocolate with a chunk of dark here and there.
Big mac Or whopper- blah!
Beach or Mountains- Gotta say beach for the majority of the time. I can enjoy the mountains in all their splendor and beauty (when it's not cold!)
What kind of shoes are you wearing- flips
TV or Book- BOOK!
Favorite store- to shop generally (if time isn't of essence) - Target. Grocery - Maceys
What was the last thing you ate? Salmon! YUMMY!
Clean freak or total slob- neither - but messes make me irritable and cranky. I like my home to look nice but I'm not a clean freak or a slob.
Do you wish on stars- No, but I do wish
Ever been stung by a jelly fish- No
Best cartoon ever- Family Circle
What scares you- Although I haven't watched many - scary movies like 6th sense freaked me out!
Favorite doughnut? If i eat them, white powdered doughnuts or Krispy Kreme - glazed
Been to LA? yes I know, now I've seen the world - Ha!
Least favorite veggie- don't know
Dreamer or doer- a little of both.
one word that describes you- "what?" Sums me up in a nutshell, right? Hee, hee!
Name of your first friend- Lisa, took me under her wing when I was 3 in Indiana
Night light or completely dark- ask Jed, completely dark
Believe in love at first sight? yes, I know I'm a hopeless romantic
Best toppings for a pizza? veggies and meats
Ever owned a goldfish? yes, Gus-Gus and Flounder. When they were dying, I was bawling!
potato chips or french fries? french fries but I'm picky.
Who should play you in a made for TV movie? If I could be a wisher...ummm, gosh, I don't know. Britney Spears! She looks like me, acts like me and dances like me. Yep its her. Okay, okay. Really I like Reese Witherspoon.
Spender or Saver? usually saver but I'm guilty of splurging BUT I always buy on clearance.
Butterflies or dragonflies- Butterflies. However, funny you asked. After walking with Macy and Nicholas the other day, and Macy pointing out a dragonfly saying it looks like a helicopter, I will never look at a dragonfly the same.
Which ONE would you like to do the most- Skydiving, Rappelling, or scuba diving more. Sky diving would be my first choice at this point in life.
Fearful or fearless? Depends. Fearful, to a degree (meaning I know where they would go and that's comforting) of losing my dear ones. But fearless in some risky things like .... gee can't think of any. Ha!
Bully or bullied? Bullied. Hands down. (a nice little metaphor there.)
Glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty? Usually I'm a half full kinda gal. Unlike Jed who's always full. :-)
Ever sent to the Principal's office? yes...in the 5th grade after taking a pill from a "friend" for my headache. Ended up being a drug. I got turned in the next day and so did my "friend". I told the story as it was - she gave me a pill after I told her I had a headache. She gave this "pill" to a number of us and no one defended me. That was my first and only experience with the power of a drug. She bullied and lied her way through it. The principal didn't do anything to her but that was the end of any popularity status I may have had at that time.
Social butterfly of wallflower? I love to be with people - social butterfly unless I'm with Jed in a crowd I don't know and he does. Weird.
Secret keeper or blabber mouth? Secrets stay with me. I'm not much for gossip. Information is different. And I keep it to myself as long as it doesn't hurt someone physically. So, since I've never been told a secret that would've jeopardized someone in such a way, try me.
shift or Automatic? Love to drive a shift for fun. But with children, automatic is so nice.
worry wart or worry free? I think I drive my family crazy with how worry free I am. I tend to let things go and react if and only if there is a problem. But, naturally I worry about my dear extended family and my children. And personal things worry me - I'm naturally hard on myself. Make sense?
African safari or bicycle through Europe? Bicycle through Europe!!!! Sign me up for the next one!
Ice cubes or crushed? Crushed...need I say more?
What do you like on your burgers? Beef , slice of Cheddar cheese (Swiss is yummy too sometimes.), thin sliced tomatoes, romaine lettuce, pickles, avocado, light on the ketchup, mustard and mayo.
Bikini or board shorts- board shorts
Favorite kinda cookie- home made chocolate chip cookie (with milk chocolate chips and the perfectly baked kind of doughy kinda crisp) or macadamia nut
Best Commercial- gosh its been years since I've seen one so I can't think of any from before
Word or phrase you say a lot? I repeat myself too often, I have kids, remember?
Favorite flower- Oh my, I went blank, its the one that's popular at weddings nowadays. A daisy like flower but big and in many fabulous colors! Oh I hate when I forget things!

I tag Kimberly, Celeste, Steph and any of you girlfriends and sisters that want to play! Take a minute!

I couldn't be... I'm turning what?!

Macy, my darling 6 year old, insisted on taking my picture. (not bad for her!) It had to be posted for all to know that I'm "one year older and..." What do they say? "Wiser too?" Yah, right! That's why I look stunned! And to think I'm truly 38, impossible! I can't believe I've reached the ripe age of 38. AHH! Its all good though, K? I'm going to go play in Southern Cal for the week with some of my dearest friends - Jed's sisters, mother and a few sister-in-laws!
"Don't worry, be happy now" is my motto for the year. I'm going to conquer the world...somehow. One of my kids at a time. (I only wish it were that easy!) One task at a time. One day at a time. I hope this is a year of "wise-ing" up and taking advantage of some sweet opportunities. What are they? Well, we shall see. (For me to know and for you to find out, comes to mind. Hee, hee!)
But for now, in all honesty, I'm going to rejoice in the blessings I've been so graciously granted. There can't be a luckier woman in the all the world. I can think that, right? Guess what? I'm going to think that - I've got to be the luckiest 38 year old woman in the world!!

FINALLY...playtime with the Nicols!

This was a long overdue event. It was absolutely wonderful to be with our dear friends, Don and Kim Nicol and their beautiful children. We had a great time - visiting, watching the kids swim, visiting, eating, cleaning up little messes (loved the pan of ground beef popping out of the pan like popcorn - it exploded!), and visiting (plain getting caught up on how our families have been, its been a least two years!) The Nicols had to literally yank us out of their house at midnight! We had such fun. Kim and I had fun looking at blogs - so here we are Kimberly! This is for you! Don, Kim and Kids, thanks so much for the wonderful evening!! Let's not wait two years for the next time, please.

Pictures as follows: Nicholas gets ready to "go fast!" (Isn't this a great shot?! I love it!) Emily throws Lexi with Kynli nearby. Hot tub full - Gigi, Ethan, Nicole, Sarah, Kynli, Lexi and Nicholas

Macy Breaks Her Arm :-(

Macer-doodles has been roughed up by her big sister, Emily! Impossible, you say? Ask Macy. She'll tell you exactly what happened and simply put it as, "Emily broke my arm". The story goes like this: Macy and Nicholas were playing on the big "Little Tikes" slide. They were minding their own business when Emily, and a few other family members, came up to the slide and knocked into it with the 4-wheeler. It budged so nicely that Emily proceeded to push the kids around the yard as the slide slid along the grass. Well, bad things happen to good people sometimes, right? The slide got stuck on a sprinkler. On impact, Macy and Nicholas were thrown from the slide as it fell apart. Nicholas jumped up, saying, "I'm alright!" But Macy instantly grabbed her arm and began to cry. Nicholas quickly made an assessment and exclaimed, while pointing at Macy with big, wide eyes, "Macy broke her arm!" Macy did, in fact, break her arm. Rather Emily broke Macy's arm. Our sweet Macy looks pretty in pink, wouldn't you say?

School is now in session!!

Okay silly faces first, just to get the silliness outta ya! Now for serious stuff, you are going to school, now look the part!
Okay, to be totally honest, I was not ready for school to start. Not at all! I wanted my kids around for another month, at least. I felt like I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do with my darling chick-a-doos. Oh well, maybe I will get things right next summer, ya think?!
All 4 of the school-aged children got into American Leadership Academy (ALA). We did this mostly because we figured we would be moving in the next couple of weeks (might be a shocker to some of you - Sandi (Jed's sister) and Brian Hughes have agreed to purchase the home. We are on our way back to Spanish Fork!) I figured it would be easier if I sent them all to the same school since Emily was going there anyway. So here are my fab kids dressed to code. Gotta love Ethan's briefcase :-)

Uncle Nate comes to Utah!

We got to spend a little time with Nate while he visited Utah on business. Lat night, we were able to be with him for Ryan's birthday dinner. (HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY RYAN!) Then today, Wonderful Mother, gathered us together so we could visit with Nate again before he flies out tomorrow morning. We had a quick dinner of marinaded chicken with a salad from me that was too small for the crowd! and chips and salsa. (I shared a chip with Evan and he choked - I know I should know better! Thankfully, Kim didn't stare me down like I was some moron! Ha!) Kathy brought the cones and ice cream that was a welcome treat. A wonderful relaxing evening with family! Macy said as we left, "Aren't we going to have S'mores?!" She's gotten used to that treat when we come to Grandma and Grandpa's house!
(We missed Jed, Grandpa Hess, Celeste and Shawn as they were moving the Mahaffey belongs back from Arizona. Breea and Brooklin are with their mom. AJ isn't back from Cali yet and Ryan's family hadn't arrived to the party yet. Kathy was taking the picture and Grandpa T. is out of the area. :-)

Cowgirl Jane takes Nico for a ride

I think leaving behind Ginger is going to be difficult for our sweet cowgirl! Sarah has been riding Ginger a lot lately and I think we are going to have to pry Sarah away from Ginger when we move. (Thankfully, the Hughes are buying the home and will let her/us come over anytime to ride her.)
Sarah gets up in the morning, dresses and goes out to get the oats. She then lures Ginger in the corral and gets her saddled up. She stays out there for at least an hour riding her. Sometimes she will ride her three times a day!
So on this day, Nicholas got to have a ride on Ginger as Sarah lead her. Then Sarah jumped on and took Nico for a nice ride around the pastures. Thanks Cowgirl Jane!