I have gotten so behind!

Well I have gotten really bad at keeping this up, but let me see if I can do a quick catch up. So the month or so before Christmas I spent quite a bit of time on the computer but not blogging or anything other than working on my Christmas gift to my family. I went to my favorite website for online scrapbooking, shutterfly.com and decided to do the same thing for everyone. I thought I was making it easier on me but that ended up being a miscalculation. What I ended up doing was making a book with mini bios on everyone in my family. I hunted down pics of everyone at about the same age or as close as I could come and gave each person their own page and then I did a bunch of pages with old and recent pics of parents, kids, grandkids etc. It turned out great and everyone loved them so it made the many hours worth it! I must say that one of the great things about this project was that I learned so much about my Grandparents and parents. I also found out that I know more about my siblings than I thought. Discovering how much I really love and respect my family and how grateful I am to have them was another ripple effect. I don't have any living grandparents and I was really young when some of them passed away so it was wonderful to get to know them. If I could give any suggestions to those of you that have Grandparents still around is to spend some quality time talking to them and learning about them before they are no longer around. I will try to figure out how to post some of this project.

WOW! 5 Years Went Fast!

So yesterday the 14th of December was our 5th Anniversary! In some ways it seems like we have been together longer, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that we met when we were 9. Jimmy and I don't usually do anything wild and crazy for our Anniversary because it is close to my birthday & Christmas but we always try to do something. Now I am sure I will get several emails out of pure envy but try to contain yourselves ladies,because for our special night we got to go to Jimmy's work Christmas party!! I know, I know, you are gonna have to give your husbands a hard time because that is just such an amazingly romantic way to celebrate but try to give them some slack! It was kind of a bummer that they were falling on the same night and we wouldn't have gone if they didn't give out prizes. We made the best of it though, Jimmy sent me flowers that day, although I was picking Alexis up from school when they came. He also tried to surprise me by coming home early from work but again he came home when I was picking up Alexis so in actuality he sent himself flowers and shared them with me when I got home :) poor guy he was trying! That night a friend volunteered her time (birthday gift from an amazing friend) to watch the girls so we could go out. We went to the work party and just tried to enjoy the fact that it was dinner with adults (some of which were a little on the drunk side) instead of children. Afterwards we stopped at Old Navy for a pick me up, I needed something comfy to wear home from the Hospital when I have the baby and of course we found a few other delightful things, ok so it was me that found a few other things but who's keeping track :). So anyway tonight we had a real dinner with just us, we found another babysitter (not free) but still a babysitter and Jimmy surprised me with one of our favorite places to eat, The Melting Pot. The food was awesome and then afterwards we did our Christmas shopping for the girls. It was a nice evening being with him, I really feel blessed to have a husband that works so hard and loves me sooo much. He really has made the last 5 years a dream for me! I must say that having had some knowledge of the not so dreamy guys out there I am thankful everyday for my warrior! He knows me really well and yet he still likes me! :)

Holy HOT Jalepenos!!!!

So this story actually happened a couple weeks ago on the 8th of November but I have gotten a little behind on the blogging! So one evening I decided to surprise my husband by making his favorite Salsa, so the girls and I worked together to make it for him. I had bought all the ingredients that day so they would be really fresh, boy would I be kicking my own butt for that one!! I had made this many times and everything seemed to be coming along quite well. I was allowing the girls to get right in the mix of things, they helped cut everything up (with plastic knives of course, I am not that crazy) they were so excited to surprise Daddy when he got home from work. Well the very last thing to go in the Salsa are Jalapenos, I had the girls wash up and I decided to just do this last part alone. Well, for the sake of my children I am glad I made that decision because I would end up with severe burns on the tips of every finger on my left hand, the holding the pepper hand. Apparently these Jalapenos were like non others I had cut before, because I was in soo much pain that I sat on the couch with my hand in ice-water for several hours, I applied every ointment, cream, pain medication that a pregnant lady can use! My hand felt like it was on fire and as I was praying for some relief my husband came over to me and sweetly said "Honey the Salsa is REALLY good this time!" I responded with "Yeah, well it better be." That night I slept with ice packs on my hand and by the morning the pain had somewhat subsided. My hand would be sensitive for the next week and the tips of my fingers were white, well whiter that normal. I have not made any salsa since but from now on I will handle the peppers with gloves! Now, I may be the only one out there that this has happened to but if any of you have had something like this happen, I would love to hear. :)

Yes I really am 29!

Well yesterday was my 29th Birthday and, well I must say that for me the older I get the less exciting the birthdays are! I had lunch with my two favorite girls, Alexis and Grace at Panera Bread and then we came home. That evening we went to dinner with my brother-in-law Chet who happen to be in town. We decided to go to Claim Jumpers and it started out to be just us (the four Kelley's) my parents, younger sister Emily and Chet. Well by the time we left it had grown to be my sisters friend, Chet's cousin Justin, Chet's parents and Chet's sister Marissa and her husband John. It was quite a crowd. Now none of Chet's family I guess realized that is was my birthday dinner, they were there to see Chet, which was fine cause they were all welcome, it was just funny as they arrived they were like "Oh we didn't know you would all be here." Anyway so we had a nice dinner and then made a stop at Borders where I got to get a few cd's (they were one's I had owned before but that had been stolen when our car was broken into). We then stopped at my parents and had a little celebration cause my sweet sister had made me a cake! She was so kind to put that I was only turning 21!




Then we made it home and my sweet husband had also made me a cake. Poor guy he had stayed up late the night before baking it and he didn't realize that the part on the box where it tells you to use TWO 9 Inch Round Pans that it wasn't optional. So he poured all the batter into ONE 9 inch pan and then wondered why it wasn't cooking. Although I didn't know all this until he unveiled his masterpiece for me to blow out the candles! It was the saddest cake I had ever seen but it was my favorite cake of all time! It was spice which is my favorite, and a little candle wax never hurt anybody! All the hard work he put into the cake made it all the better!



Now as to the title of this post, well on Sunday someone at church was asking me how old I was turning and I replied "29" they laughed and said "No,really how old are you turning?" I again said "29" and they felt a little dumb but continued on with their thought that they thought I was more like 35. So I guess the question I then began to ponder is "Do I really look like I am only 5 years from being 40?" I don't know if it is the fact that I have a daughter who will be 9 in Jan. or maybe it's the lines around my eyes that I thought only peeked out when I smile.

Anyway it was another year and another birthday and Yes I really am 29! :)

Utah Trip!

Well a few weeks back I made the plans to be gone two weekends in a row, I thought it sounded sooo fun! Well I guess that maybe I should have been thinking with my pregnant brain instead of the non-pregnant brain! Well Friday, Nov. 9 Alexis and I headed out for a girls weekend. We drove to Murray Utah and stayed in the Fairfield Inn.

One of the main reasons for going was so I could have a 4D Ultra sound done. A sweet friend of mine, Caley works in a place that does them and she is a tech so on Friday evening we met her at the office. WOW it was so amazing to see my little boy. While he refused to open his eyes he did give us some smiles and he punched himself in the face a few times hee hee. He got really shy when he realized the camera was on him, when she began the scan he was spread eagle, but once she took a picture he used his hand to cover up!! Silly boy!! It was a really neat thing to have done!

The rest of the weekend was kind of a blur, we hung out with an Old friend of mine, Gentry and her girls whom happen to live in the area. We went to IKEA! Oh man, OH Man! I was the most excited to go because we do not have one here in Vegas and I haven't been anywhere to go into one so it was my very first time! I think it is best however that we don't have one near us cause I might get myself into trouble! Although, one thing I would say I did not like about IKEA was the whole "mouse in a maze" feeling! You could only Exit out one way and of course it was at the very back corner of the store so you have to walk through the entire store to get out! It was fun though and I found some goodies to purchase!




We ate lunch at Noodles N Company and then said by to our friends and then Lexi and I spent some much needed Mom and Daughter time. We went to the book store and had hot chocolate and found some good books! Like moths to a flame we found the mall and did a little shopping. Now to go out with a bang we stopped for a little dinner on our way back to the motel and what a mistake that would turn out to be!! I woke up 3am Sunday morning sick out of my mind!! I stayed most of the night on the bathroom floor or in the bathtub! Now I won't say the name of the place that gave me food poisoning but I will give a hint it started with an A and ended with an RBY'S! Now lucky for Alexis she was safe, and she slept soundly!


We made the long drive back today and even with the food poisoning it was a great weekend with my Lexi, she was great company!! My husband and Grace were sooo glad to see us return and I have decided that next time I come up with an idea to travel while 7 and a 1/2 Months pregnant I will just take a nap instead! :)

Daddy & Daughter

So on Wednesday, Nov. 7th Jimmy and Alexis were able to attend a Daddy & Daughter night with our ward. It was a fun night with a Western theme! Jimmy was a good sport and he and Alexis dressed the same, although he wasn't into the cowboy hat! They did some line dancing and ate sloppy joe's. Grace and I stayed home and hung out just the two of us! I gave Jimmy the camera to take some pictures but he got busy and was only able to get a couple shots, but lucky for him I took some before they left!! :)

Time Out For Us!!

On Friday November 2, we drove to Long Beach, California for Time Out for Women! It was Me, my sisters Janna who drover from Arizona, Alyssa who flew in from Texas, Emily who drove with me from Vegas, my sister-in-law Ashley who lives in Long Beach,and my Mom who also lives in Vegas. My brother Jack and my Dad came but they hung out and went golfing while us girls enjoyed a girls day. For those of you that don't know what it is, Time Out For Women is something that Deseret Book puts on all over the country, they bring musical artists and great speakers together for a day or two of spiritual uplifting for Women. This was my second one I had been to, the first was here in Vegas a year ago. This one in Long Beach was being hosted by our cousin Hilary Weeks, she was great and it was so fun to spend some time with her. The other amazing people there were Jenny Jordan Frogley (LDS musical artist), Ardeth Kapp (former General Young Womens President), Abe Mills (from the LDS group Jericho Road), S. Michael Wilcox (an instructor at the institute by University of Utah) and John Hilton III (an author and frequent speaker at Education week). They were all wonderful and I enjoyed it so much! It was amazing to be with my sisters for a few days without our kids, I honestly don't know when the last time all of us were together without children! In fact it may have been before any of us were married :). We drove home yesterday and now we are planning the next time for a get together! Oh wait and I can't leave out one of my favorite parts of the weekend, on Sat. evening we went and got dinner and then we went and did a little shopping and my wonderful parents allowed us to pick out a new purse. Now to some of you this is no big deal, but for me, well I LOVE them, I have many and hope to have many more! :) So because of this I decided to post a picture of my newest Coach addition! Oh and don't worry I have shoes to go with it!! :)

Trick or Treating!

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

For our Halloween night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Holler's house and went to a few houses before we were all tired and ready to head back (the houses are far apart and many were not handing out candy or were out). We went back to the house and carved the pumpkin and decorated cookies and then we headed for home! It was a long night but fun! We do miss having cousins around to do the trick or treating with though! Hope you all had a wonderful night as well!

Happy Halloween

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

On October 30th we had a day full of Halloween stuff! For most of the afternoon the girls and I made a spider cake, they helped measure and crack eggs (Grace's favorite part) and then Lexi helped frost and they both helped add the spiders! I just helped a little :). Then that night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Holler's ward party and had some good food and some good "trunk or treating" it was a fun day!

Wonder Women!

Well last Friday night (October 19th) Lexi was invited to a Halloween party with some girls from our ward! She had so much fun and it was another chance to dress up in her costume! This year the girls have decided to be super heros and Lexi is Wonder Women!

"Don't Worry Mom, Santa is coming"

So on Tuesday of this week I was finishing up my book The Wednesday Letters for the book club I am in and it made me get a little teary eyed, which these days it doesn't take much to do. Well Grace came in and saw me with the tears and said "Mom, what happen, you get hurt?" I said no and that the book just made me a little sad, she got the sweetest look on her face and cocked her head to one side and said "Don't be sad Momma, don't worry Santa is coming." Now this brought an instant smile to my face and then hers. The back story is that for the last month or so Grace has started finding things on commercials and in adds that she wants and I always tell her "Well you will have to ask Santa, and he is gonna be here pretty soon" now this may be setting myself up for years of early planning on Grace's part but oh well! :) Grace is a funny little child cause one minute she will be oh so sweet and the next she is throwing air punches and wanting to fight someone, anyone that will take her on! I love being her Mom!

Baby James is Coming!

So I can't believe how fast it seems to be going! I have great pregnancies so that helps but it really seems to be just going by and here we are the end of October and January is just a few short months away! Maybe having kids and being really busy makes the days and weeks speed up but whatever the case, I love it. I can't wait to get those cute little fingers and toes in our house! He is gonna be such a wonderful addition to our home, the girls get more and more excited everyday! It is fun having a boy after two girls cause we have to get all new stuff so he doesn't have to be surrounded by pink, purple, butterflies and princess stuff! Yay Yay I can't wait to get him here, well actually, I will take the next few months of sleep while I can! :)

May your houses stay dry!

Well this past week has been wonderful! After nearly 3 months we were able to move back home! The down side is that I feel like I have been here before unpacking boxes and more boxes in our Condo, oh wait, I have been here before! :) As much as we feel so blessed to have had family here in town that so kindly let us stay with them (Marylin's parents) we are so glad to be in our own space again! For those that didn't know, our condo was flooded back in July when our upstairs neighbor's toilet broke while he was at work and it flooded our home for many hours before we were able to get the water shut off! It destroyed a good portion of our house, including the girls bathroom, bedroom, our hallway, linen closet, coat closet, our master closet and part of the master bathroom. All the damage made our house unlivable, we were forced to move EVERYTHING out so that construction could begin! The silver lining is that we got brand new carpet throughout and new baseboards, drywall, paint, and some other things! So now it will be in great shape to sell! :)
While it could have been worse in many ways I pray that none of you will have your homes flooded and my heart goes out to those who lose their homes completely due to floods or natural disasters! Again thanks to my parents for allowing us to stay for soo long, it really was a blessing! :)



Here are just some pictures from the day of the flood! The water was just pouring through the ceiling it was a nasty yellow color from the insulation and it smelled so disgusting!




We took turns dumping the water out of the bins once they were full, it was a very long day!

Pumpkin Patch!

So as per our family tradition we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! We went on Sat. October 13th and had so much fun! The girls went down a huge slide and pet some goats, sheep and ducks. Lexi is such a great big sister, she helped Grace on all the rides and they have so much fun together! We picked out our pumpkin and once we left had lunch as a family at Red Robin, mmmmm mmm, how I have craved their salad since being pregnant! It was a great day to be together! I must say that one of my favorite things about being somewhat grown up is having a family and making our own traditions! :)

Just getting this set up!

Well this is just a start to our page but I hope to add to it soon. Things for the Kelley's have been great. Other than our Condo being flooded nearly 3 months ago and still not moved back in we are all healthy and well. I am just over 6 months pregnant with our first son. I, especially am super excited for the boy factor! Jimmy honestly would have been just as happy with a girl, but I was the one praying for the testosterone boost in the Kelley house!

Alexis 8 1/2, who is now a third grader is excited as well. She told me she had been wanting a brother so he can protect her from Grace! Grace is 3 1/2 and loves to keep her sister on her toes. It is never dull with Grace around! Jimmy is hard at work so I try to surprise him now and again with a night away for just us! I am busy being wife and mother. I am in the Young Women's presidency in our ward and I am also on the PTA board at Lexi's school. Well I guess that is enough for now but I promise to be good about updating and I will post some pics soon! :)