{TOP 5} Tuesday...where in the country is Dr. Dan?

Just to make sure you believe me when I say that I'm a single mom lately...the 'TOP 5' for today are the {TOP 5} places in the country that Dan has been to in the last month. Please notice that 6 locations are listed...one is false. I will mail a totally worthless prize to the first person who names the one place Dan has NOT been to in the last month (or so)!

1. Juno, Alaska
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Indianapolis, Indiana
4. Denver, Colorado
5. Dallas, Texas
6. Las Vegas, Nevada


And what have we been doing while he's been gone...









Just think...one day she's going to grow into those teeth :(=) I'll be a little sad when she does...

Crazy Girl

This girl is crazy...sometimes she makes you pull your hair out, sometimes she makes you laugh your head off, sometimes she amazes you, sometimes you can't help but smile back at her :)


...and she may just be on the Olympic Gymnastic's team someday!







"no hands"


"ta-da"

{TOP 5} Tuesday...St. George

{TOP 5} reasons we think all of you should move to St. George...

*There are TONS of places to shop (including the dollar store that sells these huge suckers) and TONS of places to eat. This is a great place to live if you want to spend your $$$.


*It is a great crossroads from here to there. Easy to go see grandma & grandpa, easy to go see Diane, easy to go to San Diego (Oct 16th- yay!), easy for WELCOME guests to stay on their way through, easy to fly out of Vegas (non-stop for less)...

*It is a great place to live because it's not Vegas (believe it or not- Dan's not the only one who commutes!).

*It's a great place to live because it is sunny and oh-so warm! I talked to Maren on the phone yesterday and she was freezing at a soccer game...well, we had just finished swimming. Kallie says she doesn't like it here because she already misses the snow :)

*It is a great place to live because it has the most beautiful temple (that I've seen in person anyway). And I will admit to one and all that I haven't gone yet...but you must realize that I am a single mom right now and I can't wait to go when Dan is a regular part of our family again! Look how beautiful it is, we had so much fun walking around the temple tonight- perfect!



So if you want me to start looking for townhouses (in my complex of course) let me know! I'll even help you unpack boxes!

Oh Kallie...

This little girl wants to do her own hair for school...what do I do???



And for those of you who wanted to know- I changed my blog template to the 'minima stretch'. I did the header in Photoshop at 950 pixels wide and I downloaded my pictures off Photobucket. It will probably be different again tomorrow too :)

Daniel & Carrie Norris

(by the way: Jeni and I figured out how to change the background with scrapbook paper...so I had to change mine {again} even though I just changed it. It looked a little like a funeral before anyway :)

So my friend {Amy} who claims she has ADD and I think I might too..googled herself and found people with her same exact name, where they were and what they were doing. "Share the name, share the load." said Amy. I thought her post was fascinating, so I {googled} Dan and I both...here are some interesting facts about us...but not really!

Carrie Norris:

*doctor in Wichita, TX
*NCAA assistant volleyball coach
*son named Ernie :)
*teacher who wrote an article on 'Emergent Literacy & Phonemes' (what???)
*member of the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra

and my personal favorite...
*won an award at the National Unicycle Convention in Ohio for the 10 meter slow backward

yay me! I'm so accomplished. How do I ever find the time to take care of the sick, while spiking the ball, taking care of Ernie and writing articles while playing in the symphony all the time riding my unicycle. (you try it :)

Now for Daniel Norris:

*commercial litigation attorney in Georgia
*computer geek who has a gallery of screensavers dedicated to the memory of Sept. 11th
*staff at Youth With A Mission in Australia
*merger & acquisition attorney in New Hampshire
*real estate consultant in Chicago
*dentist in Georgia (you never know we may really end up there someday at the rate we're going)
*president of UAW Community College
*filmographer who worked with Adam Sandler in 'The Longest Yard'
*member of superlawyers.com

Dan's resume was a little more impressive than mine... but who really cares what you do if you can't ride a unicycle???

{TOP 5} Tuesday...For Kara

Kara requested that my {TOP 5} this week be pictures of our townhouse...and since Kara is my friend and I miss her, I decided to do it just for her! And I must tell her thank you because I'm not going to take pictures of a messy house with piles of business papers scattered about...so I did some good cleaning and organizing that has needed to be done for a while. So here she is #252 in all her glory...same stuff, same family, just a different space.

#1- Outside view (my neighbor told me that someone stole a star she had hung on her door, so we'll see how long the wreath and chair last).


#2- Kitchen and dining room (thanks Diane for lending us your old table...there's NO way ours would have fit).


#3- Front Room/Living Room (look at Beau at the bottom begging me to stop taking pictures and throw his ball, look close he sorta' blends in with the rug :).


#4- Family/TV Room- right off the kitchen. Aren't windows w/o curtains so sad, but who wants to drill holes in the walls of a rental...oh well!


#5- Girls room (notice the ceiling fan w/o blades on it, we didn't want any small children to get injured while on the top bunk).


#5- Master bedroom (taken at a strategic angle so you can't see my husband's boxes of books and supplies that will go to his new office).

So...there you have it! It's definitely not Bellevue and it's not quite Coral Ridge apartments in Iowa...it is somewhere in the middle and it is the perfect little place for us right now. One day we MIGHT move on to bigger and better, we will wait and see!

Indian Summer

Jeni's friend Emily went out of town for the weekend and she was kind enough to let Jeni use the pool while she was gone (and Jeni was kind enough to invite us to tag along). I tell ya', that is the way to do it! A little backyard privacy for my white body is what I'm talking about!

Look at that pool! Are you feeling a little envious (I am)!






Aren't we cute!?! There were a few pictures of us going down the water slide that we mutually voted off...I know you're disappointed :)


Is that you George Washington???


Syd hangin' in the hammock.

Water slide girls:
Top-Kallie & Sammi Bottom- Syd and Maci

And...the new addition to our family. 2001 Toyota Camry (aka: grandpa car), hopefully this will be a little safer for Dan to drive to Vegas and back. Our little '95 accord with 220,000+ miles has been such a great car, but not for my cute commuting husband.

The Mighty Fisherman

Commentary by Dan:

Aren't Alaska seagulls beautiful!


The unofficial 'bridge to nowhere'...












We thought we were going to Alaska but we ended up in Japan...


Zane, Dan and Anthony


A record catch in record time!


Anthony had a sore back, but it was amazing how fast it went away when he had a fish on his rod!


The Catch-WARNING: I thought this video was a little graphic and Anthony uses strong language :) so please pre-view before letting any little people watch. Dan told me that the halibut are so big that they have to hit them over the head and kill them before they pull them into the boat or else they may break someone's arm or leg when they flap around.

{TOP 5} Tuesday...Am I the only one

Am I the only one who...

*re-washes a load of laundry because it never quite made it to the dryer...

*checks every night before bed to see if the gerbils are still breathing (ya' never know around here)...

*eats dessert after exercising...

*pretty much only yells at the children when they're supposed to be cleaning their room...

*has a little sweet pea who sleeps on top of her covers so she doesn't have to make her bed the next day...

(I found out this same little one has been sneaking her "glasses" in her backpack and really wearing them at school! How funny would it have been for her to bring home her packet of school pictures with her wearing her dollar store special reading glasses in the photo...don't worry today is picture day and the spectacles are safe at home with me!)

Also...a little clarification on my last post (thanks for the nice comments by the way) I'm not down, I'm not depressed...a little lonely at times, but overall I'm feeling great! Just re-evaluating to make sure I'm doing & being the best I can be!

by the way- Dan is coming home from his fishing trip to Alaska tonight...I'll post pics of his many wild fishing adventures!

been thinkin'

Photo assignment: Self Portrait (I know it looks like I'm 40...just say it, I'm not a spring chicken anymore :)

I think I'm having a m i d life crisis at 31 (thanks to those of you who listened to my ramblings today...you know who you are)!

I think having my husband gone so much lately has really made me do some soul searching, or maybe having my baby leave me and go to kindergarten...whatever the reason, it is good to step back and re-evaluate.

I want to be my own person (yes the wife and mother, but not only the wife and mother)

I want more babies but what do I do about it (if anyone knows where I can pick up some serious money for adoption let me know) I feel like I need to either accept that it is what it is...or do something about it

I want to be educated and have talents galore...but I'm not and I don't, but someday I might

I want to set goals and achieve them...I want to control my life (at least a little) and not let life control me

I want to do what my Father in Heaven wants me to do, but am I doing what I can to be worthy of His guidance and inspiration in my life

I don't want to get so focused on myself and things of little significance that I waste my time away and loose sight of the precious blessings I have been given

How do I find balance in all things and make a difference in this world

I sorta' feel like I'm on 'American Idol' and Simon just told me I was very forgettable...not horrible, not great, somewhere in the middle. I want to be better than I am right now!

And the award goes to...

Mark Jensen (my aunt Diane's hubby) wins 'Father of the Year' award for taking the kids hiking in the rain & hail in Snow Canyon on Sunday. Where were the rest of the parents you ask? Sitting in the nice dry car watching through the dripping windshield...how boring are we!

Look close- the white dot in the middle is Mark secretly hoping he doesn't get hit by lightning or carried away in a flash flood...how would he save all the children by himself?

By the time they made it back down there were blue skies and sunshine...then I emerged from the shelter of the Sequoia for a few photos!

Not just mud...RED mud! Even better!

She's beautiful even with mud on her cute little face!

Samuel is 'cleaning up' a bit.

Next we took a short walk to an amazing overlook, making sure to jump in every puddle along the way. (I know that is one beautiful outfit...I believe in letting my children express their free spirits through their clothing choices :)

The view sort of looked like a fake backdrop in an old movie, it was THAT amazing!

Group shot (admit the canyon looks like a Sears Photo background choice).

The only photo I'm in...proof that I WAS there!

Me

Dan takes a close second in the 'Father of the Year' contest for finding this weird horned toad lizard thing (can anyone in the Jeppson family identify this little creature)?

Also (as a bonus) a first pony tail for the twins...we can't get enough of these girls!

And, a first haircut by their mother! Goodbye baby mullets!

Thanks Jensen family for making our Labor Day weekend a great one!