Tagged!

I'm finally getting around to honoring Natalie's tag.

5 Things on my list to do today:
1. Cook dinner (I’m trying to create a new recipe tonight).
2. Clean up dinner.
3. Go for a walk.
4. Finish this blog post.
5. Finish reading New Moon.

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Home grown tomatoes with salt, pepper and cottage cheese.
2. Iced tea / hot tea, depending on the weather.
3. Chocolate with peanut butter.
4. Laughing Cow Cheese with crackers.
5. Hot chocolate when Jesse makes it for me in his special way with an extra serving of love.

5 Things I would do if I was a sudden Billionaire:
1. Give a portion to the Lord whether it is through supporting my home church, missions or some other God-honoring organization.
2. Quit my job and stay home with Marshall.
3. Save some money for Marshall to go to school.
4. Buy a cabin in the mountains and a vacation home on the beach.
5. Buy Jesse an older model Dodge Charger.

5 Bad Habits:
1. Biting my fingernails.
2. Spending too much time reading blogs when I have work to do.
3. Doing my makeup in the car.
4. Sleeping with my contacts in.
5. Not keeping in touch with my friends.

5 Places I have lived:
1. Magna, UT
2. West Valley City, UT
3. Taylorsville, UT (with my brother)
4. Taylorsville, UT (my house now)
5. That’s it!

5 jobs I have had:
1. Executive Secretary, Utah League of Cities and Towns.
2. Accountant, Infobytes.
3. Audit Support, Taylorsville City.
4. Administrative Assistant, Midvale City.
5. Mom to Marshall.

5 things most people don't know about me:
1. I have had a total of 18 stitches on my face.
2. I had to have an emergency C-section because Marshall’s heart rate kept dropping when I was in labor.
3. I’m very particular about the way I do things; it’s on the edge of being obsessive / compulsive.
4. I have hazel eyes; everyone assumes that Marshall gets his blue eyes from his blonde mother but he doesn't. I don't know where they came from.
5. I never had any wisdom teeth.

I tag Stacey & Erin (Welcome both of you to the blogging world). Have fun. :)

Guitar Lessons

For any of you that might be interested, my husband is teaching guitar lessons. For the past few months he has been giving lessons to our niece and has enjoyed it so he wants to do it more. He's been playing for 17 years and can teach all kinds of stuff; how to play your favorite songs, chords, how to play along with a band using lead sheets, different types of strumming/fingerpicking, etc. They would be private lessons with one on one training.

So, if you or your children would like to learn the guitar, Jesse is your man. If your interested, call me (if you have my number) or send me a comment and I'll get in touch. I'm not putting my number on here for obvious reasons. Rock on, Dudes!

Cuddling with the Football

Marshall has always loved to play with any kind of ball: football, basketball, soccer ball, baseball, etc. And he knows the difference between all of them. I just knew that one day he would want to sleep with his football. Well, do I know my son or what? This is how he went to sleep the other night. He liked the flash of the camera so he kept saying "again" and wanted more pictures taken. What a silly, little stinker!

On a little side not, Jesse told me a funny story about Marshall the other day. He was changing his diaper and must have been holding on to his leg a little too tight because Marshall said, "Daddy, leg broken it!"

Sandoval Family Reunion

Earlier this month we went to the Sandoval family reunion. It still feels a little strange to me that I'm a part of this family. I have known many members of the Sandoval family from the time I was just a little girl. They are a huge family and we have gone to the same church for years. Oddly enough, I have early memories of Jesse's family members but none of Jesse when he was younger. My grandparents and parents all knew his grandparents and parents long before Jesse and I were ever together. My dad played softball with Jesse's dad and many of his uncles back in the days when our church had a softball league. Who would have ever thought that one day I would be related to all these people. It's just interesting to me the way God works.

The largest branch of this family tree comes from Jesse's grandma, Juanita (Jenny) Sandoval. Take a quick glance at this picture of her. She's on the left.

I know what it looks like and, no she's not doing that. I still thought the picture was funny though. Even if she was flipping off the camera I'd have to say she has every right to. This woman had 21 children. No, I didn't transpose that number. Twenty-one children! Could you imagine? I'm going crazy with just one rambunctious little boy. Amazingly enough, she outlived Jesse's grandpa, Max, who went home to be with the Lord a few years back. Jenny now lives in Seattle with her oldest daughter, Ernestine, who is in the picture with her. I come from a very small family so this huge family is kind of foreign to me. I have two cousins. Who knows how many Jesse has. It seems like anywhere we go he says, "I think that guy/girl is my cousin."

Jesse's mom, Anita, organized a bunch of fun games for the kids to play at the reunion. Marshall was kind of little for a few of them but here are some of the kids getting ready to do a treasure hunt. There were pennies hidden in the saw dust for the kids to find. Once they found one they brought it to Anita to receive a prize. Marshall got a whistle and some bubbles, which he managed to break the next day. Bye, bye bubbles!

Jesse played catch with his older brother, Jon, who's standing in the picture with him and Marshall. I think it's funny when Jesse brings his football with him to stuff like this. Sometimes I think I married a teenager.

Marshall hadn't gotten his nap that day so I pushed him in the stroller until he fell asleep. He plays very hard all day long and needs his naps. We all pay if he doesn't get his rest. I got him to sleep for about an hour which seemed to be good enough to make him happy again. This is him just waking up from his nap. He was still a little out of it at the time.

Jesse is so excited because his Uncle Andy let him take his electronic piano home from the reunion. They used it for some music during a service up there and Andy told him to take it because he doesn't ever play it. Jesse taught himself how to play the piano on a little keyboard we have. This piano sounds much better. I'd have to say we definately came out ahead after this family reunion.

Set the World on Fire

Jesse, Marshall and I had the wonderful opportunity this past weekend to assist with summer camp for the youth group at our church. The theme was "Set the World on Fire" and these were our team bracelets. We camped for three days and two nights at Huntington State Park. There were 20 teenagers ranging from 13 to 18 years old.

In spite of Debi's tire blowing out on the way down and the church van overheating on the way home, it was great. They were such neat kids and I'm so glad I got to know them better. Jesse brought his acoustic guitar and we led the worship music for the weekend. I have to say, it is really cool to sing praises to our Creator in the midst of His creation.

I was really nervous about going. One of the biggest issues I was worried about was Marshall. I was concerned about him getting too tired and throwing horrible fits. I prayed about it so much before we left and God totally answered my prayers. Marshall was really good. There were a few times he got tired and fussy but for the most part he did really well. He took great naps, stuck around camp and, as you can see, had a way with the ladies. Here he is with Rachel, Ashlie and Shawnee. He loved all the kids and they loved him. They were such a big help. In the mornings when we were getting ready in the tent he would say "See the kids, see the kids" because he wanted to get out and play with the kids.

In this picture with Nate you can also see the monkey on his back. We bought that before we left because the monkey has a "tail" that can be used as a leash. Marshall loved the monkey and even kept asking us to put the "tail" on the monkey. Ha, Ha! Looks like we successfully tricked the 20 month old. This is Braiden and he was so cute with Marshall. He kept trying so hard to get Marshall to like him and I'm really glad that Marshall warmed up to him toward the last half of camp. He taught Marshall how to pound it (meaning his fist, not a beer, it is church camp) and shake hands. It was really cute. Here we have Julianna, Alyssa and Broudy. Alyssa and Julianna are sisters and I taught both of them in my Children's Church class. I am so happy to see the beautiful girls, both inside and out, they are becoming and the ways in which they have chosen to follow Jesus. I must put in a picture of Tommy, our fearless youth pastor. This is Stephanie, Josh, Tommy, and Dadiri. Tommy did a wonderful job leading these kids and I have a new found respect for what he does with the youth on a weekly basis. Ladies, he is single if your interested! I have to highlight my beautiful friend, Stephanie, a little more. I was worried about the midnight curfew Tommy had made. I thought "I can't make it until midnight! I'm going to be passed out by ten." Well, Steph and I stayed up until 12:45 am discussing all kinds of stuff. She was asking a ton of deep questions about God and the Bible and it was such an honor to be the one to help her with the answers. I didn't have all the answers, no one does, but that's what makes Him God. If we could completely understand Him, He would no longer be God. Steph is leaving for college in August and I wish her the best with everything. This is Stephanie's younger sister, Tiffany. Tiffany was so much fun and was so great at making everyone feel welcome. And yes, she is a little crazy but we love her anyway! On a side note, the lake was down and the mosquitoes were horrible. Here's proof from Jesse's legs.He had over 200 mosquito bites by the time we got home. Like I mentioned before, the van overheated and here are the smiling faces of Rick, Tommy, Dadiri, and Jess who were taking care of the problem. We ended up having to leave it on the side of the road with all the luggage piled in it and call for a tow truck.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad we were blessed with the opportunity to participate as a family. I was so glad to meet such a wonderful group of kids. Thank you, God, for answering my prayers, in more way than one.

Four things

1) Four places that I go to over and over: Work (Midvale City Hall), Church (Discovery Christian Community), My Parents' House, My In-laws' House
2) Four of my favorite places to eat: La Puente, Famous Dave's, Red Robin, Rubio's Baja Grill
3) Four places I would rather be right now: Home with Jesse and Marshall, a cabin next to a lake, at the playground with Marshall, hanging out with my mom
4) Four TV shows I watch: (In the summer) Last Comic Standing, Wipeout (Marshall loves this one), Primetime Crime, reruns of Friends
5) Four people to tag: Jill, Stef, and two other people reading this blog that would like to do it!

Copy & paste then put this in your blogs!!!

Jonny Lang Concert

Jesse and I were able to go to the Jonny Lang concert at Red Butte Garden last week. Best concert ever. He is my favorite musician and it was wonderful. The weather was perfect and it was such a great evening. It was fun to go on a date with my husband again. We don't do much without the kid. Marshall had a sleepover at my parent's house that night and I'm happy to say he was a very good boy for them. We ran into a friend of ours at the concert and were able to sit with him. This is the second time we have seen him in concert and he was even better this time. His whole band was incredible. My favorite part of the concert was when he came back for his encore he picked up his acoustic guitar and played an instrumental version of the song "I Love You Lord". I love that song and I think the words are beautiful.

I love You, Lord,
and I lift my voice
To worship You,
O my soul, rejoice.
Take joy, my King,
in what you hear:
May it be a sweet,
sweet sound
in Your ear.

Amen, Jonny!