Happy Mother's Day!

Well, I have been waiting to post something because I have a super cute picture of Denali that I have been waiting to download. My husband, the photographer has several cameras, but a lot of times I don't have one at home for easy access to take photos of cute things the girls do. So I got him to choose one to leave at home and then I only had this huge lense to use with it. I had to stand in the kitchen to take photos of the living room. So he brought me home a small lense for me to use. Next time I went to use it though, I didn't have a memory card, he needed them all for some engagement photos he took. So one day he was home and I was able to take some cute pictures. But I haven't got him to bring home the card reader yet so I can download the photos! Well, my Mother's Day present was a camera! A small one that will fit in my purse, it takes great photos and video. It has it's own little memory card that won't fit his cameras so he won't be able to borrow it. Yeah! So I probably will be posting lots of photos and videos now, because I can.

So this has been a pretty busy week. Last weekend all of the students moved out which was a lot of work and sort of sad to see them go, but I have been enjoying the quiet. One of the students, Leann, is staying with us until she goes home to Vermont. She has been our lifesaver babysitter all year. So I am taking advantage of her being here to get some hours in at the hospital. I went in Wednesday and worked a 12 hour shift and 3 babies were born. I got to be in the room when one of them was born and learn what to do with them right after. I got to help clean off, measure, weigh, take the babies vitals. I learned what they look for in the Apgar score. It was so great and it reassured that nursing is really what I want to pursue. I got called in on Thursday and worked most of the day too. The extra money will be good to help with our down payment that's coming up in a few weeks.

Friday night we drove up to Orem to spend the weekend. We stayed with my in-laws. Mark (Greg's stepdad) had a full knee replacement and got home from the hospital that night. The girls loved entertaining him while his leg exercising machine was running. We had a family lunch with Karen's (Greg's mom) side of the family on Saturday and that night we took my mom (Bev) out to dinner. We have been watching ksl classifieds for furniture for our new house. Alexis is still in a toddler bed and is definitely getting too long for it. We found her a princess castle bed. She is so spoiled. It was only $200 for everything, even princess bedding and when Greg went to pick it up, he got a wood desk for only $20 that they were also selling. So I feel like we got a good deal. Here's a photo of her bed.
Today was a good day, we got to visit Grandma Dart and see several of the Dart Aunts and their families. Here are some pictures with my new camera. I took this one of Alexis and I: Alexis took this of Greg and I: And here is our first video post:


We had a great weekend and it was so fun to spend some time with family. I miss mine being so far away, so it is so great that Greg has sooo many that are close. I hope all you other Mother's had a great day.

Alexis Karen Dart

Alexis was so excited that she got tagged by her friend Isaac. Here are 8 fun facts about Alexis:

1. Alexis’ favorite things: She loves to paint and only wishes she could do it more. Her favorite color is purple and she hopes her new room is going to be purple. Her favorite food is spaghetti. Her favorite show is Thomas the Train. Her favorite ride at Disneyland’s California Adventure was “the Caterpillar ride.” It is Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train in Bug’s Life Land. Her favorite ice cream is vanilla and her favorite animal is a cat. She really wants to get a cat, but I don’t think she will be able to talk Mom and Dad into it.

2. Alexis was born in Alaska. On our way to the hospital it was -30°F. We brought her home two days later and it was 20°F. A 50 degree swing! No wonder she was almost two weeks overdue. She wanted to stay where it was warm!

3. Alexis loves to dance and sing and is always making up her own tunes. We were baking cookies the other day and we were singing as we added each ingredient. Alexis began to sing, “Sing along with my baking soda song.” I wish you could hear the tune, because it was in key and so cute. She is looking forward to her dance recital in May.

4. Alexis is so curious and always asking questions about how and why things are the way they are or why they are called by their name. A few days ago she says, “Mom, what does veryinta mean?” I was confused and asked her to repeat it. “Veryinta.” I told her that I didn’t know what that was. She responded, “You said that Denali is veryinta Elmo.” I explained that “very into” just means that she really likes Elmo. So then she began to tell me the things she is “veryinta” like: music, playing with friends and flowers.

5. I asked Alexis to tell me some things that she is looking forward to. She is looking forward to: going to the park with Leann (a college student in our dorm who is going to live with us for a few weeks), her friend Chase and his family moving to Ephraim, and taking swimming lessons this summer. And then she said, just swimming all the time, not just lessons, but it is too cold to swim today. It is the last day of April and it is snowing right now.

6. Alexis loves spending time with her Dad, especially when it means also getting to go to a fun activity with the leadership students. Last night they had a bonfire. She couldn’t wait to go to the “vampire” and thought that the “vampire” was so much fun. She got to roast 3 marshmallows and one hot dog.

7. A funny story that she wanted to tell: Alexis was one and we were having a summer BBQ with some friends. She was in her high chair and looking pretty sleepy. But she also was hungry. She fell asleep sitting up with a cheeto in her mouth!

8. On Sunday, I was feeling very lazy and not wanting to do much of anything. Alexis yelled at me from the other room saying that there was a dead spider on one of her toys. I told her to brush off the spider into the garbage can and surprisingly she agreed. But when she went to pick up the toy, she yelled that the spider had moved. I told her to get her shoe and squish it, but she told me she was too scared. So I begrudgingly got up to take care of the spider. Greg was not home or I would have made him do it. I went into get it and it was huge! I didn’t want to squish it either. I put a paper towel over the toy and put it in the sink, turned the water on full blast and the disposal. I felt very bad that I hadn’t taken care of it quicker. I don’t know if it was poisonous, but I don’t really want to know.

Alexis is tagging her friends: Chase Arave, Danika Farley, Grace Gordon, Grace Rolfe, Anne Evans, Lauren Gilbride, Aaron Rhodes, Collin Rhodes, Erika Smith, and everyone else. We love to learn more about our friends.

Dart Week in Review

I had my class final and got an A and an A in the class overall. I was very excited, although I still have to pass the state test to get my CNA certificate. Greg’s sister, Caitlin, visited us for the weekend. Alexis, Caitlin and I went to the show choir’s concert, “Broadway, Now and Then.” It was excellent. Snow football had a spring scrimmage on Saturday and we went to that too. We also went up to Salt Lake to the children’s museum. “Elmo Presents the Body” is a special exhibit that is there right now. We have been waiting to go and it is about to leave, so we squeezed that in. It was a quick trip up, but we loved it. We walked in and Denali’s eyes were as wide as they can go and she couldn’t stop saying, “Elmo”, “Elmo!” He was everywhere and she pointed out every single one. Not only does she know where her eyes and nose are, she can say the words now too. It is so cute. She also learned how to say, MINE, that isn’t so cute.

The first picture is us sitting at the apartment building steps on Sesame Street. The second is Alexis dancing at Grover's dance party. And the last is a reflection of Denali. There was a video at the mirror at a pretend sink that teaches you about hygiene.


I have been tagged by my friend, Danielle. I am supposed to tell six habits or facts about me and then tag 6 other people. But if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

1. For a long time I thought that chocoholic was just a fun phrase. But I have realized for me that it really is an addiction. If I haven’t had any chocolate during the day, I am more anxious and cranky. A small amount gives me the fix I need usually, but I can’t stop on one chocolate of course. So I have been baking lately to get my chocolate fix.

2. I now am addicted to blogging. I check mine everyday to see if someone has commented. I look at my friend’s blogs at least once a week to see if there are new posts and to try and comment on theirs. I love it. I was looking at friend’s blogs this weekend and my sister-in-law Caitlin (who’s 16) thinks it is so funny that someone my age is addicted to blogging. I didn’t realize I was so old, thanks Caitlin. =)

3. Most people know this, but it is a fact about me. I was actually born in Wyoming, but my family moved a lot and they moved back to Alaska when I was still a baby. We lived there until my Dad died when I was 9. He was hunting with a friend and their small airplane crashed. My mom moved us to Heber City, Utah to have modern conveniences (like grocery stores) and to have the kids that were still at home, grow up with friends of the LDS faith. We had a small branch in Alaska. We went back to Alaska for my 8th and 9th grade years, but sophomore through senior years were back in Heber. Both states are home to me and each has very special memories and friends.

4. A fact about me that some people may not know is I traveled to Europe with a basketball team when I was 15. There was a basketball camp in Alaska that I went to for several summers along with everyone in Healy. Each summer they took a group of kids to Europe to play against teams. We went to England and spent one day in Ireland. It is a Christian basketball camp so at the end of the games we sang a few songs and everyone had a turn to give their testimony of Christ. It is an experience I will never forget.

5. I am a flybaby. If you don’t know what that means, go to flylady.net and check it out. She has taught me that I can do anything for 15 minutes and that is all it takes to get something accomplished. My house is never clean, but at least I don’t beat myself up anymore for what I don’t get done during the day. One of her mottos is “Progress, not Perfection.” And I am making progress.

6. When I was in 10th grade, a teacher of mine had us write a list of goals. Many of them I don’t care to achieve, but one of them is to run a marathon. Last year I was made a goal to run the one in Logan in September, but I had a new baby which made it hard for me to find time to train, and I was very emotional. I couldn’t even run a 5k. Well, I still probably couldn’t run a 5k, but I try to walk a few times a week and like cleaning my house, I am making progress. Hopefully once I get the habit started, I can start running and maybe run a race and just work my way up.