Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard

Cultures week

2012-01-15T22:48:00.000-08:00

It is Chinese New year Season, like the whole month of January, specifically next monday and tuesday. So our RS group went on a tour around china town to celebrate. It is so interesting, everything is red and gold and symbolizes wealth, prosperity, etc

here are the sasauges that they only sell at chinese new year yum. .
It was so hot but the kids did a good job riding everything has the chinese lanterns etc. .
Eating on the Floor at an Egyptian Restaurant with some friends
We did a baby shower for our friend Nicole. It was great
Here is our wishing tree- the newest thing on Pinterest for baby showers- :) you make a wish for the baby. There is Jane and Sara in the background!

Bollywood farms

2012-01-13T04:32:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went to the Farmland area of Singapore- it is not very big :) but it fun and nice to go out for some fresh air. Bollywood is full of all organic plants unique and tropical to Singapore, and then they also have restaurant there that everything is made with the local food. It was fun and just a bus ride away.

SO I guess you can make a lot of Money Owning a Goat Farm, cause look what you get to drive? :) Devin is considering switching jobs.
Visiting the goat farm for a few minutes.
Hey Look, It's a Banna Tree, really cool huh? I mean you don't get to see a Banana Tree in American

Enjoying Bollywood together!
Playing at the Park together.

The other night we had some of Flor's Friends over for dinner and a swim.

New Years Eve

2012-01-06T14:40:00.001-08:00

Our friend Flor Babysat the kids, thanks Flor! So Devin and I went downtown had dinner, watched a movie, adn then joined our friends for a game night until Midnight, which at that point we went up to their 20th floor where we had a spectacular view of the Marina Bay Sands Fireworks! So fun!

Christmas Lights on the Double Decker!

2011-12-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

Friends in the Ward rented a double decker bus and then we all signed up and paid for the seats, it was awesome. The bus took us all around Singpaore to see the Christmas lights, which was awesome. The lights on Orchard- the main downtown area were themed Christmas Blooms"

This year, “Christmas Blooms in Singapore” magically transforms Orchard Road into a garden of scintillating lights. Streets of flowers glow in blue and hold visitors spellbound, immersing them in a wonderland of sheer beauty.

Composed of five little hearts bound together by a star, each flower expresses the loving spirit of the season. Together, the thousands of flowers across the precinct infuse magic into Singapore’s Yuletide celebrations.

Marina Bay

Merry Christmas

2011-12-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas was wonderful with these two kiddos, Marianne woke up super early and then we played and finally woke up Spencer and boy was he excited. Marianne was thrilled and kept saying "Santa Claus Presents" for the next three days after- she thought was a good gig.

Marianne got some fisherprice animals or "Aminals' for Christmas and she was in Heaven and carries them with her everywhere.

Just after Santa arrived, most of those came in a suitcase that Kandon Petersen brought to us, thanks Kanden, from our family.

Special Stockings

Christmas eve iwth the missionaries and ward

Christmas Eve with the missionaries

Family Christmas picture. We had a great time with the ward caroling and eating dessert

Christmas Eve decor

Making Cookies for Santa

This is the nativity that we ordered from the Cinnamon Man, it is beautiful and our name is carved into the back. It is made out of Cinnamon bark that is ground into powder and made into a clay.

Here is a video of spencer screeming the 12 days of christmas at the ward christmas caroling

Christmas 4 days away

2011-12-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

“Wake up every morning with the thought that something Wonderful is about to happen” . . . I saw this quote on Pinterest and love it.

We have been to a few Christmas parties with our friends and have had a great time. The kids have done little gift exchanges and Christmas crafts. It helps to make it feel like Christmas

Our little friend Anna gave this purse and hat to Marianne, she is loving it, she walks around saying "At, Aat, pretty" and then smiles big so you will say yes you look pretty in your hat, or bow, or dress or whatever she is wearing, it is fun watching her become a little girl.

Happy Early Anniversary

2011-12-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

Marina Bay Sands is the largest and most beautiful 5 star hotel in Singapore and Lucky for us we have some friends in the ward who not only hooked us up for a night with the friends and family rate but came over and watched our kids as well! Talk about nice friends.

These pictures are posted backwards starting with Saturday night and working to Friday- sorry

The afternoon we spent at Christmas Shopping and then dinner with some friends, and then we went and saw Wicked Saturday Night! Wow what a show, this was the second time I saw it and it was just as amazing!

And don't forget Breakfast in Bed- definitly a must- and Late checkout - a must for one night.

We had Swans and Rose petals on the bed and for a romantic like me this was the Ultimate - I about cried

Dinner Pool Side

Cute Toes

Beautiful Sunset

We got to go up to the Infinity pool that is on the Yacht at the top of the three buildings, it looks like the water is falling off the building and only guests can swim in it, so cool.

And then the room was amazing, huge! And a front sitting room. What a lovely evening of swimming, dinner, buy the pool and great quality time together :)

So dark, but it looked amazing, trust me!

Nice Bathroom

Honeymoon package!

What an amazing Anniversary Weekend. Thank you to all of our babysitters and to the Larsons for the Room!

Haw Par Villa

2011-12-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

A whole mountain with loads of sculptures of Chinese cultural stories and things. They are all painted nice bright colors. Some of it is kind of weird abut the kids enjoyed climbing all over it and it was fun to visit.

Christmas stuff . . .

2011-12-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Then Sunday we acted out the nativity, Spencer gets to be a sheep for the ward party so it was good practice.

The Peterson Family came over to watch my favorite Christmas Movie, White Christmas with us. We had a great dinner and turned the Air Con on and had Hot Chocolate.
Oh and here is a cute picture of our friend Flor. We met Flor last summer and she is vistiing us for a couple of weeks. She is awesome with the kids and loves to clean my house :) and doesn't mind sharing the bunk beds with Spencer! She'll be celebrating Christmas with us.

What We do for fun. . . .

2011-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Marianne tries to copy Spencer

Spencer learns gymnastics while waiting for the elevator to go up to the eleventh floor

Marianne likes to put herself into just her size boxes

Marianne tries to take a bath with her clothes on. . . .

Sport'n the Pony

2011-12-06T03:45:00.000-08:00

I put Marianne's hair in a Pony tail for the first time. I thought it was cute. Although I do love the the curls in the back when they are all down.

Devin's Work Christmas Party

2011-12-06T03:32:00.000-08:00

Devin's Law Firm had their Christmas party at the top of the Marina Mandarin Hotel, Pool side. We had a beautiful dinner Catered, a few speeches, and a few games. One game was trivia. Playing games with Lawyers is hilarious. First they had to confiscate everyone's blackberry's so that no one would cheat- this took about 20 min since everyone had to debate over why they shouldn't have to give up their Phone. And then with each question there was a debate over the details of the question and what would and wouldnt count. - really these guys were just Lawyers.

Highlight was Devin playing twister!
Here we are with a beautiful View of the Marina Bay Sands in the background.
Do you like my new dress?
Meeting the Partners. Don't you love the dress, I tell you I absolutely know these guys get paid well enough to buy themselves some decent clothes to wear to a 5 star hotel- not sure what the problem is.
Here is a preschool party we had where we made snowman out of marshmallows and Peanut Butter.
On a side note the kids were really excited about this display of the care bears at a new by mall.

Wagstaff Christmas Letter

2011-11-28T04:42:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Singapore Wagstaffs

That’s right the biggest news this past year is that we moved our family to Singapore. We got here in September and will be here for several years. We are truly enjoying the move! Singapore has been a wonderful place with wonderful people and lots of fun things to do for our family. We have enjoyed the Zoo, swimming, exploring other cultures like Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Indonesian, museums, parks, malls, and tropical rainforests.

Devin has a great job with the law firm O’Melveny & Meyers as an Associate Lawyer. He is working way too hard and too many hours but finds the time to be with our family. He is also teaching the 6 year olds in Primary on Sundays.

Naomi is home with the kids exploring every aspect of Singapore, and making friends from all over the world. She loves to blog, sew, and read in her free moments. She is serving as Relief Society Secretary in our ward.

Spencer is 3 ½ and talking unceasingly, the taxi drivers her call him a “Chatterbox.” He is taking swimming lessons, going to Joyschool, playgroups, and learning how to be a great big brother.

Marianne is 21 months, she loves, animals- dogs, horses, chickens etc. . . which she refers to each one fondly as their sound they make, like neigh-neigh, cluck-cluck . She is starting to talk lots and has quite the personality coming out.

Other news from this year includes:

Graduating Law School from BYU in April!

Studying for and Passing the California Bar!

Visiting San Francisco, Lake Powell, Washington DC, and Prince Edward Island, CA with our Families.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Come and visit us soon, we have room for guests!

Love,

Devin, Naomi, Spencer, and Marianne Wagstaff

Christmas is coming

2011-11-26T03:59:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Ben and Cheryl left us this tree which we were grateful for, it is adorable, it makes me think of a Charlie Brown Tree -the top is leaning you cant really tell, but it is ours, we have collected ornaments from all over the word and it is always fun to open them up and see ornaments from our honeymoon, to having new babies, to other trips.

I am beginning to collect Nativities, here is one from Spain, we have one from the Philippines, and are going to get one from Singapore next week.

This Week- preschool, thanksgiving, Breaking Dawn

2011-11-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a fun week in Singapore, we had Thanksgiving Thursday with a few families from the ward and preschool where we made Christmas ornament and then I had a girls night out and went and saw the awesome Breaking Dawn!

I love these girls, here is Jane- my Australian friend, Cleia my Brazilian friend, and Jenna my England Friend. We all went and sighed, swooned, cried, and whoo hooed, at the right places. IT was great, can't wait for part 2!
Here are the kids riding home from Jane's house on the LRT, which is a miniature MRT train (subway)
Marianne and Desdmond
Here is Spencer and Jake enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner
Our friends the Gatlin's hosted Thanksgiving we brought homemade rolls and Potatoes, and we had the best pecan pie. They live in a nice home which made it really fun for the kids to run around.

We Passed the Bar!

2011-11-19T03:58:00.000-08:00

Devin is now an official Attorney! He passed the California State Bar!

We are so proud of you, what a huge accomplishment! He never has to take another test again!

This week. . .sick kids. . . long week

2011-11-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

You can't see it but I took this picture because it was raining outside but the sun was shining (that doesnt happen in Ut) bright and everything looked like it was sparkling with diamonds, just a memory I wanted to remember today.
Here is my sick baby this week, we have been reading books a lot. Wed she had a temp of 103 but we are now on antibiotics and feeling better
Devin worked from home last night so I could go to the grocery store I just went across the street- here is the loot I carried home, I look rather ridiculous cause I hate going to the grocery store so i try to get as much as I can, the crazy thin is I am usually carring all this with 2 children tagging along. Other times I will go to a bigger store like Giant or Fairprice Finest and take a taxi and then I just have the bags and bags to log from taxi to elevator to hallway to kitchen. that is sort of easier.
Marianne feeding her neigh-neigh
Giving one of her dirty looks

Pillows

2011-11-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to make some pillows to match our bedspread, I had extra fabric so I have been trying to experiment. here is a couple that I made

I saw this one on Pinterest and thought it was adorable so I thought I would try it.

http://pinterest.com/pin/143411569353665225/

So i did not make this I found it in SG at an Indian store- i thought it was gorgeous. and it was only $10.00
But I did make this one, which I love, I bought the form at DI in the states for $2.00
I have one more blue one that I am working on, that will be small with ruffles.

Chinese Wedding Dinner

2011-11-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

We were invited to a Chinese Wedding Dinner, This is quite the event. They had about 400 people there and we were served a 9 course meal. They have a toast, the bride and groom walk down the isle- change at least once into another outfit and walk down the isle again, which this is all projected onto huge screens so that everyone can see.One of the courses was a duck, if the head is pointed toward you that means good luck, we also had scallops, shark fin soup- which i understand is very expensive, fish, rice, a dessert. We ate for 3 hours
Me with the bride, sorry my phone was a little fuzzy, she is in her second dress which was an elaborate prom dress.
The Toast
The
Cutting the cake, which is not normal but was included since she is american

I am sitting my Sister Belle Nef the Rs Pres in our ward.

Christmas Season

2011-11-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

I went to the grocery store last night and Christmas Carols were playing, Oh there is nothing like hearing Christmas songs for the first time, it just sounds so much like home, so familiar so wonderful. This year is the first time our own little family will celebrate Christmas, we will miss our families alot hopefully we will enjoy being together and can make it special. This Gingerbread man tree and sleigh are being sported at the mall across the street.

Visiting Daddy at Work

2011-11-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

The kids and I went on the train downtown (45 min) to ggo meet Deivn for dinner since he was going to be out late.The tall building in the center is called the Ruplic Plaza and is the building that Devin works in. I am always impressed when I walk in it is beautiful. He is on the 22nd floor.
Here is Devin's office- everyone loves to see them even though they run a muck the whole time we are there.
Devin has his diplomas framed on his wall, Law from BYU and MBA from Notre Dame, next to it is a painting that Devin's Brother made and on the floor you can just see the side of it a beautiful globe that Devin's parents gave him for graduation.

Christmas Stockings

2011-11-08T03:48:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to make Christmas stockings for our family for a while and finally decided to do it since we will have our own Christmas this year. I decided to make each one unique so that when we have another little one (someday) I can make one for them and not have to worry about them matching. Although I got a little ambitious and made an extra one.

I was pleased with how they turned out. I cut strips, each one with different Christmas fabric that came in a basket that my mom gave me. Then I added the cuff and embodied our names.

Halloween Night Trick or Treat

2011-11-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

So us along with 6,000 other kids went up to the Woodlands to Trick or Treat. It was awesome, here are the kids counting their loot at the end of the night. Marianne just says "Andy, more andy" she is such a sugar tooth
Here is a spooky family picture
Look at these Houses, huge! they are like 3000-6000 square feet plus and most cost about $12,000-$20,000 per MONTH. Hard to believe what companies will pay, and then they pay the $22,000 per year per kid for the Singapore American school. crazy, guess my kids arn't going there.
Here is the strawberry eating up her candy as she gets it.
The people loved our kids, these ladies are in our ward and let Spencer and Jett help pass out the Candy.
Have you ever tried making Jack-o-Lanterns out of Oranges, it is way fun and super edible.
our Friend has a birthday on Halloween, so we went to celebrate and guess who's chocolate fingers just had to grab my white skirt? I know why do I even own a white skirt? I thought it was cute and airy and hey I can always bleach it right?

Chinese Garden's and Diwali

2011-11-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

My Little Cute Girl trying on Jewlery, it kept her entertained for quite a while.

Since it was a Public Holiday of Deepavali last Wednesday Devin was home and we took him to see the Chinese Garden's which are beautiful here.

Tuesday night my dear friend Jane and I decided to head down to see Little India. At midnight they set off the Fireworks, and had a concert - all to celebrate Deepvali which is light over darkness, good conquers evil and that kind of stuff.

There were lots of good deals and it was way fun. Thanks Jane!

This is what happens when Devin puts spencer to sleep for nap time. :)

Halloween Costumes

2011-10-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

My little munchkins were: Superhero Spencer and A Marianne Strawberry.

We had our Preschool this week at our house so we celebrated Halloween with sticking our hands in a Pumpkin, studying the letter H, and having ghoulish treats like mummy hotdogs, and monster fingers.

Marianne's outfit came out of a hand me down bag of fabric that my mom gave me, it included several feet of hemmed strips which I used for the three layers of ruffles on the skirt. I had way too much fun making this strawberry dress. And was please that she not only kept the dress on but like usual looked adorable.

No outfit is complete without the matching purse

We put our favorite things in our purse or bag

Spencer picked out this amazingly bright Lime Green Satin that we made the cape out of.

Superhero Spencer

We are going to go to the American Area (woodlands) the northern part of Singapore, just about 15 minutes away from us to go Trick or Treating. The police will close the streets from 6-8pm so that families can go trick or treating. I head that 6,000 kids where there last year. It should be fun.

Flowers and Sunsets

2011-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Pretty sunsets out our window, even though we are really high up we rarely get beatiful sunsets because there is such a thick layer of clouds. Funny huh

So my wonderful husband has brought me home flowers three times since being here. I happen to love flowers and we have never had a ton of resources to go splurge on "just because" flowers. So it has been a wonderfully romantic gestures.

These flowers are special because they talk to me and say "Devin loves me, even though he is working a lot", see how important they are. And what beautiful variety of flowers we have in asia! I Love you Sweet Heart! Thanks for my flowers.

Jurong Bird Park

2011-10-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

They had cool people dressed in these really hot costumes I don't know how they do it. you couldn't pay me to put that on, amazing what people will do for money.

They had some cool bird shows where all kinds of birds where flying over our heads. Do you see this asian lady, definitetly a common site of people who love our white children. Some of them belive that if you touch a white kids head that it will bring you good luck- I know dumb right, especially to our kids who have strangers touch their heads.

It honestly has not been as bad as I thought it would be only at tourist stuff like the Zoo and the park has it been a problem. They love taking pictures of them too- and I 'm thinking, so really what are you going to do with that picture, show your friends that you saw a white kid- whopdido- your friend does not care- so stop taking pictures of my kids- whew- just had to get that off my chest, I normally just ignore them unless it gets to an annoying level.

It is of course set in the amazing rainforest of Sinapore- those are flamingos in the background.

Preschool

2011-10-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

We meet for a hom preschool group on Friday's with four other families. Each of us mom's take a week. We pick a letter, color, number and theme and have a snack. It has been awesome. Last week chelsea talked about Fruit's and Vegtables. And then we painted with cut out shapes of said fruits and vegies. We have some pretty cool fruits here like star fruit, and dragon fruit.

Going Out to Eat with Kids . . .

2011-10-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

We met Devin downtown so we could see him earlier one Friday night and thought it would be fun to eat out. Well all I can say is at least I didn't have to do dishes . . .

She loved this soup. and had to have it her self, we ended up as gross as this sounds, pouring the broth into a glass and having her drink it through a straw. And spencer wasn't very happy because we gave him what we thought was ketchup- oh no try Chili Sauce, do you know how hot Chili sauce is. The rest of the meal is very loudly complaining about how "it had such a strong flavor"- not sure where that phrase came from.

Do you see her shirt, it is drenched with this soup, and you should have seen the floor, it had more food on it then the table. So embarrassing :)

"I'm a Potty Train, Yep I am" quote by Kimberly Richardson

2011-10-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

Spencer is Potty Trained! I don't know weather Spencer or Devin and I are more excited. We did a 6 week crash course in january that we completly failed at, so we gave it up for a few months and decided that when we got to Sinapore we would try it.

He honestly was Potty Trained from like day 1 they say wait till they are ready, well that is really the truth. We made him fill out his sticker chart for about three weeks and then he got to go and gt his special toy and lollipop that he picked out.

Nature Reserve

2011-10-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

It was raining, but we figure it was a rainforest, so why not? We got our rain gear and met up with our friend Jenna and her kids and went exploring. We'll have to go back since we did not see the monkeys who are there, they were in hiding due to the rain.

Stamp museum

2011-10-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

We made chocolate Milk Shakes one afternoon, just for something fun to do.

We went to the stamp museum for a playdate last week. It was fun, here are th ekis

Playdates with the kids

2011-10-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the Chinese Garden's a while a go and went to the turtle museum there. It was awesome, there were so many turtles, you can feed them and walk around them. The kids really enjoyed it.

Look at the cool pagoda's

Checking out the pool of Koi fish

Toy Plastic Kitchen Makeover

2011-10-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

I bought this kitchen from a man who was about to sell it to Kid to Kid for $20.00 and it came with a bag of plastic food and some dishes. I thought what a steal I couldn't turn it down even though we were moving in two days.

However it is not the cutest kitchen in the world, so after looking around I thought I would try to spruce it up a bit

I modge-podged some pager on the back splash tiles and on the cupboard doors and shelves, and then made a couple of little towels, and added a touch of ribbon. I like it.

Pay Check!

2011-09-30T22:18:00.001-07:00

We got our first paycheck today! It is the first paycheck we have gotten since before Spencer was born over 3 1/2 years ago, so yea we are a little excited!

So we figured out that this wonderful paycheck which covered the last two weeks of work is more money than we made during the entire year of MBA school- proven by tax return that year, which at the time was so pathetic that all we could do was laugh about it.

So nice to have an income again, and it was well earned Devin worked from 8am-10pm Mon and Tuesday, left at 6:30am on Wed and did not come home until Thursday morning at 11am (he had to pull an all nighter on the second week of work) but got a 1/2 day off on Thursday, and then Friday worked 8am-midnight. Talk about yuck, we are hoping it will get a little better as he gets trained and gets faster. So paycheck well earned.

Great Story

2011-09-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

On November 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you’ve ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other forward. He then bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap --- it went off like gunfire across the room and there was no mistaking what that sound meant. We figured he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off-stage to either find another violin or to find another string for this one. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with a passion, power and purity the audience had never heard before. Of course anyone knows it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just 3 strings, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing and re-composing the piece in his head. When he finished, there was a hushed silence --- and then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, then said in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.” That powerful line has stayed in my mind. Who knows? Perhaps that’s how life is. We, too, might have prepared all our life to play with 4 strings when all of the sudden we find ourselves with only 3. But we, too, can make music with those

3 strings that is more beautiful, sacred and memorable than any that we ever made before, when we had 4 strings. So perhaps our task is to make music, with all we have, and when that is no longer possible, with what we have left.

This story really touched me, we all have challenges in this life, I guess it is what we make of them and how we go through them that matters, hopefully we are better on the other side.

Our New Condo- The Warren

2011-09-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

We live in on the 11th Floor, so we have a great view! The apartment is about 1100 hundred square feet maybe a little less. We are fitting in great and really like it. We are close to the Mall, Grocery Store, Library, and MRT. We have about 5 families that just live a few stops away from us. We are have some really nice pools, lap pool, main pool, fun/kids pool, a playground, a gym, a tennis court and sort of bbq pits, and a community room.

Entry way my cedar chest, a shoe rack and the closed window into the kitchen. it is nice to have these shelves here, I love the willow tree dolls and am glad to have space for them. there are not much shelves here.

dinning room Decor. We had to hire a handy man to hang up the larger pictures in our house, (cause thats what you do out here with these cement walls). The smaller pictures we hung with Sticky stuff.
Our beautiful view, this picture does not do it justice, Singapore has a nature reserve that is acres of trees, and we overlook that and a golf course, and in the far distance Malaysia.
View of the Entry Way, Kitchen table area, and Kitchen door.
family room, with Bookshelf, and Toy Kitchen, which I bought for a steel of ($20.00) at Kid to Kid, i think it needs a makeover though.
Opposite side of the room, our comfy cloud couch and red Chair. The bed has a very comfortable sleeper sofa, hint hint in case you want to come visit
The door that leads to the Kitchen, it is closed and the kitchen does not have any air con. What were they thinking, it is like an oven, and is practically outside- since it attaches to the washer and dryer area which is litterly almost on a porch. Which also means I have a problem with ants, and am working really hard to get rid of them. Yuck.
My tiny Kitchen, if you have a walk in closet, this Kitchen would probalby fit inside it. There is the tiny oven which hold a 9x13 pan but nothing bigger, the sink and the tiny fridge.
The other side, small counter and fridge
The Washer and Dryer (so grateful for both of these), it is right next to the kitchen and is open to the outside like a porch. , the silver door is the Rubbish Shoot, which you open up and you throw whatever you want down 11 story's to a dumpster.
This is the Bomb Shelter (literally) every apartment has. A lot of times it is used as the Helper's room (aka maid/nanny) it is small about 6feet by 4 feet. And is right next to the washer and Dryer. There is no aircon, since it is open to the porch by the dryer.
Master bathroom towels.
Our dresser which fits in the rather wide hallway, really well, a good use of the what would have been wasted space (the hallway)
The large windowsill which is a great storage shelf for Naomi's Sewing stuff, that it all those boxes.
And look a little messy but an alcove in our room, which is a perfect sewing area!!!
The Master suite
Here is Marianne's room, her room is considered a closet because it does not have a built in

Spencer's room has a double bunk Bed, which takes up most of his room, but the bed has also become a play area and a fort, space ship, and a lot of fun.

another picture of the master bathroom
Hallway leading towards the Family room
The guest bathroom sink, decorated with a green hand towel and an original painting by Bridget Smith of the Utah Mountains- We love it Bridget thanks so much!
Guest Bathroom, with Shower.

Qian Hu Fish Spa

2011-09-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

They feed on the dead and unhealthy skin cells on the human body, leaving the skin feeling smoother and softer. As the fishes have no teeth, the process is not painful and can be quite a pleasant sensation after the initial ticklish feeling has subsided and you have relaxed into the treatment.

This is really a cool thing to do out here. Kind of like getting a peticure. If anyone comes to visit this is a must. I have to say I was a little (a lot) jumpy for the first few minutes and then it actually got to be very comfortable massage feeling. We did this for 20 min and now we have very soft feet!

A few fish at first
lots of fish
You could even go and do the big fish "for the bigger sensation" It was fun, Naomi was a little to scared to put her feet in. She stuck a town in the big fish tank and then jumped up screaming :)

China Town, The Park, Etc. . .

2011-09-25T05:04:00.000-07:00

Put these amazing sunglasses on for me!
Cheeeeese!This is our Park in our complex. It is awesome and shaped like a Pirate Ship!
Here is the kids pool, which is really close to the park. We love it the whole thing is only about 2 - 2 1/2 feet deep, so Spencer is all over the place and I don't have to hold him. Which is great cause Marianne has to stay right next to me.
Good thing the water is safe here unlike some places we have been, ie Philippines.
The park that is across of the street on top of the mall. We go here a lot. We love the splash pad that is right next to it! The mall which is litteraly across the street from us holds

On the us saying Cheeeeese
Here is Marianne as pleased as she can be because all her animals are shoved into her pocket.

There is a part of Singapore called Chinatown they have lots of souvenirs and fun shops and restaurants. We headed over there last Saturday with our friends Kyle and Jenifer Larson

This is Smith Street in China Town (my middle name is Smith) so we had to get a photo.
The coolest dessert Snow Iccee, this one is mango strawberry and the other is chocolate, yummy
Oh and don't forget Marianne has to bring all of her animals with us, which she refers to each one by their sounds, so the horse is a neh-neh, and the chicken is a cluck cluck. At dinner tonight we had chicken and she said More cluck cluck. I thought it was funny
We wnt to a dessert spot and

We love hanging out with Daddy

Malaysia

2011-09-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a half day trip to Malaysia. But we went to the wrong spot. It is kind of a process to get there first you have to get on a bus drive for 20 min, get off the bus go in Immigration on the Singapore side, wait in line show your passaport, get on the bus drive 10 min get off the bus go through Immigration on Malaysia side wait in line show your passport and then get on another bus to drive to the part of Malaysia you want to go to- the whole process took about 1 1/2 hours to arrive in Malaysia from our house.

So we did all that, but then we got on the wrong bus so instead of going to a normal shopping tourist area we went to kind o fa dirty truck stop where all there was was a wet market (food sold on the street or in a wherehouse in stalls) and other things like purses and shoes and stuff sold in the stalls. So we walked around the stalls ate at KFC and then went back through the Two Immigration centers. All in all not too successful we'll have to try it again another time.

On the bus
There were scary sick cats every where

The market
KFC, that was the best part

Oh here is a random picture of Spencer at playgroup with his friend Gage

Parenting Class Blog

2011-09-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

My Cousin Brittany is attending a wonderful Parenting class and with permission of the teacher they created a blog of each class. I have followed it each week (on week 2) and have gotten so much out of it I thought I would pass out the site.

Thanks Brit for Sharing

Carleen Tanners Parenting Class

http://carleentannersparentingclass.blogspot.com

If you want you can read what she writes every week. The classes are on tuesday mornings so expect updates on those days...

Tatta!

Brit

Zoo and stuff

2011-09-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the Singapore Zoo, which is about a 20min bus ride from our house. It was awesome. You know how sometimes when you go to the zoo you kind of feel sorry for the animals in the cages,. . . well not here the whole place is like walking through a Jungle the animals are barely in cages. And they have the Seal show, and the elephant show, and a water playground for the kids. So great. We got an annual pass so I we will definitely be back a lot! Tribute to KFC
Giant Tortise
You can barely se them but those are the Giraffs in there, their cage is on the edge of a beautiful river.
Oh and I was the star of the seal show, I threw a frisbee to the seal!
Orungatung up close and in the bear cage right above our heads was a bunch of bats just roosting.

Hanging out in the jeep
cute kids

Marianne wore pigtails for the first time today, I thought she looked adorable!

Marianne has been really into carring all her little

So Devin got me The iphone4 which is definitely the coolest piece of technology that I have ever owned, I have never owned an ipod and have never been in the music scene so this is pretty cool- and all the phones I have ever had were pretty basic. And did I mention it is soooo pretty white with a pink cover, so cool, and I can put a ebook on it and my few broadway songs- yep I'm pretty thrilled with it, thanks hun!

Wagisms- This summer

2011-09-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

"Hey here's the good news I found the lion, now I've got lots of bad news there is a bsket in the way."

Hi, Moo" Marianne's response when we saw a cow.

"Look Out I'm going to eat the butter."- said by Spencer while waiting for everyone to sit down for dinner.

"Daddy, lets wrestle, thats a great thing to do on Sunday!" Spencer said this after I told him we couldn't watch TV or Computer games on Sunday.

"I don't want to get bigger, I just want to be your little boy forever" Spencer told this to me today, so sweet.

"I thought we were best friends"

"No mommy, you're on the girl team, and daddy and me are on the boy team"

"Jesus wants you to be happy Marianne" Spencer yelled this at Marianne when she was crying in the backseat.

"Look out I'm ganna eat the butter" says Devin at the table.

"Everyone in this picture is happy except that Macey doesn't have a very good Cheese"

Darlene, it's a sometime's day, thanks for bringing me junk food." (because junk food is a "sometimes" food, not an "anytime" food.)

"Daddy, you look beautiful in your Wrestling clothes. . ."

"Clear the wrestling field, Daddy is almost home" He is talking about the family room floor, if you didn't guess.

"Mom can I have a Hearts-boiled Egg" The day after Easter

"We can't wrestle with girls cause they are precious and made of glass" I have been trying to teach Spencer that we can't be too rough with girls, So it made me feel good that he said this.
"Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances." — Abraham Lincoln

Singapore

2011-09-09T01:37:00.000-07:00

Well for those of you who have been waiting with bated breath. . . we made it to Singapore! Yes the flight was very very long, but we did it. Spencer was a trooper watching endless movies, Marianne even slept 5/14 hours of the long flight, we won't talk about the other 8 hours.

We have been in a hotel this week, but our shipment with all of our things arrived on Monday and we have been traveling about 45 min out to our apartment each day to unload and move in. Tonight we are leaving our hotel to go sleep in our own house which will be a first in about 8 weeks- so we are excited. But we will most likely not have internet for about a week or at least it will be shotty until we get it installed.

Everything has been fine we really like our apartment - a video tour to come- it has a some great pools including a children's pool and playground and our own personal Mall next door that has restaurants the MRT (subway), Library, Playground.

One thing that has been a pain is that we have to have an Employment pass, and Dependent pass to get bank accounts, cell phones, and we couldn't get an appointment until today so we should have that next week so that should be good.

The kids are getting used to traveling by bus and metro adn so are we. The weather hasn't been too bad, hot and humid but not too hot and very humid.

The other thing that is funny here is they use the English Vernacular so words like: Rubish, boot, bonnet, tissue, trousers, ect. . .

So here is me trying to use the correct vernacular this morning:

"Spencer please don't wipe your hand on your trousers use the tissue."

If I said "Spencer please don't wipe your hand on your pants use a napkin" it would mean: "Spencer please don't wipe your hand on your underware use a femine hygiene product." So yea kind of important to try to use the right words.

We kid of like it as it reminds us of the summer we spent in Cambridge, England when we were first married.

The Warren - our apartment

Singapore Skyline

Prince Edward Island and Anne of Green Gables

2011-09-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

After DC we spent a week in Prince Edward Island Canada. This is the location of Anne of Green Gables. Visiting PEI has been on my bucket list since I was a little girl and fell in love with "Anne" . PEI goes to the top of my list as one of the most beautiful places in the world. We spent the week going to the beach and visiting everything that had to do with Anne of Green Gables including going to a Theater show named " Anne and Gilbert" we spent the rest of the week seeing the music from the show.

Grandpa, Devin and Spencer were such troopers through the whole week as we watched the entire 8 hour show of Anne of Green Gables.

Definitely one of the most incredible weeks to spend with my mom and all the sisters.

Every couple of years my sisters and I take pictures together "Sister Pictures" so here are this years beauties.

Darlene in blue, Katie in orange, Naomi in Yellow! I love my sisters! This one is my favorite

We climbed a beautiful lighthouse and here is the view.
Playing on a toy ship by the lighthouse.

The Avonlea Village was a little place that was set up to look like Anne's world. It had a place where you could dress up in old fashioned clothes and live music and ice cream.

Look how cute we are.

Singing at the Fishing Shanti in the Avonlea Village

Trying the famous Raspbeery Cordial that Diana Berry got drunk on in the book

The dad's in the potato sack race at Avonlea Village

Eating Cows Ice Cream they had great flavors like cowie wowie, messie-bessie etc
At Avonlea Village playground

Grandpa loves Grandma my dad drew that- cute huh
All the grandkids with Grandma

Marianne telling everyone to come in cause she doesn't want to go in the water
Cute toes!

Marianne just playing
Spencer and Marianne with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandpa with Spencer on the beach.

"These Red Roads are so peculiar" (quote by Anne) The Sand was red, one area of the island has red sands and one area had white sands.

Devin has a great eye for photography and captured some amazing photographs of the island.

Here she is Anne of Green Gables

After DC we spent a week in

Kissing in Lover's Lane

the cutest blue-eyed girl in the world
Playing on the porch
Devin and I ate a lovely Lobster Dinner

Being silly at the pier
This was our view of the ocean out our front door of our beach house. Here is Grandpa taking a walk with the kids.
Standing in the Parlor where Lucy Maud Montgomery got married
Hydrangeas were my Grandma Roots favorite flowers so here we are saying hi to Grandma!
Discovering the well
Daddy and Daughter
This was the beautiful countryside that was all over the island. And then surrounded by the ocean. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
In front of the house

Hanging out in the Swing Set
Siblilng Kisses, both of my kids have been really kissy lately. It is so cute. They always are puckering up to giver you a kiss.
She is not sad just playing Peeka boo

This is where Lucy Maud Montgomery spent some summers at her Aunt and Uncle's House
This picture was taken just as my mom served and then over corrected that seemed to happen a lot on this trip wiht the small roads
Marianne
Darlene flew in for the week at Prince Edward Island with the cutest fatest baby in the world. Kepueli- who I fondly call Kepaloopi" It was so fun having them!
Discovering the ocean, The water on this beach was so interesting some days the waves were big enough to boogie board in (when the wind was coming towards the coast) and when the wind was going against the coast it was like the bay as still and calm as glass.
Grandma in the Ocean on the first day their
Grandpa, Spencer, Devin building Sand Castles
Panaramic of our private beach
Grandma and Marianne playing in the water.

The kids in the bath with kepueli

Washington DC with Smith Family

2011-09-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

We went to Washington DC with Naomi's Mom and Dad, Katie, Spencer and Marianne. We were there for seven days seeing all the sights. It was a blast!Jefferson Memorial
Katie and Naomi not sure what we are doing?

Going out to dinner with Kaleb and Kate

Panoramic view of the Patomic river this is the view from Mount Vernon
Family Photo
Grandma and Spencer speculating while waiting for our water taxi to come in Anapolis

Annapolis capitol at Sunset
Amelia Airhart Airplane
She is our sugar girl, loves ice cream, candy, fruit snacks. . .
Playing in the Air and Space Museum.
Having a picnic in the grass
The Capitol
Playing in the grass
Playing in the Botanical

The Supreme Court
The Girls
Nap Time, in my really cool Stroller
Bamboo Forest
Watering the plants

The Natural History Museum
We love Fish
The White House
Dorthy's Ruby Slippers in The Smithsonian

World War II Memorial
Korean Memorial

Spencer and Grandma looking out over what used to be the reflecting pool
The Family
Vietnam Wll

Vacationing all over the world

2011-08-30T07:38:00.001-07:00

After we left Provo, we have been to Fresno, Rocklin, West Sacramento, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington D.C., Annapolis, Mount Vernon, Newark, Moncton Canada, and Prince Edward Island, Napa Valley, and now back to Sacramento. We are leaving the country in two days on Thursday.

We had a great time with Devin's family, everyone came down and we got great family pictures along and fun time together.

First day their they went and got Spencer a car ramp with a "Whoop" - it just had to have a loop. That has been a hit for the last month.

Then Devin's brothers and their family's came down and we all went to San Francisco for a couple of days.

Summer Fun

2011-08-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

Here we are a couple of snapshots at some summer fun before we left provo!Katie Taggart and I going down the giant water bounce house- typical picture Katie looks likes she is ecstatic and I am too although a little scared too :)

Summer has been fun filled with summer goodies like snow cones and ice cream!

Goodbye Provo

2011-07-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Provo!
We'll Tomorrow the movers come and pack us up and then we are off for a fun 5 filled weeks of vacation that include Sacramento, DC, Prince Edward Island and best of all our families. We are excited!

We officially leave for Singapore on September 1.

Next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Devin will take the California Bar if you remember please send a prayer his way. He has been studying all summer and I know he will do great, but a few extra prayers won't hurt.

We have had a busy few days packing, packing and packing and seeing friends almost every night. I am a little sad of saying goodbyes and my children are just starting to realize that they arn't going to see their friends for a while which is heartbreaking.

But we are very grateful for the time that we have had in Provo and we will miss you! We will miss the beautiful "Y" that is out our front porch and BYU which has been so good to us. We will miss our nice neighbors and the wonderful friends that we have had these last few years. We love you all and are so grateful for you. Thank you for being a part of our lives.

We are very excited for our new adventure to Singapore and thank goodness we know it is the right place for us. We know Heavenly Father has a purpose for us there. It will be awesome. We hope you will all come visit soon!

We got to go see one of our friend's receptions last week, Congratulations Kaleb and Kate see you in DC!
Here is a picture of my ANAA Group (Ashley, Naomi, Aubrey, Ashley, and Aleta) we met together about every other week all year long, It has been so fun! We were all in the same Married student ward together 4 years ago. Miss you guys already.

2011-07-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Nana and Spencer reading a book
Marianne and Grandpa Wagstaff reading
Spencer new cool Lightning McQueen Scooter

Family Picture

Smith Family Crew
Spencer and Grandpa Smith
Cute Marianne an dMommy
4th of July Fireworks and Ice cream cones and cousins.
Yummm
These girls became great friends
Playing at the lake in the mud and water, so fun. We also found a patch of quick sand at the lake, and three of us were up to our thighs in about 1 second. So cool right, haven't you always wanted to say that you have stepped into quick sand.
Naomi with you Dad and her Grandpa Smith
All the kids waiting for the Kimberly's Good Neighbor's Day Parade.
Naomi's Sister was Miss Kimberly this year and got to be in the Parade and My Mom and her Twin Sister Debbie got to drive the Candy Apple Red Mustang.
The Girls with the Princess

2011-07-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

During the Fourth of July Fireworks Spencer decided he wanted to be a Firework. The video is difficult to see but this is his rendition of a firework. It is difficult to see but he jumps around and makes firework noises the sounds are just as fun.

For Sale

2011-06-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

So since we are moving to Singapore we have to pretty much get rid of everything we own. So We have lots of stuff for sale, so if anyone knows anyone who is interested in buying, please let us know ( I am posting on craigslist and KSL) as well. all prices are negotiable.

We also have a Garmen GPS $50.00 that is only a couple years old.

3 Seat Forest Green Couch with Sofa Sleeper Lazy Boy Signature II Mattress. Comes with two pillows and two arm covers. Cushions still firm. Couch and Mattress in great condition. Asking $85.00 OBO

Oval Kitchen table (Circle without Leaf), Oak, Medium wood finish. Great Condition. small discolor marks on top. Four Chairs, Great condition. Sturdy, durable Table.$!25.00
7' X 7' Sundome Tent- Brand New Never been Used in box ($40)

3 Person/1 room tent Exclusive WeatherTec System keeps you dry - guaranteed 53" center height Dome structure - easy to transport and simple to set up 1 door Control airflow with adjustible Variflo ventilation Vented Cool-Air port Privacy vent window Easy two-pole set up with shock corded poles Interior gear pocket Electrical access port Easy set up with continuous pole sleeves Easy to follow instructions sewn into durable carry bag Pin and ring design and InstaClip attachments Dome structure
1997 Light Blue Mercury Sable. 167,000 miles. Inside is carpet and in great shape. Power locks and Windows, Great Trunk Space. Starter has been replaced. Currently has an oil leak, but runs well. Great car for around town. Safe vehicle. V6 engine, 3.0 L.

We are moving to Singapore asking 1,250.00 or best offer.
3 Seat Forest Green Couch with Sofa Sleeper Lazy Boy Signature II Mattress. Comes with two pillows and two arm covers. Cushions still firm. Couch and Mattress in great condition. Asking $75.00 OBO

Friends

2011-06-27T11:30:00.002-07:00

My friend Kallista came to visit she has a cute little boy named dallin, So good to see her.
We went to the Zoo with Devin's cousins, it was so fun, spencer loved the showers.
Marianne loved the tunnels.
Here was the group, we took a picture at the beginning, 1 for the scrapbook and 2 for incase anyone got lost we would know what they were wearing.

Lake Powell

2011-06-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Uncle Denny and Aunt Alyce invited us to go with all the cousins to Lake Powell for the week. It was an awesome week. We went hiking, skiing, eating, and hanging out!Spencer and Devin switching!

Spencer with hallie, Zarian, and Hera
Front of boat
Back of the boat, the whole gang together.
Tim holding Marianne while Naomi is Wake Surfing
Naomi going wake Surfing
All the kids are trying to catch the fish which is off the boat.
Naomi holding the kids and Hera
Devin going Cliff Jumping

Marianne enjoying her dinner!

Marianne funny things 16 months

2011-06-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Marianne is a hoot these days,

Look what we found in the toliet the other day . . . hmmm. . ..
And she loves playing with my jewelry box.

She is also picking up a lot of words these days :

Mommy,

Daddy

All Done (All-Dee), rough, rough, rough

Doggy

Walk

Straw

Ball

Quack, quack,

Moo, moo

She loves animal sounds right now.

She tries to say Spencer; it usually comes out: Beber

Baby

She is really stubborn, especially when it comes to food, she has major sweet tooth, and doesn't want to eat the healthy food for dinner just yummy food.

She is determined to use a fork these days

She is a great little walker

She loves being outside

She loves her blanket and her pacifier

Spencer's Pirate Birthday Party

2011-06-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Spencer Turned 3 a few weeks ago and we had an awesome Pirate Birthday Party! Thanks for everyone who came! At the end of the party my dad who was dressed as a pirate took the kids on a treasure hunt (walk 50 paces this way . . . ) and found a tresure chest shaped pinata, which had Gold Coins in it. It was a big hit!

With Grandma! Grandpa, Katie and Grandma all came down for the weekend and got tocome for the weekend.

Blowing out the candle!

We had Rootbeer and Dry Ice : Buckineer Beer
Playing on the Pirate Ship
Marianne had a great time too.
Pirate "X Marks the Spot" Cup Cakes
With Grandpa testing the food!
We named all of the food pirate names, Pretzle Sticks: Wooden Legs, Gold Fish: Shark Bait, Olives: Cannon Balls, Carrots: Spy Glasses, Doritos: Sails, and Pasta Salad: Scalywag Sea Shell Salad! So fun!

Birthday Dinner

2011-06-21T18:30:00.001-07:00

Devin and My parents took me out to Chef's Table for my birthday. chef's Table is a fine Dining Restaurant that I have always wanted to go to in Provo. We had a great time!

We had a fun Pirate Birthday party with our new 3 year old!

Kids Stats, 3 and 15 months

2011-06-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Just an Update on the kids Stats:

Marianne 15.5 months old

Weight: 21 lbs, 14 oz 35%

Height: 30 7/8 65%

Spencer is 3 years old

Weight: 30lbs, 4oz 35%

Height 36.5 inches 20%

Happy Birthday

2011-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick Happy Birthday to Naomi today. She is the very best wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and person I know. I'm so grateful for her kindness, thoughtfulness, patience, sacrifice, and love.

It was also Spencer's Birthday last week (26 May). We are having a party on Saturday. Call if you need directions or details.

She Walks!

2011-05-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well she is finally doing it, 15 1/2 months. So it is still a bit of a Wobbly World but she is walking around the room, and prefers it over crawling! Watch out world

Katie's Graduation

2011-05-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

My Littliest Sister Katie-Anne Graduated High School Valedictorian last week from Kimberly High School. We were so glad we got to go!Marianne with Grandma
Spencer and the graduate
My sister and me!
Walking down the stage
Drew and Manase got to come and celebrate with us!
Katie getting ready to give for her Validictoran address

9 Year Roommate Reunion

2011-05-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

I had the most amazing weekend with 6 of my freshmen year roommates. We moved into Caroll Hall 9 years ago as total strangers, and came out as best friends. We have kept in touch the last 9 years and have been bridesmaids for each other. We now have 13 kids on the way plus two more due this year.

All the hubbys stayed home and watched the kids, they were wonderful. We did have a few who came, Michelle's Evie (9 months) who was a doll, you hardly knew she was there. And Kallista's little boy Dallin (5 months), so fun. They were adorable.

We went to Kallista's house and stayed with them they are house sitting their parent's house while they are on a mission to New Zealand. It was the perfect spot!

Top Row: Tiffany, Cathi, Rhonda, Bottom Row: Andrea, Michelle, Kallista, Naomi
Us 8 Years Ago
Not a lot has changed. . . . Really
We had such wonderful yummy food
We did a lot of relaxing, Cross stitching to keep my hands busy.
We watched our Token Rooomate movie "A Walk to Remember" and did our token Dance!

We went out tot this cool restaurant where for fun they pour water into your glass from way up high. I got a little wet ;)

The Babes
We went to the San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market- here is the Gum wall, gross right?
Enjoying the night life with no kids!
Beach Day!
Surfing! The water was freezing! Andrea and Kallista actually got in!

We also went Kyaking that was a blast!
We were snuggled close through out the weekend, in luxurious beds with no kids to wake us up in the middle of the night!
We also have turned out to be amazing cooks (not that we wern't before) be we spoiled ourselves with some amazing recipe's plus went out a few times.

Duck Derby

2011-05-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

It was so fun, BYU put on the Duck Derby, where you buy a Rubber duck and then race it down the stream. We brought a tiny one from our bath tub, and so glad we did because there was a line of like 200 BYU students, so we just threw our duck into the stream. We went with the Birks, which is always a blast!

Look how many Students are racing these ducks

Getting ready for the ducks to come!
Here were a couple shots of Wheeler farm!

Mother's Day

2011-05-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day we went up to SLC to see Devin's Grandparents, We dropped by and said hi to Great-Great Grandma Hensen and then wen tot Grandma Zoom's House for Dinner. It was fun to see everyone!

Marianne enjoyed the Deseret!

Here is Ryan, Whit, and Cole
Hey Check this our the cute little blond in front is Devin's Mom, who I think, especially in the hair resembles Marianne!
Deer, we saw 7 deer in the front yard of the house across the street, sooo coool.
With Grandma Hensen!

Becca and Cousin's Visit

2011-05-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

My Cousin Rebecca came up to see her husband David's Grandpa who has been sick. It was SOOOO fun to see them. Becca has three cute kids, Cambria, Brynn, and McKay. The kids have such a fun time together. We can't wait to see them this summer!

Kepueli Benjamin Ngauamo

2011-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

My little Nephew was born on May 2, 2011. Darlene went into preterm Labor at 34 weeks. She had contractions for 4 days in the hospital before she delivered this little guy. It was my first time to be with someone with during Labor which was a really neat experience.

He was 4 lbs 10 oz. He is now 3 weeks old he has been in the NICU this whole time and will hopefully be coming home next week!

Proud Mommy, Asa is a very proud daddy too! Kep has Asa's dark hair and cute Tongan nose!
Proud Auntie

Long Weekend

2011-05-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

While Naomi has been away this week, on a girls weekend, Spencer has come up with some pretty funny one-liners.

"Mommy's been gone forever." (said on Thursday, just about 12 hours after she left.)

"When Mommy finds out you broke the car, she's going to be soooo mad." (our starter died and we had to get it fixed while she was gone.)

"What do you think Mommy will say when you tell her we had yogurt for dinner?"

"Is Mommy ever going to come back?"

In case you couldn't tell, it's been a long weekend without Mommy. We all miss you very much and can't wait for you to come home. Only 1131 minutes left...

Family Pictures at Wheeler Farm

2011-05-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to Katie Taggert who took Family pictures for us, and to Spence, Lance, and Tallie who helped us smile!

For Posterity: Devin is 29 (30 in August), Naomi is 26 (27 on June 2), Spencer 2 (3 May 26), Marianne 15 months.

First Steps

2011-05-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

For Posterity:

Two Weeks ago at 14 months, we tricked Marianne into taking 1 little step. She hasn't done much, this week 12.5 months she took a step on her own and today she stood up balanced herself and took 3 steps totally on her own! I then helped her do it again we might have gotten 4 steps. So yea she is on her way to walking

Marianne gets excited and makes this face a teethy grin with her eyes closed, about 10 x a dya. I finally got it on film. She is soooo cute!

Don't you love these curls, awesome!

Wicked!!

2011-05-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

My parents got my sister's and I tickets for Wicked for Christmas. I went up to Boise yesterday and met my mom and Katie, and then we drove up with our Family Friend Lynn and my dad and met with Family Friend Heather Luff and my sister-in law Erin. It was fun to see everyone. Darlene just had her baby (at 34 weeks) and they are doing really well, but made it so she couldn't come, we missed you Dar!

One word for this play: AMAZING! It gave me such a incredible new way of looking of things.
Katie, Erin, and Naomi
My mom and dad
My Mom and Lynn
Erin, Heather, Naomi, and Katie- we were soooo excited about this play!
We went to Dinner at Japanese Restaurant . They cooked it in front of us, (Tempanyaki?) It was great.
The great Chef
Tossing a shrimp into my dad's mouth
My mom with Maddy and my dad. So good to see them.

St. George!

2011-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to St. George with our friends the Birks. We stayed in their family's Condo. It was a blast.
We went on a hike in the canyon and we found this cool cave.
Lots of Red Dirt
But pretty Yellow Flowers
Explorer
Mommy and Marianne, she has licorice all over her face.
The kids were holding hands in the strollers.
The Ladies
Mommy and the kids
Pretty cactus flowers
Love birds
The whole Gang
Family Pic
The kids did great in the car
The Driver
Cute facesHanging out at bed time

Wagisms of the Week

2011-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Spencer says the funniest things, I always seem to forget to write them down, but here are a few.

"Daddy, you look beautiful in your Wrestling clothes. . ."

"Clear the wrestling field, Daddy is almost home" He is talking about the family room floor, if you didn't guess.

"Mom can I have a Hearts-boiled Egg" The day after Easter

"We can't wrestle with girls cause they are precious and made of glass" I have been trying to teach Spencer that we can't be too rough with girls, So it made me feel good that he said this.

And I just really like this quote that I heard in RS

"Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances." — Abraham Lincoln

Easter and Baby Shower

2011-04-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

With the help of my mom and sisters we made a delicious easter dinner with Ham, 5-Cup Salad, Deviled Eggs, Rolls, and Mashed Potatoes. It was lovely.
This is what the Easter Bunny put in Devin's Easter Basket. The Easter Bunny fell completely in love with this picture at the store and then when he discovered it on sale well he just thought it would be perfect! How did he know Naomi had been looking for a beautiful picture of the Salt Lake City Temple for about 2 years now. We love it.
Discovering our Easter Basket Spencer got some Cars
All our Eggs, there were 72 all hidden in our Family Room (36 real Eggs and 36 fake eggs)
Marianne trying to figure out the shell on the real Egg
She was much happier with the candy filled ones
I love her pensive look

Spencer was very happy to discover the candy filled eggs as well. He through the Jelly Beans into the air yelling Happy Easter!

We dyed Easter Eggs with Silk Ties (below) regular dye and crayons, Above is the egg that

Asa made with crayons, this was his first time dying Easter Eggs ever, and what an artist!

So fun to have Sharon here and Katie
The whole group
Saturday Morning we had Darlene's Hawaiian Baby Shower. Marianne was decked out in this Tongan outfit made by Darlene's Mother-in Law
The Happy Parents
The Food to dye for, we had Rice, Chicken Kabobs, lots of fruit, Root beer (Darlene's Favorite) Chocolate Macadamia Nuts, Pineapple truffle's, and homemade Ice Cream Smoothies.
Marianne is 14 months and just yesterday took her first baby step, she did it while Devin was their so that is nice. But I havn't been able to trick her into doing it again. Oh well she'll get their when she is ready. In the background of these pictures is the Quilt Darlene is making for her baby, she did a great job on it.

Here is Marianne with her Great Grandpa Smith, he is so great with all the babies.
Marianne loves Babies, she can say about a few words these days, mama, Dad-ee, All Done, Walk (Wa, wa), Doghee, and now Baby,

She loves walking with the train.
Cute girl Cousins.