The Garden of Art

So I am giving it a try. This is my first real boutique in Salt Lake City. The show is kind of artsy though and has a different style to it than my things so I'm not sure how well I will sell my things there. It started today and ends tomorrow. I have realized that doing this is very time consuming , not really worth the money and effort. It is better to have the attitude of it being a hobby and not something to make money at. But it's been fun!

Like Father, Like Daughter!

"Don't I look just like my Dada?"

I'm so proud!

This is my brother Justin. He just graduated from the Air Force Boot Camp. It was six weeks long and grueling. But he made it, we knew he would! Even though he lives in California and I live here and I don't see him too often, I still missed him while he was in Texas for boot camp. I am so proud of him! What an accomplishment! Good job Justin. Now good luck with your advanced training.

My Etsy Shop!

I have been so busy lately trying to fill orders for my online MariahMade.etsy.com shop. Here are a few things that are in my store in case you haven't checked it out yet.

Bumsie with matching flower hair clip

Custom order hair bows with bottle cap center

Most popular bumsie with Michael Miller Fabric

Matching Michael Miller burp cloths

Pink and green crayon roll

Custom flower hair clip with matching center

I am going to be doing a few boutique's as well in the next few months so we shall see how I do!

We are still alive!

Are you wondering where we are? I haven't blogged in a while because I have a friend and her two boys staying with me for a while and they are in my computer room. I usually blog late at night and I can't because they are asleep. We are having a great time with them though. So here is the latest picture of Georgia. She is really liking the licorice that she shouldn't be eating. She also has bags under her eyes? Does anyone in this house ever get sleep? She can say Dada, Hi, Conner, Dallin, and Georgia. She loves to clap, blow kisses, point to herself in a picture and then point at herself. She also loves her picture of Dada, and hugs and kisses it everyday. It is so precious. She knows where her eyes are. Sometimes she will even make a monkey sound and a pig sound. She is growing up so fast, I hate it!

Here are the two sweetest boys in the whole wide world, when they are not fighting!
This is Conner and Dallin's first day of school. Conner is in 4th grade and Dallin started 2nd grade. Conner came home from school the first day and said he didn't want it to end. Dallin isn't sure about his teacher yet. She is more structured than his past teachers have been and he is used to doing whatever he wants. So we will see how that goes. My boys are getting so old too, I hate it!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

I was blog surfing and found this blog. This lady sews darling outfits and gives them away! How nice of her! Check it out.
Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Jesse and Lauren

This is my sweet brother Jesse and his girlfriend Lauren. They have been dating for 2 years. They had a break from college so they thought they'd take a road trip and come visit me. Here are some pictures of us out on the lake.

Jesse holding Georgia

Lauren holding Georgia. The life jacket wasn't very comfortable for G as you can tell.

Me and Georgia on the tube. She loved it and was waving and giggling. It was pretty cute. We were going so slow!

Georgia, notice the cheeto hanging out of her mouth.

Finally she zonked out! She was so good the whole day and got a good nap in the shade.

Conner standing on the tube. For some reason he only wanted to go on the tube by himself. We tried to trick him and put Dallin on with him and he got so mad. He jumped off the tube and started swimming back to the boat saying not so nice things!

Conner's favorite spot ended up being at the very front of the boat. He loved it when Lauren was driving fast through the water and the wind was blowing in his face. He would just sit there and watch the boat cut through the water. I must admit I kind of like that feeling myself!

Call me crazy! I let Conner and Dallin drive the boat, with me supervising of course! They got to control the speed and steer. They both actually did really well. They need to learn how to do things on the boat because boating requires a lot of help.

Dallin has no fear. He loved getting out on the tube with Uncle Jesse. They were doing crazy tricks and being silly. Here Dallin is doing a handstand on the tube!

Dallin is quite the...snorkler! For some reason he felt he needed his snorkel mask. He sure is a cutie!

Yummy French Bread - Yes made by ME

As you all know I am not a cook. I am trying though! Becky K. and Brandi have inspired me to make some bread. Becky K. had a post about wheat bread and cinnamon rolls that she made at the beginning of summer. Brandi made some cinnamon rolls and french bread and posted it on her blog.
So, I decided to try the french bread because I have tried the wheat bread and cinnamon rolls before. It was pretty easy and turned out so yummy. I even gave a loaf to my neighbors. Conner and Dallin told me that it was the best bread they have every tasted. Coming from Conner that is an awesome compliment because he doesn't eat anything! I just might have to make it again. Thanks Brandi for the recipe.

Spying on Georgia

So, this is what Georgia does when I'm not looking....

She sneaks into my closet
and tries on my swim suits!

She dances to my blog music while watching pictures of herself on the computer screen saver. There is definately a difference between boys and girls!

Happy 11 Year Anniversary!

I can't believe it, I've been married for 11 wonderful years! I am so lucky to have the best husband in the world. Want to know why I love him so much? Here are 11 reasons why...

1. James has a great sense of humor!
2. He is the peacemaker in his family and ours.
3. He is stunningly handsome.
4. He can bench 275 lbs!!
5. He spoils me to death.
6. He is patient with stubborn me.
7. He is the greatest Dad to Conner, Dallin and Georgia. They all just love him so much.
8. He would do anything for me.
9. He makes me laugh.
10. He makes me feel like everything will be alright.
11. And he is good...I'll let you guess this last one!

The other day I was cutting stawberries for Georgia. I cut into this strawberry and the heart in the middle reminded me of you James. I know that is cheesy but I love you so much. I am so glad to be married to you! Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Four-Wheeling Fun

On Saturday we went four wheeling with Gabe and Brandi and the kids. They just bought 3 four wheelers and we have ours. So we left little Georgia and Marren with babysitters and headed out for the trails. We rode behind their house going south. I couldn't believe how far it kept going. It was beautiful and hot. We rode for about 2 hours, picked up the babies, then bar-b-qued. It was a long hot day but lots of fun.

Dallin, Tavener, and Conner all suited up and ready to go.

Here is the group, we had 6 quads and 8 people. Kieffer rode with Brandi, and Mallory rode with me. We will have to do this again!

Why these songs?

What a weird collection of songs! But I love them all. Here's why:

"Killer Queen" and "Take Me Out" remind me of Conner and Dallin playing Guitar Hero.

"Killing In The Name Of" reminds me of my college days, I would work out to this song.

"Surfing USA" reminds me of my sweet Dad taking us to the beach every week growing up.

"The Lovecats" reminds me of clogging. Corene, Darci, Toni and I did our clogging recital to this song.

"The Killing Jar" reminds me of Corene she liked this kind of music growing up.

"A Little Respect" reminds me of my step Dad taking me and friends snow skiing. We would listen to the same Erasure song the whole way there and back.

"Somebody" reminds me of Darci. We would sing this whole song as we walked to our lockers before school started, after seminary. Then we wrote the words in our yearbooks.

"Popular" because I am going to see Wicked in April!

"Golden Touch" and "One Love" because they are just happy songs.

"9 to 5" reminds me of my Mom because she introduced me to Dolly Parton when I was about 9 years old and I have loved her ever since.

Daddy's Little Iraqi Princess!

Dada got this dress for me in Iraq, aren't I a little princess?

6 Boys and 1 Girl

This is a picture of what our day was like yesterday. 6 boys and 1 girl. We had Colton, Braxton, TJ and Landon over so Megan could get some rest, she hasn't been feeling well. It was tons of fun. We had a great lunch, played in the sprinklers, made shaved ice, played video games and just hung out. Everyone got along really well and it was easier than I thought it would be. Having friends over is the best!

James and Mariah Dancing

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How many of me?

This is kind of cool, I got it off my cousin Becky's blog, try it out!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 14 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Kids say the darndest things!

Me: Conner, did you finish your chores?
Conner: Why do we always have to do chores, Mom?
Me: Well if you don't who will?
Conner: My wife will when I'm married, she will do everything I tell her to do.
Me: Oh no she won't!
Conner: She will because I'll reward her!
Me: How will you reward her?
Conner: I'll give her a big smooch on the lips!

Conner and I once had a discussion about how often we would talk on the phone once he moved out to go to college. He said he would call me everyday. I can tell when he is mad at me though because he tells me he will only call me three times a week instead of everyday!

Forever Friends

This is my childhood friend Marci. She was in town for the weekend doing a photo shoot. She emailed me and we arranged to have lunch together in Salt Lake. We haven't seen each other for about 13 years. She and her family live in LV now, but when we were younger we would both go to our Dads' houses on the weekends. She would always come play at our house after church and we had tons of fun together. We would do crazy things together, sometimes get in trouble or hang out across the street at the Francis'. My dad and her dad bought a boat together so we would go boating a lot. We would take her camping, to the beach or just about anywhere else we went.
We always send Christmas cards and exchange an occasional email but it was so good to actually see her after all these years. I am the kind of person that doesn't need a huge group of friends, just a few really good friends. Marci is a really good friend and I am so glad we have kept in touch all these years!

Georgia can crawl!

Yea! Little Georgia finally took her first crawl yesterday, July 18th! Here is a video to prove it.

Dresses are now a pain! They sure are cute on but get in the way of crawling, what to do!

Conner's Brown Belt

I am such a proud mother. Conner has been attending Karate Kamp all week. This week they focused on sparring. He is very good at sparring and won a trophy for it at his last tournament. So at the end of the week (Friday) he promoted to a brown belt. I can't believe my baby boy has a brown belt in karate. That's pretty impressive!

All the kids that attened the Sparring - Karate Kamp
Conner is on the second row on the right.

So out of all the kids that were there this week they handed out five medals to five kids. Conner got most improved. He was so proud to be picked out of all the kids, and to get a medal. He had a hard time at the beginning of the week because he wanted to do the camp at our school but since our school is pretty new there were only five kids signed up. So they joined with the American Fork school and having that many kids made him a little nervous. His karate instructor, JD, was so awesome and made Conner feel more comfortable and got Conner to work hard!

This is Dallas (the owner), Conner, and JD (Conner's instructor).

And here is my Conner with his new brown belt!