Chirstmas Morning

Christmas was great! The kids had fun, Sage got what he wanted and Aurora is very happy with her new presents. Sage played Santa and handed out all the presents, he loved it. Here's a few pictures from the day.

Aurora opening her cooking set. She also got dishes and food for her cupboard. Soon she'll have a fridge and oven/stove to match.

Aurora also got a doll complete with a little bed, and when you flip it over it's a cradle. She also got a stroller to push her doll in. She loves playing Mommy.

Sage opening one of his games for his new V-Smile that his Uncle Joey and Aunt Amy bought him and Aurora.

Sage opening the gifts in his stocking

Aurora loves the her new hair rubber bands, they don't pull her hair out.

The kids in their new pj's made by Grandma. They opened these on Christmas Eve. Robert and I even have pj's that match the kids.

We hope that you all had a great Christmas and that you have a fabulous New Year!

Merry Chirstmas

Last night we took the kids to go see some Christmas Lights. We always go to Jingle Bell Hill in El Cajon. These were the only pictures that turned out some what decent,

This fountain changed colors along with the music that was playing. It was really cool.

Sage loved these dancing elves!

The Grinch was moving in and out of the chimney.

Handmade Gifts

...are always the best! My friend Kristen made the cutest gifts for Sage and Aurora. I just love this doll! It is so sweet, Aurora won't let it out of her sight.

Sage loves his little Crayon/Paper Caddy! He colored last night for an hour and when he was done he put it all back together, he's says's it's his church crayons.

Christmas Outfits

Here's Sage and Aurora in their Christmas Outfits.

Flash Back Friday - Kindergarten Graduation

My Kindergarten Graduation in 1987

Father & Daughter

At our photo session, my friend Angie captured these super sweet moments of Robert & Aurora.



Although he'd never admit it, Aurora had Robert wrapped around not just one finger,but around both fists. All see has to do is look at him with her sad puppy dog face and he's hooked. It is so sweet to see.

Brother & Sister Love

We had our family pictures taken last weekend. I just had to share one of the pictures with you.

Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen?

The front view of that shot.

Flash Back Friday - Chuck E. Cheese

I was 7 in this picture. I was at my friend Anya's Birthday Party. I remember it vividly because it was my first time going to Chuck E. Cheese. I loved that place and still do even now.

Current Promotions

FREE SHIPPING - December 9-23, 2008 On all orders over $70

10% off Retiring Stamps - December 9-23, 2008

COUNTRY LIVING PROMOTION - Available (While Supplies Last)November 1-December 31

CUSTOMER INCENTIVE - 20% off Stamps December 1-January 18 In celebration of Stampin' Up!'s twentieth anniversary, spend $20 on any Stampin' Up! product and get 20 percent off any stamp set from the Fall-Winter Sampler--no limit!

8 Things

8 T.V. Shows I like to watch:
1. Big Bang Theory
2. Chuck
3. Private Practice
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Numb3rs
6. Ghost Whisperer
7. House
8. Smallville

8 Places I like to eat:
1. Claim Jumper's
2. Leatherby's
3. Fazoli's
4. Chick-fil-a
5. Souplantation
6. Panda Express
7. Peking's
8. Rubio's

8 Things I did today:
1. Showered
2. Played with the kids
3. Made lunch for me and the kids
4. Took Sage to Preschool
5. Volunteered in Sage's Class
6. Drank a Coke
7. Made dinner
8. Updated blog

8 Things I'm looking Forward to:
1. Sleeping tonight
2. Staying home tomorrow
3. My new church calling
4. Christmas
5. Family Pictures
6. The new SU! Catalog
7. 2009
8. Girls Camp

8 Things I can't live without:
1. My Family
2. Coke
3. T.V.
4. Perfume
5. My wedding ring
6. Carbohydrates
7. Food
8. Chocolate

Now... Tag 8 people-Anyone who wants to!

Piggies

Aurora's hair is finally long enough for pig tails! Hooray!!!

Flash Back Friday's

I've decided to only share pictures from my childhood on Friday's which will now be called Flash Back Friday's. I hope to keep the majority of my posts about stamping and my kids.

Easter Dresses

Every year my Mother would make my Cousin Christine and I matching dress for every holiday. Here we are in our Easter Dresses at my Grandma's Home.

Holiday Orders

To guarantee you receive your Stampin' Up! orders by Christmas, you need to have them to me by the 15th of this month.

Blessing Dress II

This is the picture my Mom had taken of me in my blessing dress when I turned 2. I have no idea what I'm looking at.

Holiday Classes

Hello Stampers! I know that this time of year can be stressful, so that why I'm offering these classes designed to make gift giving easier this year and to relieve the stress and add a little fun by stamping and creating gifts for your loved ones, and the best part is that you don't have to stand in those long lines.

Packaging Class - December 19th, 2008 7pm

Need gifts packaged for the holidays?!?! This class is for you! Select a package of designer series paper and you're ready to create 6 great packages...perfect for your holiday gifts.

Fee: Stamp Club Members--$30; Customers/Guest--$35 Must RSVP by Dec. 9th to guarantee you have your paper for this class!


6x6 Desktop Calendar Class - December 19th, 2008 7pm

Do you need the perfect gift for your loved one for the holidays? Here's your answer...

These 12 6x6 pages make a desktop calendar** the perfect gift for everyone! All supplies including the calendar and a Basic Black Marker are provided except for adhesive. Please bring your own. Spots are limited so register now!!

Fee: Club Members--$30; Customers--$35 Each additional calendar--$30 Must RSVP by December 9th

**desktop calendar found on p. 167 of the Fall-Winter Catalog.

First Birthday

In my family we have a tradition, that on your first birthday you get your very own chocolate cake. So here I am enjoying my cake.

Mischief Maker

My Mom used to call me a Mischief Maker. I was always getting into things or as she likes to call it, "Nothing was safe or sacred!". Unfortunately it has come back to bite me. Aurora is always into something. Oh well... like Mother like Daughter I guess.

Pirate Treasure

Okay, so there's no picture for this post but I'll do my best to paint one for you.

Sage and Aurora were in their room playing and then come out to the living room in nothing but their underwear and diaper with their pirate gear on and their telescopes tucked in their underwear and diaper. Sage then says: "A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says Argh!!!!" then Aurora says: "Piat say Argh!!" Sage then proceeds to tell Robert and I that He and Aurora are good pirates and that we are a pirate family, and that he needs the map so that we can hunt for buried pirate treasure. The kids love playing pirates and hunting for treasure. Occasionally Robert and I make up a map and take the kids treasure hunting. We want to get a GPS device so we can take them Geocaching. I know they would love it.

I sure do love my two goofy kids!!!

Blessing Dress

This is the dress I wore on my Blessing Day. My Mom had pictures taken of me every year in this dress, until it was too small for me. Aurora also wore this dress on her Blessing Day.

Mommy & Me

I have always been glued to my Mom's side.

Holiday Extravaganza Sale Update!

The All in the Family and the Mission Embossable Bundle's are SOLD OUT! Remember the sale runs through Dec. 1st or until supplies last.

Elf Family

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!! We had a great day! We had our friend's Paul, Marissa, and their son Keenan over for the day. We watched movies and played while the turkey was cooking.

Keenan, Aurora & Sage

Our Thanksgiving Table

Close of the Table Settings

The place card and napkin holder were made using the Stampin' Up! Big Shot, Curly Label Punch, and some DSP. This same design can carry you through the whole Holiday Season, by just changing the colors and images to go with your theme. Check back soon for my Christmas version of this place setting.

NKOTB In Concert

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! It was so amazing!!!! Talk about childhood dream come true. I so glad that I went. It's very fitting that it was my very first concert. Now I can see why people go to them, albeit VERY loud. I don't think I'll hear properly for at least a week. Now for the details.

We got to Cox Arena at 6:45pm, and we waited in line until the doors opened at 7pm. We walked around and good something yummy to eat. Then we sat down. We had really great seats by the way! The show started at 8pm. Some crazy lady called "Lady Gaga" opened first, she was awful! Then Natasha Bedingfield performed. She was great! Then 25 minutes later NKOTB made their entrance.

They came up through the top of the stage

They definitely still have "The Right Stuff"

Everyone was dancing along with them, it was fantastic!

I just love Joey! He still looks exactly the same, in fact they all do.

Then they came out to this spinning platform that was 17 rows in front of us. It was great to see them so close up.

Jordan performed the song "Give It To You" from his solo album. Joey also performed "Stay The Same" from his solo album

Then they sang my favorite song "I'll Be Loving You"

I got too many pictures of Joey. I wonder why, could it be that he's simply gorgeous!!!

They flashed this cool logo up on the screen, right before they performed "Hang Tough"

They sang all their Greatest Hits and some of their new songs. Yes, I have a lot more pictures, but I didn't want to upload 298 pictures. I had a fabulous time!!! It's something that I will never ever forget. Thank you Yosha for taking me with you!!!!!! Your the BEST!!!!!! By the time we got home it was midnight and by the time I finally calmed down enough to sleep it was 2am. I still have songs in my head. My sore throat has turned into an almost non-existent voice from the teenage girl like screaming I did. Well I'm off to suck on some lemon & honey lozenges. The kids and I will be dancing all day to NKOTB! Sage & Aurora love them too!

The End

Citizen of the Month

As promised here's another picture. This is my Friend Alivia and I at a Citizen of the Month Awards Ceremony in 4th Grade that was held at the end of every school year. We were such little kiss ups, we were each Citizen of the Month at least 3 times a year. The students who were chosen got to go to the ceremony and eat lunch with the principal. I looked forward to it every year! Don't you just love my pink Alice In Wonderland dress? I did!

New Background & NKOTB

So, I'm sure you've noticed that I have a new background. I know it's a little early and that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I love Christmas so much! It's that magical time of year. This year is especially magical, Sage is finally figuring out what Christmas is all about which just makes it more magical for me. I can't wait to see how he reacts to everything I have planned for him and his sister.

Tonight is the NKOTB Concert! I'm so excited!!!!!! I'm as sick as a dog, but not even that could keep me away from this concert.

Awkward

I was going through some boxes this weekend and ran across some old pictures. I thought it would be fun to share them with all of you. So, I'll be sharing one everyday. I was 10 in this picture which was a very awkward age for me. When I was in Valiant Miss (LDS version of Girl Scouts) the adults decided it would be fun to take some silly pictures. Can you tell how excited I was to be there? Just in case you can't figure out which one is me, I'm the one in the front. I really disliked this age. I was constantly teased for being short among various other things. Regardless of that I wouldn't trade that for all the things I learned from Valiant Miss. I had so many great leaders who taught so many things that have made my life better. I learned the art of flower arranging, and that's also where I was exposed to stamping for the very first time.

Tonic Sol-fa

When I was at the Stampin Up! Convention this summer, they had this great Acappella group called Tonic Sol-fa that performed for us at the Awards Ceremony. They were so hilarious! Here's a video of the song they wrote for us. I love it, and I know you will to0! Click HERE to read more about them

Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Stampin' Up! is have a HUGE on-line only sale! Yep you read that right. Starting November 26 - December 1, 2008. This sale is a great way to get what you've been wanting from the catalog! Here's the important information on the event.

*The sale is a limited-time, 20 to 50 percent discount on select product bundles from November 26 through December 1, 2008.

*Details on discounted product bundles will be announced when the sale begins November 26.

*Quantities of discounted bundles are limited, so you and your customers should place orders online early.

Click HERE to shop online from my website.

Happy Birthday, Robert!

In Honor of my Husband's Birthday, I thought I would share a little bit about how we met and about our relationship. He is the one thing in my life that keeps me from losing my mind. He is kind, patient and loving. He's also the best Father to our Children. He's the big 33 today! I love you honey!!!

1.Where we met - At a Mingles Dinner in Salt Lake, in May 2001

2.The first thought that went through my head when we met - Good looking, much better than my other prospects.

3.What he was wearing when we met - brown cords, white shirt, orange funky tie, and sandals

4.The first time I kissed him - In the parking lot at 12am, outside my apartment after I made him at late dinner.

5.Where we went for our first date - Our first official date was at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Midvale, Utah.

6.How we became a couple - We met in May, didn't talk again until the end of July and about 1 week after that we were together.

7.How he asked me out- He tied Balloons to my front door with a note saying he'd stop by after work.

8.How he proposed to me - We started talking about it a week after our first real date and then he asked me 3 weeks later and then again officially on September 8th, 2001 at Silver Lake in Cottonwood Canyon. We were Married in the San Diego Temple on 02/02/02. We didn't plan it that way, and didn't realize it until we were assembling to announcements and invitations.

9.Our children - 3 boys: Bryton Christopher, Hayden Andrew, Sage Landon and 1 girl: Aurora Janell Isabelle

10. The first time I realized that I liked this person - After I made him dinner that one night. I knew he was the one for me. Funny story about that. I had moved to Utah to get away from a bad relationship and felt frustrated when after being there for 4 months in SLC I hadn't met anyone yet. I told Heavenly Father that if he didn't send someone to me by the end of Summer that I was going to go back home and serve a mission for our church. I'm SO glad he sent me Robert. I would have been an awful missionary.

11.The best gift he gave me - Our Children

12.The one thing he does that gets on my nerves - not flossing his teeth in the bathroom, it makes me physically sick.

13.15 years from now I see us - Here on Bigler Hill, with Sage almost on a Mission and Aurora almost out of high school. Debt free. Still in love.

14.The most arguments are caused by - Not rinsing dishes

15.We've been together - 7 years

16.We've been Married - Yep - we’ll be having our 7 year anniversary on February 2nd, 2009.

Getting To Know Me

I received this as an e-mail, but I thought I'd just post it on here.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:30 am

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3-D

4. What is your favorite TV show? Big Bang Theory

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? homemade breakfast burrito or Cinnamon Life

6. What is your middle name? Marie

7. What food do you dislike? hot dogs

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? NKOTB

9. What kind of car do you drive? Mazda MPV

10. Favorite sandwich? Chicken Carbonarra from Quiznos

11. What characteristic do you despise? Intolerance

12. Favorite item of clothing? My SU! Sweater

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? New York

14. Favorite brand of clothing? Old Navy

15. Where would you retire to? La Jolla, Ca

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? 16

17. Favorite sport to watch? Ice Skating

18. Are you a morning person or a night person? mid-day

19. What is your shoe size? 9-10

20.Pets? nope, but soon we'll have a hamster maybe one day we'll have a dog

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? still waiting on that, I'll let you know soon.

22. What did you want to be when you were little? a Mom

23. How are you today? stressed

24. What is your favorite candy? avalanche (chocolate covered PayDay)

25. What is your favorite flower? Sterling Roses

26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Christmas

27. What is your full name? Cula Marie Parker

28. What are you listening to right now? The kids watching the new Little Einsteins DVD

29. What was the last thing you ate? Teriyaki Steak Rice Bowl from Jack in the Box

30. Do you wish on stars? I haven't done that in a long time

31. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink

32. How is the weather right now? Sunny

33. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? Robert

34. Favorite soft drink? Coke

35. Favorite restaurant? Claim Jumpers, Ramona Cafe

36. Real hair color? Brown

37. What was your favorite toy as a child? Popples, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake

38. Summer or winter? Winter

39. Hugs or kisses? Both

40. Chocolate or Vanilla? both

41. Coffee or tea? Stephen's Hot Chocolate

42. When was the last time you cried? Last week

43. What is under your bed? who knows

44. What did you do last night? Went to Young Women's and helped them make ornaments

45. What are you afraid of? My kids safety

46. Salty or sweet? both

47. How many keys on your key ring?4 Van, Mom's Car, House, In-Laws House,

48. How many years at your current job?4 years

49. How many towns have you lived in? 3

50. Do you make friends easily? not really

What I Want

So this is the only thing I can justify spending money on at the NKOTB Concert. Everything else is VERY expensive. If they have a car window vinyl decal I will buy that too. Robert will really love that, don't ya think?

New Kids On The Block

Guess what? I'm going to the NKOTB concert!!!!! My friend Yosha bought tickets and so on the 25th I will be at Cox Arena screaming and acting like a teenage girl at a Jonas Brother's Concert. I LOVE NKOTB! I pulled out an old VHS Tape of a concert that my friends and I used to watch over and over again. We memorized all the words to all the songs and the dances that go with them. We would clear out all the furniture in my living room and dance along with them. It was truly a school girl crush, we would pretend that we were their girlfriends. Pathetic, I know. I wish I still had some of my old NKOTB stuff to wear to the concert. Oh well. This will be my very first concert ever! Here are some pictures of my all-time favorite boy-band!

I remember then doing this dance. What's sad is that I still know it.

Jonathan, Donnie, Jordan, Danny & Joey
Can you say GORGEOUS!!!

Joey, is my favorite!!!

Tomorrow I will post pictures of what I will be buying at the concert.

Adventures at Sea World

We decided that we would do one more fun thing before our vacation officially ended. We kept Sage home from Preschool and picked up Jessica & Savannah from school early and had tons of fun playing, riding rides, and touching and feeding animals.

Jessica, Savannah & Sage with the Sea Stars

Robert & I waiting for the Lights, Camera, Imagination 4-D Sesame Street Show

Jessica posing with her 4-D Glasses

Ernie, Bert, Elmo, Zoe & Cookie Monster singing in The Bay of Play

Sage and Savannah soaking up some sun

Jessica, Savannah & Sage playing in the water

Jessica, Sage and I played in The Bay of Play while Robert took Savannah to ride Journey To Atlantis.

Sage getting dizzy on Abby's Sea Star Spin

Jessica spinning us around on Abby's Sea Star Spin

Jessica & Sage waiting in line for a ride

Sage & I on the Elmo's Flying Fish ride

Jessica in her Zebra Fish

I love that we live so close to so many fun things. I love to just take off and enjoy a few hours at an amusement park having fun with my family. Just in case you didn't know. Jessica & Savannah aren't my real daughters. They might as well be though and they do call me Mom sometimes. I've helped raise them since they were born. When Jessica was a baby, every one thought she was mine, even though I was only 17. They are like Sisters to Sage & Aurora and we wouldn't have it any other way. I remember when Robert & I first moved here from Salt Lake, and I was trying to explain to him how much Jessica & Savannah meant to me. He thought I was weird to be so attached to Daycare Kids. He took one look at them and fell in love with them. They are definitely more than just Daycare Kids, their Family.