Tag

Ok, so Janna tagged me a couple of weeks ago and she didn't think I'd do it ;) So here goes...
TAG! YOU'RE IT!!!
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Here's how you play:
Once you've been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird or random facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, list their names and why you tagged them. Don't forget to leave them a comment saying 'You're It!' and to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you so ,since you can't tag me back, let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR blog answers.

1. I'm not anal or OCD about a whole lot, but things I am about are generally pretty dumb. When I was in college I had a different color folder for each class. Not too bad, you say? Well that's not it. Each folder had to in some way match the book for the class and I also had a matching pen. So, each class' notes were in a specific color and I HATED having to use a different color if I couldn't find the right one.

2. I'm a little eccentric about laundry (I swear I already had this one before I read Stacey's :) ) I have several piles of laundry: white, blue, black, red, and green. It makes for a lot of laundry. I also take out several shirts and hang them up, so not everything goes in the dryer. I hate when anyone else does my laundry, which is really weird since I really hate doing my own laundry. Go figure.

3. I have a thing about being different. I don't like to go with the flow of everything, but at the same time I don't want to stand out, so they are small things that I do to be different. My nails are almost never red or pink. That's too normal. I like to wear purple, orange, green, yellow, blue, or any other color that most people won't wear. My house is DEFINITELY not like most. I know most of you haven't seen the inside yet, but it is very different. Have you heard my children's names? Yeah, another thing where I just want to be, and them to be, different.

4. Growing up my favorite animal was a flamingo. I think this stemmed from a bag I got for my birthday from my grandma when I was 7. It, obviously, had flamingos on it and I have since been fascinated. It has only been since we moved in here that we went through boxes and got rid of much of my flamingo collection. I even had a flamingo shower curtain (that was never going to be hung in my house).

5. I like to plan my pregnancies based on the birth stone. It didn't start that way, but after my kids started coming early, I started thinking about which stone would be better, March or April. Obviously April. Then when Brekan came he was due in October, but we knew he would come a month early and it would be a Sapphire. My mother's ring will be awesome!! :)

6. I am an incredibly picky eater. There's not much I do like, actually. I don't like veggies except corn. I like most fruit except bananas and melons. But most food has yucky veggies in it, and then it makes the whole thing gross. It makes it very hard to eat healthy.

7. I love to watch LA Ink. I would never get a tattoo myself, but I love watching this one. I don't particularly care for Miami Ink, but LA Ink is cool. The artists are truly artists and I am amazed at what can come out on a person's body. Personally, the pain would be way too much for me and I probably wouldn't like 10 or 15 years down the road, so, not for me.

8. I graduated from college just 2 years after I graduated from college, on my 20th birthday. I hated high school so I was in a hurry to get out of there. I didn't go at all my senior year, but chose to walk with them because that's when my friends did. I completed college in 3 years because I went full time the entire time, even summers. (this was largely due to the fact that I was waiting for a missionary and had no social life, but it all worked out in the end)

9. I don't like to sleep under the comforter of my bed. This started when I was a teenager and felt that if I didn't sleep under the comforter then I wouldn't have to make the bed. To this day I will sleep on top of the comforter but under a blanket. We just got a new one, though, and Chris is making me sleep under it so as not to get it dirty or make it break down faster.

10. I symmetrical issues (again I had this one before Stacey posted :) ) We've been talking about the location of a fan in the gym and I am having a hard time with the fact that it might have to go NOT in the center. My brain just can not function that way. I know you are supposed to decorate in 3s, but that's not symmetrical, so I don't know if I can do that. It's also the reason I want 4 kids, not 3 or 5.

Ok, most people have already been tagged for this, so I don't know who else to tag, but for those of you who haven't been tagged (my FAMILY) do it, do it. I want to know your weirdities too.

The Polar Express

We took the kids up to Heber on Thursday to ride the "Polar Express". They transform the Heber Creeper (an old train for all you non-Utahns) in to the PE. My boys really like this movie and Xadun LOVES trains, so we were excited to go.

Part of riding the Polar Express is that you have to wear your jammies (well you don't HAVE to, but it adds to the fun), so we went and got some new warm jammies at the outlets before we went on to Heber. We all got them so even us adults were wearing jammies (not many other parents followed suit :S)

The trains cars, there were about 10 of them, were all packed. Initially we got on the wrong one. We didn't know there were assigned cars. Oops!

When we figured out we were on the wrong one, we had to run to the other end to get on the right one. It was worth it, though. The seats were nicer and this car was much more entertaining.

We had our own tour guide that made it a lot more fun than if we had just sat there. She played music, told jokes, read us the book, etc.

We also had our own elf helpers, Mistle Toe and Marshmellow. They helped pass out the cookies, hot chocolate, and books, among other things. They also told us a few jokes and led us in the "12 Days of Christmas".

On our way to the North Pole, in addition to having cookies and hot chocolate, we also got to meet Mrs. Claus. She gave us the recipe for the hot chocolate and said Hi to all the kids.

(Sorry about the red eye, I didn't fix them first)

When we arrived at the North Pole, we picked up Santa and headed back to Heber. Santa of course said hi to all the kids and made sure to pass out the bells to all that believed.

Can't forget about the conductor who came through and punched the tickets, but it was just one hole, not a whole word.

It was a great night to get away and let the kids do something fun. We stayed up at the condo in Midway for a couple of nights just to make it the full getaway.

Just an Update

Our life in the last couple of months has gone from relatively quiet to busy, crazy, non-stop. Thus, my lack of updates. I only get a chance to read everyone else's goings on, but no time to post about our own. So, I'm caught up on most of you, now I'll try to get you caught up on us.

We finally closed and moved into our house over Thanksgiving weekend, despite it not being completely done. They have come back to complete most of it, but there are still a couple of large things still incomplete. We don't yet have our kitchen countertops. We have some temporary ones that we needed in order to close, but are waiting on the real ones. They are custom made stainless steel, so we have been at the manufacturer's mercy. When I talked to him this week he promised me they'd be here by Christmas. I sincerely hope that is the case. The other big thing is our fireplace. The fireplace itself is in, but the gas line and glass that goes inside are not. We hope that, too, will be in this week. Downstairs in my mom's place, she is waiting for one more cabinet and then the countertops and she will finally be able to move in. Most of her stuff is already here, she'll just have to move all her clothes from Kathy's.

The real cause of our busy-ness has been the gym. We embarked on this new journey 9 months ago, but only really got going about a month ago. We started the build-out on our building on Nov 12 and started pre-sales Nov 19. Those two things have made it a "real" venture and have definitely taken time. I now go into the gym 4 times a week, which means I've had to find people to watch the kids. I think we've figured out a good schedule now, so that will help things be less hectic. This weekend they are finishing the painting and then will do carpet and tile next week. We were supposed to open Dec 26, but we'll have to push that back a couple of days now. As long as we open by the new year, which we should be able to do, we'll be happy.

Outside of that, not much is happening. When the house is complete and we are rid of all the boxes that still invade our home, I will take and post pictures. I will do the same with the gym when it's done.

We hope you are all well and wish you all Happy Holidays!

Our Little Hairdresser

I guess I'll start posting here again since the other one is apparently hard to get to....

I haven't been using my straightener lately, so apparently it has become a toy. Xadun has taken to doing hair. He says he's cutting it - I think it's time to make sure the scissors are put away.

"Hold still, Chaetun"

Trying Something New

Check out the new blog we're trying out to see if we like it:

http://web.mac.com/mengelbrecht/

Click on the red "Blog" to get to the blog.

We're Approved!!!!!

I just received a call from CIT, the company we've been working with to get our SBA loan. We've been approved. Hallelujah!! We've been working on this funding thing for months now and it has been a very frustrating process. We were hoping to already be open now, but that has obviously not been the case. Now that we're approved, we feel good about moving forward with the build out (we had already gotten things started) and we will be able to pay for everything. The plan now is to open the day after Christmas and get all those New Year's resolution-ers coming to our club.

Malachi's Vision

At our Stake Conference last month the Stake President announced a project he felt was very important for our Stake at this time. We were not at Stake Conference, but yesterday's meetings at church covered it again so that everyone could learn and understand the President's vision for us. The name of the project its Malachi's Vision, coming from Malachi 4:5-6, where we are told that in the last day, Elijah shall return and turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers. This is something we've heard for a long time and we know that by doing temple work for the dead we are helping to do this.

What was introduced to us through the stake is something a little different. We have been asked to go to www.familysearchindexing.org and start doing extraction work. The Church has so many records of people from years past, but the records have to be translated or extracted so that we can do the work for those people. My grandpa did extraction work for a long time, before his eye sight got bad, but his seemed so different. He had actual papers (copies of the originals) that he extracted. The church has now made it possible for anyone to do this work.

The vision was talked about yesterday in Sacrament Meeting as well as our combined Elders Quorum/Relief Society meeting. As the woman from the Stake was explaining how easy it is to do this, I got very excited. My friend mentioned that she has been enjoying this work because she can't go to the temple as often as she would like, but she can do a little of this work everyday, at home, while her kids or playing or taking a nap. I came home from church, looked up the website and volunteered to do some myself.

So far I've indexed 200 names. Right now they are mostly working on the 1900 census in the US. So, when you download a batch of 50 names, you get part of one state's census. I've done some from Wisconsin and Michigan. It's so interesting to see the different countries have immigrated from, how many children people have, how many people have lost children along the way, etc. I am really enjoying the work. It gives me a way to "turn the hearts" at home, everyday if I want to, when I can't go to the temple that often.

For anyone else who can't go to the temple as often as you would like, but has a few minutes here and there, I would encourage you to check out the site. Anyone can do it. There's a tutorial to teach you exactly what to do. You will be blessed.

Our Hero Grandpa

Last weekend we had an incredible opportunity to see my Grandpa off and home for "Operation Hero Flight". This was a trip that was planned for veterans of WWII. Grandpa had called and put his name in to go, but hadn't heard anything for quite awhile, so he didn't think he was going to get to go. The trip was on Friday and on Tuesday he got a call. Someone had dropped out at the last minute, and the gal in charge of this part remembered him and thought that he should be the one to fill the last seat on the plane. As a family, we were all excited for him to go, but also a little scared. Afterall, he IS 93. Traveling by himself at his age just sounded a little scary. We later found, though, that there would be plenty of emergency personnel, and my cousin Clint, who lives in Baltimore, would be able to meet Grandpa for the weekend and help him around. We all felt better after that.

It was such an awesome experience to be at the ceremony when they left. We were also able to be there when they came home, and that, again, was an emotional experience. We really are proud of Grandpa and feel he is our "Hero".

Happy Birthday Brekan!

Yesterday was Brekan's 1st birthday. He is so much fun!! He is such a happy baby! He loves to just smile at you and wave. He's entered a climbing phase and loves to climb on anything low enough he can get on, which is pretty much everything in our apartment right now. He says "mama" and "dada", and "hi". I have found that with your first child you try and get them to do everything so early. But with him as my third, I am just enjoying things as they come and not pushing him to do anything. He has just one tooth barely breaking through, so he doesn't eat much besides baby food, but he had no problem with his ice cream cake last night. We love him so much and are so blessed to have him in our family!!

All smiles

Lovin' the cake!


Opening presents


This WAS a ball when we bought it for Brekan. It was broken as soon as we got home (by some older brothers). So Daddy made it a hat.

Is it done yet?

The answer is no, but it is getting there. Much progress has been made on the home, ans as long as it continues, we should be done in the next couple of months. So, here some pictures of what has been accomplished.

The stucco done. We like the green, ite matches the slate pretty well.

The rock was almost done

But started to fall off. Now there has been a change in who is installing it and it has to all be taken down and re-done.

The soffit and facia are done.

My mom stained her concrete floor. This is the base stain in her part. Ours is black.

After the second coat to make it a marble look.

After the sealer was put on. This is the finished product.

Our part of the basement, jet black.

They are currently working on the finish work and tile. Painting should start sometime next week.

Other recent happenings

We finished our busy summer with our trips to Portland for our "Family Reunion" function and then the next weekend in Park City for the annual Anytime Fitness conference. It's nice to be home and not have to worry about the next trip. The last night at the conference they played their version of "Deal or No Deal". It was pretty funny. They had quite a variety of prizes like golf balls, money, a real Running Man tattoo, and $10,000. Here's a picture of the board.

The contestants


Chris and I with our Franchise Consultant, Marty

The next weekend was my 10 year class reunion. Where did the time go? Most of my friends from the group we hung out with were there. We had a picnic at the park with the whole family and then went to "The Lodge" at Maddox for dinner. We had a fun both times.

Rachel

SOOO Janelle

Yvonne, Jami, Rachel, Me, Janelle, Linda

Jami and her husband Jason

Yvonne and Scott

Janelle and Mike

Rachel, Cheryl, Darcy, Yvonne, Me, Janelle, and Jami

Sunday I got to meet up with Heather and her family. It was short, but I was glad we got to meet up since they were so close.

The twins, Claire & Carlie, and Chaetun and Xadun

One of the girls, I can't tell them apart, loved Xadun's Cars hat and didn't want to take it off.

There is Light at the End of the Tunnel

It's been a while since I last posted about the house and I know you are all DYING to know what's going on. ;) Well, I don't have a ton of pictures from that time because, though they were working, it was all on non house changing things. The plumbing, electrical, and insulation are all done and now they're working on the fun stuff. It's the current stage that give me hope that we will someday soon live in our house.

All the gas lines throughout the house. Kind of scary to think about it.

The scaffolding's up!!

The rock is on, well, some of it at least.

The rock is so heavy (seriously!!) they have to wire it on while the mud on the back dries.

The bonus room has sheet rock.

They worked fast and had the whole upstairs sheet rocked in 2 days!

Our custom made door.

I LOVE the slate on the front of the house!! I can't wait to see it with the stucco done (the color you see is just the base coat, not the final.)

Happy Birthday, Chris!!

Today Chris turns the big 3-0. I guess 30 isn't so bad when you're doing so well in life. I'm so blessed to be married to a man with such drive. Sometimes I wish he'd sit still for just a minute, but in all reality, everything we have is because he is always working. I think it's pretty awesome for a 30 year old to own 5 franchises and a nice house, and that's all because of his personal drive. He is a great example to our kids of hard work, don't submit to fear, and love.

I love you!!!

I Have a Family Tree

With branches by the dozen...

Last week was our bi-annual Wight Family Reunion. Though attendance was down this year and there was a lot less planned, we still managed to have a lot of fun. The reunion started Wednesday and went until Saturday.


Of course my children found the only mud puddle for miles around. Playing with the Welling grandkids.


Xadun swinging with Drace, Michaela, and Parker.


Chaetun had to be in the middle of whatever excitement was going on. This was the volleyball game where he was close to getting hit because he was busy talking to the bystanders. lol


Chaetun, Xadun, and Drace doing pasta crafts.


Grandma helping Chaetun make his animal necklace.

Thursday is always the free day to do whatever we want. We generally go with all the Wellings up to Bear Lake to play. This year Kara, Gavin's wife, and her brothers brought up their boat. The little kids got the first rides. Chaetun has ridden on the tube before (as was seen in Montana) but never by himself. I let him do it as long as I was in the boat. He did great!!


Michaela, Chaetun, and Newell


Hold on tight!!


This is just after everyone else fell off. Brady was driving the boat and cut the engine to knock one of the other boys off. He forgot that by cutting the engine, the front of the tubes go under water knocking the kids off. But not Chaetun. He was holding on so tight that his head went under with the tube until it popped back up. He was a little shaken by it and wanted to get off for a little bit.


It wasn't long until he was ready to get back on. :)


Playing at the beach



Grandpa listening to his music


Making rockets with Ethan Russell


Shooting the rockets

One of the family traditions that had gone away for awhile was revived this year thanks to Ryan Welling. Ryan did a great job with the Family Follies, we had a lot of fun. I only have pictures of a couple of the 6 events, but it was a lot of fun.

I don't know the name of the first event, but we had five people blindfolded who pulled one person who had to direct us down and around a garbage can.


I couldn't keep up


Chris' team had a collision with the yellow team. It was pretty funny!!


My gangster Chaetun and Lucas


The water sponge game


The last event was eating cheese puffs. Luckily I got to sit out of this one.



Gavin was the first to finish his 35 cheese puffs.


The pink team won and received their golden wood medals. My red team came in second and Chris' green team came in last. lol


Jaxon fell asleep in the cubbies along the wall. Ryan and Tiffanie looked him for quite awhile before finding him here. haha