Tommen Ian

Ian came to visit Tom over the President's Day weekend. They planned a big camping trip, which they endeavored for a couple days, but got soaking wet, and cut it short. I think it was probably made worse by the fact that Tom doesn't believe in tents and so they slept in the storm with a tarp covering them, and a river running between them. Sounds like fun!

Doing the dishes after dinner. Their mother should be proud that she raised such good boys.

Ian playing Wii tennis (I think), while Tom is reading.

Trying to get them both to be normal for a picture was a joke. If one of them was smiling, the other was goofing off. Mostly though, neither of them would just sit for a picture. This is a good representation of how most of the pictures turned out.

Tom wanted to send Ian home with lots of new music. They spent a few hours in "the dungeon" putting together a huge playlist for Ian to take with him.

Pay It Forward

So, here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and past like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Please submit in an e-mail or on the comment, your address, if I don't have it already (thestotts3@hotmail.com). Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!

... I've seen this on a few blogs and thought it looked fun!

Happy Birthday To Me!

I started my birthday out by going to Farm Day with Addison's class. It was really cold and pretty smelly, but it got me out of work, and I got to spend the morning with Addison. Later, Tom made me dinner and then my girlfriends came over for cake and ice cream, and late, late, late night chatting. All in all, a great birthday!!

Tom baked this cake and he and Addison sang to me. You can tell how old I am if you look at the cake. It's a code.

Melanie's a camera hog...

Camille and Hilary... Yikes. They liked posing for this picture a little too much...

Cute girls.

More cute girls.

Funny girls.

I got a salt lick from a few of my friends. Seriously - a 50 pound salt lick. It's almost gone.

This is what it looks like at 2:30 in the morning when I am imparting my words of wisdom...

Christmas Projects

I hadn't planned to make a lot of things for Christmas, but it seems I always end up with a lot of last minute projects. These were, for the most part, pretty fun projects... Ones I'll try again..

Slippers for Eric and baby Charlie (Jen... send me pictures!!).

Knitted stockings for Linda, Steve, and Brei.

These were the most last minute gifts ever. I emailed Erin (my knitting guru) 7 days before Christmas and asked if she thought it would be possible for me to knit 3 of her stockings before Christmas. She told me that it probably would be if I didn't have anything else to do. So, even though I still had to do pretty much all of my Christmas shopping, finish a quilt (which thankfully I later found out didn't need to be finished until after Christmas), and drive to Utah, I decided that I totally could. I did have to take them to Erin to have her put the names on - which she did on Christmas Eve! (She is the best... seriously), but they were stuffed and ready by Christmas Eve night for Linda, Steve, and Brei.

I am so intrigued by The Wizard of Oz, but am really scared of it (and for good reason, but I will save that for another post). I found this fabric a few months ago, and wanted to make something out of it, but because of my fear, I didn't really want it around. I told Amy about it, and she told me about her friend who is obsessed with the movie. So, I decided to make the quilt for Amy to give to Lynn. The picture isn't that great, but it turned out really cute. Thanks to my mom for her even stitches (even though they made mine look even more uneven...).

This was definitely the funnest project. I made scarves for Emma and Annabelle and then made dolls with scarves that matched. I actually just gave Emma the pattern because she is a crafty little thing and I thought it would be fun for her to pick out her own fabric and make the doll with me. She did a great job. She drew and stitched the face and hair all by herself and did all of the stuffing. This turned into a project that everyone got involved in, and we ended up making several dolls.

Stuffing her doll.

Courtney and Amy got involved, too. Jen and Annabelle even made one the next day.


The finished project.

Addison even ended up with a Harry Potter doll. And yes, I realize he has no pants on. We should have used black fabric for the legs. Got it...

December in Utah

Random events from our trip to Utah...Lunch with the ladies from my ward in Orem. I miss these guys...

BYU basketball game...

We were in the cheap seats, but visited Uncle Brad and Uncle Dean courtside.

We stopped in Vegas on the way home. Jen and Brad decided to as well, so we all met at the Orleans Hotel. This is Addison weaving a pot holder just before we left, and he started throwing up... which continued all the way home. Good times!!

New Year's Eve 2008-2009

We went to Linda and Steve's house for New Year's Eve. We ate so much, and actually spent way too much of our time waiting for some loser to jump over some casinos in Las Vegas with his motorcycle. Fun times!

The guys. Trying to watch a football game in the midst of the chaos. The girls. Trying to get the guys to stop watching football.

A party isn't a party at the Lundell house until Jen and I are asked to do some Abba dancing.

This is what we thought the Charlie's Angels pose looked like. We're a little off, but Linda is hot enough to be Farrah Fawcett. That counts for something, right?

The girls. Trying to be gangsters. I really like my face in this one. The boys. Wondering how in the world they could possibly be related to those chicks.

Hot mama and daughter. Hot mama and papa.
This is how Amy stays so skinny. She brings this treadmill everywhere she goes.

Thanks in 2009

I started running to lose weight over 4 years ago. I hated it at first. I would run as long as I could and then walk and then run in another short burst. The bursts got longer and longer and I was finally able to run 3 miles without it killing me. The distance I could run got longer and the ease with which I could run increased. I ran more, but I still hated it.

Then, lots of things fell apart for me, and I found that running became more than exercise. If I ran really hard, there was no way I could think about anything else except making sure one foot kept going in front of the other. It was the only way to turn my mind off from worrying, so every day I spent an hour or so running it out, and when I finished, even though my life was still there waiting for me, the break that running had given me was enough to help me keep going. I found, too, that sometimes, my mind would become really clear, and I could seem to get some perspective. I love those times when I'm running and I get so involved in what I'm thinking that it seems like there is nothing around me, and that this idea that I've got is all there is to life.

I just got back from a run in the beautiful weather we're having here, and had one of those great introspective experiences. These last few weeks have seemed to be a cumulation of several months' worth of worry, frustration, and anxiety. I started thinking about it all while I was running up a pretty big hill, and suddenly I was aware that I felt pretty good even though I was running up a hill. Nothing really new, but I had this unexpected gratitude for being able to do it. That idea started a chain of thoughts that led me to realize that I have plenty to be grateful for, and it changes everything when I am. Not too long ago, Tom told me that gratitude was the answer, and I think he was right.

I love making resolutions, and I find that if I tell everyone about them, I am held accountable for them. I want to be grateful this year. The end of my run had me making a long list of the things I'm grateful for.

• healthy body.


• healthy and well behaved child.


• good friends.


• good family.


• good music.


• the gospel.


• prayer.


• forgiveness.

And I spent a good amount of time being grateful for the fact that even though I couldn't, just couldn't, bring myself to cook all this week and last (and several other nights before that), and haven't wanted to clean, grocery shop, or run errands, none of it has gone undone. Tom has cooked us healthy and delicious meals. He has gone to the grocery store, picked up library books, and cleaned up my messes. I called him at work this morning and told him that I was thankful for him picking up my slack. That doesn't quite cover it. I'm thankful that someone wants to carry what I think is too heavy.