Just Dreaming!!!

Today I feel like I can't pull my head out of the clouds.. I keep thinking about all the wonderful times I have spent with my family over the years. One of the HAPPIEST places on earth for me is Hawaii... We have had the privilege of visiting there often (while my parent's lived there)There is nothing better than feeling the warm sand between your toes, listening to the gentle sound of the surf crashing on the shore and seeing the smiles on my children's faces as they feel the waves crash on their toes.

I love burrying my kids in the sand, jumping off clifs with the more daring ones, snorkeling and swimming with the sea turtles and looking at all the brightly colored fish again the pure excitement of my children as we are so close to the ocean life. I love digging the deepest hole on the beach, building sandcastles and just laying on the sand feeling the warmth of the sun feel as though it is embracing me.

Hawaii IS what my Heaven is. I love it there. I am wishing I were there right now. With NO worries, relaxing on Hukilau beach...
with the LOVES of my life...
MY FAMILYSummer 2003


Summer 2005Summer 2007

My Wordle

Back In School

Here I am . . . on my FIRST Day BACK TO SCHOOL.

I have had dreams of finishing up my college degree, and FINALLY registered and started classes. Well I am waiting to get Re Admitted to ASU so I am taking an ENG102 Class at MCC this year. I have dropped out of Eng102 two times (back 10 years ago when I was in school before)

YES I am Probably the OLDEST person at MCC. When I walked on campus to register I felt totally out of place. I swear people that are 19-22 LOOK SO YOUNG now.

ok side note.. MY HAIR IS SO FREAKING LONG... I HATE IT. It gets in the way when I work out and my pony tail always gets stuck under my arm pits when I run. It takes WAY WAY to long to do every day (prob why it is always Curly, Frizzy and Gross) I need it chopped. Any ideas on what to do? Chad insists I keep it long.

Terrible Two's

Irelyn is totally in the Terrible Two's... All her FITS are driving me NUTS. The other day we were at the library for story time and as we were walking out the door she dropped to the floor and started screaming. I carried her out while she is arching and screaming like she lost a limb and tried to force her into her car seat. Well... She is definatly stonger than me. I couldn't pin her down long enough to buckle the strap. I decided since I had my camera I would take a picture (instead of smacking the crap out of her I thought that taking the picture and laughing at it later would be a much better alternative)

After at least 15 min I got her strapped her in.

She continued to scream for at least another 30 min. I was so proud of myself... for NOT loosing control... I video'd and took pictures any time I thought I'd go crazy. Screaming at the top of her lungs till she finally got it all out.
AAAHHHH...

Any tricks on how to deal with this?? my other 3 kids had fits but NOT LIKE THIS GIRL . . she is doing it ALL THE TIME and SO BAD. I am not going to be as calm every time she does this. so I NEED TO GET THIS TO STOP!!

Baby Time

Steph and Dave had their cute baby the other day. It is fun to have family having all these cute babies... We got to see Addi (& Steph and Dave) Tues Morning. I am excited to spend lots of time holding Addi and Mabri (Mican's Baby) over the next few months.

I guess it is good to know that even with cute babies around Chad and I STILL are convinced that we are done. 4 is a good number for us. So everyone else keep poppin them out.. cause there wont be anymore Howey's!!

Sneaky Cooking

I got the cookbook Deceptively Delicious . . . It has been so much fun to be creative and use the veggie Puree's in my cooking. We have some NEW FAVORITES

Like the Aloha Chicken made with sweet potato, pineapple and flax seed.

These are English Muffin Pizza's with a spinach puree mixed in with the sauce
Home made Mac - N - Cheese with Butternut squash and Cauliflower
I made scalloped potatoes with cauliflower puree. and Zucchini spears


I LOVE trying to find new ways to use the puree's I have baggies made of every veggie in my freezer.

I did Slopy Joes with Carrot and Yellow Squash & Taco's with Carrot and Red Pepper
I even made the Spinach Brownies (they weren't to bad, come on the real chocolate stuff is MUCH BETTER)

Has anyone made anything else and loved it. Please pass along any other suggestions. I will share what I come up with.

Marathon TRAINING

This week I officially start training for the PF Changs Marathon that is January 18th
The training program I am following has me running a little more than 500 miles before then to get ready.

Who else will be running???
Laura Smith - doing the 1/2 marathon
Tiffany Watkins - doing the FULL marathon
Megan Merrill Horne - doing the FULL marathon
Selia Bingham - doing the 1/2 marathon???
ANYONE ELSE???

I was wanting to find some fun run's to do during the training and came across another MAD MUD RUN... I think It would be so much fun... so if anyone thinks it would be fun to run and roll in the mud with me let me know... I would love to get a team together.

In February there is the Ragnar Race and I want to find 12 people to form a team to do that one.. It would be such a blast... and it is only 3 legs of 3-8 miles each. NOT BAD!!!

So anyone wanting to dust off their running shoes and join me in training or on any future run ... LET ME KNOW!!

New School Year!!

So I am late at posting this... but the kids were so excited to go to school this year. Ashlyn now gets to go with the boys to and from school. It was fun to walk with them the first day. See how they line up in their classes see their friends etc. and Irelyn loved being around all the commotion.

My 4th Grader - Lochlin
Braeden - Mr. 3rd Grade
Ashlyn - 1st Grade

Braeden Got Baptized!!!

In August, Braeden got Baptized. It was fun to have so many people from our families there to witness the occasion (even if you couldn't HEAR anything because of how CRAZY it was)!! There were 10 Baptisms that day... So it was a bit of a zoo. But Brae looked so cute in WHITE. . . and His SMILE BEAMED!! I am so glad he made the decision to get baptized to be a member of the Church!

Grandma and Grandpa ALLEN and Uncle Owen
Grandma and Grandpa Howey
Great Grandma and Grandpa Zufelt
Great Grandma Howey (DeBussey)
Great Grandma Allen (Stephenson)
Rexli, Paris, Mican (she brought her 3 day old baby to the baptism and seriously can you believe she looks THIS GOOD!) Shea and Josh