The Toyota Family

This is an extension to the family pictures that I had to add. It was the last picture we did and I love it because we are in the four runner, which is definately a big part of the family, and I love how it shows the Toyota symbol- Just for all you FORD people we know and Love! You know who you are!!!

Family Pictures!

First off- THANK YOU LINDSAY! We had fun having her take our family pictures. The biggest thing I love about Lindsays pictures is she captures each individual as they are. They are not posed and we tried many things I have never tried on a family photo shoot before! I can't decide black and white vs. color, or which one for the christmas card. The best part is these are only a few! You did a great job Lindz even with Ali turning on and off! Enjoy Yes we are standing out the roof of our 4-Runner!

What family doesn't have a gangsta' pose?


Our little Cam a Bam!

I love this- I don't know why, but I just do!

My little Ali

This was to break up the mood for Ali!

Her dads little Princess! They are best buds!

Who said they looked a like?

I loved so many I couldn't post them all. You'll just have to wait and see what we choose for Christmas!

High School Musical 3

Girls Night Out!
Ali and I went with my sisters and their daughters, and my mom and dad, to see the new High School Musical. We don't have the Disney chanel, but with two cousins who do, you learn what is popular on the Disney Chanel. They have all seen HSM1 and HSM 2 togeather, and there was much anticipation to see number 3. Me and Ali had a fun girls night. Ali couldn't wait. She kept asking all day when it was time to go. It was a fun movie (a few cheeeeeezy parts, but the girls LOVED it!) I love hanging out with my family, and it was even more fun with Pappa and Sunny. They never miss a party! Thanks for coming- We love you!

The girls and Pappa and Sunny- celebrating the opening of High School Musical 3!

Fall is Here!

A few weeks ago when we got hit with our first Snow storm, I was so bummed I thought my burning bushes wouldn't get to turn Red. But it is officially fall, and they are very RED! It made my day!

Little Snow white

Ali is in a music theater class with her two cousins, kate, and Madison. Today they got to dress up in their Halloween costumes for class. Ali was so excited to be Snow White. She told me that she is going to be Snow White, I could be the witch, Fro could be a dwarf, and Cam gets to be her Frog prince. So that is what we are going to be for Halloween!- Do we let our Five year old call ALL the shots?
Kate is a ballerina, and Madison is Tinkerbell!

Ali kept reminding me that Snow white has REALLY RED LIPS! Did we emphasize that enough?

My Bum!

A while ago Fro went crazy and bought a huge Sub and amp for our four runner. He likes his music, and he likes it LOUD! I am usually driving with the kids, and don't ever have it up high enough to take full advantage of its capabilities. The other night we all climbed in to go get dinner, and the radio came on as we turned on the car. Fro had been driving and so it was set to his settings. We were all sitting there as all the sudden the car was THUMPING!! I had never actually experienced it, and neither had Ali. Out of no where she said, " I felt that under my bum! It was vibrating!" We started laughing so hard. Now our car is magic and can make her bum vibrate! She is so FUNNY!!

Sitting So Proud!

I just had to show how cute Cam is when he sits up. He is so proud of himself. He doesn't like to be in any position now except sitting up by himself. I was pretty impressed since he started sitting up at 5 months, and he has only fallen on his face twice so far! Way to go little Bubba!

This week at Alis school is Red Ribbon Week. She has been so excited about the red ribbons, and the crazy hat day, and the crazy hair day it is funny! Well yesterday I got in the conversation with her about what it means to say no to drugs. She told me it is saying no to bad stuff. I asked her what the bad stuff might be. She answered that it was probably the smokers stuff. AKA cigarettes! I thought that was pretty good. I told her there are lots of things that make our bodies really sick, and it isn't good to take them. I explained that many people might try and give her things like cigarettes or alcohol and she should say NO! I was pretty proud of my conversation with her.

Well when Fro got home she showed him her ribbon, and told him about this week. He said, "Do you know what it means to say no to drugs?" She replied with a little shortened version of our discussion, added that you say "NO THANK YOU", I was so proud. Then Fro went on to explain in GREAT detail about Marijuana, Cocaine, Prescription pills, Alcohol and many other drugs that would make her sick. And that some make you feel good, but they DON'T! He continued to explain it to her and I had a hard time refraining from laughing because he was very explanatory in every way. As he finished he came and sat down by me and without laughing I said, "That was good, now maybe tomorrow you can cover puberty!" Fro turned to Ali and said, " Okay Ali tomorrow we are going to talk about a thing called Puberty okay!" and it was hilarious as Ali said, "PUberty Smuberty!"

We'll give her some time to take in the whole Drug Talk!

Probably the Last!

Yesterday was the best weather especially considering we had snow last week! So me and my sisters decided to take advantage of probably the last time of feeding the ducks at a little park close by. I had to get a picture of Ali carrying one of her many purses filled with everything from bracelets and bows to Hand santizer! She doesn't go anywhere without it! Even climbing on the rocks!
The kids loved feeding the ducks, and the ducks were all to eager to get the food!

You have to love the fall colors, and luckily there was a little of it left for us!
Is she making a statement or is she just being "Ali"?

Everyone else was posing for pictures and I had to make sure to capture this for our history!

Why Do I give her a Room?

Recently Ali is in this phase (hopefully it won't last long) where she brings her entire room out into the family room. Why? No one knows. Apparently the family room downstairs and her own room is never as much fun as the main family room. This drives me Crazy!! Only because what you can't see is all the bins that I organize DAILY get combined with whatever she pulls out when she puts them away!(at least she does put it away! ) You got to love kids creativity!

Today it was a store she was creating, yesterday a library, and the day before was an entire house stocked with our entire house!! I love Ali!

Note: This picture was after we put half of it away!

Little Discoveries!

One of the Greatest things about being a mom is all the "firsts" that your baby has. I have forgotten between the five years I had between Ali and Cam of how much fun it is. Yesterday as I put Cam in his Bath chair I sat him closer to the water that was pouring into the tub. It was so much fun to watch his reaction as the water hit his face. It was so fun to watch him reach out and try and grab the water. He kept looking at me because he tried and tried to grab it and NOTHING! I think the tub was going to overflow before I turned it off because he was having so much fun trying to grab the water that he couldn't grab. It is so fun to watch him learn and discover everything. I LOVE it! It never gets old!
Look at that Guy! He is so Chubby! Our little Chubby Monkey!

Beautiful Savior!

Yesterday as I was reading to Ali we grabbed this book which she calls her "scriptures." She takes it to church with her every sunday, and every week she always says "let me grab my scriptures. " Yesterday I brought Cam in while we read before her nap, and she looked at Cam and pointed to the picture of Jesus and said,
" Look Cam you know him. You were just with him."
She said it so excitedly and happy. It was so cute and amazing at how much she loves her brother and Jesus.

Pumpkin Time!

My Cute little Pumpkin! Ali was not a fan of the insides!

This year was by far our favorite time to carve pumpkins! Ali is at that age when it is fun to pick them out, and even funner to let her be creative. She usually always picks a baby pumpkin , but not this year! She had her eyes set on the biggest pumpkin out there! We got home and she couldn't wait to get to the carving part.

Once she realized we had to clean it out first, she was having second thoughts. She pulled out one seed and said that was all she wanted to touch. She thought the "Guts " were disgusting.

Cute little Cam just sat and entertained himself with his baby pumpkin. We had a great time
Carving them and this was the first year we all

actually liked how they turned out! Fros' is the

scary face, Alis' is the one with big teeth in the middle, and mine is the cat on the fence! Not to shabby for beginners!

My little Drooler!

I have to record this about my little Cam so I always remeber that I am NOT perfect!
Cam inherited a little gene from his dad called DROOLING! Ali didn't get this so I thought we were safe from it. In the Derrick family it is a pretty common knowledge that Mat drooled all the time and on everything. In all of his childhood pictures he is wearing a bib to catch all the drool. So recently I thought I might have to resort to the same thing. Cam was drooling so much I had to continuously change his shirt throughout the day. His skin was becoming super raw because it was always wet. So I was talking to my sister in law and she told me her pediatrician said to use baby oil on it. I got home and decided to use both the baby oil and the bib and tackle this drool mania. I covered his chest and neck in baby oil and put on some cool bibs that have a shirt top to keep stuff from getting under his little neck. Througout the day I was pretty happy because his shirt was staying dry!!! As it got time to change him for the bath I took off the bib to find a very red, very sore looking neck! I burned him!!! It was the saddest thing. I think the heat from the bib and the combo of the baby oil, just heated him right up and Burned his skin. I felt Horrible. The little guy didn't even cry all day as his skin was burning up. That is a lesson I hope no one has to learn- Don't combine baby oil, and HEAT! Cam drooling over EVERYTHING!
Cam just chillin in the Johnny Jumper!!

You got to Love him!

Okay I just have to say that I hope I am not the only one! I am having lindsay take our family pictures tomorrow and I am trying to coordinate our families attire. She has said time and time again that you shouldn't worry about what to wear. I wasn't worried because I pretty much have the idea of what I want everyone to wear to be casual yet Cute. Then I get to Fros wardrobe, lets just say I paced it once, paced it twice and NOTHING!! Does he really only own 1 shirt that isn't a T- shirt? YES and it is his church shirt. Every other shirt in there is a fading t-shirt. Am I the only one that cares what the family looks like on our pictures. Does it mean I am a freak if I want to go out and buy him new clothes just so he has something to wear. His best idea was to all wear hoodies, which is a great idea, but none of us have hoodies that come close to matching - I guess that is when Black and White pictures would be great. Lindsays' advice was to wear what we normally wear so we like the pictures- I totally agree- I guess we will just see what it ends up like-- STAY TUNED for the final product! I still am not sure what it will be!

A Snowy Sunday!

We were awoken by Ali exclaiming "It snowed, It snowed!" It didn't take her long to want to be outside first thing. We made her wait a little and have breakfast. Before we knew it the snow didn't stick around in Lehi very long so we let her run out and throw a few snowballs before it was all gone.
Cam didn't get to go outside because he had a cough! How exciting though it was his first sight of SNOW! I will be honest with you- I don't think he knew what was going on!














We went up to Fros' sisters house in Clearfield to see thier new house and our newest little cousin Wyatt. Cam is pretty big for his age of 5 months, but Wyatt makes Cam look little. Wyatt is 3 months old and his cheeks alone could take out Cam. He came to our family in such an amazing story I will have to blog the whole thing on another day. The short version is that my sister in law Jen and her husband Brett can't have any more kids due to Brett getting testicular cancer almost seven years ago. They have a 7 year old and couldn't have anymore. A couple months ago They were out fishing and stopped at an Arctic Circle to get some food, and my brother in law saw this pregnant lady who was trying to contain her little two year old girl. Brett jokingly said that he would take her off her hands and jokingly said both kids ( meaning the one she was 9 months pregnant with.) Super Long story short- Less than 5 days later the girl had the baby and gave it up to them for adoption!!! Crazy story and crazy situation, but we are so happy for them, and glad to have Wyatt in the family! (jen if I got any of that wrong let me know!!)

Who is That!

With Halloween on the way,

our family is getting so MYSTERIOUS!! Can you Guess Who? It's Cam! - 5 months old

What a mom will do for Extra Sleep!

Saturday morning came a little to soon with Cam not feeling 100% and Ali knocking off her covers a few to many times. So when Ali was ready to be awake I definately was not. I kept trying to send her on little errands to give me a few more moments of sleep. I then thought of the great idea to let her do make-up on me and do my hair. I don't let her do make-up often but thanks to my neighbor Aliesha Jackman she has her own make-up set. So after a little more rest I was told I was all done. Ali paused and was a little nervous- I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I think I am going to be in trouble." I told her she wouldn't be in trouble, she made me beautiful- I was sure!!!! As I walked towards the mirror she said ,"Mom I used a little to much make-up !" What do you think???? The best part is that she used a sticky glitter first,
so when she put the pink cheeks on it stuck GOOD!
she was a little nervous of what my reaction was going to be- But who couldn't love that face!

A fun Time for Everyone!

One of our favorite places is Thanksgiving Point. We bought a property pass which allows us to go to the Gardens (Alis' favorite), The childrens gardens, the farm and the Dinosaur museum. We have had one for the past 2 years and have used it- and then some! One of the best places to go is the dinosaur museum because they have so much to do and see. Ali requests it at least once a week, but I can only handle it so much. We usually try to go with neighbors or cousins because it tends to make it a little funner. I avoid it at all costs on weekends, and the summer because I am spoiled and can walk over when there is usually no one there. We love it! Ali and her cousins Reed, Noah and Kate pretending to be under water-
That is why their noses are plugged!

There is the fun water table with dinosaurs and water, and what everyone loves- the dirt!

Ali usually doesn't like to play in it because she doesn't like to get dirty, but they spent easily 45 minutes playing in it- there was no one there- it was great!
Was there a sign that said Don't play on the Dinos?

Look at that face- Up close and personal!

A first for Ali !

What a good Nights Rest can do for you! One of the great blessings Ali has blessed me with all these years is that she is 5 and still takes naps!! Yes - How wonderful is that. She usually takes a regular 2 hour nap everyday. Since starting kindergarten she has been a little less consistant but still manages to get an hour here, or 2 there. If she doesn't get her nap she usually starts "falling apart" by 5:30 ish. She always lets me know she is ready for a nap by saying, "Mom I am starting to fall apart." Or she will say she is falling to Pieces- one of the two. Well yesterday Ali and Cam came with me to work, as they often do, and I had a lot of things to get done and ended up being there until after 6:15 pm. Ali hadn't had a nap at all and she was still going strong. By the time we got out to the car she was so proud of herself that she said, "Mom I didn't even fall apart!" It was cute because she was so proud. As I loaded her in the car, I looked back in my mirror a few minutes later and she was out. When I got home I thought for sure she would wake up. I left for mutual by 7:30 and she was still asleep. When I got back from mutal she was no where to be found. I asked fro where she was and he told me she wouldn't wake up. He said he kept trying to wake her up but she was to tired she wouldn't. I was a little nervous-- I thought oh great now she is going to wake up in the middle of the night and be wide awake. Not only did she not wake up she slept until 7:00 am. She has NEVER done that! Sleeping from 6:30 pm to 7:00 am- Holy Cow! My kids don't do that!! She woke up and was worried because she hadn't got to brush her teeth!

The Worst Punishment Ever!

Ali has declared she is going to be a "Doctor" when she grows up. I think it is pretty funny and so do my sisters because she carries a notebook with her wherever we go. She is always writing little notes, and she won't go anywhere without a notebook. The greatest thing is she really dislikes having HOMEWORK. The biggest conflict at our house right now is getting Ali to do her homework. She spent two years in preschool learning her letters and now she ( i think purposely) "CAN'T DO IT". Fro and I have gotten a little frustrated because she writes her letters pretty good, but when it comes to doing it on her homework she suddenly can't. So yesterday she wouldn't do it and it about maxxed me and Fro out. So we were trying to think of a punishment of some kind that would maybe help coax her into doing it right. I pulled out the old Black Garbage bag my mom used with us (when you go in and take all their toys) - it had a little affect, but after much frustration, i used the "I am going to make you go play at someones house!"
Lets just say that would do nothing for most kids, but Ali it did! She would much rather stay home 365 days of the year, rather than go anywhere- So that was the Threat!
Homework Got done, and that was all that mattered!- If she does go to Med school, it is going to be a LONG road!

Photo Blog tag!

My bud Mindy Blodgett photo tagged me- I guess that is the name of it. You have to go to the fourth folder of your pictures and pull out the fourth picture and tell about it. So like a good girl I did this for you Mindles! I was excited that my fourth folder was a compilation of older pics. from 07. THis is a candy graham that ali and I made for Fro to tell him I was PREGO with Cam. It became a tradition when me and my sister Brooke made one for him the first time I was pregnant. SO Ali and I thougt this would be a great way to break the news! Fro is always suprised and the Candy is just an added perk to help him cope with the news- It works great! However now anytime fro sees a candy graham he is going to ASSUME............ Now I will tag-- Lindsay, Tracie, Hollie, CHed Head, and Sarah Jane

Cheesecake Factory vs. Texas Roadhouse

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to the FAMOUS Cheesecake Factory. I had never been before so I was super excited! For the past year I have grown to LOVE Texas Roadhouse so much that I thought it might be up for a little competition to see if the Cheesecake factory would become my new favorite restraunt. I asked a few people what is good, and always told everything is good- so there was quite a bit of food anticipation on my part!

We decided to go a little early because they don't take reservations (which they told me they do Monday thru Thursday) and good thing we did. Even on a monday night it got busy by 6:00. I ordered the most popular chicken dish- Chicken Madeira. It was recommended by a friend, and on the menu it is "the most popular chicken dish" so I decided to give it a try. Ali ordered their kids Mac and Cheese, and lets just say when I got my food I honestly wanted hers. Her Mac and Cheese was DElicious! The Chicken Madeira was okay, but it had a mushroom sauce that i didn't care for too much. The one thing that sold me on the cheesecake factory was it's name-- They have AWESOME cheesecake--YUMMY YUMMY! I would go back again many times for the cheesecake.
If you haven't ever been - GO- but if you haven't been to Texas Roadhouse- it is STILL MY FAVORITE! They have the best rolls and honey butter EVER! Their food is priced better also. Just be careful of the waiters at Texas Roadhouse- one (GUY) was hitting on Fro the whole time and my friends all got free meals because their waiter was rude. You have to call an hour before you go, and they will seat you right when you get there-( not many people know that trick.) But all in all , I still list it as my favorite!