What's Cookin' at the Potter's...

Arizona here we come

2012-01-26T10:19:00.003-07:00

Well you probably already know this cause I sent it in our Christmas newsletter, and I guess the blog is the last to know, but after much patience and faith, Robert has been accepted to school. After 3 years we finally realized that Dental School must just not be the Lord's plan for us, so we quit banging our heads against a wall. Robert explored his options in the health field and chose to pursue Optometry. That way he didn't have to pay for my eye care anymore:) j/k Partly because it was the path of least resistance (aka no additional pre-reqs or experience needed) and partly because he felt it would provide a good lifestyle and be an interesting and enjoyable profession. He also looked into Podiatry, Physical Therapy, and a few others. I thought he would really enjoy PT but he felt it would require too much experience before getting accepted to school and additional pre-reqs that he didn't wanna spend more time on. He also thought it would wear him out physically and wanted to not be tired from a days work when he got home:) After observing a Podiatrist for a day, he just didn't think he would enjoy working with feet. Yeah.

So he applied to quite a few Optometry schools, not knowing how non-competitive it was compared to dental schools, and got invited for about 7 interviews! He interviewed in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Arizona, and turned down the rest. He ended up getting accepted to ALL of them! Arizona was our first choice and the school he interviewed at last, so we had to hold out a bit. But we are so excited to say that Robert will be starting school in the fall at Midwestern in Glendale, AZ!

Congratulations Sweetie!!!!!

We are so glad to be moving on in our lives after three years! Especially to Arizona:) Robert will make a great Optometrist! For some reason the Lord just didn't want Robert to go to Dental school, and after working as a Dental Assistant for 3 years he realized maybe it wasn't really something he would enjoy. So it was quite the test of patience and faith for us, but we know Heavenly Father was watching out for us and trying to bless us with what was best for us. So this summer will be a busy one for us. We will have a baby in June and then move in August and Robert will start school. I hope I don't have a nervous breakdown:) Nevertheless we are very excited for our upcoming changes!

And in case you're wondering what I made for breakfast:

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

I got the recipe from Pinterest (my new best friend) and it is SOOOO good!!!!!!!!! If you want the recipe click here: Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake from Alexandra's kitchen blog. This recipe is great for if you wanna show off like at a Brunch, baby shower, ward potluck, or entertaining for breakfast, or like me- just want to try something yummy and different and not trying to impress anyone except maybe your 3 year old:)

Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T14:55:00.003-07:00

We didn't end up sending out Christmas cards this year cause we never got family pics. So, we sent out a newsletter/email with out a picture, I know you were all bumbed out. So on Christmas Day after church we were able to snap these cute pics, I figured we were already dressed up and matching, so that was as good as it was gonna get. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Our Christmas was very nice. We spend all our attention on Brady and getting him gifts, so it was lots of fun. He got a new 'Cars' race track, a golf bag with clubs just his size, and a cool blue farm truck from Grama Marilyn. We visited my Grama in Tooele, UT for Christmas Eve. My brother Ben was at our house for Christmas too which has been the tradition the last 3 years. Then I prepared a wonderfully large dinner and our friend Mike even brought a ham and potatoes! YUM. My wonderful husband bought me a new pillow and some Palmers Coco butter for rubbing on the buddah belly.

My boys are so cute!! Don't mind that red whale. I'm in that "is she pregnant or fat?" stage. Yes, I'm pregnant, and fat:) Most of you already knew, but in case you don't I'm due June 25 and so far a healthy pregnancy. We'll find out the gender in about a month.

Happy Holidays from the Potters!

Potter Halloween 2011: Snowman

2011-11-11T19:47:00.006-07:00

So I know I'm getting this post out a little late, but I wanted to post a few pics of our Halloween costumes. Robert had the great idea to dress up as a Snowman! Robert was the big snowball, I was the medium snowball, and Brady was the cute little snowball head of the snowman, carrot and all. Of course these costumes are homemade, but they didn't take too much effort. Sorry the pics aren't good quality, but that's all we got. We had lots of fun trick-or-treating with Brady, we all dressed up and took him around our neighborhood. Brady loved it, of course the idea of getting free candy was amazing to him:)

Robert and Brady with a two-ball snowman: (Robert is hiding his head)

Brady was touching the ceiling with us all stacked up, otherwise Robert would've stood up. When we went trick or treating to our friends the Rehder's house we quickly got up in our Potter Snowman Pyramid and then rang the doorbell, they got quite the trick for a treat! The funny thing is that they had their window open the whole time and could hear us laughing and struggling as we got into pyramid form:)

Please don't mind our messy house, putting together Halloween costumes always produces a huge mess. There is a video of us on my facebook page if you wanna see it, it's pretty funny and cute. Anyway, hope you all had a fun Halloween this year. Unfortunetly we didn't have a costume contest, but if we did, we would have taken first place again for sure.

Miniature Golf Tournament: Robert vs. Megan

2011-10-22T16:06:00.004-06:00

We've been practicing all summer for the big tournament... 5 miniature golf courses. 81 holes. 2 participants. Our awesome friends Sloan and Julia babysat Brady so we could stay focused on our big day. No distractions. We began the tournament at 10:30am in Orem at Trafalga. (Thanks Pass of all Passes! Unlimited miniature golf for 1 year!) The coast was clear, no one in sight, we thought we would fly through the courses. The temperature was a little chilly starting out, but soon warmed up with sunny and clear conditions. We brought our chosen putters and balls. I had a Topflight and Robert had a Nike. All rules applied. We were allowed to redo one whole on each course.

Here is a picture of Robert after getting a hole in one. I couldn't believe it. That's not the only hole in one that was made! In the end we both got 5 holes in one total. Robert is really good. And all this miniature golfing has actually helped Robert's short game on the real corse:) But I have been practicing a lot too. Lots of days while Robert is at work, Brady and I go golfing. But the true winner of the 2011 Trafalga Orem and Lehi Miniature Golf Tournament is......

You guessed it.

ROBERT!

But with 81 holes I didn't come in far behind, only 7 holes. Robert hit 207 and I hit 214. At least he thought I was pretty good competition, which I was:) We finished in about 2 1/2 hours. Robert is a good sport, or maybe he expected to win, but he didn't rub it in too much. Then he bought me lunch, so I wasn't too crushed:)

More quilting.....Hot Pot holders!

2011-10-20T17:11:00.008-06:00

Just in case you thought I had had my fill of quilting, think again! The options are endless! I found a way to use my tiny scraps of fabric! And I think this will be my new wedding gift, so if you're getting married soon...you might be able to expect some sweet and colorful potholders:) Take a look:

The back has an envelope for your hand to slide into:

Set #2

These actually were a lot harder to make than I thought they would be when I attempted to make them. I thought, "Oh how cute, they are small and will be quick and easy to make!" wrong! they totally took some time and skill (which the latter part I'm getting better at).

The Back of #2:

Up close -machine quilted spiral:

And if you're having a baby anytime soon, for your gift from me, you can choose between a baby wrap or baby blanket. I can't wait to make my first baby blanket!

Sewing is so satisfying!

Brady's Whirlygig quilt

2011-10-15T09:16:00.007-06:00

While I was taking pictures of my quilt for the last post, Brady was sleeping all curled up in his quilt, and it was pretty tough to get a good picture, so that's why this is in a different post. This is Brady's quilt that I made for him, its a twin size, and was much easier than my quilt:) I just quilted it on my machine with vertical lines (red thread) and put some yarn ties just for Brady cause he likes to play with them.

The backing is just solid blue as is the binding.

I got this pattern from the same book as my first quilt called "Fresh Quilting". It's called the 'Whirlygig qulit'. Hence the pattern of warm colors making a whirlygig shape:

Both of my quilts' patterns were based on the pairing of warm and cool colors. And although Brady likes his new quilt, it will still never replace his favorite baby blankie that he has to have to sleep with.

Improvisational Quilt

2011-10-13T15:58:00.007-06:00

Well if you know that I've been busy quilting lately, you've been wanting to see what I've made!

So it all started with Robert's friend giving us a king size bed. Sweet! But I didn't realize that meant all new bedding. I started with buying sheets....then I realized as fall and then winter were approaching we would need a bigger blanket. SO... of course I decided to MAKE one. I found a cute book with modern quilts and picked this one. Its an Improvisational quilt, and yes it's colorful. And no, this does not present any design technique for our room. I just saw the quilt and loved it, and I tend to pick pieces that I love without thinking ahead of how it will fit into a design theme:) That goes for picking out clothes too:) So with no further adieu, here it is:

-from the side-

-from the foot of the bed-

-the back-

-Using a quilt frame, each square was HAND QUILTED, this is viewed from the back so you can see the stitching-

Each square varied between a round spiral, square spiral, two squares, three squares, diamonds, and rounded edge square spiral- as follows:

I was going to hand finish the binding, but I was just to excited to be done with it that I just finished it off on my trusty sewing machine my mom got me at a yard sale, with a zigzag stitch. I probably spent less than $150 on everything; fabric, batting, thread, rotary mat and cutter. It felt SO good to accomplish something so big and awesome. And for my first quilt, I know a king size was ambitious, but that's what we needed! Being my first quilt, I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned a lot, and I'm overall very happy with the outcome! Whadda think? How do you think I could design my room around this masterpiece?

Homemaker

2011-07-31T20:50:00.006-06:00

So I've been busy lately making headbands. I had this old headband from Old Navy I got like 15 years ago, and it was getting pretty worn out, and I loved it and wanted to wear it all the time but it didn't match everything, so I wanted to see if I could make some! I tried a few and got some ideas. My cousin Andrea also makes them and hers are awesome, but I got that creative bug and wanted to make some myself. I started with making flowers and other designs etc. and they are cute but took too much time:

Exhibit a:

Then I decided to just make them plain but double sided and slightly curved so they fit your head better. Exhibit b:

and c:

And I love them! Now I can wear them with lots of different outfits. It helps me look not so homely too cause I hardly wear jewlry and now I can jazz up any outfit with a fun headband !

Check out some others I've made:http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeyMrsPotter

The Story of Jonah as Told by The Cutest Little Girl

2011-06-01T12:18:00.000-06:00

The funniesst thing I've seen all week:

When is your Half Birthday?

2011-05-05T15:11:00.004-06:00

This post is 100% inspired my sister in Law Lydia whose 1/2 birthday is Today!! happy 1/2 Birthday Lydia!! and Happy Cinco de Mayo, ps. a GREAT day for a 1/2 birthday and all the more reason to celebrate!! So I was curious when mine was so I looked it up....

"When is your Half Birthday?: "Your half birthday falls on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011, which is 138 days from now.

The next birthday is 321 days from now. Which is amazing cause 3/21 IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!! WHOOOAAA!!!! WIII-EERD!

March 21st, 1984 fell on a Wednesday and was 27 years, 1 month and 13 days (a total of 9,906 days) ago. The above assumes that it's Thursday, 5 May 2011"

So there you go. If you wanna celebrate with me on Sept. 20th, it will be a party!!

When is YOUR 1/2 birthday?

What is the appropriate way to cellebrate 1/2 birthdays?? I like how Lydia did it, ate 1/2 a cake...maybe you just do a halfsies theme. On my mission at my half way mark, I ate 1/2 a pizza;)

How should it be done??

Home-made Cinnabon anyone?

2011-04-04T13:23:00.004-06:00

I made my Grama-in-law's Cinnamon Roll recipe this weekend for General Conference, and it was amazing (of course I tweaked it a little and added my own touch). If you wanna melt into a squishy, carmelized, soft cinnabun, follow this recipe:

2 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 Tb.)
2 C. warm water
1/3 C. Granulated sugar
1/3 C. Vegetable oil
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp. Salt
7 to 7 1/2 C. All purpose flour
Tb. Dough enhancer (opt. but it makes the dough better!!)
1 Tb. Vital Wheat Gluten (also opt. but makes dough better!!)
1/2 C. Butter, softened (add a little more if you want for flavor and carmelization:))
1 C. Packed brown sugar (add a little more if you want for flavor and carmelization:))
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (add a little more if you want for flavor:))
1/2-1 C. Chopped walnuts or pecans (opt. but sure makes em yummy!)

Ok so I halfed this recipe not wanting to make too much, which turned out perfectly. I reccommend doing the same unless you are feeding a crowd or large family. I made 15 small buns and they all fit nicely in one 9x13 pan. When halfing the recipe it was tricky, i just measured 1/2 of everthing except I used two eggs (it's hard to half 3 eggs:)) and I actually used the full amount of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. I also added chopped walnuts which were amazing!!!

Ok so in a bowl add warm water, yeast, oil, and granulated sugar. Beat eggs in small bowl. Measure 3/4 of the flour and the salt into large bowl and whisk/sift. Add water and yeast mixture and eggs to flour mixture and incorporate with a wooden spoon or utensil of your choice. Incorporate in as much of remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and place in warmed oven to rise (at least 30 minutes or until double in size).

Punch down dough, divide (if using full recipe because you will be using 2 9x13 pans). Roll out dough slightly (then let rest 5 min) on flowered surface. ( you won't be able to roll it out all the way if you don't let it rest, it will just shrink back because of elasticity, so let it rest, then continue rolling it out into large rectangle.) (I rolled my rectangle out really big so the dough was pretty thin-the layers were thinner that way which means more surface with butter/sugar/cinnamon/nuts:))

Ok now spred your softened butter all over dough (i use my fingers), sprinkle on evenly the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. If you want your rolls bigger, roll up dough from the short side. If you want them smaller, roll them up from the long side. Roll it up whichever way, then get some dental floss (unused:)) instead of cutting and smooshing with a knife, use floss by sliding the floss under the roll and wrapping it around the dough and pinching it (does that make sense?) using it to cut the roll, about 2'' for each roll. Should make 15-16 rolls. If you did the full recipe you will now roll out your second piece of dough and repeat with butter/brown sugar/cinnamon/nuts, roll and cut up.

Butter the bottom of your 9x13 pan(s) and place rolls in leaving space in between for them to rise. Let rise in pan for 30 min. or until they look as big as you want them. Turn the oven on to 350F and bake for 20-25 min or until slightly golden on top.

Ok now for the Cream Cheese frosting:

1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. Butter-flavored Shortening
8 oz. Cream cheese
1 tsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Vanilla
1-2 Tb. Milk
4 C. Powdered Sugar

Beat it all up and spread it on warm cinnabuns.

Grab a cinnabun and bite right into it. Do not regret it, ENJOY the delishousness, softness of the dough, carmelized butter and sugar, crunchy nuts, and CREAMY rich amazing frosting!!! Then tell me how it went!

A lot happens in March!

2011-03-21T12:37:00.009-06:00

We have a lot going on in March. First it's St. Patricks Day, which is one of my favorite Holidays. This pic is from last years St. Patricks Day, we went on a treasure hunt with our neighbor friends. Brady is on the right, I'm holding his hand cause he had just barely learned how to walk. This year we got together with my friend Camy and decorated cookies and played. I also learned that Corned beef and Cabbage was a classic on St. Patty's day, but my husband told me never to make it. I guess I'll never know.

(Mia, Audrey, Francesca, Sean, Josh, Lilly, Brooklyn, Brady)

All of us mommies with our strollers on the treasure hunt. Brady and I are in the middle. We have the best friends and neighbors! This treasure hunt was so fun!

(Tonya's stroller with Sean in it, Melissa and Calvin, Me and Brady, Neighbor friend, Anjanelle's stroller with Cortnie, and Rachel)

Brady's due date was March 3rd. He was born two months early in January, but I wish he would've been born in March:) This is a picture of him in the NICU. Robert and I went on our Honeymoon to San Diego 3 years ago. Best week of my life! We got married 3 years ago and celebrated our anniversary on March 15th. Happy Anniversary Sweetie! It feels like its been 5 years to me! Marriage is wonderful and having a family is even better:) Six years ago on March 17th I got my mission call!!! It was on a Thursday, in March of 2005. This is a picture of me with the Mission Call packet. Here is a picture of my roommate AnnMarie and I pointing to Spain where I got called! AnnMarie's birthday is also in March. Happy Birthday AnnMarie!! Here is a picture of my roommate Cortnie and I with my call (unopened) getting ready for our big St. Patricks Day party and Call opening party:) love you Cort!

It's also MARCH MADDNESS!!! I'm getting a little tired of Basketball, but I have to see if my bracket wins! It's not doing so good, but then again niether is anyone elses!)

As you can see March is a Big month! Most of the birthday's in my family are in March too! My sister Mekelle's b-day was on March 1st, she turned 22! My brother-in-law Cord's birthday is on March 3rd (would've shared a b-day with Brady:)) My brother Carson's birthday was on March 10th! My niece Averie and my cousin Annie's birthdays are both on March 11th! My niece, Joy's birthday is also on March 10th! My birthday is TODAY, March 21st (I'm 27!)!! My brother Ben's birthday is on the 25th!! Did I forget anyone??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN MARCH!! I LOVE YOU!!

Paella

2011-02-21T15:02:00.010-07:00

PAELLA ESPANOLA!

I just had to wear my Bata that I bought in Gijon so it was truely a Spanish Experience.

Ok so I've wanted to make Paella for a few months now, and have been gathering ingredients, but I just have been so nervous to do it. So I finally did it after researching and comparing some food network recipies. I had Paella a few times on my mission, and remembered how good it was and how Spanish it was! I had mastered the Spanish Tortilla de Patata, why couldn't I make Paella!

Ok so you start out with a Paella pan or very large skillet (preferably something oven safe with a lid.)
You can use whatever meat you want really. Traditionally paella uses a lot of shellfish, and also might use chorizo, chicken, rabbit, etc. whatever you want, throw it in! So I decided to use shrimp and chicken. Traditionally it also uses roasted red jarred peppers, peas, saffron, onion, garlic, bay leaf, rice, lemon, chicken stock or seafood stock, tomato, and olive oil. I used fresh green and red peppers, and chicken stock with all the other stuff.
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Hence the reason why I was so nervous to make this dish. I didn't want to mess it up! You can usually find it at most grocerie store, but some stores might not carry it. Shop around and use a coupon if you can to purchase it for the best price. I bought it at Sunflower market for about $7.50 for .01 oz or .3 grams, about 2 pinches or a teaspoon. So yeah.
Ok so here's the ingredients I used:
2-3 Tb. Olive oil
2-3 Chicken Breasts (boneless skinless cut into chunks) a lot of recipies I noticed used chicken legs and thighs with bones and skin on and cooked it whole.
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, cut in strips
1 red pepper, cut in strips (use jarred roasted red peppers if you can)
1 tomato peeled, seeded, and chopped (I didn't peel mine)
1 pinch of saffron (of the .01 oz I bought, I used half so I could make it again.)
1 tsp. Salt
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
10 oz or 1 1/2 C. uncooked Valencia or other short grain rice. I used Basmati, but I think it's better to use Arborio.
20 oz. or 3 1/2 C. of Chicken stock ( I just disolved a few chicken boullion cubes in water and simmered it till disolved. then in a cup to the side i disolved the saffron threads in about 1 C. of the stock. for a few minutes.)
2 C. Shrimp ( I used uncooked med. shrimp unpeeled, but it would be easier to eat if they were pre-peeled.)
1 C. green peas
1 lemon cut into wedges for garnish. (After rinsing the shrimp I used part of the lemon and just squeezed it over the shrimp to give them a quick marinade before adding them to the paella.)
Preheat your oven to 350 F. So first heat the olive oil in your paella pan on med-hi for a couple minutes then add chicken and saute till golden. Then add onion, garlic, bay leaf, and green pepper. Saute till onions are transparent. Add the 1 C. of chicken stock with saffron dissolved in it (most recipes use white wine to deglaze, but of course i didn't have any so i used an extra cup of stock). Also add tomato, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil for a few minutes. Then add rice, the rest of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add your seafood (clams, mussles, squid, octopus, fish or whatever you want. I only used shrimp), and if your peas are frozen, add them now. Cover the paella and bake in pre-heated oven for 20 min. If you don't have an oven safe pan, you can just finish it off by letting it simmer for 20 min covered on the stove.
And that's it! Just make sure your rice is cooked, and your shrimp are pink (if they were uncooked). And enjoy with a Bara de pan or baguette if you can get one!
I know it sounds complicated, but it's really pretty easy. You can do it! And you house will smell like Spain!

New Family Pictures

2011-02-16T15:45:00.004-07:00

Check out our New Family Pics:

Click on these links to see our new pics:

Brady's 2 year pics

Winter Family Pics

Enjoy!

2010 Year Review

2011-02-15T16:49:00.007-07:00

We had a great year in 2010 and here's all the things we did and accomplished:

Brady learned tons of Sign language, up to 60 words!
Brady turned 1 at the beginning of the year and we had two big parties for him!
Brady completed the Mom and Tot swim lessons class in the Spring.
Robert took a Physiology class throught BYU and got an A!
Brady learned how to walk in March.
Robert took the DAT prep class at BYU, and retook the DAT and got 2 pts. better!
Robert re-applied for Dental school...and we're still waiting for the good news.
For spring break we went with Robert's Sister Wendy and husband Lance to visit their brother Jeff in Southern California. We spent Easter with them; watched general conference; went to the beach; had lots of parties; and went horse-back riding!
I sanded and refinished an coffee table Robert found me for free.
I made a book of my mission in Spain on Heritage Makers.
I made an ABC book of Brady's first year on Heritage Makers.
I had lots of adventures in the kitchen including learning how to bake without wheat or dairy.
I also had lots of adventures in sewing and crafting including our Halloween costumes, making a wreath out of coffee filters, and a wreath of white felt roses.
We attended the temple each month and managed to attend all these temples: Provo UT, Mt. Timpanogas UT, Jordan River UT, Bountiful UT, Rexburg ID, and Newport Beach CA. We also went to but didn't go inside the St. George UT temple, and Salt Lake City temple.
We went to Phoenix AZ so Robert could visit 2 dental schools. I visited Anasazi and we also visited with Roberts mission friends.
We went to the Grand Canyon for the first time.
We went camping and hiking in American Fork Canyon.
We won our Ward Halloween Costume Contest (see Halloween Post).
My brother Phillip got married in the Rexburg Temple and we attended their sealing and receptions in December.
And we spent the New Year with my family in Spokane. They flew Brady and I up for the week and we had lots of fun! Mostly Brady and cousin Dylan played and had a ball together!

Well it was a fun and eventful year! Here are my New Years Resolutions for this coming year that I have already started:

Loose 20 lbs. (doing the Jillian Michaels shred, p90x, and counting callories)
Read scriptures daily and study manual
Pray every morning before I read my scriptures
Learn to read patterns (for sewing)
Make a new temple dress for myself
Read the bible in my spare time
and...later on this year, after the go-ahead from the husband...get pregnant:)

That's all folks. I'll let you know how it goes. So far, I suck at sticking to my alloted calories. It's way hard not to eat what I want. Jillian Michaels kicks my but, but I think its working. And my scripture studing is going great- it's so much better to study with a manual!

It's a NEW YEAR! Yeah for New Beginnings!

New Year Update

2011-02-15T15:53:00.011-07:00

So, I've been a little neglectful of my blog lately. But it's not like we don't have a few due updates! So since the year began Brady has started and completed a Tumbling Tots class! It was so fun for him and good for me too! He turned 2 years old! He had his first airplane ride! We went to Spokane to visit my family and help with Phillip's wedding reception. That was so nice to visit home for a while. And since Brady turned two, I swear the talking que kicked in. He is saying like two or three new words a day! I can't keep up with this kid! He is up to like 100 words he can say now. It's so fun. (see the list of words to the right.)

We also started a little pre-school with a couple of my friends two days a week. It's way good for Brady and fun for us to get together. We just teach simple concepts like numbers, letters, shapes, and opposites. Then they play for like an hour while we chat!

We would put him in a Start up Baseball class, but he has to be three, so we might do swimming lessons again this spring.

We had a nice Valentines Day. I decided not to spend a lot of money. Robert and I actually celebrated by going on a date on Saturday night. We went to dinner and a movie and got ice cream. It was really nice. Then we exchanged gifts on Sat. night. I made him a Card on Heritage Makers, and he got me .....a 25$ Visa Gift card to go on a shopping spree;) It was a gift a little out of the ordinary for him, but sweet, cause he knows i've been wanting some new clothes:) Then yesterday on V-day I wanted to do something to celebrate again of course. So I decided to make him his favorite Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, his Grandma's recipe. It turned out delish. I also made a nice steak and potato dinner for two. Brady took a long nap and was sleeping when he got home from work so we got to have a quiet romantic dinner with sparkling cider! He thought I was playing a trick on him cause he didn't believe Brady would sleep so late, and that he wasn't even home. He thought Brady was somewhere else so that I could plan this romantic dinner. Anyway, right after our dinner, Brady woke up. It was perfect:) Hope you all had a nice Valentine's day with those you LOVE. What a nice day Valentine's Day is:) A celebration of Love.

Symbols of Christmas

2010-12-23T17:33:00.005-07:00

This Christmas I have been especially filled with that Cheery Christmas Spirit. It's probably the best one since I was a kid and Christmas was nothing but Magical. I can't believe it's already here (two days!!) It's so fun to celebrate all month, and sad to see Christmas go. But I would like to share with you the symbols of Christmas that have brought new and restored meaning to the "Meaning of Christmas" as we relate them to Christ and the gospel.We had an awesome Relief Society activity on a "Christ Centered Christmas" this month. What I remember most was one sister going through all the symbols of Christmas and their meanings. Some of them you already know, and some are awakenings to me.

The Christmas Tree: In one of Brady's board books (I think Grandma Dianne sent it) it talks about the Legends of the Christmas tree. One of them I especially liked: that the tree has three points, like a triangle, yet is ONE tree. Just as God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three beings yet ONE God in purpose. The Evergreen tree also represents Eternal Life. Christ has given us all the free gift of Immortality after this life. We can live forever. Green represents life! Green is also my favorite color, and I'm especially grateful for it in the Evergreen trees in the winter! The tree also helps remind me to focus my perspective heaven-ward as it points up. We must always acknowledge God in our lives and keep an Eternal Perspective. The Star on top reminds us of that star the shepherds saw to notify them of the Saviors birth. And if you have an Angel on top, it represents the angel who came to Mary and Joseph to announce that she would be the mother of our Savior.

Presents: Obviously presents represent those given to Christ on his birthday by the wise men. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Likewise we give gifts to one another, but we need not forget it is still Christ's birthday, and we must put the most thought into what we will give HIM for HIS Birthday. This will be the most meaningful gift for us and HIM.

Lights: We put up lights and candles to remind us that Jesus is the light of the world. All that is good is of God. And to represent that Star on His starry night.

Santa: Jolly Old Saint Nick, although he isn't "real", he brings a real spirit, as does our Savior. He is a Christ-like figure that we shouldn't discount. He loves us. He knows us, and weather we are "naughty or nice" as does our Savior. He works all year to bring us that perfect gift, and has lots of little Elf hands helping him; just as God and Christ's work is our Immortality and Eternal life or Happiness and WE are his helpers in each others lives. He wears RED to symbolize the blood of Christ with WHITE fringe to represent Christ's sanctity and purity that we can have through the Atonement. He also might wear black boots and black gloves symbolizing SIN, which he can take away from us through the Atonement.

Rudolph: The Red Nose Reindeer, who at first was disliked by others who used to "laugh and call him names". But he had a special light (on his nose), and in the end all were dependent on him to light the way. Like Christ, he was rejected of men and stricken with grief, but in then end, he is our Savior from Sin and is our Example to 'light' our way.

Christmas Shopping: OK this one is my favorite (not shopping-the analogy:)). We've all been there. Black Friday; the Saturday before Christmas when everyone is Christmas shopping at the mall or wherever. The traffic is crazy; people are searching for that perfect gift; shipping things off to arrive on time; hurrying to get home for the holidays etc. Yet we are all "Anxiously engaged in a good cause"; we are thinking of others, their needs, wants, wishes, and trying to get them that gift. There is that hustle and bustle and a little bit of craziness, but imagine for a moment with me if that "good cause" was spreading the gospel. If we were all anxiously trying to give the gift of the gospel to those who don't have it yet. The greatest gift of all, Eternal life. And the Knowledge of how to receive Eternal Life. What if we were all so good of missionaries, "member missionaries", and in such a hurry for it. This is how it should be in reality. And having served a mission, and literally running to appointments, walking the streets all day, knocking doors to share this GOOD NEWS. This IS how I felt on my mission. What a gift the gospel is to us, we must share it, and in a hurry!!!

I'm sure you can think of many other symbols of Christmas, there are many others, but these are the ones I wanted to share.

Merry Christmas. Remember who's birthday it is.

Because of your Faith....My joy is full.

2010-11-10T08:19:00.005-07:00

This morning I woke up early, not on purpose, just woke up. I decided to take advantage of the quiet time and read the new Conference Ensign. I flipped through looking for a talk to read, and then decided to start from the beginning. I read the introductory talk by our Prophet, and then read the next talk (which was my favorite from Conference) by Elder Holland called Because of Your Faith.

I was so moved by his talk, again, but in a different way, that I feel so inspired to write to you all. You might remember in his talk that he thanked his parents for sacrificing for him so much so he could serve a mission, and working extra for him so that all the money he had saved for his mission was still there when he got home from his mission so he could pay for college etc. In his talk you might also remember him thanking all those other mothers and fathers out there who have done and are doing the same things for their children. I was a ball of tears during his talk. But this time, in reading it through, my thoughts were turned inwards, to my own mission, and my own life, and what he was really trying to tell us. I think Bro. Hollands talk was really about praising us, members of the church, and good people of the earth, and thanking us for our faith. Then I thought of all those people in my life, who have been such examples and pillars of faith to me.

In his talk he says, talking to us, "No one of you is insignificant, in part because you make the gospel of Jesus Christ what it is-a living reminder of His grace and mercy, a private but powerful manifestation in small villages and large cities of the good He did and the life He gave bringing peace and salvation to other people. We are honored beyond expression to be counted one with you in such a sacred cause.

As Jesus said to the Nephites, so say I today: "Because of your faith...., my joy is full.

"And when he had said these words, he wept.""

After reading his talk, I just sat there, going through in my mind all of these people..... you are probably on my list:

Robert, Mom, Chris, Grandma, Grandpa, Joseph, Memere, Pepere, Phillip, Ben, Charlene, Kathlene, Becky, Brad, Mike, Andrea, Jon, Meiken, Zan, Cindy, Randy, Loni, Bishop Jensen, Bishop Squires, Sis. Johnson, Sis. Holloway, Sis.Wagner, Sis.McCoy, Bree, Olivia, Tricia, Sarah, Whitney, Dre, Cortney, AnnMarie, Carolee, Jessica, April, MaryAnn, Angie, Bishop Peeples, Anjanelle, Aimee, Tonya, Brandon, Melissa, Tina, Summer, Misty, Natalie, Fabi, Christy, Meggan, Rachel, Aidrienne, Andrea, Tashina, Wendy, Lance, Hna. Robertson, Hna. Wheatley, Hna. Horton, Hna. Wheatley, Hna. Harris, Hna. Holbrook, Hna. Kurouski, Hna. Madsen, Hna. Christensen, Hna. Lindsay, Hna. Rumsey, Hna. DuVall, Pte. DuVall, Pte. Zivic, Hna. Zivic, Las Sandra, Patricio, Eric, Sarah, Florin, Matthews, Barneys, Rehders, and I have known hundreds of other people who have given me examples of faith.

It is YOU all who have given me faith to endure, at different times in my life when I have needed it. You have given me an example of faith and assurity that Christ is your Savior, and that God lives and loves us and that no matter what happens, everything will work out because it's in God's hands, as are we. And I want to THANK YOU for being an example to me. We all give each other strength, and we all need each other, and we are all living reminders to each other on a daily basis of our Savior Jesus Christ and his grace and mercy and love. Thank you for enduring, being faithful, and giving me hope and peace in this world and in my life. Imagine how many more people than just me you have touched in your lives. And I have no idea how many peoples lives I have influenced for good, but this is our duty and mission, to the church and to each other, and to ourselves, to help each other.

Thank you all. Keep being examples of faith to all those around you because we need you.

Sesame Street Halloween Costumes

2010-11-02T12:56:00.008-06:00

Robert had the idea like back in May(6 months early) for Sesame Street Halloween Costumes. He wrote it down so he wouldn't forget his genius idea. Then when October came around, he said we better get started on our costumes. We started shopping for costume pieces at the beginning of October. We probably went to second hand stores about 8 times and craft/fabric stores like 7 times before we finished our costumes. One of those trips to the fabric store included buying a new needle for my sewing machine cause I broke my needle on one of Big Birds feathers! That was a first!

I honestly didn't see the vision for these costumes, but Robert was determined and sure they would turn out great. I knew they would take a lot of work that I wasn't sure how to do. But little by little our costumes came together and I figured it out as I went. We started with buying basic robes at 2nd hand stores in our respective colors. Then we had to buy fabric to match the robes to make the hoods, socks etc. (which it was easier to match fabric than I thought it would be). Robert hot glued all those feathers on his costume. I made his legs and feet. I had to do some serious altering on Brady's costume, and mine was pretty simple. In the end it was a LOT of work, but a great learning experience on the sewing machine for me:)

It paid off when we won Best Overall Costume at our Ward Halloween Party!!

This is Robert's 'Big Bird' pose.

Tickle me.

Oscar the Grouch trying to make a grouchy face:)

In the end we probably spent about $40 for all the supplies and fabric. It was fun. I guess you can expect something better for next year. Robert is already thinking of ideas for next year. Halloween is serious in the Potter family!

Summer fun 2010

2010-10-05T14:12:00.023-06:00

Robert loves the Slip n' Slide! He made it up of all of his air mattresses. I couldn't make it past the fourth air mattress!

We love having a pool at our Condo complex! The Potter Pyramid!

Hanging out with all the Potter's on the Fourth of July. We were only missing Cari and her family!

Robert made me walk through the reflecting pool on temple square. Has ANYONE ever done such a thing??

Then Robert had to walk through a fountain on Temple square too.

The Matthews showed us this sweet rope swing on the Provo river. The water is ice cold and in a shaded area all day, Robert and Lance are so brave!

Ice cream at a BYU activity. Just like his mom:)

We went to the Utah County fair and saw all the animals and Brady loved the tractors! Anything with a wheel that he can pretend to drive, he loves!

Of course Brady had to walk through water on Temple square too! On top of the conference center!

We had so much fun this summer. We did so many fun things and played hard and worked hard! Brady is growing up so fast and I'm so glad we had so much fun this summer. Our next post will be about our adventures at Cornbelly's Corn maze at Thanksgiving Point aka Toddler HEAVEN!!

Camping

2010-10-04T13:46:00.007-06:00

We finally went camping this summer! We went up the American Fork Canyon to the Timpanooke Campground. The weather was beautiful and the trees were just starting to change colors. It got super cold at night, but we made it. Brady had a BLAST. He loved running around outside and exploring so much that he wouldn't take a nap, he just cried for about 20 minutes, then we gave up and got him out of the tent, and went hiking. We hiked up to Scout falls (not very impressive) but the hike was beautiful! We actually hiked passed the falls thinking it was up further. Brady fell asleep in the backpack for the majority of the way up, then woke up when we got to the falls and pointing to the mini waterfall said, "Woooooaah!!!"

Megan, Robert, and Brady (asleep in the pack), above Scout Falls in American Fork Canyon:

Hiking boots- this one's for you Cortnie Robert exploring and climbing with Brady asleep on his back. Robert

Sign Language

2010-09-14T22:02:00.006-06:00

We have been teaching Brady sign language since he was about 9 months old, it took him quite a few months before he had the dexterity to actually sign, but now he is cruising right along. He knows to date how to do 32 signs! There is a complete list to the right of all the signs he knows. His most recent signs are: daddy, hot, rain, fish, potty, wind, rain, hurt/owie, cat, shoes, car, and tree. He learns them SO fast! He signed hurt/owie for a week or so before I knew what he meant (he doesn't do it exactly right, but pretty close, and as long as we both know what he means, that's what matters).

At his last doctors appointment the doctor said for his age he should be able to say about 20 words. We were floored! He barely can say ONE word! Then we explained that we are teaching him American Sign Language and Spanish along with English. He then explained that it would take him longer to be able to talk, cause three languages is a lot to take in at once, but that once he caught on to them, he would be tri-lingual! It's a lot easier to teach him English and ASL cause I can say the word in English and do the sign. It's also easier for him to sign than to talk. But with Spanish he gets confused. And it's hard for me to speak Spanish ALL the time, so that will be the last language we focus on. But I still read him lots of books in Spanish every day and speak Spanish to him about 1/4 of the time, and I say a lot of things twice in English and Spanish so he gets familiar with both.

As for words Brady can actually say, he says "ba-ball" for any kind of sport or ball. He says "uh-oh", "ooouhh, oooohh" for train or truck, and "wooaah". It's really cute.

I have learned a ton of Sign language just through watching the children's "Signing Time" videos. I'm not sure how many words I know, but quite a bit. I have a wonderful neighbor who is deaf and I get to practice a lot with her which is great for both of us cause we can communicate! I have also learned a lot from her. She is so sweet and very funny (even in ASL:)).

I highly suggest teaching your kids Sign Language cause it helps them communicate at a younger age and helps avoid tantrums cause you know what they want or why they are crying. Yeah for ASL!

Dinosaur Museum and Petting Zoo at Thanksgiving Point

2010-08-18T13:37:00.009-06:00

The water fountain thingy at Thanksgiving Point-So FUN! Brady's back is to the camera in the white shirt in the front.

Climbed into the chair by himself, he's so cute:) Slipping outof the chair 2 seconds after he got in.

He's so clever, hiding under the sign, and he thinks he's so funny, and he is:)

When Brady gets really excited, he "jumps" up and down really just squatting and popping up, not actually coming off the ground:) It's the cutest thing ever. He got really excited about feeding the goats when they licked the corn out of his little fingers.

This is our neighbor's daughter, Callie, she is Brady's "girlfriend" cause they look so cute together and they are the same age (just a few weeks apart). They even hug and kiss (after he pushes her). It's so cute:) Mama and Brady at the Dinosaur Museum! Free Pony Ride!! Brady LOVED it and held on all by himself!

"Rooaaaaaaarrrrr!!" Brady's little laugh in this picture is so cute!

Thanks Two Dollar Tuesday for making August at Thanksgiving Point affordable and FUN! Even though it was a ZOO, no pun intended, it was fun. I think Brady liked the petting zoo more than the museum! And I got to milk a cow, that was my first time! I wasn't very good at it:( But it was cool, in a way, but then I felt bad, cause it reminded me of when I was nursing, and if I was a COW I would hate someone pulling on my nipples the wrong way! Anyway it was a blast. Then we got 50 cent ice cream cones and played in the water sprinker/fountain thing which was a blast.

My Mission Book

2010-08-06T15:24:00.002-06:00

I finished my Mission Book!!! I am so excited to share it with you all, and since you all can't see it in person, please check it out by clicking on the following link! I am so excited about it! I did it on Heritage Makers, and it took me a while, cause I wanted to make sure I put everyone's names in and got all the dates right, so here it is: http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1202910&productId=9&projectSponsor=417109 I served my mission in Spain, Bilbao (which is actually not a mission anymore) from July 6th 2005-December 23, 2007. I'd love to hear your comments. Let me know if you wanna make a book too for any reason! It's so awesome!

Provo...Grand Canyon...Phoenix

2010-07-13T08:27:00.010-06:00

We went down to Phoenix so Robert could check out some dental schools, and because he knows I love Arizona. We had never been to the Grand Canyon and decided to add that into our trip. It was amazing. I love RED ROCK! This first picture you can tell was taken from inside the car, from the bug splats on the windshield:)

Robert got together with some mission friends, and we all had little boys about the same age, and they all stayed up way past their bed times having a ball together. Brady riding the donkey in the Grand Canyon lodge on the north rim.

Brady and Robert on the North Rim. Sorry about the foggy smudge, after taking all our pics, I realized there was a water spot on the lense. Sheesh.

The Potters

Brady and I

We ate at the restaurant at the lodge and Brady sat in a high chair as usual, hardly ate any of his grilled cheese sandwhich we ordered for him, and kept throwing food towards the table next to us. How can I get this kid to behave in public?? In church he throws his toys two rows ahead of us! We'll just have to get him into sports and suggest he be the pitcher or the quarterback!

Momma and Brady:)

It was such an amazing trip. As hot as it was in AZ, I loved being there on my old stomping grounds. It was fun to visit my mission companion Hermana Kurowski, of course that's not what she goes by now, but it was fun to catch up with her. It was also fun to meet Robert's mission friends, an get to know them. And who knows, maybe Robert will be going to school there next year!

My favorite part was going back to the Anasazi office where i worked in Mesa. I got to introduce Anasazi to Robert, and them to my new family. I haven't been back there since 2007 when I was young, skinny, and single with no prospects. I even got a chance to see some old friends' faces which was a total bonus.

For those of you who don't kow, Anasazi is a nonprofit wilderness therapy organization for troubled youth. Youth go there with various challenges, for 6 weeks and basically hike around in the desert. They learn how to survive using primitive living skills which in and of itself is very empowering. They learn how to make good choices or to "walk forward", and most importantly they learn of their individual worth, or as we call it, their "seeds of greatness".

Their parents are not off the hook, they participate too. They work with a therapist, write weekly letters to their child, attend the Arbinger Institute seminars, and read various books from the Arbinger Institute about how to change yourself, and love others etc. Anasazi helps families to heal their hearts and relationships and to walk forward by changing their old destructive habits.

I was not a troubled youth, but I learned more at Anasazi in the 5 months I was there, than at any other time in my entire life. It changed my life forever, my way of being and the way I look at and treat others. I only wish that Everyone could experience it. If you happen to run accross any of the Arbinger Institute material, read it, it will open your eyes. Two of their books, the latter written by C. Terry Warner, are: "Leadership and Slef-Deception", and "The Bonds that Make us Free".

To those of you whom I walked with on the Trail, worked for Anasazi, and to the desert I grew to love, you will have a special place in my heart forever. Thank you for changing my life.

Pots n pans

2010-06-02T11:48:00.002-06:00

This video is a few months old, but it's still funny enough to post. Brady is since walking all around, not crawling anymore like in this video. He is one active kid!

Quick learner at 16 months

2010-05-17T17:17:00.006-06:00

Brady has been learning so much lately and so fast I can't keep up with him. He recognizes tons of words, but can't say much yet, but is getting really good at mimicking sounds and trying to say words.

He can't say but knows these words: ball, turtle, dolphin, blanket, dinosaur, drink, book, basketball, balloon, octopus, baby, push, throw, come here, mama, dada; he can do "arms up", point to his nose and your nose; "open your mouth" and he opens it up wide; point to his tummy; "where's your tongue" and he sticks out his tongue; "get the ball" and he looks and gets his ball; get the basket ball and "put it in the basket"; cover his eyes; goes up and down stairs holding on to the railing; give kisses with a wide open mouth; gives hugs; he can jump; clap; growl when he sees animals; wave; give high fives; splash in the water; do motions for "Wheels on the Bus"; he has quite an arm and can throw the ball pretty hard; he can hold the phone up to his ear, and probably more that I can't keep up with. He is also getting in his two top molars which I didn't notice till they had already broke through. He is so much fun!

Some things we're working on are not throwing food; hitting-when he hits, I say "be nice" so now he thinks that that means to hit, so now I say "be careful", he seems to do better with that one; not turning on and off the tv or pushing the channel and volume buttons or taking out the media cables from the tv. Brady is such a smart kid and we have so much fun with him. It is amazing at this stage how much he is learning and absorbing. Yeah for Brady!

Wendy's baby belly

2010-05-04T11:36:00.002-06:00

Wendy isn't technically a Potter anymore, but she doesn't have a blog yet, and wants everyone to see her baby belly. This is at the St. George Temple on April 1st. She was about 18 weeks pregnant then and now about 22 weeks. They just found out it's a GIRL! I guess saying "Boy oh Boy" all the time won't assure you have a boy. Ha Ha:)

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-05-02T10:31:00.002-06:00

Brady's first Easter Egg Hunt at the Potter's! This video is mostly for Grama Dianne so she can see her grandkids! Yeah for Easter at Jeff and Dawna's. Thanks guys, you're the best!

Spring Break in California

2010-04-12T15:33:00.013-06:00

We went to Yorba Linda, CA in the LA/Anahiem area for the week to visit Robert's brother Jeff. Robert's sister Wendy and her husband came with us too. We drove their big Suburban loaded with all our fun stuff. We had so much fun swimming in the pool/hottub, playing sports, watching movies on Jeff's home theater, watching General Conference, Easter egg hunting, going out to eat and singing karaoke, horse back riding at sunset, and going to the beach. It was so fun we were exhausted every day!! We even had an earthquake-that was the total California experience. Enjoy these few pics of our trip:

On our way down we stopped in St. George and went to this sweet park with lots of Red Rocks to climb. It was beautiful.

Outlook of St. George, UT. You can see the temple in the back ground just to the right of Robert's elbow:) Robert and I went to the Newport Beach Temple. It was beautiful inside and out!

St. George Temple and the Potters

All the boys ready to go golfing. Jeff, Brady, Robert, Lance, Cade, and Cannon. Brady didn't really go golfing though.

Brady and Cannon getting burried in the sand at Newport Beach. The beach was a blast! We went boogie boarding, played football, croquet, boccie ball, etc. The ocean was so warm!

Brady in his sun hat eating sand:)

My First Book!!

2010-03-03T13:51:00.021-07:00

Yeah My first book! It was so fun to make for Brady! His own customized ABC book! Here you can see a few examples of some of the pages. (Sorry for the camera flash glare). So I guess this is the reason I haven't been blogging as much, cause I've been busy online making books and other projects through Heritage Makers.

I just started working as a Consultant for Heritage Makers too, which has been so fun! I work from home, go and do parties/workshops whenever I want and share my new hobby! It's the best of both worlds! I am also making a wedding canvas with a pic of the temple and some pics of us; a mission book (which I'm so excited about); a deck of cards; business cards; birthday cards etc all online with Heritage Makers! You should try it, it's GENIOUS! My new website is http://www.meganscreativecorner.info/. Check me out:) Let me know if you wanna make a book too!!

Adventures of Brady

2010-03-03T13:50:00.002-07:00

Here are a few pics of the last couple months of Brady's adventures. He is so cute, and funny. He makes me laugh every day, just like his dad. He is a master crawler-when someone sees him crawl, they say "dang! He is so fast!" But now...he is finally mastering the 'cruising' stage and teasing us with the few steps he will take on his own. He is SO close to walking. He can hold on to one of my hands, and walk all around the apartment, and even let go of something and stand still with out holding onto anything, or take a few steps. It's so fun to see him progressing. Enjoy his cute pics:

Paint and Poop

2010-02-22T09:51:00.003-07:00

This morning I woke up tired.....got Brady out of Bed....played with Brady....read my scriptures....and just as I picked up Brady to go get his bottle....something wet. Yes wet all over him and now me. Usually it would be poop, but it was Paint! He had tipped over a buket of paint and it had slowly leaked all over the carpet...and of course he was playing and sitting in it, so when I picked him up....it was paint. Aye yay yay! As I was cleaning him off (lukily the paint cleans off with water) I think I would it rather have been explosive poo than paint all over him. So as I'm cleaning him off...the I realize...he sort of stinks. Great, poop! Ok...no problem, just a poopy diaper right. As I procede to change his diaper he sticks his hands down there...getting poop all over his hands...and on whatever he touches. That's when I decided...well he's already naked (from stripping off his paint clothes)...time to let the bath do the rest of the work. So at 9am...before he or I even ate breakfast...he's in the bath. Then with all the dirty towels and clothes from paint, poop, and bathing, of course I decide to do a load of laundry. Sheesh I'm still tired. I need a shower, and a nap, and breakfast! Now the kid is hungry...So we eat breakfast...and he's throwing his food all over the floor (normal).

So I hope you don't say "ooh poor Megan"...cause that's not really what I'm getting at. I just want you to laugh at my rediculous morning, cause when these things happen, you just have to laugh. Then eat and sleep and shower and hope your husband comes home soon:) Even though you know the latter part won't happen very soon.

It's mornings like these that make me think, "why do i want to have any more kids?" Brady is great, but he's handful enough. Now you're all thinking..."yeah, she wouldn't be able to handle any more kids". And....you're probably right;)

And for any of you who are baby hungry...please come and babysit mine. He'll cure you.

Brady's first time Sledding

2010-01-26T09:05:00.004-07:00

We took Brady sledding for his first time over by the Mariott center on BYU campus. There was hardly any snow, but luckily we found some. Then later that day it snowed like 5 more inches:) We had lots of fun anyway! I think the one of me going off the jump is my favorite:) Brady didn't like going down with me cause I always scream. Good thing we got Brady a sled for his birthday! Enjoy!

Happy 1st Birthday Brady!

2010-01-06T20:39:00.005-07:00

Robert and Brady on his birthday after eating his Birthday cake:)

Brady's homemade birthday cake; this was the most complicated recipe I've ever made. It involved boiling carrots in apple juice concentrate and pureeing with craisins etc. Some of the other ingredients were...2 eggs and 4 egg whites, applesauce, apple juice concentrate, wheat germ, wheat flour, and pureed cream cheese, apple juice and craisins for the frosting and geletin. WOW. This cake probably took me 2 hours to make, it was crazy. But it was good, and healthy for Brady and he loved it. It was also his dinner:) Here is Brady eating his First Birthday cake:

For a last minute birthday party this one sure turned out good! Some of our friends came over to celebrate with us and brought a couple presents for Brady. We had a great time and thanks to all of you who came over on last minute notice. We are having a family Birthady party for Brady in Salt Lake City on Friday, which has been planned for a while. Brady is so popular he has to have two birthday parties! Happy First Birthday Brady!

Settlers of Catan

2010-01-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ok so we are addicted to the game Settlers of Catan. We must've played it 10 times over the Holidays. It is a family favorite, we just love it. Last year when I was on bed rest and Brady was in the hospital we must have played it about 10 times too.

The other day Robert and I played it, and we like to set it up different every time, just for fun. Robert won of course, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to play again and try to win, but instead after he won, I wanted to keep playing, so we played till we could build all our pieces, and he still won. He totally killed me, twice.

Anyway we need to get the expansion version so we can play with more than 4 people! But we are so cheap, we are waiting to find a good deal (cause we buy most of our games at second hand stores, we at least have to buy NEW games on sale).

So...if anyone wants to play...come on over! Or any game for that matter, we love to play games!

A visit from Phil

2010-01-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

Phillip came to visit us on New Years on his way back up to Rexburg from AZ. It is always so great to see him! We love talking about walking the Anasazi trail and girls (of his) and what not. I am so proud of Phillip for all the accomplishments in his life. He has served a mission in Russia, going to college at BYUI and majoring in Engineering, and served a long time at the Anasazi foundation (over a year) becoming a pro-trailwalker, then Sage walker then Wind walker then Rabbit Stick/Dawn Star Walker. Phillip always goes above and beond what I do. I loved Anasazi a lot, but I was only there for a summer..then got on with my life and always have wanted to go back. Anyway, Phil is awesome and becoming such a wonderful young man and quite a catch for some great girl..:) Love you Phil, come back and visit us soon!

Whatever it takes to make him laugh...

2009-12-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

The things that make Brady laugh are always random, but when he laughs, you gotta just keep doing whatever made him laugh, cause he doesn't laugh at much. Anyway I don't think I've ever heard him laugh this hard. Thanks for giving Brady the bowling set for Christmas Aunt Wendy:)

Homemade Stockings

2009-12-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about our first Christmas staying home with just our little family, and so I made stockings for us cause we didn't have any. This is also our first year getting a Christmas tree (it's fake, but it was free from our Neighbor:) Robert insisted that our stockings have our names on them, (so Santa knows), so I embroided them on with my limited skills:) Robert's has snowflakes on it; Brady's says "Jingle Bells" hence the bells on the toes; and mine is just different patterns. This was such a fun project for me and it felt great to accomplish somthing on the sewing machine!

Happy Hollidays

2009-12-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

Here is our Christmas card! We wish we could've sent one to everyone but we only had a few to send. So if you didn't get one here it is! Merry Christmas! We will be staying here in Provo at home for Christmas. It will be Brady's first Christmas. Robert's sister Wendy and her husband Lance will be visiting us for Christmas day and I will be cookin! I'm way excited. This is the first year we have gotten our own tree and everything. I'm excited to start our own family traditions. I'm especiallly excited to give gifts!! I have been loving all the Christmas movies on TV, making snowflakes:) and watching ELF. We will be getting together with our neighbors this week to have a Hot Chocolate party, make gingerbread men and make more snowflakes. Happy Hollidays!

Santa's Chair

2009-12-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Instead of actually waiting in the crazy lines to sit with Santa, we just like to get pictures in his chair when he's gone:) he he. I think this is has become a Christmas tradition. Me and Robert did it last year too:) Merry Christmas!

Crawling Brady Tornado

2009-11-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Before crawling = Brady sitting nicely playing with his toys;

everything contained on his play blanket.

Crawling....

Crawling = Brady tornado/disaster/constant mess

New Head Shakin Trick

2009-11-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Carving CHAMPION!

2009-11-02T22:11:00.001-07:00

Robert carved this pumkin for our ward contest, it was supposed to be a Turkey, but everyone thought it was a Penguin, prolly cause of the scarf. Anyway he won first place!! I'm so proud of my Papa Pavo:)

Ward Halloween Party-Worm eating contest!

2009-11-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Five Gummy Worms in chocolate/oreo pudding. The first one to find all five, pass them to thier partner and they have to eat them -WINS! There was so much pudding I couldn't keep track of how many worms I had in my mouth, especially after chewing them up and Robert was passing me two at a time! We almost got first place, but I guess we got second place by a hair!

The guys next to us...were just friends, the guy dressed as Shrek, his wife wouldn't do it with him, so his friend did, and obviously they didn't want to pass the worms from mouth to mouth, so he had to take them out of his mouth and give it to the other guy to eat, it was funny cause they were so sicked out by it, ha ha!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

For Halloween we dressed up as Brett Favre, Robert was a Packer, I was a Jet and Brady the Viking! It was Robert's idea and everyone loved it. But this little Viking has a lot of good years left in him and won't be retiring any time soon:) Robert was also very happy that Favre won against the Packers on Sunday at the Packers' Lambeau field. Robert also won the Pumpkin carving contest at our Ward party...I'll post a picture up soon of his pumpkin. Happy Halloween!!

Brady's Portraits 9 months

2009-10-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

We finally got professional pictures taken of Brady! It only took us 9 months! I sure wish I would've done it when he was younger too, but oh well. He is so cute with his two bottom teeth in too and now his top teeth are coming in! Pretty soon he's gonna be walkin and talkin- we're not that far off. Holy moly kids grow up fast.

Brady is crawling

2009-10-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

Brady crawled for the first time on Sunday October 18th! It was so exciting cause he's been working on it now for a few weeks! Now he is crawling all over and its time to Baby proof!

I LOVE being a MOM!

2009-10-13T13:04:00.000-06:00

Ok so all my life I have always heard mom's say "I Love being a mom", "Being a mom is the best!", "There is nothing better than motherhood." etc. So now I am a mom and sometimes people ask me how mother hood is. I am working on optimism but I also consider myself a 'realist' rather than pessimistic. I don't usually sugar coat things, I tell it like it is.

So what I usually say when asked this question is, "..Uh...It's good," and proceed to talk about the challenges of my new life as a stay-at-home-mom. You mom's probably know what challenges I'm talking about: changing diapers and feeding all day; milk stains on all your shirts; nothing fits unless you are fortunate enough to fit into your pre-preggie clothes; showers....maybe and if so never before noon; personal time...pretty slim; hobbies...they went from rock climbing and backpacking to sewing and bread making or anything you can do during nap time; sleep....you don't need an alarm clock anymore cause your kid(s) do a great job; dating...you're lucky if you can get a babysitter for a couple hours; sex....let's just say things have changed, especially your body; and your social life...mommy groups if your lucky.

Like I said I'm a realist right.

Ok so if I were better at optimism I'd say, "Being a mom is the best and most rewarding job on earth!" It's so exciting watching your kid(s) grow and learn and develop; there is nothing better than making them laugh; you get to dress them in such cute clothes (even though they end up with all sorts of bodily fluids on them); greeting them in the morning is the best cause you both actually miss each other; they are SO cute and you love them like crazy; you feel so great serving someone all day every day other than yourself...let's just say it helps keep you humble; and one day when the kid(s) are older and can verbally say how much they love you and how grateful they are for you...then... it will have been all worth it.

I'll keep trying to be more optimistic:)

My first time Canning!

2009-09-22T12:10:00.000-06:00

My mom got me all the Canning gear for my birthday, so I decided to work on my food storage. I started with 49 Utah peaches (0.47 cents/lb.). Not alot I know, but it's a start for my first time and I only had 12 pint jars.

Blanching the peaches 3 at a time:) Soaking in cold water after blanching

Pit, Peel, Cut and sitting in the Fruit Fresh water ready to be jarred. I got about 2 peaches in each jar (less than I estimated).

I got about 14 jars and two didn't seal quite right. I did it all by myself while Brady was taking a nap within 2-3 hours and all cleaned up by the time my husband got home from his job interview. It felt great and I made my mom so proud:) I just wish I could've done more peaches for all that work. Next year I'll get canning crazy! I can't wait!

"Millions of Peaches, Peaches for me." :) Member that song?

Last visit to Grandma Lucy's before we moved

2009-09-13T13:39:00.000-06:00

Brady riding the donkey at Grandma Lucy's

Four Generation picture (from left to right: Robert's Mom Dianne,

her mom Lucille, Robert, and Brady).

Me and Robert taking the same picture 2 years later

2 years earlier in the same spot on our 3rd date:)

Lake Roosevelt trip

2009-09-13T13:29:00.000-06:00

Robert and Brady's first time at Grand Coulee Dam.

We stopped at Dry Falls on the way home from Lake Roosevelt which is what would be even bigger than Niagra falls and the biggest in North America if it still had water running over it .

More pics of the Ward Campout at Lake Roosevelt. Me and Robert on the big tube behind the 'Party boat', I'm standing up "surfing" and Robert with no hands. This was so much fun!

Hold on to your life jacket!

2009-09-07T13:57:00.000-06:00

This is a video from our ward campout at Lake Roosevelt. We rode down the river like over an hour on Bro. Tree's party boat to these cliffs and everyone and their dog was throwing themselves off of it. I thought they were all crazy, at least I didn't wanna do it. I jumped off the little one to the left:) Robert got up there and got all the way on the ledge balancing by holding on to Taylor's hand:) He didn't think about hitting the water straight like a pencil, all he kept thinking was, "Just hold on to your life jacket!" But he did it and made the BIGGEST SPLASH! Good job Rob:)

Happy Valley??

2009-08-25T00:22:00.000-06:00

Well Friends, We are in UTAH. I can't believe i live in Utah now. We found a nice big condo for a pretty good price and are getting settled. We seem to have nice neighbors; we are only about a mile or two from BYU campus; and we have a pool, tennis court, racket ball court, sauna, hot tub, playground, work out room, kids play room, pool table etc. This is gonna be a great place to live. Next step: GET A JOB!! Robert will be taking some night classes and reapply for Dental School in the spring, and work during the day. Unless I can get a better job than him, in that case I may be the bread winner for now so he can play with Brady all day and study for his classes. It's a race. Whoever can get a better job first gets to work:) Anyway life is good and there are a number of reasons why we are excited to live in Utah. Friends, Family and Mountains:) We already miss our friends in Yakima, but we will for sure be back to visit. Ok friends, that's why we haven't updated our blog for a while, and we are working on getting set up with the internet at our place, so till next time....

Toe suckin

2009-07-29T13:30:00.000-06:00

First time eating cereal

2009-07-14T14:00:00.000-06:00

Before cereal...all clean

After cereal...time for a bath:)

Scooters

2009-07-06T16:55:00.000-06:00

Our awesome friends, Saimi and Ken, in our ward let us take out their scooters for the day and they watched Brady! It was the funest date we have had in a long time. We went to the Museum, Applebees, went shopping, got snow cones, and took lots of pictures. It was a blast!! We are totally getting scooters when we grow up:)

35 MPH Max!

Meg looks pretty cute on her scooter!

We got Snow Cones -YUM!!

Robert went through the Car Wash! OK he didn't really get wet:)

Share the Road with us little Scooter guys:)

We went to the Yakima Valley Museum that I've always wanted to go to!

Swimmin!

2009-07-01T16:19:00.001-06:00

Brady loves swimmin!

Brady has been swimmin like 5 times and he'll be 6 months on July 5th (adjusted age=4 months).

My favorite is that you can barely see Brady's feet kickin' in the water below the floatie turtle:)

Recycling

2009-06-18T15:54:00.000-06:00

So I got really motivated and started recycling this last month. I even went to talk to our apartment managers and ask if they wanted to get the whole complex to start recycing. I basically got a "yeah right, no way" response. That's ok, cause you can only change the world one person at a time starting with yourself (someone once taught me that). So, I went to "cash in" my recycled goods today and it felt great not only to get rid of the three boxes on my deck of cans/cardboard/milk jugs but to 'do my part' to help keep the world a little cleaner and the landfills a little smaller:) I got one cent for every milk jug (I had 11) and about 10 cents for the cans I had. It took all of 2 minutes to drop everything off. And I got a woppin $0.21 cents!! When I first brought my recycling in the guy asked me if I just wanted to drop it off or weigh it. Weighing it means, get paid for what ever it's worth. Of course I wanted to see how much it'd be worth, even though thats not the point or my purpose in recycling. Really twenty one cents doesn't change my life, and I probably won't even cash in next time. I'll just let them keep their twenty one cents and hope that they will pay thier workers more for working in such a stinky place (literally) or put it towards this good cause. So if you don't recycle and want to "go green" in your own way, just put your cans, milk jugs, paper, and cardboard aside instead of throwing them away! Even if your husband doesn't like it, it will feel great! :) Yeah for Recycling!!

Random pictures of Brady lately

2009-06-03T15:13:00.000-06:00

Brady is holding onto BOTH remotes for the TV! Ha ha. Don't encourage him Robert!

Hot enough to be naked! he's getting really good with his feet and kicking, but no grabbing quite yet.

One day I put Brady down and realized he was watching the TV!! Aaaaahhhh!!!!

Robert thought this was pretty funny. His glow worm somehow got perfectly wedged between his nose and the edge of his crib; but that didn't phase Brady. Brady is the Cutest.

Waiting patiently for his milk.

Sucking on his fingers always does the trick:)

When Brady first started to suck his thumb. Now it won't do, he has to suck on at least 2-3 fingers at once:)

We discovered this park with a Labrynth! We made it to the middle!

My boys taking a Sunday snooze. Robert loves to nap with Brady. They are both zonked out.

His favorite doggy. It plays music and helps him get to sleep. Baby's best friend. Notice also that Robert put a diaper on the dog too.

Robert likes to take pictures of Brady holding things or in things. Notice it's on his right or 'wrong' hand:) By the way this was at least a month ago.

I don't wanna waste my life.

2009-05-18T12:53:00.001-06:00

I was jogging the other day it was a beaufiful sunny evening and i was listening to a song by Counting Crows and all of a sudden i realized the lyrics said, "You don't wanna, you don't wanna, you don't wanna waste your life, Change! Change! Change!" It was like an awakening meditative moment where life gives you a piece of advice you had forgotten about, but it's simple. So I thought maybe I could share this awakening advice with you all. Don't waste your life, change. The song is on the August and Everything After album called "A Murder of One". PS. Counting Crows has been my favorite band since i can remember ever listening to music (like 10 years old). My favorite song was "Round Here". I guess I haven't changed much:) But in other areas I need to make some changes:) -Megan

Moving

2009-05-12T12:48:00.000-06:00

We're moving to Provo in August! Robert is going to continue working as a Dental Assistant and take a few night classes. If you know of any good 2 bd. places we can rent please let us know. Or duplex. And if you know of good dentist's that are hiring Assistants, PLEASE let us know. Thanks much. For all those in Utah, we are so excited to be closer to you now and play with you! For all those in Washington, we are sad to leave and will miss you (but we'll be back eventually).

Brady's Smile

2009-05-01T21:51:00.001-06:00

So Brady has been smiling now for about a month and its so dang cute, but hard to catch on camera. It seems like he knows when we get the camera out to capture his smile and then turns the smiles off, so this is what we've managed to get so far. But none of them quite do justice to his best smiles.

IT'S OFFICIAL-I'M A POTTER

2009-04-27T15:05:00.001-06:00

This is the Potter Ladder. I have been climbing it since Robert and I got married. Every time I do something "Potter-ish", Robert moves me up a rung. It has taken me a year. You can see the dates on the left each time I moved up and this is the completed ladder. It took me a while to climb the last couple rungs. But what did it you ask? Well, Robert said, the fact that I actually gave birth to a Potter and lived with one for a whole year:) Some other reasons that I moved up were reasons such as; telling Robert that we need more games; getting better at playing and beating him at Settlers of Catan; and many more "Potter-ish" things. So for our anniversary (March 15th), Brady's birth, and my birthday(March 21), Robert made me this shirt. He took a picture of me a while ago climbing on some basalt columns and later used the picture and cropped me out and put me on this t-shirt climbing the ladder. It's green cause thats the color my shirt is in the picture and my favorite color. And I thought it only appropriate to take the picture in front of Robert's game collection. He is such a Potter.

And I am glad to announce that now I AM TOO! I'M A POTTER!! :) Yeah!!! Now................. Brady has a Potter ladder......

You are never too Young to Enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-17T16:58:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday night while my brother Phil was visiting we dyed easter eggs just like we did when we were kids. I hid them really well around our apartment complex, and my husband, brother, and our friend Laura hunted for them. There were 32 eggs, and after about 30 minutes of endless hunting and going over where they had already looked they had only found about 27 eggs. I had to walk around and give them hints cause they couldn't find them all. And Robert had been bragging about how he was going to hide them SOOOO good. So the challenge was on for me to be creative since I was going to hide the eggs. Anyway, we eventually found all of them with quite a bit of hinting by me, but in the end it was so much fun!!!! The hiding, being sneaky, dying the eggs, pretty colors, fake eggs with candy (if you go that way), the excitement, the running around, the race, the cleverness, and the glory of finding the most eggs or the prize egg!!I don't think we have done an easter egg hunt since we were young. So from here on out....its EASTER EGG HUNTS FOR EVERYONE EVERY YEAR! Yeah!

2009-04-15T17:41:00.000-06:00

Brady was crying cause he was hungry so I picked him up then set him on the couch for a sec while I got a bottle ready and he fell asleep and he was out for like 15 more min. It was so funny, cause he just fell asleep in a random position and forgot he was hungry. This kid cracks us up.

My brother Phil came to visit after finishing work at Anasazi. His first time meeting Brady! It was good to see him and get a dose of Anasazi. But his Jeep broke down and he stayed a couple extra days so we got more time with him! :)

My first time calling 911

2009-04-15T17:03:00.000-06:00

It was about 5:30 in the afternoon and Robert had just left to go to the Stake Center to watch Priesthood session. It was one of the few nice spring days and I wanted to take Brady on a walk. I stepped outside to check the weather and naturally shut the door behind me and it was locked. Brady was inside sleeping in his crib and had started fussing and I figured he would wake up hungry soon. I had no phone or keys, and was only wearing shorts/t-shirt/sandals! I ran to the managers house just accross the parking lot and after ringing his doorbell 5 times realized he wasn't home. I ran to the apartments' office and of course I knew no one would be there on Saturday. I ran back to the managers, and still no one answered. I didn't know what to do. There was a guy in the parking lot with lawn-care tools in his truck and I asked him if he was one of the mainetenance guys and he said no he was just helping his mother-in-law move some stuff. I asked if I could use his phone and explained that I was locked out and my baby was inside. So I called Robert...no answer. But I hung up and didn't leave a message cause the guy was getting another call. After that I sent Robert a text that said "It's meg, I'm locked out and Brady is inside." We waited for Robert to respond or call back but he never did. Then this guy said he was headed to Selah where the Stake Center is and said he'd go find Robert and tell him to come home. So he left after I explained to him where the church was and just to go inside and ask someone if they knew Robert Potter. So then I went and knocked on my other neighbors door...I called 911. We also found an emergency number for the manager of our apartments and got ahold of him who called another maintenance guy who had a key to come over-and he just lived 5 blocks away. A police officer showed up about 2 minutes later, but all he could do was 'bust open' the door. So we waited on that option. Then Robert showed up!!!!! Rescued!!! By now I could hear Brady crying through the door and I ran inside and picked him up. It turns out that the guy who originally helped me who went to Selah to find Robert, went into the church and Robert was sitting right there in the foyer and was the first one he talked to. He said "do you know Mark Potter?" and Robert said, "no, but there's lots of guys in the chapel". Then the guy explained what happened and Robert said, "my name is Robert Potter?" and the guy said "maybe...do you live in the Lake Aspen apartments??" and he said "YES" and the guy said "Well it's probably YOU!!" So Robert ran home. It turns out Robert never got the text message I sent him and would've listened to the message had I left one but I didn't. I was only locked out for about 30 minutes, but with a little baby thats pretty scarey. Robert only got to listen to about an hour of conference (sorry rob). But what a blessing to that guy in the parking lot who let me use his cell phone and offered to go find my husband. And what a miracle that Robert happened to be in the foyer and the first guy he talked to. So the moral of the story is, don't lock yourself out. If you do, have a spare key somewhere. You can't climb in the window if you live on the 3rd floor unless you have a ladder. The police are useless except for breaking down the door. And make sure you know how to get ahold of your manager even on the weekend. Even better, make sure you have a prayer in your heart and your husband is at Priesthood session so the Lord will bless you as he did me.

family fun

2009-04-07T15:32:00.000-06:00

2009-04-06T20:17:00.000-06:00

My parents with Brady on his blessing day. What a big day it was for him. We changed him into his outfit right before church waking him up from his nap. He took a nap at church, I fed him there, then changed him out of his blessing outfit cause his diaper leaked...but we still hadn't gotten any "blessing" pics so....once again later woke him up while sleeping to get him back into 'the outfit'. He had a long day. That night was the first time he slept through the night, 6 hours at least!!

Brady's Blessing Day

2009-04-06T15:10:00.000-06:00

This is our little family after Brady's blessing at the lunch we had with our family. Grama made Brady's outfit which was so handsome but a bugger to get on and off. What a special day and we were so happy our families came.

Stick Figure Family

2009-04-06T14:38:00.001-06:00

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com