Random Update

Ok, so I 've been really bad on the posting pictures thing. Mainly because we haven't done anything fun or particularly exciting, FOR REAL! So here are a few pics of our summer activites.

1st up is our 4th of July

The guys love playing basketball baseball. Here they are in action. Branson is up to bat.

James hitting a good grounder.
My nephew Kevin coming to steal my water from me.
When Branden and I were 1st dating he was 3. Everyone was surprised when he crawled up on my lap and wouldn't leave my side. Later, Branden asked him who he was sitting with, and he said "My girlfriend"
He is such a fun boy soon to be a guy. He's 14 now!
Here is some of the girls and kids watching the boys play. Left to right: Joe, Brock, Tori, Aaron, Kenna, Autumn, Emma, Denise, Izzy, Mariesa, Alyssa and Bridget.
Here is Bran in the outfield with Resbusha the cow.
Clay up to bat. Also, Branden and Criag waithing for their turn and Paul is pitching.

Cary, Emma nd Katlynn waiting with excitiment to see "High School the musical" at Gammage.

Shauna, Me and Denise. It's been a rough few months for Denise. She found out a few months ago that she has a cancer in her leg around her knee area. They know it's Cancer but they are unsure exactly what kind. She's had to go through getting her bone marrow tested which is very painful. She also had a full body scan but there is no word on the results yet. She just started Chemo this week. She's a tough girl and but we are all praying lots and lots for her!

So here is Brock, being MOODY. He's been that way a lot lately. We think it's because he has a lot to say but no way to get it out. Most likely he has a desire to tell us whats what! But, he hasn't even said "Mama" or " Dada" yet. Crazy boy.

On Sunday he decided he wanted to go up onto the stand and see the Bishop and his councilors. I caught him right before he ran up the stairs. Of course as soon as I picked him up, he threw himself back and screamed at the top of his lungs! I couldn't go out the side door that was right by me because it's the stake offices, so I had to carry him to the side main doors, with him screaming and flailing his arms and legs all the way.

So fun!

There is a reason why we call him "Trouble" He is just crazy and full of this rough and tough attitude. Except when he's hungry, then he crys and crys and crys. He wants to eat every hour it seems.

Speaking of eating. In May we had an awesome enrichment night called the "Bread of life" Chef Brad Peterson came and taugh us how to make homemade bread. He also talked with us the importance of being able to know how to make bread, and how it really can bring a family together. He also promised us that if we would cook int he kitchen with our husbands, that our marraiges would be strengthened. Well, Bran and I do cook together, but we've never baked.

So anyways, I am scared of using yeast, ( had a tramatic excperience in the past when attemptin cinnimon rolls.)

But after learning at enrichment night and feeling the truth that was behind what chef Brad said, I was determined to make bread, that was not only edible but really good!

Come to find out, Branden worked with Chef Brad at a place called Stradlings that sold cooking supplies, bread and they also did classes when he was in high school.

And come to think of it, Branden has bragged a few times since I've known him that he could make bread, yet he never proved it. So here was his chance and this is our 1st loaf of bread that we made together. And it was edible and very very YUM-O!!!

Hey, Ya you!

Shell,
Ok, I gotcha back on my list. I just high jacked your blog name from Britt's blog. I hope camping was great for you and you're doing super. You guys need to come down and visit! We'd love it!
Lot's of love

Hey Trishers, how are you doing! You guys should come visit too! So fun it would be!! So do you know for sure it's a girl or are you going to be surprised? I'm way excited. I tell everyone who knows you! Ok, that's not a ton on my end. But Mariesa thought it was very cool!
Love you!

To the rest of you wonderfuls...... I love you all!!!!

SHELL!!!!!!

I accidently deleted you off my list! Could you email me your blog address again? Thank you:D

Love you!

I was told

So I was told by my mother that I needed to update. Unfortunately there is nothing exciting to update about. Just a lot of stress that no one wants to hear about. So lets count blessings shall we?!
1. Branden and I have started to make homemade bread together. About 1x a week. So funny and Yum-o!
2. The rental house we have moved into has a community pool. A great option when you have kids who are already asking after 2 weeks of summer, " When can we go back to school?"
3. It only takes me 2 good productive hours to get my house clean enough that I'm happy.
4. I get to spend lots of time with my hubby everyday. Downside. There's no drive for datenight when your with eachother all the time.
5. Only about 6 more weeks till the 4th book of the Twilight series comes out!!!!! YEAH!!!!
6. I love my primary calling (primary secretary) and the girls I serve with.
7. My birthday is on Friday! I love my birthday most years.
8. Branden has found a love for cooking. I love it because he's good and when he wants to cook, I don't have to!
9. I love love love my ward. I just really pray that we get to stay in it!!!! You all help me pray for this too would you!
10. We are all safe, healthy (for the most part) and despite all the CRAP...... a happy family. I am definatley most grateful for that. Unhappy family can make things 1,000 times worse!

So, there it is. When I feel up to it. I'll get some updated pics posted and a fun video of our new little temp rental house.

LOVE MANDI

Where are we now?????

So, we finally moved. And just a note for all you..... MOVING TOTALLY BITES!!!! And I don't mean in the way that Edward Cullun does.

But we're hear and settled for the most part.

There's a communtiy pool which is nice.

Our phone number is the same for those of you who would like that updated info.

So, Branson asked me last night when it would be time to go back to school!! Holy Cow kido it's only been a week and a half and you're already done with summer vacation???!!!! Ok, well I'm almost spent too honestly. It's difficult to find something for 3 very active boys to do all day when there's really no "budget" for unlimited fun possibilites. Free is good so tomarrow I think I'll be taking them to the library. They really want to do the Summer reading program. And in the 1st week of July I'll be going to UTAH. So fun! And Shell. What's your schedule the last week of June? Maybe I'll come early and visit with you and your family and Sara. That would be fun.

Well, I love you all. Send me lots of prayers for Bran and that he can get consistant work in doing what he loves. It's been way to inconsistant and it's very overwhelming!!!! I appreciate all the happy thoughts my way.

Stalker!!!

Ok, so instead of packing, I've been blog stalking! But I've found 2 friends! Yeah!!! I have found Mandy and Stephanie! I get so excited when I can reconnect with people who I adore! I hate that life is so busy for all of us, that we lose track of each other! Now with just a little time and a mouse click away, you can find all your favorite people. And thanks to blog stalking, my cousin Jenny found me! Is it sad that I sound like an infomercial and that something like this just really made my day? I know you're asking yourself, " But what's better than packing with no plan of where you're moving too!!!" I know!!! But let's call my excitement "friend appreciation!" And I want you to know that I appreciate you! All of you! Stalking may make me look crazy, but you're all worth it! ;P

Love, Mandi

update

Hi girls! I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive, but barely! We are supposed to move out this weekend, but we haven't been able to find a short term rental. There's a house we're wanting to put an offer on. It's so Us! It looks like we might have to put our stuff in storage and live in a hotel for a month., which sucks!!! I don't like all this uncertaintyof are we or arn't we.... and not being settled. It's very..... Unsettling. :P Anyways. I'm off to do more packing.
LOVE YOU ALL!

PS: New pet peive. People who put "month to month short term rental for only $850 a month" but when you call them, they tell you it's that price if you sign a 10 month lease. (which is not short term or month to month!!!) Month to month for real is $1450!!!!

Hello Jerks! Thanks for getting my hopes up for nothing.

Warrior Princess!!!

I did it! I finished the Hinckley Challange. I am now a Warrior!, says the printable certificate that pops up when you hit the "Done" link.

I was way behind too there for a bit. Almost a 100 pages. But I did it and I feel....... Good.

I have issues with goals and this is the second time I've taken a "Read the book of Mormon all the way through" challange and I loved it this time around. I totally understood it more. I got how people were connected and I was able to keep up with who was writting and exactly what and who they were writting about.

And do you know what?

I've discovered that I really love reading my scriptures!

When I don't read, I miss them. So, now that the challange is over, I'm going to strive to get a little bit of time in every day to read.

Who's up for reading the Bible all the way through?!! :P

NOTE

Please note the fabulous window covering in my video. They are fantastic and really add to the ambiance of the room, wouldn't you say. We like to improvise and thank goodness because we've been doing a lot of it lately! ;P

HELLO!!!!!

Hey you girls! Where are all your updates? Where's my update you ask? Right here. This is a little clip of my Brockers being great and unloading the dish washer for me. He did about 75% of it before he ran out of room on the counters and got distracted. Next I'll do a walk through of our home that we're forclosing on :( Sad I know but, such is life sometimes and we're ok so no worries!

HI!!!!

So first and most importantly, Here I AM!!! :P

In my "Are you Army Strong?" T shirt. It's not very cute but it's comfy for packing.

Do you like my "not washed in 3 days" hair?

Update. I am now watching my niece Izzy. She's fun. However the 1st day was a nightmare. She "yelled" and pitched a fit for 3 hours. But after her nap, it was very enjoyable. And she's been doing great ever since. Today I had all the girls. Taty, Lyssa, Autumn and Izzy because there was no school. I'll get a cute group pic of them and post it later......(promises promises)

House stuff is dead in the water right now. We haven't decided on a rental, or packed and our auction date was last Saturday. For some reason Bran and I aren't in a complete mad dash, so we're just kind of doing the "let go and let God" sort of thing? We're seeing where the wind takes us I guess.

Brans been doing more work in Mexico unfortunately it's not enough for a paycheck (very technical) but, his specs in Mesa are going good, and besides the worry that they probably won't sell right now, if we could just get our draw from the bank; our stress level would drop a bit. Every time they delay a draw, Bran gets really antsy. He's worried that they will drop funding because of the market. And a bit ornery too.

I think thats it for now. Although, I'm hoping for a cat nap later:D

The pic that got deleted.

You're probably wondering "why this random pic.?"

Keep reading, you'll find out!

Dang Difficult Blog STUFF!!!!!!

Where the heck is the UNDO button!!!!

Whats up with the boys.

So here's a run down of March till now all in "photo journal" format :P

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!! HUNGRY???

This is what all the kids insisted on having for St. Patrick's Day. Green Eggs and Ham. The eggs look like the chicken were raised on radio active ground and we also put green food coloring in the brown sugar glaze that looked like baby poop. The potato's don't look too bad. Kinda like they were colored with a green marker. YUM O!!!

B A S E B A L L

JP and Beau sit'n in a tree............

This is the boys on opening day. It was a crazy! James had team pics at 9:45am, Branson at 11:30am. And in between we just hung out. Then at 1:30pm they had the Opening program, at 2pm was James 1st game and at 4pm was Branson's. We were so warn out by the time the day was over!!! And I ended up sunburned even thought I SPF 50'ed myself.

DANCE DANCE JAM

The boys rock'n out and shake'n in the family room. James tends to be drawn to shaking his butt, but Branson has some pretty good moves when no one is watching him.

And last but not least, MR. TROUBLE
Also known as Lion, Garbage pail kid, and my favorite (what Bran calls him)....
Hombre.
Here he is.......
SWEEPING
Brock loves brooms. He was always stealing mine so I bought him one of the dust devil play ones soon after this pic. If you try and take it away, he screams bloody murder! It's hilarious! I really want to get him the mop and vacuum too.

SLEEPING

There was a pic here but it got deleted by mistake and you all know how it goes....... I wasn't about to erase all that you've seen before this. How in the heck can you insert pics where you want! AHHHHH! So yes, this is the place where Brock sleeping standing up goes.

EATING

Brock LOVES tomato's! (just like his mommy)

Here he is eating one like an apple. (just like his mommy)

A promise forfilled

I just realized that I never finished my tag thing that I promised to continue like 2 weeks ago. Sorry all, everything right now is like bumper to bumper traffic. I need to make a list in order of priority and just go down it one thing at a time. But until I do that, here is the rest of my info from being tagged.

Snacks I enjoy:
1.I love love love Junior mints!!!! I can't live without them at the moment. I have to have a very large box in the house at all times. It's the one treat that I can have a few and be completely happy. I love to have them close when I'm reading my Twilight books.
I also love:
2.rice crispy treats
3. candy corn
4. licorice
5. sweet and salty chex mix, beef jerky, original and ranch corn nuts mixed together, strawberries, grapes, string cheese, green apples with motzarella cheese ( I got this one from Oprah) and ....... dark chocolate.

5 Things to Do On My List Today:
Well, there is a ton of things but I'll list the 5 (if I can) off the top of my head.
1. Start packing
2. Boys laundry and put clean laundry away
3. work out
4. shop for random things like, victoria secret bras (they have 2 for $40 and $44 right now) and their boyfriend sweatpants that I love, blingy flip flops, a straightener and new blowdryer ( I picked one of each up yesterday at Ulta but I don't love'm so I need to go exchange) cloths for Branden, shoes for me ( I don't need any persay but there are a ton I would love to buy), and Bath and Body's Honeysuckle lotion.... LOVE IT! And I love their cinnamint gloss too.
5. Make out with Bran. ............. I bet you're super glad you asked now!!!!

5 Things I would do with a billion dollars:
Bran and I were just talking about this last night.
1.We would buy some land. I'm thinking 3 acres here and 5 in Flagstaff. Build a comfy house and a cozy cabin. And a cute beach house in Mexico where Bran has his fun projects going.
2.I would love to do horse back riding lessons and have a horse and a lifted blue tahoe with a sunroof and would be able to do all the things that need to be done in a very short amount of time for my bead bracelets.
3.Put money away for missions, collage and schooling and then do all I can to help others. Sponser scholorships, missions, and such.
4.Also it would be awesome to randomely give someone a new car fully paid for with a loaded gas card, like a struggling single mom or a family who doesn't have a car because they can't afford one. The thing is there are a lot of things I'd like to splurg on but their not very lavish. The giving would be the funnest part. I love giving now, I just want to be able to give even more to help others along.
Make a diffrence and change the world.
5. Invest in Brans building and schooling dreams.

5 Bad Habits:
1. I sometimes interupt others when their talking.
2. I sometimes say things the wrong way ( But always know, if you thinking "how did she mean that? The possitive way or the other?" It's always the possitive way I promise you!!!! I don't like to make others feel sad or upset at all.)
3. I'm a picker. Bran always has to tell me to stop scratching the little bump on his arm or to stop picking at my face. I feel a bump and it has to go. NOT GOOD!!!
4. I over do it when working out and end up hurting myself which means I loose my groove. My most recent injury is shin splints. I was trying to be productive and run sprints. My shins didn't hurt when I walked by when I would run and my feet would hit the pavement.... OUCH!!! Like a pencil being jabbed right up my leg. So now, I can't even attempt to run with out pain.
5. I have a plan and I see point A and I know I want to get to B but how??? The baby steps trip me up a bit. I get overwhelmed by them. Does that make sence?

5 Places I have lived:
1.Mesa, Az
2.Las Vegas, Nv
3.Queen Creek, AZ
4.Gilbert, Az
5.And more AZ............ Wow exciting!!!! I have to say, I don't love Vegas but there are some of my most favorite people on the planet there! I love love love my Vegas Family.

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. Secretary for Sterling Spencer at Blue Ribbon Dental
2. Junior and misses Dept at Sears
3. Sales girl of Geppeddo dolls
4. worked at a flower shop for a week. ( they wanted me to do computer entry but I wasn't digg'n that. I wanted to work with the pretty flowers)
5. Nanny

5 Things people don't know about me:
Hahahha. This is funny because of my habit of loving to chat and share share share, most people know lots about me, and maybe more than they want to know. Let's see if I can think of some new things.
1. I love listening to new talk radio. Especially Glenn Beck and Mac on 92.3. I feel informed and sound smart when I pay attention to all the "issues"
GLENN BECK FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
2. I'm not a registered voter..... Boring I know!
3. I never could do a "real" push up till this last year, thanks to boot camp. I can't touch my nose to the floor mind you but I can go half way and do more than 1!!! Hey, it may not seem big but I'm proud of me! Again... BORING
4. I won't buy character clothing or shoes for my babies, like whinnie the pooh clothes, or thomas the train shoes, and such. I just don't dig the idea of it at all. It's only fun when they get older and know what they really like.
5. My favorite color is Green??? Did ya all know that???

Ok so this is me forfilling my previous 2 week old promise. Now let's see if I can get the other ones fullfilled soon enough for Shell who really wants pics.
I bet all of you prefer pics over my blabbing.
Love you all!!!

I walked barefoot

I went to confrence this weekend thanks to my great sister in law Shauna who had extra tickets to Saturday afternoon's session. It was beautiful and the spirit was ...... well, I was on the edge of very happy and greatful tears while sitting in the confrence center just before the session started. It was so cold that my calves cramped up on me, so I took off my shoes and walked barefoot. Funny enought, my feet were actually warmer on the pavement then in my wedges. I have some fun pics but my camera was left in Shaunas Tahoe. I'll get them posted soon........hopefully.
Lots of Love!!!!

Officially unofficial

I just wanted to update you on whats up with me this week. Life has been truly CRAZY!!! If it gets any more crazy I think I'll have a nervous breakdown.... maybe. Ok, probably not.
So here's the scoop. Last week our acre was stolen out from under us buy some evil people who outbid us!!! I had a melt down and cried for 2 days. In my head, we were already living there in our happy new house and everything was great! So the people aren't evil but it makes me feel better to say so. So now we're on the hunt for a new lot, which we found but we had to change our floor plan which is not an easy task. Bran and I are both very particular. So after much debate we've found another that we both love. Now the hard part. Getting a lot. We found some in our neighborhood that the builder is literally dumping. But come to find out, he has decided to sign the lots over to people he owes money to. CRAP!!!!! Mr. Brady the sales guy is going to see if he can work a deal for one of the lots before they all get signed away. Why is this so important you ask? Well we absolutely love love love our ward! We don't want to leave. We are fighting to stay, but it looks like this will be our last option to stay. We'll see how this goes over the next 2 days and for the kicker...(update: we'll be signing a purchase contract on Tuesday! Send prayers)
Baby #4 is officially unofficial. This should teach me a lesson of letting the cat out of the bag too early on. And I think the name "miscarriage" is crappy. It should be called something different. Amber suggests "misconception". Branden says it should be "to be continued...." But knowledge is truly power. When talking to my mom about it, she said "Did you have a good cry in the shower?""No" I told her. " I'm sad but my body knows what it's doing." Although I feel really off. It's weird. So, after I get the low down from my doctor, we'll be trying again. After all "trying" is lots of fun and free therapy for whatever ails ya!!!! So here's craziness and to trying again!!!

Another tag!

I ramble too much and don't have enought pics. I'm slacking and I hope you all forgive me. I will add some new pics soon.
But to fill the void, here is my responce to being tagged.

10 years ago..................
Well I was 17, living Mesa with my Grams and Gramps, but soon to go back to Vegas because Branden unexpectedly comes home from the MTC. ( I freak because I'm unsure how my Dad will react and Branden uses the word "married" enough that I break up with him because "Come on! I'm still in High School and only 17!") Yikes! I feel a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it. That was stressful. We must have been preordained because holy cow did we have a roller coaster ride of a courtship and beginning of a marraige. Good thing we love roller coasters!
But my year of being 17 I also made some IRREPLACEABLE FRIENDS in Vegas. I hated it there but these amazing people came in and made it very worth it!!! They saved me from my misserable self! Thank you Michelle, Eddie, Ryan, Sara, and Urry family. There was also Roger and Kerry, Kristen, Sara's perfect sister Rachel, Jason, Johnathan, and Boonie, Matt, and Charlie. There was also the great Vegas 1st ward, the Demarco's and the elders helped make life interesting. My mom loved to have them over. There was Elder Sanders, Martin, Blankenship, Ellis, Ello Ello, (I'm pretty sure I just butchered his name) and a crazy elder who was always going A-wall. I'm sure I haven't named everyone, but they were all and still are very special to me.
I'll post another question in a few days. I need to go make dinner.
Love Mandi

This is for the Gibbens!

I thought you guys might enjoy these pics. I took these at the home of a friend of my Grandpa Allen's. This huge "game" room was filled wall to wall. This is one of 4. I figure you guys might have a room like this someday. It was truely amazing. Like a museum. When can you get up close and personal with any of these types of animals with out getting eaten!
GRRRR. Scary! This one is my favorite.

The kids loved the elephant. There were also stools made from the elephants feet. I guess the meat from a lot of these animals was given to the locals for their food supply. I thought that was nice considering.
And the best ever......


"You wanna pet my monkey?!"
This one has been blow'n up to an 8x10 and framed with this quote. It is passed every Christmas as a rotating white elephant gift among Branden's family. It honestly was the best white elephant gift we've ever done!

Sausages!!!!

Having a bad day??? We're having a bit of a rough week so we thought we would share some laughter. Just in case Bran's monkey didn't make you laugh....... maybe this will. It makes Branden hysterical. And although we don't drink, Budweiser has the funniest commercials. I am partial to the lizards and miss them. They were hilarious!!!

Unofficial Announcment

Unoffical just means I haven't been to the doctor yet, but I'm pretty sure 2 home pregnancy tests don't lie. So, here we go again! Baby #4!

I'm suspecting I'll be due around Nov/Dec. Who knows for sure. With Brock, even thought my date of my last cycle was right, the guestimation date (which the nurse did) was 3weeks off! I had to do a "special" ultra sound because the doc couldn't get a heart beat. But there he was.... A little gummy bear. I must have ovulated late or something.

We are really excited. Branden said 2 nights ago... "you know it's another boy right?"
Then last night he asked if I would be disappointed and sad if it was a boy.
I said, "NO! I love my boys." I'm more worried about naming him if it is a boy honestly.

Branden and I had an extremely hard time finding names we agreed on with Brock and to make sure we didn't fuss over it too much, Branden made us name him right after he was born. I said, "Ok Honey, he's here. You go home and rest and I'll see you in the morning."
He said, " I'm not leaving till we name him."
CRAP!!! I wanted bonding and meditation time 1st but he was having none of it. So he chose his favorite name that I didn't veto and I chose mine. Brock Ryan it was and a week later I wanted to change his name. Try saying "Brock" a bunch of times in a row. You suddenly turn into a chicken. But the name works for him.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I need a girl!!!! :P Ok, maybe "need" isn't the word but we would love a little Turley girl! Or 2 or 3!

If I could plan it just right. I would want this one to be a girl. Then I would need 2 more girls and another boy somewhere in there. That feels right to me. I really want to use my girls names. There are 3 of them and there our absolute favorite names!

Although, with the 1st 3 boys, finishing off with 3 girls would be cute.
James Philip, Branson Theodore, Brock Ryan, Tessa Nichole, Melody Faye, Jessica Louise. And maybe finish it off little Matthew Kent? Awwwww! So fun!!! I love having babies!

All our boys have at least one family name.
James Philip is both Grandpas middle names.
Branson means "son of Branden" & Theodore is a great great great grandpa.
Ryan is Branden's brother Craig's middle name, the name of one of our nephews and I've known a few Ryans in my life, and they are all great examples of good solid guys.
We love names with good literal meaning and with special meaning to us.
Although Tessa Nichole has no family relation, but her inicals tell of the little bit of pyro in Branden."TNT"
I love to sing so Melody is perfect, plus it's really girly, and Faye is a name from my moms "Bates" side... I think. I'm sure I could find a Faye on the Allen side too.
Jessica, the name of the most perfect and adorable babysitter that we had in Usury Park ward. Miss Jessica Packerd was just the cutest and one of the most "got it together" girls. We were very impressed by her and her great family. And Louise is the middle name of both my mom and my mom in law.
I also love the name Michelle because it's the name of my most best friend in the world and the middle name of my sister Stephanie. Melody Michelle would be cute, or Tessa Michelle I really love.
Branden really isn't budging on changing "Nichole" though.
He already has her nickname and theme song picked out. "TNT Dynamite"
I'm a bit worried about this. I don't need to give birth to a firecracker!!! But if she's a red head, which we would totally love!!!! It would be perfect!
You know whats funny. I have red heads in my mom and sister and other relatives and Branden has brothers and sisters that are red headed, yet how is there only one redheaded grandchild???
Anyways. I just wanted to share the fun news with all of you! Sorry about the rambling I just like to type as if we were really in person chatting. :P
I love you girls!