Digital Scrapbooking...Taking the Plunge!

Ok so I did it, I tried my hand at digital scrapbooking. Wow! What a ton of work! It's really amazing though! I know I won't abandon traditional scrapbooking anytime soon, but this was really fun to try. I've never really done much in Photoshop, especially with the layers tool, but I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. I'll show you my second and third attempts, the first was just practice. I'll go back and change that later, but at least it taught me what to do and what not to do!

I had been debating even trying digital scrapbooking up until this last weekend. I never saw the appeal. I thought there was no way I would sit in front of a computer to make a scrapbook page! I was proven wrong...

The digital scrapbook my Aunt Teresa made was just so fantastic that it made me want to give it a try. Like most things I do, I researched it all day Sunday (lol from my "crack berry" on the way home from Vegas!) and then gave it a shot last night.

Here are the two layouts I completed:






I think this could end up being a new addiction. I want to have them printed at the place recommended by the site I downloaded the free kits from. If I like the result, I may do both traditional and digital in the kids' books. It might end up being a time saver, as well as a cost saver depending on the price of printing. It still did take me a while to do, and I still had to tap into my creative juices to make them. It was certainly not as easy as I thought it would be! There is still so much to learn, but at least it's fun so far!

I'll tell you though, I felt like a huge idiot trying to figure out how to crop the paper to fit behind my photos, and I was so proud of myself when I realized I could rotate the little ribbons (DUH!) and when I got the journaling just right on those strips in the second photo. *pats self on back* Again, it's a learning process, but I'm pretty excited by it all. It's just weird not actually feeling the ribbons, or laying the page out by hand.

All free digital products used (and amazing tutorials!) can be found at Shabby Princess. The first layout I used the Sweet Sprinkles kit, and the second one is from the Harvest Spice kit. There are also a few more out there, they are just a "Google" away! Shabby Princess is the first one that pulled up for me, and I was really pleased with their free selection.

SURPRISE ROAD TRIP!!

Have you ever done something spur of the moment? What about a road trip? Well that is what we did Friday morning! We came up with our little plan Thursday afternoon, came home and packed, and then left Friday at 6 am. Wanna know where we went? :) Vegas Baby!

(Gwynie did a pretty good job taking this didn't she!)

But, there was a reason for our impromptu trip...Grandma and Grandpa Merritt. This weekend marked their 50th Wedding Anniversary!!


On Saturday night we watched a DVD and looked at a scrapbook Teresa had put together with all the kids/grandkids/greatgrandkids in it. It was awesome! To top off the night the kids (meaning the original kids!), and Grandma's sister Carol, came up with reasons why they had stayed married so long. Now, just a disclaimer, I don't remember all the reasons, and I'm not sure we ever hit 10 (we were all laughing too hard!). So if this list isn't perfect I apologize, but I know it's pretty close! Plus, I have writer's liberties at this point, and added at least one of my own. :)

TOP 10 REASONS WHY RICHARD AND LANETTA STAYED MARRIED FOR 50 YEARS

10. Grandma married Grandpa for his money, and he married her for her body. They both got jipped on that deal, so they stay married out of spite.

9. Grandma wanted to go to heaven and she knew if she put up with Grandpa for so long, well that was an instant ticket into those pearly gates. ~St. LaNetta

8. It's much too expensive to live apart!

7. Their marriage survived because of Grandma's patience, and Grandpa's work ethic.

6. They had to make it last to get the good stuff....the grandkids and great grandkids.

5. They are both too stubbon. Everyone said it wouldn't last more than a year...

4. Murder is a punishable crime.

3. You can't beat FREE nookie for 50 years...yet we all know it's never FREE!

2. They really, truly, madly, deeply love each other.

And the number one reason, as submitted by GRANDPA! The REAL reason why these two have stayed together for 50 years:

1. Grandpa loves her with all his heart, and he married the dumbest girl he could find!

So here's how we happened to be there and how this all came about:

There was a plan in place...Rick and Jody, who were celebrating their upcoming anniversary, were to meet Gram and Gramps in Vegas on Saturday and stay at Rick and Jody's timeshare. Grandpa was in on the plan though. All their kids, Mick, my Dad, and Keri (and spouses of course!) were all meeting there! We decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Mom and Dad, and the rest of the family, since we are only about 5.5 hours away.

We met up with Mom, Dad, Keri and Tom Friday about 11 and then headed out to Hoover Dam. That was were Grandpa, tugging a reluctant Grandma, was to meet up with them. Little did they know we would send the kids to them saying they were lost! :) Grandma bawled of course, but it was an amazing surprise for her. :)

We were going to take the DAM tour, but the DAM elevator was broken (hehe), so we ended up doing the power plant tour. The kids loved it! We had seen the new bridge they are building on a History Channel or Modern Marvel special, so it was impressive to see it up close and personal!



Saturday was spent seeing M&M's World, and a few other places. We have a lot of other pictures, but my bed is calling my name! I'll leave you with this one...the whole fam damily, and some of just the original family.

L to R:
Mom, Dad, Me, Jake, Keri, Tom, Teresa, Mick, Jody, Rick
Brady, Grandpa, Grandma, Gwynie

For My Husband

Wednesday was Jake's birthday, and since today is Valentine's Day I thought I would make a "special" post for him. (Hehe, if you got the special bit...yay for you! Fun family joke!)

So, here are 10 random facts about my hubby!

For My Husband

1. Jake's Mom's due date was actually Valentine's day. His Aunt told his Mom if he was born on V-day then they should name him Valentino. Good thing he was born on the 11th!

2. Jake wrestled for 15 years! He started at 5 and ended his season at Western at the age of 20, after undergoing knee surgery. He had his knee scoped and that ended his career. While in High School Jake went to Regionals twice, once to Pennsylvania, and once to North Carolina. He's really excited for Brady to start wrestling next month!

3. Jake has no middle name. I tell him his middle name is "Mine" to which he just says, "Yes Dear."

4. Jake is a true sports man. He can recall obscure facts about any sport (well maybe not hockey...but then again who does?) and rattle them off at any given point. He can also tell you the stats of almost every player.

5. Jake is a horrible speller. I think all the sports info blocks that part of his brain. :)

6. His Mom and my Mom are the only ones who call him Jacob. I do occasionally, mostly when I'm mad at him. But then it's Jaaaccoooobbb, because I'm whining at him.

7. In my Anatomy and Physiology class in high school I named my fetal pig Jake. Coincidence?

8. Jake HATES tomatoes. It's all about the texture. He says I've poisoned the kids because they love tomatoes. He will eat things with tomatoes in them, but never a slice or a cherry tomato itself.

9. Jake is a sleepwalker. His Mom tells us about the time when he took out the garbage in his sleep. Why can't he do that now??

10. Jake is an amazing cook. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't eat...or we would eat cereal a lot!


I saw this on my cousin Melissa's blog awhile back, so here it is!

1. What is his name? Jacob "Mine" Phillips
2. Who eats more? He does
3. Who said "I love you" first? Totally Him
4. Who is taller? About even, but him by an inch
5. Who is smarter? Of course me... duh
6. Who is more sensitive? Me for sure but he is a caring guy
7. Who does the laundry? Me - he ruins clothes so I won't let him, that or he's a sneaky bastard and knows how to get out of it
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? That would be me
9. Who pays the bills? Hmm... he does all the bill paying online, but I'm the one to remind him that they're due
10. Who cooks more?Actually, Definitely, HIM!
11. What meals do you cook together? None? I'll help every now and then if he's lucky
12. Who is more stubborn? That would be neck in neck if it were a race
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? I'm never wrong so this question doesn't pertain to me! :) So I'd say him...but we both hate to admit it.
14. Who has more siblings? Me
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? He wears them, I just pick out which ones he wears, oh and I control the zipper
16. What do you like to do together? Just about anything
17. Who eats more sweets? Sixes, we both like sweets and are addicted to Twizzlers
18. His guilty pleasures? Guns, Poker, Rum and Coke...He's a modern day Captn Jack ;)
19. How did you meet? Lol, his roomate in college who was my boyfriend at the time...long, long story...
20. Who asked who out first? He did, but we were friends first and shopped a lot together
21. Who proposed? Him of course
22. Who kissed who first? It was def. him
23. His best features? His eyes and his smile
24. His greatest quality? He loves me and the kids so much. He would do anything for us, so I would say it's his caring heart, oh and his ability to put up with me.
25. Tag: Anyone with hubbies or significant others that wants to!

I LOVE YOU JAKE!!!

Jake, Nick and George...good friends and good times!

My sweet, cute hubby!

It's All in the Family

I think I'm posted out...ok kidding, but really after posting all the pics (or a large portion of them!) from our trip to Florida, I really didn't want to post anything! Also, we took so many pics, I don't think I've recovered from picture shock. I'm sure the kids haven't! But, I did want to pop in and post something that makes me happy!

While we were down in Florida I helped my Momma setup a blog (yay!) and Jake made the mistake of showing Dad the wonders of torrents, and then sent him a 250 gig hard drive full of music. Long story short, Dad accidentally copied all the music from the portable hard drive onto their computer and almost killed it! Kyle stepped in and fixed everything up, but I'm sure they were kinda scarred about the state of their computer until it was back up! So, with those computer problems, and Dad hogging the computer, Mom is finally able to post again, lol! :)

I love blogs just for the fact that it's a good way to keep up with everyone. I know my Mom and Dad love looking at everything we post, and seeing all of our pictures. It's a fun little hobby too I guess!

Nothing new here, just still recovering from our vacation. The kids go back to school tomorrow after being off track for 3 weeks, and they seem pretty excited to see their teachers and friends. We had Brady's friend birthday party last Saturday and that was lots of fun. He had his last Jr. Jazz Basketball game yesterday, but never fear, we'll be busy enough again now that he can wrestle! So, it will be T-ball and Wrestling for him, and Tumbling and Softball for Gwynie. I love that my kids like to be active and have fun doing it!

Well, it's off to get the laundry finished up, and ready for the week! I dread Monday's, but I do like getting a good start to the week!

And We're Back!

Well, here we are back at home. It is nice to sleep in our own beds, and see our animals, but man is it hard coming back to 20 degree weather and a snow storm! When we left Tampa it was sunny skies and 80 degree weather!

I've been told by co-workers that I look tan and refreshed. I don't quite believe the tanned bit, but I do feel very relaxed and refreshed. It was simply wonderful to spend 2 weeks with my family and enjoy the things we did! I can't thank my Mom and Dad enough for such a great trip! That was our family Christmas present...talk about topping it next year, lol! Mom joked that she didn't know who benefited from it more, them or us!

Tonight I had the choice of dusting and vaccuming, or blogging...you can guess which one won out.

We have a serious overload of pictures that I'll have to go through. Jake made a comment on our first day at Disney. It was mid afternoon and he said, "So, you think this trip will be about 12 scrapbook pages?" First, my mouth dropped on the ground, and then I died laughing. Typically, I can get on average 4 photos to a page. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the page. When I explained this to him, and said that would only equal about 48 pictures he said, "Well, I guess it's a bit more than that, huh?!"

YES QUITE A BIT MORE! TRY 547 PICTURES DURING THAT TRIP!

Of course there will be those random ones that weren't quite right due to being blurred, etc. but I figure that still leaves at least 480 pictures. Let's say I do 5 pictures to a page...that's still 96 scrapbook pages!!!! SERIOUSLY?!!! I'm sure I'll figure it out, and it won't be quite that bad, but I'll document it as I go! And in all honesty, I really hope I even get to them this year! I'm still so behind on others, but that aside, I need to move on with the rest of our trip!

Previously, I posted our flight there, the boating trip on Silver Springs River, Daytona Beach, and last but not least, Sea World.

So let's start back at Wednesday the 21st where I left off. That was Sea World day and Brady's Birthday! He's having a Monster Truck party with his little friends this Saturday and wanted a Monster Truck cake while we were in Florida!

This cake was just perfect for him! Brady got lots of awesome presents from everyone!

Thursday marked our first day at Disney World. We started off by going to Hollywood Studios. Here we met lots of the characters, went on some great rides, and saw a Lights, Motors, Action stunt show.

The kids loved meeting Buzz and Woody! The funniest thing...Buzz would "turn off" and you had to press his button to make him turn on again. Woody wouldn't let the kids turn him back on! You can tell these guys have a blast at their job!

Mike and Sully!!

Heh, heh, heh. I made the kids stand under this...Gwynie got it! :)

Woot! One of Brady's all time favorite movies! He has so many of the Cars characters cars and playsets that of course we had to make sure we saw these guys!

Then we found the Power Rangers and Brady wanted to meet the Blue one, go figure! When we got up there, the Power Ranger turned Brady's hat around and posed his hands!

Shortly after that we finished up in Hollywood Studios and decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom!

We spent the last half of the day in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, and managed to get this cool pic of the castle! The colors kept changing and the kids were entranced.

The next day we dedicated the whole day to Magic Kingdom since there was so much to see and do there!

Teacups was pretty much the only thing Brady said we had to do...so of course me and the kids went on it! Jake wasn't about to do it!

Minnie and Mickey's houses were fun!

Then meeting them was even more fun!

On Saturday we had our final day at Disney. We split the day up between Animal Kingdom in the morning, and Epcot in the afternoon.

The Tree of Life

This thing is so freaking cool! They do the Bugs Life show actually under the tree itself, in the roots! It is so neat up close, there are so many animals in the tree bark!

When we met every character they would all put their hands on Brady's head and pretend his spikey hair was so sharp and pointy. Lilo just loved Brady's hair and made Stitch's hair just like Brady's. It was hilarious!!

There was a whole area dedicated to meeting some of the other characters at Animal Kingdom, so we got to meet Jungle Mickey and Minnie!

Then we made our way over to Epcot! They had some awesome things for parents, and some fun, even educational kids programs! Of course there was Honey I Shrunk the Audience, but the kids loved the Finding Nemo stuff the best I think! That and any futuristic type rides they loved!


There is also a whole area that is setup like other countries that you travel through. Here I am trying to figure out how to get down to the Ministry of Magic...they used this in the movie...I'm sure it had to be it!

That Saturday night after we were all done with the parks I got to go with my sis Shae to a Wizard Wrock concert. There I got to meet my long time online friend Mandala! It's so funny, the first thing she said was, "I feel like I know you already!" which was exactly what I was thinking! We have so many things in common, we probably could have sat and chatted for hours!



Sunday was a day of resting and packing as we knew Monday and our flight home would come all too soon...

This was taken on our way to the Tampa airport. Both kids were so tuckered out from 4 days of walking and just a fun, amazing, awesomely wonderful trip!

Sea World

I can't believe it's already been almost 2 weeks! I am so sad our vacation is ending. We have loved spending time with my family and being able to go to Disney World and Sea World. Although I am looking forward to my bed and seeing our pets again, it will be really hard saying good bye tomorrow.

I thought I would get a bit more of our vacation days on here before work and everything starts again! Wednesday the 21st was Brady's 6th birthday, and the main thing he has been wanting to do for ages was go to Sea World. We did that on his birthday (I'll post those pics and Disney later) and had a blast. It was very cold, but we had a fantastic time and saw some amazing shows!

We went to the Dolphin Nursery first thing that morning. Dolphins are my favorite animal, and I'm pretty sure they knew it! They were so playful and kept posing for me! :) This guy here has a leaf that he kept flipping up and catching!

The kids loved the Shamu show, and the Dolphin show had such amazing stunts. The kids loved posing on these little whales!

And so Shae and I decided that we needed to play on them, too! We were going for a whole "riding" them with our hands in the air.

And then of course I had to show my clumsy side....I don't know how I did this, but of course, here is my falling off the whale! I just laughed so hard and the whole family was dying laughing too because they all know me and how clumsy I can be. You would never know I did drill team in high school and college! :P

Brady and the Sea World car

Well, I guess that is all I have for now! I'll leave you with a slide show of several Sea World pics. I have no clue how many we have actually taken this trip...I'm guessing about 300+. I'll let you know the final tally!

Florida Fun!!

Well we are here in Florida, and loving every minute of it! Just to give you an idea...it was 75 degrees today at the beach! :P


We've played at the beach, soaked in Mom and Dad's hot tub, took a spin on their boat, and are getting ready for SeaWorld and Disney World this week. Plus, we've been treated to Mom's awesome cooking! We've had fantastic breakfasts and amazing dinners. Last night we had Steak and Lobster Tails, and for breakfast we had Mom's famous Egg Gravy and biscuits. Yes, we have been spoiled!


Since I know it will take me ages to update everything once we get home, I figured I would do a little at a time!

First, the plane ride on Wednesday! The kids did really well on the flight from SLC to Phoenix, but got a bit restless from Phoenix to Tampa. At least they had lots of entertainment in the electronic form!

Brady took this picture as we were leaving Salt Lake and the snow!

We ordered drinks on the plane and Brady loved his apple juice in a can! That was the best dang $2.00 can of apple juice he ever had!

Then on Thursday Mom and Dad took us out on the boat. It was actually a little chilly (about 60), but we still had fun anyways! We saw lots of cool fish underwater and then got to see them on Dad's FishTV. It was so amazing!

This tree is called The Lucky Palm. It grew in a circle, and local legend says if you stand in the circle and make a wish it will come true.

The kids loved driving the boat most of all!

Me and Brady...I was midsentence, lol!

Jake and Brady

Poppa David and the kids

Grammie Della and the kids (Brady was having loads of fun I promise...)

We saw lots of birds and turtles, but no Alligators or Monkeys (left behind after filming Tarzan back in the day!) because it was just too cold for them.

We did see lots of birds, and this guy was drying his feathers off after fishing.

Look at the cute turtles!

Friday night Shae took Jake and I to see Repo! The Genetic Opera! It was playing in Salt Lake on Tuesday night, but we weren't able to see it since we were leaving on Wednesday. We were so excited they extended the showings in Gainesville!

Trailer for Repo

Me with my Repo ticket and the poster!

"Zydrate comes in a little glass vial!"

"A little glass vial?"

"A little glass vial!"

We loved the soundtrack and it was even better actually watching it! We can't wait for the DVD!

Today we went to Daytona Beach and enjoyed the warm weather! Brady took a spill in the ocean (Why are we not surprised!), but other than that it was a pretty perfect day. Mom and Dad got the kids some tee shirts and hoodies from a souvenior shop and they are so excited to show them off at school!

Here are some of my favorites at the beach, and then a slideshow with about 50 pictures from the beach.

Brady is telling the ocean who's the boss

Gwynie's running from the waves

Family Pic