The reasons I love Chad...

Chad and I recently celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. It's amazing how quickly time passes. We have accomplished a lot in our 11 years. We've had 3 fabulous children, bought 3 homes, vacationed in many places, served in many different church callings, grown a successful business, made many friends and enjoyed life! Life has had it's ups and downs but this I know for sure, life is meant to be enjoyed. Each day we wake is a gift from God and we should do our best to be kind to our brothers and sisters, enjoy the earth and it's fascinating splendors, inspire others around us to be better and to spread the message that Jesus is our savior, our brother, and our friend. I have grown in these 11 years and for that I have a wonderful companion to thank for his help.

1. He makes me smile.

2. He is a wonderful, attentive, and protective father.

3. He is a warrior in the world, slaying my dragons and looking out for my best interests.

4. He laughs like a girl.

5. He loves the Lord and serves faithfully in any calling given to him.

6. When giving gifts he tries to be insightful and original. He does spoil me!

7. He loves and respects his parents and mine.

8. He has never called me a bad name or yelled at me during a disagreement.

9. He takes care of me. He genuinely wants me to stay at home with our children and has taken the steps necessary to allow me to be a domestic diva! This includes working full time while going to school part time for 4 years. He did this while serving as Elders Quorum Pres. and in the bishopric. These sacrifices have put us in the position we are in today.

10. I love Chad more today than I did on that day 11 years ago. He's not perfect and either am I, but we try to make each other better people. He is my partner in this adventure in life. I look forward to eternity with this wonderful man. I love you, hon'.

Yeah...California!!!

We had a wonderful time in California. I wish I could have enjoyed my time as much as the girls did, but it was about the girls anyway. We spent 10 days in California enjoying Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, shopping and beaches. My parents, brother Dean and his daughter McKaydin joined us for half of the trip. It was fun to have them there. Chad and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary while in San Diego. We ate a wonderful dinner at the Chart House in La Jolla while watching the sun set on the ocean 10 feet outside our window. It's one of our favorite places!

Hannah, our fearless lover of fright and gore, was afraid of a lot of rides and spent alot of time with her head in Belle's shoulder.

In line for Splash Mountain. Our longest line wait of 1 hour.

Charlie was able to meet some characters while we were line.

The Jex girls pulling the sword from the stone.

The Halloween decorations were amazing all around the park.

The boys with a sexy Cruella DeVille.

McKaydin and Charlie in line.

Our most favorite part of the zoo.

In line with the girls for a 3-D show.

I'm trying to show Hannah how to feed the manta rays. She was a little timid, but Isabelle was not.

Jaws!!

Watching the dolphin show at Sea World.

The prettiest part of my body at the beach!

Charlie's first time at the beach, disregarding the time she was there while in my belly. She asked once before our trip..."Mom, I don't have to go back in your belly when we're in Disneyland, do I?"

Chad with the girls. The temperature was 88 that day...perfect.

If you know our girls, this was their favorite part of Universal!








Universal was fun, but only once every 5 years or so.

Cousins.

Where have I been the last couple of months?

Okay...so the last 8 weeks have been bad, really bad. I have never been this sick in my life. I've had surgery and contracted 2 virus's in addition to having the worst morning/afternoon/evening sickness that you've ever heard of. I have dug myself a small hole in my bed and have had my home, meals, kids, husband, yard, animals, and hygiene taken care of by my wonderful friends and family.

I am happy to say that I now have normal morning/afternoon/evening sickness. I feel better each day. I owe much to my family and friends who have helped me. Also, to my wonderful doctor who has never said no. He has me on a new regimine with multiple injections everyday and alternating pills. It seems to work except for my black and blue body.

Now, why did I do this? I have to exercise my faith everyday and know that inspiration gave me the courage to bring a special child of God into our family. I also have faith that I will once again return to the good old Kristie and make people smile again. She's in there somewhere!!

Thanks again for everyone's support, love, prayers, and acts of kindness. Although I was asleep through most of them, I recognize your efforts. Love you.

I've been tagged...and I'm responding this time.

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached for nearly 11 years.

B. BEST FRIEND? Chad, but unlike Angie I would not love him as much if I was around him 24/7. Sorry, Chad.

C. CAKE OR PIE? Pie alamode.

D. DAY OF THE WEEK? Friday; Chad is relaxed and I know I can sleep in the next morning.

E. ESSENTIAL ITEM? lap top...love it

F. FAVORITE COLOR? Green, it's organic.

G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? Not my favorite...but like Lindsay I like the white gummy bears.

H. HOMETOWN? Probably Layton, Utah. I moved 6 times before I was 8.

I. INDULGENCE? Trips to the spa.
J. JANUARY OR JULY? January. I love the winter holidays, cool weather, a roaring fire and a good book. I hate the heat of July, but, OH...THOSE SUMMER NIIIIIIGHTS. (tell me more).

K. KIDS? Hannah (8), Isabelle (5), Charlotte (3) and baby Jex due in March.

L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? Faith, family and friends...oh and the other "F" food. I'm dreaming about food everynight now that I can't eat due to pregnancy.

M. MARRIAGE DATE? Oct 10th, 1997.

N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 3 brothers

O. ORANGES OR APPLES? Oranges only during peak season (December)

P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? Death of Chad or child. Motorized wheelchairs... I know wierd.

Q. QUOTE? Don't put off what you want tomorrow for what you want today. Chad tells me this every time I come home with a shopping bag. Wait, he spends as much as me?

R. REASONS TO SMILE? Flowers, books, food, babies.

S. SUPERMAN OR WONDERWOMAN? Superman- I loved him as a kid.

T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? Okay, no pressure, if you'd like to...just do it.

U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? My highschool friends know, but for those newer in my life...I was a wild teen. The Layton PD new me by sight...but they liked me a lot.

V. VEGETABLES? Corn on the cob.

W. WORST HABIT? Overspending.

X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? What a wierd question.

Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? What, I have to pick a favorite?

Z. ZODIAC SIGN? Aquarius, yes I'm stubborn... but you gotta love me.

We're adding another girl/boy to the Jex brood!

Yes...many of you thought it wouldn't happen again, but...we're pregnant. We've had a couple of years to discuss this option with my doctors and of course Heavenly Father and came to the conclusion that there is one more angel waiting to come to our home. I am being taken care of by a whole slew of specialists and we have faith everything will be fine. I am horribly sick and like the other pregnancies, I'm getting sicker. I'm trying to be tough. I've already had so much help from family and friends and I'm so grateful. So, here we go again...wish us luck.

Can you tell I only have girls?

So our basement is ALMOST DONE!! My great friend Angie devoted another selfless day to the cause and we finished all the touch-up painting and the floorboards. I hope to have most things done for my family's slumber party on Aug 1st. The carpet will be coming next week. I figure people can sleep in the finished rooms even if they can't use the toilet in the next room. We'll see.... Here are some pictures of Isabelle and Hannah's new bedrooms.

Hannah's room is a tropical sunset. Her bedspread is made up of the colors on the wall in various tropical flowers. I added some butterflies to the wall that are made of bird feathers. She thinks it is the "coolest".

Isabelle's room is girly. I made a stencil from scratch and did the ric rac border by hand. It was killer! After I finished Isabelle said, "Mom, where's the red and purple?" I had enough that day to even respond....

Jex's frolicking in the poppies

We had a good friend take our family pictures last week. She's starting a photography company and will be using some of these on her website.

Charlie is such a cheeser!

Hannah loves to pose!

Belle, a shy beauty.

Mom and Dad. Yeah, we got Chad to smile.

Sisters!

Thanks, Melissa...

Nasty toe....Jodi, don't look

A day before the wedding I dropped a 75 lb tile saw on my big toe. I was in shock for a few minutes; staring at the blood and wondering why it didn't hurt. Then Charlie started talking a mile a minute (which is not unusual, those of you who know her well). "Mommy what'd you do, why's there so much bwud? Mom are you okay? Mom are you crying....? "

Maybe it's just me but too much talking at a time when I'm in shock drives me nuts! So I decide to cut the toenail off which is hanging by a measly piece of flesh and Charlie screams. "Mom, you cut your toe off!!" Then I proceeded to do some good first aid and soaked the toe in a tub of cold water. Okay, the shock wore off and some naughty words escaped my lips...ooops.

Let's just say, it was some bad times. I had just received the flowers for the wedding centerpieces and needed to start arranging them. I had to make a quick run to the doctor. No broken bones but a got a good laugh from all the office. They couldn't believe I had to walk down the isle in 24 hours. The good Dr. made arrangements to have my toe numbed with a nerve block the next day so I could walk down the isle in relatively little pain. Let's be honest, it worked... a little.

The picture of the toenail is immediately after. I saved all of you nightmares for the next 2 weeks and inserted a picture of the actual toe 3 days after the accident.

So, this blog was supposed to come before the wedding. I'm sorry for the backwardness of it all. Also, I still have not found those pictures of the wedding centerpieces; but when I do you'll all be wowed by my floral prowess.

John and Emily's Wedding

We had a delightful time at the Brown wedding. I was a bridesmaid and Chad was a groomsman. All three girls plus my niece, McKaydin were the flower girls. The girls felt like princesses and had smiles on their faces the whole night. McKaydin and Isabelle danced the night away together. I helped John and Emily with the centerpieces and they turned out beautiful. I smashed my toe all up and so I wasn't able to rock out with all the other ladies.

We're happy that John and Emily are happy and now won't have to stress about this fun day. They now have to enjoy the rest of their lives together and embrace this wonderful thing called marriage.

Kristie's Garden

Soccer with a SMILE

GO BUMBLEBEES!!!

Isabelle has really enjoyed being a part of organized sports. She runs around with this silly adorable smile on her face. She smiles at the coach, the referees, and the other players. She constantly looks at the crowd to make sure she's being adored. She did really well at goalie. She only let a couple get passed her the whole season.

Belle has an issue with her lower body. Often it contradicts her upper body. Usually it occurs as she's watching trance-like the T.V. and walks into a door knob or a large piece of furniture. But, when it comes to soccer, she's actually coordinated. She can run and kick at the same time, with a large grin.

Attack of the deadly veggie Easter dip!

We had a wonderful dinner at Mom and Dad Brown's. Grandma and Grandpa Brown were able to be there as well as the Evans clan. We enjoyed a ham dinner with yummy pie for dessert. The hit of the dinner was the creepy yet dilicious veggie dip housed in the cavity of a lettuce head. Cousin Michael is so creative!

I was please to see that grandpa hasn't lossed his appetite for dessert. Every few minutes he would mention to grandma..."are we going to have some pie yet?" We love those sweet old souls!

Hannah is of course excited to be the center of any camera experience but Charlie seemed a bit shy with Grandpa Brown.