Glamour Girl and Update

Here are the results of our quasi photo shoot this afternoon. Emmie isn't a big fan of sitting still for long, so most of our attempts are more than blurred.But a few turned out cute. I know you haven't heard from us in a while. Here's a quick update:

1. Ammon and I celebrated our 4th anniversary August 7th. Yes, I do still love him. Very much.

2. Emmie is now 2 years old and has the mentality of a 15 yr old. She's talking like crazy and is so much more than cute.

3. I've been craving Pad Thai for the past week and I think I am finally going to make some for dinner tonight.

4. I've been making cakes like crazy the past month. I didn't have a weekend in August without a wedding cake. Last weekend I had two weddings to deliver. Whew! I'm happy to be able to breathe for at least a little while now.

5. Ammon starts school up again in 2 weeks. I don't know what it's going to be like to not have him around all the time. Sad!

6. I've started attending what we so appropriately have named "bootcamp". A girl in our stake leads workouts at 5:30am for any women that want to attend. Everyday we work on a different part of the body (shoulders, legs, abs, arms, etc.) It's killing me, but I'm going to keep with it. I still need to get back to my pre-Emmie physique. I'd love to be better than that, but I'll take what I can get :)

7. Peach Fresca is my new -non-water- drink of choice.

8. Emmalyn just called me from across the house to tell me that Daddy is on the phone and brought her play phone to me and insisted that I talk to him. I then sat for 5 mins as she held the phone to my head and didn't let me budge as she said "more,more" of my ramblings to an imaginary Daddy.

9. I want to have a tamale making party and stock my freezer full of mexican goodness. Anybody interested?

10. Ammon made me Carribean Chicken with Black Bean and Pineapple Sauce for dinner a few nights ago- Pretty cool huh? I am currently enjoying the left-overs for lunch. Oooh, it's so good.

11. Life is good. Being a one-woman-show business owner and a having a student husband, things are going to get stressful, but we are happy and chugging along.
That's us.

Happy 4th Anniversary

I have been married to the best girl in the world a whole four years!!

While I like to write poems, I can't force 'em. They come when they come. . .
. . . However, I love her too much to not even try to tell her how I feel. I just wish I could give back to her. She has given me so much. She is my dream girl, and if there were things I dream of giving her, I think the following sums it up.

Bubbles!

This morning Emmalyn and I had a blast with bubbles! A little dish soap and a straw and you have a party for at least 15 minutes! Just don't let the kids use the straw unless they know to just blow. Emmie took a turn, and to her surprise, got a big ol' gulp of soap water- yuck!

"Roll Over!"

Why is it parents find such great joy in showing off what their kids can do? Have you ever watched one of those home movies where the child's name is repeated in the same high pitched voice over and over until the child actually rolls over, picks their nose, or signs the entire declaration of independence in ASL? "Emmie, Emmie, oh Emmalyn! Come on sweetie, Emmie, Emmie, Emmie." Well I have, and I am guilty of producing such home movies myself. It's just a parents right I guess. This video, if you can even watch it (I'm no so good at this video thing for some reason) is not that bad. Actually, in my biased opinion, it's very cute. Indulge if you wish!

Lazy Sunday, Saturday too.

Not to be confused with the popular SNL Digital Short, "Lazy Sunday"
our Saturday and Sunday were were spent enjoying each other's company. Ammon actually spent a lot of time doing homework on Saturday but we were able to end it with a walk through the local Pear Blossom Fair street vendors, a Papa Murphy's Pizza, and a couple of fruit smoothies from the Human Bean.

Let's talk about the girls that work in coffee booths for a moment... Here in Oregon, our streets are practically paved with coffee stands. They are on every corner, in every shopping center, and there is basically one within walking distance no matter where you are. That said, the people that run these stands are a little crazy. The only explanation that Ammon and I have come up with is that they are just so hopped up on caffeine that they have no other option- here's the proof. On Saturday we decided to splurge on two, not one to share like usual, but a fruit smoothie for each of us from our favorite stand, The Human Bean. When pulling up to the window, the cute girl in the stand enthusiastically greeted us and took our order and proceeded to say "Ooh that sounds good" and "Yum!" after each one of our selections. She was very sincere. So thirty seconds later (no joke) she comes to the window and apologizes that it's taking so long and hops back into the kitchen. Ammon and I looked at each other in such confusion. We knew that two smoothies took much longer than the 30 seconds we had been waiting to make. So literally, 30 more seconds passed and she hops back up to the window to tell us that the smoothie machine is broke and she's just going to give them to us for free. By now we could tell that her clock was ticking a bit faster than ours was- caffeine induced or not, this girl was crazy. We did indeed drive away 2 minutes after pulling up to the stand happy and contented with our free smoothies. Here is Emmie enjoying the remnants of peach and sporting her very first skinned knee.


The next day, Sunday, we spent some time in our back yard. Actually it's more like a strip of poorly seeded grass and weeds that connects to our neighbors back porches as well, hmmm..oh well. Regardless of where we were, we had some fun with our little one in the new sunshine.

Gorgeous?...yeah!


As soon as the camera comes out Emmie is all smiles.



.... Ammon hams it up a bit too!



Ammon has been trying to teach her to blow dandelions but they always end up in her mouth, yuck!


Mommy butts aren't quite made for little tykes slides





Can I have some eggs with that ham??

Grateful for Greens

I just sat down for lunch and was enjoying my green salad and grapes so much, that I thought I'd share with you. The Lord definitely gets my approval for the creation of such lovely consumables! Now I want to go eat the rest...

I love the sun!

There's something so motivating about a bright sunny day. Even if it's cold, the light that comes into the house warms everything up and makes me want to be productive- so productive I have thousands of thoughts swarming my brain and I don't know what to do with all of them.

The sun has been out for a couple of weeks here in Medford and it has been so nice. We spent most of last week and part of the week before sick with the flu. This was a total bummer because it was finally warm enough to do something outside and we were stuck inside-miserable! At first, I was the only sickly family member, but it soon found it's way to the other two. We still have coughs but things are looking good.

The house is finally getting back to some kind of order after being neglected for the past few weeks. It's a very exciting feeling to be able to walk barefoot across your kitchen floor. It's paradise really. Maybe I'm just a bit O.C.D. about clean floors and I hate stepping on once soggy, now dried-up cheerios. Yuck! Now if only I could get my carpets cleaned...

As some of you may know, Ammon and I tried our luck at a wedding show at the end of January. It went really well, and we got a great response. This was our booth- very humble compared to some, but it did it's job. We've gotten quite a few calls from it so far and hope to get more.

Emmie is quite the handful and is such a girly-girl. At one point a few months back I thought it would be fun to paint her fingernails. As we sat down for our post shower ritual (smelly lotions, brushing hair, and teeth brushing) she blew me away when she very patiently stuck out her pointer finger on one hand and pointed to the bottle of light pink polish I had sitting on the counter with her other. What 16 mo. old lets you paint their nails? After many instances like this, I've learned to hide the polish as she likes it a bit too much. Oh and as for her hair, she doesn't have much, but every morning I tell her it's time to put her "prettys" in ( barrettes, ponytails, and the like), I swear she could implode. I realize that it is my example she is following and she knows nothing different, but really, patiently sitting as she points each individual finger for me to paint? Come on.

Daddy's Post

Here are a couple recent pictures of my beautiful girls. What more could daddy ask for?


The best Birthday cake I ever ate, I think the flavor was chocolaty-choco-choclate fest 2008!

The return of the "Bag O' Love" and Halloween

Monday night as we were filling the tub with water for Emmie's bath, Ammon and I went into the bedroom for a minute as Emmie was content playing with her bath toys on the bathroom floor. When we came back into the bathroom, not 2 minutes later, she had found her way into the tub fully dressed and even with a poopy diaper! It was amazing. She sure thought it was great and the pictures prove it.

Halloween was fun. We spent the night trick-or-treating with Daniel (my 6 yr old bro.) and at the ward trunk-or-treat. Emmalyn found this costume at the goodwill and wouldn't put it down. We had originally planned on being an elephant, but due to my lack of planning, and her love for this dog- she got her way. She still drags the costume around the house hugging and jumping on it (both signs of affection). She is at a really fun stage right now. She is talking gibberish a ton and is signing the important things. She loves to give kisses (she has FINALLY mastered the closed mouth version), hugs, high-five, wave, and dance- oh boy can she dance! It's a ball!





Some of you might know that we have our own version of the ever-so-popular Love Sac. Its something Ammon has had since before we met. Sadly, when we moved to Oregon the foam for this bag was left behind due to lack of space in the truck. We have missed our bag and it was only just a month or so ago that we acquired enough foam to bring it back to life. It was a very joyous day in the Cheney household; no more movies watched uncomfortably, no more episodes of Arrested Development or the Office spent on a hard, unfriendly futon. Emmie, being the smart girl that she is, has grown a love for the bag as well. Ammon loves to throw her in it and she can't get enough but he does grow weary after a while. In an attempt to curb this exhaustion he decided to teach her how to jump into it. The video below is her first night learning to jump and it is pretty entertaining. The other pictures are from the day we stuffed it. Oh what a mess!

Ammon's turn...

Hi. So I love going to school! I'm very grateful to my hardworking wife that is juggling being a mother and running a business. Please keep her in your prayers so that I can keep going to college.

I'm doing well in all my classes, even math, which I thought I loathed in High School. A miracle has occurred in my life, and I am now able to excel in math and love it!

My writing is still my strength, and my greatest pride. My latest essay is at salmonammon.blogspot.com if you are interested in hearing my opinion about "sleaze in the media."

I'm able to do reasonably well in anthropology, considering we discuss a lot of cultural differences, some of which are very appalling. Fortunately I was raised in an open-minded home. I can't feel superior because of my upbringing, but I can desire that other's experience the joy that I experience by living gospel principles.

I once stated that I was seeking a major in geology, I think I will try to minor in geology and major in history. History has long been my first academic love, but I thought it conflicted with my ultimate goal of getting my masters of library and information science, turns out that there is no conflict there.

Whenever I add to the Blog I just feel strongly to thank everyone that reads, for your kind thoughts and prayers towards the Cheneys. We rely on the Lord so much, and we know that prayers are answered.

Emmalyn is growing fast. She is a delight! I love her morning smiles and kisses. She is often sitting behind me in her car seat, just laughing and laughing! I'm glad. She must realize that she needs the practice since you have to be good at laughing as a Cheney.

New Website

Well, it's happened, we finally have our new business website up and going (well, for the most part). If any of you are crazy website designers and want to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. But for now, it is what it is, and that will have to do! Also if anybody knows how to get search engines to recognize it, that would be fabulous too. Thanks! Check it out...
www.sugarsmitten.com

Enjoy!

On this overcast and damp Oregon day, I reached for a bag of Orville Reddenbuder's Microwave Kettle Corn to soothe the " afternoon munchies" that I was fighting. Now normally, I toss the bag of popcorn carelessly into the microwave, press the ever-so-wonderful popcorn button, walk away, and come back a perfect 2 mins and 20 sec. later to a bag of popcorn that is completely popped and never burned. I then take the bag of corn from the microwave and go on my merry way. Today was different though. As I took the bag from the microwave I noticed something I hadn't in the past- the word "Enjoy" scrolling across the tiny LED screen at the top right corner of the console. As I saw it, a smile instantly came across my face. "He wants me to enjoy my popcorn!" I loved it! Was it a message from God? Probably not. Was it a message from the little elf inside my microwave? There's better chances of it being from God. Was it just enough to bring a smile to my face and think about all my many blessings? Yes. That is enough for me!

Just thought I'd share...

The In-laws Come to Town!

Last weekend Mark and Sally came for a short visit from Newport. They took Emmalyn to the beautiful Lithia Park and walked around Ashland. Here are some pictures from their day together.


Could she get any cuter? I know I'm biased, but really, lets be honest here! Things are good, a longer update will be up shortly, but for now, I am off to bed! Hope all is well and happy with you.

Cruisin' into our 3rd year!!

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY to US!
Crater Lake on two wheels! Our first real tour. About 5 hrs of riding. We left Medford around 2 PM and got home around 9 PM. Ate dinner at Two Pine Smoke House in Shady Cove - the same place we ate breakfast the 1st morning of our honeymoon! All in all it was a real comfortable ride. It's chilly up in the mountains, it was nice having Heather wrapped around me. I love that girl!

Apologizing Again?

Here comes another heartfelt apology for getting behind in my responsibility to all you adoring fans of the Cheney household. I know you check back and think...just maybe... "I hope, I wish Heather put up something new. I must know, I HAVE to know what is going on in their life."
I know because the site meter emails me every so often just to spit on me and tell me what a miserable person I am. Look, I'm sorry!

Besides the fact that our once, (unknowingly), very generous neighbors have taken away our internet connection, life has been a whirlwind the past little while.

Emmalyn is a whole year old as of August 3rd. She has been walking since 11mos and is just about running now. She doing some basic signing and has so much personality. She loves to give kisses (open-mouth of course).

We had quite the blowout of a party for her and all the family was invited. She had a cake all to herself and she devoured it happily.

Since then we have just been hanging out. We went camping for four days with my family and the Cobb family. Ammon felt his inner manliness emerge as he ventured off into the woods without a hatchet to collect firewood. He and the boys appropriately coined the phrase "Wood Bashing" to describe their activities. We've been back to Newport as well to visit Ammon's parents and hang out on the beach.

Today we are enjoying labor day and spent some time at the waterslide. We just watched "Prairie Home Companion" and enjoyed a delectable frozen pizza. Life is good and we are having fun. We are in the midst of trying to start up a small cake decorating and baking business. We have a commercial kitchen to use free of rent and are starting up a cinnamon roll route across the valley. I will be advertising for wedding cakes in the meantime and be doing those on my off days from the route. Its still in the works right now, but we are excited and things are looking good. Thats all for now!

A very nice, long weekend.

Ammon's parents bought a house on the beach, and, much to our approval, we now have a vacation home! Last weekend they moved from Arizona to Newport, OR and we met them up there to help out.Besides, it was a good excuse for a small vacation.

We began our vacation on Friday and took Emmie for her first swim in our townhouse pool. She was a little leery at first, but was having a blast by the end.





We headed out of town on Saturday morning and drove into town Tuesday evening. Newport is beautiful. Neither of us had been there before and we are definitely glad we have reason to go back.

Mark and Sally's house is not even a block away from the ocean. You walk down the street and there's a trail that takes you right down to the beach.

Some of the local ocean life we found...


The beach just down the trail from Mark and Sally's...