Family Photos

We finally got new family pictures and I think they turned out pretty good. I don't have my disc yet from our awesome photographer (Amber Thompson) so I borrowed these images from her website to post here in the time being. Enjoy my beautiful family, I know I do!!!

Pioneer Day

I love parades and carnivals, and Rich loves me enough to come along with us and have a good time. Peter was so funny, he was a candy magnet and got twice as much as the other kids did. We loved the day, even if the parade was really long and hot. And this carnival is awesome. For $15 the kids each rode 2 rides (8 rides), we got 2 cotton candies, 4 snow cones, and nachos. A steal of a deal.

happy anniversary

We had the day to ourselves. Ahhh.

We spent the day at Lagoon riding rides (that ended when Rich got motion sick and threw up ON a ride), and relaxing at Lagoonabeach.

We did a little shopping and I got a hot new pair of red high heels.

We at dinner at this awesome restraunt called Prarie Schooners. The whole place was like a pioneer wagon round up with covered wagon tables and in center was a scene of fire and animals. Totally fun and delicious.

And topped off the night with taking in a movie.

Best day ever, with my sweetheart of now nine years, and counting.

seusical the musical

Aaron is amazingly talented!!! We had so much fun, and a lot of laughter watching him up on stage today. We took a car load of kids (we were lucky to have Sarah, Rachel and Hyrum staying with us) and braved the crowds. All in all a sucess. Followed by dilly bars from DQ to top off a hot and wonderful day.

And you've gotta love Matt posing in the background...

Twilight Eclipse!!

Here we are at the theaters. We got special tickets and watched all three movies in a row at the theaters, totally awesome!! And I had a sticker under my cupholder, so I won a special eclipse tshirt! Yeah!!! Karolee threw an Eclipse party the next night at her house, followed by seeing the movie (again) at the theaters. She did such an awesome job. Can you spy the 'red carpet' in the background...
And in case you were wondering. I'm a vampire girl. Go team Edward!!!

Here it comes!!! We had our tickets 2 months in advance, no such thing as planning too early...

Laneel is such an awesome friend, and she happens to share the joy of loving twilight with me (along with so many other things...) Thanks for the best day Lady

It turns out I am a bigger fan than I thought...

I now have 3 tshirts (2 were free and one was $1)
I have seen the second and third movie at the midnight showing

I have seen each movie multiple times in the theaters

I can't wait to see the next one... in a year and a half :(

I have read each of the books twice, and will read them again before the fourth one comes out

It is just so much fun to love Twilight!!

Temple #6

One of the farthest temples away is now crossed off the list!!! Good times, and a beautiful temple inside and out.

Now we are almost half way done. What a fun goal to try and get all the Utah temples attended this year, we are loving the adventures and plans.

Manti Pagent

Bless his little heart, Gavin fell asleep during the play... And stayed asleep while we moved him to the ground. Doing seperate sessions isn't that bad. It gave each of us a chance to play with the kids and explore Manti.

One of our discoveries was a craft fair, and I had a weak spot for these super fun marshmallow guns. These kept us busy the forever!!

glad we brought those blankets and sweaters!!

We are a happy family :)

We went down to Manti this year, stayed the night, went to the temple, and saw the Manti pagent. What a fun over nighter for us. The kids had a blast!! We will do this for sure again next year :)

ah-ha moment

ok. So what am I? Daughter, sister, wife, friend, daughter-in-law, sunbeams teacher, student, and mother. What do I do? I am a stay at home mom. Well, that is what I used to say, and I had a hard time filling my daily responsibilities at home sometimes. Well, now I'd like to call myself a homemaker. A homemaker does everything necessary to make a home. Dishes, laundry, cooking, other cleaning chores, and taking care of the kids. The difference? None. It's just a title, but in my little mind the difference is huge. A stay at home mom stays home by the title. A homemaker stays home and has duties to fulfill to make a home. It was the little ah-ha moment I needed to give me the boost to feel uplifted and ready to face my responsibilities with a happy heart. "I am folding these clothes because I am a homemaker." "I am mopping the floor because I am making my home beautiful for my family." Rather than "no one ever helps me with the laundry, and there are 6 people in this family." or "really, am I the only one that can mop this floor..." These are the thoughts that have occasionally gone through my mind while doing these things. Even when I didn't want to think the thoughts, they would appear.
I am hoping this shift in thinking will be permanant. I am now and always will be a homemaker. And I love it.

New ward

Oh no!!
We had an announcement at church today. They have changed ward and stake boundaries that greatly affect my ward. They took a whole neighborhood filled with great friends of mine and have moved them not only to a new ward, but also a new stake. They have also added a new neighborhood to our ward. I trust the Lord and don't question the change, but it doesn't change the fact that I am totally sad. The change affects my calling, my visiting teaching and so much more. I won't get to see these happy faces every week. I know that these beautiful people will always be my friends, but I will greatly miss the relationship that we have now. So here's to all you great people that I have met and grown to love in my ward over the last five years. Good luck and I will miss you all so much!!!!!!
I am sure we are also gaining some amazing families, and we look forward to meeting them. Change can be a good thing sometimes.

A new day

It's a new day with nothing new to post about...

We were in the family room after dinner and getting Max to say new and funny words. He thought it was a fun game, but I was analyzing how far his speech has come. He can't say a few things that surprised me a bit.
Th
S(with a combination letter like st, sl, sp, ect..)
S in general sounds like Ch
L
R, he usually skips that sound in a word
combination constants are hard in general like pl, dr, bl, ld, br, etc.
J sounds they also sound like Ch
full sentences are hard. He still says a lot of commands and 2-3 word sentences.
He isn't very good at describing things.

He is 3 1/2 yrs old. Do any of you know if this is in line with where he needs to be? Speech therapy helped a lot, but I still feel like he is behind. Sophie and Peter were very clear speakers from an early age so I can't really compare very well. I guess I could look it up on my own...

Blog catch up

spent a little time playing catch up on some past events including Peter's birthday and some new temples we've been to. Take a scroll down to see...

Birthday Dinner

OK, why did this picture post sideways??
Oh well, we had a great time the other night for Linda's birthday. She hit a milestone, but I don't think she'd like me to day which one... But Rich did wish her a happy 29th birthday for the 31st time!! It took us weeks to plan this evening. Which day could everyone come? That went back and forth and back and forth, and where should we eat and what time??? Seriously hard to plan when we were trying to coordinate 14 people's schedules, and plan the babysitting too... So this is what we got. 9 grown-ups out for dinner, with no kids. What a fun night! She loved her ipad that we all chipped in for. My favorite part of the night was when they brought the sombrero and maracas out for her to wear while we all sang her happy birthday with her free brownie and ice cream!!!

A bug in a rug

Sunday's are the day when my kids imagination shines.

Rich used to do this to the kids when they were smaller, and Sophie remembered and was the gang leader today. (that girl has the memory of an elephant, she remembers EVERYTHING!!!) She said Gavin was a worm, and Max wanted to be a caterpillar... Good fun for an hour or so...

My Favorites, Today

Today my favorites are:
-our new super soaker water guns
-icecream cones
-the wii for my sick little boy, Peter has strep throat
-clean bedrooms
-the central vac, now that it is unclogged
-a day off with no plans
-windows that open to let in the perfect breeze
-having family time in the backyard
-color safe bleach
-when Rich helps me do my chores, gotta love a hubby that helps clean!
-quiet time
-that I don't have to teach the lesson in sunbeams tomorrow
-finished laundry
-my mp3 player for my runs, and the new arm strap I have, now I don't have to carry it in my hand!
-oatmeal cookies and homeade bread
-SUMMER WEATHER

Last Day of school

My heart ached a little as I walked away from the school with Peter today. My two older kids will be in 1st and 2nd grade now. That is a big step. All day school. I am excited about having a little more free time, but they are growing up so fast. I love my kids!
Peter went out from kindergarten with a bang and a blast at his water party. I love this party where the kids get to run around from station to station and play fun water games. There were so many moms snapping fun pictures of their kiddo's, and I wished I had my camera. But I left it at home on purpose because I volunteered at the water party last year when Sophie was in kindergarten and my camera got wet and ruined!!! I didn't want that to happen again, so I left it at home on purpose, but I still missed my camera! Max tagged along at the party too and had so much fun. He is a fun kid!


Anyway, Goodbye school, HELLO SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Easter Pictures

Really, it has taken me this long to get some recent pictures on the blog. Easter was great. We had the annual Easter Egg hunt at our house for all the cousins. And I hid all the eggs. Maybe 350 eggs, I don't think that would be much of an exaggeration. I have always wanted to hide the eggs, silly pleasure!! But we did it on Friday this year because it was also General Conference weekend. The neighborhood egg hunt was early Saturday morning, and super fun.

And now it's one thing crossed off my list. Blog about Easter. Done.

Running

Time to make it official by telling the world. I have decided to run a half marathon!! That is 13 miles!!! I always knew that I would one day, and the day has arrived. It isn't until the end of the summer, but I am really excited about the whole thing. I am up to 8 miles, but I am a little slow... Oh well, I'm not trying for a time, I just want to be able to do it. So thanks Cyndi, for letting me jump on board with you on this goal.

Peter's Birthday

You never forget the birth of your children. Peter is my second born and I love him so much. The past 6 years have flown by. Peter is a clone of Rich, but that doesn't mean he isn't his own person. I see Rich in him all the time, but then I see Peter too. He is kind, generous, a peace maker, sensitive, a mommy's boy, cautious, outgoing, funny, strong, independent, helpful, playful, understanding, teachable, a leader, decisive, fun, happy, smarter than he lets on, able, capable, a good and loving brother, and a wonderful son. I am grateful to be his mother. He makes me proud of him everyday.
We are so lucky to have him in our family.





Some birthday highlights Gavin crawled across the table to get a little closer to the icecream

Peter and his Star Wars Lego cake. He was dying all day to play with his new guys. I made them stay on the cake till after the candle was blown out... mean mom, right?

This is classic Peter.

Mini golfing, and the best day ever.

I love how big Gavin thinks he is as he struts his stuff and follows the bigger kids around.

One cool dude..

All the kids liked sitting with Rich and playing arcade games.

Wee...

How can you not snap a pic with the life size clone outside of the lazer tag

These two loved it, even though the vests were a little heavy and big.

Boy was this cake a stretch of the imagination. I think I am losing my birthday cake touch to allow this!!! Well, it is exactly what Peter wanted, so maybe I win some mommy points in that department.

We gave Peter the choice of a friend birthday or a family birthday this year, and he went back and forth and even invited friends to his birthday party - without checking with me first... Well, he picked a family birthday at Boondocks, we had so much fun!!!!!!! Well, Max didn't love Lazer tag. He thought it was a real star wars game and all the people were clones and were trying to shoot him dead, so he ran through the darkness of the lazer tag room, through and around all the obstacles until I caught him and took him out to Rich. But everything else was great. Fun family day. At lunch time. It was the only time we could be together as a family. We had a short breakfast, long lunch and quick cake before bed.

Happy Birthday my 6yr old.

Temple #5

Draper temple is so beautiful. I had a chance to go to the open house for it last year with my young women's beehive class. We joined a group and did sealings today. I love that my grandma has done so much genealogy and we can now do the temple work for her.
Kim to the rescue again, and she watched all the boys while we went, Sophie was at her dance rehearsal all day from 3-9. It was so windy when we got out of the temple that my skirt kept blowing up in the air! How embarrassing... We enjoyed a scenic drive in the neighborhood behind the temple to see all the mansions. It is so sad to see half of those huge and beautiful homes falling to pieces because the owners couldn't afford to finish building the homes. And I wouldn't do it because the homes are so large they fill the lot, and there is no yard at all.
It was a wonderful day and we are one temple closer to meeting our goal this year!!!

Just Thinking

I keep opening up my blog, and nothing comes to me. It's like I am totally stuck and don't know what to write. I love blogging, but it is so low on my priority list right now that even when I get here I think "i don't have time for this" and end up doing something else.
What have I been up to?
-putting some old and awesome music on my mp3 player.
-running more - to my music! - I am up to 4.5 miles, yeah!
-loving all 3 of my massage classes
-switching the kids rooms around, why did Sophie have the bigger room any way?
-watching what I eat more, it's a lot easier to do since I am exercising again
-reading and playing with the kids
-keeping the dishes clean and the laundry folded
-wishing we could have a second car. It's been so nice to use Rich's parents car this last month that they have been out of town... dreams...
-reading a little, my guilty pleasure. I love escaping in a good book
-taking a few pictures here and there that never seem to end up on my blog fast enough
-trying to get some sleep in there
-wishing to have more date nights
-looking forward to summer, already...
-loving cutting flowers or branches in blossom to put on my table, ah spring!
-endlessly taking kids to soccer, play dates, dance and on my errands too
-finding happy time with my family every day
-learning the articles of faith as a family, again.
-wanting to get together with friends for lunch or girls night out, but never being able to find the time
-enjoying netflix instant streaming on the wii. I can watch all the old seasons of The Office any time at all, without commercials
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Debate

Do I let Max go to church with underwear on or not...

He's been doing really well. I love potty trained kids! I have noticed a huge difference this last few weeks in diapers and wipes I buy!! But I guess they are traded up for M & M's! I thought this day would never come!!! Yeah Max!!

And if you get a chance to see "How to Train Your Dragon", you totally should. It was a really cute movie, we saw it yesterday. We saw it in 3-D and the kids loved it, and so did we.

Temple #4

We hit the Mt. Timpanogos temple today. It was a beautiful day, and the kids were really excited to spend some time with their cousins while we were gone. We were short on time (again) so we only did initiatory work. But they were even really busy in that department. Come to find out the temple is always a busy place. But that is a good thing. Rich ended up leaving his names at the temple, and they had to mail them back to us.
Today also happened to be a super fun day because we had free passes to see How to Train your Dragon, in 3D. The kids all loved it!! We left Gavin at Kim's for a nap and took Sam with us. We had to drive down to Provo, after the temple, but it was worth it, and it was such a fun day:)

Unders

Max is wearing Unders for the first time today... Wish us luck!
He was dry all last week except for 2 accidents. I think we are ready :)

Fun Day

-It was Saturday and we got to sleep in!!
-We started swimming lessons today!! The kids have been looking forward to this for weeks. We are all in, Sophie in level 2, Peter in level 1, and Rich and me with Max and Gavin in the parent tot class. We had so much fun and can't wait to keep going week after week.
-Rich made a fab lunch, perfect for the yucky weather. Tomato soup with french bread open face cheese sandwiches, we couldn't get enough!
-We got to ride the train!!!
-We rode the train to see Disney on Ice! We love going! This is the 4th one we've been to. Even from the nose bleed section we had such a fun time! Pictures to come!
-We got to go out to dinner. A treat for all of us, and no dishes to do!
-The kids were so worn out that they went to bed SOOOO easy... Ahh...
-and we are now in the middle of making, and waiting for cinnabon cinnamon rolls :) Yum yum!
-We can now sit back and relax to a netflix movie and spring the clocks forward an hour...
-What a happy day :)

Clone of a Cinnabon
Ingredients
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Funny Quirks

Ever wonder where the funny quirks your kids have come from? I do all the time. My kids always make me laugh and I wonder where they get it from. For example, Max loves to act out his sentences instead of just saying it straight out. I always thought it came from the fact that he had such a hard time learning how to speak. And although I still think that is a big part of it, I caught myself doing it the other day in a conversation with a friend. I totally felt silly in the middle of it when the realization came to me... Was I acting like Max, or is Max acting like me? I was not nearly as dramatic as Max, but all in all, I had to laugh at myself.
This was what Max acted out yesterday.
We were in the garage getting ready to walk over and pick Peter up from Kindergarten. I was getting Gavin in the stroller as Max was wandering on the driveway. He came running back to me and said "Mom, baby spider do that..." as he proceeded to make his hand look like a spider and then he calmly layed on the garage floor and kicked his hands and feet up in the air and got up and said "...do that..." and he ran back and pointed to the spider. It was dead and on his back and crumpled up with his legs in the air. It was so funny!
And last night eating cookies he said out of the blue, "me cookie monster..." and started eating a cookie like cookie monster, with wild hands, crumbs, and a lot of 'yum, yum's.
Seriously, words don't do that kid justice. Gotta love him.

American Girls

I am so proud of Sophie. She and I have been reading the American Girl books for the past 15 months. We have only gotten through the first 3 series, not being as faithful at reading as we have been recently. We have read Samantha, Felicity, and as of tonight we have also finished Rebecca. Sophie actually finished the last 2 chapters on her own tonight because I had school, and she ran down when I got home to tell me the good news that she finished the book! I was a little jealous that she did it without me, so I guess I'll have to read the ending on my own. I have told Sophie that after we have finished reading all 6 books for all 10 American girls that she can get her own American Girl doll. We will be starting Addy tomorrow. I try to have Sophie read the first few pages and then I finish the rest of the chapter. She does really well and only gets stuck on the biggest words. I love reading with her every night we get the chance. She is such an amazing girl. Our reading time turns into talking time, and she and I are so alike. She is the best daughter I could ask for, and I know that we'll always be mother and daughter, but I also feel like she and I will be the best of friends.