Busy or Not?...that is the question!

Here is a video about Jackson's Poke!

2012-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Here is a little video showing how well Jackson is doing with his pokes. Thanks to tips from Bev's cousin Alayne and help from Tamra shots are getting easier. He will take his shots only if he gets to give a shot to someone else afterwards. He has even given Jer a shot in the bum-bum, that was priceless, (through his jeans of course!)!

Two weeks later...

2012-01-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

It was two weeks ago that we learned more about diabetes that I really ever wanted to know. I have cried whined, made people shed a tear for our family. I really felt I should let you know how we have adjusted and how things are going. For some reason the worst part of life is the not knowing how long you have to endure something. Once you are through it, it doesn't seem as bad.

It started off Jackson would cry saying "Don't poke me mommy it hurts." As he would ball his little hands into fists and hide his fingers behind his back. One night as I snuck into his room while sleeping on his back, I must have startled him. Without waking up he slid his hands under his tiny body! I thought it would be months before it wouldn't be a fight.

I can tell you I am pleasantly surprised at how well he has adjusted and as long as I don't think about exactly what I am doing, it is easy as pie!

The other day Logan was calling Jackson down from the snack bar to play with him. Jackson in all seriousness said "Just a minute Logan, I need to get my poke first." And another time we sat down to eat and Jackson with a worried expression said "Wait! I need my poke." Just the words doesn't do this justice. His eyes were open wide with a very serious expression. Here is a little one who is not going to shirk his duties!

We now tell him we need to check and see how sweet he is so it is time for a poke. Starting a couple of days ago, we let him help pick the testing strips for the glucometer (not even sure if this is what it is called) and insert it in. We are letting him be a part of it and something we do together and who ever is interested can watch and learn. He puts in his strip which turns on the meter. We are teaching him to check and make sure that the number on the canister match the number that shows on the meter. Today for the first time, he helped me get the lancet (pokey thing) ready by putting in the tiny needle and twisting off the protective cover. I put the other part back on. He picks a finger...(side story, he held up his two pointer fingers and shook one and said this finger is happy, this finger is sad, so he chose the happy finger to get poked). After he has decided which finger I push the poker up to his finger. We sometimes count to 4 then today he actually pushed the button. Then with a smile he looks at me and smiles "It worked, it poked me mommy." Sometimes he even goes far enough to say "Look there is blood." As for shots we are working on that part. I still might run and hide even pretend to be upset, but as soon as it is over he has forgotten all about it.

He is such an amazing kid and cracks me up everyday. Being part of a big family makes it hard when so much time and energy is needed for one child. The other kiddos are taking it in stride. All of their teachers know, and have been very supportive by letting them talk about it. We are returning to normal and getting special moments with each of the kids. We had a great Monday, before really starting the new year, we had a day of fun and games, reading watching movies, pajamas until 3:00pm. It was so much fun. I am loving these kids, that they are old enough to play games with us, you know fun games!

Who knows what my future posts will tell, but Diabetes will not be our whole life, just a tiny little element that has settled in nicely!

A new language

2011-12-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

NovoLog, Lantus, lancets, Glucose, insulin...On Thursday our life took a turn, I won't say for the worst because I am already seeing so many great blessings come from it. Jackson our just shy of 3 years old was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It is the kind that will require insulin for th rest of his life! I blame it on Jeremy, if his family gets the choice of being in the majority or being on the least likely side, the latter is the route they go on. 90% of all diabetes cases are Type 2, and 10% are Type 1. Type 1 is insulin dependant, Type 2 can sometimes be regulated by diet alone and you can not change from Type 1 to Type 2.

Here is how we found out which I think is a small miracle myself. We were having a conversation with Bev, Jeremy's mom. We were complaining how Jackson would wet through a diaper in an hour, like running down his legs full! We would change him in the middle of the night and he would still wake up covered in pee, and sometimes when we changed him the first time too. She had also noticed that he was crying for water alot. I just thought he was holding it because of potty training and drinking more water due to the new water dispenser in the refridgerator door. She said "I know I tend to think the worst and worry too much, but these are symptoms of diabetes, you may want to have him checked." Later I found out as a teacher they train you to look for these sign so they can suggest to parents to get tested. Diabetes unchecked can be a very bad thing. So I emailed my doctor and she sent back a message rather quickly saying get him tested that day. That was a shock because I wasn't expecting her to act on it. So I didn't quite obey because I had no reason to believe there was anyting wrong with Jackson, most symptoms were reasonable with a terrible two/torturous three little boy. I went first thing the next morning (yes I got my non potty trained little boy to go in a cup!) Then we left for a playdate with a friend.

On my way home Jeremy called and asked where we were telling me he was at home FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, yipee! He had taken the afternoon off to take us all to lunch and a movie. When I got home I checked his lab results on line. There were two lines that were not right. The glucose where a normal range is 0-29 his was >1000, and ketones normal is 0-9 and his was 60. Not being a medical genious I googled and was even more shocked that we had been led correctly. I emailed the doctor asking for an explanantion. With in 15 minutes our fabulous pediatrician called and said we will be going to the hospital today for at least a blood test and one night stay. That Jackson looks to have Type 1 Diabetes, the rare one, of course I thought. My heart broke, this could not be happening! Over night stay could not mean they were still checking. She called a couple more times and told us she was talking to the Urgent pedi doctor on call, the pedi-endocrinologist and anyone else and coordinated our hospital stay so when we got there we went straight to the ER where I expected to stay for a bit. I guess the key word is diabetic, they take that stuff pretty serious, even though Jackson was not in duress or even symptomatic.

We got there at 4:30 and by 6:30 we were in our room, getting instructions and information that was almost foreign to me. I went and Jeremy took care of the rest of the kiddos. We were told the overnight stay was really to train us on how to care for Jackson, so I went since I would be the one with him most of the time.

All of the sudden my little spaz of a boy became a sick fragile little thing with one test result. He was a fantastic patient. We stayed two nights in the hospital and they helped to get us home on Christmas Eve at 7:30pm.

That night after putting him to bed Jeremy kindly suggested I take a shower (since I hadn't for three days! GROSS!) I finally had a moment to cry my heart out until it hurt. I do truly know and believe that great things will happen in our family. I know that he will be a normal little boy, and be able to live a normal life, but the thought of him having a "disease" that requires insulin for the rest of his life was difficult to comprehend. What if he decided he doesn't need it or fights it when he gets older and stronger then us. Just scary!

It was lousy timing, or so I thought. I will remember this Christmas for ever as a turning point in our lives. The next day was Christmas. Let me tell you the night before I wasn't feeling joy just sadness, especially when we had to stick him with a needle to test his sugars then give him his first does of insulin on our own. He really is a super cute and sweet little boy. Before going to bed I calculated the carbs in our traditional Christmas breakfast of bear claws and banana eggnog. Truly the diabetic breakfast of champions! It is a new life, and tomorrow it would begin.

And so it did. With the minor interuption of testing blood sugars, calculating what he ate, and giving a shot, we continued as normal (oh and showering before his insulin), it was a perfect morning. We got to attend Sacrament (our first church meeting of our Sunday Block). It was so fabulous to spend the morning thinking about our Savior. It was a morning of stories and music. I was near tears during every musical number, sometimes frustrated at Jackson's diagnosis. Then it hit me when one of the speaker said the Christ suffered for all of our sins. This wasn't a sin, but he suffered and felt all our pain, he felt our joy too. But it was the reminder the he felt what I was feeling. His gift to me was to not let me suffer alone. I love my Savior, I love that he loves me enough to comfort me in times of weakness, and to celebrate when I realize that he already knew and was waiting for this to happen and lift me up.

A little back story because this post is not long enough...I had prayed recently that Heavenly Father would help me be more consistent and really be able to function with clear thoughts. I had been so overwhelmed and living in the moment that I was forgetting commitments all the time. I needed to have meals ready on time so we could have some family time before bed. I needed this all to happen so the kids could get to bed on time and get there much needed rest. I needed time with Jeremy when I wasn't too tired to have a conversation. I am not sure Jeremy prayed for that but I do know he really hoped I would gain these characteristics. I expected a gentle learning experience, not an abrupt turn for the better. Because of this diagnosis, meal times are very important, I need to be on a good schedule so Jackson never gets into the low blood sugar zone, and regulate his blood sugar so it doesn't stay too high for too long. It will involve many things where I have to be organized. I know it wasn't just this prayer being answered (which I still adamantly insist I would have got there eventually...maybe with out such a dramatic answer) but that He wants me to grow and has something great instore for me and Jackson, and our family since this affects all of us.

So here's to the beginning of our new forever. Cheers!

My Grandpa

2011-11-15T19:36:00.001-08:00

Two summers ago we took a long road trip to Ohio to visit my mom and family. During that trip I drove a few hours to visit my grandpa Ron, my mom's dad. It was the first time in many years I got to see him and it will be the last. It was a visit I will treasure.

When I was about 4 my Mom and Dad separated. Then for a short month for me (so short I don't remember it) but one long month for my grandparents we lived in a trailer in their driveway. My memories all blend together but there are many things that blend together. And for memories sake I would like to jot them down. We loved to go visit them in their house on the hill. They had some property and in the back was an acre or so that they had to mow and maintain which required the coolest ride on lawn mower! Me and my sisters would sit out in the garage when we would visit and pretend that we actually knew how to drive. They would also go to Pismo Beach. I only remember one trip and I remember lots of sand. My grandparents had a couple quads, what they called a rail runner (?). On the way home one of the families flipped their trailer, so we pulled over on the side of the road waiting for emergency vehicles (no injuries!0 and we ate left over turkey sandwiches (it must have been around Thanksgiving) and the sandwiches were well sandy! My grandma and grandpa separated close to this time. The things I remember about my grandpa were all in my early years. I definitely remember his gold El Camino with grapes on the door to represent the Napa based construction company that he co-owned. I remember going to his house with my grandma Debby, his second wife, in Benicia where he tried to fight the city about the parking right at the 680/780 interchange and that it was an eyesore. He was very passionate about what irked him. He is the one that introduced me to the Yule log burning on TV. Wow that was cool. I know I had more interaction with him than what I can remember but those memories are locked up tight.

What I know of him is that he was a gruff man, and could be a little intimidating. He was not mean, he just spoke his mind. I can honestly say that you would never doubt how he felt. One of his characteristics that we have named is the Hill glare. It is a stare of intimidation and one with a raised eyebrow. While he gets the credit, I am sure every parent who holds any authority, has the same stern look.

When we went to visit him, it was just me and the kids. He did get to meet all 6 of them and for that I am grateful, even if Jackson and Lauren were too young to remember. I knew him best as a man from California so I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he fit in and loved the country life. I shouldn't have doubted since that is where he was born. He just returned to his roots. He lived on a hill, come to think of it all three houses that I can remember him in were on a hill, which happens to be his last name! He got pizza for all of us. I loved watching him interact with the kids. His personality was still gruff, but the years had softened him. It was a sweet surprise to see him be gentle with the kids. He took several trips on his little buggy to show off his property. It was neat when he took me and Jackson back there. He was very proud of his land.

One thing that I will remember is to see the devotion to his wife. I have no doubt that he loved Grandma Debby. He showed me this area in the woods that was hard to get to, but he pointed out how Debby loved that area especially because of the butterflies. He said it inspired her to paint. He was proud of her. They were a perfect match for each other.

When Grandpa took them on a ride, they picked flowers for Grandma Debby.

I am sad that he is gone, sad for my mom as well as her brother and sister who have lost their father. I am sad for Debby who has lost her husband and best friend. I am at peace with the fact that he is in pain no longer. I am also grateful for the knowledge of eternal families. I love the idea that it is a temporary good-bye and I know I will get to see him again. In the meantime, whenever I look at my feet and laugh because they are exactly a half size difference, I will remember comparing feet with him on his porch and having him tell me that I got that from him! So thank you, Grandpa for passing that on to me! God be with you til we meet again. I love you Grandpa!

Jackson was pulling on Grandpa's extra skin. It made Grandpa laugh!

Not a proud mommy moment!

2011-11-06T23:33:00.000-08:00

On Halloween I had the glorious opportunity to chaperone 3 darling 1st graders to the San Francisco Zoo. It was a lot of fun and the day was perfect. It didn't start out that way. In order for me to go on this trip I did some babysitting so I could swap and Jeremy wouldn't have to take the time off of work or worse I wouldn't be able to go! Let me tell you getting 6 kids ready for the day including lunches and the other things was stressful. We get ready and things are going smoothly although I am panicking because I am dropping off two kids and picking one up. It is always more stressful getting other children to school on time and not just your own. So we get everyone in the car as I start loosing my cool because my keys were not where I left them two days prior! To say I threw a full on fit would be an understatement! I recall throwing things and when the yelling started Jeremy started looking as well. I could not find them anywhere. The sad part is that we live a few houses away from the school. And the sitter lives easy walking distance as well. But I had to drop the 2 little ones off and a carseat. If I had planned on walking we could have done it had I know 15 minutes earlier! I couldn't even find the spare key! I then started yelling at the kids to help and they got out of the car. Then I told them to get back in the car. I looked some more. At this point Jeremy offered to let me use his key, but I was too mad, proud, stubborn...to accept, besides I didn't want to hear him say a word about how I am always loosing stuff especially my keys! Finally I decided we would just walk and be super late. I told the kids to grab the booster out. I could just imagine the yelling I would have to do to get Lauren and Jackson to walk FAST so we could attempt to get there on time. Then I threw the booster seat down and yelled "Dammit!" and ran back inside for one last check for the spare key, which happened to be in it's rightful place. (That is how Jeremy places everything...where it SHOULD go!)

We got in the car and made the swap and ran into the school. I had at least 1.5 minutes until the teacher walked us in. Yes we made it on time and my blood was still boiling. I know where I left my keys and they were not there. So what if it was on the piano where they do not belong. I know where I left them. That day after school I bribed the kids with a slice of cake to find my keys. Logan found them under the roboquad. I totally forgot I had hid under the end table and tried to use my car keys to turn on the silly robotic toy! Oh wait it wasn't me it was one of the dynamic duo who stared at my doe-eyed while I continued to be so uncool as a parent!

And the real reason why I am writing this post. Tonight at scripture study we were reading and something happened and I said "dang it or should I say darn it?" And Jeremy quickly responded "Well either one is a lot better than what we heard you say the other day!" And Miranda said "That is the first time I have heard you swear! Have you ever used a swear word before?" Wow hello humility! Then Logan pipes in "Yeah I remember, get in the car, get out of the car, get back in the car, out of the car!" Jeremy said "I figured I had to wait a few days before I could tease you about that." Then I asked "You heard that?" to which he responded "I think everyone heard that!" then we talked a little bit more and Logan piped in "Get in the car!" Oh man was I embarrassed. Luckily we were all laughing at my expense. I try to watch my temper because it can be bad and I have done a pretty decent job to never let it get that bad, it was not pretty or admirable or anything remotely close to keeping the spirit close to me.

As I was kissing the kids goodnight, I asked Logan "I know you remember that moment and it wasn't pretty, but can you think of a good moment where you were so glad I was your mom?" The best he came up with was "when you cook for me" It wasn't what I was looking for. I wanted a specific memory, something that confirmed when he grows into a man that he won't look back at his childhood and remember that ugly mother who visited for a brief moment. I wanted to hear that he remembered a time when we laughed or when I talked to him after he cried. Or a moment when he was hurt and I was the one that was there form him. Later Jeremy said that he is a boy, we don't think that sentimental. I am satisfied with that, only because I know the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach! I then asked Miranda and was a little unsatisfied when she answered "Your birthday, my birthday,...." Then I asked for a specific moment, and it took her a second but she responded "When we went out to frozen yogurt." It was a good night and a good memory. It was nice to hear her say that, but at the same time I am truly humbled and know how important it is to ALWAYS be a good example, because it is that one time that they will remember.

Had I been smart enough I would have said it was my Halloween costume, I was acting like a witch, I just hadn't put on the green make-up yet! Here's hoping I won't have to worry about a repeat appearance!

Really? Did That Just Happen?

2011-11-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

Be grateful there are no photos!

Jeremy is starting his second Mission Prep class tonight and this is how it went down while he was out. Jackson fell asleep crying because I was making him pick up 1 mess. Even though his siblings clean up after him EVERY SINGLE DAY! (SIDE NOTE: Is it too much to ask a 2.75 year old to pick up little blocks and put them in the bucket that they are all surrounding?) When he was awakened he wouldn't stop crying, so I held him to calm him down. I told the rest of the kids to brush teeth and go potty then we would read scriptures. All easy-peasy right? Not tonight! Logan apparently was afraid to use our bathroom because of some creepy noise, thank you Halloween! So when he went to use the kids bathroom, Miranda quickly got on the potty, isn't she clever? Logan being 110% inventive boy decides to sit on Jackson's training potty, har-har! Well apparently it is hilarious, which we do encourage laughter. I wish it ended there. Miranda was laughing so hard that she started coughing. If you know Miranda at all you know the girl could pretty much throw up on command. One thing that makes it easy is when she is coughing. Low and behold, she threw up. Again she is a regular so not a big deal, she knows how to clean herself up (but doesn't need to because she ~~always~~...usually makes it to the potty). This time it was in the sink of our long galley style bathroom. Unfortunately Logan has a weak sauce stomach, but was trapped between a wall and a stinky throw-up. I think his thought process went subtly like this "I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE PRONTO!"and proceeded to drop his shoulder like he was pushing through the offensive line in a football game. Unfortunately the gagging got the best of him. He on the other hand never throws up and when he does it rocks his world. He made it almost to the door. Because they were goofing off I said they had to clean it up. Then Logan proceeds to dry heave. If you have ever been near a male when they are tossing their cookies, you know that just their stomach contents is not enough, they go for all of their internal organs with the most forceful upchuck noise possible. The third gag, ended in results, luckily he was at the toilet. Unluckily he hadn't lifted the lid! Miranda, bless her sweet little heart, was talking so nice to him to calm him down and even cleaned up the seat. I sent them all to bed (after re brushing their teeth of course). Lauren was stuck between the dirty toilet seat and the pile on the floor, crying expressing her fear in being stuck between...well you get the idea. She was able to escape and head to bed. I cleaned up the floor and made sure the toilet seat was clean, then a thought crossed my mind which truly shocked me. Not one time was I completely mad at Jeremy for not being here, that is unusual for me when I am cleaning throw up, and he is not. Maybe I am more mature now that I am 34! Nope! I just wrote a blog post about throw up!

Oh and I hope you don't mind all the words and no pictures, I was only thinking of you sweet reader, when I did not put them in!

I hear it's your birthday

2011-09-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

Ok not yours, but mine. Yes I am officially one year older and wiser too! Jeremy took the day off and we lounged around the house. I then got to work in Logan's classroom while Jeremy did the Costco shopping with the four little ones, I know he is amazing! After that a good friend showed up with goodies in her hand. After welcoming her in and talking for a minute, Jeremy says "I haven't told her." She was there to watch our kids so we could go out to lunch, eat SLOW and TASTE the food. It was really nice, I am grateful for such a wonderful friend. Then we hung out and Jeremy cooked me dinner, Tri-Tip and baked potatoes. Then I made dessert, Apple Turnovers, those were almost as good as the Tri-Tip. While things were cooking I got to open my presents.

Jeremy decided to switch things up this year. He handed the kids a baseball cap with slips of paper in them. I got to pick out a paper, one at a time. As I quickly found out, the slips of paper held the clue/location of each of my gifts. There was a gift hidden in the bathroom, our bedroom, mixed in with jeremy's GRAPHIC NOVELS aka comic books, my china cabinet and a few others. It was a fun way to receive gifts. The kids and I enjoyed running around the house to locate my treasures. I felt extremely spoiled.

Thank you to the man who takes care of us, even though his plate is jam packed with responsibility. We are still number one to him and he spoils me even when I am a little less than deserving. Thank you for all you do and thanks for the fabulous gifts. I love every single one!

Young Women's Camp

2011-08-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Last November Jeremy and I were asked to attend girls camp. By January it was decided that I would be the Level 2 leader. Jeremy was called as the Priesthood leader at camp. It was a big job, he was great at it as always yadda yadda yadda, but since this is my blog I will share my experience. Our theme was Quest for the Best: Seeking after Gems of Truth and Righteousness.

I was terribly nervous as I hadn't been to girls camp before, ever! I had no idea what to expect, and to top it off, one of the girls was really sad that the previous Level 2 leader was not coming this year. I did lots of google-ing and asking of questions. I knew it would be a great experience and it did not disappoint.

I spent many hours trying to be creative and worrying about bribing these girls of their affection. Much did I learn about that too. They just wanted to be acknowledged, known and valued. They enjoyed the fun stuff but they enjoyed when I took the time to get to know them.

When I got my list in May, I looked over the names and of the 12 (later 13) girls I knew 2. One is my good friend's niece and the other, I hadn't seen since she was7. It just dawned on me that she is in YW's haha! We drove up on a Monday and got there about 11:00am. It was so wonderful to be in such a beautiful place (I will not lie from the beginning I knew I would be dirty the WHOLE time between the dirt and the REPEL bug spray). The trees were gorgeous and camp sits right on a beautiful little lake. One of my favorite times was chapel in the morning. At 7:30am we met lakeside and had personal scripture study, the view was breathtaking. I do think anywhere there are trees and water I will feel at peace.

I was extremely nervous to lead these strangers who throughout my planning I started calling "my girls" just like my mom affectionately referred to me and my two sisters. They came up to our designated camp to lay stuff out and it was a little less then easy going. Most girls slept in one central location, 2 girls slept off to the side, quite a bit away. Making them a little excluded during the night time chatter. One of the other issues was that there seemed to be two groups of girls. The second group wanted to stay all together and though the sleeping was a little uncomfortable they stayed together. The second day my goal was to try and bridge the gap.

That first night for our fireside they did a faith walk. It was so amazing! They had the girls blindfolded and asked them to follow a ropes course. It started out with a sweet sister giving them loving advice reminding them they are daughters of God and they needed to simply hold to the rod and they will not go astray. They had to turn corners, step over rocks, there were temptations along the way. People trying to deceive them, tricking them with candy, even offering them a false rope. It was quite the journey but not one single one of my girls ever fell for it. I would like to say that they are all spiritual giants (which they are pretty amazing) but it was mostly because they stayed close. What a great message. When you surround yourself with people that have similar standards, beliefs and a common goal it is easier to stay on the straight and narrow. Because they were so bunched up, they heard what was coming and new they weren't going for it. When they reached the end of the journey they were welcomed by many people who loved them all dressed in white, hugs and joy was felt by all. It was a reverent place. The girls finished by walking up to the "tree of knowledge" and picked a "white fruit" bead representing the pure love of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. So cool and what a way to set the tone for our week at Girl's Camp!

The next day we did all the things you normally do, attempted many certifications, dirty duties (bathrooms and dinner clean-up for us). We made lake water Top Ramen over a fire that the girls built. I got a little more comfortable with the girls but spent a lot of the day just observing them. I am so grateful for these youth. I couldn't help but think of the future when Miranda heads to girl's camp. My Level 2 girls will be her YCL1 (Youth Camp Leader first year) when she is in her 2nd year at camp. I will not be disappointed! That night two of our girls went home sick. I was so sad and kicked myself for not seeing them before they left. I do hope that even though they were there only about 24 hours, I thought of them often through out the rest of the week!

The third day was our hike. I started the day with scripture study. I came across a scripture and little did I know it would come in handy that day. 1 Nephi 16:29 (And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.)While I wouldn't say the hike is hard by any means, it is trying. It isn't like a hike you normally would do on a family walk. There are steep parts and beautiful views...and blisters and lack of water...not to mention elements out of our control. I am a person with little patience. My mentality is even if you don't like it do it anyways. I am that way with my children, but knew it wouldn't fly in this situation. We hiked up and up and up. (you can see the breathtaking view in the video). We came back down and were ready to hike around the lake. We started out bushwhacking our way around the shore of the lake. It didn't take too long to realize the snow melt was so high we wouldn't be able to make the scheduled hike. One of my favorite moments was watching the girls hold branches and hands helping each other, making the next girl's journey a little easier. We ended up heading back. When we reached the point where we originally met up with the lake, girls were upset, some just wanted to go home (camp), some had lots of blisters, others were disappointed that we weren't going on the scheduled hike and still some were getting frustrated that they were out of water. (Had I been experienced this is when I would have pulled out the iodine tablets that I had to check off water purification certification, but lesson learned!) We started heading back and our priesthood leader took us up the trail a little ways, it was the way we would come down if we had been able to trek around the lake. There was an incident that happened. I was shocked, disappointed and hurt. I didn't know how to deal with this but it really was more than I could handle. I tried to bite my tongue with tears streaming down my face. I prayed for the right words or at least get my emotions is check. Then I let it go. I didn't yell but I told the girls several things but the biggest point was that we are in a beautiful place away from the world, close to our Father in Heaven. So many people sacrificed a week of their time for these girls and they all had a choice. They could find the bad and be miserable or choose to seek the good in all that was surrounding them. (The days theme was "Choice and Accountability too how fitting huh?) It was embarrassing for me and humbling as I went around and apologized to all of them for my outburst. What surprised me was when I heard them say, don't apologize, we needed to hear it. I honestly didn't feel I did what I should have done, I felt far from Christ like in my approach. But it really changed how I interacted with the girls. It was like I became more human and more approachable. This night the two girls by them selves joined the rest of the group. My heart was full as I thanked Heavenly Father. It was only through Him that it happened.

The fourth day I made it to the crafts area and actually did some crafts. I noticed friendships growing and diffferent pairings. I really got to know the girls, their personalities, which most of them are spunky and fun, even the quiet ones. This night we had a group skit. Of course my impatience got the best of me, when the girls wanted to hurry up and go do "fun things." So I threw my hands up and said I was done and they would have to come up with what they were doing. I was humbled again, when they were superb! They came up with their skit all on their own, they were hilarious and fun. I was very proud when people came up to me complimenting on what I had helped the girls achieve, they were even more pleasantly surprised when I told them it had nothing to do with me. I have a completely hands on bossy personality. When I threw my hands up and let them take over, they really shined. Again a great reminder, I didn't need to tell them what to do, I just needed to let them be the beautiful daughter Heavenly Father created. What Gems! That night the other group of girls split up and some came over and slept by me. One girl in particular spent some time telling me more about herself. This was one of my favorite nights. I fell asleep to the girls chattering about all kinds of stuff. Some of it caused me to laugh out loud and wish I was young again. And then I went to sleep, I slept like a rock, which speaks a lot when you are sleeping under the stars with the constant bear warnings.

Our last full day approached I wish I had more pictures of this day. We spent the morning doing dirty duties, then tryouts for the talent show, lunch and then a service project for the camp. At this point I was wiped out and exhausted. Besides the tears I felt like all I did was boss the girls around taking them away from their "free time." We had our water fest it was a team expereince, and it is a story and a half. But needless to say I learned from camp that I have thick skin so the mosquitoes don't really care for me, unfortunately I wear my emotions on the outside of them.

I really hope I have many more years of camp experiences in my future. I was surrounded by so many great leaders and future leaders. I learned so much just being in their presence. I have a fear of Junior High and High School for my children. I learned that these people love the youth so very much, it is FOR REAL! My children will be surrounded by the most wonderful bubble of love and support, people who encourage them to follow close to the Savior, to seek after those things that will make them happy by serving our Savior, as well as confirm that each and everyone of them is a special and unique gem in the sight of their Heavenly Father. As much as I hoped to touch these girls lives, they touched mine more. I learned so much being in their presence. And by the end felt a tinge of jealousy that they were able to have such an experience as a youth.

I do have a testimony of our Father in Heaven. I know at those times when we feel we are failing Him, He will help us grow and He will use each one of us to help others. I know with all my imperfections He loves me and I am valuable in His sight. As long as I am willing to serve Him and let His light shine through me, He will continue to bless me. The best blessings are experiences like these that I will treasure forever!

As a reward for reading this LOONNGG post I have attached my video montage of pictures from camp. If any of "My Girls" read this. I love you and you will always have a special place in my heart. Each and everyone of you, Level 2s, YCL1s and especially my Assitant, boy I learned alot from her too!

Summer Fun

2011-07-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

This summer we have been busy having fun with lots of new things for us. The biggest is supporting Miranda on swim team. Last summer she taught herself how to swim, it wasn't fancy, but she could get across the pool and jump off the diving board with her friends. We thought swim team would be great for her. She has done an amazing job. She went to practice on many days in the rain without complaint. She has loved almost every minute of it.

Our very first swim meet it was a torentual down pour THE WHOLE TIME! She has conintued to improve her time at each meet. Her very last meet she was not feeling well at all. She was not her normal joyful self but she participated and even "popped" her time in her butterfly. She is so fun to watch swim because she is smiling the whole time!

At time trials we stood at the end of the pool cheering her on and one of the other moms told me to cheer louder her. I couldn't cheer at all because I was on the verge of bawling! I was so grateful for the dark glasses I was wearing so no one could see I was such a crybaby. (In my defense Jeremy got a little misty eyed the first time he watched her race too.) There was my baby girl competing in something for the first time and hearing people cheer for her...my heart was full!

She had her pictures done recently and I am afraid to brag about her, but she is a beauty!

And her fabulous team:

It has been such a great experience that I hope next year we can get at least the four oldest and maybe even Lauren to participate. I love watching these itty bitty kids jump in the water with hands and feet facing the water!

I did it, I made Fondant!

2011-04-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

We had a ward birthday party and I loved the opportunity to make a cake. I am by no means an expert but it is a hobby that I do enjoy. I chose the month of September. It is a month that is the least theme-ish. I chose a back to school theme. I decided to try out a rainbow cake and fondant. I have always been intimidated by the beautiful look of fondant that I never tried it. After a day of baking and about 2 hours of making and using the fondant, I learned a lot. This is the finished product.

There is a great tutorial series on fondant so you can learn too! Here is a link to one post but there are several!

Deeper thinking...

2011-04-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Remember this post about prayer? Well I have been thinking about how effective prayer is and I was thinking about the incident with the parking meter. I was thinking about how I only had a nickel and I needed more, but it was all I had to give. Then the though of repentance came to mind. We all make mistakes and wish we could erase what we have done, and sometimes we alone can not undo the problems we have caused. When I was baptised several years ago the story about the little boy who wanted to buy a bicycle was shared. The boy saves up to buy a bike and he works hard and ends up with a rather pathetic pile of change. As he goes to buy his bike and pours his collection on the counterm, it would never amount to enough, but his loving parent decides he really put forth everything he had and paid for the difference. And so it is with our Savior.

So going back to my experience, I was reminded that I needed more than I had when I went to Martinez to get a copy of Lauren's birth certificate. All I had was one little nickel which is about enough to get the kids out of the car. Wouldn't you know that the Lord provided the difference! It was like my own little repentance experience. I was doing something good, it was needed, but I hadn't prepared. I did scour the car, if that counts as doing all I could in my situation, which isn't much, but it was all I had to give.

I know He loves each and everyone of His children and only wants what is best. Sometimes we can give 80% and sometimes it is all we have to scrape up that little 1% but he doesn't quantify what we need to do, we just need to give Him all we can, show we are trying.

Hopefully it makes sense because it was a light bulb for me. I hope you have a fantastic day and know, no matter what life throws your way, you always have His strength to get you through!

Our happenings

2011-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking that I will get to post about all these fabulous things that have happened but I have been so sidetracked, with all these things that aren't as fabulous!

Miranda took part in her first science fair and took 5th place out of the whole 4th grade! She is a smarty tarty!

Miranda, Haylie and Hannah all learned to ride bikes with the persistence and patience of a good friend! Yeah for them!

Our computer had a drive crash, now I am working from scratch until I get my address book off the old computer!

I ran over Hannah's bike, then I put on facebook I needed a new rim. Within and hour I had another 16" bike for Hannah to ride! I love Facebook!

I lost my diamond from my wedding ring, then found it!

I got to visit a friend in San Diego for the weekend to celebrate the arrival of her little girl. Boy was it fun and such a long desired trip! Can't wait to do it again. I was shocked that 7.5 hours in a car with friends who know all my stories still didn't get old and the drive went by fast! BOTH WAYS!

Jackson took a faceplant and caused a gruesomely bloody nose, two fat lips (top and bottom) scraped chin, upper lip and nose. The stroller got caught on the lip of the curb and Hannah kept pushing. If there wasn't so much blood, it probably would have been comical as Hannah fell on top of the stroller that contained Jackson, who was not even awake from the nap that I rudely woke him up from.

Two days later he tripped over a friends foot, caused his nose to bleed a itty bitty bit and scaped his forehead. He looked real cute for a couple days! But my resourceful two year old solved the bloody problem by sticking a round Trix up his nose. Luckily I was able to get it down with out a trip to the Dr. He came around the corner and pointed to his nose saying "Mommy, it stuck."

This is not the best picture, but trust me it was bad!

He is talking so much and showing signs that he is ready to potty train (which I firmly believe is the worst part of rearing toddlers!). He came up to me and said "Mommy, I stink!"

We hiked a little on Mt. Diablo. It is one of our favorite family activities.

We have only two more birthdays to celebrate until October as far as our immediate family is concerned. Lauren and Jeremy.

Lauren is maturing into a sweet girl. I just adore watching her. She is quick to tattle on Jackson. What she omits is that he learned it from watching her. He mimics everything! She is three and everyday she asks "Is it my birthday party? Is that my cake for my birthday party? I am going to be 4 at my birthday party today!" Jackson ressponds by singing Happy Birthday to her. I guess that is what happens when we celebrate birthdays every month!

Lauren spells her name, but says it with such self assurance, it is so funny.

Haylie and Hannah still enjoy ballet. They love it so much that Haylie now wants to be a ballet teacher when she grows up. Logan is enjoying cub scouts, and Miranda continues to enjoy Acheivement days (kind of like Pioneer girls or girls couts...sort of) with our church.

Life is busy but I wouldn't change it and we still manage to have good family moments. This past friday we did pizza and a movie. I won't name names but some people really enjoyed Camp Rock 2. After dinner, Jeremy surprised all of us with Drumsticks with SPRINKLES. Boy were the kids excited. I wish I had a video camera showing Jackson's response. He was so giddy! Then I wish I would have taken a picture of Lauren's Chocolate go-tee and the puddle of ice cream that was on Jackson's fist as he gripped that cone so tightly! Oh and a picture of Jeremy's face when he realized the mess we would have to clean up!

I ran a whole three miles in the rain! When I say ran please know it is the loosest sense of the word. It was almost my slowest 5k. But there is always room for improvemnt. Now I know I can do it, I just need to step it up...faster! I am starting the real training for my little Tri-Sprint in September.

So these are the highlights in a nut shell! Memories I don't want to forget!

Prayer Works!

2011-03-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

I have been slowly working on my personal progress which is a program for the young women at church, ages 12-18. As Relief Society sisters (18+) we have been invited to participate as well. The first value is faith. With each value you need to complete 6 experiences and 1 project. The first experience was to read some specific scriptures and prayer regularly in the morning and at night for 30 days then share your experience.

So I have been doing that. I have surpassed the 30 days and immediately got a little lazy. I noticed when I stopped talking with the Lord I got a little out of sync and more sensitive, emotional and depressed. During this time I went to Martinez to get a copy of Lauren's birth certificate. When I got there all BOTH of the free parking spaces were taken. So I had to use a metered space. I searched the car and came up with a nickel. I had just purged the coinage the day before paying late library fees. I knew a nickel gets you about no time on a parking meter. So I prayed that it would work out. In the grand scheme, it isn't that far of a drive and could be done another time. I decided I could put in my nickel then run in and at least get it processed, drive around and hope I see some one pull away. I got the two kids out of the car got them all strapped in the stroller, then was about to put my nickel in when the car in front of me pulled away. He had about 11 minutes left on his meter. So I left the kids on the sidewalk and pulled up the space and added my nickel to it. Then I was pretty much going to follow the same plan. I put in my paper work and figured I would wait for about 8 minutes, I got called right away and was back to the car with 1 minute left on the meter! How is that for a blessing?

Fast forward to today, I have realized that one important thing about prayer is communication. Heavenly Father wants us to talk to him and he wants us to want to talk to him. Just like we want our children to come and talk to us, we want to know what is going on in their lives and we want them to want to talk to us. Huge revelation that prayer is important!

This morning I was getting out of the shower and my ring caught on my towel. I didn't think anything of it, until it caught on my shirt as I was getting dressed. I looked at my ring to see if a prong was sticking up and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. My diamond was gone. I had already been to exercise, in the car, put away dishes, brushed my teeth, thrown stuff in the garbage, not to mention shower with the big drain, you know how that works! I was so sad, it isn't something we keep money for, but I also knew it was just a symbol, it was not life threatening, and it was replaceable. I looked around the house and decided to head to the church like a friend had suggested (that is where we exercise in the morning). I sent her a text and she said "I will be right there!"

On the way to the church I sent up a little prayer and said that if it is His will please help me find that diamond. Then the doubt crept in and I really felt why would this happen for me? Then I countered that thought with "remember the parking meter? He cares about the small and simple things too." We got to the church and my friend went on the stage to turn on the lights. I walked in the gym and decided to start where I put my mat, which is in the same place everyday on a specific line of the basket ball court. Sure enough, my diamond was right there. We found it! I could not believe it, not only did I feel so blessed but I felt so humble because I doubted when I made such a silly request to our Heavenly Father.

As I was sharing the little prayer I had plead on the way to the church, my friend said "It may seem little but He knows it is important to you!" That is the key. I can't tell you much I feel His hand in my life. I can tell you though that I have no doubt prayer works, He is waiting for us to talk to him about the things that are important to us.

Just not good enough...

2011-02-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

WARNING: This is a RANT post but the end there is a good message!

To say the month of February has been an emotional roller coaster is an understatement. If there is a message that has been sent to me over and over it is that I am not good enough. I am not a good enough mom, a good enough wife, friend, sister, church member, athlete, I am not skinny enough, pretty enough, dynamic enough... I just simply am not good enough. There have been highlights like Valentine's Day, my little twingles turning 6, I have had some successes like moderately good looking cookies, some decent craft projects etc. But I can tear each of those apart. The crafting is probably my saving grace, it is the thing that I feel I have value. Then in looking into my calling I came across a talk by Sister Julie B. Beck. She talks about prioritizing. She talks of the necessities like reading the scriptures, prayer, those things that are necessary for you to return to live with Heavenly Father. Then she talks of the needs, like eating, sleeping and much to my dismay cleaning. I would have scoffed at the last but she said something along the lines of your home is like your temple everyday, if it is dirty and chaotic, how can you feel the spirit? Which hit home, I look around and there are piles everywhere, and it puts me in a terrible mood, I can't think and I don't want to deal with any of it! Then she talked about my favorite, the portion where I spend about 95% of my time. The "Fun-To-Do" part. They are good things, but not when they take up your time, and replace the things that are on the other two lists. It is the part that I hang on to the most because it is what I want to be, it is where life focuses on me!

So as I was laying in bed this morning, having a pity party for one, not wanting to get up for the day and cursing just about everybody and everything and repeating my February theme that I am not good enough, I was reminded I am not supposed to be! I am not supposed to be good enough, I am supposed to be lacking and I am supposed to turn to our Savior to make up where I lack. It is only through him that I can ever truly be good enough at anything. In all honestly it is not comforting, but I know that it is OK to not be good enough as long as I am leaning on the Savior. I have so much to work on when it comes to priorities. As weird as it sounds I also know that when I take are of the first two categories I will have plenty of time to do the things in the last category.

I was reminded of this verse found in Matthew Chapter 11

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Life is all about learning, growing and reshaping, it is not always perfect, but I do know it is worth it and that is what I tell myself on those days when I want to climb in a hole and never come out. I am thankful for those around me that love me despite my imperfections or maybe because of them. I am thankful for a Savior who is willing to put in the .99 cents when all I have is a penny to make that dollar. What a perfect plan.

P.S. My theme song for February "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" was the practice hymn in Relief Society on Sunday, at a moment when I was in a particularly bad mood!

Happy Love Day!

2011-02-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I spent a fabulous night away last month in an early celebration of Valentine's Day. So yesterday we focused our love on the family. We had a great potluck at the church. There were over 30 kids on bikes, scooters and other various items with wheels, including two Plasma Cars

Had I got it together in time we would have had a Mom vs. Mom race, but I was too late in processing that idea. I look forward to next time.

We came home and I started our dinner. The two things that mean the most to Jeremy are a clean house and dinner ready on the table when he gets home at 6:00 (or 6:15...maybe 6:30). The main reason is that if this is done he gets to actually spend time with the kids which doesn't involve him getting on the kids to clean, and if dinner is at 7:00 there is no family fun time, just dinner pajamas, scriptures and good night.

So that was my goal, of which I didn't REALLY achieve any but I was OH so close. On our menu was heart shaped raviolis with homemade pink Alfredo sauce, broccoli and cheese casserole, home made dinner rolls and a cottage cheese and Jell-o salad. For dessert I made caramel popcorn then covered it in chocolate. It was pretty much DELICIOUS!

We used the fancy dishes, fancy goblets and even some fresh flowers from our neighbor's garden. The kids really felt special using the "grown-up" dishes. We ended the night with family night, scripture study and the meanest gift ever! We gave the kids each a box of See's candy, then made them give it back unopened so they could go to bed. Isn't being a parent delightful?

As we were sitting eating dinner I couldn't help but feel so blessed and loved. I looked across the table and my heart was full of gratitude, without the man at the other end this would not be possible. I love you Jeremy, not because the calendar tells me that I have to but because you have given me an awesome life everyday of the year!

To List Follow-up

2011-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the results of my To-Do list:
1: Get off the computer: (Please note, cleaning off the computer desk was NOT on my to do list!)

2, 4, 6, 10: Do dishes, I did not take a picture every time, but trust me when I say I did a TON of dishes yesterday...and I didn't even cook dinner!)

3: I did bake over 12 dozen sugar cookies that I will frost tonight after the kids go to bed.

Unfortunately I got a little sidetracked with one batch and they got a little too crispy, I guess "that's the way the cookie crumbles!" name that movie!

4: This is Miranda scooping the 3rd batch of cookies. She did make all the dough, and I cleaned up all the dishes. The cookies and write-up is complete. I will carry over the poster board completion for today's to-do list!

7: The dessert for Logan was using Vanilla wafers and some dark chocolate and mint chocolate chips. We melted the chocolate chips and dipped the wafers in them. They were like home made grasshoppers or Girl Scout Thin Mints. Delicious. This showed resourcefulness "because we melted chocolate and dipped the vanilla wafers" according to Logan.

8: As for the centerpiece showing resourcefulness, we were told to use something that they made. Well Logan loves putting together Legos so we brought one of his Lego Ships. It was from a kit, but he has made some pretty fabulous things from his own imagination. Logan is also a pretty fabulous artist remember this he was 4 when he drew it!

9: I sewed on one patch and Logan earned another, so I guess it washes and will continue to be on my to-do list!

12: Jeremy was able to find Logan's scout book, as it turned out we had done it all already and I just needed to sign it off. Logan now knows the scout motto, theme, sign, what WeBeLOS means, and a few additional things pertaining to scouts. So here is Logan with his Bobcat patch! Way to go Logan. He did his "good turn" before leaving by helping clean up while other kids were playing. He turned his patch right side up!

16: The kids did eat lunch and it was actually soup, rolls, fruit, and I think candy.

It was a busy day, I had to count to ten several times to not blow my top, which I did, right before Jeremy walked in the door. He came home from work an hour early just to help me. That was an AWESOME surprise! Then I had to apologize to Logan for loosing patience with him. I am so grateful he loves me.

All in all it was a good day, and this day is looking good too!

Today's To Do List

2011-02-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Get off the computer!
Do dishes from last night's birthday party.
Make a mess in the kitchen by baking 11 dozen valentine cookies to frost tomorrow (Who ever thought six kids was a good idea followed by the need to make something homemade for each child to pass out in their classroom?)
Do dishes!
Help Miranda make 4 batches of cookies for her science fair project.
Do Dishes!
Help Logan make a dessert that shows resourcefulness for tonight's Blue and Gold for scouting.
Make a center piece...I mena Logan Make a center piece for above mentioned activity.
Sew Logan's patches on scout shirt for the above mentioned activity.
Do Dishes!
Help Miranda with her Science fair display board (due Wednesday for display on Thursday!)
Find Logan's scout book so I can work with Logan on the Bobcat path.
Learn what it actually means to finish the Bobcat path.
Make a Huge list for tomorrow as I plan for the school carnival meeting on Thursday.
Make lists for grocery shopping.
Feed some kids...chocolate chips and marshmallows?
Sleep..nah! Maybe I will put that on tomorrow's list!

I'm Trying

2011-01-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have said the canned phrase I am not perfect on this blog so many times but I know that and don't pretend to think perfection is an attribute I possess. With that being said I have been struggling with a particular person. I truly believe it is personality clashing. This person is not bad just I do not respond well to this person. So anyways a situation happened brought tears to Tuesday and plain spiteful anger to Wednesday. Then the following event occurred Wednesday night:

I am not sure why but Jackson loves me to sing him to sleep. OK I know it isn't that he loves me to sing, he just loves that I fall for it and he gets to stay up later. That is the bonus of being the baby of the family, I want to treat him like a baby far longer than I should. Tonight as I was standing next to our piano that usually sits very lonely against our wall, I was flipping through Our Children's Song book that we use at church. I was trying to broaden my song selection. I came across the song "I'm trying to be like Jesus" (click that link to hear the music)

Here are the Lyrics:
I'm trying to be like Jesus,
I'm following in his ways
I'm trying to love like he did
In all that I do and say
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice
But I try to listen to the still small voice whisper
Chorus
Love one another as Jesus loves you
Try to show kindness in all that you do
Be gentle and caring in deed and in thought
for these are the things Jesus taught
Verse
I'm trying to love my neighbor
I'm learning to serve my friends
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus returns again
I try to remember the lessons he taught
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts saying

Chorus

It was one of those moments that kind of take the wind out of your sails. I have known this song for a long time but it isn't one we sing all the time, but man was it perfect. I love the children's songs. They are simple and straight forward, right to the point. And usually if you are an adult they hit you on the head like a hammer.

With all my frustrations and straight venomous anger, I forgot my purpose. I was definitely not being gentle and caring in THOUGHT and in deed. It felt awful, and honestly if I would have come across that song Tues, I probably wouldn't have paid attention.

In any situation, it really can turn out as good or bad as you allow your self to think it is. Life is not perfect and can be down right painful at times, but choosing to make the most of it can keep your head afloat. So my renewed commitment is to keep this song in my head and heart. Even the most irritating people have something great to offer if you just allow your self to focus on those good attributes instead of the...well...not as good attributes.

This particular person is a great example in so many ways and I honestly do admire many qualities. So we will see if I can control my emotions and have that great growing experience Heavenly Father has in store for me. Hang on life is an awesome ride!

Blessings abound!

2011-01-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

It was not more than a couple hours ago that I posted about having out pictures erased that I got an instant message from my mom saying she emailed me some pictures of her visit. This was the first one I opened.

Please don 't think I am a baby when I tell you I cried when I saw these pictures! In this picture Jeremy is explaining how they will hold hands so Logan can cover his nose when he is baptized by immersion.

This was like the only photos I took. I am beyond grateful that my mom was snapping photos. Not only did she get these but she took others that included the loved ones that were there to support Logan.

As for the baptism, Logan asked Miranda to give the talk on baptism. She did an excellent job. Then she and her good friend did a duet of the song Baptism. At this point I have an image I want burned into my memory forever. While Miranda was singing, Logan turned and looked at Jeremy with the biggest grin on his face, Jeremy looked down and smiled. So precious. It was definitely a day that he felt very special. Then I followed with a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He was then baptized by Jeremy and later confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a great occasion and we were so pleased with the many family members and friends that were there.

Oh and for the record we are two for two with the water being freezing. Jeremy showed up early to fill the font, then locked it all up with the water running and came home to change. When he got back less than 20 minutes later some one had emptied the font and with it went all the hot water. It takes about an hour to fill up the font and we had to settle for about 40 minutes. It was enough.

After it was done, Jeremy and Logan were changing back into their church clothes and Jeremy asked Logan how he felt. Logan responded "I feel very proud of myself." Logan we are proud of you too!

It is a clean slate

2011-01-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

What I choose to do with it, that is the real question. A friend asked me today if I had any New Years resolutions. I said "Of Course" in a monotone voice "the usual, loose some weight, get more organized, you know what I resolve to do every year."

While those are true, I set those goals at least every Sunday. One thing we are going to work on as a family is to read the Book of Mormon. The theme in Primary is "I know the scriptures are true." What better way to supplement what they are learning at church then studying it at home. In my useless web surfing I found this great book mark incentive idea. For each book that you complete as a family they have goals that you can tie to the book completed. So much fun. We will be editing the prizes to fit our family, but will totally be enjoying this.

Also this year, Jeremy and I have been asked to help at Girl's camp this summer. It is for girl's ages 12-18. It will be a first for both of us. This ties to my goal to complete the Young Women's Personal Progress Program. I get to go as the Personal Progress Person which I am barely familiar with, so I figured I would start now and see how much I can get done. It will help while I am there, but also strengthen my testimony of a fabulous program that will turn nice young ladies into well rounded and well prepared young women. This is probably my favorite and most exciting goal.

With this goal I am debating if I should use this blog as my Personal Progress journal or if I should keep it more private...decisions, decisions.

Other things that I am planning on doing this year is beating my time from last year's See Jane Tri event. I am already registered (for FREE, thanks!) and looking forward to lighter mornings when I can train with my good friend Teri...and any other lady that is interested.

In other 2011 news, Jeremy has completed his Bachelor's Degree through the BYU General Studies Program. While this is actually 2010 news, we are going to take a family trip so me and the kids can watch him walk and accept his degree. We are truly proud of him and think it is a very neat experience for the children to know that it really is a big deal and it is really important to Jeremy.

What are your 2011 hopes, dreams, goals? And how do you plan on accomplishing them? With out a plan how do you get started?

Knock, Knock...

2011-01-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

...nobody's been home! Well that is not true. We have been home and very busy. During the second week of December I finished sewing up some skirts for the girls first ballet recital, I started my first lap quilt, my mom came to visit, Logan was baptized. Of course we got pictures of all these super cool events...then a glitch happened, Christmas Eve we knew we need to empty the memory card to make room for the festivities of Christmas day, food, gifts, family oh-my! Oh, my it was when we put the card into the computer and all our pictures were gone. Yes we have no pictures of Haylie and Hannah in their cute little ballet recital, including some short video clips. We only took two pictures of of Logan and Jeremy all dressed in baptismal clothes. GONE! Jeremy and I took a twin and helped them in the classroom to build gingerbread houses, POOF! My mom bought the kids some drawing stuff and was teaching them how to use it, cute pictures..NO MORE! We had my mom take a family picture, you know the one we take every year at home with a timer...this year we went high class and got a good one, I think all eight of us looked good...now there is no proof! It makes me sad, but fortunately not heart broken, well the baptism pictures I am pretty sad about, since it is irreplaceable. Oh and the ones with my mom since we don't get to see her too often, it had been a year and a half. The rest I can get pictures that are pretty similar.

I did finish a quilt and I am impressed with my self. As with any learning experience, I shoulda, coulda, woulda. But none the less I am extremely pleased. As soon as I get another opportunity I will take a picture.

For those of you who think my stories are something equal to "blah, blah, blah..." Here is a cute photo to make up for my rambling.

This picture is adorable in color, but when I used it for the quilt I didn't download it from the camera, I just saved the edited version. Still cute, but Color would have shown you a little more. These kids are growing so much, personality wise, physically and mentally. They all make me laugh at least once a day, sometimes make me cry, once a week. And 100% of the time they make me feel like a super hero. I am so fortunate, and don't take it for granted that I am this lucky!

BTW take a look at Lauren's angelic pose. I'm just sayin'.

Happy New year and I hope to be catching up real soon!

Funny or not?

2010-12-07T20:21:00.000-08:00

Every Monday we get a stack of the kids schoolwork that they had completed in class. It is always fun to see how much they are learning. My favorite is when they get to start writing. I can't think of any off the top of my head but one recently by Logan was about his pet dragon Harry Potter, which just happens to be the books he is reading, as well as playing the game Lego Harry Potter on Wii. So it isn't really a surprise that is all his brain can think about right now.

I loved when I read this piece of class work:

It is a head line for the New York Times detailing the tragic event of the Titanic. The headline reads "The Titanic's Big Hit." Now realizing that a fourth grade brain isn't probably wired for puns, I think it is hilarious that she choose those words considering the Titanic hit a BIG iceberg! Miranda informed me that she hadn't thought of it that was and was by no means intending it to be funny, OOPS!

Thanksgiving Tradition?

2010-12-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

One of my goals this year was to run a 5K. My goal was to be able to run non-stop and do it in under 30 minutes. Turns out that is a lofty goal but I am getting closer. My first run was back in June. It was a super flat course and I didn't "train" for it at all. I was still majorly suffering from shin splints. I did it in 39:34. I walked about 1/3 of it. Well I am not there but I am improving. For the Tri-Sprint in September I did the 5k in 37:26. This course was more hilly, and I had just swam and biked! Then we found out about a Nitro Turkey Thanksgiving 5K/10K. It is perfect for Jeremy and I. As a bonus they have a little fun run for the kids of 100 yards. Turns out 100yards is a little too short for Logan!

The group before the race. Yes tradition says we need a goofy picture!

Jeremy joked about carrying Chris over the finish line!

As retribution we challenged Chris to carry Jeremy...I am sure that is why his knee was hurting during the race ;)

The kids met NitroTurkey, who Logan says they should call "Un-Nitro Turkey because he is slow!"

Freezing our hinnies off waiting for the race to begin!

The kids did great running

The boys were thrilled with their medals.

Finishing the race, (I did the 5K and Jer did the 10K) It's only fair he run twice as far since his legs are twice as long!

refueling---I neglected to photograph the its-its he ate!

You do the math.

2010-11-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you add an expert, an apprentice and a Jar of peanut butter? Maybe you are a visual learner so I will use pictures. The equation I will be working with is (A+B)*C=D where:
A=

and the answer to the above mentioned equation is the following.

Skippy how we love you!

Oh and before you judge too harshly, I was trying to learn to play the piano, this equation added up in about 15 minutes. Fast and sneaky is a dreadful combination.

Conversations...

2010-11-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

I posted this on Facebook so please forgive the redundancy. I was walking home from picking Haylie and Hannah at school. My friend turned to me and said "Are you expecting number seven?" I was a little confused and had no idea why she would ask. So I responded "No I have just been working on my abs so it makes my stomach stick out more." The next thought was "I really did eat too many carbs and not work out enough to earn them!" I guess Miranda had said something about number seven.

As I was sitting here checking up on all my fabulous blogs that I stalk the following conversation happened behind me:

Logan: "Moooommmm, Lauren just said shut U-P"

Lauren: "No I didn't. I said SHUT UP!"

It is so Lauren to tell you exactly how it is.

And just as a reward for reading this, Lauren has a freakishly long tongue. I think she gets it from me but there is not photographic proof of that. Lucky for me Lauren will still sometimes do what I ask and not question my reasoning, especially when it involves sticking out her tongue.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

We had our Trunk or Treat last week and I have yet to post pictures. I love getting requests for this here blog so you have any please speak up...or if you read this at all you can speak up. Lucky for you I really don't mind blogging to myself, hee-hee! But Christina this is for you!

Miranda was a Candy Corn Witch, Haylie was a Butterfly Fairy Witch, Hannah was a Ladybug Witch and Lauren was...Tinkerbell?

As you can see I had the dress idea in my mind and we went and bought fabric. They chose their colors and after I was all done sewing they told me what they wanted to be. I think Lauren said Mini Mouse. So close? Anyways the girls all loved their dresses and I had a blast making them. While I didn't use a pattern I did use dresses that fit them to make a usable pattern. All this for less than $30!

Jackson was the most adorable Yoda. Ideally he would have been strapped to Luke's (Logan) back but I ran out of time to create such a device.

So we made do, here is Logan as Luke Skywalker from Degobah. A stuffed Yoda is in his backpack.

Please ignore me stuffing my face in the background. If it makes it any better is was just a green salad and a roll.

And the full Candy corn witch, it was my favorite dress of the four...shockingly it was my last, so each dress improved. And making a special guest appearance was Hunter my nephew...I mean Buzz Lightyear. It was a fun night!

Slave Driver

2010-10-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

For some reason the kids will not do chores but will randomly offer to do something. I think the key to getting kids to do chores is to make it a privilege. Needless to say my kids don't fall for that line very often. So today when Hannah asked if she could do dishes I hesitated for about 1/millionth of a second and said sure, just the dishwasher stuff. When I looked over at her I saw the cutest thing. She had one glove on and was scrubbing away, Lauren just finished stirring up the clogged sink and Jackson was sucking on the "stirring" spoon. As I vomited a little bit in my mouth, I quickly remove the two trouble makers then ran to get the camera. It was way cute.

You can see the sink is kind of full. Seriously the one glove thing cracks me up! She scrubbed and rinsed like a pro!

Although I know I have been gifted with genius children, I wanted to point out that the dishes were not perfect but I love the fact that she tried.

After the dishes were all clean I was talking to her and she said "Aren't you proud that I did the dishes all by myself?" Why yes Hannah, I am very proud. Proud enough to blog about it! Here is her little exit interview!

An Interview with Hannah from April Jacobs on Vimeo.

Lonesome Dove

2010-10-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I will pay attention to the lyrics of a song, usually it is the music that catches my attention then I will start to pay attention. Garth Brooks has a knack for story telling I would say. One of my favorite songs in the car is In Lonesome Dove by Garth Brooks.

It starts out with a woman traveling in a wagon train that gets stranded. A Texas lawman comes and rescues the wagon train and gets the train movin' she fell in love and stayed, in Lonesome Dove. As a lawman he ended up dying after their first child was born. This child grew up to be a lawman like his father.

This is the part that stood out to me and even brought out a little emotion:

Then one day word blew into town
It seemed the men that shot his father down
Had robbed a bank in Cherico
The only thing 'tween them and Mexico
Was Lonesome Dove

The shadows stretched across the land
As the shots rang out down the Rio Grande
And when the smoke had finally cleared the street
The man lay at the ranger's feet
But legend tells to this very day
That shots were comin' from an alleyway
Though no one knows who held the gun
There ain't no doubt if you ask someone
In Lonesome Dove

The reason why I think it made me emotional was thinking about the love I have for my children. While I don't even know how to shoot a gun (yes genius, I know you just pull the trigger! ; P). You bet if it came to protecting my child I would do it. While this woman had many reasons to hate this man, I can only imagine in her heart that she was not about to let this person ruin another precious life.

When it comes to raising our children today the world is down right scary. It is so hard to let these precious children go out into the world where they have to learn, and I have to have faith that I am giving them the best foundation that I know how to give. I have to watch at certain times as they are going to make choices that scare me to pieces. Yet like this mother, I don't have to be right beside them I can try and protect them from a far. In such a way that they aren't sure it was me, but they just know it was. This is not to say I have that power on my own. It would be through Heavenly Father answering the boat load of prayers I offer, pleading that I can be a good mom, that my children know how to choose right things, and most importantly they know without a doubt that I love them and I have their back any time it is needed. How I love each and everyone of my kids and my husband as well. I feel so fortunate to have so much love and laughter in my home. If ever I received a blessing that mattered the most, this is it by far!

Kindergarten Sight words

2010-10-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

We are starting to work on sight words in the girls kindergarten class. I made some really easy flash cards but wanted something a little nicer looking. So I made up some flash cards. I totally could have made them super cute, but I didn't...I guess functional is better than pretty right?

So here are the flash cards:
Sight Word Flash Cards

I also wanted to make a game so it would be a "break" from school so I made a very simple bingo game using the Kindergarten sight words.
Sight Word Bingo

For bingo, I made the call words, so you just need to cut them up and put them in a baggy to store.

There is no Tri

2010-09-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well actually there is but there is only DO! I did it. I finished my very first Triathlon which consisted of a 400 yard swim, 11 mile bike ride and 5K run. I had two friends do it last year, Hayley and Tara, they made it sound so liberating that I decided I wanted to do it this year. Tara was due right before the Tri date and Hayley is very pregnant so neither were able to participate. Hayley ended up getting a team together and did the swim at 6 months pregnant, still my idol. Now since it is my blog I am going to turn the time back over to ME! ; P It was rough, but it was so worth it. When I started training, I could swim, only breast stroke, in about 15 minutes. I think our first bike ride was a little over an hour and the run...well I did a 5K in the late spring and it was 39 minutes.

My friend Teri and I trained pretty much 6 days a week starting in June. It was lots of work and there were days that I just didn't want to but knowing that she is a stellar athlete I didn't want to stand her up. We had lots of team members train with us too when they were available, Tara, Michelle, and Eve. It was so much fun and made for lots of "girl time."

This is our team! Moms Tri Hard!

The week before the Tri, I could swim 400 yards in under 10 minutes (9:41 I think was my fastest), Teri and I biked in 48 minutes. And I ran a consistent 2.5 miles in 27 minutes. I was so nervous the last couple days before.

Race Day: We showed up at Teri's this morning at 5:40 to watch her very supportive husband load up all the bikes. Our team was 11 people but 8 of us rode up together. We had a veteran See Jane Runner, she brought gold tinsel to tie from her helmet and shared with us. When we got there we were surprised to see that we had a rack reserved for us. Wow, yes we are THAT special! WE got things organized and then we made several trips to the bathroom. Finally it was time to go.

THE SWIM: The first 50 yards were ROUGH! It was like I was going to drown. You can't help but swim on top of people, so with some strokes I was hitting people in the bottom and then I was kicking people in the chest. You can't really swim because there is absolutely no room. Then we turned the corner and it got quite a bit better, even though it is not as luxurious as your own lane in a swimming pool. As I turn the second buoy, I thought I wouldn't be able to make it with out resting, but I looked over and Tara was right next to me, I couldn't believe I kept up with her. It helped me really dig in and give it all I had. Then we had to run a bit to the transition area. My time was 10:14.6.

Transition 1: I sat down, put on my socks, who cares about sand, duck poop and mud, then my shorts, shirt and shoes. Teri shared Shot Blocks, so I ate two of those, put on my helmet, grabbed my bike and was off!

THE BIKE: This was by far the most fun part of the race, it went fairly smoothly, I felt like I was going pretty fast. I had been riding on low tires, which Chris filled for me, so it really made a difference. I passed a few people and was passed by plenty of people. I did get stopped at a light, but after about 1 minute I was off again. There was one point that I was feeling pretty good, laughing with one of the people I was going past. We turned a corner and HOLY COW there was a big hill! I made it up that and then I hit the money spot of the whole race, it was a long decline, I couldn't even peddle because I was moving so fast. I didn't know it then, but at around mile10 I asked the guy that was helping with the race what mile it was he said "Don't know!" Lot's of help, glad he was there. The bike felt good, and I felt good with how it went. My time was 41:14.7

Transition 2: I dropped the bike, drank lots of water and grabbed some tunes, then I walked out while strapping on my arm band. I get out and get the tunes moving. On to the 5K!

THE RUN: This is the death of me. I was able to run 2.5 miles on a flat fairly smooth track. This was a WHOLE LOT different. It was a trail run, with at least four pretty good sized hills. My goal was to run the whole thing. I will be lucky if I finished this in 40 minutes. It was the worst part for me. The one good part about the run is that this is where a lot of my age group passed me up. I didn't think I would be able to keep up but I did. I do know now that I need to train a lot harder for the run. My time was 37:26.6. I walked more than I would have liked, but I beat my last time by 2 minutes, and that was flat and this was hills.

This picture is actually running from the last minute bathroom stop heading in to the race. My almost across the finish line picture looks like I wet my pants and is not at all flattering.

Behind every good (the loosest sense of the word) athlete is a great cheering section and I found that I have the biggest and best one ever. The kids hung around for over four hours from beginning to end. Jeremy was awesome keeping them all safe and together and taking pictures. It was so awesome to see them at various points in the race and hear them cheer "Go April." Not only my family but the families of the other team mates as well. I think that doing this with a fabulous and admirable group of ladies made the experience awesome. It was incredible, I can't wait to do it again next year with even more friends!

My goal was to do it in under 1:45. And I did better than I planned! My overall time including transition was 1:34:35.9. I can't wait for next year because I know I can do better!

I have a testimony...

2010-09-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

I love my little girl, even when her choices bring me to tears of being overwhelmed. As I was sharing of her latest shenanigans it I thought, with out a doubt I have a testimony that our Father in Heaven loves each and everyone of us. He wants us to be the best we can be. I know that he will give us weaknesses, and challenges, but he will give us strengths to overcome those weaknesses. It may seem I am totally going out in left field relating these two but as I sat and thought about it I knew my Father in Heaven loves Lauren. If he didn't he wouldn't have made her so darn adorable with a pretty awesome personality. If it wasn't for these qualities I am not sure I would be able to count to ten in those moments when counting is that last thing I really WANT to do!

She is the proof that He exists and loves us too! She nearly gave me a heart attack at church be escaping or so I thought. I was circling the building with another mom looking for her with Jackson in tow. Luckily it all turned out well but this girl is something else. I was trying to keep my emotions in check and explaining to a friend what happened. "It's Lauren, it is ALWAYS Lauren. I love her, she is awesome, but she may do me in!" She said "Hasn't your mom ever said 'I hope you get one just like you?'" With all honestly and to the best of my rose colored remembrance I said "No, I actually don't think she has, I was a good kid until the end of high school!" So maybe Lauren is my reward for an amazing childhood?! She then reminded me not too long ago when I worried because she wasn't walking or talking heading into her 18th month. Now I realize she was just studying extra hard so she could get great use of these skills now!

I took a Time Out!

2010-09-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I left for an overnight trip to Sacramento with just a couple of girl friends and one preciously adorable baby boy. We attended a woman's conference called Time Out for Women. It is an inspirational conference geared to uplift and encourage woman. There were so many fabulous speakers, but I wanted to focus on one in particular. Her name is Mariama Kallon

She is from Africa. She told us of her horrific past that involves so many kinds of awful memories for her, yet she still has an amazing outlook. It was such a shock to hear these experiences and realize they happened in 1998-1999. We are so blessed and protected here in the United States, I get so wrapped up in little things like 6 kids in 2 bedrooms. After listening to her stories I can't complain about anything!

She just happened to come into contact with a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and was introduced to the church. She was so funny she explained that for the services she was used to, they were loud, there was dancing, lots of talking...so she was very surprised when she attended the LDS church for the first time. It was quiet, the music was soft, everything was strange for her. Eventually she was baptized and became a member of this church. She eventually wanted to "be with the white man and wear that black tag" (aka missionaries). There were a few others that got called on missions about the same time. They all got sent to various places in Africa, she on the other hand got sent to Salt Lake City, UT, Temple Square.

When she left on her mission she had the clothes on her back and a very simple hygiene kit (that was provided by the LDS church Humanitarian Aid). Her family was all gone (right before leaving they found a nephew and a step sister who were still alive). The statement that caught my attention was when she said "Why would I need anything else, I have my best friend here in the scriptures!" That struck me. What if we all felt that way? The way we feel about a best friend, the person who will give great advice, who is consistent, who is always reliable and readily available. Who tells us we are loved so much. It was so appearant that to her the scriptures fullfilled all of the above. I couldn't help but have a pang of guilt and jealousy that I have never thought of the scriptures that way. I know in all things it really is about how you personally choose to view life, but I know from this day I want to view the scriptures in that same way. I have all the best friend I need in the scriptures. That makes everyone else just a super big bonus!

There were so many messages that I wish I could have recorded them all. It is such an awesome event, especially when you are surrounded by fabulous women, who are just as imperfect as I am.

I found this little clip of her speaking. It definitely doesn't do her story justice but you will for sure see the joy that radiates from her!

CD Federal Rocks!

2010-09-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Every year CD Federal Credit Union does a membership drive. It is an opportunity to reach out and gain new members as well as current members to come together. They do a new theme and this year was no different. It was a street fair theme. They had carnival games,

a petting zoo,

face painting, raffle prizes, snow cone machine and a chance to go into a cash cube to grab as much money as you can. Oh and the best part, I didn't have to cook dinner because it was free too. Catered by Lumpy's Diner in Antioch. Woot! Woot!

And the even more best part is the Dunk Tank! Every year we get the opportunity to dunk Jeremy. Last year his mom hit the target (She's got a mean arm) and got him good. This year we almost missed him. He stayed a couple minutes longer so the kids could push the button and watch him splash. Following Jeremy were 3 other board members, one super crazy one wore his Superman costume. It was fantastic!

It is always fun and games at the carnival but we seem to have left out a carnival must...vomit. Yes let me repeat vomit! Everything was going swell then I look at Lauren and notice her shirt was all wet. She had just had dinner so I though she spilled her drink on her. Then she lets it fly luckily outside the petting zoo. I rush her to the bushes where she proceeds to empty more contents. She seemed to be finished and so we were trying to find the best escape route. Turns out she was not done. Jeremy had to figure out how to clean up and I had to walk around the block to get the car, while juggling prizes and balloon animal and gather my little chicklets tomake a quick getaway. I have no problems saying ti was a fluke and most likely related to the petting zoo, but I am a little biased that way.

I actually think the CU should pay us for making the experience even more real! ; ) I love our Credit Union!

Being left behind.

2010-09-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, the battery died on my camera on the first day of school. I was so bummed. Luckily I travel in a pack so was able to have a friend capture the moments. I hadn't gotten her pictures yet and the girls looked so cute so I thought I would do a retake. Here they are holding hands. I am so glad they like each other so much.

Haylie is in the orange and Hannah is in the green.

Everyday we watch this view. Look how cute these four girls are. They walk to the Kindergarten line together holding hands. I keep saying this view is what they show in movies!

Lauren tries everyday to go with the big girls. She loves and adores each of them. It almost broke my heart when I looked up and saw her watching the girls walk away.

Then it got worse when she covered her face.

It is never any fun to be left behind and my little independent, needs nobody, cute as pie little girl is no different.

Isn't she a little pathetic? The next day it was even more heartbreaking when everyone was kissing me good-bye, she came up and kissed me too and tried to run off with the girls. She will probably come up with many different ways to run off with the girls before the year is over! It is hard to believe she still has two more years, before she gets to be like everyone else. I am in no hurry though because I love having my baby girl home with me.

The first day of school

2010-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

...two weeks ago. Going back to school is actually a time I look forward to, I will miss the fun laid back times of the summer, but I am a person who does not follow a schedule AT ALL unless I have to, so when school comes around I pretty much need to be on top of things.

The first day of school was so much fun. Haylie and Hannah started kindergarten, and boy oh boy where they more than excited. They have two really good girl friends, one that we have been walking to and from school with for a year (she has an older brother) and the other parks by our house and the four girls walk in together. It is one of those sites that are PRICELESS!

Here is how it went down on our first day, we were done and ready on time, that included breakfast showers, lunch/snacks! Lauren was following everyone around asking where her school bad is, where her school lunch is, it was pretty pathetic.

We went out front and Jeremy went to take a couple of pictures and shockingly enough the batteries were dead, which reminded me that I saw that bizarre red flashy battery thingy the other day, it didn't register until then! Luckily our neighborhood friend was better prepared.


Logan, second grade, Miranda, 4th grade and Austin 3rd grade.

We all walked to school it looked something like this:

Then before we sent the girls off we got one last picture.


Riley Jo, Hannah, Haylie and Brooke our kindergartners!

And because Lauren was so left out we took one more. She thinks she is a big girl now and doesn't understand why she isn't going with them.

I am TIRED!

2010-08-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

This is not a complaint just airing my thoughts. What do you do as a stay at home mom, when you really want to be involved at school with the parent club and in the classroom, at church not only in your calling but help others as well, exercise, craft, help throw celebrations, take care of your kids...I am exhausted and I haven't even done anything yet. In fact my next goal is to clean my house so it will be ready in the morning for a baby shower. None of the jobs I take on are overwhelming, and if I were an organized individual it would not be an issue. I am a procrastinator, and a little on the lazy side too. This is NOT humility speaking it is fact. Will anyone who comes to my house please give me a "True Dat!" (Tara that was for you!) My house is not clean, infact it is rarely picked up with the exception of the 10 minutes before Jeremy gets home until I am left alone with the children again the next morning.

Again I am starting to get stuck in the rut that I hear my self repeating the phrase "If I can just get through this week." On my list of commitments, there is not one thing I want to scratch off or feel I need to scratch off. I am very fortunate to have friends who are willing to swap sitting with me so I can be available for my kids at school (I love my friends!) I am grateful for a husband that would prefer the house be clean, the laundry done and dinner on the table when he walks in the door, but roles up his sleeves, takes a deep breath and gets to work...some more. I have help, I am not doing this alone. But man I am exhausted. I am absolutely positive this has nothing to do with staying up until 2:00am having a great time chatting it up with some friends!

A Wonderful Saturday

2010-08-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful day for me, not so much for Jeremy. He worked really hard cleaning up the garage. While I read the piles of old letters that I wrote him starting in high school, then moving on to college, while he was on his mission, then after I said good bye as he moved to Utah to go to school fully expecting to get a letter saying he met his future bride.

I loved reading the letters and seeing how he has always been my best friend. There were letters telling him about relationships, problems at home, stressful days at work, questions of my future. I just couldn't help reading it and know that we were supposed to be together.

One of my favorite lines was when he was on his mission and getting close to coming home. I was asking about his plans and I said something like this "You'll come home, go to college, get married and have a million kids. You always have goals and you always achieve them!" When I read it I thought how funny that it was me he had about a million kids with. Another line was saying that the girl who finally gets her hands on him would be extremely lucky. Again, who knew it would be me. To this day I still love him and feel so blessed to be married to a great man.

Also in the box was a key chain that contained these two pictures. They were taken when we started dating in December of '98, the second time is how I refer to it, since we dated in high school too.

So young huh? He looks a little more tired now and I a little more round, but we are still this much in love!

Creative Cousins

2010-08-20T15:52:00.001-07:00

It seems like the last little bit we have not seen the cousins very much so we were especially surprised when we got the call asking if Gwen and Spencer could come over for a little bit. Of course we are always willing to have some fun with them. LA is just too far away!

As the girls were sitting around wondering what to do I asked if they wanted to sew something. Being that they are both new to the craft I tried to think of something that would be easy, and cute. So we decided to make monsters, well sort of. Using the craft stash from Grandma June, the girls picked out this super cute fabric. I gave them paper to draw the shape of their monster, creating a pattern. Next they got to cut them out.

Putting right sides together they sewed the pieces together. Gwen said that sewing was a lot easier than she thought.

Miranda on the other and said she thought it was harder. Both girls quickly got the hang of it, although applying the correct pressure on the pedal was the hardest part.

Then they turned them and stuffed them.

Next came the hand stitching. They stitched the hole closed, then sewed on buttons for eyes. Grandma June had the biggest button collection.

Then they cut out mouths and sewed them on to the face of their monster. Meanwhile a little monster who will remain nameless, let her own creative juices flow.

This is powdered sugar. The funny thing is when I saw the bag on the counter last night, I thought 'I should put this away.' Then about 15 minutes before this discovery, I thought 'where is Lauren?' Too bad I have yet to act on those promptings. One of these days Heavenly Father will get through to me!

The mouth got a little skewed but I think she did a great job for it being her first sewing project! I didn't get a picture of Gwen's before she left, but it was equally as cute!

Houseparty Rocks

2010-08-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

I hosted my third House Party. Just a quick back ground, I have done a Ziploc one, lots and lots of great products, then I got chosen to do a Hasbro Game Night, where we got about $80 in games to add to our closet, including the just released Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know it! If you want to try it out come over and play. The most recent was a Boboli Pizza Crust on the Grill party.

They sent me 8 $5.00 coupons to purchase bobolui pizza crusts and I provided toppings.

We heated up the grills and started whipping up pizzas. I made 2 Pepperoni, 1 cheese, 1 Lime Chicken and Cilantro (the recipe came in the party pack), so yummy! I made a BBQ Chicken Pizza, with bacon, tomatoes, green onions and a Garlic Ranch Sauce. A meat lovers, pepperoni, canadian bacon and crumbled bacon then one with slice tomatoes and Basil over a Garlic Ranch Sauce. The last one was pepperoni and bacon...it was all that was left for the toppings.

It looks like I am the only one working but I totally put my guests to work. All the ladies helped while the guys played with the kids. I can totally see why the men typically take on the grilling responsibilities!

I am sure it was a good change for the Dad's too! Unfortunately, Jeremy's highlight had nothing to do with food (serious, I am not jesting!) early in the day he acquired a toy from his youth. A Spin Jammer, it is a frisbee that has a little cone in the middle so you can spin it or catch it on your finger tip. Jeremy said it is awesome for tricks! I think he may be caressing it in the above picture

The most awesome part was the food tent. It is awesome for BBQ's I think all the ladies would have traded their super cool Boboli reusable totes for this bad boy! (It is the little red tent over a pizza.)

Over all I think it was a success. Thank you www.houseparty.com and Boboli!

There and Back again!

2010-08-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

Sometime early in the year some friends put together a camping trip to Yosemite. Jeremy had been and hiked Half Dome with the guys but we thought it would be so much fun to experience it with the family. We looked forward to it for quite some time. The week before we were going to go, Jeremy informed me that he couldn't leave work for several important reasons. I was upset. We had really only planned this one vacation, of the eight families (I think it was seven) we were already down to 4 including us and I REALLY wanted to go. I asked Jeremy if I could go with out him, to which he quickly replied no. For the safety of our children and myself, not because he was sad to be missing out on the experience. After much pouting on my end, he reluctantly agreed. Then I pleaded with my friends to see if they would be willing to help out with the kids while I did stuff like set up the tent (and help with this part too!) and cooked. They wholeheartedly stepped up to the plate.

So Tuesday morning, I had the car all packed and we were off. Honestly I wasn't too nervous, but I knew I had a good support system. The drive there went smoothly, with no incidents. There is one part that I probably almost wet my pants, it was scary. You go up this super windy (as in lots of turns) road. I think you change about 1500 feet in elevation in 5 miles. It is crazy. Luckily I knew when it would end and I was watching the odometer when I got the chance.

Once we got into Yosemite Valley we stopped and walked to Lower Yosemite Falls. It was beautiful. I can not tell you how amazing it is to be in the valley of Yosemite. It is so beautiful. It was really hard to watch the kids and take pictures so my options are limited. Here is the group we caravan-ed with. The three that aren't mine played, carried, watched chased, etc. my two little ones pretty much the whole time. They were so good with all my kids.

I tried to get one with just my kids and this was the best I could get. I finally got Lauren to open her eyse and Logan closed his, oh well!

At about 5:30 we arrived at our campsite where the other two families were already set up. We quickly got to work and people helped me set up my tent. My friend John, blew up our air mattresses then helped me for at least 30 minutes rearranging poles until we were satisfied. Even my friend Tim helped, he put two stakes in the ground, then disappeared (I am kind of take charge and bossy). In his defense he ended up getting Jackson out of the car and holding him while I was setting up. My friend Eve was in there as well getting her hands dirty. After that was set up I pretty much relaxed, and the kids ran around. They were in heaven, and I just prayed the owies that the kids got could be taken care of with a band-aid! The campsite was awesome. The kids had a few big rocks they could climb on, they never got bored with that. For dinner that night, the Porter family cooked some pretty amazing chicken, pasta salad, veggie tray and watermelon. For dessert the Crowe family made a fabulous dutch oven peach cobbler, I think I am a sucker for that dessert. The Crawford's shared some delicious cupcakes, even though they were coconut, they were fantastic as Tara would say! I on the other hand contributed more mouths to feed, it is a tough job but some one had to do it!

I love this picture of Lauren. She had so much fun running around, sometimes with the pack of kiddos and sometimes with her imaginary friend that she talked with. In this pictures she is "shakin' it!" We had a great campfire talk and were even told to be quiet, in a not so polite way. If they heard what I heard they would probably be laughing too!

We had all checked the weather before we left and were planning for a fabulous 80 degrees during the day and a perfect 50 degrees at night. We were not taking into account the fact that the weather was for the valley not at the elevation (above Bridalveil Falls) that we were at. It was FA-REEEEZZZZZZZZZ-ING! One of my friends said in the morning there was about a foot and a half of ice along the bottom of our tent. This picture was taken after about 45 minutes of cooking, can you see the frost on the propane?

The Crowe Family, with help cooking from John and Todd, did breakfast and it was another all out meal, these people know how to provide a meal for the crowd. They served up pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, cheesey eggs, bacon and dutch oven biscuits. As you can tell it was a hit with my family, again I contributed to the consumption of the awesome spread.

This day we went on our one hike. We talked to the ranger and he said it was perfect for strollers and it was a fairly easy hike, with a little house at the end for the kids to play in. Awesome. We start out and it was pretty good. I had two little ones in my stroller and Lauren wanted to walk. Eventually the path started becoming a little less maintained then it was pretty near impossible to get through. After about 45 minutes, Todd ran up about a mile and knew we had missed the turn. We ended up heading back to camp to grab lunch. The hike was supposed to be easy enough that we didn't need our lunch just snacks. On the way back I walked a little more leisurely and was able to appreciate the surroundings. There were meadows of wildflowers that I didn't notice while my head was down and I was pushing the stroller like a bulldozer. It was a good walk and I am glad we did it.

We headed back to camp and that is when the Park Ranger volunteer told us to not pick the wildlfowers. Oops! With 7 girls we had about 5 bouquets, the oldest two were not interested in the flowers as much. After lunch we decide to go out to Glacier Point. WOW! Is that a beautiful place to view the Yosemite Valley! I wish I had my camera (turns out I did it just happened to be on Miranda's back, who pretty much ditched me every chance she got!). Some friends took some pictures and I will get some soon. My friend Heather said it so well with one word "Majestic!" You just stare in awe, it is so beautiful. It makes you feel small and insignificant, but what a place to view the Lord's beauty that he created for us.

This is me and the kids at Glacier Point. Right behind us is Half Dome.

We came back to camp and it was starting to get cold so I changed all the kids into pants and their sweaters if they wanted them. Lauren continued to play and run around, then I look over and she is kneeling on the ground grabbing hand fulls of dirt and pouring them all over her lap. This picture does not do her dirtiness any justice.

I love her facial expression in this photo. She had such big round eyes and her cheeks are to die for!

When she saw this picture when we got home she said "Soren so sad." The Crawford's prepared dinner this night. It was grilled chicken fajitas, with black beans. I think I almost killed myself eating two, but they were so good! It was topped off with S'more's, It made the camping trip complete. I think roasted marshmallows are a symbol and necessity of a perfect camping trip!

Jackson was so happy when I let him run around. This isn't the best picture but I thought it captured his attitude when he was free.

Thursday morning, our final day, we were up at 6:00am, by we I mean me and the kids. The Crawfords had to leave to a fancy schmancy car show in Carmel, the Doll's left the night before due to a work commitment and the Porter family were still asleep. It was so stinkin' cold and there was no wood for a fire so after having nothing warm to offer the kids, I loaded them in the car and put on a movie, while I started packing up some stuff.

The next morning I did breakfast. I provided homemade blueberry crumb muffins, banana bread, oatmeal (note for next year oatmeal IS NOT a good idea!), Sunny D (which despite the name does nothing to warm you up!), gogurt, milk and bananas. It was a little on the wimpy side compared to the great meals from the previous group meals.

At about 10:30 I was done packing everything up (with help), Lauren repeated the dirt performance from last night, and I was exhausted from not getting good sleep, and being nervous for the crazy five mile windy road ahead. We had planned to go walk around Mirror Lake but I couldn't do it anymore and just needed to get home. When clarifying directions, I lost it and started to cry, so the Porter's said they would go home too so I could follow them. It was such a blessing to me but I feel bad for cutting their vacation short as well. Needless to say the drive home was pretty uneventful, except for the boy potty break when they spotted a baby rattle snake.

So that is my adventure. It was amazing and I hope this is an annual trip. I know there would be very little that would keep Jeremy away next time!

Thank you to the Porters, Dolls, Crawfords, and Crowes for all your help and making it a really nice trip for me. You all were amazing!

She is spirited

2010-08-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Surprise I am talking of Lauren! We were at Jeremy's work and it was the first time his new boss met the children. Within a minute, she spotted Lauren and said, which one of these is not like the other? and chuckled. I am not sure if she has heard of Lauren or simply by her stance that it was obvious. Maybe I said something like "Kids this is not a playground, they are working and we need to be quiet." She may have had defiance written all over her face..I don't know what it was that caused the distinction.

Tonight at dinner she said yet again "Mine tummies hurt!" This is her excuse for not eating dinner, her excuse for needing milk, for being hungry, for not being tired. Her tummy always hurts. As I was sitting at the table yet again hearing the same line, I was thinking I need to put my foot down and make her eat something so her diet contains more than stolen chocolates, 3 cups of milk and as many go-gurts that were sneakily removed from the fridge. I can't deny she has good taste...well in the chocolate stealing department anyways.

I was thinking how she has this strong spirit about her that is pretty amazing. As a parent it drives me bananas. With Lauren you can not make her do something she doesn't want to do, it is pretty much impossible. So to bed I sent her. Then I had to practically man handle her into her pajamas, at times she was laughing and others telling me that she was no longer tired.

After getting her dressed and rolling her in her blanket, I put my arm around her and she started screaming, kicking, karate chopping my throat. Then she proceeds to scream "bye, bye." I asked "you want to go bye-bye?" "No" she clarified "You go bye-bye" "Where do you want me to go?" "Outside!" With tears in her eyes (like an ocean mind you) and my eyes starting to fill up, I thought of how our Father in Heaven feels about us. Then I thought what examples in the scriptures teach us how to deal/love/serve a difficult child. I am sure there are many, but I so badly want her to conform to the mold I already have. Knowing that is what I want I then feel guilty because all these things that make her difficult, are the reasons that she is special and that I love her.

I hope when she grows up she remembers the times when the movie ended and she got up and danced. The times when she asks for "fast kisses", or gives us good strong hugs or the laughter that is usually always present in our home. I hope the moments when she is screaming and yelling at me to go away and I am doing everything in my power to be calm, and reassure her that I love her and I know she is just tired, that she doesn't think that I didn't love her or that I was indifferent to her pain. I hope she knows when I look into those eyes puffy from crying that my heart hurts too. I want her to keep that spirit but I also want her to obey. I guess that is why we have agency...than again she is 3. I really hope three is easier than two, if not, then I deserve to have her as the easiest teenager/young adult ever!

My Dearest Summer

2010-07-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

I have missed you, I think you were visiting here and there, but I haven't gotten to visit you with much appreciation. Thankfully we have so many fond memories of those quick visits. It seemed like just yesterday I was alive with the promise of many relaxing moments surrounded by warmth, laughter and happy, possibly wet, children. It is now 3 and a half weeks until you disappear from my life for a time and I am worried that I didn't take advantage of the time we had together. It is coming to a close too fast, for tat reason I am a little sad.

The time has passed too quickly, but I will most definitely begin the countdown until we meet again. In the meantime I hope to survive the next little while and hopefully get in a day of relaxation! And just so we are clear, summer, you are my absolute favorite time of the year. You equate to fun, lemonade, ice cream, pajama days, swimming, ice cream, day trips, park days, late nights, early mornings, ice cream, visits from friends and family and usually some sort of vacation, I can't believe I almost forgot to mention ice cream.

I will never sway in my devotion...until fall hits and the wonderful things that I cherish about it...like Apple Hill, pumpkins, turkeys....I mean summer how I love thee!

Mountains and Valleys

2010-07-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

The last month or so I have been focusing on training for a triathlon sprint. I have been pretty consistent with morning workouts. It has been nice to push my body in a way that it never has been pushed before. It is not a secret I AM clumsy and I am not athletic. Needless to say I really want to accomplish this goal of being a triathlete, even a mini triathlete is awesome.

So today I went to my friend Lanette's workout. I came home exhausted. I was wondering if all this work has even been productive. I had shin splints, then I babied it for a while. This week I thought that I would be better, I started doing the jumping again at Lanette's class and I actually ran on Tuesday. Now my shins are starting to hurt again. It is so frustrating because I want to do this so bad.

It brought an article from January's Ensign to my mind (probably because I just read it a couple days before.) Making Mountains. In the article he tells us of his experience as a mountain guide. He said people would come to him and say I want to go to the highest peek and look at the view. He would tell them that is really is a great view but to truly appreciate the view they need to see the base of the mountain. It would be a harder trail but it would be worth it.

He compares that to life. We would all like to be on top and just appreciate what is around us. But it is only through trials that we are really grateful for the blessings at the end. It really is a great article that I probably didn't do justice, but we all have our problems and feel like if we could just get through this, when what we are really doing is building a great foundation for an awesome view.

He says “To appreciate the height, you must experience the bottom,” he says. “You can’t appreciate the end without understanding the process.”

So I know that I am starting to falter in exercise, only in the sense I can feel hopelessness creeping up my sensitive ego. Then this particular thought came to me and reminded me, that I have to create this great base before I will be the superstar I want to become. Then the view will be totally worth it all! Right Jer?

I love when I read an article and it totally applies to my current situation!

Conversation piece

2010-07-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

I feel I have neglected my blog when it comes to kid-isms. I find it so much easier to put the little quip on facebook, like on Friday when we were unpacking from our little jaunt to LA, two police officers showed up at our door responding to a 911 hang up, shockingly the culprit was NOT Lauren but Jackson, yes our 18 month old baby. He dialed about 15 numbers after 911 but it went through none the less. It kind of freaked out my sister-in-law who was working dispatch. She called our home and cell phone numbers but it was a blocked number so we didn't answer on any of our phones. OOPS! In our defense, Jeremy had just picked up a telemarketer call, his cell was not on him and I was in the car elsewhere so I had no idea.

So this morning I was getting ready and I start listening to Haylie and Hannah's conversation. It went something pretty close to this:

Haylie "I am taller"
Hannah "Does that mean you have a taller head."
Haylie "I think yes because you have a bigger head"
Hannah "My head is fatter?"
Haylie "Yes, I think so."

We always tell people how Hannah is a little shorter and thinner than Haylie but she Hannah has a rounder, fuller face. It cracked me up that we must have said it enough for it to be ingrained in their psyche.

Wordfull Wednesday {Work}

2010-07-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

This will be the last one of this series. We will see if I can come up with some though provoking topics of my own. I really enjoy the challenge and digging a little deeper, then the childlike atmosphere I live in most of the time! Check out Chocolate on my Cranium if you are human the name alone should entice you to take a look at her blog!

Work - President David O. McKay said, “Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that love of work is success” How do you instill the value of work in your children? Do they do chores around the house? Do you work together on projects? "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." (Family Proclamation, paragraph7)

Because I married the best example of most things good, I have to use Jeremy as an example. Jeremy sort of fell into his career. It was just a job that he took to pass the time until he left for college. In fact his position was more or less not real. He did all kinds of odds and ends type of jobs. Nothing exactly specific...you know the kinds of projects that get shoved in the back corner and ignored. That is what he did. Then when he went to Utah for school he got a job at a local credit union and decided he loved the industry. When we got married and moved back he was able to get a job back at the credit union here. Through turns of events and divine timing he was promoted, again and again. I can tell you it wasn't hard for him to go to work and he enjoyed it. He enjoyed his co-workers, he loved his employer and was passionate about the industry. We recognized that blessing and we were extremely grateful that he had regular business hours, but more importantly that he loved his job.

Today as the market has changed it makes work a little less cheerful, but he continues to be an example of hard work to me and the children. When we got married, I carried too much debt so we stayed in CA where the debt was incurred and the wages were able to pay it off quicker. So it meant Jeremy transferred schools. Eventually it got too hard (or maybe I got too whiny) and he stopped taking classes for a while. In the last two years he has really focused on school.

This is what his day is typically like. Wake up and study from 6:00am to 7:15, then run, come home shower be at work by 8:30. Work a normal day, often times needing to work through lunch, come home at 6:00 eat dinner, play with the kids as much as time allows, put the kids to bed, then study for another hour. Then folds laundry, then studies scriptures, pleasure reads (in all honesty for about 2 minutes before the book flops closed on his nose and startles him awake...side note, this is one of my favorite times of day! He insists he is reading but the man can really fall asleep in -1.25 seconds, it is a gift I tell you. Anyways he reads and his book falls then he looks at me like "What?" Then I giggle and he may smile or try and deny he was sleeping. It happens at least 5 times before he admits to being won over by sleep. I know cheap entertainment but I love it.) He works so hard so we don't have to!

Lucky for us he gets Saturdays off and he dedicated one weekend night to strictly family with no studying and we gear Saturday to mostly family activities.

He does an excellent job of teaching our kids the importance of work, not only his job, but working in his calling, and serving as often as possible. We teach our kids the importance of work by making them help pick up after themselves and each other. We teach them about serving those around them. This summer we are actually growing a garden, so they will really get to learn about working to earth. I can't wait for the rewards of that work.

I am not saying work is easy or that Jeremy is eager to do all these things. He is exhausted, but he keeps on , keeping on. He does it out of pure love.

Hap McGee Ranch

2010-07-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we visited a park that was recommended by a friend. Hap McGee Ranch. It was right off the freeway and yet still tucked back so it was away from traffic. It was a fabulous park. It had all the necessities, like bathrooms that are REAL close. It had water for the kids to run through with a button was easy enough for the kids to push. Right next to that is sand for them to get covered in. There were 2 climbing structures, as well as swings and a real teeter totter, not to mention a merry go round thing. I had no idea parks still had these. There was a huge grassy area with a beautiful white gazebo in the middle as well.

I didn't get very good pictures, but you can kind of see one of the structures to the right with a little train as well.

The girls took a break to eat. I had yet to release Jackson from the stroller.

And just because I like pictures with the twins looking like twins, can you believe these two will be in kindergarten in a month or so?

Overall I would highly recommend this park. It has something for everyone!

Contra Loma '10

2010-07-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Every summer we make at least one trip to Contra Loma. I love it. It is always hot, it is clean and there are plenty of life guards. So yesterday was our first trip of the summer. We blew up the floaty rings and packed stuff to make a lunch only to find out I forgot the bread. So we had String cheese wrapped in lunch meat, YUM! ; )

We had a few good experiences. It started with Haylie loosing her first tooth. She is our youngest so far. It was nothing spectacular. She was eating and felt something hard in her mouth and it was her tooth.

The tooth next to it is now loose, and Hannah's two front bottom teeth are a tad loose too. So it begins!

One of my goals this summer was to make sure the four older kids were swimming. So we have tried to take advantage of every opportunity. Miranda has been invited to several pool parties, and at each one I have told the parents she is not a strong swimmer, although she can make it across the pool. Contra Loma has a new rule, in order to go in the "deep water" you have to pass a swim test. I think it is about 25 yards freestyle. I can't do that, well maybe on a good day. Then if you can't touch you have to tread water for 30 seconds. So she insisted that she wanted to take the test. I tried to discourage her, simply because I didn't want her to be embarrassed. She knew she could do it. So we went over there and sure enough she did it. I was so proud of her. I love that she knew she could do it and didn't let my lack of faith discourage her. She loved being able to go in the deep water with the older kids.

For the most part the kids just swam and had a grand time. We missed the annual picture of Logan Kyle and Caden jumping off the side, but there is hope for another trip.

Having all the kids there is no easy task and I realize that I have a lot of faith that they will be safe. I learned from last year that sometimes close is not enough, when Haylie went a little to far and couldn't touch. I barely reached her before the lifeguard did. Luckily she was perfectly fine and more than willing to stay in the water. This year I had floaty rings for both Lauren and Jackson. The older kids enjoyed pushing them around. As I looked over to Lauren I saw the floaty tip with the help of her brother coming up under neath it, and she went head first in the water. Again I was right there so she was OK, but still it was a little scary.

Both of them loved the rings, they also loved playing in the sand. Oh and the sand is the coarse stuff not the kind you are picking out of crevices for days. Jackson was happy wherever we put him. When Lauren was ready to go back in, she would climb in her ring and wade out to the deeper water. It was funny watching her waddle. She is still super independent, I can't help but appreciate that part of her personality.

Overall it was another fabulous day. I would not attempt this completely alone but try not to lean on the generosity of my friends' help. But they sure do make a difference.

Pioneer Trek 2010-Day 1

2010-07-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

We got up, not so early, on Thursday morning and kissed our little kid-lets goodbye. Then met up with our youth and headed to the El Dorado National Forest. The drive was fun, there is nothing like listening to three teenage boys sing Taylor Swift songs A-capella. Luckily with Jeremy's phone we were able to pull up a few on youtube. Not really pioneer-ish but this is how we started our journey. We eventually swapped some youth (Jeremy and I are so NOT cool!) and the last half of the drive was a little more quiet.

When we finally showed up it was hustle and bustle. We finally got to meet the youth that would be calling us Ma and Pa. They all seemed to mesh pretty well. I didn't see any eye rolls or dirty looks. That was a relief!

We packed up our handcart and joined together for a little introduction by Ranger Frank. Ranger Frank is one who was a big help to Sister Cadwallader, who was the go to gal in organizing this. Ranger Frank was a wealth of information. If you listened to him talk for a second about the Pioneers you would have no doubt that this man was truly a Mormon. Turns out he is Episcopalian. He clarified this when we told him he is welcome at our church anytime ; ). He told us a little about our journey, a few rules and then sent us on our way. We ended up with a baby and a chicken, only they ran out of chickens so we didn't have that trial or what ever the story was with the chickens.

Then we lined up. We left in handcart companies of 6 and each company left about 20 minutes apart. We were in the last group, which turned out to be a little frustrating for our go getter family. I wish this picture did the hill justice but it looks a whole lot flatter than what it really was.

When we were finally able to get going, we walked up and up and up. I think for about 40 minutes or so. Then maybe up a little bit more. As Mas and Pas we were instructed to let the youth do it. There were times it was hard to watch them suffer. At the same time, after about 5 minutes, I was out of breath and more than willing to let them handle it. The boys, men youth, whatever...pulled a lot of the time.

But for the most part the girls hung on to the back, even when it felt completely useless. When we got to the top they had what they called a vignette, or story. Each time we stopped, a few people would act out or read passages from real pioneers. The first day the stories focused mostly on food and weather. Either of these circumstances would have made me throw in the towel and give up. We continued on and went up more, then down. The terrain got a little more sketchy, bumpy, rocky etc. We came to a point where there was a big standstill. It turns out there was a girl who got too close to the wheel and her foot got ran over. YIKES! Some people were frustrated, there was lots of grumbling. Then an amazing thing happened. It was silent, and the priesthood gave this girl a blessing. It reminded me that even in those times of trials, those pioneers were never alone. They had the priesthood to heal, to comfort, and encourage them to carry on. That particular family let everyone else pass while they waited for help. Our family was more then happy to keep on Trekking!

On a side note, two weeks before Trek they visited and there was 4 +/- feet of snow where we would be camping, and doing the vignettes. Amazingly enough due to great weather and a few dedicated leaders the snow was not a problem. However we did get a chance to cross a patch. It wasn't hard, but it got the girls to squeal when the mud splashed on their feet. We stopped at a half way point and moved up to the second company. As we started on the next leg we had an assignment for Nate. He was to leave our family and run to the other handcart companies, looking for his son Arthur. He had to take one more young man and they were to run around for 20 minutes. Then return. He was also given a "scarf". If his son was found alive he was to wave it like a flag. If he was found dead, he was to wrap up his son in the scarf. He and David left. They ran hard for at least 40 minutes. There was no luck. That was all the information we had so we kept walking. On this leg indians were hootin' and hollerin' along the trail. Nate was certain the indians took his son. The girls took a turn pulling the cart, then the boys pulled again. We finally pulled into camp around 4:00pm. It was ahead of schedule. The youth pretty much were able to run free. It was fairly relaxing.

We were treated to chicken and steak fajitas for dinner. Then there was some musical entertainment. Followed by s'mores. The sunset was beautiful.

Picture taken by Kurt P. Schwartz

We then had a family devotional. It was at this time we found out the rest of Nate's story. He had lost his son because the weather was turning bad. In the hustle and bustle of trying to beat the weather, they got separated. By the time he realized they were in a storm. He left his family to find his son. As he left his wife gave him a scarf and gave him the above mentioned instruction. He looked and looked to no avail. After a couple of days, he stopped at a post, and was told that his son had been found by another family. He was near frozen, and surrounded by wolves. The family took him in and cared for him. After a week Arthur was reunited with his family. It turns out this was an ancestor to Nate. He had acted out his own history. The coolest part was that Nate hadn't even realized he had Pioneer ancestry. The first clue that this was about him was when he heard it was a relative to Butch Cassidy, and Nate knew that was one of his ancestors. I thought this really made it hit home for him.

We laid out our sleeping bads and slept under the stars. A first for me! I think I would totally enjoy it if it was a Sleep Number pad I was sleeping on as well as the bugs having a 100 feet restraining order. The stars were something else though, simply breathtaking. Then the noise started.

Slow drumming, then it quickened. I started having an internal debate. I knew I wouldn't REALLY be hurt, but deep inside I was praying that our campsite was tucked for enough back that we would go unnoticed. Then it got louder, with indian chanting. It went on for quite some time, or like 15 minutes, which ever is longer. Eventually the noise died down, we hunted down some youth who were hunting down the surprisingly fake indians. Once our family was complete I felt a certain peace knowing everyone was home. I then proceeded to toss and turn wondering what would be in store for us tomorrow.

A New kind of adventure...Part 1

2010-07-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

What I really wanted to label this was "My dogs are barkin' my eyes are droopin' and I am SOOO grateful to live in the comfort of a home!"

Back in November Jeremy and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa for a Handcart Trek. We would be the Trek parents to a group of 10 teenagers ages 14-18. I was totally stoked, we quickly got a sitter lined up to trade our 6 kids so we could have 10 teenagers. We would get to dress up as pioneers in the 1800's ...

and pull a handcart.

In this handcart would contain cooking items, sleeping bags, padding, tarps and a 5 gallon bucket of belongings for 10 people. Then we would head out into nature and pull this for three days up hills, down hills, through snow (OK one little bit of snow), through a mud puddle or two...we would camp out under the stars...If it was only under the stars it would be tolerable, but the bugs, ugh the bugs!

Let me introduce my "family" and tell you what I think of them.

This is David. He is SUPER quiet. He is a hard worker and does anything he is asked. He has a great smile he loves basketball, in fact that might have been the only animated conversation I saw him talk about. One of my favorite parts of trek was when the boys returned from the Mormon Batallion. He was the first to return to our "family" and the girls were so thrilled, they gave him a big hug. His face lit up, I don't think because it was the girls but that he was appreciated. He is a faithful young man and will make an amazing missionary!

This is Cybelle (pronounced cy-belle, not cybil). She stole my heart as soon as I learned she could play the guitar. What I was surprised to hear was that she sings and plays the guitar. She also has a great smile and very easy going personality. She is beautiful inside and out. She is honest, quiet, and so nice! The last night she sang "I'll Follow you into the dark" while playing the guitar. Oh how I wish I had batteries in my camera, it died at the end of day one. It was beautiful. This day in particular we talked a lot about death. Husbands who started the day pulling their carts and by the end the wife was burying him, or the new mom who had to bury her baby, or even a husband who had to bury his wife and child. It was devastating. This girl is very talented!

This is Quinn. He started off a little on the shy side but I can tell you he is anything but shy. I would say he speaks his mind. He is easy to talk to and is very inquisitive. One quality that I admired the most about Quinn was something that you wouldn't necessarily notice unless you were paying attention. Quinn can be a gentleman. One incident that stood out to me was when the four girls were pulling the cart. The boys had been pulling the majority of the time, the girls wanted to do their share. They pulled it up a hill then down. Going down hill is equally as hard as going uphill. you really have to dig in your heals, not slip but keep walking. It started going pretty fast and most were not paying attention. It was Quinn who ran to the cart grabbed on and slowed it down...by digging in his heals and sliding. I don't think anyone noticed, but that touched my heart. There was another time when I was helping pull (trust me I think the family would agree it is not a help and it was a miracle I didn't trip and end up under the wheel of the handcart!) Quinn pretty much told me to move so he could take over.

On the left is Caroline. She is the all american girl that you want to be friends with. She is bright and always chipper. She has a great laugh and is fun to be around. She is friendly, but can be quiet. She is a really sweet young lady. There are people I feel drawn to because of the spiritual strength and she is definitely one of them. She loved out baby dearly, enough so that we "adopted" a second baby, that we named Alfredo. She even drew him a nice suit coat with a flower! I can't think of a particular incident but overall she has a very Christ like attitude.

On the right is Ashley. She is spunky and fun. I doubt anyone can tell her what to do. She has high standards, and is extremely social. I think I heard "Build me up buttercup" a fair number of times, I think it was an inside joke I was never in on, but none the less I enjoyed that she was always having fun and singing...I love listening to music, even when it is from the backside of a handcart. One of my first impressions is when we were waiting to start the trek. A song was being sung and she stated that it was inappropriate for this, she then said she did like the song, but that this wasn't the place to sing it. I admired that she stood up for her beliefs. It made it easier for me to speak up when something wasn't appropriate. I am grateful for that example.

This is Alexis, I think you pretty much know what is on her mind, because she is easy to read...well actually she pretty much tells you! She has so much energy and is a social butterfly! I think in any 5 minute period she was saying hi to at least one person. She is one that I would be grateful if she had my back! She is loyal, and not fake in anyway. She is one of those "scary" softball chicks (yes they scare me, they are tough and I am a wimp!) she also plays basketball. She is also a neat girl! Plus she said she was glad that I was her "Ma."
Secretly I think it was because our last name is Jacobs so she could call us Team Jacob!

I wish my camera didn't die because I have no better pictures, or solo pictures of these two. On the left is Nate and the right is Todd. It took about two days before I got the right names to the right faces. I ended up deciding, if he was bleeding it was definitely Todd.

Nate is an athlete as well. For his senior year he recently got elected as ASB President. He seems like a nice all american guy! I would say if Caroline was the all american girl, he is the all american boy. I don't think I ever heard him complain. He was very helpful. He is an athlete as well (Yes all our guys were athletic...and the girls too...except Cybelle, who said she only played street hockey when she was younger.) Nate was very easy to talk to, I am glad I got to know him.

Todd and Nate are very similar but are very different. Todd is very confident. He seems to be laid back, but definitely competitive. I heard through the grapevine that he was captain of the football team. I am not sure that it is true, but it wouldn't surprise me. He is athletic and a leader, I would say that he is another one that you probably couldn't get him to do something unless he wants to, yet he still did everything we asked. I wish trek was about one day longer, because he opened up a little more as the days wore on.

I was so pleased with this group, but sad that we missed out on getting to know our other two family members. I have served in the primary and in all honesty teenagers scare me. (remember I am a self proclaimed wimp!) This group was easy going but they worked hard. I told them they were all rockstars on multiple occasions. The proved to me that there are great teenagers in this world, which give me hope for my children's future. I have a love for these kids and am so impressed by their personalities. They varied so much but shared a common quality, they are all great youth! I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of this experience with them and that they accepted me as their "Ma" shich yes they even called me "ma" which was a little disturbing because it made me feel so old.

In my next post I will share a little more about my experience, but definitely wanted to document my feelings for this awesome family!

Wordfull Wednesday {Wholesome Recreational Activities}

2010-07-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Proclamation to the Family, Paragraph 7

When I read this topic I remembered the talk given by Dallin H. Oaks in the October General Conference. It was called "Good, Better, Best." I would highly recommend reading it if you aren't familiar with it, or re-read it, if it has been a while. In summary he is talking about the abundant amount of good things there are to do with our time. BUT, there are things that are better that should take priority, And even more importantly there are the best things that we shouldn't ignore.

I struggle with this because I see so many children who are involved in baseball, dance, music lessons, church activities, Boy Scouts. They are all good wholesome activities. At times I feel guilty for not getting my kids involved in these things. Each and everyone takes time, precious time. I look at my children and wonder which is the better part? Are these activities going to help them later in life? Quite possibly yes. Then I think about the time we get to spend as a family. The moments when we turn on the sprinklers in our nearly dead lawn, and let the kids run through it. Then cooling off on our driveway eating Popsicles.

Trying to squirt dad with a squirt gun. The times when I am asked to sing Hannah to sleep, and it works (I sing a lot like Scuttle from The Little Mermaid). Or the moments when we bake cookies together. Even being a little goofy no matter how unattractive it is!

We love our family time and with all the other good activities, especially with 6 kids, we would never get to be spontaneous and often times we would find us split and probably heading in different directions. We enjoy family walks on Mount Diablo. Playing the Wii as a family, and the most regular is family meals. When school is in, we pretty much start and end our day with a family meal, but 98% of the time get to have dinner together.

Dallin H. Oaks says:

We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.

In all that we do I hope our children realize how important they are to us and more importantly that we are teaching them about the Savior. He is the absolute BEST part. I love the above quote because it states it plain and simple, the best helps develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ AND strengthen our families. This is the question I should be asking myself when I choose to get involved in something, does this help develop faith and does it strengthen my family?

If you want to participate go to Chocolate on my Cranium. And add your blog post to Mr. Linky!

I felt it again, finally!

2010-07-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

When I was 9 months pregnant with Jackson, Jeremy got called into the Bishopric. Jackson was born 3 days later, 5 days past his due date. Life changed dramatically. Mostly on Sundays. Jeremy was gone in the morning, away from us at our meetings and would come home as soon as he could. Some days earlier than others. I am not complaining, I know the time he was away from us was nothing compared to being the Bishop. The first few weeks I didn't mind, but it got harder to get all 6 kids dressed and ready for church AND do it ON TIME. For the next 17 months I would say most Sundays I got home from church frustrated, exhausted and far from spiritually uplifted. When we changed to 9:00am it got better, I was feeling like I was in a groove and we had a great system.

At the end of May I got released from primary where I had served in various capacities for 4 plus years. The bigger change was Jeremy getting released from the Bishopric. It was a little sad, because I knew we were abundantly blessed because of his service. Since Jeremy has been released we have had conference and Jeremy went to another ward for his new calling. It is so nice to have him sit next to me and help with our children. (Don't misunderstand, I did have other help, my mother-in-law and brother-in-law made it so church was never too hard. I appreciate all the help they give me! It is just different when both parents are there to help.) Jackson will be 18 months on Wednesday, so we cheated and sent him to nursery today. Life again has changed dramatically!

Today was awesome, I got to sit through the entire Sacrament meeting, then Jeremy took Jackson to nursery while I saved him a seat next to me. I got to hear the lesson in both Sunday School and Relief Society. Both lessons were fabulous. We talked about David and Jonathan's friendship. When I read the lesson ahead of time I didn't feel passionate about the subject. It was kind of like, yeah Saul tried to kill David again and again. David was saved by those who love him, blah, blah, blah. So when the lesson started out and talked of the qualities of friendship, it put a very relevant meaning to the lesson. I am so blessed to have great friends, and I feel I may not be as loyal as Jonathan.

The lesson in Relief Society was about acting on spiritual promptings. The more you act the more you receive. It was again so relevant to being a mother. Life is crazy at times, some may call it loud. Even though we can find excuses to not act, we need to, it is for our safety, spiritually and even physically.

Last month, I prayed a prayer that is only asking for trouble. I wanted spiritual growth, BIG spiritual growth. It was a prayer that I was scared to pray, but want it so much. Usually growth is painful, and you learn so much. Today I knew my prayers were answered during these meetings and especially when I came home and still felt great about the day. Heavenly Father always surprises us, I guess it helps keep us on our toes. I am sure the people who taught today don't read my blog, but I am grateful for their knowledge, testimony and love of the gospel. They are truly an inspiration to me!

and WOOT-WOOT! for nursery, I am grateful for those who serve there. They are the sisters I loved the most today!

Did anyone see an ECLIPSE?

2010-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our Twilight Saga Dinner party, then we went to see the movie Eclipse. I had so much fun and enjoyed hanging out with a group of great girls!

Instead of helping with the food, my friend Teri and I put together these Eclipse Survival Packs. It was so much fun, and I think all the guests enjoyed it.

My favorite was the bookmark. I got the idea from here. She does a great tutorial on how to make them. It is really easy and a great gift I think! The cookies were dipped in Chocolate. To go with the theme these are called Eclipse cookies (that part is not made up). For the "Solar Eclipse cookie" I used the Wilton Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe then dipped them in Hershey's Chocolate (with a little shortening to make it smooth). The chocolate ones were cake mix cookies (I used half the cookie recipe and it was milk chocolate cake, next time I would do the Wilton sugar cookie and add chocolate) dipped in White dipping chocolate.

The table setting was great as well. Each person got a survival pack and a bottle with labels on them, that read "I'm Thirsty," "Drink Up," "O Negative," "B Positive," and "A Negative". It is really just a water bottle with Hawaiian Punch Singles in them so they are red. I got the labels from this link.

The highlight of the night was waiting to see what my friend Cindy would do for a cake. I have raved about her before. I emailed her Monday while she was at work and asked if she would do a cake or cupcakes. She has a career that is not cake decorating, this is her hobby. She is so good and just whipped this up. Her favorite part was the eclipse on the top. It was awesome because at the start of the movie it looks just like that.

At one point there were 17 of us girls, there was laughter, fun, great food and lots of anticipation for the movie. Fourteen of us headed to the theater where we took up a whole row. (One friend brought her adorable baby so she took the only remaining seat with her baby gear). Thanks ladies for a great night. I got a few photos but none were too flattering so if you took a good group shot, I would love a copy!

A giveaway or two!

2010-06-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Crafting blogs all over the web are giving away Silhouette machines. Oh how I want one so I can jump on the vinyl band wagon. You can use it for so many facets of crafting. Check out their website and see that the possibilities are endless!

You can enter to win one by going to Tater Tots and Jello or Just a Girl and entering. You can earn up to 10 entries between the two websites!

Good luck if you enter and if you do, would you mind sharing your coolness with me?

Bear Creek!

2010-06-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

A new couple moved into our ward and kindly invited us over for a barbecue. It was fun to get to know them as well as some of their friends. As Jeremy was talking to the husband, Chad, they got on the subject of running. He introduced Jeremy to the life of trail running. They decided that they would run in the next one which happened to be a week away. Jeremy waited until the last minute to register, but he did it.

This morning, Chad picked up Jeremy and they were on their way. When he got there Jeremy saw another friend. As they were talking Jeremy told him that this was his first trail run experience. His friend said that this was the hardest trail run that Brazen Racing puts on, in his opinion. That kind of freaked him out he was wondering what he had gotten into. The first three miles was uphill, he had to walk a little. Jeremy said the last mile was a thin trail where there wasn't room to pass As well as a couple trees to climb over. The trail was up and down. After it was over he was able to see the times. When he crossed the line, he saw the time was 1 hour and 30 minutes. He was a little disappointed, but considering the inclines, he thought it was reasonable. He looked at the times as they were posted and he found his time and it said that it was 1 hour and 11 minutes. His friend explained to him that the time starts when the Half Marathoners go so you had to subtract 25 minutes. He also pointed out that Jeremy came in first for his age group. Woo-Hoo! I wish I was there to greet him across the finish line. Needless to say, I am proud of his effort, the only thing that would make him more cool was if he did a Tri-sprint! ; )

Here is a picture of Jeremy when he got home.

A close up of his medals. One for finishing and one for being an "Age Group Winner." The bummer part is that since he signed up so late, he didn't get a t-shirt, but there is always next time!

Of course he had to make sure the medals were real!

Sure enough they were real medal! I would have preferred chocolate but this isn't about me!

Just for information sake, Jeremy Bic'd (you know like the Bic Razor and Shaving gel) his hair so a friend would do it, kind of like a support group. He didn't do it for wind resistance. He says now "I will never shave my head again until I have to!" Here is the "Bald Brothers Unite" Support Group!

Unfortunately for Jeremy, he is the only one who is not balding so he actually cut off lots of hair! Chris' hair was longer but he didn't have as much! I don't think it looks bad, but I think I like his head better with hair, and he does too!

Yeah for Saturday, I hope you have some good memories today, I know we do!

Repentance AND Forgiveness {Wordfull Wednesday}

2010-06-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

June 23 - Repentance and Forgiveness - If any of you have never done anything wrong please raise your hand! All of us have had need to seek out forgiveness, to give forgiveness and to repent. How do you teach your children about repentance and forgiveness? "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness," (Family Proclamation, paragraph7)

I think this is funny to come up right now. This week in Sunday school at church we are talking about Samuel. This is the question that caught my eye: What does 1 Samuel 16:7 teach about how the Lord evaluates us? What does the Lord look for in our hearts? How can we improve our ability and commitment to see beyond the outward appearance of others and look on the heart?

In Chapter 15 it talks about how Saul obeyed the Lord in killing all the Amalekites and he was supposed to destroy ALL possessions, including livestock. Saul didn't want to see such fatted calves and such go to waste so he kept them and gave them as a burnt offering to God. While offering the best is what God wants He wants us to be obedient even more. While this is a side note the second part of the question is what caught my attention. I have a real problem of judging people. Not in a way that I automatically assume who they are but, "Why would they do that? I would do..." kind of a way. It is not good and it is something with this lesson that really was brought to the fore front of my thoughts, it is something that I need to repent of. This is for this reason that I am grateful for the gift of repentance, I don't need to be perfect, but I need to do my best to be obedient to the commandments that have been given to me.

I love the topic of repentance and forgiveness. We use it all the time in our home. On a scale that the kids can grasp I teach them how it works. When the so called innocent was wronged and they come tattle I ask if the "wrong-doer" apologized, if the answer is yes, then I explain that we are required to forgive, and it is now between the other person and Heavenly Father. I have said this so many times that I wasn't sure they were listening anymore. Then I heard one of my children (pick one) say "Logan, I am sorry" Logan responded with "I forgive you." I thought that was awesome. In their sweet innocent childlike understanding, they get it. After that they walk away and are friends again.

Although this is a gospel principle that I have a testimony of and believe in wholeheartedly, it is hard for me to use. I kneel down and say my prayers and share those things I am grateful for and the things that I pour my heart out about. It is very rarely that I think about my numerous mistakes. Lucky for me there is no time expiration on the gift of the Atonement!

I loved the talk from Pres. Uchtdorf when he educated us about flying. He explained that when piloting there is always "a point of safe return" or more commonly know as the "point of no return." Before this point the plane will have enough fuel to make it safely back to the airport. He goes on to share this:

It’s Never Too Late

Satan wants us to think that when we have sinned we have gone past a “point of no return”—that it is too late to change our course. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the gift of God to His children to correct and overcome the consequences of sin. Christ came to save us. If we have taken a wrong course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us the assurance that sin is not a point of no return. A safe return is possible if we will follow God’s plan for our salvation.

There Is Always Hope

Wherever you find yourselves on this journey through life, whatever trials you may face, there is always a point of safe return; there is always hope. You are the captain of your life, and God has prepared a plan to bring you safely back to Him, to your divine destination.
The gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ provides us at all times and at all places with the blessings of repentance and forgiveness. Because of this gift, the opportunity to make a safe return from the disastrous course of sin is available to all of us. Happiness in this life and eternal joy in a life to come will be our reward if we choose to accept and apply this gift of our Heavenly Father.

Doesn't that bring you peace of mind? It does not only for me but knowing my children have this gift as well.

Thank you Cocoa at Chocolate on My Cranium, for presenting a topic!

The Beach

2010-06-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, along with a couple of friends, we ventured out to Alameda and hung out at Crown Memorial Beach. It is in the bay so the waves are not much more than a lake would be. It was a great place to go and not stress about the dangers of the ocean. Don't get me wrong we watched the kids like hawks but there was no huge waves to pull the sand out from under their feet and pull them away!

It was windy but sunny. The view was pretty cool too. You could see the fog rolling over the hills into the bay.

The kids had a blast running around, I was reminded why I hate the beach. I wish there would be an invention to keep the sand off the kids hands, as well as blankets and really far away from food. Luckily it wasn't about me but about the kids and they had a good enough time that they even said they would enjoy coming back.

The boys loved playing on the rocks and the girls laid down in the sand and collected about 1,628,158 broken pieces of shells. Sadly, ahem, we left them in their natural habitat. As well as the feather...don't tell the girls they haven't asked about it's whereabouts yet!

Jackson was free for about 30 minutes. In that time he ventured around the rocks, tried to pet a chipmunk (or are the ground squirrels?), tried to chase ducks, pet geese and really wanted to take home a cute little dog! So mostly he just stayed in the stroller.

Since we finally got our car cleaned from our cross country trip last summer, I was a little hesitant to get my beach babes into the car, so we headed up to the nearby park/play structure. The kids surprisingly wanted to play in the SAND. By then they were all dry so the sand fell off of them.

After a long day we headed home and 5 of 6 kiddos fell asleep in the car. When I got home this was the most precious reward for a great day.

The kids really love each other and I want to treasure these memories so when they get to be teenagers and everyone is always in their space I can remind them of these moments.

And a quick reminder that she is precious:

She was telling me she didn't like the sand...or maybe she was picking her nose, the face would work for either situation!

This is what summer vacation is all about!

Brookwood Park...no pictures!

2010-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the park today. It was Brookwood Park in Pleasant Hill. It was my first time so I thought I would do a little review. Pictures would be help, but I didn't bring my camera. (You can try this link http://www.360villagevirtualtours.com/phparks/phparkstour.html then click on the bottom left little bubble at Taylor and Withers)

The park is in the hills so there are trees surrounding the park. The down side is that there are no benches to sit on near the play structure. Also there are no swings.

This park is probably great if your children are walking, It is really not good for crawlers. There was a basketball court and picnic benches, they just happened to be further away than you would probably like with little ones. There is a great grassy area but it is up above the park so you can't really see the grassy area if you need to be at the play structure. For older kids there are trees to climb and be a little more adventurous as well as a really little stream, but when watching little ones at the park, the adventure could be a little dangerous.

My opinion:
For 5 and up I think it is perfect. For crawlers, I would suggest finding another park. For mixed ages I would suggest not going alone, then everyone can be happy and be supervised!

If you came to this park and have something to add please feel free to leave a comment!

The story of the day...

2010-06-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Today was our Stake Conference. Twice a year all the wards and branches (congregations), about 6, in our stake meet together and get the same leadership direction. Our stake boundaries are kind of long and skinny so we actually hold two meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Jeremy got to speak at both of them. For the first one it was perfect, I got to stay at home, the kids ran free, albeit too free, but free nonetheless. Then the second one came around. I kept Jackson awake so he would sleep through the two hour meeting. I even became "one of THOSE mothers" and put sleeping Jackson in a stroller, so he would stay asleep through the meeting. Since Jeremy was on the stand it left me and my dear mother-in-law to keep 6 kids reverent though out. The first 30 minutes were perfect. Jackson stayed asleep, Lauren colored and the other four didn't have any problems. Then Lauren got hungry, then thirsty, then cranky so I had to take her out. After I sternly whispered at her I went to sit back down and I tripped over the stroller. Which woke Jackson up. So for the next 20 minutes I spent wrestling with Lauren and pushing the stroller, going to the bathroom and getting more frustrated with Lauren. I brought her in a room and bear held her while she screamed. I am not sure the spirit was with me at this moment, but I prayed for patience. My goal was to be able to hear Jeremy speak and things were not looking good. I keep wondering if the Lord is trying to teach me humility, but honestly I didn't think I would get to sit through the whole thing. Together Jeremy and I have not sat through a whole Stake conference yet, so I didn't believe my kids were any exception to two hours being too long for the kids to sit still! Maybe I think my kids are pretty awesome and that they can do it and I was being taught that my kids are like everyone else's. So after near tears and frustration to the ends of my capability we made one last trip to the bathroom since Lauren was screaming "Poo-poo! Poo-Poo!" I asked her several times are you sure, and she said "yeth" so I took her, it was not a successful mission, back to my empty room I went. ~~I might have been pouting and stomping at this point but there are no witnesses that I am aware of so what I mean to say is,~~ I walked back to my safe haven full of grace and poise, with the patience of an angel, and sat in a padded Relief Society chair wondering why couldn't I just be able to hear Jeremy's talk. Lauren continued to scream in my ear. The good part was that I just told her to sit in the chair next to me and she did, she actually stayed seated, she continued to scream. Then she calmed down put her head on my lap and fell asleep. She stayed asleep for the rest of the meeting and I got to hear Jeremy's talk and it was wonderful. I will not lie I am so happy to be his wife, and I always love to hear him speak. The second hour was perfect, well a little warm with Lauren asleep in my arms, but I heard the last three speakers in their entirety. Towards the end Logan handed me his note book which he had written his favorite things. Here is how he wrote it: the ( ) contain my editing

My faveourite

things

Drawing, writing, Playing with Legos, Movies, Star Wars transformers, Playing video games, Playing with Dad, Coloring Pictures, Playing, My friends, Money, gutairs (guitars), Lego sets, Reading, Quack Quack (his stuffed penguin he got when he was 1) When Gramal (grandma) and Uncle Chris come, Playdates, Bugs, Akchen figurs (Action Figures), going to my cusens (cousins), Origamy, BaskettBall, Baseball, going swiming, My Birthday, Christmas (7 days after his birthday), talking, being funny, My Brother, playing wiht fake wepens (weapons), Baking wiht mom, eating, Reseling (wrestling), sleepovers, going to gramals house, going to the Movies, Going to the CD credet Union (Jeremy's work), Doodiling (doodling), sleeping, Running, Hallidays (holidays), Dasert (dessert is Da-bomb!), dinner, lunch, snacks, Breckfest (breakfast), naps, long naps, Activities, Milk, Jiuce, Lego watches, finding legos, My best friend Aiden, spanesh (Spanish), Romote kuntrol things (remote control), Music, speshal nihgts (special nights-this is when one child gets to stay up late with just me and Jer and choose what they want to do, usually involving "da-sert!"), Books, Animals, Webkinz, Wii, My Mes (Miis from the Wii), Gifts, School, Being chaste by girls, Mom and Dad, Hoolihoops (Hoola Hoops), tricks, climbing, Gum, Blizzards (you know the ice cream kind from Dairy Queen), candy, Ice cream Cream (yes he put it in twice), going to the parks.

When I read this a few things gave me reason to smile, like the food part, I am sure he was starving when he wrote this. The part where he wrote that his Brother was one of his favorite things. I am glad to know that special nights mean that much to him. The nap, long naps, that was funny too. My all time favorite was when he wrote Being Chaste by girls! Of course he meant chased, but I thought how cool that he spelled it wrong and it means something virtuous and awesome.

According to yourdictionry.com the third definition of chaste means 3.pure, decent, or modest in nature, behavior, etc. I hope he truly is chaste in all his actions.

After reading his list, I couldn't help but be in better spirits. I was impressed with the amount of things on his list. I was grateful to see how we don't have him involved in anything extra curricular, yet he still has over a page full of "favorite" things. It also made me think how grateful I am for him and his example. He is the best big brother that I could ask for these girls and even Jackson. I know he loves them, and that makes me happy.

Except for the rough 25 minutes, it was a success. I was so glad to hear the words shared.

Goodbye my friend!

2010-06-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

Logan's first grade teacher is going to teach her last day of school on Monday! Yes you read that right our last day of school is Monday, how weird. Not important, the point is we decided that this end of year class gift needed to be something special that represented her near 30 years of teaching and at least 10 at this school. She taught abroad as well. Truly an amazing teacher.

One of the moms came up with the idea of a quilt, I took that idea and ran with it using my all time favorite tutorial on the web. Homemade by Jill has a tutorial to make Custom Silhouette Pillows. Using this technique I not so sneakily barged into this teachers classroom at a super busy moment...twice and got all the kids profile pictures. Then I did the prep work and brought it back. Each of the kids got to pick the border around their pictures as well as paint their own profile. This is a sample of my "trial" block.

Then another mom took all the blocks home and sewed the quilt together. As for the back the "idea" mom got all the kids to write their name on a piece of paper and I scanned it in, cut and pasted rearranged and printed it out so it looked like this:

This is done by using fabric and sending it through your ink jet printer. I bought some expensive stuff for this than later learned if you iron your fabric to freezer paper, than attach it to paper it will work the same and it is a whole lot cheaper!

The "sewing" mom has a sister who quilts and did the quilting for us! It was fabulous!

Here is the front of the finished project:

On the back is the "signature block," it is the key to whose faces are where on the front. Then it is surrounded by matching fabric from the front.

Since school ends on a Monday and a few kids wouldn't be there, we presented "the teacher" with her gift. And a few pictures that show how surprised and pleased she was. The "Quilter" mom said our goal was to make her cry. That is how we know it is a great gift.

Let me tell you it was a great gift. It really was a group effort. From the parents who donated financially to those who shared their creative talents, and the mom who got the whole thing started in the first place. I hope it was worth it for all involved. When I asked "the teacher" what she was going to do after retirement, she said "I am buying me a nice sewing machine and I am going to make stuff for my grand kids." Because all the parents donated so generously we not only were able to give her this great treasure but a large gift certificate to JoAnn's. Overall it was a great success!

FAITH {Wordfull Wednesday}

2010-06-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer..." (Family Proclamation, paragraph 7)

Faith - There are many religions throughout the world. They are different in doctrines, traditions, beliefs, rituals but there are also many similarities. Faith is what keeps families grounded, helps to bring meaning and purpose to our lives. Tell us about your faith - no matter what it is - and how it has helped you in your life. How are you teaching that to your children?

For the first eleven years of my life we pretty much didn't attend church. We did for a time attend a catholic church but really I am not sure I learned anything from that. When I was 11 we moved in with my grandma. We met some girls and they invited us to church with them a few times. Later my mom met a christian man whom she later married. As they started to get serious they started "shopping" for a church. There were a few I remember walking out mid service. We ended up attending our neighbors church and it was the one that they got married in.

This was my true introduction to faith. While attending this evangelical church, I had many awesome opportunities such as going to Mexico and doing little day camps for children, then returning the next two years as a team leader. Back at home I got to help with summer day camps as well. Then I started working and church really landed on the back burner. Then I moved out of my parents home and it was something that was just part of my past. While I didn't make perfect choices, I didn't get into too much trouble either.

Then in came my night in shining armor. You know the one I brag about in practically every post about families! He gave me a book of Mormon for Christmas, said I love you, but I am only getting married in the temple, then left for college, to meet lots of ladies who were prepared to meet that requirement. I was lonely and I had this book, which if I read and believed it would lead me to the temple and be sealed to this man for time and all eternity.

I look back at that time and know how right he was, I was a little offended that I wasn't good enough as is, but now after 10 fabulous, imperfect years, I see! We have a family were we are unified in what we believe. We are unified in how we view our Savior and loving Heavenly Father. Because Jeremy and I are unified in our faith, we have a strong foundation that is stable for our children. I watch them grow and change. I love that they are not ashamed of who they are. They know that they are the children of our Father in Heaven, and what their purpose is here. I can't help but believe that this has come about because of the wisdom of that young return missionary who didn't compromise his standards.

We had the opportunity to go to a Christian Family Camp with my parents this last summer. There are lots of differences in how our church runs and how they run theirs. It was such a neat experience, we got to talk to our children about some of the differences and some of the similarities. I loved how we as Mormons fit in there. I am not sure any one knew or if they did if they would have thought of us differently. We had the opportunity at the very end to thank the Pastor's wife and we explained that we were Mormon and we really enjoyed their camp. There were so many aspects of it that we wish we could start here. There were so many great memories. I am grateful that just because we have different beliefs we didn't miss that opportunity. I love that people can be of different faiths and still love to be in each other's company.

Prayer, do you do it?

2010-06-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great lesson on prayer yesterday and it really got me thinking. I love the ability that we have to pray to our Heavenly Father, to share our deepest struggles and our brightest moments. We get to ask for needs to be met and share our gratitude for our many blessings. It is an amazing time to contemplate and receive personal revelation.

As I sat there listening I was reminded of the struggle that I have with prayer. It is not that I struggle with the concept, or struggle with the belief of its power. What I struggle with is the fact that I HAVE to do it. I never felt I have been a rebellious person, but in this area I really feel rebellious. I know when I get in to bed I need to say my prayers but there are times when I just don't want to and it really is because I don't want to HAVE to do it.

Another rebellious reason I don't like to pray is I don't want to be challenged. I know when I pray for patience the next day is going to be extremely trying, when I pray to help me with what I eat, guaranteed there will be extra awesome food temptations.

All the above makes it challenging, but I do realize it is all by my own choice. I had the sweetest experience with Lauren and prayer that I shared recently. She can be a ~~lot~~ little challenging at times. It was a particularly rough day, and I am sure the night before I prayed for patience, especially patience with her. I prayed that I would know how to love her, how to make sure she is getting what she needs. If I need to change please help me. With all that I asked I wasn't terribly surprised when I wanted to blow my top. Clutching my hands I went into my room and kneeled down to converse with my Heavenly Father, first asking for forgiveness for the way I lost it with Lauren (I come from a family of yellers, and I am not too different!) I got a peaceful feeling and the prompting came to me that I needed to let Lauren know that I pray for her. So I went in and told her how much I loved her and that I was sorry for yelling. Then I asked if we could pray together. She said yes. As I started to pray out loud, she repeated everything I had said. It was such a sweet moment. I kid you not when I tell you her countenance changed and my attitude did as well. Then we cuddled on her bed, she was adorable and happy and we read some books together. It was exactly what I needed. I also learned that she needs to know that we love her and she needs attention too.

I think so often that we use prayer as a last resort, because we don't stop to listen until we are in crisis mode. I know for me when I can't do it anymore and I am pleading for help, I get a quick answer. I am sure I had been given the answer so many times before I just didn't stop to listen and obey.

As I was thinking of these experiences I realized that Heavenly Father doesn't challenge us with this type of answer. Yes, He wants us to grow, He does want us to change in any way that brings us closer to Him. But the thought that touched me the most was the realization that He knows what I am capable of. He promised he will never give me more than I can handle, this is His way to help shape me into a better me! When my patience is tried to the very tips of the end, He knows I can handle it and I will grow from it. So in a round about way, I know that prayer works, it works to let us know we are not alone, that we are loved. I am so grateful for that knowledge!

P.S. The picture has nothing to do with the post but I know it is like dessert after a heavy meal, and she is super sweet!

House Party Rocks!

2010-06-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of House Party? It is an internet based company. They set up and organize parties for products. You go to them and click on parties that you would like to host, then they send you a party pack in a box. Right now you can sign up for several events including a PS3 (PlayStation 3 for you non-gaming folk) they are creating the sign up list for that one.

In March I hosted a Ziploc Party and this is what my party pack included:

•(1) Ziploc® Brand Big Bag XL
•(1) Ziploc® Brand Flexible Tote XL
•(1) Ziploc® Brand Flexible Tote XXL
•(1) Ziploc® Twist and Loc® Medium Round Container
•(2) Ziploc® Brand Extra Small Bowl Container(12 each)
•(4) Ziploc® Twist and Loc® Small Round Container(12 each)
•(7) Ziploc® Brand Divided Rectangle Container (14 each)
•(15) Home Organization Pads
•(15) Sharpie Pens
•(15) Home Organization Brochures with Money-saving Coupons
•(16) Ziploc® Brand Big Bag Large Swirl

Each guest got a bag with one of each of the multiple containers listed above. There are a few things I just didn't see myself using, the zipper under bed bags. Did you know they even exist? So I gave those away.

It is a little frustrating when you start signing up for lots of parties and don't get picked but trust me you will! Keep trying. There were a few that I REALLY wanted but didn't get. Like the Ball one that they sent you a free canning pan, how awesome would that be? When I applied for the Hasbro game night I hoped that we would get it considering we have a LARGE collection of games. Sure enough I was picked woo-hoo! I got my party box on Thursday and I opened it up. It included:

•The latest version of TRIVIAL PURSUIT Bet You Know It
•ELECTRONIC CATCH PHRASE
•TABOO
•Coupons ($5.00 off one of the following games Taboo, Electronic Catch Phrase, Scattergories, Pictionary or The Game of Things---this game is a hoot!)
•1 bag of Hershey’s Pieces candy
•1 Box Triscuit classic
•1 Box Reduced fat Triscuits
•1 Box Triscuit Thin Crisps Quattro Formaggio
•1 Box Triscuit Thin Chrips Parmesan Garlic
•1 Box Wheat Thins

Can you believe, they send it to you for FREE as in costs you nothing? Jeremy and I decided to play the Trivial Pursuit Game so on party night I won't be playing it for the first time. I am so glad I did. It was a lot of fun. Even though Jeremy creamed me and he didn't even feel the least bit of shame, not one bit!

That stack of tokens is actually Jeremy's winnings, there was maybe 8 (1 point) tokens left in the bank, Jeremy had earned over 200 points. It really is a lot of fun and I can't wait to play with my friends!

I am looking forward to the party and having some fun. To add to the gaming theme, I asked all guests to bring a food item, where they will compete for some prizes!

If you know a person who likes to play games, this is one that I would recommend. If you live close and would be interested in playing let me know! Oh and a side note this game won't hit the market until this fall so you will be among the first to play it!

Should I be proud?

2010-06-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I decided I wanted to start exercising, I have spent the last 9 years dedicating my body to the science of being a balloon. 9 months growing 1 year shrinking, and the cycle continued with the shrinkage being less and less. Here is the perfect time for an embarrassing confession, don't you love those? When I was pregnant with Jackson, I gained the least amount of weight, I think it was 25 pounds, which was down from close to double that with the rest! I was pretty sure that loosing that weight would be a piece of cake then I would start working on the other 30 I had yet to loose from the preceding four pregnancies. So I get home and two days after birth I stepped on the scale. I was shocked to discover that after having a 9lb baby I lost 7 pounds, how on earth is that possible? I blame it on the milk supply coming in, is that valid?

My Goal

Last September a good friend did a Triathlon sprint. I knew I wasn't in any shape to join her, but I really wanted to do a 5K. It is so hard to find one on Saturday. I have come to love SeeJaneRun. They do 5K and Half Marathons, and also a Triathlon sprint. In a few locations, lucky for me they do one of each close to me. In January, one of my New Year's resolution was to run a 5K. I had 6 months to train and I set a goal of running the whole way and under 30 minutes. AS time went I found multiple excuses, the biggest being I don't want to run by myself in the dark. The second, I don't want to run in the rain and the third, I don't want to run by myself. Kind of makes it hard to train. Well the time change happened, then the weather, and another good friend signed up for the Half Marathon. I asked if she wanted to run together. Being that she is in far better shape then me I thought it would help me keep up. I found out that I have recurring shin splits, which made running very painful. We would meet up at a track so she could run and I would walk. I decided I will still exercise, but try to let the shin splints heal. Then on race day I could run, if I injured myself then it would be OK, I would deal with that pain when it came. Up until this point I would say (yes embarrassingly so) that the furthest I ran with out stopping was MAYBE .25 of a mile.

So race day came and I was pretty positive I would walk the whole thing and my goal was to do it under 45 minutes. I was walking about a 16 minute mile. So I would have to pick up the pace. We watched all the amazing ladies leave for their Half Marathon then 30 minutes later we were in the que waiting for the start. I decided it was best to stay towards the back and things would clear out. There is something amazingly invigorating about running surrounded by people. I actually ran a whole mile without stopping. Then it went down hill about 1-2 minutes running/jogging then 2-3 minutes walking. It was awesome to have the iPod to help me time myself.

As I was getting closer to the finish line I was wondering if Jeremy made it there and if my family would see me cross the finish line. I was totally trying to keep emotions in check, I don't know exactly why, but I had to talk myself out of crying. I wasn't going to look then I heard it "Go, Mom" "We are proud of you!" I looked just in time to see my own personal cheering squad! It was so awesome.

I will not lie and say I am totally fit. I told Jeremy it is hard to brag about this because I didn't achieve any of my original goals. Not to mention I had several friends doing the half marathon, when next to that 3.2 miles is not much! But I am proud I finished and I ran more than 2/3 of the run. My crowning achievement that I am most proud of was that I ran the first mile. I feel I should clarify when I say run I mean jog! I did it in 10:58. I did the whole thing in 39:34. That was probably close to my high school run when I didn't care, you know when you didn't put forth any effort.

The theme for the race was "I run for Chocolate and Champagne" I am not sure I totally get the running then consuming alcohol, putting religious beliefs aside it just seems wrong. I did however claim my empty glass with chocolate and a real medal that I actually earned! Don't I have the best fan club a girl could ask for?

As for today, I have a sore ankle, which didn't stop me from wearing my nice black high heal boots to church and my shins hurt, but definitely not as bad as they have in the past. When my training partner can run again we are going to train for the triathlon Sprint in September. My goal is to finish in under two hours. Is that possible? I don't know but I am going to try and I definitely need friends to keep me getting up at 6:00am to either swim, bike, run or cross train. If you want to join in the fun and go at your own pace, cause I am SLOW, let me know. There are a few people who have already said they want to try it as well. I am excited!

And by the way I am proud of my achievement!

Serving others {Wordfull Wednesday}

2010-05-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Because I was so busy serving others this week I almost missed the opportunity to write. I look forward to this every time it comes up. If you are interested you can go to Chocolate on My Cranium and see the schedule of topics here.

"Parents have the sacred duty to teach [their children] to love and serve one another" Family Proclamation paragraph 6

Back to my first sentence it really isn't true, but it sounded good and I truly wish it was. There have been times when life gets difficult and it would be so easy to slip into a depression, nothing seems to be getting better, life is hard, what's the point when you can't get out of the big hole you feel you are in? We have found that through service it makes anything better. It is amazing how service can be such a powerful antidote to all those feelings.

I know when you serve, willingly and with a servant's heart, a couple of things will happen. The biggest is that you stop thinking about yourself. I have a few kids and you think it would be hard to be selfish. I can tell you I am very selfish with my time. I want to craft, I want to read, I want to cook, I want to stay up super late when the house is peaceful and I can have many complete thoughts..one after the other uninterupted. I don't want to sit at the table and watch the kids color, or do things that are messy, such as crafts and playdough that I have to pick up. I don't want to be a jungle gym or Gumby, being pulled and and pushed around by three children at the same time.

On the flip side when I do those things that I "don't" like, I get to see the joy on my children's face when I give them undivided attention. I think service is such a great medicine. It allows you to see joy in others and share in that joy as well as when you serve, it makes you realize the blessings you have. There have been times when life is overwhelming, then you get the opportunity to serve and you realize "Wow, my life could be a whole lot worse."

Our favorite way to serve is to make some form of food and deliver them. People love to be thought of. It is so wonderful when you get that surprise. We have a neighbor who became a widow about a year after we bought our house. We went over there and brought her some cookies and boy did that make her day. Not only did she love that we thought of her, it improved our relationship as neighbors. Now she adores our kids. I know she is lonely, she has no family nearby and seldom has visitors. I know that little thought means a great deal to her. The kids really get a kick out of delivering things to people. In fact there are usually arguments as to who gets to carry the treat.

In association with Mormon Helping hands, there was a statewide service project. You can read a little about it here. They had sites all over the state of California where service opportunities were organized. Our ward family worked at an arboretum pulling weeds, painting signs, some planting, and various other things. It was fun to not only serve, but serve surrounded by those that we want our children to look up to. We got to laugh and enjoy the time we spent. Towards the end they got to ride on the flat bed wagons when they helped unload garbage can and other various weeds. That made things even better for the kids. At another site there was even a story where a few people were walking through and asked what was going on and said that was pretty cool and joined in. How cool is that?!

What was even more neat about this was that our kids were able to learn that service was rewarding. I won't lie and say it was all perfect, it is hard to keep the kids going. I think I pulled weeds for the first hour then pushed the two little ones in the stroller, helping to deliver water and then anything to kept them entertained.

After it was all over the person in charge of the arboretum gave all the volunteers tomato plants. A sweet little reward was that there was a wedding scheduled that afternoon. So not only did we help out but we helped make the location extra beautiful for a couple beginning their life together.

Lastly we teach our kids about service through serving in our callings at church. The kids have learned that our church jobs are important. It takes sacrifice and time, but it is rewarding in the end. We also teach our kiddos that being an example is a form of service. We live in a small ward as far as youth is concerned. It is getting bigger but that is from age 5 and younger. There is not a whole lot of older examples. We try to make our kids understand that when they are involved they will be teaching the younger kids how to behave. It is their choice whether or not they are a good example, but when they are good it supports their church leaders in teaching correct principles. Especially when the little ones see someone they look up to behaving appropriately.

I do love serving at church, I am not always happy about it, sometimes overwhelmed, even burnt out at times. For right now I am without a calling (aka a church responsibility) and it is really weird. People say enjoy it while it lasts, but honestly, when you are serving you feel connected and right now I am just a floater. I know it won't be long but in the mean time, I can't wait for the next opportunity. I hope my children see that and know how important service is.

Old Treasures...

2010-05-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's Grandma passed away in April, the kids still pray for her. We all miss her but know she is in such a great state now! With the passing of a loved one comes the part of cleaning out everything. While it is the responsibility of her children, us grandchildren have been able to look around and request things that we are interested in. I have only known her for the last 11 years and after seeing so much more of her stuff I realize how little I knew her, but more importantly how much we had in common. She had tons of fabric from clothes and other various projects, some unfinished, some not even started. I have a similar stack. She was into crocheting, knitting, re-uhpolstering, and other similar crafts. She kept everything! I have come across a piece of fabric that has Jeremy's cousin's name on it (Becky if you read this I still have it if you want it I will mail to you.) She used to make pajamas and robes for all 14 of her grandchildren. The patterns are still there.

She was into candy making, canning, and even dabbled in cake decorating. The last surprised me at first then I thought about and it seemed obvious of course she could even decorate cakes. A woman of so many talents. This past week I went over with Bev and looked through the kitched to see if there was anything of interest. There were a few things, then looking throught the garage we came across a box that was labeled "one of a kind." Knowing Grandma I kind of chuckled and looked at Bev and said "Should we see what Grandma thought was one of a kind?" She smiled and we took a peek. There were some very pretty coffee mugs and some pyrex dishes. Amongst the "One of a kind" stuff was a box of these:

When Bev was cleaning out her kitchen, I acquired a set of these in the fabulous green of the 70's. I LOVE them. My mom even bought me a piece at a garage sale. I love that they are glass so I never worry about the container being stained by whatever contents I place inside, such as any thing tomato based. We use them like tupperware mostly, I didn't know much about the pieces. My other favorite part is that they are flat on top so you can stack themin the fridge. I have two sets of the new Corningware and I love them but the lid is rounded and has a handle which means you can not stack them. So when I came across this I was screaming with glee. A whole set and I found out is oven safe!

I love that the price tag is still on it. When she bought these the set was on sale for $5.48 marked down from $10.95. There are many things that still have price tags on them such as a 1970 edition of Anne of Windy Poplars. She bought the hardback for $2.22 at ToyRUs, the inside cover said the SRP was $2.95. It amazes me how we see things as cheap such as a hard back book for $15.00, when it wasn't that long ago you could get it for under $3.00. I can totally understand how people of that generation seem to be more frugal. It is probably more related to spending $15 on something that used to only be $3 seems ridiculous.

Conversations

2010-05-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Lauren is taking over my blog. I think this stage always has the best stories. I know there was a Logan period like the Hammer and Nails story or Haylie and Hannah with the rocks. Jackson will soon be next I am sure!

This morning Lauren got a bath. She had a BM in the tub then got herself out. I had to bring her back unwillingly to shower her up. After the tub was cleaned and she showered and dressed I went to do her hair. She didn't want anything to do with getting ready for the day. I told her I would do her hair real quick. She was still not happy and the alligator tears were flowing fast and free. As I was brushing her hair the following conversation occured.

Lauren "Bwah, ha haha, Bwah haha" (How do you spell the crying sound?)
Mommy "Lauren, do you want a pretty braid?"
Lauren "NO!"

Mommy "Lauren, do you want a pink ponytail?"

Lauren "NO!"

Mommy "Lauren "Do you want a purple ponytail?"

Lauren "NO!"

Because I knew she would say no to everything I said "Lauren do you want a kick in the head?" NOTE: I was not angry or frustrated and asked jokingly!!!

Lauren "NO!"

Mommy: "Lauren do you want a milk cup?"

Lauren "NO!" (This surprised me because she always wants milk.

Getting a new line of thinking, Mommy: "Lauren, do you want chocolate?"

Instantly she stops crying and looks at me with a smile "YES!" she says.

This girl has a heart like many women out there, will do anything for chocolate.

Friendship, do you have it?

2010-05-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post screams how nerdy I am, so feel free to skip it.

In high school I was far from the popular crowd, not really a nerd, nor a band geek, I just was. People were nice but I never really fit it anywhere. It bothered me then but now I look back and it is fine but I do hope my kiddos feel like they belong more, nobody likes to feel alone.

I was thinking, hold on to your hats folks, I wonder how many people feel that they don't fit it even as adults. Do they see someone who seems put together but on the inside they are feeling worthless and friendless? Have you ever wondered if people just say nice things because they were taught to be nice? For example when people say "you are amazing, how do you do it all?" Do you secretly wonder what they see and make you feel even worse because you know how much you are not doing?

There is a song by Taylor Swift Tied Together with a Smile. Every time I hear it these lyrics stand out:

Hold on baby you're losing it
The water's high you're jumping in to it
And letting go and no one knows
That you cry but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile but you're coming undone

I always wonder how many people feel this way, put on a happy face but inside you are falling apart. I want to be clear I am very happy, I couldn't ask for a better husband, father to our children, best friend, dream job, a home that I love, but their are times when it would be nice to know what people REALLY think of you. Why does it matter, really it doesn't, but then you would at the very least know what they see. I found the following quote in a talk given by Marlin K. Jensen

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism.’" That thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give.

It wasn't that long ago that there were a fairly large group of us that got together frequently, it was as couples for dinner or date nights, as wives for crafting, or simply just girl time. We saw each other close to two times a week outside of church where we actually were in all different callings so we didn't see each other too much there. I would say there was a definite sense of belonging. People started to move away, new people moved here and the dynamics have never been the same. I can't help but wonder if the people who have been in the ward for years feel just as lost as the ones who are moving in and it is just taken for granted that everything is great. Why does it always have to feel like us verse them? Who even knew there were exclusive groups? I guess if you are included you don't see it.

I can't say it is all the fault of some one else because you need to put in 100% if you want anything in return. Maybe I am putting in 20% and that isn't what creates a good friendship.

Enough whining and moping. I hope you have a great day and get the opportunity to show that you are a friend today.

I gotta Have these!

2010-05-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

http://www.bakerella.com/ is giving away these precious beauties. While I did enter to win a free set, I think this maybe a family staple in our house, and I get a feeling they will soon be residing in my drawer!

Is that not the coolest thing you have ever seen? I think my budget for Jeremy's birthday just went up about $20.00! You to can have this awesome set by heading over to Bakerella and entering for a chance to win or skip the gambling aspect and go to WIlliams-Sonoma and get a set immediately...hmmmmm....we will be near Williams-Sonoma tomorrow night!!!!

Cindy, this is for you!

2010-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of Cake Wrecks, well my good friend Cindy would never be featured on that web site. She is a phenomenal cake decorator. For Jeremy's 30th birthday she made this cake.

I won't tell you that I told her it was a costume party, only her and her husband dressed up. No one else took me seriously. I have a picture of the two of us, but wan't sure she would appreciate my posting it, it is still a sensitive subject for her. ; )

Eight is a special age in our home so Cindy again offered to make Miranda her cake. Jeremy took her to San Francisco to see Wicked so that was her theme.

For my birthday she made this fabulous Twilight themed birthday cake.

This year she so generously offered to make Jeremy a cake. I can tell you from many years of experience, not only are her cakes awesome looking but they are moist and delicious. To tell you the truth I am not a fan of cake, but I even will eat her cakes until they are gone! It is no secret he loves Star Wars so this is what she came up with.

The cakes last for sometime. Transition...(that's smooth huh?) Jackson has a new trick. He likes to climb on the dining room table. Our other children went through this so I hope it is a short lived treat. Or Jeremy may hope it lasts forever then the table will always be cleared! Can you see the direction this is going? We had about half a cake left over and didn't have a great place to store it, so the biggest space is obviously the table...when will I ever learn?

I was at the computer, actually taking care of a few things and I look over and see my little toe headed child on the dining room table where I am working on a project that needs to be completed by TONIGHT and I freak out. Sure enough he has my almost done project spread across the table with cardstock in one hand and a pen in the other. Don't worry he was very happy with himself. Then I noticed brown crumbs ALL over. This picture does not do the this creative endeaver justice. Trust me it was messier than it looks, it is mostly behind the box! (Just in case you can't tell, there is a big divot in the cake. He found the weekness in our very solid cake dome.

Now back to Cindy's master cake baking skills here is Jackson's opinion.

FYI: I was not smiling back at that adorable face.

P.S. Cindy does this for fun in her spare time after working full time, being a parent to two tenagers and a toddler as well as worry about a grown daughter, not to mention baseball, church and lots of other stuff. She is simply amazing.

10 years and counting.

2010-05-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago on a day unlike today, it was an unusual 105 degrees, I married a wonderful man. We were both a tad thinner, inexperienced and had great plans. Marriage has been the greatest adventure. That is not because these two

produced this many children

I have learned so much about what a marriage is supposed to be like. Quite frequently I tell Jeremy how lucky I am that he chose me, and that I feel so fortunate to have such a great marriage.

Jeremy and I met when we were 11. He was pretty much the tallest boy in 6th grade. What made him particularly famous was that he was scheduled to kiss his girlfriend at a certain time. Turns out everyone in 6th grade knew, but he didn't. That was a 6th grade scandal! He has signed everyone of my year books starting in 7th grade. Junior high typically started with: "April, May, June." Little did I know back then he was already comparing me to two women who were amazing and meant alot to him! June is his grandma's name and his mom's middle name. OK that information is true but I made up the comparison stuff.

We were pretty close through high school and we even dated at the end of our Junior year for like two hours?! I have a letter asking about our last day of school plans to go to Great America. Scattered through out the note were words in parenthesis asking if we were going out. Yep, that is pretty much the beginning of that short dating experience. Summer happened, I was a punk and that was the end of us. When school started we had two classes together. The first day of our math class I walked in, remember things may have been a little awkward between us, as always I was cutting it close to being late and he was of course early. I saw him and he was the most familiar person I knew, sure enough there was a seat right in front of him. He was thinking "please don't sit there, anywhere else but there." With a smile on my face and a cheery "hi" I sat down. We got through the weirdness but never really got passed the friends stage...except for the kiss at Homecoming!

Then, life just moved forward, we went to DVC and randomly had a 7:00am Statistics class together. Then he left on his mission. When I say he chose me, I am not kidding he called my house a few times until my parents finally gave him my number. Since he phoned me that time we have been pretty inseparable.

Not much for an anniversary post but know I wouldn't change a thing. It is awesome to have so many memories to share. He knows the good and bad of me and loves me just the same. I love him more this day then I did 10 years ago.

Oh, P.S. happy birthday Jer,I hope it is a great one!

Happy Birthday!

2010-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

It is official all our kids are odd! Well their ages are all odd, I mean their ages are all odd numbers. Today Lauren turned 3. It is the age I fear the most. Inexperienced moms fear two. But I would have you know two really is not that bad. At least that was my opinion until my bouncing, 10lb 5oz, baby girl was pulled into my life! She was a pretty easy going baby. She had to be, Lauren has twin sisters that are 2 years older than her and were running in different directions, while she was strapped into a car seat, or stroller, or baby Bjorn...who am I kidding she was too heavy to cart around in the Bjorn! Kidding again! She was not that heavy. Around one year we took her for her regular check up and we were actually told she was underweight and we needed to start putting oil on vegetables. I might have followed that counsel, but she wouldn't eat those either. After a year and a half of encouraging her to eat her vegetables, she will at times actually eat a serving. Twos have been rough with her I will not lie or sugar coat it. I just really hope threes are much better, if not better please don't let them be worse.

Lauren in a nutshell. She is adorable. She has a great smile with personality due to thumb sucking. Her eyes sparkle when she is in a good mood. She dances and sings. She loves to play by herself, but also be a part of the big girls club. She watches her older sisters and tries to mimic them. She gives really tight hugs, the kind that say "I think you are the best!" Since she was born I always said she was my medicine, she can make me smile like no other.

On the flip side, you can pretty much guarantee that you will know what she is thinking, she is not one who beats around the bush. Her mantra is "My way or the Highway!" I kid you not she WILL be a leader, I just pray it is a good one. If the way she sets Jackson up for getting into trouble is any indication I apologize now for all the kids she influences later in life. She knows what "NO!" means and is not afraid to use it, with the emphasis of a foot stomp. She can scream in decibels only audible to a dog, but just below that it is ear piercing to humans. She has a powerful scowl, and a completely adorable pouty lip. She is busy, she is a handful, she is sneaky, she is naughty, she is funny, she is delightful, she is creative, she is ingenious, she is unique. When she cries her eyes hold more water than the great lakes. She puts alligator tears to shame, and that makes it all forgivable! The irony to it all is that I love her even more because of all these things.

Today is her birthday, I thought I could let a few things slide like let her watch her favorite DVDs ALL DAY. (Secretly it was a gift to me since it means she would be out of anything else.) It didn't work, I still had to clean up dry erase marker all over the wall, put her on her bed, protect her from on coming traffic as she tried to put herself into the car, protect books from the special Lauren treatment (aka total destruction), amongst other things. Needless to say I did bake a birthday cake that is sitting untouched on my stove.

Well it was at the beginning of the post before I added pictures. This probably why she acts the way she does, for today my excuse is that it is her birthday. Lauren you are one of a kind, the kind that is irreplaceable, and makes a momma's heart proud!

Funny stuff!

2010-05-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

When I was younger I went to few comedy clubs and let me tell you, comedy is typically crude, riddled with foul language and inappropriate for my standards. Since I have become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I have not attended anything like that. The sad part is I love to laugh, comedy can be bust-a-gut funny. We heard about this christian comedian Tim Hawkins. IMy fist introduction was the song "Things you don't say to your wife." So when we came across this Jeremy instantly became a fan. He bought two of his DVDs. Some how, some where Jeremy got on his emailing list, and now he is coming to our house for dinner...just kidding! He is performing nearby, in Vacaville so Jeremy got tickets. What a treat! It isn't until August but we are pretty excited. Here is a sample of his comedy. I hope you get a good laugh.

She's got talent!

2010-05-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Miranda and her friends at school printed out the lyrics toLet's Talk About Love by David Archuleta. They each highlighted the parts where they sing individually and parts where they sing together. Miranda asked if I would film her. I know she is young and has some growth, but I think she is pretty talented. Usually she just sings one line over and over so it was nice to hear her sing a whole song.

The video may still be processing so if you are interested check back later!

Lauren's To Do List

2010-05-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

Spill flour on kitchen (done yesterday)
Eat Mommy's Mother's Day Chocolates (yesterday also)
Pour Salt and Pepper all over the floor, then hide the shakers in a drawer.
Play in Mommy's bathroom which consists of:

lick Daddy's deodorant
spray air freshener
spray Mommy's hair spray
smear lotion on the mirror
unravel toilet paper
dump Mommy's brand new eye makeup remover all over the toilet seat, then shove cotton pads in the bottle to fill the empty space.

Open the candy bin get what I want, and set Jackson up for the blame. Then run and discard evidence by throwing it under an end table.
Open Haylie's art box and use the markers.

Then proceed to write on the walls with them.
When I hear Mom come hand open markers to Jackson then run down the hall

Empty out the DVD binders, Mommy loves putting 50 DVD's back in their rightful homes!
Use panties as a diaper...only for #2s
Climb on counter to take pictures with the camera, she still hasn't figured it out that the evidence remains inside the camera.
Search the net "44444asdrea44s444f4e4444f4a444asdf4a4we4d44" is her favorite. The letters change but it often contains a billion fours. This earns me no SWAGBUCKS. I will have to train her to type in real words, use it to my advantage.
Sneak off bed but stay undercover...undercover of my blanket! (Repeat 11 times)

I think this is pretty much her to do list and amazingly enough I think she completed it all by 2:00 this after noon. She is amazing with her focus and ability to get so much accomplished in a relatively short time. I really wish I had that talent.

You may ask what I was doing while all this was going on, I was cleaning up our room, it has become the trow all catch all for quite the collection of stuff. I wonder what will be on her to do list for tomorrow and if she will get just as much accomplished.

On a positive note, she woke up dry! Woo-hoo! Yeah for not having to wash sheets!

P.S. Lauren if you ever read this, thank you for all the time and energy you put into your accomplishments. Persistence pays off! And more importantly I love you!

Wordfull Wednesday {Caring for your Family}

2010-05-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children." (Family Proclamation, paragraph 6)

When I think of our home, my family, I am quickly reminded of how much laughter these walls contain. I have a new sense of family than I did when growing up. It is amazing how much joy there is to be had when everyone in the home feels loved.

Lately Logan has been having a hard time. I blame it mostly on him being a tad on the emotional side. Jeremy being a little more intune with the spirit, sat him down to talk. It was such a neat thing for me to hear that Logan opened up about his frustrations. This to me shows that he knows that we are safe, that we love him. Jeremy has started having interviews with the kids once a month. It is a time when they get to talk to him about anything without sharing Daddy's ear. For the younger ones it is a time to wrestle and bond.

As a family we love doing things together. We have, so far steered clear of activities such as sports. For a few reasons, such as, doing it for 6 kids will equate to a hectic schedule. Another, it feels like we get too little family time and those things tend to diminish it even further. The biggest reason is that Jeremy and I know there will be opportunities later so we don't need to rush them now.

Some fun things that we enjoy is creating fun memories. As a family we love to do dinner and a movie. It is still fairly new and I am finding many great ideas to make it more memorable. What we have done so far is pick a family friendly movie and create a dinner menu based on the theme. The kids get to help come up with the menu. It is the only time we eat in front of the television. We also let the children each have a special night. This is one of the occasions that we do split Haylie and Hannah up. They get to stay up late and pick what we will do. Usually it involves ice cream and games or a movie. All of them adore being the center of attention. It is like a date night but staying in and it is something they talk about and share it with anyone with ears before and after. To make them also feel special we try to celebrate accomplishments like perfect spelling tests or acing their math blasts as they come up.

Having 6 kids it is so easy to get overlooked and it is hard to not lump them together, but as parents we try very hard to let them be individuals, except Lauren I wish she would be a tad less individual. Today we had a particularly hard day. Lauren tried every last smidge of patience, which is what I get when I pray for patience! I had sent her to her bed for the umpteenth time and told her to stay there. I was so frustrated and beyond being a loving and caring mother. As I could feel the steam pouring out of my ears and wondering why I pray for patience when I know how that gets answered, it came to me to pray. So I gathered Lauren into my lap and told her how much I loved her and that I was very sorry I got so angry. Her countenance changed instantly. She went from cranky pouty two year old to beaming at me and giving me the tightest squeeze ever. Then I asked her if she wanted to pray together. She agreed and closed her eyes and bowed her head. I decided to say it, then on her own she repeated everything I said. Everything that I was so tense about melted away. Then I asked her to lay down and I was able to hold her until she fell asleep.

In the June 2006 Ensign Elder L. Tom Perry said "Our Lord and Savior ministered personally to the people, lifting the downtrodden, giving hope to the discouraged, and seeking out the lost. By His words and actions, He showed the people that He loved and understood and appreciated them. He recognized the divine nature and eternal worth of each individual. Even when calling people to repentance, He condemned the sin without condemning the sinner.

Like our Savior, (insert parent) we should love the people we serve, showing care and concern for each one individually."
The Savior came to live here on this earth so that we may learn to live like he did and treat others the same way. I am learning and plan to continue to learn my whole life through, but I do know that when we follow His example, those that we serve will KNOW that we love them unconditionally.

How does your garden grow?

2010-05-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today Logan came home with our latest addition to the window sill. In class this week they have been learning about plants and how they grow. Last week Logan got the Sweet Potato vine homework assignment. Unfortunately our sweet potato is not flourishing. I am beginning to doubt it will ever grow. In the mean time it continues to sit on my window sill. Next, on Wednesday the kids got a baby food jar and a damp paper towel. After stuffing the paper towel into the baby food jar, they put in two snap pea seeds. They put the jars on their desk to watch them grow. Then on Thursday the kids got to go to a local farm where they learned more about plants. As a souvenir they each got a tomato plant.

I have no green thumb, I am not sure there is any yellow there either (doesn't yellow and blue make green?). It is kind of fun to watch them grow and take care of them. It is like adding three little babies to our family...except they don't dump flour on the floor, or salt and pepper, or rip up books, or...Lauren has been a little trying this week. I think she is warming up for the torturous threes! I thought you got the terrible twos OR torturous threes, not both. I guess I digress...Here is a picture of Logan's miniature garden.

Oh and there are some lemon seeds that I might try to plant. Wouldn't it be great to have fresh lemons for lemonade? (I do realize it would probably be about 5 years before it produced anything.)

Flour Power

2010-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Recently we have a acquired a boat load of fabric and other misc. craft stuff. Today I decided I would go through it a little more carefully and try and be picky instead of read and eat chocolate. I was not successful in eliminating anything, but I did consolidate and get rid of one box, that is good. Right?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean wherever Lauren and Jackson were this is what I discovered:

Flour Power from April Jacobs on Vimeo.

I think I need to be extra watchful of those two. He is up for any type of adventure as long as he is with an older sibling and she is up for any adventure period, but especially one with a scapegoat involved.

My Mother's Day play-by-play

2010-05-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

I won't go into too much detail, but yesterday was great! Jeremy had no meetings in the morning so we actually ate breakfast as a family before church, he was able to help get the kids ready before he left. After church I got to lounge around and Jeremy cooked Taco Salad for dinner. We shared it with Jeremy's mom and his sister, who is about 16 weeks pregnant woo-hoo!, as well as her family. It had been a few weeks since we have been together so it was nice. There is always laughter all around when we are together!

On Saturday Jeremy took the kids out for "an errand" and before they left I told Miranda "just to let you know I want See's candy for Mother's Day. Just don't tell Dad I said it OK?" She cheerily responded with an "A-firm, mom!" To which she proceeded to not abide the don't-tell-dad-I-said-that part! (See he does follow my counsel.)

As mother's day came to a close I got the following gift:

He knows me huh? Chocolate and a good book! Before I was 30 I would not have ever asked for chocolates, and I definitely wouldn't have been so specific, then some friends got me a box of 30 See's chocolates for my 30th birthday and I learned to appreciate the good stuff! This past Christmas we got a couple boxes of chocolates and let me tell you, if you are going to break the calorie bank make it worth it with See's!

Well I have chocolates to eat, a book to read and children to ignore! (Jeremy, please know it is all your fault, besides the kids like it this way. They get away with everything!) I hope you were treated like royalty, I know I sure was. Thanks Jeremy for all you did to make the day extra special.

Busy or Not?...that is the question!

Here is a video about Jackson's Poke!

Two weeks later...

A new language

My Grandpa

Not a proud mommy moment!

Really? Did That Just Happen?

I hear it's your birthday

Young Women's Camp

Summer Fun

I did it, I made Fondant!

Deeper thinking...

Our happenings

Prayer Works!

Just not good enough...

Happy Love Day!

To List Follow-up

Today's To Do List

I'm Trying

Blessings abound!

It is a clean slate

Knock, Knock...

Funny or not?

Thanksgiving Tradition?

You do the math.

Conversations...

Trunk or Treat

Slave Driver

Lonesome Dove

Kindergarten Sight words

There is no Tri

I have a testimony...

I took a Time Out!

CD Federal Rocks!

Being left behind.

The first day of school

I am TIRED!

A Wonderful Saturday

Creative Cousins

Houseparty Rocks

There and Back again!

She is spirited

My Dearest Summer

Mountains and Valleys

Conversation piece

Wordfull Wednesday {Work}

Hap McGee Ranch

Contra Loma '10

Pioneer Trek 2010-Day 1

A New kind of adventure...Part 1

Wordfull Wednesday {Wholesome Recreational Activities}

I felt it again, finally!

Did anyone see an ECLIPSE?

A giveaway or two!

Bear Creek!

Repentance AND Forgiveness {Wordfull Wednesday}

It’s Never Too Late

There Is Always Hope

The Beach

Brookwood Park...no pictures!

The story of the day...

Goodbye my friend!

FAITH ~~ {Wordfull Wednesday}~~

Prayer, do you do it?

House Party Rocks!

Should I be proud?

Serving others {Wordfull Wednesday}

Old Treasures...

Conversations

Friendship, do you have it?

I gotta Have these!

Cindy, this is for you!

10 years and counting.

Happy Birthday!

Funny stuff!

She's got talent!

Lauren's To Do List

Wordfull Wednesday {Caring for your Family}

How does your garden grow?

Flour Power

FAITH {Wordfull Wednesday}