Our Bolton Bunch

Mariah Celeste

2011-01-21T20:47:00.003-07:00

We are so happy to welcome our precious princess. She decided to make her debut in her own time...Looks like she will have a mind of her own, just like her brothers and sister. I am very happy she came 3 weeks before her due date, I was so miserably huge, as usual. The gestational diabetes did keep me on track with my weight gain which I am grateful for but it sure was hard to stay away from the carbs and sugars for 4 months.
So as for the details...My water broke at 6am on Thursday the 13th. Gary had been asking for weeks that I please not go into labor in the middle of the night again. I'd laugh and tell him I'd cross my legs until morning if I started. So, wish granted. I puttered around until 7 and then woke him at 7 so we could get the kids up and off to school. With all of my previous pregnancies my water would break and I wouldn't really have any labor pains for 3+ hours. So, this time I said I was going to take my time, shower, do my hair and makeup, shave my legs, get everything settled before I went to the hospital. So that's what I did...however, labor pains started within a half hour of my water breaking. I still didn't think a whole lot of it and just went on with the morning just pausing or sitting down with each contraction. I didn't really watch the clock either. So Gary got back from taking the kids to school about 8:30 and I told him we really needed to get to the hospital. I could hardly walk down the stairs. We got Andrew and Desi to the neighbors and got to the hospital just after 9. They got me into an out patient room. All of the 4 birthing rooms were full. The nurse got me hooked up to the monitors and checked me. I was already at a 9. WHAT!?!?!?!?! I've only been in labor 3 hours!!! I NEED AN EPIDURAL!!! Get that anaesthesiologist in here NOW!!! I did get the epidural. The anaesthesiologist said to me, "Let me know if you feel the urge to push." Yeah, right. Like I'd tell you to stop what you are doing so I can do this without the pain killer. It wasn't as effective due to the rush but it was better than the alternative. I pushed through 3 contractions and she was out. Start to finish just over 4 hours. Holy cow that was fast. She is beautiful and perfect. Healthy and strong.
My biggest fear was that with the diabetes she would be too big, with under developed lungs. Neither of which were the case. Yeah! She was 7 lb 11.5 oz 21 inches. She did have a little trouble getting her blood sugar up and keeping her self warm but that was regulated within the first day. She was on bili lights for a day for jaundice but I have had to do that with all of my winter babies. All is well, everyone is happy and healthy.

Bonfire

2009-09-28T21:00:00.012-06:00

While I was going through the pictures from the 7 months I took off from blogging I came across these and I just couldn't resist putting them in here. It was late March and we gathered up all the weeds that had accumulated in our yard over the winter and windy spring and put them all in a big pile just outside our property line in the field. The boys then decided it wasn't quite big enough so they gathered all the tumbleweeds from the neighbors yards too. They then ran around the neighborhood and gathered any of their friends that were home. Even a few adults came over to watch. It was a big pile and it went up in less than 2 minutes. It was so fast and super hot. I, being a bit of a pyro, would love to do this every weekend but I guess that's not very feasible. Anyway, it was pretty cool to watch and alot better than just leaving them in the field to blow into our yard again. (March 2009)

Big Boy Birthday's

2009-09-26T21:44:00.009-06:00

We planned it just right so we would be in Salt Lake for Gary's birthday. We went and played (Hollywood Connection) for the day but before we left he had gifts for Dad. Nothing we (I) buy could ever measure up to express our love for him. Gary is the most fantastic man. I don't know how I got so lucky as to find him and then actually trick him into loving me too. His greatest concerns are always how to better provide for our family. Whether it be monetarily, spiritually, physically, time wise or any other way. We love him so much. Thank you Gary for being the strength and back bone to our family. When we got back we had some family come over for a little party for Spencer. He had been asking for a Nintendo DS and in Gary's style he had convinced Spencer that we just didn't think he was old enough for such an expensive gift. I'm not sure if all of Gary's "I don't know about that..." is convincing to the kids or not but Spencer seemed sincerely surprised and genuinely delighted with his new DS.

The next weekend (Friday the 20th)we had a friend party. Spencer requested a sleep-over but me being the ogre I am made him settle for a late night party. They played games, decorated cupcakes, and watched "Space Chimps". They really had to work for the cakes considering an alien came and stole them. They succeeded in the end by following his trail of misleading notes and clues. They even completed their space training in the process. Great job boys.

If you watch the entire slide show you'll notice the boys holding or bopping their gift to Spencer on his head. When I was growing up we always played this game at our birthdays. I had forgotten about it until this party. The rhyme goes, "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head. What do you wish this person with a "bump" on your head?" Then the giver bonks the gift on the birthday kids head and the birthday kid has to wish something to the gift giver. We got alot of "You'll be rich" or "You'll be a super-star ball player." As you can see from the pictures they all (even Spencer) got into it and had a great time. We ended up with 8 friends + 1 cousin and 2 little brothers. 12 little boys got a bit crazy but it was great fun none-the-less.

Finally, on his actual birthday (Saturday 21st) We just had a little cake and ice cream. I was watching Nathan and Lindsay for the week while Kat and Tom took a much needed and well deserved trip. We loved having the extra company for the final hurrah to Spencer's 9th birthday.

Spencer is such a joy to our family. He is so much fun and such a big help to us all. We love you Spencer!!!

Enough Already...

2009-09-09T10:44:00.004-06:00

Okay, it's been 6+ months since I have posted. Life got crazy (still is) and I had to make a choice as to what to drop. Blogging was one of the things to go. Well, now with the kids back to school I'm hoping to get back to it. I love having this record of our families life. The kids love to look through it and it reminds Gary and I that we are doing okay with our kids and eventhough we don't do everything the kids want, we do alot and the time we spend is chuck full of quality. My idea for getting the last 6 months caught up was to start current and have a "Flash Back Friday" where I go back to an event I have missed. Gary didn't like the idea. He wants me to just start where I left off and bang it all out and get current in the next month. Maybe I'll do a mix of the two. Catch up on the big stuff and flash-back on the fluff. I guess you'll just have to tune in to see how it works out. I figure either way, If I give it an hour a day I'll get caught up soon enough. So wish me luck...

Hollywood Connection

2009-04-04T23:02:00.006-06:00

If you haven't been, you should go. It was such a blast. Monday are family days and you can get everything for pretty cheap. It was also President's Day so they opened earlier than usual. I think the biggest hit was the bumper cars. All three boys went over a dozen times each. The younger two really liked the crawly gym thing and the older two went on the dragon coaster a ton. We even tried our hand at rollerskating. That was a bit of a joke. Desirae wanted to stay on the carpet, Andrew cried the whole time and only went around 1/2 a time then took the skates off, Benji and Spencer did alright but they really didn't have fun. I'm pretty sure it took us longer to get all their skates on and back off than they actually used them. Maybe we'll just try the older two again next year. So after that Desi needed a nap so we went to Auntie Kate's house and laid her down while Kat gave me a massage. I love having a massage therapist for a sister ;} I love her regardless but is sure is a nice perk. While we were gone Gary took the three boys miniature golfing. I think they went through the course twice. When Desi and I got back Aunt Tamie had gotten there with her brood and everyone was having a great time. Upstairs they have an arcade so the kids played games, won tickets and redeemed them for useless junk that I threw away the next day but they loved it so that's all the matters, right? We even got free hot dogs with our all-day passes so we had lunch at the diner. fun, fun, fun...

Valentine's Day

2009-04-04T22:48:00.006-06:00

I'm glad Valentines was on a weekend this year. We got to go to Salt Lake and play for the weekend. Gary and I went out with My sisters Tamara & Kathryn and their husbands Shawn & Tom. It was really fun. First we headed to the Rodizio Grill for their awesome Brazilian buffet and then when we were all so stuffed we could hardly walk out we went to the Desert Star Playhouse and watched "Homeschool Musical". It was really funny and hit home a little more than it would have a few months ago. I hadn't been to a playhouse for years and I had forgotten how fun it really is. Gary even mentioned that we should look into getting season tickets for the whole family. They only have between 4 to 6 different shows a year so It isn't as bad as it sounds. After that Tamie & Shawn needed to get home and We went to look for a place to go dancing. That was a bust so we were home by midnight. It was great to visit with my sister's and their spouses. We never get together without the kids so we were actually able to talk. All-in-all a great night. Thanks guys for spending your evening with us!!!

The End of Cancun

2009-04-04T10:37:00.014-06:00

The final post for our Cancun trip. It has only taken me a month, sheeez. We did have a couple days where we didn't have anything imparticular to do. We spent these days laying around the pool, walking down the beach, shopping, we even got up extra early one morning to catch the sunrise. So here are the bits and pieces to try and tie up all our loose ends.

Sunrise on the beach was really beautiful. It was a little cool, windy and cloudy the day we got to go see it but it was still worth getting up early for.

The resort we stayed at had some fantastic on-site restaraunts. And since it was all-inclusive we were able to eat at each of them. This pic is from the night we went to the Asian one. There were also an Italian, tex-mex, Caribbean, patio lounge, and a buffet. The food was divine. Each of the theme restaraunts were so elegant and the service was supurb. The food was excelent and the portions were perfect. Each plate was a work of art. Some I "almost" felt guilty eating.

Here we are at "Pina Colada's" for lunch on our beach day. It is open toward the beach and offered great views while we ate.

Hangin' out as the beach was great. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. I can never sit still long enough to get much sun but it felt great just having the option.

Everywhere you looked there were fabulous views of the ocean. These swings are the seats for the beachside bar. On the otherside of the bar is a hot tub with "swim-up service". Pretty sweet digs if you drink. We still enjoyed the bars, we both drank virgin pina coladas, daquiris, and soda till we couldn't drink any more.Here's the back side of the bar. The "hot tub" was not hot at all. Just luke warm. Someone told us that because of the warm weather they just don't have real hot tubs down here.As we took a walk down the beach we came apon these guys hanging around this dock...As we got a little closer we realized why. The fishing boats bring their fish in and disassemble them right there. They were tossing the scraps to the pelicans.Further down the beach we came upon these dinner boats. You can go out for a dinner cruise on the ocean. These boats look really cool so we took pictures for the kids to see.
The resort was beautiful. Our room was on the ground level so we had a walk-out patio that went out to the grass.
Here's the view from our patio. You can barely see the ocean in the background.Finally, we went shopping. One shopping center was on the bay. It was all outdoors and you wouldn't know you weren't in the US due to how modern it was.The Hard Rock guitar.My big splurge was this purse. You can see the kid in the background making them. It is made out of old chip bags and candy wrappers. Anything with the metallic wrappers. The guy said it takes him about 5 days to make one the size I bought. I remember making the chains out of gum wrappers but I don't know how they make a solid sheet. I love it. We also got a bracelet with Desirae's name woven into it.

There is a world-famous dance/night club here. It has 2 dozen+ superstar impersonators. It was quite the show. We got to see everyone from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Elvis, you name it. It was so crowded and most everyone was drunk but it was great fun.

So that does it for our trip. We had a great time. 9 days was a little long being away from the kids and I know Grandma & Papa were totally whiped after watching them. However, It was a once in a lifetime trip and after 9 or so years we really desered some time alone. It was great for us to get to be alone together and rebuild our relationship.If you ever gett he chance to go to Cancun, do it. It was well worth the time to plan it and money to go.

To Sleepover or Not to Sleepover...

2009-04-03T15:07:00.003-06:00

Just a random rambling about something I have been thinking about lately...Spencer has really been asking alot lately about participating in sleepovers. We haven't really had to deal with this until more recently. When we lived in Kanab there was a "late night" standard that most of our friends all agreed on. Our kids could get together and have a fun night but go home for bed. It worked great. However, as kids get older they think more and more that they need to have the same rules as "everyone" else. I found a great article from LDS Living that states just how we feel toward sleepovers. Just click on this post title if you'd like to read it. I would love any input y'all might have as to how you deal with this issue, no matter what side of the fence you are on. I don't want anyone to think that I don't trust them or their kids but I strongly feel like it is our responsibility to protect our kids and their innocence. It's just another one of those times when the few are making it harder for the many. I loved sleepovers. I grew up in a small town where sleepovers were the norm and we slept outside all summer long. We never had any issues. But the world is not the same place and I have heard so many horror stories. My inclination is to assume boys don't need as much "protection". But they do. I hate this side of parenting. The fear and apprehension. Feeling like I can't let my guard down for a second. I started having more specific stranger-danger conversations with Spencer two years ago and have reiterated them every six months or so since. Now it's coming up on Benji's turn. At least we have a couple more years before the big one...and that is all Gary's. Sorry I've been rambling and thanks for taking the time to try and decipher my blithering.

2009-03-30T20:57:00.039-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VALERIE!

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Not very often will I create anything for our wonderful blog. Valerie does too good of a job herself. However, I cannot let her Birthday pass and not share just a few photos of her growing up.

Valerie Jean Anderson was born Monday March 31st, 1975. She was born at 2:41 PM at the West Valley Utah Hospital. Of course she was a beautiful baby weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces and 21 inches long. She grew up in Grantsville, Utah until she was 10 then her family moved to Kearns, Utah. After a short time in Kearns she moved with her Mom to Murray for one year and later she lived in Medford, Oregon and went to North Medford High. She moved back to Salt Lake City after graduation and that is when she and I met in 1993. If you don’t know how we met…check out our Anniversary blog coming up in June!

1993

1995

Sadly as I tried to create this surprise blog for Valerie I was only able to find one picture of her before she was 5 years old. I will be getting some from her mom…so watch for updates! It was also hard to find pictures of Valerie by herself while we were dating and after we were married. (I’ve got to save all of our couple and family photos for our Anniversary blog.) There are some cute AND fun photos of her too! As you can see some of the photos I scanned are not in the best shape but these are the only photos I could find of her. Valerie used all of her photos when she created a photo album for her Mom.

Valerie's first car and our first home lot in West Valley City, Utah.

1996

Valerie is truly the love of my life. She does all she can to make our children and me happy. Valerie is independent and self-reliant. She can cook, dance and make, design or create anything! She is smart, loving, giving, honest and I could go on and on… I could type so much about Valerie’s accomplishments and things she is good at…. most who read this know of her many talents and more then likely she has shared them, taught and grown with you. However her one dream in life is to be a mom and homemaker... and she truly is the best!

Happy Birthday

my beautiful wife!

I LOVE YOU!

Chichen Itza

2009-03-21T18:13:00.006-06:00

Our final outing was to Chichen Itza. This site was recently added to the "new 7 wonders of the world" It was so amazing. We began on a big tour bus. One of the guides talked the whole 2 hour drive. He gave us all sorts of information. We stopped on the way at a little shopping center. We got a few Mayan statues for the kids and Grandpa and I also got myself a necklace that says "MOM" in the Mayan alphabet. It is pretty neat. We finally got to the Chichen ruins. As we walked in there were over a hundred vendors there selling all sorts of souvenir stuff. They totally lined the paths. Our guide was awesome. He spoke 5 languages. He told us from the beginning that he was going to walk fast because there was so much to see and that he would just keep talking the whole time. He made the open offer to feel free to leave him whenever you wanted. So we chose to book through it with him. He had so much information to share. First he took us to to the older part of the city. There were some amazing buildings. Homes, an observatory, lots of churches. The Mayas had several gods, so they had building dedicated to each of them. Most of their buildings had intricate carvings and amazing astronomical correlations. If you want to know more I have linked one site to the title of this post. Another great informational site is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza . Alright enough of the technical stuff. The buildings were amazing and the entire area was huge. We couldn't even go to some of it because it was closed due to being a current archaeological site. The main building or the castle was so incredible. It almost looked fake. It has 91 steps on each side and then one all the way around on the top to equal 365 total to equal the solar calendar. It also has 28 sections on each face to correlate with the lunar calendar. On each solstice, the sun hits it just right to make the snakes that run down each side of the building look like they are slithering. There are a couple cenotes and one of them was used for human sacrifice. They would generally shoot the person with an arrow and then throw them into the water. Pretty creepy. It was all so interesting and educational and really, really neat. I would love to learn more about the lives and culture of all of these ancient people but I guess that will have to wait.

After the tour we went back to the same little shopping center for lunch. It was really yummy and there was a mariachi band playing and dancers tapping around. When we got back to the hotel they were having some dancers perform on the patio. It was fun to see the different varieties of performers. They had a guy dressed up like he was old and doing a mute comedy act and even had a guy doing lasso tricks. We got a picture of the two of us dressed up like bambidos and sitting on a donkey but it is pretty bad so I'm not posting that one.

Even with the rain, this day was definitely the highlight of our trip.

Joe's Jeep Tour

2009-03-18T23:06:00.009-06:00

The next tour we took was "Joe's Jeep Tour" This tour consisted of exploring some ruins, driving through the jungle, zip lineing through the jungle tree tops, swimming in an underground cave, lunch in a Mexican village overlooking the coast and a walk through a petting zoo.

First stop, El Rey...These ruins are just on the edge of the city, We had driven past them a couple times and not even noticed. This particular village was placed directly in the center of the peninsula between the ocean and the bay. It was also placed where it is surrounded by mangroves. It is well hidden from the surrounding areas and well protected from and tropical storms that threaten. It was neat because there was no one there and we could climb and touch and explore.

This is a view from the palace overlooking the market or trade center.

This building is where the traders would have to go and pay to be allowed to sell or trade their goods here.

Our guide, Pepe, was great. He even brought a package of tortillas so we could feed the iguanas that were everywhere.
This is a gum tree. The Mayas would use it's sap to make chewing gum to clean their teeth.

Next we drove to the jungle where we were rigged up with straps and clips and a super high-tech piece of wood with a hole cut into that they called a "break". We climbed the steepest ricketiest (is that a word?) tower ever. It was 75 feet tall, straight up.

This is our "oops we forgot to take a picture, run and do it quick" attemp at getting a picture of the tower. That darn thumb...but you get the idea.

Everybody was saying how scared they were so I volunteered to go first. It was so awesome. The worst part was stepping over the edge of the tower. There were two zip lines so after taking off from the first one you would hit a platform, unhook your rig, climb around to the other side of the tree, hook your rig back up to the line and go again. When my kids wanted more of a description of what a zip line is all I could think of was when "Go, Diego, Go" zip lines out of the tree house. It's was just like that. Zooming through the trees and hoping the "Mexican brake" worked. It was awesome, we're both so glad we did it.

All rigged up, ready to go...Notice the high-tech wood break;} After the zip line we went swimming in a cenote. A little geography/geology lesson...Cancun is on the Yucatan Peninsula. This particular peninsula was once under the ocean. After earthquakes and plate tectonics mumbojumbo, it ended up above the ocean. So it is made up of limestone and covered with coral. Not very conducive to agriculture because there are no rivers. The ground is just rock, with very little dirt. So the Yucatan has the largest under water river system. All of these rivers connect one way or another and they come to the surface in thousands of cenotes. They can be like springs, wells, caves, ponds, and the like. So we suited up and dove in. So we climbed down into the mouth of this cave and at the bottom was one of these cenotes. The water was cold but not "take your breath away" cold. Pepe caught a little turtle that was swimming around in there. It was awesome, there were stalactites all over the ceilings and walls. There was ancient coral and fossils all over the ground. We went down one tunnel where it was so shallow you had to crawl with your hands and let your legs drag behind and it opened up to the surface again like a well. Then down the opposite end to where it was so deep it creeped me out. It was a really neat experience. From there we dried off a bit and went to lunch. Another crazy bumpy jeep ride out of the jungle and into a small Mexican village. We ate at a small restaurant right on the beach. It was beautiful. I took these next two pictures to remind me of how much we have. The first is of the playground. Old rusted metal and all concrete and brick. It doesn't look like much fun to me.This is the typical house. Just a cinderblock, flat roof with a hut attached.Next stop was a petting zoo. I use that term a little loosely due to the fact that it was not what we American's think of as a petting zoo. We held crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, hairless dogs, deer, macaws, I think that's it. It was a bit disconcerting to walk through one section where there were 30+ adult crocodiles just sitting there next to the path as you walked past. They were all really docile but it still made me a bit uneasy. Feeding the monkeys was fun. They would pry your hand open to get to the grapes. The hairless dogs were gross, really gross. The guide said they were indigenous to the area and are now nearing endangerment because they are so expensive. WHAT??!!?!?!?!!? I can't imagine having to look at that thing every day. That was our last stop of the trip. I slept the 45 minutes back to the hotel. It was a great day and lots of fun and unique experiences. Now for the next day...

Just For Fun!!!

2009-02-23T18:06:00.003-07:00

Okay, I know I did one of these last week but no one responded so I'm trying it again. Comon' guys, don't let me down...

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)

4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. :)

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Xel-Ha & Tulum

2009-02-22T19:58:00.010-07:00

I am so torn as to how I should approach posting this trip. We have so many pictures so I am tempted to do a few slide shows. However, I feel like so many of the photos need more than a one-liner explanation. So here is what I've decided. I'm going to break the trip into days or events. That way it won't be so long when I post the pictures individually. I hope that if you take the time to read these posts you won't be all bored like watching one of those old-time slide shows. I remember my Dad doing those alot...At least I was in them every now and then. That made it a little more interesting, but all too often I didn't know the people in them. Boring...Anyway, here we go...

Our first tour was a trip to Xel-Ha and Tulum. You've seen and maybe been in those big tour buses. They are pretty nice with reclining seats, air conditioning, even a bathroom if your desperate. We were picked up right at our hotel and drove for about 2 hours. Xel-Ha was great. It is mostly a natural water park. It surrounds a bay right next to the Caribbean Sea. First we went snorkeling in the bay. I'm not much of a fresh water fan. I have a hard time getting more than my feet in it. Just the thought of all the animal waste grosses me out. I know it's lame but I really get kind of creeped out. That being said, I was a little more than hesitant. But, I did it. It was so cool. We got in first thing so the water hadn't been mucked up by people kicking up dirt and sand from the bottom. It was so clear and beautiful. The bay had lots of shallow rocks and small islands. The fish were just swimming around like you weren't even there. They were so bright and colorful. There were schools swimming around and one big blue guy holed up in a cave that was pretty intimidating. We did that for about and hour. It was so cool, I'm so glad we did it.

Next we went and got something to eat. The park had 5 restaurants. The ticket price included all-you-can-eat. We filled up at the Mexican spot and then headed to the beach. The beach was covered with rocks, not sand, and big chunks of coral. There were tons of tide pools. They were really neat to explore. There was a ton to do like swimming with he dolphins, scuba diving, bike riding, cave swimming, rope swings into the water, but we were a bit short on time considering we were also going to some ruins. After combing the beach we headed back to the main area and got some ice cream and drinks to cool off with.

Next we headed to Tulum. Tulum is the only Mayan ruin located right on the coast. It is so amazing. It sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean and is surrounded by a huge wall on all the other 3 sides. The original way in is very narrow and tapered at the top so only one person could go through the wall at a time. Here is Gary going through the entrance.As we entered the courtyard it was almost surreal. As you enter you see the courtyard in front of you with the buildings in the distance. Our tour guide was great. He grew up just five miles away and had a real love and excitement for the area. He gave us a 30 minute history lesson, pointed out the most interesting points and then turned us loose to explore the area. It was incredible. I wanted to touch the buildings to make sure they weren't Styrofoam. They weren't. This is a wide view of the main building. The temple is the one with the 3 doors on top. They believe that there was never any human sacrifice at this location. It was mainly used as a calendar. They think that only a few families (maybe 10 or so, about 100 people) lived within the walls. Just the government leaders, priests, and their families. But over 5000 people that belonged to the same "tribe" lived in the surrounding area. They also think that very few people were allowed inside the walls. Not like a village square or something. People did their selling and trading outside of the wall.

The building just to the left of the temple is the solstice building. It is where they watched the stars and kept track of the seasons. There's more description of that building following.

Do you see the little tiny hole inside the building at the top of the door? It is on the back wall. This building faces exactly east and every 4 years (leap year) the moon would shine through this hole on the summer and winter solstice. The next picture is a back view of the building.

The beautiful overlook just behind the temple. Facing South.

Walking back down from the temple toward the courtyard.

This is a view of the beach from the other side of the temple. Facing North. The building in the distance is a watch tower.
These guys were all over the place. This one was posing for her photo shoot.
This tour was so amazing. I can't wait until I get some time to research it and find out what BOM scholars and archaeologists believe this location was. It was really neat to just imagine the lives and people that lived here. We could almost visualize the people walking around. As we sat and listened to the guide describe the things this place was used for and what was studied here I couldn't help but get emotional thinking about the history that played out here.

On Our Way to Cancun

2009-02-21T23:04:00.005-07:00

We are on our way. A bit of guilt requires me to give some background...Gary and I have been married over 13 years. The first 5 were childless. We were able to do a little traveling but just as far as we could drive. (California, Arizona, etc.) Since being pregnant with Spencer we haven't gone anywhere for more than one night (maybe two once). So we felt justified in taking a trip, just the two of us. That being said, we started planning about 6 months ago. We discussed different locations and began researching the cost of each one. We eventually narrowed it down to Cancun Mexico. I have never been out of the country so I was super excited. And going somewhere tropical in the middle of winter was a must. Gary spent umpteen hours planning, researching, scheduling, and booking everything. It was time well spent. The entire trip went so smooth. I really can't think of anything I would change.

Gary's parents came to watch the kids. We are so blessed to have them. They love our kids so much and we all absolutely LOVE having Papa and Mangya come visit. We left home Sunday, January 25th. The original plan was that we would leave after church, however, the weather didn't want to cooperate. There was a storm rolling in so we left about 10:00 a.m. We got to Lehi unscathed and got to bed early. We were up and going by 3:30 in the morning. The plane flew out of Salt Lake at 6:00. We had a layover in Minneapolis and left behind the -8 degree temps to arrive in sunny Cancun at about 80 degrees. It is no fun to spend an entire day traveling but it was so worth it! By the time we got settled into the hotel it was time for dinner. If you ever go to a resort with an "All-inclusive" option, do it. The food and drinks were endless, 24 hours a day. We filled our tummies with yummy stuff and headed back to our room to get some rest for the fun week ahead.

Our first real day here we didn't have anything specific planned to we decided to get our shopping out of the way. We went to Market 28 which is a huge flea market. It was fun and frustrating. It is not a flea market like in the US where people are selling their old stuff or hand crafts. There was a variety of stuff but everyone pretty much had all the same stuff. Jewelry, chatchkies, shirts, wood carvings, etc. You can barter over the prices but we were a little timid so we didn't get as good of prices as we could have. We did get two dresses and bracelets for Desirae, I got a necklace and some "real" vanilla, Gary got a Brasil soccer jersey, Each of the boys got a shirt and a carving. We even went to Walmart. It wasn't much different from the ones here. We rode the bus everywhere. It was really easy and only cost 7 pesos. The exchange rate was almost 14 pesos to a dollar so that was about 40 cents per ride. We had fun but I was really ready to be done by the time we were finished. On to day three...

New Tunes

2009-02-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

We changed the music on our blog. Gary made the request and did all the choosing himself. Both of us love the 80's music. We hope you enjoy the change.

Benjamin's First Lost Tooth

2009-02-19T19:09:00.006-07:00

A couple days before we left for our trip Benjamin had a very loose tooth. He wanted me to try pulling it out, to no avail. I couldn't get a good enough grip on the tiny, little, slippery thing. I ended up just making his mouth hurt and bleed. He went to bed sucking on ice. He didn't ask me to try again. He just complained about his tonge hurting because he couldn't keep himself from playing with it. Two days after we left it finally came out. Luckily, the Tooth Fairy doesn't need Mom and Dad home to know when a tooth falls out. Benji was very pleased with his gold dollar. Thanks Tooth Fairy for taking care of our Benjiboo while we were gone!

Cute Stuff

2009-02-09T08:43:00.007-07:00

Finally, this is my last post so that I can be caught up and get to our Cancun trip. I know you were all so curious as to why the sudden rush to get it done and why the lapse in the first place. That is it. I was so busy getting ready to go and now I am so excited to blog it. But, back to business. Here are just some cute and fun tidbits that happened throughout January.

Benjamin got this fun Mosaic Lego set for Christmas. It is just the right ability level for him and he loves making the 3-D pictures. And he can do it all by himself, which I love.

Since we are on the subject of Benjamin, I'll brag on him a little more. He is such a good big brother. Desirae got this couch/bed for Christmas. She loves it. She wants to go to bed in it every nap and every night. It has made putting her down so easy. No more rocking and endless singing (not that it was a bad thing, sometimes I still force her to let me rock her) But now all I do is put her in her Tinkerbell bed and ask, "What happens if yo get out of your Tinkerbell bed?" She says, "Get in my crib." It's that easy. Kisses and light out and it's done. On the occasion that she does get up she doesn't cry about having to get in her crib. One morning she brought the thing down stairs. She and Benji and Andrew played with it all morning. It has a detachable sleeping bag which makes it even more fun. I even made a pillow to fit just right. We love this thing!!!

Moving right along...A typical day with Desirae. I know it is partly my fault. I have a Shelf with baskets in the great room. five of the baskets have books in them but one I have for diapers and wipes. I usually keep a tube of diaper rash creme in there too. It hasn't been much of a problem until lately. I guess she wanted to shave???

Andrew is such a Cutie Pie. Filthy shirt and all. The shirt is also typical Andrew. I don't know how he does it but he cannot keep a clean shirt. He is such a good sport. He is constantly being told "NO!" by the older boys and being picked on by Desi. However, he stays happy. He surely has his share of whining and crying but he just shakes it off and pops right back up. He really keeps me happy.

They thought they were being so sneaky. Desi and Andrew have the idea that if they are under the table I can't see them. I'm sure it's because I pretend not to. If I let them know I see them I have the motherly obligation to stop or reprimand the behavior or deed they are trying to hide. Sometimes it is just easier not to. Well today they had already dumped an entire box of Cocoa Puffs out and stomped all over them so this time I had to stop whatever they were up to.

Mommy's little helpers. I am all for having my kids help in the kitchen but is so much easier when they don't. The kids love it though and I feel so guilty ever telling them to go away. I know the day will come too soon that they won't want to be near me so I really try to keep my wanting to be alone thoughts to myself. As you can see I have quite the variety and mess going on. I spent a couple days preparing all of the meals for the week of our trip. I didn't want Gary's Mom to have to worry about preparing anything.

A night or two before we left Benji was having a hard time staying in his bed. We made the usual threats and he finally stayed down stairs, or so we thought. After we were done doing whatever it was I went down to check on them and tuck them in. Luckily I turned on the light before I headed down. I guess he just couldn't bear not knowing what we were doing. I never knew folding laundry and washing dishes was so intriguing.

I saw Leah's post on static http://allthingsjensen.blogspot.com/2009/01/static-cling.html and thought it was so funny. It is so terribly dry here and two of my kids have been cursed with my super fine fly-away hair. Static is a daily battle. The pics of Andrew don't do it justice but his hair is so crazy. We had the hardest time figuring out what to do with it and have finally decided it is better longer. Even better for the static episodes ;P

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

2009-02-06T21:51:00.005-07:00

Andrew turned 4 on the 9th of January. We asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. So away we went to Salt Lake for the weekend. luckily we have a great place to stay. Gary's parents are always so gracious and make us all feel so welcome. The kids just love them and I really think they enjoy our visits. We try not to dump the kids on them much but even when we do they always do it with a smile. We hadn't seen them since the family Christmas party at the first of December so they had Christmas presents for the kids. Desirae was thrilled with her jewelry box that has a dancing girl and all the jewelry and hair clips to go with it. Andrew and Benjamin both got some awesome night vision goggles and spy gear. It kept them busy for quite a while. Spencer got Star Wars Lego's, which he absolutely loves. And Gary and I got the new Gordon B. Hinkley movie and gift certificate to Deseret Book. The movie was so good. I love this prophet and I really enjoyed getting a little insight into his life. We got to Chuck-E-Cheese as soon as they opened on Friday. The kids love being first because all of the machines have a few tickets hanging out of them from when they were turned on and tested for the day. It was fun as usual. We then took the kids back and I got to go out with my Mom. It was quite a treat. My sister Tamara had a baby at the end of December so my Mom was out to visit her. I went and kidnapped her for the day. We went to lunch and went shopping then we went back to Gene and Maxine's house to have Andrew's birthday party. He opened gifts and we all ate cake and ice cream. What a great day. I think Gary even took the kids swimming while I was out. On Saturday we let the kids climb on the HUGE snow banks. They were as tall as the houses. They all had a blast. Spencer and Benjamin were very daring and even made a slide down the back of one of them. Andrew tried to climb but his little legs just wouldn't let him get too high. And Desirae was tickled to just sink in knee deep. When we got home we gave Andrew a "Big Wheel". Gary was more excited than Andrew. It is just the same as the one he had when he was little. Andrew is not terribly coordinated so I think it will take him a few more tries to get the hang of it but I'm sure he will be loving it this summer. So watch where you're driving, it is so low I think I'll get a flag for it. All-in-all a great weekend.

I know it is so clichet but man, they grow so fast. Andrew was my smallest baby. He had jaundice so bad for almost 2 months and he has always been so skinny. When he was just a year old we went on a trip to Bear Lake with Gary's family. He was then dubbed "Jack-Jack" by Uncle Jim. The Incredibles had recently come out and he really did look like him. The blond hair and the big eyes, so funny. I look at him and can hardly believe he was that same baby. He is so tall, and gangly and I guess that's where the clumsy come in. Gary describes him as a wet noodle trying to stand up. He is so fun and animated. He always has some toy in his hand. Usually a Star Wars guy or army man. He is always ready with hugs and kisses and wanting to be held. But at the same time, he plays so well by himself or with his brothers and sister. He truly brings so much joy and life to our family. We are so blessed to have his little life touch ours so deeply. We love you Andrew. I know this is going to be your best year yet. You are my favorite 4-year-old in the world.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-02-06T14:56:00.004-07:00

So this crazy year has finally come to an end. I can't say I'm too sad to see it go. Don't get me wrong, It has been a great year. We have all grown and learned so much. I am just looking forward to all we have waiting for us. I have a hard time living in the "now". I really have to force myself to enjoy the moment. I have a tendency to be consumed by what I need to do or get done and I like checking things off my list, even if it is just a mental list most of the time. I get a little (okay, maybe alot) impatient when I have to just sit and not "accomplish" something. I don't really like watching movies for that reason. I feel like I'm wasting time. I don't feel so anxious if I'm not home. Like going to a movie in a theater or taking the kids to the park. But playing in the backyard, I feel like the laundry or dishes are calling me. So anyway, enough babbling. I have high hopes for this year. New years is a time for making resolutions and setting goals and I am no different. I know I'll only get out what I put in. I really want to put in alot of effort and get what I feel like is my life spinning out of control back on track. I have some organization goals and I am pretty disappointed I missed enrichment. I need to pick Kandice's brain for her tips. As always, there's weight loss/general health. It all just takes time, something I am terribly short of now-a-days. I know it's all about priorities and right now my priorities are on schooling. I'm just going to have to learn to live on less sleep. Alright enough of this...to the fun stuff. New Years Eve was fun. Originally we were going to go to Dana's but Logan got sick so that was out. We did have a great time at home. We got Desi and Andrew to be around 9:00 and then broke out the snacks and junk food. We played Legos, a carnival game, Skipbo, and put a puzzle together. Then we watched the ball drop. It was fun. I really love spending down time with Gary and our kids. They are all so fun and happy. I know it will be a great new year.

Holiday Fun

2009-02-06T12:58:00.005-07:00

We had quite a bit of time to kill between the holidays so here are a few of the things we did. Luckily, for all of us, Gary had the week after Christmas off. We went sledding one day, It was alot of fun. We even ran into a number of families from our neighborhood, the Tuckers and the Durhams. This was Andrew and Desirae's first official sledding experience and they loved it.

We also went bowling. Everybody had a better idea of what to do this time. It was early afternoon so the place was mostly empty. It was nice to let the kids roam a bit.

We also went ice skating. The Dana family invited us. I'm really glad they did or else we never would have gone. Poor Andrew, one step onto the ice and "BOOM" he fell back and banged his head. That was it for him. He spent the night sitting on the bleachers sucking down hot cocoa. I went around a couple times holding Desi's hands then she was done too. Spencer and Benjamin did great. They each went around once or twice holding onto the wall then they got brave and let go. Benjamin caught on really quick and he was a bit more daring. We all really enjoyed it.

Finally, we spent alot of time just playing together and having fun. Benjamin loves to dance and he has got some great rhythm and moves. Gary took these pictures one afternoon while I was gone.

It was a great week gearing up to the new year finale.

Christmas Day

2009-02-06T12:29:00.003-07:00

SO MUCH FUN!!! I love Christmas day, now even more than I did when I was little. I love the excitement and the pure joy when one of our kids gets the perfect gift. Spencer and Benjamin have figured out that they can get just about anything they ask for. They just have to ask the right people. Santa will give you one big ticket item, as will Mom and Dad. After those two requests are made the rest is up to chance and luck. Spencer asked for an MP3 player from Santa and a Turtle from Mom & Dad. Benjamin's only request was a double-bladed light saber so the rest was up to us. Andrew really didn't know what to ask for until the day before we made our trip to see Santa. He was coveting the neighbors Indiana Jones Whip so that sealed it for him. Desirae is still too young, of course. However with some strong suggestions from Benjamin she finally asked for a "Big Hoppy Bunny". Why? I don't know. We eventually got her to drop the bunny thing and get excited about a doll house. The day was great. We spent a good 3 or so hours opening and playing. Then we had brunch and played some more. Gary likes to hold off on a few gifts until later in the day and this year was no exception. He held on to the marble run, a couple family games and some treats. It's always fun to open more presents when you start to get a little bored with all the new stuff. It was a nice long day and we all just lazed around. We even had a few of the kids friends stop over to play for a bit. All in all a fantastic time to spend together doing a whole lot of nothing. Perfect.

Christmas Eve

2009-02-05T20:48:00.004-07:00

We had a truly great time this year. The Dana family invited us over for dinner and a nativity put on by the kids. It was so fun and we all really enjoyed it. We are so blessed to have this fantastic family to hang out with. Spencer and Jarron met at school last year. They were both new to the school and town and they were lucky enough to meet on the first day of school. Michelle made homemade egg rolls, stir-fry veggies, wassail, hot chocolate and lots of yummy desserts. I brought sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and egg drop soup. It was fun to break away form the traditional Christmas dinner. We visited and the kids played then we dressed up and put on the nativity. Logan was Joseph and Desi is the only girl between both families so she was Mary. Jarron, Hayden, and Andrew were shepherds. Christian, Spencer, and Benjamin were wise men. After the nativity we visited and played a bit more then tore ourselves away from the peace of having the kids totally entertained by others and came home to finish out our own family traditions.

Every year the kids get to open a new pair of jammies and choose one gift from one of their siblings to open. I think it really does help ease a bit of the excited tension for the kids to get to go to bed with a new toy in hand. After we got everyone to bed we finally finished cleaning up and getting ready for the big day. I'm still always so excited on Christmas Eve. I was exhausted but still had a hard time falling asleep in anticipation for tomorrow's fun.

The Reasoning of a Child...

2008-12-30T11:14:00.008-07:00

I'm sorry, I hope no one is offended, but I just couldn't resist. If you have a son you will understand. Little boys (many big boys too) have a bit on an obsession with their wienies. Okay, a little background...Andrew is potty trained but he still wears a diaper to bed. When he gets up in the morning I remind him to go take his diaper off and get his unders on. He usually takes the easy way out and just takes the diaper off and skips the unders part. Today was no different. Well, after my umpteenth request for him to do it himself I finally took him upstairs to get him dressed. I took his pants off and this is how the conversation went...Andrew, "Ahhh my wienie! Why do I have a wienie?" "That's how Heavenly Father made you." "Why don't girls have wienies?" "Because that's how Heavenly Father made them." "Heavenly Father ran out?" "What?" "It's okay girls don't have wienies 'cuz Heavenly Father ran out."

I did my best not to laugh out loud. I love the simple reasoning of children. I love how their little minds work and how you can almost see the wheels turning. I love Andrew and the fun and laughter he brings to our home.

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-26T23:25:00.013-07:00

This year for our ward party they wanted to get back to basics. I think it was just right. They planned a visit from Santa, ham and potatoes dinner, music by the high school choral group, and the nativity. The kids started by sitting on the stage and singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" and "You Better Watch Out". Santa came and everyone got a chance to sit on his lap, make their request and get a goodie bag. Then dinner was served. The gym was cram-packed. There were as many tables as possible lined wall-to-wall. I wish I could say the food was great but I had a migraine so I spent the dinner time in the mothers lounge trying to get some Tylenol to kick in. Luckily it started to wain by the time dinner was over. Lucky for that because I was in charge of the nativity the there was only about 15 minutes to get all the kids dressed and pulled together. The Nativity was great. It lasted about 15 minutes total. The young women sang the songs like a "Choir of Angels" throughout the program. We had a couple narrators and the kids that participated were so reverent. It began with Samuel (Gary) and his prophesy of Christ's birth. Gary was such a good sport. I had arranged for another man to portray Samuel but he called and cancelled the night before. Gary was reluctantly willing to fill-in. He did a great job and really set the tone and spirit for the entire thing. Next came Mary (Hallie S.) and Joseph (Spencer). Spencer did not want her to hold onto his arm as they entered but he eventually conformed and even offered her to sit before him. The angels were some of the 8-9 year old girls in their pretty white baptism dresses. (Rylie W., McKayla W., Chelsea D., Mariah F., Madison D.) Then came the shepherds, Benjamin, Trevor S., and Gavin S. Finally the angel (Alison W.) leading the wise men (Peter S., Joel H., and Ryan B.) concluded the production.I had the narrators contrast what was going on in both hemispheres and then talk a little about how it effects us now. The night concluded with some words for Bishop Bently and the entire room singing "Silent Night". It was perfect. I have really started feeling a part of our ward. I enjoy the opportunities I get to serve and just socialize with the other members. Benjamin waiting for Santa

Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-25T14:24:00.008-07:00

On the 9th we had a Christmas party with our homeschool group. It was titled "Winterland of Gingerbread." Each of the families brought a house or houses to make a little village. I figued each of the kids would want their own so I made a double batch of gingerbread but it only made enough for 1 house. I didn't want Desirae and Andrew to feel left out either so off to the store I went. For only $7.00, candy and frosting included, why not save the fight. Benjamin chose the homemade elf house, Spencer chose a pre-made one and the younger two kids shared one. Desi and Andrew were just interested in eating so it worked out just fine. We all had a great time making them. Benjamin and Spencer did most of the work themselves. I just manned the frosting bag. They told me where to put it and I just followed their requests. Gary has a great job with a very flixible schedule (it helps to be the boss) and he was able to come home for a long lunch to watch Desi and Andrew while I took Spencer and Benjamin to the party. They were so excited to go. They played bingo, made cards for soldiers, made up skits to Christmas songs, read a couple gingerbread stories and each of the kids got to tell about their house and what they liked best about making it. We had a great time and it was nice to get out with just the two older kids and let them do something that focused on them. It also forced me to make gingerbread houses. I'm not sure I would have gotten around to it otherwise. All in all a great success.

Homeschool?!?!?!?!

2008-12-24T08:28:00.004-07:00

Many of you know that we started homeschooling the first of December. Gary and I had such a hard time coming to this decision. I have felt like doing it for years but never really made it a serious consideration, until now. First of all, our new house is in a different school's boundaries than the one we went to last year. However, the new school is twice as far from our house as the old one. Huh??? We seriously considered having the boys go to the old school but they really wanted to ride the bus to school. I have always been an anti-busite. I didn't like riding the bus when I was in school. There is the whole "cool kids" thing and the language, and especially the fact that they are on the bus for 45 minutes each way. That's an hour and a half bus trip for what takes me 20 minutes to drive. Well, we finally caved and let them take the bus. That only lasted a month before Spencer came home with some foul rhymes. So Gary started driving them to school every morning and I picked them up. It only took a few days for the boys to realize this was a much better arrangement. They could relax more in the morning and they got home a good 30 minutes before their friends. They could get their chores or other stuff done before anyone else got home. It was definitely an inconvenience but it was best for our kids.
Okay, so your thinking, "That is not a reason for home school." Here is the rest of our reasoning...Spencer would come home from school so grumpy. He was tired and he would complain that he was bored and not learning anything. But then, the bells really went off when I was talking to Benji's teacher. I would go and help her every Wednesday morning. The kids would go to computers or dance while I was there and we would talk a bit. She said that Benjamin and a few others in the class were ready to read but she couldn't go there yet because the rest of the class wasn't ready. I guess that's what did it for me. I'm not saying my kids are geniuses or anything but I think they should be challenged and given the opportunity to learn something new each day. So Gary and I listed the pros and cons and started investigating different programs. We talked to a number of families that home school and got their input. We asked their kids about what they do and don't like about being homeschooled and asked the Mom's about what was good and bad about it. We finally came to the decision to use the K12 program. It is a public school you teach at home. All of the curriculum is provided to you, along with any incidentals that are required for the course. We are assigned a teacher that helps answer any questions and keep us on schedule. Both boys were really excited when we presented the idea to them. They were so anxious to start and they loved the idea of being done with school by 2:00 everyday. So far, a month into it we are still working out the kinks. We have good and bad days. There has definitely been an adjustment and all of us are still learning how to work with each other. Right now it takes up all of my time. It is getting better. We are slowly figuring out the courses and how to best complete them. The boys still like it, Benjamin more than Spencer. We will finish out the year and then give each of them the choice next year. I think Benjamin will stick with it, but I think Spencer will want more social interaction. It is quite an adventure right now. One that is terribly inconvenient, but worth it in the long run. Wish us luck.

Basketball

2008-12-23T22:36:00.003-07:00

Spencer loves basketball. I think it is just in his blood. Gary loves it too, and it is easy to say that Spencer has just been brain washed by his Father's love of the game, but that's not it. Spencer has an innate understanding and an inner drive for it. If you ask him what he is going to be when he grows up he'll tell you he will play for the NBA and then be an astronaut. (in that order) He often asks in casual conversation, "What team do you think will draft me?" We always reply, "The one with the first pick that year." Spencer has a small but strong and solid build. That can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. He is able to dribble really well because he is closer to the ground. He is super quick and being shorter than the others he was able to get at least 6 steals a game this season. He is a great shooter too but has to work really hard to get the ball over all the longer arms. He loved playing basketball. He especially liked meeting and befriending the kids on his team. He is a great team player. He was the first one there to help them up any time someone fell. He gave five every time a shot was made. He would always want to take the ball down the court and he seemed a little lost when he didn't. He likes to be in control and he was always yelling orders and reminding this teammates where they should be and what they should be doing. He also liked having Principal Leyba be his coach. Now that the season is over and there is snow on the ground he isn't practicing as much but his love is still there. Just like his Dad, Spencer gets all worked up over every Jazz game. He has even discovered that you can see the current time and scores on line. He'll just sit and watch the score boards for league and keep us all updated on who's winning who. We love his spirit and love of all things sports. He is so competitive and that can make me a little crazy at times but it is a great attribute to have as you get older. Hopefully we will be able to help him make it a useful skill. Anyway, basketball is a great sport that we all enjoy watching ans playing so bring it on... Spencer is the shortest kid on his team but it doesn't slow him down at all.Not a great picture but I love Spencer's "form" as he dribbles around the other player.

Bolton Family Christmas Party

2008-12-22T21:14:00.002-07:00

I am so far behind...This party was the 6th of this month. Our annual Bolton Family party was a huge success. There were many people that put in alot of time and energy to make it fun for everyone. Mom and dad arranged the whole thing. They made the food assignments and delegated all of the activities. I took care of the crafts to keep the kids occupied. They made jingle bell bracelets, candycanes, and a number of other creative things from the pipe cleaners, bells, and beads. They also wrote Santa letters. It was great to give the kids something to do besides run around and get into trouble. We then ate a delicious traditional dinner of Ham with all the trimmings. We followed that with the Nativity. All the kids got to participate. They always love this. The little ones are a bit clueless but I guess that just makes it a little more memorable. We followed that with a talent show. Karen did a great job producing it. Our family is maybe a little too willing to share our talents. Spencer played a solo "Up on the Housetops" on his guitar, and demonstrated dribbling moves with jared. He also sang "I am a Child of God" in portuguese with Gary & Benjamin. Gary did the Happiest Christmas Tree with Dave. That was a surprise to me. It was really funny to see both of their harry bellies singing and dancing. I danced. I guess I kind of enjoy the shock effect of it. I always like to hear the comments and surprise from people when they hear that I bellydance. After I finished Desi and Talya both wanted the "shakers" so they did a little dance too. They were so cute. There were a number of great talents and everyone really enjoyed seeing them performed. We then had family pictures taken and finished the night with a white elephant gift exchange. It was a great succes and a ton of fun. I love seeing family that we don't see very often and catching up with them. Thank you to each of you for being sucha great and supportive family. We really love you all and we cherish all the time we get to spend with you.

Decorating for Christmas

2008-12-15T22:03:00.003-07:00

I love Christmas, I really do. However, this year I had no desire to decorate at all. As you can see in some of the pictures we had spent the morning making snowflakes. I would have been fine with that for at least a week, maybe two. Thank goodness for Gary. The Sunday after Thanksgiving he was sick so he stayed home from church. When we got home he had brought all of the Christmas decorations in. Well I guess there was no putting it off after that. The only way to get the boxes out of the house and back into the garage was to go through them and get some of the junk out. The kids were so excited. They each have a bag with their own ornaments from previous years. They hung those first. Poor little Desi only had two and she got bored pretty quick. I bought a bunch of those shatter-proof ornaments after Christmas last year but they were still in the package. I couldn't find any extra hooks so we broke out the old standard balls.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the excitement and innocence children have. We have spent a few Christmas' in the past in rentals while our stuff was in storage. While a bit annoying and frustrating to not have our "things" it was so fun to make due with what we had. We made ornaments from paper, fun foam, cinnamon sticks, oranges, apples, bells, popcorn, cranberries, ribbon, etc. We had a new craft almost every day just to decorate the tree. I loved the simplicity of it and the time we were able to share with each other.
I guess my point is that even though the tree has be decorated for two weeks, and I still haven't taken the time to hang any ornaments higher than the kids could reach, it doesn't matter. We all enjoyed the whole decorating thing. The kids loved decorating the tree and my favorite is to set up the nativities. Gary and I both loved watching the kids. That is what it's all about right? Providing fun and learning experiences for our kids and spending time together. Okay, enough of my babbling. Let the Christmas festivities begin.

Visiting Santa

2008-12-10T23:31:00.003-07:00

This last weekend we went to Salt Lake for our family Christmas parties. (more on that later) Since this would be our last time in town until January we took the opportunity to visit with Santa. Ever since Spencer's first Christmas we have gone to the Provo Towne Center to talk with the "real" Santa. Everywhere else are just Santa's helpers. They will do if you're in a pinch, the info still gets to him, but if at all possible, we make this our Santa destination. This year was no disappointment. We were a little worried about Desirae freaking out. She is at that stranger-danger age. But to our delight she hopped right up on his lap and told the big guy she wanted a hoppy bunny. Andrew was next, requesting an Indiana Jones whip. Benjamin followed with a plea for a Darth Maul Lightsaber. Finally, Spencer (too big to sit) asked for an MP3 player. We concluded the visit with our typical rides one the quarter machines and then let the kids choose what ever they wanted for lunch at the food-court.

All this and we were still back to Gary's parents by noon. As we pulled up to their house we noticed that Gary's sister Karen was there visiting. As we walked in I heard her say something to the effect of, "Maybe that's why she hasn't updated her blog for so long." To which I replied, "Are you talking about me?" She hadn't heard us walk in and it kind of startled her and we laughed. She was right though, I hadn't updated for a couple weeks at least.(more on that to come later too) It was a great visit and a Super Santa Success. Now...where can I find a hoppy bunny?

"Holly" Days

2008-12-07T23:01:00.004-07:00

Vernal has a huge kick-off to the Christmas holiday. They have games, carnival rides, craft fairs, food, children's train, light parade, midway games, chestnut and marshmallow roasting, and the list goes on, ALL FOR FREE!!! We spent the Friday after Thanksgiving enjoying the ice cube hunt, riding pedal bikes, the train ride, ice sculpting, churros, cotton candy, popcorn, ferris wheel, spinning ride, and the parade. We didn't get to half of the stuff going on and we didn't want to hang out in the cold waiting for the fireworks. Maybe we'll get to do more next year. Everyone had a great time and I am excited for a new tradition to start the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year". It really did get me in the mood, Merry Christmas!!!

Giving Thanks

2008-12-07T22:36:00.008-07:00

Thanksgiving was great this year. I have loved reading Erin's http://5boys-eringobraugh.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-11-20T10%3A13%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=7 "Thankful Hearts" posts. I love how she is able to pick-out such ordinary things to be grateful for. I am so guilty of taking my fantastic life and all of my blessings for granted. I am greatly blessed with a husband that supports me and who would do anything for me, four of the most beautiful, healthy, happy, inspiring children I could ever dream of, a nice home to keep us all warm and comfortable, plenty, if not too much, to eat, the gospel to light our hearts and minds, and pretty much every creature comfort we could want. The list really could go on forever. It seems that the more you start to think of your blessings, the more you recognize. It really makes me realize how much our Father in Heaven loves us and gives to us so freely. We could never even come close to fully showing our gratitude and appreciation to Him.

I love this time of year. I love the weather, the smells, the sweaters, the food, and how life seems to slow down just a bit before the Christmas madness. This year we stayed home. It was a real treat. We were blessed to have Gary's parents come and visit for the weekend. They are so fun to be around. The kids absolutely love them and they are so kind and patient with them. We feasted on the typical fare and then burned off some of the extra calories with a game of Twister. That was Benjamin's great idea. It was really fun. That's another thing I am so grateful for, my kids forcing me to have fun. Even when I don't feel like it, I always enjoy it in the end. The final thing I want to mention is my gratitude for you. I am surrounded by a wonderful family and great friends. Thank you for being an integral part of my life.

Mess...

2008-11-25T16:43:00.007-07:00

For anyone that has come to my house and thought to themselves, "Doesn't she ever sweep, vacuum, dust, fold laundry, or clean in general?" Well, this is what happens when I try. There are actually two reasons I don't vacuum as often as I would like. I hate vacuuming around stuff so I want the floors bare. That means all the things that are supposed to be on the floor in a room like laundry baskets, toy boxes, ottomans, chairs, etc. I want moved. I also want to get the entire level done at once. So today I got two kids rooms, guest room, and my room all cleaned, and floor cleared so I could vacuum the entire floor. I was just about done when I heard Desirae behind me, "Mess." is what I heard her say. I turned around to find this and a sharpie in her hand. I had forgotten to shut the guest room door behind me and she found a marker. I'm not too upset, at least she didn't get the walls or her face.

Memory Tag

2008-11-25T13:36:00.001-07:00

1) Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2) Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Just for FUN!

Christmas Cards

2008-11-19T11:04:00.003-07:00

Well, only one week till the official kick-off to Christmas. I can't help but start planning for it now. The last two weeks have been kinda crazy. I feel like I have been so busy but I can't seem to recall anything I have done. I have a feeling it is only going to get worse over the next month. However, one thing I do recall is going to a super fun card class last week. My friend and neighbor Stephanie was the creator and teacher for a Christmas card class. She is so incredibly creative and brilliant. The class took about 3 hours but I came away with 10 awesome cards. I can't even imagine how much time Steph took creating them, cutting all the paper, and putting them all together. All who know me know I am fairly simple, not a lot of fru-fru. So I have chosen three of the simpler cards from the class to mass produce for my local give-aways. (sorry to all y'all that I have to mail a card too, you'll just be getting the typical photo postcard and letter) So, here are photos of the three I chose and I would love any input you might have on which one you like the best and why. Like I said, they are all sooo cute but I'm kinda lazy (busy) so I only want to mass-produce a simpler one. I don't really want to have to go to the store to buy a bunch of embellishments either so I'm trying to just stick to paper, ribbon and a stamp. Lucky for me Stephanie gave me many great cards to choose from. Thanks Steph, for all your time and effort!!!

First Snow

2008-11-05T10:51:00.016-07:00

It snowed last night!!! Gary is pretty disappointed. He doesn't like to have to work with it. It causes the carriers to to go slower and the probability of an accident is so much higher. I don't really like it because it is just that much more work to get the kids ready to go play outside and then to come back in 5 minutes later and take it all off. Everything is wet, cold, or muddy. I am not much for shoes. I am barefoot most of the time. But now I need to wear slippers or at least sox. But, all that aside, the kids love it. They were so excited to get to wear coats and hats and gloves to school today. Andrew got his snow pants out so he could go play in it. Desi has been wearing her gloves all morning. After I got Spencer and Benjamin to school Desirae and Andrew and I went out to play. It was so pretty too. It really was nice. Not too cold, no wind, and bright sunshine. There was just enough to cover the ground but not get in our shoes. After about 30 minutes their hands were cold and their sox were wet so we came in for the celebratory hot cocoa. Now it will all melt and leave a big messy mud hole. Maybe that will be my next post.

Family Night Bowling

2008-11-05T10:06:00.007-07:00

I love being able to kill two birds with one stone. (Hate the saying but love the result) Family night this week was one of those opportunities. Benjamin and Spencer have these reward pyramids. They each have a specific task or goal they are working on. Each day they achieve their goal they get to put a star on their chart. Each time they complete an entire level of the pyramid they get the assigned reward. Thanks to Benjamin earning his eighth star on this row we all got to go bowling for Family Night. It was so much fun! We hadn't been since we lived in Kansas, over 5 years ago. The bowling alley here has this metal ramp thing that the little kids can roll their ball down or they can do the granny roll thing. We all had a great time. Spencer can earn it on his chart too so we will be going again in a couple weeks. I was dreading it but now I'm really looking forward to it. It was not as much trouble as I thought it would be. If you haven't attempted it with your kids, do!!

New President!

2008-11-04T22:38:00.007-07:00

I hope everyone is as excited as I am for our Sovereign Socialist Leader! Shall we pay homage? Gary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46t_nrySg4

Trick-or-Treating

2008-10-31T21:11:00.003-06:00

I am so glad this week is finally over. It seems that there have been so many activities to go to. As we were driving home tonight Gary said, "Ten years from now there will not be trick-or-treating as we know it." I totally agree. It seems like so many businesses are sponsoring trick-or-treating at their stores, Smith's and Kmart both advertised for it. The Rec. Center here had a mayor's walk (costume parade) and carnival type thing. Two of the wards in our building had a trunk-or-treat. Don't get me wrong, I love the ease of it all. "One-stop treating" it is a great concept. It is safe and the kids aren't out in the cold for too long, or not at all. But all of these organized activities get families out of their homes (again, not all bad) so there is not anyone home to pass out treats to the die-hard, old-school group. After the trunk-or-treat we headed to a neighborhood where two of Gary's favorite employees live to do the door-to-door thing and show off the cute kids. A street of 20 or so houses and only 6 lights were on. I think it is kind of sad. I loved trick-or-treating. The excitement of running from house to house and hoping for something other than a dum-dum sucker or a midge. So much fun. The weather was great tonight. I was in a Gypsy outfit (yes I dressed up) and wasn't cold at all. All-in-all it was a great night. The kids got a TON of junk and they all had fun. I guess I shouldn't expect more than that. Either way, a fond farewell to October. I am really looking forward to quiet November.

Desi's Owie

2008-10-31T09:39:00.004-06:00

I've had a number of people, on the blog and in person, ask about Desirae's head. No, I didn't beat her, this time. The simple explanation...She's 2 and has 3 older brothers. Need I say more? The extended version...I was in the kitchen doing dishes, Desi and Andrew were watching TV on the sofa, I hear a thud and then both of them crying. I got to the couch to find them both lying on their backs next to each other, just wailing. I picked up Desi, cuz' she's the baby, and held her for a minute. I noticed a minor pink bump in her head but didn't think much of it. She calmed down after just a second. When I got her out of bed the next morning she had this awful scab on her head. I guess she got a rug burn some how. It looked so yucky. It would puff up and then flatten out again but luckily never got infected or anything. I gave her a bath after the ward carnival and it finally fell off. She only had it for 5 days but it was really hard for me to leave it alone and not bring her attention to it. She still has a little mark but you really have to look to see it. So there you go. I'm sure it's the first of many bumps that will need explaining.

Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-30T21:37:00.004-06:00

We usually like to get the carving done a week before Halloween. This year was different for a couple reasons. Benji and Spencer carved pumpkins last Friday for their school carnival so they weren't really itchin'. We have had something going on every night this week to prevent us from getting it done and Gary likes to participate so we couldn't do it during the day. So here we are, the night before, getting our spook on. Spencer and Benjamin both designed their own. Gary did Desirae's and I did Andrews. They all turned our very cute. It cracks me up every year, None of our boys want to touch the guts. We always make them, just for the pictures sake and to laugh at their faces. I though that Andrew would love it. He is to tactile oriented and he loves to squish and play with his food. But he was the most reluctant. This was the first year Desi was old enough to participate. She was so into it. As soon as she figured out what was going on she pulled up her sleeve and dug in. She loved it. She would grab a handful and shake it off into the bowl and go back for more. We finally had to make her stop because she was shaking goop all over the kitchen. So here's to a glowing Halloween. Hope you have a ooie, gooey, good, and safe one.

To dress-up or not to dress-up, that is the question...

2008-10-30T15:10:00.003-06:00

I have been pondering today whether or not to dress up tomorrow. I'm a bit in the spirit because it is my day to cook for food group and I did our traditional chili and cornbread. I also made chocolate covered spiders and blood punch. Gary and I usually dress-up. Gary is usually gorry or creepy and I have been a number of things over the past few years, "Postal" employee, barefoot-and-pregnant, Gypsy, army lady, all with little to no preparation. The kids always ask me what I'm going to be. I always say "A Mom." They groan and beg and I eventually give in. But I never tell until they actually see me dressed. This year I'm just not sure I want to go through the trouble of figuring something out. So here's where you come in...Are you dressing up? And if so, what are you going to be? Have an ooky, spooky Halloween.

Ward Halloween Carnival

2008-10-29T14:01:00.002-06:00

Last Night the Young Women in our ward hosted a Halloween carnival for the primary kids. The young women and the leaders put alot of time and effort into making it really fun for all of the kids. There were quite a few activities crammed into the gym. There was face painting Andrew got a pumpkin, Spencer and Benjamin both just made their costume make-up darker and bloody, and Desi got sparkles. There was a ring toss, fishing, and pumpkin bowling that the kids got little prizes for. The sack races were alot of fun to watch. The cake walk was funny. The kids would walk around the circle to the music and then stop at a number with the music. Some of the kids would win their cupcake and then walk more while eating their winnings. So funny, the amount of sugar those little bodies will consume. There was also cookie decorating and coloring. It was a great way for the kids to get another wear out of their costumes. They loved it and the fact that all I had to do was get them there made it a worth while outing.

Family Night Fun

2008-10-29T13:40:00.006-06:00

I like traditions. I think they are a great way for kids to look forward to family time. I also like food. Therefore, most of our family traditions involve food. This time of year is so full of yummy smells, breathtaking colors and delicious flavors. One of the traditions we tackled Monday night was carmeled apples. The first time I considered this I was a little daunted by the prospect. But, like most things, it is easier than you think once you just commit yourself to doing it. We started family night with Spencer conducting and giving the lesson. One of the requirements in the Faith In God book is for him to talk about Joseph Smith and how God answers our sincere prayers. He did a great job. he is so in tune and truly understands and comprehends more than I give him credit for. So then to the apples. The kids unwrapped the carmels, tasted a few and then I melted them. After it cooled a bit, the dipping began. Into the carmel and then into chocolate chips or Gary's preference, cinnamon sugar. After they set up a bit we cut them off the sticks and eat em' up. They are so yummy. One bag of carmels does at least 5 apples with some to spare. The sour apples with the super sweet carmel is a perfect combination. Now, finding time to carve the pumpkins, hmmmm.....The boys and I peeled while Desi ate...

6th Folder, 6th Picture

2008-10-27T16:29:00.006-06:00

Erin had a great picture of Dirty Andrew on her blog. It's a bit like a tag but you go to your pictures and choose the 6th picture in the 6th folder to post. Here is mine. The evening of Desirae's birthday I put her hair up in little sponge rollers. Her hair is so fine and limp I just wanted to see if it would actually hold a curl. She sat still for 20 minutes letting me put them in but only kept them in about 30 minutes. It was still damp but it did curl. I'll have to try it again when we are actually going somewhere. Below is the "after" shot. I need to work on making sure I roll them the right direction. I remember my Mom putting our hair in the pink sponge rollers the night before picture day and then putting a pair of panties over them so they wouldn't get frizzy while we slept. I'm not to that point yet but maybe before church???

Halloween Carnival

2008-10-27T13:34:00.003-06:00

Davis Elementary had a Halloween Carnival on Friday. Of course, we went.

I took Spencer and Benjamin and my fabulous husband stayed home with Andrew and Desirae and cleaned. (how lucky can one girl get???) So the first order of business in preparation for the carnival was the carving of the Jack-O-Lanters for the contest. Spencer opted for a pre-fab stencil of a spider and Benji went free-form. Spencer did a great job. He poked holes all around the stencil and then maticulously carved out the body and all the legs. Benjamin drew out his face on a piece of paper and then used it like a stencil to poke holes all around. However, I carved most of it because it was a bit tedious and as you can see all jaggedy. Next were the costumes. Benjamin is Captain Jack Sparrow in skeleton form and Spencer is the Grim Reaper. Thanks to Auntie Kate and Aunt Heather for the great hand-me-downs. All I had to do was paint their faces. So we got there and dinner was only $1 each. We had orange soup bowls and root beer. The soup was yummy but the boys only ate the bread. So next they awarded the costume contest and Jack-O-Lantern winners. All of the kids were sitting on the floor in front of the stage. The Lady annonced the costume winner as Jack Sparrow. WoooHooo, Yeah Benjamin!!! He went up as happy as could be and stood in front of everyone. Then she began to announce the winner of the pumpkin contest. Another lady went over to the table and got the winning pumpkin. He came to the stage and I couldn't believe she was holding Benji's pumpkin! WOW! He got the best costume and the best pumpkin awards. The prizes were candy, of course. What a little stud. I could tell Spencer was pretty disappointed but he was still excited for his brother. He was a really good sport. I'm sure he knew he would be sharing in the spoils. So then some of the kids did a little program singing songs and then the group was split up into six groups. We played bingo, had pictures taken, decorated cookies, ate doughnuts off of a string, did a cake walk and listened to a story teller tell spooky stories. Spencer ate his doughnut in one huge bite and when Spencer got a cake from the cake walk and Benji didn't, he even offered to half it with Benjamin. They are such good boys and I love that they are best friends. We ran into the Tucker's there too. It is always more fun to have friends to talk to and run around with. It was a great time and tons of fun. Now we just have to get through the ward carnival on Tuesday night and the Trunk-R-Treat at the church on Friday night. We should have at least enough candy to last till Christmas by then.

Another Tag...

2008-10-21T22:32:00.001-06:00

So the rules are the same as all the others. Fill it in with your answers and tag others to do the same. I like reading other peoples tags, I just don't like doing them muself. So here's my best shot...
10 years ago I... 1. 3 years married to my dream-boat husband. 2. Living in our West Valley house. 3. Working for First Security Bank on the Y2K prep. (What a lot of all-for-naught that was) 4. Wishing I was pregnant. 5. Scrapping - alot.
5 Things on today's "to do" list... 1. Clean the kitchen. 2. McDonald's with Gary for lunch. 3. Practice for dance 4. catch up my blog 5. Plan FHE
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire... 1. Consult a financial planner. 2. Pay off our home. 3. Travel the world with Gary 4. Upgrade our vehicles. 5. Invest for missions, college and weddings.
5 places I have lived... 1. Grantsville, UT 2. Medford, OR 3. Independence, KS 4. Moab, UT 5. Kanab, UT
5 jobs I have had... 1. Mom 2. Administrative Assistant 3. Evergreene Construction 4. Grocery cashier 5. Matrixx Marketing

So there it is. Now it's your turn!

Flowers!!!

2008-10-19T21:21:00.004-06:00

Aren't they pretty?!?!? Gary brought these flowers home for me last week. I had sent this junk e-mail to everyone where you answer questions with just one word. One of the questions was a wish list item. I put "flowers". I was actually thinking about planting bulbs in my yard that will come up in the spring but since it was a one word answer there wasn't room for an explanation. Gary saw the e-mail and took it upon himself to grant my wish. He is so thoughtful. He is also very frugal. With his frugality (is that a word?) in mind, when he called me from the store and asked what type of flower will come up again, I told him mum's. I had just potted some that he had gotten really cheap for my front porch so I kind of blew it off and said only get them if they are red. I guess I assumed he saw some half dead things that the store just wanted to get rid of. (that is how I got the ones I potted for the front porch) Well, low and behold, this is what I got. Definitely not half dead and not cheap. They just make me smile every time I walk into my kitchen. I think this is the best kind of flower to get. Autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors and these particular flowers don't really have a smell. I really don't like strong floral scents. I am also just a little too practical and feel so guilty getting flowers that only last a few days. I love fresh flowers. And I love you Gary! You know me so well! Thank you!

Flag Football

2008-10-19T20:08:00.014-06:00

I have procrastinated long enough. Here it is, the long awaited flag football post...Spencer asked if he could play football a few months ago. My immediate response was an adamant no. It wasn't even a consideration. Football players are big, they are slammed around, and they get concussions. Nope, not my son. Well a little convincing from Dad swayed me. I only approved because it is flag football and only 2nd and 3rd grade. However, I have since realized that next year he won't be eligible for flag, it will have to be tackle. I have got to come up with something between now and then to get him to loose interest in it. When he first started he was pretty clueless. It took him about five games for it to really click. But when he got it he went nuts. He is so strong, fast and flexible. He is a natural leader. He is all over the field calling to the other boys where they should be. He was always there to help his team mates up, give high 5's and chest bumps. His favorite positions to play were running back and line backer because he could see the whole field and keep track of what was going on. He had alot of great plays. He was willing to dive to grab someones flag, he took a few cheap shots and didn't even whine. He has great sticky fingers and can really catch and hold on to the ball. To go along with that he can run and dodge and was able to make a touchdown every game. His first touchdown was quite comical really. He got a hand-off on his teams 10 yard line. He ran the touchdown the entire length of the field. As he was running he kept looking down and behind him to see if his flag had been nabbed. As he did this he turned in a 360 and kept on going. It's like he was dancing down the field turning circles. The picture on the top of this post is just after he made his first "catch" touchdown. It was a great throw and Spencer's little sticky fingers just grabbed it. He really enjoyed playing and he was good at it. For me, hopefully he loses interest, for him, I hope he stays really fast so he doesn't get hit too much.

This video is Spencer retrieving a kick-off and making a touchdown. Go Spencer!!!

What Was I Thinking???

2008-10-06T14:26:00.006-06:00

Obviously I was not thinking at all. I have a craft cupboard in the kitchen that I keep some stuff like markers, paper, coloring books, crayons, etc. in so they are right next to the table and easy to grab when there is a whim. It has been a big mess for a while now so I thought I'd organize it a bit today. I put Andrew and Desirae downstairs with the "little people" and a Dora cartoon. I figured that would give me the 20 minutes or so I needed to get the cupboard done. This is what I left them with...Innocent enough right? One type of toy available to play with and the rest of the room in tact.These are the two sections of our play room. Anyone who has ever been to our house knows that we have way too many toys. I have tried to organize them so that the kids can put them away in some sort of order. However, after finishing my one little cupboard I went down to play "little people" and this is what I found...My two little darlings dumped every single tote and then were just sitting on the couch like they had been there the whole time. I think they actually expected me to think that they had nothing to do with the mess. It must have been some naughty little mess fairies that snuck in, ransacked the place, then hopped out the window. What is the point? A few days ago I was so tired of the toys always being a mess that I told Spencer and Benji that I had hired a maid that will come and clean their room and toy room each day. However, anything she has to pick up off the floor she takes away and they won't get it back for at least a month. It has worked for the most part but how can I punish them if it is the two little monsters doing all the damage? I give up. There is no punishing them. It doesn't really phase them. Any suggestions???

What a Great Weekend

2008-10-06T13:26:00.010-06:00

When I got up this morning I was feeling overwhelmed and frusterated because I had a sink full of dishes spilling out onto the surrounding counters, a laundry room so full of dirty clothes and bedding I could harldy open the door, floors that haven't been swept or vacummed (I won't even mention mopped) for two days, various toys and clothes strewn about the entire house...blah, blah, blah, you get the idea. I began to think to myself, "Why does this happen every weekend? Why can't I keep up on anything?" As I was thinking back at our weekend I couldn't think of any major task we got accomplished. Usually we will have a big project like builing shelves in the garage, or cleaning out the storage roombut not this weekend. We just stayed home, watched conference, and vegged. I needed a break from cleaning so I thought I'd download the camera. That's when I realized we had a pretty busy weekend. Here is a photo review of the fun stuff we did...

Built a block tower...

Drove up the mountain and took family pictures with the pretty fall leaves. Finally got Desirae's new bike for her very belated birthday...
Decorated for halloween, made and decorated sugar cookies, delivered (not the ones kids decorated/licked) said cookies to a few ward families...

After looking through our weekend of pictures I'm not at all annoyed by having to clean all day long on Monday. We are so lucky to have two full days to spend together, just enjoying each other and strengthening those relationships. I am so blessed with such a supportive husband that even if he does come home after a long day at work and the house is a mess, all he says is something like, "Looks like you had a fun day playing with the kids today." So hey, maybe I'll take a break and play with the kids for a while. The dishes and laundry can wait.

Happy Birthday, Desirae!!!

2008-09-26T16:02:00.004-06:00

As I was getting Desirae ready for bed a couple nights ago, it really struck me...My baby is getting so big. She talks up a storm. She will repeat anything you say. She has always been really coordinated but she does so much. She has figured out how to open all the doors in the house, fill her cup with water, drag a chair anywhere she can't reach. I really think she is doing these things younger than her brothers did. She is so sweet and fun. She is such a girl. We are so lucky to have her in our family. She brings a bit of little girl out in all of us. We love you Desi.

Tuesday

2008-09-26T15:17:00.002-06:00

Our usual Tuesday is a bit hectic. Here is a general rundown…
* 7:36 Out the door to the bus
* 9:30 Andrew to school
* 11:30 Andrew from school
* 11:47 Benji from bus
* 12:00 Lunch
* 1:00 Desi’s nap
* 1:30 Reading/homework
* 4:00 Spencer home
* 5:00 Football
* 7:00 Scouts
* 8:30 Bed
There are some gaps and there are some overlaps. It takes both Gary and me with cars going in all directions to get it all done. Well, this last week Spencer threw another item on our get-it-done list. We got to go to Insta-Care for a gash on his forehead. I feel so guilty. It is all my fault. As you can tell from the schedule there isn’t really a spot for dinner, especially for Spencer. I give the younger three something quick and easy but Spencer has a Gatorade at football and maybe a snack after the game on his way to scouts. By the time we all get home he is starved. I was nuking him a hotdog before bed and as he walked toward me a stuck my hand up in his face like I was going to bop him. You know, like in school, you would try to get someone to flinch or “syke” them out. Well, Spencer flinched big time. He ducked, spun around, and smacked his head on the corner of the granite counter top. I am glad it wasn’t laminate or else it would have been a lot worse. He had a big dent in his head and blood just gushing out. I grabbed and ice pack and got him in the car. He was so tough. He didn’t really cry he was just worried that he would need stitches. We got him in and luckily it wasn’t too deep and it was a clean cut. The doctor just used some special glue to hold it all together while it heals. He is pretty proud of it now. I still feel so guilty. I just hope the scar isn’t too bad.

Title-of-Liberty Flag

2008-09-21T21:58:00.005-06:00

At church a few weeks ago, our Sunday School teacher challenged us to create a Title-of-Liberty for our family at our next family night. I made this flag a few years ago for a family night activity. I love it. I love that it is what I see when I pull into the driveway and I love that everyone that approaches or drives past our house knows what the people that live here believe in. I not only hang it outside our home, I also take it camping. I hang it so that when my kids go exploring it is easy for them to see which camp-site is ours. Since I first made it I have had many, many people comment on it, compliment, "What a great idea!", and request a pattern. Well, I haven't had a pattern, until now. My sister-in-law spurred me on in her latest request. We were all camping at Bryce this last summer and she noticed it, again. She asked if I would be willing to make her one. (she doesn't sew) I told her I didn't have a pattern, I just made it up from some scraps left over from a quilt I had made one of my boys. I thought about it a bit and with her continued requests decided to come up with a pattern. So here I am. I figure if she wanted one so badly, someone else might also.
This flag measures 34"wide x 44"long. I painted the words using fabric paint, then had each member of our family "stamp" their hand print as their signature. It hangs on a standard decorative pole. It has the hooks inside the sleeve to secure it to the pole.
I will take custom orders, where you tell me what color scheme, words, and emblem you would like and I will complete it for you. All you would need to do is have your family "sign" it any way you want. I will also have kits available. You just choose the color scheme and the emblem you would like in the background. It will include all of the fabric needed, cut to size and directions for sewing it together. You would need to add your own words. If I have enough interest I will invest in a gadget that will cut fabric letters out and you would just need to iron them on.
I would love for you to visit my other blog www.titleoflibertyflag.blogspot.com and participate in my poll (to the right of the post) so I can get an idea of how much interst there would be in this product. Or, just leave me a comment. I would love to hear your ideas or feed-back, positive or negative. Thanks for helping me out with your input.

Snowbird

2008-09-18T21:02:00.007-06:00

Our annual trip to Snowbird was a huge success. We had such a great time. We are so lucky to have such fantastic parents that give us this time to share with our family. Thank you so much Mom and Walt. We love you so much. We only wish you guys could come and enjoy it with us. We actually started our trip on Thursday afternoon. We got to Salt Lake late that night so we could get an early start on our day Friday. We had some shopping and errands to run as well as a little b-day party for Desirae that night. Saturday Gary took Spencer and Benjamin to the Dew Tour. It is an extreme sports show with a huge outdoor track that covers a big parking lot and the inside of Energy Solutions Arena. There is skateboarding, BMX, Motor bikes, and a couple others. The boys really wanted to see the Motor bike finals. However, when they got there the line for general admission was down the street and around the block. They decided not to stay and we headed to Snowbird a couple hours earlier than originally planned.

It is so beautiful up there. The air is clean and crisp, but not cold. It smells so good and feels even better. It is Oktoberfest time and that means bratwurst and sauerkraut. Yum, Yum. There is an alpine slide that the boys went down at least seven times. They jumped on the trampoline with the bungees so they got to do flips and stuff. There was a bounce house and a giant inflatable slide. Spencer was bummed that he was too small to ride the zip line but I was relieved. It was hard enough letting Spencer and Benjamin ride the ski-lift to the top of the slide without me. We went swimming a few times and went on a couple hikes. Spencer really got into taking pictures. On our second hike I let him use my camera and take whatever pictures he wanted. Some of them are fuzzy but some of them are fantastic. I love looking at things through his eyes with his perspective. I never would have thought to click some of them. Here is the slide show of just his photos...

The colors are just starting to change. They will be truly spectacular in a couple weeks. I can't wait. I love autumn. It is my favorite. We were only there for two and a half days but oh, what a fantasic way to jump-start this georgeous season.

Another First Day of School

2008-09-16T21:23:00.006-06:00

I guess it is not really "school". It is more like a glorified play group. But Andrew is so excited to get to take a backpack with his very own box of school stuff in it to his friend's house. I am trying out a co-op this year. A group of 6 Moms, all with three-year-olds, take turns having school at their house two days a week. So I will be the teacher for Tuesday and Thursday next week. Kind of like Joy School but it is "Mother Goose Time". There are three little boys and three girls. They are all so cute. A couple of them are still really clingy to their Mom but Andrew sure doesn't care. As soon as I tell him to grab his back pack he doesn't care where I am. As long as I get him to where the party is. It is a really great program. It provides a topic for the month, all the lessons, crafts and supplies, story books, schedule, everything you need to have a fun and organized-as-it-can-be-with-six-three-year-olds time. I think it will be great for both of us. Andrew gets to think he is a big boy and go play for a couple hours and I get to play with Desi or go run some errands with just one child. It will work out just fine.

I know, but I just couldn't resist. Desirae is not going to school. But I was making a big deal of Andrew going and we were getting all of his stuff together and putting it in his back pack. Desi LOVES Dora and she is always asking for a backpack. I haven't brought myself to get her a cute Dora backpack. So this morning she was of course wandering around whining and crying for a backpack. Then it hit me that I have a small backpack that Spencer and Benji used. It is not feminine at all but it was good enough to quench her need for a backpack. I was then taking Andrew's pictures on the front porch and she, of course, had to get in on that too. She is so pretty. Even with her wispy scraggly hair. After we dropped Andrew at school we headed to the DI and I found her a little purple sparkly backpack. Hopefully she won't need me to fill it with glue, scissors, and crayons.

Long, Long Ago, In a Backyard Far, Far Away...

2008-09-03T14:13:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendancy to go overboard when it comes to my kids birthday parties. This year was no exception. I love making everything fit into a theme. Benajamin had his friend birthday party on Friday the 29th. He chose Star Wars. Our neighborhood is full of kids and most of them are Benjamin's age. Lucky him. He is never at a loss for a friend to play with. We began our journey by having each of the boys choose a character mask and a light saber. We then reported to the "Refueling Station" for Yoda Soda, Wookie Cookies, Flying Saucers and Fire Sauce. With the boys all pumped up on sugar we began training exercises (light saber fights), skills tests (an obstacle course), ship design (decorating flying saucers), flight lessons (throwing the saucers), and firing missles (toss the velcro balls at a felt solar system trying to hit a planet). With those skills honed we concluded with celebratory cake and gifts. What a blast! So much time and planning for an hour and a half of pure imaginative bliss. Worth every penny spent and moment preparing. I love seeing the kids having so much fun and the best is hearing them say, "This is the best!" Everybody had a great time. Even me! Our Cast of Characters were...Anakin - Benjamin, Rex the Clone - Spencer, Yoda (or as he calls it Yoder)- Andrew, OBWon - Logan Dana, General Grevious - Gage Tucker, Yellow Clone - Trever Scott, Darth Vader - Dylan Pilling, and Red Clone - Alec Goodrich.

First Day's' of School

2008-09-02T11:34:00.020-06:00

I know, I know, I am kind of late but now I can squish Spencer and Benjamin's first days together even though they started 9 days apart. Spencer's first day was Monday the 25th. He was so excited. He couldn't get to sleep the night before. I remember having an anxiety dream every year the night before school started. They would usually consist of me being half dressed or not being able to find any clothes at all and having to wear my pajamas. As I got older they changed to not being able to find a class or losing my schedule or locker combo. I still have them every now and then. I don't panic quite so much but it is very unsettling none the less. Spencer was so worried that he would not wake up on time to take the bus. He got up and joined us in our bed a couple times before I finally convinced him my alarm really was set and I promised he would not be late. He was still up and dressed by 6:30. He had a hard time waiting over an hour to leave. He looked so handsome. Thanks to a couple great sisters with boys just a couple years older than Spencer I didn't need to buy any new clothes except for sox and shoes. He even let me do his hair and didn't complain that his shirt had buttons. That was a bit of a conflict last year. He wouldn't wear any shirt with buttons. And he has insisted on fixing his own hair as of late. We made another "deal" to deal with that. I get to do his hair on Sunday and he can do it nicely for school, and on Saturday he can do anything he wants. That usually turns out to be crazy spikes or a faux hawk of some sort. It works for us and keeps the arguing and pouting to a minimum.

Waiting for the bus with Gage and Dace (yes, he made it on time)

Spencer was also very excited to have a man for a teacher. I think it is great. Especially for the third grade. I think it is important for boys this age to see men reading and teaching and doing school type stuff. I don't want him to think that only girls or women find education important and fun. Gary does so good at making sure he reads to the kids but he isn't home when it's time for homework. Well, Spencer had a great first day. He even had homework. I like him to have homework every night. I know that sound weird but I want him to know that I think school work is important and I want us to make time for it every day. Spencer is so bright and smart I know he will have a great year.

Now for Benjamin's first day. Benjamin is so different from his brother. He doesn't worry and stress about things. He just kind of takes what comes and thinks that whatever it is, it is great. He is happy to start kindergarten. After three years of preschool he is more than ready. We have tried really hard to not say we held him back or that we started him late. We still think that we made the right choice to not start him in kindergarten last year. His birthday is so close to the cut off. The only thing we would have done differently is not have him in preschool when he was three. But we didn't know then that we would be waiting to start him. We won't make that mistake again. I think we will only plan on one year of preschool for the next ones. Anyway, Benjamin is going to have a great year. He is so prepared and very excited. I think it will be good for him to be a little older than the rest of the kids. He has a tendency to just go with the flow. That is definitely not a bad thing but I would love for him to learn to be more assertive and make decisions for himself more. He too was so excited to take the bus to school. I am very happy that Spencer will be there with him. That takes a lot of the worry out of my mind. When he went to bed last night I wanted to snuggle and talk to him about school so I laid down with him. I started talking and he said, "You can lay with me but I need to go to sleep." Well alrighty then. I can take a hint.

Dace, Spencer, Gage, Benjamin, Dylan, and Trever

I had to wake Benjamin for school this morning. He is a really good sleeper. I asked if he wanted me to take him or if he wanted to ride the bus. I already knew the answer. I guess I was just hoping he would surprise me. We was so excited to ride the bus with Spencer and all the other boys in our neighborhood. There are three of them starting kindergarten today. Spencer was so nice to Benjamin this morning. He was telling him he would sit with him on the bus and show him to his class room. They are such good friends.

Could he be any cuter?

Off and Running

After the bus left I hopped in the car and drove to the school. I just couldn't bear the thought of Benjamin feeling lost or not getting to his class alright. I know that sounds pathetic but he is so tender and quiet around people he doesn't know. I was worried that he wouldn't ask for help if he needed it. When he got off he was too busy yakking with his friends to even notice me. But I'll console myself by pointing out that he walked right past his class. I pointed him in the right direction, snapped another photo and left. 12:00 rolled around pretty quick and the bus came to drop them off. Thumbs up for a great first day.

What Are Little Girls Made Of???

2008-09-02T11:09:00.003-06:00

I think Leah will appreciate this one...

I am fairly neurotic about keeping my scrapbooks in chronological order. This slight disorder has transferred to blogging. However, with laundry and dishes piled up I need a bit of immediate gratification this morning. So I am going to go against my grain and even though I am a week behind I am going to make a quick post of something that happened yesterday. I took Spencer and Benjamin to the dollar store and grocery shopping yesterday afternoon. While I was gone Gary called and asked how to get fingernail polish out of carpet. That is not really the type of question I want to get while I am not home. I have child locks on all of the bathroom doors but they don't always get shut. Well, sweet little innocent Desirae got into my bathroom cabinet and "painted" her hands and face as well as my bedroom carpet and french door. I guess fingernail polish doesn't taste very good because Gary found her due to her crying about it being in her mouth. For future reference there is not much to do to get it out of your carpet. A website suggested polish remover, windex, goo gone, or hairspray. None of which really worked too well. Oh well, at least I have pretty dark carpet and I guess I could get an area rug if it bothers me too much. Moral of the story...close the door behind you. And that nonsense about sugar and spice...they never met my little darling.

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!!

2008-08-31T23:08:00.005-06:00

It has been a very busy, crazy week. I am getting a little behind on my posts so am going to combine 3 (yes three) of Benjamin's birthday parties into one. About a month or so ago we asked Benjamin what he wanted to do for his birthday. His first request was Chucky Cheese, next a Nephi Party and last a Star wars party. Gary and I are such suckers for our kids. For the most part, if their birthday or Christmas requests are feasable we do all we can to make them happen. Benjamin's birthday was on a Thursday this year which gave us the perfect excuse to take a few days off and go to Salt Lake. We left home late Wednesday Night (about 10:00) and got to Grandma's house about 1 am. The first matter of businees for the birthday was dentist appointments for everyone. Now if that doesn't say Happy, Happy, Birthday I don't know what does. We were all due for check-ups so I made 9am appointments for the lot of us. What more could a six year old boy want than nice clean teeth for his birthday? Although, Benji was the only one with any cavities (just 2 tiny ones) it was a quick detour before the real fun started. From there we headed to Chucky Cheese. We were the first ones there which is always a good idea. We had the place to ourselves for a good 30 minutes. My two sisters and their kids joined us for pizza, cupcakes and games. Benjamin just loves his cousins and he was so excited to have them there. We concluded our visit with the reedeeming of tickets and choosing of prizes. For anyone who doesn't know, you can buy any of the prizes with cash so if you don't have enough tickets don't fret. From there I dropped Gary, Spencer, and Benjamin off at the movies to see the new Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon movie. They absolutely loved it. It was really clean and as long as you are familiar with the regular movies you can follow it easily. When the boys got home we all headed for the pool to cool off (or heat up, depending on your preference). We topped off the day with more cupcakes and ice cream and opening some gifts in Grandma and Papa's back yard. What a great day. After such a full day we took it easy on Friday. We did a little school shopping early in the day and went swimming in the afternoon but mostly just relaxed. That evening, Gary and I were able to go on a rare date thanks to Auntie Kate watching the older two and Grandma watching the little ones. We really appreciate it. Thanks you so much you guys. Saturday was another pretty quite day. As I had mentioned before Benjamin had requested a Nephi party. Well, not all of his friends are LDS so we didn't really want that to be his friend party theme so we suggested it for a family party. We invited Gary's family over and asked that they dress the part. (or at least wear a headband) I made costumes for each of us. The kids were so excited. Desirae was running around squeeling, "Nephi, Nephi!" They loved dressing up. Grandma and Papa were such good sports. Decked out in bathrobes in the heat outside really shows their dedication as grandparents. They would do anything for us and our kids and we really love them for it. Aunt Karen and Uncle Larry were able to come to visit and eat some cake and ice cream. We had so much fun. Sunday was the end of our visit. We packed up, played a little, visited with Aunt Connie and Uncle Randy who came over for a bit and headed home. WOW, what a weekend. Thanks to all who made it such a special and memorable time for our sweet Benjamin. We love him so much and love that he is such an original.

Benjamin is 6!!!

2008-08-25T22:04:00.004-06:00

We love you Benjamin! SIX, Can you believe it? It sounds so cliche but man they grow so fast. I have been looking through pictures of Benji today because I wanted to do a little collage of his life. However, me being fairly cheap and somewhat technology illiterate, only got a digital camera like 3 years ago. So, I don't have Benjamin's first three years of life available because I am too busy (lazy) to scan them in. So the next best thing will have to do...Highlights of his past year. I know there are alot but he is so stinkin' cute I just can't choose my favorites...

A little about Benjamin...
Best Friend: Logan
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Toy: Galaxy Hero Star Wars Guys (Battle of Hoth)
Favorite Number: 7 Why? That's my next birthday.
Favorite Book: Three Little Pigs
Favorite Thing to Do: Play with friends
Benjamin is such a sweet boy. He is so good to his younger brother and sister. He plays really well by himself. He has a great imagination. Benjamin loves doing "projects", anything crafty or arty. He likes to help me cook, especially baking. Benjamin is so excited to start kindergarten next week. He is super bright. He knows all of the basics ie. numbers (he counted to 140 last week, I think math will be a strong point for him), letters, colors and shapes. He loves to play with friends but his best friend is Spencer. He is silly and so animated. He keeps us all laughing. We love you Benjamin. We are so blessed to have you in our family. Thank you for being such an enthusiastic part of our lives.

Spencer's Reward

2008-08-25T08:37:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of school last year Gary and Spencer made a deal. We make alot of "deals" at our house. They basically consist of good behavior = reward. When I was little if you were bad at school your name was written on the board. If you were bad again you got a check mark next to your name. Finally, after three check marks, you are punished in whatever way the teacher saw fit. Similarly, many of the schools now use cards. Each of the kids have a set of cards on their desk. Two cards with different colored sides. Each time they misbehave they get their card flipped or pulled. Each color has a different punishment assigned. White - warning, Green - no recess, Blue - call parents, Red - meeting with principal. So the deal was that if Spencer never got his card pulled, not even a warning, he and Dad would go on a one-on-one camping trip. Well Spencer was a model student all year and earned his trip. He and Gary went last weekend. They had a great time. Gary partly packed the camping gear the night before. I just needed to pack their clothes and food the morning they left. Well with the two of us doing separate jobs a few things were forgotten. A few of the things that were "overlooked" were nonessentials like tongs to flip the tinfoil dinners in the fire and utensils and plates to eat them with. My ingenious guys made due with a shovel and their fingers. Just notch it up to a more authentic camping experience. After a super cold night of sleeping in the back of the truck the guys went fishing. We have been a few times with no success. However, this trip was Spencer's reward trip and I guess the fish knew it so he nabbed Spencer's line and Spencer was able to land his first fish! Yahooo! Good Job Buddy! He was so excited. Gary was excited for him too but then he realized he had to get the hook out and kill the thing. Gary is such a great Dad. He was totally out of his comfort zone just worming the hook but he really stepped up by sticking his hand down the fishes throat, hitting its head on a rock and breaking it's neck, it gives me willies just imagining it. Great Job Hun, Way to take one for the team. I have heard somewhere that fish don't have nervous systems so they don't feel pain. Gary jokingly says he asked the fish to let him know if it hurt when he smacked it with a rock and since it didn't move after that he assumes it didn't. When the guys got home I had Spencer clean and gut his fish then I cooked it up and we all ate it. Spencer was so nice to share wit us. Yum, yum, it was delicious. All in all it was a fun trip. One that Father and Son thoroughly enjoyed and won't soon forget. P.S. It has been requested that I disclose the location of the"catch". They went to East Park Res. up Red Cloud Loop. Just 30 minutes from home. We are so lucky to live so close to some of the most beautiful recreation areas in the world.

Uintah County Fair

2008-08-16T19:52:00.005-06:00

Ahhh, the county fair, many a song has paid a fond tribute, so we went with high hopes of a magical experience. Only to find out that along with everything else in this crazy world of ours, it has been totally commercialized. There were no animals to be seen (except some oddballs of the human variety), and the rides were $2+ each. We let the kids each choose 3 rides and no snack or 2 rides and 1 snack. They all chose 3 rides. It worked out pretty good because inside there was a 4H activity where the kids got to pretend to be farmers. They planted and harvested veggies, got corn, bailed hay, fed the corn to chickens and the cow and them milked it. They then went to the market and "sold" all of their veggies, hay, eggs, milk and got a dollar to buy a snack. It was really fun and so cute. It was definitely the best part of the fair until...we found out we were just in time for the candy drop. "The what?" you say. Yes the candy drop. It is the coolest thing since trick-or-treating. There is an empty parking lot across the street from the fair grounds that has been "caution" taped off. The kids are grouped by age. The 9-12 year olds, 6-8 years, and 3-5 years. So a local radio station is there DJing the thing and giving everyone the low down of the FAA procedure and such. A helicopter flies into the center of the parking lot, hovers about 6 feet from the ground and dumps like 500 candy bars on the ground. The chopper flies off and the older group of kids run out to the lot and it's a free-for-all grabbing all the candy. Next for the younger two groups the kids go out to the lot and a fire truck extends its ladder with the bucket on the end with two guys in it out to the center of the lot and drops candy attached to plastic bag parachutes on the kids. There had to have been another 500 per group. So with the youngest group the DJ was saying, "No parents out there with the kids." "Let the kids pick it up on their own." Good, right? But when it actually happens there are all these parents out there grabbing the candy and putting it in their kids bag. So the guys in the bucket stop dropping candy and the parents are told to get out but then they send in the older siblings to get the candy for the little kids. Why are people such selfish idiots. What are you teaching your child? Certainly not to be kind and thoughtful. Just me, me, me. Here is my 3 year old out there getting pushed and shoved by all these adults, totally disoriented and no candy to show for it. Lucky for him he has a great older brothers that were both willing to share with him. All-in-all a fun trip to the fair. Hopefully next year we'll research a little more and actually "plan" our fair trip instead of last minuting it so we can get the cheap rides and see the animals and stuff. That was always my favorite thing to do, look at the chickens and rabbits, cows and pigs. Check out the butter sculptures and art show. But I don't think the kids would last too long. Man if Gary and I could find a good babysitter, maybe we could do that sort of thing on a date. Imagine that. Well, enough babbling, if you haven't gone to your local county fair, try it, you'll like it.

So Long to Swimming Lessons

2008-08-15T17:30:00.004-06:00

Thursday was our last day of swimming lessons for the season. We have all really enjoyed lessons this year. Spencer is in level 4 (if that means anything). Basically, his lessons are in the cold lap pool where he can swim the full length of the pool using various strokes. He can dive and retrieve at 10 feet deep. He floats on his chest and back. He did great and he loves the water. Benjamin is in level 2. This was the first time he didn't wear a life vest for most of his class. He has done so well this year. He will finally go under the water but he still plugs his nose. He even jumped off of the diving board and swam to the side without any help. This was Andrew's first year of lessons. He still isn't quite sure of the water. He wasn't very willing to do much unassisted but he didn't cry and whine either. He learned to hold his breath while submerging his entire head. His teacher said he is a big flirt. He would peek around the little girls sitting next to him and give them a big smile and laugh. He would snuggle his instructor and not want to be held at arms length while practicing. I loved swimming lessons this year because I was able to go to the Mom and Tot class with Desi. In years past I would try to keep the younger two entertained and out of the pool while the other two were swimming. Desirae loves the water. She has no fear. I'm sure it helps that she knows that I am always there to catch her when she jumps in or swims through the hoop. She will blow bubbles and put her face in the water to get a toy off the bottom. She jumps in and goes all the way under and comes up ready to do it again. She swims all the way under the water from one person to the other. It seems that I don't get enough one-on-one with each of my kids so I loved having the time with her. She is so fun and cute. She would smile the entire class, even when she went under the water. She would shake her head the whole time she was under. It was so funny. We celebrated the end of lessons by going to the open swim this morning. It was great to let the kids swim, practice their new skills, and play on the toys. We had fun but I'm glad we're done. It was a workout getting all of us there and back home again every day for two weeks. I am a little sad though, I can feel the end of summer creeping up on us. ;{

Wolf Den Picnic

2008-08-15T15:56:00.009-06:00

If you know me at all then you know that I love to host a get-together so when there was a suggestion in the scout book to have a Wolf Den Picnic I was all over it. This last Tuesday we invited the boys and their families over for "s'more" fun. We started by teaching the boys how to build, light and maintain a fire. Then each of the boys cooked dinner for their families. They had fun roasting the hot dogs. Trying to get all three done at the same time proved to be quite a challenge for them. Luckily everyone was pretty hungry so there weren't any complaints. I have a fantastic calling. I love giving these great boys the opportunity to learn. I feel like it has really opened my eyes to what Spencer is capable of. I don't think I was giving him enough credit before. However, with that realization there is a flip side. I expect more out of him now. I expect better behavior and more obedience, more responsibility and more follow-through. It is hard for me to find a good balance between the little boy he recently passed up and the little man he is. I think Gary and I do a good job of teaching these things and then something happens that makes me question myself. After the scouts cooked their first three hot dogs they went to the table to pull them off the sticks. Being 8 years old, they began to pick out which one they wanted. I then reminded them that they needed to serve their parents first, siblings next and themselves last. I guess I just assumed that "cooking for your family" meant that. I think my biggest thing right now is teaching respect. There are simple things I expect my children to know and follow. Things like the golden rule (which encompasses alot), personal space (theirs and others), no back talk (especially to an adult). But I didn't realize that these things are so learned. I never really thought about them not being innate. I think this has been a great calling for me at this stage in my life. I really enjoy it. I have learned so much about myself and even more about my kids, Spencer in particular. Sorry, I'm babbling...So after dinner the scouts did a skit about sitting on an invisible bench and then falling down, it was funny and they loved being the root of the laughs. We played a game and finished with s'mores. It was such fun. All the kids played so well and the adults were able to chat and visit and get to know each other. I think everyone really enjoyed it.

Our First Harvest

2008-08-10T20:49:00.004-06:00

Success!!! We have actually eaten food out of our garden. The cherry tomatoes were the first things ready. They are so yummy. They are an orange variety and I am the only one that likes them so lucky me. The boys bring me between 2 and 6 each day. Spencer picked our first zucchini two weeks ago. We tried it breaded and fried. I think everyone but Desirae and Gary liked it. We have made 8 loaves of bread which everyone likes. When we planted I thought we had 1 zucchini and two pumpkins but as they grew I realized we have 3 zucchini and no pumpkins so if anyone has a great zucchini recipe I would really appreciate it. There are dozens of tomatoes coming on. Hopefully nothing weird happens in the weather and we'll be eating them soon. Spencer is the most excited for the watermelon. I am still a little worried about them. The first few were either prairie dog food and/or got picked by Desi and Andrew. But, there are about five established little guys on the vines now and lots of flowers. I think it is safe to say that our garden is a success. I am really looking forward to making a few more boxes to plant in next season. I guess Mom and Walt will have to come back for another visit so I can get some help building them. ;D

Our Ward Campout

2008-08-09T16:15:00.006-06:00

Needless to say, we had a great time. It didn't rain at all Friday morning as I was loading the truck so my spirits were high. By the time we got all packed up and on our way we could see the dark clouds and yuck in the distance over the mountains we were headed for. It rained and sprinkled and rained and sprinkled all the way up. We got to the camp-site around 2:00. Brother Olsen informed us that they had a pretty good down pour a bit earlier so we hopefully caught the "break". We started setting up immediately hoping to "beat the rain". We succeeded. It just trickled and sprinkled a bit while we set up. The kids played in the empty tent for a while and that was nice while we got everything else pulled together. By the time we were done there were blue skies and it was too warm for the jackets. Yeah!!! It was such a nice camp spot. It was in a bit of a valley with the dirt road along one side and a fairly nice flat grassy area along the other side. Most of the families had their tents or trailers over on the grassy side. It was great because the kids just climbed and explored and got sooooo super muddy all over that hill. There were a couple awnings set up to make the food but by the time we needed to cook it was nice and sunny. The food was fabulous and the company was better. We had a little fireside activity with singing and s'mores. Oh, and as a side note, I did win first place in the dutch oven cook off. I fixed stuffed pork roast. (Thanks for the recipe Kat) I also fixed potatoes and pineapple upside down cake. They were all so yummy. I want to try the cake in the oven at home and see if it turns out the same because it is soooo good. So the weather stayed great until about 10:00 that night. It rained a bit but not enough to make it an issue while we slept. The bishopric fixed a great breakfast of french toast, bacon, ham, eggs and juice.

Then we all went on a "hike" to a cave. I say "hike" because I would call it something more like an endurance test. The trail down was a 4-wheeler trail so there was no vegetation, just mud. The mud was thick and sticky. It added an extra couple pounds to each foot as you walked. They say it was a 1/2 mile down but I think it was longer. We got to a resting place that was kind of on top of the mouth of the cave so we still couldn't see it. We then had to hold on to some ropes and very slowly shimmy down the side of the mountain to get to the opening. It was hard work and kind of scary with the four little kids. Desi was in the back pack so I was worried she would throw off Gary's balance and he was also trying to hold onto Benji. I had a hold of Andrew and he kept slipping because of all the mud stuck up in the traction of his shoes. We finally made it and it was worth the climb. It was huge, with a deep, deep mouth. Bro. White said it went back 15 or so miles but it wasn't safe to go more than the first 300 feet. There were "showers" falling and dripping from the ceiling and the floor was just covered with rocks. Most all of the kids had flashlights and the ward gave them glow-sticks. It was really neat. Then we had to climb back out. Gary asked me, "Do you want Desi in the pack or to carry Andrew?" I thought, "I just pushed and pulled Andrew out of the cave, I don't want to have to carry him all the way back up the mountain to the car." "I'll take Desi." hehehe I was so wrong. We strapped Desi on my back and off I went. I only lasted maybe five minutes and I thought I would either pass out or my legs would fall off. You know that feeling when your legs start to get wobbly and your not sure you can stand anymore? I called to Gary and said, "I'm done." Just then Brother White came from behind me and offered to take her. I definitely wasn't going to argue. So I strapped her on him and off he went. Gary carried Andrew on his shoulder all the way out so I don't know what we would have done without the help. We finally made it out and headed back to camp. We packed up and came home to just sit and rest from an exhausting but way fun little trip. All my worry and frustration about the weather was for not. It was great!

"Rain, Rain, Go Away"

2008-08-07T22:58:00.002-06:00

This is my first "vent" post. It has been raining cats and dogs on and off throughout the day. Normally I would be all for it. Rain in August? I love it...the smells, the humidity in the air, the puddles to splash in, the thunder and lighting. What's not to love? But man, it is bad timing for us. We love to camp. We tent it, as in no camper. Our ward camp-out is this weekend and we have been looking forward to it for weeks. They have planned a dutch-oven cook off and I love to dutch oven. I don't think the coals will stay hot if they are being rained on. We just watched the news and it said that the Uintah and Flaming Gorge areas will be hit hard for the next 24 hours. Well isn't that lovely. We will be camping in the Uintah's near Flaming Gorge. I have been packing most of the day, clothes, food, camping supplies and now I need to go to the store to get everyone rain coats. Maybe I'll pick up galoshes too. I bet we'll need them. I originally packed four sets of clothes for everyone, two shorts and two pants...Do you think I need more? I am a compulsive over packer so I'm not sure if I am just blowing it out of proportion or not. I just hate not having everything I "might" need. Oh well, The kids, I'm sure, will have fun regardless. They won't even notice their nutso Mom trying to keep the mud from getting in the tent and sleeping bags. If worse comes to worse I guess we could use the tent as storage space and sleep in the back of the truck. Wish us luck...

Bonham's in Vernal

2008-08-04T14:39:00.011-06:00

Yesterday morning (Sunday) I got a phone call from Aaron. He said, "Friday was my last day of work and Colette wants to go on a trip. Would it be all right if we stay at your house tonight?" Well duh, of course it would be more than all right, We would love to have you. So The Bonham Clan showed up a little after 11:00 Sunday night. We visited a little and showed them around the house and finally got everyone to bed around midnight. This morning we had bacon and Belgium waffles for breakfast and got everyone dressed and let the kids play for a while before I had to take kids to swimming lessons. When we got back home Bonham's were all packed up so we loaded the kids in the cars and went to the dinosaur museum. That is always alot of fun. The kids ooohed and aahed at all the bones and rocks and fun stuff to see and do. My favorite is always the walk around outside where they have life-sized replicas of a bunch of dinosaurs. It's neat to get a better idea of just how big these creatures really were. From there we parted ways. Bonhams are going river rafting and camping and we are all so jealous. Have fun guys and try to stop again on your way back home. It was great to see you all but definitely not a long enough visit.

Desirae the Dancer

2008-08-01T15:39:00.009-06:00

I got some new hip scarves in the mail today. I, of course, had to try them on as soon as I opened them up. Well, Desirae was there with me and her being the girl she is and wanting anything sparkly or jingly just had to have one. I was a little reluctant because they are a bit fragile and could break easily. But I gave in and tied her up in one. She was so excited. She just loved the noise the coins made. She jumped and wiggled and spun and twisted all over the kitchen. When I tried to take it off she threw quite the tantrum. She has been sick and grumpy all day so I gave in instead of giving her another reason to cry. I just hope I can get it off of her before bed tonight or, better yet, before Gary gets home. He has asked me not to teach her any belly dancing. Does encouraging her to jump and dance with the scarf on constitute "teaching" at her age? Well, what he doesn't know wont hurt him...right???

Bear Canyon Hike

2008-07-31T20:34:00.008-06:00

After we got home from Vegas, Gary's parents stayed for a couple more days. We love having them visit and spending time with them. So, to break up the monotony we decided to drive up to Flaming Gorge and take a hike. Our family tried this same hike three years earlier when we were just visiting for a couple days. It was perfect weather for it. About 70 degrees with a slight breeze. It is 1 1/2 miles each way and fairly flat, just slight ups and downs. At the end is a fantastic overlook of the Gorge. It was well worth the hike. Gary carried Desi in the back pack in and I carried her out. I held Andrew's hand all the way in and Gary carried him on his shoulders and walked with him out. Spencer and Benjamin did great to keep up and they didn't complain once. We were able to climb up on some rock formations and investigate interesting things along the trail. Spencer found a pretty blue egg shell and all the boys carried out at least a few rocks. We love hiking. It is therapeutic for all of us to just get out in the fresh air and breath. I feel like I'm in a better mood when I'm outside, like life just slows down and I don't need to be in a hurry for anything. And when I'm more relaxed, everyone is happier. I can't wait to do it again.

Pioneer Day Fun

2008-07-27T22:28:00.006-06:00

I usually really enjoy Pioneer Day. This year however was different than any other. Gary and I were in Las Vegas Monday through Thursday. Desirae and Andrew were at our house with Grandma and Grandpa. Spencer and Benjamin stayed with Auntie Kate and Aunt Tamie. We checked out of hotel Thursday morning and drove 6 hours to Spanish Fork to pick up the boys. Luckily they were with their fantastic aunts and fun cousins and had been having a great time. We picked them up at a super-fun water park and drove the three hours home. We got home just as it was getting dark. So out we went to light fireworks. That was a big hit as always. All of the kids got glow-stick necklaces and bracelets and each of the boys got to help Daddy light some fireworks and then the little pyros danced in the flashing lights. Desirea, as usual, was above such silliness and just sat on Mom's lap watching the hooligans around her. Even without a parade or a pioneer meal of Jonny Cake and homemade butter it was still fun. Maybe I'll get my Jonny Cake fix for dinner later this week.

Our Dancing Pyros

Desirae's "Pigtails"?

2008-07-27T21:59:00.002-06:00

I know, I know, "You call those pigtails?" I think of one of Spencer's common phrases, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." I feel like I need to apologize to poor little Desi for cursing her with her mother's fine, thin, stringy hair. I feel so bad when she gets in my bathroom drawer that I keep my hair doodads in and wants them in her hair. Thus this photo...She found a little Rubbermaid container with small clear elastics and little clippie flowers so I gave her piggie tails. She whimpered and "owied" while I twisted the elastics five times just to get them tight enough not to fall out. When we finished she was so proud. She ran to show Daddy and get his approval. She is so cute but I think I am going to stick with the headbands for now.

Daddy Slide

2008-07-18T16:10:00.013-06:00

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Get your own

While Gary and I were building the kids play set this last week we had brought many of the soon to be installed parts into the yard. The biggest hit was the slide. It was a boat, a tunnel, a cave, a fort and a few other things. The kids kept trying to lift it up while someone was on it and I kept telling them (try to imagine it in a naggy mom voice) "Someone is going to get hurt." I guess Gary didn't agree because before long they were all begging him to "Do it again, Daddy." They would all pile on and Daddy would lift the slide and they would all tumble off. We were pretty good to make sure they lined up by age so that the little ones wouldn't get smooshed by the bigger ones. Desirae thought it was so funny to hold on instead of slide so that when it came down she would peek-a-boo over the top and giggle in her big belly laugh. Another favorite was trying to climb up when it was almost vertical. Surprisingly Desi was really, really good at it. Benjamin was the die hard, begging for more after all the others were done. Finally all the fun came to an end and Mom attached the slide to the playset. Not quite as fun as the Daddy slide but it will save his back in the long run.

Tag! You're It!!!

2008-07-18T12:12:00.005-06:00

I was tagged by Colette, sorry it has taken so long but since we all know I am perfect it was really hard for me to come up with any goals. I have already accomplished everything I could ever want to. The rules are as follows: List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions, and 3 Random Surprising Facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. So here is what I came up with...

3 Joys

My Family
The Gospel
Dancing

3 Fears

Dying before I raise my kids
Losing one of my kids
Not getting to the celestial kingdom

3 Goals

Organize my house
Read the BOM cover to cover
Get in shape

3 Current Obsessions

Getting my house organized
Blogging
Dancing

3 Surprising Facts About Me

I'm really not perfect and I can't do everything. (is that two things?)
It doesn't bother me to go without a shower for 3+ days if I am camping or staying at home.
Like Shellie I will eat food off of the floor but I will also eat off of pretty much anyone elses plate. (Germaphobe I am not)

Allright so there it is...sorry to let everyone who thought I was perfect down, but I guess you'd find out eventually. Now it's your turn...I'm tagging Leah, Erin, Tamara, Kat (gotta getta blog) and Mom (you too).

Kanab for the 4th

2008-07-09T08:43:00.005-06:00

We were in Kanab for the 4th. We had a fantastic time visiting friends and enjoying the holiday festivities. We rolled into town Thursday night, just in time for me to go with my good friend Darlene to a new moon/bellydance celebration. It was a little new age wierd but fun to visit and dance with my old troupe.

Friday was full of good times. We were gently awoke by these rediculous cannon blasts at 6 a.m. Shelly says there were only three but I think it was more like 50. I never really got back to sleep, just laid there trying. I'm sure sleeping on the hide-a-bed in a hotel room didn't help much. So off to the parade at 10 a.m. and then to the park for snow cones, kettle corn, cotton candy (tummy aches) carnival games and the splashy fountains. Back to the hotel for naps, even I got one. Around dinner time we called our friends the Stewarts to go out with us and ended up at their house for a BBQ (We didn't mean to invite ourselves, really) We love them, they are so fun and down-to-earth. The kids didn't miss a beat. Andrew and Travis loved each other, like they had never been apart. We always laugh and have a great time with them. They live on a corner just one block from the park so it was the perfect spot to watch fireworks. It was great. The Bonhams also came over to watch the fireworks. We loved seeing them and I really appreciate Aaron's ability to make himself at home wherever he is. Saturday was cooler and overcast, just right for relaxing in the hotel. The skies cleard in the afternoon so Spencer had his best friend Easton and Benjamin had his good friend Macie over to swim. They are all little fishes. They swam and dove and had a ton of fun. After that we went to the Bonham's for dinner. We enjoyed our time with them and really appreciate their opening their home to us, the Stewarts and the Andersons. Thanks you all for being such great friends. We went to church Sunday morning and then headed home. WOW, what a trip. We were really able to cram alot into just a few days. Okay guys, now it's your turn to come visit us. Hope to see you all soon. Love ya!!!

Camping at Bryce

2008-07-07T13:22:00.010-06:00

The perfect camp-out has fire-roasted marshmallows and light sticks by the camp fire. We went to Bryce Canyon and camped with Gary's parents, sister Connie and her husband Randy, and brother Dave and his wife Vickie and their 5 kids. We had a great time. We spent 4+ days cooking, eating, playing, 4-wheeling, hiking, fishing, sleeping, cleaning and all too often peeing in the great outdoors. We saw deer and antelope and got our daily 5am morning wake-up call from some thoughtful crows and various birds. We hiked to mossy cave, (Gary later referred to it as mossy crack) down Navajo Loop through Wall Street, and down a creek bed through a couple slot canyons I can't remember the name of. We fished at Tropic Reservoir and Pine Lake and 4-wheeled a couple times. The outdoors just makes everything more fun and the food taste better. We made dutch oven chicken and carrots, potatoes and cornbread. We had banana boats in the fire, smores of course, great big breakfasts with sausage, pancakes, eggs, the works. Even the hamburgers and sloppy joes tasted better outside. The trip was great and we had a ton of fun but, the best part was spending it with family that we love and don't get to see enough. We loved spending time and visiting and playing together. We are already making plans for next summer so get your gear together and join us.

What a great Family Photo Op

Cousins at Natural Bridge Overlook

Mom and Dad in Slot Canyon

Boys on Log Bridge down Wall Street

Daddy and Andrew Roasting Lil' Smokies

Hiding in a "Bear Cave"

Twisty Tree Posers

Slinky Smile

Deep Whirlpool

"Vroom Vroom"

Our First Garden

2008-06-21T13:37:00.003-06:00

Yea, I know, I'm a little late but, "better late than never". I am so late in fact that I had to buy plants instead of seeds. The kids were so disappointed when we said we wouldn't be able to plant this year so we gave in and did it. The main reason we gave in is for Spencer's scouts but I think we will all learn and grow ;) from trying it out. Besides, I'm all for any thing that gives the kids one more chore to do. Between digging, planting, weeding, watering, and picking there should be at lease 10 minutes a day. We'll see how they survive (the plants and the kids). We planted 2 regular tomatoes for bottling, two orange cherry tomatoes for eating, 1 zuccini becuase I don't think it is possible to kill (hopefully), 2 yellow (they were out of red) watermelons were Spencer's choice, and 2 pumpkins were Benji's choice. We are going to be out of town for 10 days next week so hopefully we can get the sprinklers adjusted to get it good enough. The dirt here is not great and it is expensive to amend the soil too much so we are just going to cross our fingers. Wish us Luck!

Spencer is a WOLF!!!

2008-06-18T22:08:00.005-06:00

WOW!!! Spencer has set quite a precedence for Benjamin and Andrew. He earned his wolf in 3 1/2 months. He was so excited and dedicated. He did have a bit of an edge with Gary and me as his den leaders. He was more than willing to do whatever I suggested if I mentioned it was for scouts. He did chores without complaint, built a bird feeder, learned about a wide variety of personal, home, and community safety issues. He has learned to prepare some of his own food, and how to show respect for his county, his family, his religion, and himself. He has done so well. We are so pleased with him. Way to go Spencer!!! I didn't quite realize how grown-up and capable he has become until his scout manual forced me to. I wish I had realized it earlier. I think I have made my kids too dependent on me because I have not allowed or maybe at times, forced them to be more self sufficient. I feel a little sorry for the younger three because I am going to expect more from them at a younger age. Well, all the better for me. The less time I have to spend making their beds, or getting their snacks the better. I think most of all, I have come to the realization that my kids are growing up so fast. I know we hear it all the time, from old ladies, especially when the kids are really young, but man, it is sure hitting hard right now. Well, I think I will go snuggle my kids while they will still let me...TTFN

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-18T21:50:00.003-06:00

What a great day! Daddy got to sleep in nice and late and woke up to big yummy breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage and juice. The kids couldn't wait for Dad to open his gifts. They each made a card for him and the gift was a joint effort. Daddy got a "Top Pop" award made by Spencer and all his gifts were "pops"...Pop Tarts, Corn Pops, Popsicles, Baby Bottle Pops, Ring Pops, Soda Pop, you get the idea...and a new shirt and shorts. We don't have church until 1pm so we had a nice long and lazy morning. Church was great as usual then we came home to a delicious roast with veggies. We concluded Dad's day of feasting with fresh brownies. So there is our Dad's Day in a nut shell. It was wonderful to see the kids really making an effort to ensure Dad was happy all day long. Gary is such a fantastic Dad. He loves spending time with his kids and is always making sure they each get individual attention from him. How lucky we are to have him as our husband and father.

Pinewood Derby

2008-06-16T21:33:00.000-06:00

Spencer's first Pinewood Derby was a blast. He was able to design, paint, and assemble his own car. The only thing Mom had to help with was showing him how to tape off the areas he didn't want to get paint on and install the weights. All the boys had a great time. Spencer came away victorious with the fastest car at the race. WOW! Great job Spencer!

Mom Comes to Visit

2008-06-16T12:22:00.012-06:00

Valerie's Mom, Vickie and Step-dad Walt came for a visit at the end of May. We had such a great time. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. They were such fun to have stay with us. We learned so much from them and they were a great help with our home, yard and kids. We had a camp fire one night. We roasted hot dogs and smores on the fire and threw rocks in the lake. We went to Flaming Gorge for a day. The weather wasn't great but we were able to stop and fish on the way home. I happened to catch the only fish. Having recently moved into a new house we had lots of yard work to do. We really put Mom and Walt to work since this is their specialty. Walt and I built a vinyl garden box. I got to use a new tool. The pop-rivet gun. It was so fun. I now find myself wandering around the house looking for something to rivet. Mom and the kids planted our flower garden and we all pitched in to plant a globe willow in the back yard. We finished off the yard work by starting a rock wall and platform. (I finished by myself after Mom and Walt left) However, we didn't leave all the work to them. Gary and I spent almost an entire day speading dirt in the yard in prep for laying sod. As usual, Mom spent a lot of time in the kitchen. I love to cook but it sure was nice to have someone else cook all week. We put Walt to work BBQing, sharpening knives, mucking through and organizing our fishing gear and teaching us some handy knots. We were even able to squeeze in an afternoon of 4-wheelin'. We spent a lot of time together and we all loved every minute of it. What a fantastic week. Thank you Mom and Walt, We love you!!! Walt, we hope you are feeling 100% soon! Take it easy. Love you

Vegas Baby!!!

2008-06-16T10:44:00.015-06:00

We went on a great trip to Vegas last week. We toted Gary's parents along and it was so fun. We went to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus. We rode the rides and almost puked on the tidal wave. We played carnival games and won a bunch of toys. We went to a magic show that was amazing. The magician used big cats like white tigers and lepards. He made a helicopter appear on stage. Spencer got pulled up from the audience to help with one of the tricks. The boys favorite was when he pulled the stripes off of the tiger. It was a super fun show. We walked the strip and watched the fountain shows and and toured some of the fun themed buildings. Here we are in front of New York New York. We spent alot of time at the condo pool. We had such a great time. Anyone that hasn't been to Vegas lately, you should do it. There is so much to see and do. It's a great place for family fun.

Catching Up...

2008-05-05T13:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, here I am. Thank you Leah for giving me a little push. I just had to see what all your excitement was about. Well, Our family is doing great. Spencer was baptized on March 1st. That was very exciting. We had tons of family come to visit. It was a blast. Benjamin is very into arts and crafts. His latest creation is a giant box he is painting to create a magic trick. He loves keeping me in suspense and just giving me little bits of info about it. From what I can gather he will be disappearing into his magic box very soon. Andrew really keeps me hoppin'. He is so incredibly sweet, always giving hugs and kisses but when i don't see him for a bit I know he is hiding somewhere with pair of scissors or a box of baking soda. But how can I get mad at that sweet voice and innocent face. Desirae on the other hand is not sneaky at all. She is an outright terror. She will chase Andrew with her mouth wide open, ready to chomp, as he runs screaming and crying through the house. She will not let anyone take anything from her but will snatch anything she wants. Oh, the joys of a girl. We are trying to reign her in but man is she feisty. She is the cutest thing ever and she knows it. Gary is working hard as ever. He likes his job but, just like anything, it has it's ups and downs. And last but definately not least is me, crazy as ever just trying to keep it all together. I am longing for the summertime when I can send the kids outside and get something done without it being undone for at least 5 minutes. Well, thats all for now, more to come. TTFN