Memories

I talked to Kaycie, my sister-in-law a little last night again. I miss her! I miss her family! I miss Houston! This Saturday is her birthday and I want nothing more to hop on a plane and come see her. Unfortunately I can't, but I did get out some of my pictures from my visit so I could sit back and remember seeing them in April.

I had almost forgotten that I let all the kids do my hair and makeup after we got back from the beach. When I saw this picture I had to laugh! I love those kids! They keep growing too fast and I feel like I am missing so much of their lives! This moment is one that was so special to me (even if it took FOREVER to get the makeup off). I hope to see them soon, whether it be for Christmas or maybe next summer. But until then I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Mid-Size Mommy

While doing the Princess' hair this morning she was making up songs. I thought I would share the names of a few....lyrics included.

song #1

"I am Scared of Mommy" it went a little something like this... I don't know why she thinks she's an adult. I don't know why she makes me go everywhere with her. I don't know why she trys to be a teenager.....as so on and so on.

song #2

"Mid-Size Mommy" this one could be a hit with words like "I don't know why she thinks she's a fry. I don't know why. I don't know why she like the frys. I don't know why"

Anyone else think I should be a little worried?

Spotted Owl Soap

I have been trying this new soap for a few weeks now and I LOVE IT! I feel that it is my duty to share the love to all my fellow blogging friends.

The Spotted Owl Soap is just AWESOME! My skin feels super soft and they have the most wonderful scents! The best part is that it is all natural! They are just starting up and are looking for people to test it all out! You get free stuff and it TOTALLY pays off!

So trust me when I say that bathing with the Choconilla Soap is almost as close to taking a bath in chocolate pudding....almost! I dare you to go try it out!

www.spottedowlsoap.com

My 5 Goals to help my life be easier.

Last year about this same time I posted a list of goals that I has for myself. Working on these goals didn't go over well. I was really frustrated with so many things that I tried to tackle too many things at once. The goals I listed where big things. Things that would take awhile to do. Those goals were/are important yes, but it just wasn't going to work for me.

I have more goals to post today. These goals are hopefully ones that are just going to make my life easier. They are things that I should be doing anyway, and I do...some days. The point is, I want to get my life back in clean working order again. I think that by having these goals to do them every day is going to help. I hope they do and I promise to myself that I will not be hard on myself if I don't do them.

My hubby always says " To set a goal and not achieve it is not being a failure. But to not set goals in the first place is being failure."

So here we go. The 5 things that are going to make my life easier.

#1 I have been super tired lately. No energy to speak of. Yes, I am sick, but I still think that I need to work on getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier. With the amount of stress in my life I think that I need all the rest that I can get.

#2 I need to be more prepared. Specifically, in the mornings. It has become a nasty habit to not shower until after the kids go to school. Our morning are crazy, no one wants to be awake. (see why #1 is important) I need to be a better example with being ready before I wake up the kids. Prepare them a better breakfast too. I think this will help me to feel like I have more time in the days.

#3 I want to actually do my "Brain Box". This is Marie Ricks', from the house of order, idea on getting house work done. It is a box that I made that goes by the days of the week, and instead of thinking everyday about what I should get done, it tell me what I need to do. I am really tired of living in chaos and everything is always a mess.

#4 I want to be better about being more spiritual. Weekly family home evening, daily scripture study, and morning and nightly prayers. This will help with every aspect of my life.

#5 Patience. I really need to work on this. It will help when playing with the kids, with homework, with life. I need to focus on the bright and happy, let go of the petty and annoying.

With taking it day by day I really think this is going to work. I will report as often as I can so I can share my success.

What are your goals for this new season?

Short Updates

~ The Hubby and I have been sick. Now Little Man has it. He sounds crappy and am really worried about him. I wish that I had insurance.

~Little Dude can now read some words. I can't believe it!

~The Princess can also read those some words. It pays off to have family homework time.

~The dryer broke. We are SUPER blessed that it didn't cost a dime to fix it.

~I have booked a few more pictures sessions....again another HUGE blessing.

~I loved conference this last weekend. I cried through the entire first session. Then I toughened up for the rest. Good thing, I was starting to think I was crazy.

~The weather is getting colder and I find myself missing the warmer weather. Is it me or was summer not as long this year?

~The Hubby still doesn't have a job.....please keep praying for him!

He May be an Air Head....

But he makes me laugh all day long!

The sky looked so beautiful the other day. I had my camera in hand taking pictures of the Little Man and his obsession with hats (that post is coming soon!) and I shot this picture of Little Dude. I loved the sky, and the crazy face!

I had to share it to make everyone laugh....it's Monday you know, and everyone needs a good laugh on a Monday.

The Crazy Cluckers

I know everyone has been dying to know more info on our cluckers. (ha ha ha) Well let me introduce to you our new breakfast.....and dinner eventually.....maybe.

Anyway, here is Jane. At first we were told that her name was Jane Doe. We decided to just shorten it to Jane. Well, then Little Dude decided that she needed to be called Power Ranger Jane. So here she is. She is the only one right now that produces eggs. She will come up to you when you walk in the back yard, but is a little bit of a hog, when I give her treats.

Here is Mini. Her name we just Mini, but Little Princess decided that she needed to be a Princess too. So she is now Princess Mini. She is just little. She likes to follow the cat all over the back yard. She also likes to get out of her coop, luckily she can't get out of the greenhouse.
Being a chicken owner is very entertaining really. We watched Power Ranger Jane eat a praying mantis the other day and my boys (daddy mostly) were thrilled!

Thanks again Holly and Marisa! I never thought we would have chickens wandering around. We enjoy them though.

And the neighbors are pretty understanding too....which helps.

Lisa This is for you

Years and Years ago (I think I was 13) I went to a girl's camp for church. Oakcrest wasn't just any old girl's camp though, it was one where girls from all over the valley came to at the same time. I was not really that happy to be there, but surprisingly I met two of my very best friends there that I am still in contact with to this day.

Lisa was one of these girls that I met and the story how we met is just funny to me, so I thought I would share it today in light of it being her birthday! She takes her birthday very seriously and quite honestly so do I. In all the year that I have known her she has called me on my birthday (except once, but we won't rehash that one. K Lisa?) In return I try not to forget calling her. So today here is my Birthday shout out via the world wide web.

The story how we met:

We were allowed one day to shower at Oakcrest Camp out of the entire week we were there. I was in the bathroom brushing my hair and teeth after my much needed shower and the girl next to me started to chit chat. I had no idea who she was but she was really friendly so we stayed and chatted for a bit. We were both getting ready to start our 8th grade year of Junior High, but she had just moved and was going to start at a new school. When I asked her what school she was going to I told her that was the same school I went to. We talked for a bit longer (I guess it wasn't all that long of a conversation, maybe 15 minutes) but when it was time to go she said "find me on the first day of school." That was it. I didn't see her or talk to her the rest of camp. We didn't exchange any way to keep in contact so I didn't think much about her.

That was until school started. I sat down to one of my classes and there she was. I went up and talked to her and really that was it. We have been great friends ever since. Lisa and I were destined to be friends! I know that for a fact. We have been through so much in life together, mostly her, but she has been there for me through every hard time I have ever faced! I am grateful for her strength and for all that she stands for! She really is an amazing person!

Happy Birthday Lisa! I hope that your day is an awesome one!

Oh and just a fun fact about Lisa and I.....The boy that Lisa kissed for the first time was the same boy I first kissed. Crazy!

Anyway, Have a Happy Birthday!

A little Scared

Ok I am really scared!

This economy crap really keeps me awake at night. I feel that I have missed my opportunity to be prepared. We have been warned so many times before to be financially prepared and to have a food storage ready for any time of need. We have been living for almost 4 months without an income (well much of one anyway) and the end isn't looking bright. Not really the job thing, I have faith that it will work out somehow (if anyone knows of anyone that is hiring email me!) but it is more of the getting back on our feet that I am worried about.

Everyone says you need to be putting away money, that you need to pay off debt, that you need to protect your credit score in order to not be totally effected by this financial crisis. Well when you are in a position where you don't have hardly any money coming in this isn't as easily done. When my hubby does get a job I am really, really, really afraid that it is going to be too late.

I am kicking myself that I didn't heed to the council that has been given.

Count this as lesson learned!

Call us CRAZY!

It doesn't come to a surprise to most of you that at our house we "live life by the seat of our pants" sometimes. We have always been a little too willing to break the rules for something fun because well, we like to have fun. I think that there has always been a little "lets try something new" in our bones too.

With the crappy economy that we are living in and the "grand" presidential candidates that we have (saying that with all the sarcasm that I can muster) things are not going to get better for awhile. This combined with the fact that my hubby doesn't have a job and we are as poor as poor can get we have a new look on being prepared or even being more self sufficient. The new "look" that we have is the importance on being self sufficient and being prepared.

With all that said we have been trying to find ways that all this can become so with the resources that we have. We were blessed with an awesome harvest this year with resulted in TONS on canned goods and lots of frozen bags of fruits and veggies. This will be helpful and is a nice feeling to have that.

Well, the opportunity came up the other day that we could also have some chickens. When at first I said no thanks for fear that it would just creep me out and be too much work, my hubby surprisingly had different thoughts. We talked about it and thought that this might be a good thing for us right now.

So we are going to pick up our two chickens today.

We have a place for them already and I believe that everything else that we need is going to be taken care of. The upkeep is going to be very little and we are hoping the the benefits are going to out weigh that. So stay tuned for starting today we are officially farmers.

"Banky"

At any given time this Little Man has his "Banky" and his Binky. When he says either one of those words they sound the same. Only his dad and I can tell the difference most times. Either way though, this kid LOVES them both! He is very particular with his blankets, they have to be "fuzzy" not just soft. When he rubs his face, plays with his hair and sucks on his Binky you know he is tired.

He has been like this for the entire 18 months he has been alive. I am really surprised I haven't gotten more pictures of him with them. But here are a few that I took the other day just to get the idea.


The funny thing is that you will almost always see him with his blanket and his Binky, but if not then you see him like this. Getting into something.
But my most favorite way to see him is like this..........
Playing with Daddy.

Man I love this kid!

Keeping the kids entertained

Since school has started my kids have been pretty bored in the afternoon's before their friends get home from school. TV is just not an option for them anymore. I don't want them to get into too many bad habits.

The other day they were really bugging me to do something. I had a thought that I think worked out really well. We had a big roll of paper that I thought would be fun for them to paint on. We didn't have any tape to tape it to something so I got magnets and stuck it up on the garage door. We didn't have any paint brushes for the paint, so we used q-tips. It really worked out nice to have them entertained and to use their creativity.

Take a Hike IKE!

Remember my cute Sister in law and her awesome family from Texas? Well they are running from a little storm named Ike. They live in Bay City, a little Southwest of Galveston and only about 15 miles from Matagorda Beach. They got the notice to evacuate yesterday and were in a panic trying to find where to go. They found one of the last hotel rooms they could find and headed to San Antonio.

While watching the weather channel tonight my little dude got a little worried about Kaycie and Shannon and asked me if they were dying because of the hurricane. I explained that they were safe, but asked if he wanted me to call her. So midnight her time I called Kaycie so he could talk to her. It was a sweet moment and I am glad he was able to hear from her that she is ok.

While talking to her she had just happened to mention something that I think is just too funny to not blog about. Here is kind of what was said....

Kaycie- I talked to the Manager of my apartments and he said that it is getting really bad. I can't believe that I forgot all my family pictures, birth certificates, marriage licences everything like that. But we are safe and have a roof over our heads.

Me- Yea a roof that won't blow off too. That is always nice.

Kaycie- But I did grab my griddle and my crockpot.

Me- You grabbed your what?

Kaycie- My griddle and my crockpot.

Me- Are you meaning to tell me that when you where told to evacuate the city NOW the first things you thought to get where your GRIDDLE and your CROCKPOT? (I was laughing so hard. This is just something that I can't seem to get over!)

Kaycie- Well, Shannon's mom brought her deep fryer!

After she said that I was laughing so hard I was crying! Am I the only person in this world that thinks this is funny?

When life throws you a storm you can always make pancakes, chili, and fried chicken!

What would you take if you had to evacuate? Would you REALLY grab your pictures and stuff or would it really end up being something like a deep fryer?

LOL! I love it!

Man for Hire.

Don't worry I am not REALLY pimping out my husband. Only SORT OF.

Actually as many of you know my hubby lost his job at the beginning of the summer. It has been a really hard few months. There have been times that I just wanted to pack up my stuff, move to a cave, and not return until everything was all better. But we have been really blessed and I can honestly say though, this is the best time of my life. It sucks to be poor and to be stressed about what is next, but it has been great to have him home. We have been enjoying spending tons of time together as a family. We have ALL been learning and growing in many ways. The fun has to come to an end though (ok sooner than later would be nice) so here is where I am (not) pimping out my husband.

FOR WORK THAT IS! I would hope that you wouldn't think that it was anything else!

Right now his only income is helping a friend of ours with his window cleaning business. He has been busy with cleaning the windows of many businesses and homes all across the valley. He is quick and the price is pretty reasonable.

SO........

If after a long summer of having sprinklers spray your windows with hard water, or the dirt has been caked on for years and you need someone to come and clean them for you while you sit and read your Twilight books again, just let us know!

OR if you own a business and want someone to come once (or more) a month so you don't have to worry about it anymore, just let us know!

Also if you live in Draper where that big fire was and the entire neighborhood has grime on their windows they can do that too!

Seriously people, this could help us all out! You get to see the world through cleaner windows at an awesome price, my hubby gets a little bit of an income (which would be extremely helpful) and our friend too would also be benefited. It's a win, win, win situation.

So really all begging aside, if you need your windows clean let Trev be your man.

More details to come soon.

Where it all began.

Trevor and I had been dating for almost a month when I knew I wanted to marry him. I know crazy! But this is kind of how I have always lived my life. We didn't make any plans that soon to get married though. We wanted to date for awhile and prepare ourselves to go to the temple first.

The summer of 1999 we really started thinking about marriage though. We had been dating for pretty close to a year now and we knew (or hoped) that the time would be soon that we could go to the temple and didn't want to wait too much longer after that. We had been looking at rings all summer and I was getting really antsy. What girl wouldn't though. We had picked out the ring and it was all about waiting for the right time I guess.

This was a busy summer for us. I had just bought my little red race car and was loving it! We were busy working at Snowbird and were loving it too. We were playing lots and just planning our future little bits at a time.

September 9, 1999 (9/9/99......9 years ago today) I had a friend that was getting married. I was supposed to go be his best man (This is a story for another time.) and I had planned on leaving work for a little while so I could go. I was all dressed up and quietly working at my desk when the Canyon Police Officer (that I knew really well by the way) came to my desk and started asking me questions about my cute new car. Since I was obsessed about my car I was happy to answer every question he had. Here is kind of how the conversation went....

Officer - Hey so you just got a new car huh?

Me - Yea have you seen it? It's awesome!

Officer- I have seen it actually. When was the last time you saw it.

Me- A little confused- I drove it up here this morning. WHY?

Officer- Well, we have reports of a crashed car down the canyon that we believe that it was stolen. Two young men were seen running from the scene.

Me- My heart racing- That really sucks!

Officer- Well, we ran the plates and it is your car.

He is VERY lucky that I didn't pass out right then and there! (Or that he didn't hear me swear!) He told me he was there to take me to the scene and to make a report. I tried to find Trevor but he wasn't at his desk. I couldn't get a hold of him so I just left with Mr. Officer. I got in his truck just shaking! I was so scared for what I was going to find. He was trying to ask me questions and make me feel better as we drove down the canyon.

Half way down the canyon at White Pines Campground I see 2 ambulances, 2 fire trucks and 7 cop cars all scattered all over the place with their lights on. We parked a ways back and I couldn't really see what was going on. As we walked up there were people everywhere! I then turned to my right and there was my car. Crashed down in the trees and smoking. There were a few fireman hosing off my car so they wouldn't let me get close. I stood back and starred at my car. I couldn't see the front of it since it was down off the road and in the trees, and smoking like mad. I couldn't believe it! The officers and other people that were around were trying to have me answer questions. All I wanted to do was go check out my car. They finally said that the fire was out and I could go check to see if I could get anything out of it before they take it away.

I walked up to it and opened the door, when I saw the cups of dry ice on the ground making it really smoky, my mind started to race. Before I could put any thoughts together I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around. One of the fireman, in full fire gear was there behind me. Since he had a mask on I couldn't tell who it was or what he needed, Without saying anything at all he got down on one knee, took of his mask and pulled a ring out from his pocket.

I am not totally sure what he even said to me that day 9 years ago, but when he asked me to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him I knew with all my heart that is what I wanted. Everyone cheered and clapped, it was quite the moment.

I am still amazed the he got so many people to play along with his plan. It sure makes for a memory that I will never forget and a story that is really fun to tell. The only problem is he jinxed that car.

Two years later, almost to the day, my little red sports car was actually stolen. But it was by a bunch of scum bag kids. It was exciting too but in a much different way. Sadly I had to get rid if it after that.

Happy 9 year anniversary of our engagement Hubby!

Crazy Friday's

So having two kids in school at the same time in different schools has been a little more crazy than I thought. Especially on Fridays. Here is a little time frame of my Fridays.

7:15 am (Or later actually like most days) Wake up. I might get dressed, it really depends on how sleepy I am. I am not really a morning person.

7:40 Get kids up and try to get them ready with full tummys.

8:15 Pack up kids in the car and try to get Dude to school by 8:25.

8:30 Finish getting Princess and Little Man ready and maybe take a shower.

9:15 Pack kids in the car again and drive Princess to school. Since last year I was so bad about getting her to school ontime, we are really trying to make sure that we are better this year.

9:30 I am back home to put Little Man down for his morning nap and get a few things done. Not much though because........

10:10 It's time to wake up Little Man and pack him back in the car AGAIN to go get Dude. It's early day you know.

10:30 Heading home again just in time to go over homework, papers and Dude's day then.......

11:30 Pack the kids BACK in the car for another time and head to get Princess from school.

11:45 We are back in time to go over her day and get some lunch and other things done.

2:30 Take kids to sitter so I can work the rest of the day.

2:45 - 8:45 I work.......yuck. By the time that I am off the kids are ready for bed.

It has only been a few weeks of this but every day my hubby has been home to help me. Today he is helping a friend washing windows all day. I has been nice to have him home. What and I going to do when he finds a job????

It may not seem like much but I swear I have been packing the kids in and out of the car all day. Of course I haven't taken the kids to the sitter yet, or worked yet, but really what am I even going to get done in this short time? Lucky for me my awesome neighbor is watching the kids for me ALL night. (Love you Becky!) So I won't need to drive to her house.

I guess if I wanted to break the world record of most times to buckle 3 kids in the car in one day I could always pack them in, back down the street 2 houses them drive back.

I would think about that but it would cost my half my hourly pay in gas just to do that.

Harvest Happiness

I realized today that I have never mentioned how much my AWESOME Urban Farmer of a Husband likes gardening.

We have this GIGANTIC backyard where we have set aside a really big place for a garden. Since last year we tore out the entire yard and started all over with everything else but the garden area, it wasn't quite ready for anything to be planted in it this year. My hubby did, however, plant some things in the flower beds. He planted corn, green peppers, peas, cucumbers, green beans and pumpkins. All summer long he has been taking good care of them and it totally paid off! We have had a great harvest. The picture above is of just some of the hundreds of green beans that we got. Do you see how big it is? That is my hubby's hand (which is much bigger than mine) and the green bean is as long as his hand and his longest finger. This was quite possibly the biggest green bean I have ever seen!

Along with the 5 bags of greens beans in my freezer we have been able to preserve one large bag of corn, many many peas (the kids fave I think) enough green peppers for our family to enjoy all winter long (thanks grandma for telling me how to freeze those too!) and more cucumbers than I know what to do with. (It has actually become a tradition of sorts to sit down before bed and the family dips cucumber slices in ranch dressing as a snack before dinner.) I am very proud of my Urban Farmer! It makes me so excited to have a larger garden next year! (And hopefully be able to put his green house to use soon too!)

On top of all the we had in our garden we have had some nice family and friends share their abundance with us. We (and I use that term loosely) have been making peach and raspberry jelly for the last few days now, and we have many buckets of pears that are waiting to be canned. I can't forget to mention he annual Pick Grapes at Grandma and Grandpa's trip. We love making homemade grape juice!

We are very grateful to be able to grow some of the things that we need in our own yard, and to have others share with us! I personally am grateful for my hubby's green thumb and his love of canning!

Love you Hubbs!

Family Fishing Fun + a Friend

Last Monday we decided to go fishing as a family. Just to have a last little shindig before school started. Since Dude's bestest buddy is practically family we brought him along too! We took them to this pond on the side of the freeway and the Jordan River. It was so close and perfect for our little outing.

We got all set up and on the very first cast little dude caught a fish. Infact the entire time we were there he caught 6 fish. Total caught by everyone else......none. I don't know what he was doing any different, but he sure was proud.

It really was alot of fun! It was nice to spend time as a family plus one before things got crazy!

The Love of others

My family has been very blessed the last few months!

Someone left a HUGE plate of cookies on my front door step the other day that I have yet to find out who did it.

This little act, and MANY like them, have shown our family so much love! We appreciate it so much! Thank you to everyone that has helped us out! We will be able to pay it forward in some way, but thank you just the same.

It is amazing what a chocolate chip cookie can do for the soul!

Kindergarten is a Piece of Cake!

Little Dude started Kindergarten last week. He was SUPER excited! He got up early, as most kids do on their first day of school, and was ready to go in a flash. Too bad his parents were a little slow. I am going to have to get used to this getting up early thing.

I still can't believe that he has started Kindergarten already! I had been having a hard time with it at first, but once we dropped him off, I had so many things that I needed to do that I didn't have time to stress or worry.

He did great! He wasn't scared and was trying to enjoy it all! I walked him to his door and he got to be the line leader! He looked at me and waved good bye and that was that!

When I picked up him up I asked how it was he replied by saying "Kindergarten was easy mom! This will be a piece of cake." I wondered where he got that from until he handed me a cupcake that he got from Mrs. Wilson that said "Kindergarten is a piece of cake." I love that he has enjoyed it so far! I really hope that this excitement lasts!

4 years

I am a day behind everything this week. I have very good excuses. One of which is the fact that my oldest started school today.

I didn't cry once. Is everyone really proud of me?

I have pictures that I will post tomorrow. But for today I just needed to sit down and write what I fully intended on writing yesterday.

4 years ago yesterday I got news of the death of my dear friend, Kirsten. This news was quite possibly the hardest news I have ever had to deal with. It changed me forever.

She is always on my mind and I miss her every day. Her death took me years to get over. My hubby just said that he was proud of me for not crying yesterday. I know that I will see her again, and that is what holds me together this time of year. She was a wonderful person and today I wanted to take a minute and remember her.

Kirsten, you were a great friend and an example to everyone! I love you and will see you again someday!

To all you.....find someone this week that you have been thinking about and tell them how much they mean to you. Pass the love along. It goes a LONG way! You never know, you may never get the chance again!

I heart Nice people

I *HEART* Charity!

Thanks again my lady for being so kind!

I am not sure that I am ready.

Tomorrow we go and meet little dude's kindergarten teacher. For some reason I am not sure that I am ready for this. Yes, he has gone to preschool for 2 years, but this seems so different to me. Maybe it is the year around school. Maybe it is the fact that he will have homework. Maybe it's because he is going to learn how to read. Or just maybe it's the fact that he is growing up way too fast and needing his mom less and less each year.

I am pretty sure that is it.

I didn't really think that I would be emotional about this, but as they day gets closer to him starting school I find myself getting a little teary. I never did this when he would go to preschool. Infact I think I was too excited to send him off for a few hours.

The more I think about it the more I think of the influences that he will have around him. I fear that I haven't taught him enough to be strong and to be himself. I fear that he will get there and just become different. That he will become too wound up in the worldy affairs in life that he will forget what he stands for.

Then I take a deep breath and realize that I have FAR too long to be worried about this kind of stuff. I hope and pray that kindergarten is still a little sheltered. I am still sad that he is growing too fast though.

I bring to you the Dinosaur Hunt

As you all know my little dude planned a dinosaur hunt for the family to go on. He put a ton of planning into what we were going to do and where we were going. He even packed a backpack with a few essentials. A compass for everyone, his book on dinosaurs that he carefully marked with sticky tabs important info, a bag of hot dog buns, a can of pineapple (little dude said that it is so you can eat the pineapple then if you get lost in the mountains and need something to drink you can drink the juice), and a bottle of water.


My little princess packed her backpack too with a girl's must have....her princess dress up shoes.

When there is any food involved little man is game for anything.


We got a later start than we had hoped, but we were not going to miss out on what little dude had planned. We drove up Butterfield Canyon and let Dude tell us where to stop. We only had to turn around twice before he found the perfect spot. When we first got out of the car little dude saw this fork and we so excited that he had found his first treasure.

Boy is he in for a surprise!


When we got all set up little dude grabbed his gloves and found a log to sit and look around. He found a trail leading up the mountain from where we were and decided to take us up there.

So here we are on a "Dinosaur Hunt" looking for fossils or dinosaur bones (humoring our kids) and pretending to be archaeologists. When we walk up the trail a little; right in the middle of the path there were REAL BONES! Yes, I know! Can you imagine the reaction of the kids when we find REAL bones on a "Dino Hunt"?
The kids were funny. Dude was a little weary of it, but Princess actually picked it up. They looked at it for awhile and decided to move on and see what else we could find. When we walked maybe 20 more steps here is what we found.....

So of course daddy had the kids get out the book to see if they could identify the type of dinosaur it was. They determined that it could possibly be a Stegosaurus that looked a little like a dear.

The kids can now say that they went on a dinosaur hunt and found real bones! Little dude was pretty happy about it.

He hiked for a bit longer, but it was starting to get dark. So we decided to go back to camp and eat the pineapple and bread.

This is an experience that we as a family will never forget. I am so glad that we gave Dude the chance to explore his idea. We all learned a great lesson that day! I keep thinking, what if we didn't take him? What if we didn't make the time to take him on this hunt that he put a lot of thought into? I really hope that I never get too busy to miss an opportunity like this EVER!

Where have I been?

I have escaped from the blogging world for a bit. Where have I been you ask? Well, lets just say that there hasn't been a single clean dish in my house for days. 16 loads of laundry were starting to call my name (well I finally heard it anyway). There are 4 bed rooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining room, kitchen, living room and family room that has been neglected far too long.

Let's not forget to mention a little thing called the Olympics that have been hogging the airspace on my tv for the last week. (Michael Phelps is a ROCKSTAR!)

So as much as I love blogging, I do have other responsibilities (I hate being responsible). But I promised the Dino Hunt pictures so they will be coming soon!

I promise!

Something Special

Dear Princess,

With each day that passes us by, I have to wake up the next morning and come to terms with the fact that you are growing up. You aren't my curly haired, sweet talking, cuddly, silly, LITTLE girl anymore. NOPE~ you are all that (minus the curly hair, and the little part) and much much more. I can't believe how grown up you have seemed to me lately.

Every day I tell you that you are special. I pray that you never forget that. I have said so many times before that you have taught me so much. You really have, there is just something so different about you. From the very first time I laid my eyes on you, with your chubby little cheeks and your beautiful big eyes, I knew without a doubt that you are a precious gift that has been given to me (us...your daddy love you too!) Every time I hear the song "I am a Child of God." I think of a time when your daddy and I went to the temple while I was pregnant with you. I was SO scared to be having another baby, it was so soon after your brother was born, and the timing just seemed so, so, off. While sitting in the temple I thought of the words to that song and I instantly knew how special you were going to be. As your mother I have a responsibility to lead you, guide you and most importantly walk beside you and help you find the way. Four years later and thinking about how I felt that day brings tears to my eyes. I was at that moment more than willing to accept the timing and know that it is YOUR time. I was at that moment thrilled to be your mother.


Today you started another year of preschool. You were so excited to have me drop you off and to see your friends again. I, on the other hand, could not get passed how every time I blink my eyes you are another inch taller, or a little more wiser. I pulled away thinking this time is going by too fast. Pretty soon you will be leaving for collage and I just don't know what I am going to do with myself then.
With being the middle child and the only girl you sometimes get a little let out of things. The shaft is what your dad and I call it. I lay awake at night and try to think of ways we as a family can make this better. I thought of something last night (some time between the hours of 12:30 and 4:00) and I want to commit to you right now that you and I are going to spend more time together. I hope to accomplish a few things with this. The first is to be your very best friend. Since I asked you the other day who your best friend was and you told me the comb that was in your hand was your best friend, I realized that you might really need a friend right now. Someone that will sit on the front porch with you all afternoon and comb out your Barbie's hair and be a voice over for your little barbie swim party. The other thing that I want to accomplish is to teach you how important you are and to help build you up. When I was telling you today all the ways that you have taught me you said the silliest thing. You sweetly added that you had taught me how to listen. That really hit me. You really have, although, I have a really hard time with it still. Which brings me into the last thing that I want to accomplish while spending more time with you. I want you to know that you will always have me to talk to. I will listen! I will offer advise, I will not judge. I will ALWAYS be there for you!

You had a big day today, and I am truly proud of you. You are so smart and so amazing. There are so many things that I want to teach you, but all I really need you to know tonight is that I love you with all my heart. No matter how big you get, and no matter how fast the time flys on by that will NEVER change!

Happy first day of preschool sweetie. I hope that you enjoy it and live every moment of it!

Oh yea, your brother had a big day today too. He learned how to do this.........

He is saving the bigger stuff like starting school for a few more years! But you taught him how to do this, so to that I have to say......

Thanks for being an awesome sister too!

A Count Down of my Own

While everyone else I know had been counting down to when they get their new Twilight book, or have been M.I.A because they are reading it, I have started a new little countdown of my own.

See I don't read often. It will be a miracle if I ever read Twilight. BUT I have read (and quite enjoyed) all the Harry Potter books. You could say I am a little obsessed.

So here is my countdown. To the new Harry Potter movie The Half Blood Prince coming out in November!

Waiting

I am waiting to get my memory card reader back from my friend.

Hurry up Cherie!

Just kidding, she doesn't even read my blog.

As soon as I get it back I will post about our AWESOME Dino Hunt! NO ONE is going to believe the story!

Really, it is crazy! I am so excited to share it!

In the mean time, you can check out what I have been up to over here. There are more to come soon! (I am talking to you Jen!)