Lots of Gratitude

Well, it's been a while since I posted about what I'm thankful for.  The #1 thing I'm thankful for is that Brian doesn't have cancer!!!

That was so scary having to wait for 2 weeks to hear the results since they had to send the biopsy to California.

I'm also very grateful to be able to spend time with my Mom.  We haven't always lived where we were able to spend so much time together so it's nice to be able to now.

Another thing I'm thankful for is music.  I like how hearing a song can affect you so much.  It's my favorite part of church (besides partaking of the sacrament) (and when they choose to sing songs that I've actually ever heard of :)!).  It's one of my favorite parts of celebrating Christmas.  Songs make me laugh. They make me cry. They make me feel and learn and grow.  I always tell Brian that at my funeral I want everyone to sing A Poor Wayfaring Man Of Grief...ALL 7 verses! It's one of my favorites. I like to read it during the passing of the Sacrament.  I like to sing I Love To See The Temple when we see the temple.  I like to sing My Heavenly Father Loves Me as we drive around town looking at all of he beautiful Lilac trees, Apricot trees, and every other tree that has pretty little blossoms on it.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE music!!!

I am SOOO incredibly thankful to be the mother of 4 beautiful children.  They are so AWESOME!!  They are smart, funny, fun to be around.  They remind me every day of what really matters in this world! Blessed doesn't even begin to express my feelings about them but I'll use it.  I am incredibly BLESSED!!! They are also a constant reminder to me that what I WANT isn't always what I really NEED and that Heavenly Father is the Captain of this ship so I need to just trust in Him and His plan for me!!!

Money, Money, Money, MOONNNEEEYYY, MONEY!

Today, I am thankful for money.  Now, I know that that sounds like I am the most "worldly" person on earth, but please read on and hear me out.  :)  I sure don't have much of it, but I am so incredibly thankful that we have enough for our needs.  It's so wonderful to not have to worry about how we're going to pay our bills and feed and clothe our children.  And we will be able to provide Christmas for our children.  We are able to buy the things that they need. 

I certainly don't think that money is the MOST important thing in the world and I don't think that it totally sucks that I'm not a millionaire.  (well, that would be really nice!)  But, one of the biggest lessons that I have taken from our financial struggles is that it doesn't matter whether you live in a dive or a mansion, whether you have a gazillion dollars or you live paycheck to paycheck, your happiness doesn't come from money.  Although, I do realize that having enough money to take care of every need and whimsy your heart desires can make you feel happy and blessed and it can stress the crap out of you if you don't have enough.  But, ultimately happiness, I mean pure JOY, comes from the peace and comfort that comes from our Father In Heaven, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the gift of The Holy Ghost.  As long as we know that they are on our side and that we are on their side, we can handle any challenge that is placed before us.  It might take us a minute to get our bearings, we might have a come apart, total breakdown, freak out fit, and lay on the bed in the fetal position and bawl our eyes out.  But when the tears dry up and the dust clears, we realize that as long as THEY are going to help us through it, we can handle it.  It will all be OK. 

My heart breaks when I hear of people losing their jobs and for those who have had to look for a job for a while without success.  It's a difficult challenge, that's for sure!  I know it can always be worse, but that still doesn't keep it from being difficult for us as we learn to accept His will in all things.  And, I just feel terrible for people in New York and New Jersey, and anywhere else that has people who have been displaced for whatever reason.  I can only imagine what they are going through.

I am grateful for what we have and will be for how ever long we are able to have it, and we'll try to find ways we can help others with it as much as we possibly can.  :)

Long time no post...

I have been terrible at keeping up with my blog these past few months!

~Zack has been busy with baseball practices, school, the science fair (he was disappointed to only get a participation ribbon for his science fair project. You win some, you lose some I say...), band and band concerts, student council, peak, debates, cooking, reading books, and scouts. He's loving life! Last semester he wasn't doing so well at keeping it all organized and we told him he had to bring his grades up or something had to go. This semester he has really improved his grades and got a wonderful report from his teacher. He brought home his 7th grade registration paper yesterday. I almost cried. He'll be 12 years old at the end of April and will even be a Deacon. The time is flying by so quickly! He's such a great kid!

~Matthew had his first ever Pinewood Derby last night. He has looked forward to this moment ever since Zack's first Pinewood Derby. He won 1st prize last night! He was SOOO excited!!! I was at Zack's baseball practice and his science fair with Zack and Gracie so I missed the whole thing but I got a very detailed play by play of the whole thing. Matthew, Brian, and Max were so happy! Apparently Matty's car was about a foot to a foot and a half behind on the final race when all of a sudden it just took off and left the other car in it's dust. They said it looked like it had a motor and they suddenly floored it or something. I'll try to post a picture of it but Brian learned after Zack's first derby that the cars that are a simple wedge seem to win more than the ones that are intricately carved like Zack's was that day. He's also loving school and doing so well! He has lots of cute little friends. I was able to go on his class field trip with him last week. It was really fun and very informative. I learned lots! We walked from his school to the radio station on the corner on main street, the bank, and the post office and were taken on tours of each place before walking to a park and eating our sack lunches. I'll admit it sounded kind of lame to me but it was actually very cool and they even recorded his class for a commercially type spot on the radio that played that afternoon. Matthew was so excited to hear it! My favorite part (besides visiting with Tamra and Mysti and getting to hold cute little, chubby, 4 month old Landon) was learning all about the radio station and how it works. It was really cool!

~Max and Matthew will hopefully be on the same baseball team this year. They had tryouts last Saturday. Max LIVES for baseball so he is beyond thrilled to get to start practices. He is doing so well in school and is so happy! His teacher loves him. She said he'll finish his work super fast and then he'll help the other kids or she'll let him play with a dry erase board thing. She said she has to find something to keep him busy all the time. He's passed off more sight words than anyone else. He's well into the 200's. He wants to finish them all since Matthew did that in kindergarten and Max is Mr. Competitive!! He is such a sweet boy and I just love him so much!

~Gracie is still cracking us up with her 2 year old speak. The other day she fell down and said,"Ouch, that hurt my nuggets." We all died laughing but none of us broke the news to her that, unlike her 2 big brothers, she does not have nuggets. She has grown so much! People always thinks she's 4 years old instead of 2. She loves nursery finally and looks so forward to going to church each week. And she LOVES playing outside. We have to be much more careful lately about always closing the door tight so she doesn't escape. There was a cute little 1st grade girl from my kids' school, who was hit by a car around the corner from us on the highway a couple of weeks ago. Poor little girl! She is at Primary Children's in a medically induced coma while her poor little body recovers from all of her many injuries. That has always been my biggest nightmare about living here!



We've also started having a treasure chest for the kids. If they do the chores we ask of them they get a check mark by their name on the chore chart. Once they get 3 checks they get to get something out of the treasure box. So far it has been WONDERFUL! The treasures are just silly little trinkets from the $ store and Walmart but they are the coolest things ever to them! We put a $5 item in their also and they have to do more chores to be able to earn it. It has made things so much calmer around here and they have even stopped fighting as much ever since my last lecture.  LOL They still fight but just not so much. Life is good. Hard, but good. Our sweet little kids sure make life worth living!! :)

~Now, a couple of Facebook posts I planned to post on here but never did.

March 19: So, tomorrow is picture day at our kids' school. Tonight Matthew decided it would be so super cool to partially shave his eyebrows off with Brian's beard trimmer...oy vey! Oh, Brian just told me it was his razor not his beard trimmer. Greaaaat!

March 25: Debbie Gibson's makeup looks like my cosmetology mannequin's makeup looked. That's not a good thing. I'm just sayin'... :~)

And by the way, I still LOVE Pinterest! I won't see the Y.W until after Easter so I made this little treat that I found on Pinterest. When we were Christmas Caroling in December one of the girls asked what "kin" means in We Wish You a Merry Christmas. They were explaining it to her and I said, they're you peeps. :) After that they started singing it, "Good tidings to you and all of your peeps."  So the idea I found on Pinterest was perfect! You dip a normal size pretzel (not the mini ones) in chocolate. I used pink Wilton's chocolate. Then you dip the bottom of a marshmallow Peep in chocolate and set it on the pretzel. Then you can sprinkle some cute little sprinkles on the chocolate. Then I placed them in individual clear treat bags that I got in the party section at Walmart for a buck. Then I tied a bow with a ribbon and curled the ends. Then I made a little tag that I attached to the ribbon that said, "Happy Easter to one of my favorite "Peeps"!"

Brian has made some of the dinners that are on Pinterest and made buffalo wings using one of the recipes. I love the ideas for conference for the kids! I want to try some of the Easter ideas also.

Please ignore any mistakes. I'll read it later and fix them.

Manners...

~Last night was so much fun! We had a combined young men/young women activity. It was about etiquette, which sounded pretty dull, but Sister Radley made it a LOT of fun!!! She had a panel of 4 adults who answered the questions she compiled. The questions were really fun and some were serious but the panel of adults were all really fun, silly people that made it so much fun. I asked her for a copy of the questions she asked, so if/when she gives it to me I'll post it on here. Each person chose 10 pieces of candy to put in a little cup. Sis. Radley brought Hot Tamales, Mike-n-Ikes, Junior Mints, and Dots to choose from. After the Q&A session we ate some different kinds of foods and we all had to use the good etiquette we had just learned. We weren't allowed to use our fingers to pick up anything. We had to use our utensils. The first course was grapes. Then came Wingers french fries and boneless sticky fingers. Then came a little spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. At some point there was a roll and red punch. And then for dessert we had the choice of a red velvet cupcake or a carrot cake cupcake. If anyone got caught using bad manners or just not following the "rules", like not touching your food with your fingers, or putting your elbows on the table, they had to eat a piece of candy from their cup. The people who had the most candy in their cup at the end got to choose from several different large boxes of candy as their prize. It was one of the funnest activities we have ever had!!! It was nice to learn good manners in such a fun way. I hope the kids all listened really well because they will all need to know this at some point in their lives. Most of the things she talked about were food related but at the end of the Q&A she threw in some cell phone etiquette, which I thought was wonderful!! I think we might just have to do this with our little family just for fun some night.

~I just have to share this Max story. He attended Munchkin Manor Preschool for 2 years. One day he used good manners, I don't remember if he said thank you or please or something and I said, "Good job for using such great MANNERS Max!"  He said, "That's because I go to Munchkin MANOR Preschool."  :-)

A recipe, etc.

~Last year all of our YW classes met together for all activities. This year our Beehive class is going to do an activity each month on our own so that the girls can do some of the things the other girls have already done. A lot of the older girls have earned their Medalians already or are really close to finishing so the girls in Beehives need some activities that are focused on the value project. So last night at YW we Beehives planned our year of activities and had brownies. The Mia Maids and Laurels made cake pops. If you have never made cake pops before, they, are, delicious!!! I had the one that was made with red velvet cake. You bake a cake and crumble up the cake after it cools. Then you add either cool whip or a cup of canned or homemade frosting to the crumbles. Mix well and then form into balls. Put a sucker stick in the top of the ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to help them firm up. Then you take them out and dip them in either melted white almond bark or brown almond bark. I'm sure melted chocolate chips would also work. I especially love milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips melted together and I'm sure that would be DIVINE! The one I ate had the cool whip mixed with the crumbles. I think they just used a cup of cool whip but they may have used a bit more. Then they dipped them in the white almond bark. They were so creamy and delicious! It would be so cute to put some red food coloring in some of the almond bark and drizzle over the white dipped balls for Valentine's Day. You could do them for any occasion! I'm so excited to try making them and have my kids help out. They LOVE having food making projects! Give them a try. They are delicious, easy, and oh, so pretty! I wish I'd have thought to take a picture.  :)
~So I'm trying to figure out how my children do so well in school, they are so smart, they amaze me all the time, yet...they can't figure out how to throw things IN the garbage can, or how to put their dirty clothes in the laundry room.
~Our wonderful bishop, Bishop Manley passed away Tuesday morning. He has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Leukemia. I didn't get to know him as well as others I'm sure, but it was a wonderful thing to get to see him interacting with the youth of our ward. He LOVED them so very much and tried so hard to be a part of their lives. Their favorite time spent with him was when they did an over night Book of Mormon Read-a-thon at our church house. The best part was having him answer questions they had as they read. I wasn't in the program yet but they still talk about it all of the time. He has been a wonderful influence in their lives and such a wonderful example of faith, strength, enduring to the end, enduring it well, trusting the Lord. He has had the very best attitude I have ever seen in someone in this position. What an inspiration to us all! I loved the fact that he ADORES his wife so much! They are so cute together! I hope Brian and I can have that kind of love for each other when we've been married that long. I'm so sad to see such an amazing man leave this life, but I am so happy to know that he's not going through a physical HELL any longer. That he is free of pain and suffering. That he is being welcomed by so many loved ones on the other side. I know with all of my heart that Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ are truly "well pleased" with this out standing man! I just pray that his sweet wife and children and grand children can find comfort as they try to live without him until they all can meet him again.    :(   If any of you know him or are interested in seeing his obituary click on this.

Just a little venting... :)

~Well, Christmas is finally over at our house. Brian got tired of waiting for me to have time to take it all down so he decided to do it himself on Friday. We still have our Christmas lights on the house and fence but other than that it's finally all put away. I have mixed feelings about it actually. We got a real tree from Sam's Club this year. It.was.gorgeous! And our decorations looked so pretty on it. After it was decoration free it STILL looked gorgeous! The needles weren't even dried out or anything. Usually they are brittle by now. We had such a lovely Christmas this year! Kind of sad it's over! When Max was 3 years old, we were driving down the road and he asked, "Mom, can we go to Christmas?" I thought it was so cute that he loved Christmas so much!

~Brian's lack of employment is totally freaking me out now! I was cool with it at first because he had the severence package and will receive pay checks through February 1st. Well, in the beginning I was super busy and we had a little time to look for work so I wasn't too upset. Now that he only gets one more paycheck, I'm having a heart attack! One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to see people I know, all the time. There are so many members of our church where we live that there have to be 11 different sessions in 5 different buildings. Each session called a ward and each ward has a number, so that we can keep track easier. Well, my parents ward was the 8th ward and it has been really fun to see some of the people I love who are in that ward. And the people from our current ward that we just LoVe! I've been able to see some of my friends from high school also. And a friend I made while attending the college here when Matthew was 3 months old and Zack was 3 years old. Her name is Kelly. She is an AMAZING woman! I just love her! I was SOOO thrilled to see her and it made me so happy that she was as happy to see me as I was to see her! I think of her as a "kindred spirit"! I've met a few "kindred spirits" over the years and they continue to bless my life today! The only problem with working at Walmart, and seeing so many people that I know, is that most of them are so awesome and concerned about us that they ask if Brian has found a job yet. He's applied in outher states and for jobs that aren't Accounting related. He just wants ANYTHING! I appreciate the concern and the love they have for us but hearing that all of the time is starting to really weigh me down. I'm already starting to get depressed about it and then to have constant reminders is just really hard. I need to pray harder that we'll be able to have joy in our trial because that has worked for us in the past and I really need that strength if I'm going to make it through this! I know it could be worse. People are mourning loved ones, watching their loved ones suffer through cancer, chemo, and other horrid diseases. Our trial pales in comparison! I just really worry about having to move our kids from school, the town we live in, their friends, our ward. We need to be able to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for our our 4 children. It's just so scary and overwhelming for me that I just can't take it! Not to mention how very much I hate the whole process of moving!!! The packing. The cleaning. the loading. The unloading. The unpacking. The sorting. The collecting boxes. The switching utilities. All of the deposits. The paperwork involved in registering 3 kids at their new school. I know, I'm so lazy, right! But U~G~H!!!!!

~I'll try to be more positive next post! :)  Just needed to vent a little...

WOW! Long time, no post, huh!?!

 I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted on here! Our life has been pretty hectic, to say the least. I worked quite a bit during December. Probably not nearly as much as most people I know, but a lot for me anyway. I have been so happy that Brian has been able to take care of our little Gracie but it makes me so sad to be away from her. Wednesday I helped my friend out with her preschool for 4 hours and then I did my Hallmark job for 2 hours. Brian said that at one point Gracie went to him and said that she was sad because I was gone. I miss just snuggling in the rocking chair in our p.j.'s in the morning while she watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This time is slipping away so quickly and I just hate missing any of it. I've missed being home some days when my boys get off of the bus. Last week I worked 19 hours and this week I'll only work 4 1/2 hours. I guess the hours really calm down during January. I'm glad! It is still a fun little job that I really like and the money really helped us out. I am just so looking forward to a bit of a break and to be able to spend more time at home!

~We had a great Christmas! At my family Christmas party, we were able to visit with  Nathan's cute little family by using Skype. It was so much fun to see them! We all miss them a lot! It was especially fun to see his new little baby boy, Thomas, who was born in October!

~We stayed home for Christmas. Traveling with our kids on Christmas is just not easy, not fun, and really not worth it! We had a nice quiet day. Our friend's, Mysti and Randy, invited us over to their house for dinner. We decided we would all still make our Christmas dinner to share and we would be able to spend time together to help make our day feel less lonely. Mysti made Roast and potatoes and carrots, and a veggie, and dessert. Brian made ham, yummy potatoes (otherwise known as funeral potatoes), and rolls. It was a delicious meal and everything just worked out great! AND, bonus, I got to hold  Mysti's baby boy, Landon, who was born on ll/11/11 at 11:01! I just had to throw in his birth date cuz it's so cool! He is such a cute little guy!

~My Max made our Christmas extra special! He's 5 now, and turns 6 at the end of January. A lot of you will remember the many stories of my Max's craziness since he is definitely my craziest child, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when my "crazy" little boy was the one who kept our focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ. At church, they learned the song  "Samuel Tells of the Birth of Jesus" for the Ward Christmas Program during Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Sunday. For weeks we heard this song practiced over, and over, and over again. Even when he played the Wii! That's HUGE! Even on Christmas Eve when most kids are singing about Santa Claus and his reindeer, our Max was singing about Jesus.    Here are the words...

Said Samuel, "Within 5 years, a night will be as day, and Baby Jesus will be born in a land far, far away." Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing.  How blessed that our Lord was born. Let earth receive her King!
Across the sea, in Bethlehem, Lord Jesus came to earth, as Samuel had prophesied. The angels sang His birth. Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing. How blessed that our Lord was born. Let earth receive her King!

What a wonderful song to hear over and over again! What a blessing it is to have Primary for our little children. To have wonderful teachers and choristers and Presidency members help us teach our children the principals of the Gospel. Our entire family was blessed to have the words of this song ingrained in our heads. We needed that! And it NEVER got old!

~Some of you will remember the posts I made last year about our Christmas Jar. (each of those 2 words goes to different posts about the Christmas Jar)  Well, on Christmas Eve, Max found a couple of scriptures he wanted to read in addition to the one we would take out of the jar that night. I just thought that was wonderful! He just really surprised me with his focus on our Savior. I can't even express how happy that made me feel!

~I'm trying so hard to potty train Gracie. If we weren't already, for sure, done having more children, THIS would have totally made me decide to stop! I HATE potty training. I seriously think I have A,D.H.D or something. It is so hard for me to just take a whole day and focus my efforts on potty training. She tries so hard to go. She really does. She sits on the toilet and tries and tries but she just can't let it out. I know that if she would just be able to do it once she'd totally be fine but she just can't. Any suggestions would be really great!  Heaven help me! If only there was potty training camp or potty training school that I could send her to....

~I shared this on facebook the other day. I absolutely LOVE her voice! I have also always really liked him and had no idea he could sing too. It's kind of fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcrd5vpUGyk&feature=related

~Oh and one more thing. We played the game called LOGO at my sister's on New Year's Eve. It was so much fun!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful 2012!!

A very....interesting baptism...etc.

Our sweet little Matthew was baptized Saturday. He has looked forward to being baptized ever since he saw Zack get baptized 3 years ago and has talked about it often. As his baptism date has drawn near he has talked about it even more. He had started talking about how excited he was to be baptized but how scared he was to actually be dunked under water. We've encouraged him and I told him that I was TERRIFIED to have my head under water when I was baptized, too. I told him that our Branch President even talked with me and told me that everything was going to be ok. My wonderful Grandma Irvine sent me a lovely letter of encouragement also. I just remember praying really hard that I wouldn't drown and being so thrilled that He actually answered my prayers and kept me from drowning. HAHA   I thought that might help him but it didn't. He got more and more nervous as the week progressed. Poor kid!

 Well, the big day came. There was a little girl from another ward named Jessica who also was being baptized. When the talks finished the Bishop who was conducting said that they would like to have Matthew baptized first and then Jessica. Well, Matthew freaked! He did NOT want to go first! I was rather embarrassed and explained that Matthew was very nervous about having his head dunked under the water and wondered if she could go first. That's when SHE freaked out TOO! Her mom said she was scared too. It was seriously the craziest thing we all had ever seen! They both were weeping and wailing and yes there was some gnashing of teeth! They both were baptized...eventually. LOL! Some of us joked that we wished we could take video of it so we could show it at Matthew's wedding reception. LOL! It was definitely crazy! Now he says that being baptized was so awesome that he wishes he could do it again and that he can't wait until he's 12 and can go to the temple and do baptisms.

Interestingly enough, though, the spirit was very strong. Especially when Brian confirmed him. I'm thankful that Zack & Matthew have been blessed with that companionship. I am grateful that Brian holds and honors his Priesthood. What a beautiful thing! We felt the spirit throughout the rest of the day. It was like we just felt we needed to be reverent. I had to run to the store for my prescription and I hated going because it felt like I was breaking the Sabbath or something.

The luncheon afterwards was nice. Yummy food and spending time with family. I love baptism days! They are just joyful! I am so grateful for the gospel. I am so grateful for the joy that fills our lives as we strive to live righteously. We are FAR FROM perfect but Heavenly Father blesses us for our efforts and I am truly grateful for Him and the blessings He gives us.

~Brian was told at the very end of last month that his job will be terminated in January. They just simply have enough people in Logan at USU that do the work that Brian does here that they are going to give them the work from USU-CEU and terminate that position here. We are so worried and Brian is hoping that he'll be able to find something. It was nice to have Matthew's baptism to bring some joy to our lives since we've been pretty stressed out. If you hear of any Accounting jobs in your area please feel free to let me know. :) tarafree26@hotmail.com

~So my friend Nikki who was doing my hair in exchange of me babysitting her 2 awesome kids, moved away a couple months ago. She did hair but she also worked part time for Hallmark at Walmart and Smiths here. My friend Tamra worked with her. Well once Nikki moved they put Tamra in charge and they needed to hire someone else to work with her and they hired me! It's very part time and very flexible, which is what I need! So I started yesterday. It was SO much fun! I am really excited about the whole thing! There were about 9 of us yesterday working on a whole redo of the cards and displays and such. It was really fun working with those ladies and learning lots of new things. And those of you who know of my love for stationary, cards, and wrapping paper, and organizing, sorting, and filing, know that this is right up my alley!!! I'm just thrilled with the opportunity!

~So Brian had church meetings all morning Sunday. He usually helps me tons on Sundays so I was worried about making it to church on time when we are always late to church when I HAVE his help so I figured I didn't stand a chance on my own. I was really trying to stay on top of things. When we got to church I scanned the congregation for Brian and couldn't see him anywhere. So I looked at the congregation and I realized that none of these people looked remotely familiar. So I looked at the Bishopric and THEY were different too! So I checked my watch and it was 10:00. We were an hour EARLY!! Yes, I'm crazy!   :~/

Matthew rockin' his 70's jumpsuit. He thought that big collar was totally groovy! :)

My hair looks like crap but I was there on time. :)



Matty with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa gave the best talk on Baptism. I cried like a baby when he talked about how 8 years ago we were all gathered together for Matthew's (and Jessica's family for her) baby blessing. The time is just slipping away...  :(



Matty with Steph, J.J., Josh, & Emily. He's looks kinda like a little ragamuffin. He started undressing and I told him he had to take pictures before he could change his clothes. So his shirt is cockeyed, and his pants are twisted. But his cute little Jack-o-lantern smile makes the rest not matter!!!  Grandma and Grandpa game him a suit and he was THRILLED to get to wear it for the first time on Sunday. He looked very handsome!!!

Matty with his cousins Jordan, Jeremy, and Marne. Jordan just came home from his mission a couple of months ago. We just love them!

Matty with Aunt KayTee. Uncle Chris had to work so he wasn't able to make it. We're so glad KayTee came!!!

Pageant, Rockets, Summertime, S'mores, Scripture Marking Class

~I went to The Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti last night with the Y.W. It has been so many years since I last went that I can't remember how long ago. Before we had kids anyway. We ate BBQ Turkey dinners at a ward building...the only way to go! Then we ate yummy custard and Italian Ice treats. SO YUMMY!!! Then we watched the pageant. There were parts in it that I didn't remember from years past. I'm sure they were there before but now that I'm old (they are having our 20 year high school reunion this year...that's OLD!!!) and have kids and have a stronger testimony and such, it just was so emotional for me to watch. I got teary quite often. When they portrayed the part in The Book of Mormon when Jesus visited the Nephites and blessed them and healed the sick and taught them and blessed their children, I really cried. It was so spiritually moving and just wonderful! Of course it's one of my favorite parts to read so being able to see it acted out was really neat. I am just so grateful for the opportunity I had to go this year. I was worried about going. The umbilical cord doesn't stretch all the way to Manti ya know. :)  But I went and I am so glad I did! It was even worth getting home at 1:30 a.m. and not sleeping until 2:30a.m.! Our Y.W. are such amazing girls and I just love spending time with them! I want to go next year with my little family.

~This morning the kids woke us up at 7:30 and we got ourselves ready and went to the home of some of our church members to watch an awesome rocket show! They set off tons of rockets. All different sizes. From super tiny to about 5 feet tall. I figured I could put this in the category of "things we do for our children". I was super surprised when I actually had a lot of fun watching! The time flew by! It was fun for everyone there, especially the kids! They all wanted to be the one who found the rocket after it landed. The people live out in the boonies so the kids had plenty of room to be free and run wild! Who can ask for anything more than that when you are a boy? Gracie hated the experience. It scared her to death each time one went off. But there were some adorable little baby bunnies nestled together by their house that a wild bunny had and oh they were the cutest little things! Gracie really liked them so at least it wasn't all bad for her. The ward member's who invited everyone out do this show every year. They invite people from the college out since he used to teach at the college, they invite ward members and friends. Their kids plan their summer vacations for the rocket show weekend. It's so much fun! One of their daughters said to me that she was surprised by how many people came out for the show. I said, well, there isn't a lot of entertainment in this town so when someone invites people for a fun time we're all there!!!

~Don't you love summertime. Some days I just absolutely love summer?! Some days not so much! When the kids get along pretty well...and they make the most of the opportunity to ride bikes and dig in the dirt all day long in our back yard...we eat some kind of yummy summer food like a BLT, juicy watermelon, corn on the cob, BBQ ANYTHING, yummy potato salad and Aunt Marilyn's fabulous baked beans...we walk through the store and smell the sweet scent of ripe nectarines and peaches throughout the produce area and my mouth starts to water...Strawberry Shortcake...spending lots of time outside...the smell of freshly cut grass, lilacs, and roses...THEN, all is right with the world and I LOVE summer! 

but...

when the kids can't stop fighting with each other, hurting each other, and hurting each other's feelings...having to take 4 kids along when I go to the grocery store...having to pull pokey stickers out of my kids feet constantly because they refuse to wear shoes outside...the whining...complaining...fighting over which wii game to play or movie to watch...the constant messes...not being able to afford to go on nice little mountain drives because the price of gas is OUT...OF...CONTROL!!!, THEN I'm not such a big fan of summer!

~There is a fire pit in our back yard. Tonight we're going to roast marshmallows over it and have s'mores. I can't wait!!! Brian is cooking some delicious chicken and rice in the dutch oven. I sure do love to eat! :)

~Thursday night there was a scripture marking class for a Relief Society activity. Oh, it was awesome! The lady brought us fun little sticker things to put in our scriptures. She suggested some fun things like, mark words in your scriptures that are about Jesus, Heavenly Father, good, happy things with yellow soft color pencil. Mark scripture mastery scriptures in kind of a rainbow pattern. Mark things that are about Satan or evil with red pencil. Use other colors you like for other things. She just really got us all excited about the scriptures and taught us things that will help us be able to understand the scriptures better. It was a really great experience! I can't wait for her to come again!

I'm still alive...

So, I've had some major writer's block lately but I am still alive in case you were wondering. I was in a really crummy mood for a few days there. I just felt really, really discouraged. No hope. No joy. Just empty and sad. My pain had started to go away because of a combination of medications I was taking. It was still there but very dull. Occasionally bad still, but mostly dull. I'll take it!!! Well, the medicine stopped working and it upset me. A lot!!! I've also been having a time where I'm so sick to death of scrimping by and pinching pennies I could scream. Just not in very good spirits. Low. Very low. Then last Sunday at church Brother Banasky asked me how I was feeling and I gave him my standard answer of, "I'm ok. How are you?" Then he said, "No. Really. How are you feeling?" I told him it really hadn't been a good day, painwise. He asked if I had asked Brian to give me a blessing. I told him that I hadn't even thought about it with the crazy morning we had getting ready for church. But I did ask Brian for a blessing after church and it was a really beautiful blessing! Brian even explained some neat feelings he had as he gave me the blessing. After that I had a REALLY low few days and then on Wednesday I was able to talk with my friend, Sherelle and she helped me talk some of my feelings out. Then that night some very kind members of the Relief Society came for a visit while I was at YW and Brian talked with them a bit about me. They just recently found out about my health issues and wanted to express concern and support. Our wonderful bishop called later and talked with me. Having so many people reaching out to me and praying for me really has helped me these past few days. I have felt so much happier and have had more energy and strength than I have had in such a long time I can't even remember. I know with all my heart it is because of a Priesthood Blessing and the prayers of others on my behalf. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am thankful for all of the inspired programs of the church. I am thankful for members of our family, members of our ward, and friends who follow the spirit, and try to live like Jesus and serve others in His behalf.

Tonight I went to The General Young Women's Conference Broadcast and a wonderful dinner that the Stake YW Presidency prepared for us. It was a wonderful night. I so enjoyed visiting with the leaders from our ward and the YW from our ward who attended. The broadcast was wonderful as well. I am so grateful for my calling. I am so grateful for my YW leaders when I was a YW and for the amazing General leaders of the YW. At the end of it Elder Eyring talked a bit about the challenge in the Book of Mormon that Mormon gave to everyone who reads it to pray and ask for the witness of the spirit testifying to them that The Book of Mormon is true. It made me remember when I was in college and fervently reading The Book of Mormon. I will never forget how I felt as I got to that part in The Book of Mormon and how strong my desire was to pray and know for myself that it was true. I already had felt the witness of the spirit telling me the words were true throughout my reading but I just felt strongly that I should accept the challenge and pray for that witness. I had a lovely and sacred experience that I will never forget as I prayed and received that very strong witness that it was indeed the true word of God. It was so strong and powerful that when I have struggled at times in my life since that moment I CANNOT deny the truthfulness of the book!!! It is the most wonderful feeling and I feel so strongly that everyone should get that witness for themselves as well. Especially in this day and age when there are so many evil forces surrounding us trying to lead us astray. We HAVE to be steadfast and immoveable in our commitment to living the gospel. Having that strong witness and testimony can be THE thing that keeps us going no matter how hard it gets.  I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and loves me and never gives up on me, even when I give up on myself. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ who loves me and suffered my sins and pains and challenges and frustrations and sadnesses and everything that I go through. I am grateful for His compassion and understanding. I am also so very grateful for the Holy Ghost and His companionship. For His comfort and peace that buoy me up and carry me through the hard times I face in this life. I know with all my heart and soul that nothing else on earth can bring us such joy and bring our spirits such comfort and peace than living the gospel to it's fullest and bringing ourselves closer to the members of the Godhead through our faithfulness and diligence in keeping the commandments and asking for their help when we need it! I love them and I am thankful for them. I am thankful for a wonderful husband and beautiful children that keep me going. I know I am incredibly blessed and I am so grateful for all of the many blessings I have been given. I know I am so far from perfect and that I have so far to go but I am so happy for the patience and love of my family and my Father in Heaven!!!

Rice, Surviving Sacrament Meeting, Ipod Touch, Spiritual Thought, Crazy Life, Please share!

~I finally perfected rice after 17 years of trying. When Brian and I were first married I was the worst cook ever!! I was especially bad at cooking rice. I also had a hard time actually remembering to cook rice in the first time with meals until the sauce or whatever I cooked was finished. Brian was also bad at cooking rice. He can make fabulous bread, rolls, meals. I can cook just about anything that doesn't require yeast. But we just couldn't get along with rice. It always ended up crunchy in spots and gummy in other spots when we made it. So gross!! So we started making Minute Rice all the time. It saves time and it is always cooked right. Now that we have a family of 6 people to feed and a VERY limited budget, we decided we better master the art of cooking rice. We've been trying for a few months now and Brian finally figured out Jasmine rice. But still more expensive than regular old rice. I was still struggling until I started cooking 2 cups of rice with 5 cups of water and I cook it at a bit higher temp than we were before. Now it works! Every time!!! I am SoOoO happy!! I know it's kind of weird to be so happy about that I just felt like a weirdo for not being able to figure it out before. It seemed EVERYONE but us could cook rice. Yay me!!! Now I just have to get serious about mastering recipes that require yeast. Wish me luck!!  :)
~I've decided after attending Sacrament Meeting with my kids last week as usual on Sunday morning, that every single one of them must have ADHD. Sometimes they're worse than other times and last week was rough. We've tried taking snacks, books, coloring books, notebooks, Friend magazines, lacing boards to keep them entertained but it seems they just fight over them. Or discuss what they are doing...LOUDLY!!! Make huge messes. Cause many distractions and big scenes. It just isn't pretty! So last week we tried the -not bringing anything- thing...again. I think it worked about the same as anything else does. My biggest problem is that Max and Matthew think their voices only have one volume. Full blast! I wish there was some kind of muzzle for kids that I could use at church. Is that bad? This week we didn't bring ANYTHING again and it worked pretty well. Much better than last week. Matthew's volume is still full blast but they behaved as well as any little wiggly boy could be expected to behave.
~I am truly grateful that we decided to buy Zack an Ipod touch for his birthday last year!!! He had been begging for a Nintendo DS or an Ipod for a couple of years. An Ipod touch costs more than they do but you can use it for both games AND music as well as about a zillion other things. We NEVER spend anywhere near what we spent on that thing for birthdays but he's a great kid, we can't afford to pay allowance, we can't afford to take him anywhere fun ever, he NEVER gets ANYTHING fun so we figured it was worth a splurge for him!! Thank goodness we got it for him! If you don't have one in your family you definitely need one!!! We were sitting there in Sacrament Meeting when Zack remembered he was supposed to give a talk in Primary today. He whipped out his Ipod touch, that Brian was going to borrow for Sunday School and Priesthood since it has the scriptures and lesson manual on it, and looked up the Friend magazine and found a lovely little story by Elder Uchtdorf to read for his talk. Saved again!!!
~Our lesson in Sunday School was fantastic today! I just love it when this certain man substitutes! He is outstanding!! We talked a bit about The Word of Wisdom and about how some people don't want to commit to following that commandment or any commandments but want to eat, drink, and be merry and not be accountable at all. Brother McCourt talked about how Jesus suffered all of our sins and died for us that we might be forgiven of our sins and return to live with Him, our Heavenly Father, and our families forever and what does he ask of us in return? That we obey His commandments. That we live lives that emulate Him and that we be instruments in His hands in serving others, loving others, and bringing our brothers and sisters to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that none of us is perfect and that ultimately we are all striving towards the same goal. And that we all know what we should and should not be doing but I just love how each week at church we can be inspired to live certain  commandments and principals more fully. Each of us may find something different that we, as individuals need to work on but if we all go with the same attitude of being humble/teachable, the spirit can speak to us and help us find ways to achieve our Celestial goals. I was really not thrilled to go to church this morning. Time changes are hard and I turned off the alarm and decided say a quick prayer before getting in the shower and accidentally fell asleep until 10 minutes to 8:00. Not good!! It's a circus at our house Sunday morning and sometimes when I'm sitting in Sacrament Meeting after all the craziness, I don't always have the right spirit about me. But I forced myself to go and I am so glad I did! I eventually humbled myself and allowed those wonderful whisperings to happen. Next week I'm going to try to not FORCE myself to go but to go with a happy heart and with an excitement to learn.
~The last few weeks have been crazy! Here are a few of the things we've had going on.
*baseball sign-ups
*baseball try outs
*New Beginnings: LOTS of hours and details and work but oh so worth it!!! It was a really great night!!!
*Zack received his Arrow of Light badge through a really neat ceremony at the Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts. Incidentally, the entire Blue and Gold Banquet lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes! Only church should last that long and even then...kind of iffy! :)
*Meal planning for a month
*Grocery shopping for a month
*Zack's D.A.R.E. graduation
*Matthew's Patriotic concert for school on a Wednesday night that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes
*Zackary's Patriotic concert for school the very next night that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes also. Same program. Same parts. Same songs. Different kids. They didn't have enough room for all of the parents and families to be there on the same night so they decided to split it up and have them do it on 2 different nights. UGH!!!
*Fire station field trip with Max's preschool
*Parent/teacher conferences: Warning: Shameless bragging ahead!! Have I mentioned lately that my children are positively BRILLIANT?!!!!! I am so proud of them! I love that the teachers always say they wish they had a class full of students as well behaved and smart as my kids are! They are awesome!!! And they both have THE best teachers EVER!!!
*I had a couple of Dr.'s visits, medicine additions and tweaks, and 8 vials of blood for testing. Fun stuff!
*A 3-4 hour Book of Mormon Read
*My beautiful niece Emily's 1st birthday party

We've been busy and having fun! Brian and I are gearing up for a very busy baseball season as many of you are. I've GOT to be more organized with our meals this year. Last year we ate so many hot dogs that the mere thought of them makes me gag a bit! We never tired of sandwiches though. What is your favorite "go to" busy night meal. Please comment and share your tip with me! Even if I don't know you PLEASE help me out here! Take care everyone!!!

Rise and Shine...

We used to be so diligent about having family scripture study every night before our kids went to bed. That was until Zack started playing baseball. The hours are so crazy! It throws our whole schedule out of wack and we have such a hard time recovering it when the season ends. Course once that ends, football season is right around the corner and it's just as difficult to stay on track. We have a hard time squeezing dinner in, let alone scripture study. And the kids are so hard to keep under control for scriptures in the evening when they are more energetic (won't keep quiet) and can't stay still (they poke, punch, and bug the heck out of each other which leads to lots of referreeing and a general lack of feeling the spirit). When this school year started we decided that Brian and I would take turns reading scriptures while the kids ate their breakfast. They just talked to each other the whole time instead of listening. And then Brian started working 4 days a week,10 hours a day so he can be home on Fridays to help me more and he started waking up at like 6:10 a.m. The boys have to wake up at 6:50 in order to make the bus on time. So, we've started getting the kids up at 6:30 to read scriptures and I must say it is FABULOUS!!! We have iliminated all talking, poking, punching, and bugging each other. They're still half asleep so they're too tired to do anything but sit there on the couch, wrapped snugly in their blankets, listening. It's wonderful! We should have done this years ago! Getting them up a little early has been awesome! By the time we are finished reading scriptures they are good and awake. When they get dressed and eat breakfast they aren't so sluggish and that parts easier. I've even made eggs and toast for breakfast a few times and Brian made pancakes once on a Friday morning with the extra time we have. They eat cold cereal, instant oatmeal cooked in the microwave, or toast and yogurt or fruit most mornings so they love this improvement. And I don't feel so guilty so it's all good. :)

Great idea...

Matthew's Primary teacher last year was INCREDIBLE!!! All the kids loved her. She was there almost every week and really took her calling seriously and did a great job! In January she gave Matthew this book to take home and keep. It is a journal he worked on each week last year. There is always extra time after the lesson in primary. Some teachers fill the extra time by taking the children for a little walk, singing songs, letting them color, or if the kids are older, the old reliable "Spiritual Hangman". Sister Hamaker, however, chose to have the kids work on a little journal each week. I think it is just fabulous! I wish I'd had this idea with the zillions of primary classes we've taught over the years! I thought it was such a great idea I'd share.

It was also really fun to see the improvement in his handwriting since he was half way through Kindergarten when they started the books and then halfway through 1st Grade when they finished.

These are some of my favorite pages...
This is the first page but could have easily been put on the cover of the 3 ring binder. She left the cover plain. She put the pages in page protectors.

Apparently he was absent this week but it's quite nice.

 This was the Father's Day page and he wrote on the hearts...he is nice...he makes me laugh.

 I shared my blocks with Max and made him happy

 It says on the bottom of the page...I'm grabbing my sister so she won't bite my brothers.      hehe

The next picture has nothing to do with the rest of the post but I thought the roses that Brian gave me for Valentine's Day were so pretty. They all opened up really big just like they do on a rose bush. Usually they stay pretty closed, which is equally pretty.

Back to reality.....

So, for the last 2 weeks our church building has had no power. We couldn't meet there or have weekly activities for 2 weeks. We met at the stake center with the 2nd ward for Sacrament Meeting and then we were...justifiably...with permission...even encouraged...

to go home!!! 

Isn't that totally awesome! We ALL loved it!!! Don't get me wrong I do enjoy church but it sometimes feels more emotionally and physically exhausting than it's worth wrestling 4 kids and all. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that way. And sometimes I dread it like crazy so having a nice little break was great.  The super nice bishop of the 2nd ward invited us to stay for all the meetings. But our bishop said we could go home so we did!!!! The other ward's members were very welcoming and kind to us and we appreciate them letting us steal their designated pews for 2 weeks! But now...sadly...it's back to reality for us. Our ward building has power again. It sure was nice while it lasted though!!!

Randomness...

~I love that the kinda older lady I visit teach has Dynamite by Taio Cruz playing when you call her phone instead of hearing ringing when you wait for her to answer. Not sure what that's called but it totally cracks me up every time I call her.
~We had a great activity on Friday with the youth. The Bishop invited the youth and leaders to his house for a Book of Mormon read. During the summer they had an all night Book of Mormon read-a-thon at the church. They would each take turns reading a page and then once in a while they would have a break and eat snacks and stuff. It sounded like a lot of fun to me. They had some of the kids and leaders talk about the experience in Sacrament Meeting that week. Well, they all loved it so much that our Bishop invited everyone over to his house for a mini read-a-thon. Just 3 hours this time. From 6pm-9pm. He ordered Pizza Hut pizza and had plenty of pop. One of the leaders brought homemade salsa and chips and another brought homemade oreos. It was fun! And so neat to read and then discuss some of the scriptures and have some spiritual insight from everyone. It was just a neat experience that I am grateful I was able to be a part of this time.
~I'm so excited to start working towards achieving my Young Women's Medallion as a leader. They even have fancy new ones that are really pretty and I'm hoping to get one of those! They have a garnet I believe and you can get it in either silver or gold.
~The kids had their Primary program today and they did a really good job. It was really a neat concept that the ladies came up with. Matty did the opening of the program, Max gave a talk we had to write for him for the program, and Zack had a part as well as reading the conclusion of the program. I was thinking how well behaved the boys had been through the program. Zack was reading the conclusion. I started to get choked up for some girly reason. Some ladies started making their way to the front while the pianist started playing Teach Me To Walk In the Light. I realized the ladies were going to sing the verse that starts, Come little child and together we'll learn. More tears. Then the kids started doing the first verse in sign language. Flowing tears came as I thought about my cousins sweet little son, Parker. Then......Max (who is sitting on the front row on the stand and is realizing that it's hard to do sign language while holding a talk in your hands) threw his wadded up piece of paper (talk) to us seeing as how we were on the 2nd row of pews (and I thought making the walk of shame to the 2nd row since we were late was going to be the most embarrassing moment of the meeting). Instant end to flowing tears. Silly boy! We were SO CLOSE!!!
~Went to the Soup and Bread Dinner last night at church. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that night each year! Brian made ham and potato soup (clam chowder with ham instead of clams since Matty is allergic to fish). So yummy! It was the first soup gone and everyone loved it! One old guy was even scraping the pan to get the last of it on his second helping. Good stuff! Bonus...The Banasky's let everyone fill up the cute little bushel baskets with gourds that were decorating the tables and take them home. I was so excited! They grow tons of gourds and pumpkins. They sell them and donate all the money to the Angel Tree at Christmas. Super neat people! Such HUGE hearts they have! One of their daughters is one of my Beehives. Love her! She is just the sweetest girl in the world!
~ Brian and I made this apple crisp together a few minutes ago. It is SO yummy and the house smells just like Fall!!! LOVE IT!!!

Oh the horrors of Sunday School...

LOL! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our ward!!! We love all the members we have met so far and feel so welcome and at home. We're making friends and really enjoy going to church each week! The Relief Society teachers are amazing and we are really learning a lot about the Old Testament in Sunday School from our regular teacher as well as lots of subs that have taught the class. I even LIKE going to Sunday School here EXCEPT...I'm not a big fan of reading in public. It intimidates me. Especially reading Old Testament scriptures in public. I'm a chicken! Well, each of the teachers, the regular one as well as the subs, start at the front of the classroom and then everyone takes their turn reading until everyone in the class has had a turn. UGGHH!!! There is actually a rule in our church that you aren't supposed to do that for several reasons. One of the reasons is that someone might not be able to read well and it might offend them to be asked to read in front of everyone. One of the reasons is sometimes people have been disfellowshipped or excommunicated and they are not supposed to participate in prayers or any part of the service. They are supposed to just be there to learn and listen through their, hopefully, very PRIVATE time of repentance. None of these apply to me, I'm just EXTREMELY uncomfortable reading difficult scripture in front of people, call me crazy! But I really enjoy benefiting from this rule!! Reading in class or praying is supposed to be an entirely voluntary thing. Well, apparently our new ward does not know of this rule and they do this each week. Well, we are studying Isaiah and this week there was a DIFFERENT sub. Not only would she MAKE you read the scripture but then she would ask you to EXPLAIN or EXPOUND on the scripture. Can you imagine! It's Isaiah remember!! Seriously intimidating stuff! Finally, it was my new hero, Cristen's turn. When she finished reading the teacher asked her to explain the scriptures she just read. She said something like, I don't know, that's why I came to this class, because I don't understand Isaiah. I was hoping someone else would explain it to me. I had to force myself to not stand up and cheer! I did however, tell her how great I thought it was that she said that when class was over.  I'm sure for some people it seems just silly to be so uncomfortable about this but I'm also sure I'm not alone. I think it just always pays to try to be considerate of others and to try to always follow the rules that are set in place. Even if you don't understand the reason for the rules, they are in place for a reason.!!!

A great quote...

In Relief Society today there was a quote on the board that is by Elder Samuelson that was WONDERFUL!!! Just thought I'd share.

"Worthiness and perfection are NOT synonyms."   

The lesson was about how we are just too hard on ourselves. Our teacher was talking about how we often tend to look at ourselves as satan and the world want us to look at ourselves. Like we aren't good enough, we aren't skinny enough, we aren't good enough mothers, we aren't good at this or that. Like we aren't worthy. She was saying that we should, instead, look at ourselves as the Savior looks at us. We don't have to be perfect at everything and in every way but we just need to do our best to be good and faithful and not let the negativity of the world come through.

So I say, pat yourselves on the back...feel like a beautiful daughter of God...smile...and find joy in the ride.

Randomness

~Swamp coolers don't work very well in 90 degree weather with 60% humidity.
~Why is there 60% humidity here?! I think that must be some kind of record. Or at least it has to be a record for most continuous days with 50-60% humidity. Seriously!! I've lived here for 21 years and I've never experienced this. It's like living in Kansas again. Especially in the town we live in. Maybe up north where there are lakes and stuff but where we live is usually dry as a bone! Our skin was cracked and bleeding this winter from the incredible dryness. Usually when we come visit for a weekend our skin dries out so badly that we itch like mad. So humidity like this is unusual. The nice thing is we aren't bleeding from the dryness anymore. The bad part is...we're MELTING!!! Our swamp cooler is not working well at all. All of our chips, cereal, and crackers are grody mush! Not good!!! Oh well, whatchya gonna do?! At least it's hot and not snowy. That is definitely a good thing!!!
~International Days was so much fun this year! The kids were in the Kid's Day parade. They got to go to the Kid's Day activities and had so much fun on the climbing walls, bounce houses, getting their faces painted, winning stuffed animals, getting snow cones. The best part for me is that it was ALL....FREE!!! (FYI: Nice looking men in their 70s look weird with earrings in their ears!!!) We walked over to the fun craft booths and I bought a super adorable hat at the place De got hers last year. They are so fun and cute and I can't wait to wear mine! It's too stinking hot now to wear it but some day I will wear it and it will be so cute! I never buy myself fun stuff so I am so excited!!! Saturday Zack was in the grande parade with the scouts. He had so much fun! And he looked adorable in his new Webelos scarf and slider. He's the cutest scout ever!!! Later he got to help out at the Scout Expo. They had a fun rope bridge to climb on and they got to make rockets and shoot them off. They LOVED that!!!
My FAVORITE part was that they opened up the log cabins at Pioneer Park and let us walk through them. That was so neat! And I got to look at the incredible quilt that the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers made to raffle off. What talented ladies! It was such a great day! The heat and humidity made it horribly hot and sticky but we still had a lot of fun! Brian missed all the fun since he was picking up jet skis in Wahweep Friday and picking up a boat in Bullfrog on Saturday. So grateful for his willingness to work so hard for our little family!!!
~To finish off our great weekend we went to church. What great meetings! Testimony meeting was wonderful and Relief Society was just lovely! Our bishop's wife taught the lesson. This was her third week teaching in a row for various reasons. Her husband has cancer and is going through chemo now and I think she works. How many of us would have said, NO WAY!!! I'm too busy, or I have already taught 2 times before?! So glad she taught because I totally needed to hear her lesson! What an incredible lady! The spirit was very strong in that meeting. I felt truly uplifted and edified as they say and ready to face the new week. So glad for a great ward!!! After dinner we walked the Helper walking path. That was nice. We hadn't done that in years! The kids hadn't been except Zack and he was too little to remember. They had so much fun climbing the fun steep staircase, walking through tunnels, watching the water run over the little water fall, and eating plums they picked from the tree. It was such a fun time!

My cute flashy hat. Won't I be cute when I'm having a bad hair day and I throw this on my head! I can't wait to wear it!