Activities before Christmas

This week was really great and fun. It was busy and hectic, but we made it through. We just put all cleaning and chores aside and will have to get to them this week.

Anyway as a summary of the week:

• Helped out at school just about every day with last minute Christmas crafts, gifts, and other stuff.


• Tyler's class made their gingerbread houses, way fun!


• Went to the kids Christmas program at Kern McGee Center and School.


• Class Christmas parties.


• Visited Justin's work -- the kids had a blast throwing paper airplanes from a top floor of an airplane hanger.


• Went to the Los Angeles temple and saw the Christmas lights, as well as did some service for others.


• Went to a wedding at an Old Baptist Church (which was very cool, but I didn't get pictures).


• Visited Justin's Brother in north L.A.


• Wished for snow, but we never got it -- maybe this week, I can still wish can't I. I only want one day, that is it.


• Visited live nativity at church.
  

Our Christmas Card

We decided to go green this year and send a paperless Christmas Card!
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Love of Nativities

I really love to look at all of the wonderful Nativity Scenes that there are out there.Luckily I have several, thanks to my AWESOME mom who gives me a new one just aboutevery year. All have special meaning to me and really help me to understand what Christmas is all about. Thank you mom! Here is a song that I dedicate to the nativity:

(tune of Oh Christmas Tree)

Oh Nativity, Oh Nativity

I really love to see thee

Oh Nativity, Oh Nativity

Thou does set my heart with glee

Just looking at you around my front room

tends to wipe away my inner gloom

Oh Nativity, Oh Nativity

Oh what a sight to see

If we only knew what all thought there

beneath the shining light all shared

Oh Nativity, Oh Nativity

I so appreciate the thoughts you bring to me

This is my recent addition that my WONDERFUL mom crocheted

I love it! It is so fun to see every day and I know it was made with lots and lots of LOVE!

Spirit of Christmas

In the hustle and bustle of this season it seems that the time goes by way too fast and after I always wonder did I stop to think about what true meaning of this season really is. I would like this year to have our Christmas more centered on Christ. In this months Ensign President Monson talks about the Spirit of Christmas. He mentions that if you take the ending off of Christmas the true meaning of Christmas is "The Spirit of Christ". He also mentions that: "true happiness comes only by making others happy...", "giving not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit", we forgive our enemies, remember friends, and obey God.

Those are all great things to think about and ponder this Christmas season. I was really grateful for that article because I want to be happy and also remember to put Christ into my Christmas rather than get all caught up in the commercialism of the season. We have traditions that we have to help us in this, but I would like to know what you blurkers out there do to have the "Spirit of Christ" in your Christmas? So tag you are all it!!!!

Get to know you Christmas

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, I'm a little freaked out by in home tree fires from dry trees
3. When do you put up the tree? Already did on Monday
4. When do you take the tree down? After New years
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes,but not alot
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Anything Star Wars
7. Hardest person to buy for? Justin
8. Easiest person to buy for? Tyler and Mackay
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, at least 7
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but am thinking of emailing this year to save money
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don't Know
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas and The Christmas Story
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, but don't recall
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hot Chocolate and Cinnamon Rolls
16. Lights on the tree? White
17. Favorite Christmas song? Too Many to list
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home for this year
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? In the morning the earlier the better
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? That is starts earlier and ealier every year, in a commercialized way anyway.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red and Green/Nativity
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, hot rolls, etc..
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I don't know, I am hard to shop for too!

Freezing Cold Snow

For Thanksgiving we took off to Southern Utah to visit with family. It was so much fun and relaxing. We enjoyed a quiet, rainy Thanksgiving where I cooked my 2nd Turkey which turned out so nice and moist, yay!
The next day we headed up in the mountains to find some snow, we just had to sled. Boy was it cold, there was this wind that chilled us, well me I should say. Everyone else was just fine, I am such a whimp. Anyway, the snow was too powdery so we ended up pulling the kids up and down this road, they thought it was great. They also found a little hill that they were finally able to slide down. I stayed in the truck with my father-in-law towards the end of our adventure, because we were both so cold

Here are the kids enjoying a good ride.

Our Family Christmas Photo. Burr!

The kids attempt at decorating a gingerbread house.

Also while we were there we went out a did a little bit of shooting. I hadn't done it in forever, but found out that I am quite the shot. We bought some cheap pop and shook it up and then shot the cans. It was pretty cool to see the pop cans explode and froth all over when it was hit. I shot several of the cans but in one of my shots I hit one can at such an angle that the bullet also went through a second can just up the ledge from the first. I very lucky shot, but everyone was so impressed with me. I guess I have another talent, I don't know if it is one I am proud of but I can hold my own if I ever had to shoot something, maybe???

Today I spent the day unpacking, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, putting away the Thanksgiving decoration, and putting up the Christmas decorations, whew, no wonder I am so tired tonight.

Thanksgiving

As I sit here in a nice warm home with the rain coming down outside and after eatting a really great Thanksgiving meal, I can't help but reflect on how blessed I am. I am really lucky to have the many things that I have. I would just like to write about a few of them at this moment:

• God


• Family


• A loving husband


• Friends


• Country


• Jesus


• Home


• Freedom


• modern transportation


• I can be a stay at home mom


• my husband has a job


• food


• clothing


• a bed to sleep in


• my body


• my name


• shoes


• computer


• blogs (although more people blurk than leave comments)


• education


• books


• humor


• laughter


• love


• microwave ovens


• all kitchen appliances


• flushable toilets


• showers


• toothbrushes

I could spend all day writting things, because there is so much to be grateful for.

We are all so lucky to have what we have, hopefully I can always be grateful for everything big or small!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Weeks Events

This week was full of all kinds of things. We had Visiting Teaching, Home Teaching, Parent Teacher Conferences, helping at school with the book fair, helping in the Kindergarten class with all the Thanksgiving crafts and feast preparation, and cooking a turkey for the Thanksgiving feast (for my first turkey I have ever cooked it turned out great).

The new look for J. I think it looks pretty good on him.

Friday was wacky hair day at school. The kids were very excited about this!

Tyler's Thanksgiving feast at school.

Yum, Yum!

Adventures!!!

Now that the weather is cooler, but still quite warm and nice it is time to put on the hiking boots, grab some water and some snacks and get out and explore the vast desert.

We love a good adventure so on Veteran's Day we decided to check out some places that weren't too far from our home. We headed south west of town in our Trooper and talked about what a Veteran was and why we celebrated Veteran's Day along the way. We are so very grateful for all the brave men and women who have fought for our freedoms.

MJ and TJ are checking out an old mine. The person who owned this mine actually built a home around his mine. It is all gone now but you can see where the home was. I couldn't get a good picture of it from close up and forgot about getting one further away.

This is a train tunnel that is in the middle of no where. I believe the trains come from Trona. There is a switching station on the other side of the tunnel.

The boys are checking out a tarantula. That was the most fascinating things for them on this trip. We ran into some bikers and they said that it was actually a trap door spider, but it's part of the tarantula family. I don't care for spiders so I just stood back and took pictures. My kids are very brave. In fact, MJ's happy for the day was that he got to pet a tarantula.

This is another old mine that MJ and TJ practiced their mining skills on. Dirt was coming down on them everywhere. From here there are a lot of Trailers and campers that are grouped together. We didn't know it but we were on private property and people still have gold claims out there and quite the equipment that they use in search for their golden treasures.

Here are my handsome adventurers with our mode of transportation through the vast dry desert. We really had a good time. I really didn't know that there could be so much to see in this desolate part of the world. We are so glad that we are able to find some adventure and fun here in the desert.

As for the rest of the week: Sunday we had Stake Conference. It was so good, I especially liked the Adult session from the night before. Monday we spent a good part of the morning and afternoon at the park playing with friends. Wednesday-Friday were minimum days and we had Tyler's parent teacher conference. He is doing really well in school! Wednesday our garage door had problems again and one of the spools flipped off because the tension cord had come loose and so the whole door shifted to one side. Scary! Anyway Justin was out of town so I fixed it myself, ha..ha. I called the garage door guys and had them come and fix it. I am really tired of that garage door. I think we are cursed because this is the third time since we had it replaced that we have had a problem. Craziness!

Today is a new day and maybe we will go on another adventure, who knows!!

What Makes Me Happy

Every day at dinner we talk about what makes us happy through the day and it got me to thinking (I know dangerous pastime) about writing down the little things that make me happy. Maybe then when I am in a slump I can take a peek and instantly be happy, okay so maybe it won't be that easy. Here are the things that make me happy:

1. Singing in the shower
2. When my kids do what they are asked to do - the first time.
3. Hearing a great song
4. The out of the blue "I love you" from my family
5. Hugs and kisses (especially from my hubby)
6. Phone calls from friends or family to just say "Hi" or see how I am doing.
7. Surprises -- especially if I don't find out about them before hand, which seems to always happen.
8. Chocolate -- my favorite being Dove Dark Chocolate (because then my hubby won't eat them)
9. Doing things for others
10. Seeing my children laugh and play (and treat each other kindly)

There are so many more come to think of it, but I won't make everyone read them all!

Happiness Quotes
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.

YES ON 8 --TODAY!

Today is the day -- election day. We have all been waiting for it to come and be over with. I hope all will vote with a clear conscience and make the right choices especially concerning Prop 8. Remember YES ON 8!

Reasons Yes on 8 is so important to me:

My children

My family

Those who want to adopt through religious agencies still will be able to.

My religion

Obedience - we have been asked by the Lord to vote Yes on *

It is just the right thing to do.

Marriage is a powerful bond, and it should only be between a man and a woman as God intended it from the beginning.

I so appreciate those who have walked miles, made endless phone call, and stood on corners rain or shine. Thank You for fighting for our cause and expressing our freedom of speech. May we all be blessed for the efforts of many.

Halloween

This week of Halloween was so different for us. We didn't have preschool or Joy School so Halloween Parties were only on the day of Halloween this year. It was kind of nice, but sad at the same time. It was a very fun week all in all. Tyler's class went to a Pumpkin Patch on Tuesday. It was at the Calvary Church and they read stories to the kids, let them pick out a small pumpkin, make a craft, color a picture, play a game, decorate a sugar cookie, and walk around and see all of the different pumpkins. The kids really enjoyed it especially because they got to ride to there on a school bus.
We also did our pumpkin carving this week. The boys were good to get all of the goop out of the pumpkins and Mackay attempted to carve his own pumpkin. They turned out pretty good, but we forgot to light them on the night of Halloween.
Friday, Halloween, was a busy day. We started with a full morning of a parade and party for Tyler's Kindergarten class, then headed back to the school after going out for lunch for Mackay's parade and class party. They had a great time at school today. After a break at home for the afternoon we had a dinner of Jack-o-Lantern cheese burgers, finger fries, grape eyeballs, and ogre toes (carrots). We toped that off with witches brew, complete with worms. The boys went trick or treating around our neighborhood and then we headed to the church for the trunk or treat. To top off the night we did a little more trick or treating. We have way to much treats now.
I forgot -- Justin had his annual work costume contest. He went as a rocker dude and he actually won the contest. All they gave him was a trophy, last year the person who won got a $30 gift certificate.
I dressed up as a witch but because I am the only one who every thinks of taking pictures, there is not one of myself. I totally forgot about that. Mackay was Indiana Jones and Tyler was Dash from the Incredibles in the morning and changed his mind for the evening and was a muscle man, as he called it.
A little wisdom from Tyler in closing. As we were driving to the grocery store this week, Tyler out of the blue said, "Mom, Satan tricks us and Jesus gives us treats. The treats Jesus gives us is love." Very profound eh! He learned that in primary come to find out.

Disney Pictures

Some pictures of us at Disneyland!

Happiest Place on Earth

They say that Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth and I have to agree with people, we spent a very happy 3 days and Disneyland and California Adventure. I think we hit about every ride we wanted to plus saw a few shows. Justin loved Space Mountain and the 3-D bug show (surprisingly), he also enjoyed a ride where you get shot in the air and then fall back down. I noticed the face guards on that ride and knew it was made for people like me who might spew while being shot up and down and opted out of going on that ride. My favorite part of the trip was being there with my sister and her family. We spent one day with them and then did our own thing for the next couple of days. I also liked all of the roller coaster type rides. Mackay said the Buzz Lightyear ride was his favorite and also being there with cousins. Tyler was quite the trooper and did everything without a complaint. He also liked the Buzz Lightyear ride and Space Mountain.
My boys also got to have their dreams come true while at this magical park. They were able to be in the Jedi Academy and fight Darth Vader. It was very cool!

"Fun with Grandpa and Grandma Hill"

Just after Justin's parents left my parents were here to visit. They arrived on October 14 and we had fun with them until the 20th. My mom and I got busy making cards, went for walks, watched fun movies, and shopped for Christmas gifts. We put my dad to work fixing little things around the house like our swingset, outside light, and others. I have to keep him busy or he will search for things to fix. He also enjoyed a couple of days of golfing.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the carnival that we took my parents to over at the elementary school. They had fun enjoying the booths and goodies while I sat and worked the ticket booth.
Saturday after attending a friend of Mackay's birthday party we went down to Tehachappi to get some apples. Luckily they still had some on the tree at one of the orchards so we picked a few pounds of apples and then went to the bakery in town for a little treat. We then decided to take a little scenic tour through the mountains that go from Tehachappi to Lake Isabella. It was kind of a fun little drive. They called the area cowboys country. It was very dry, but I bet it is nice and green when the rain actually falls.
My mom also made sugar cookies with the boys. They were able to frost and decorate them on Sunday.
We were sad to see them go, but are grateful that they came to visit us. Thanks mom and dad! We are also grateful that Justin's parents came to visit us the weekend before, THANK YOU!

Ayers Rock -- October 11

Justin's parents were here this weekend and we decided to take them on a little adventure. We took off to the north past Fossil Falls and took a dirt road that leads up to a pumas mine. Just up to the left aways from this mine is a huge boulder that has Indian paintings on it. It was pretty cool to see. The boys loved hiking around the area and climbing on all of the rocks. More information about the area is on this blog .

Who Inspires Me?

I am currently doing this Healthy Lifestyle Program as part of one of the Enrichment Activities in our ward and we have the opportunity to reflect on someone who has inspired us in our life. This was really hard for me to think of because there are so many people who inspire me and so many people who have helped me to be a better person. So not to leave anyone out I am going to reflect on someone of the past who I have recently learned a little about. This is Emma Smith. She was truly an incredible and elect lady. She went through so much, lost so many children, and still remained faithful to her husband and was strong for him. She loved him very much no mater what. Two things that really make me appreciate her are: 1) She helped Joseph with translating the Book of Mormon and cleaned around the covered plates but not once looked at or saw the Golden Plates. I bet she was tempted to just pull up the cloth and look at them, but because she was so obedient she never once looked. (Personally I would have taken a little peek.) 2) After Joseph was martyred and she didn't go with the Saints who left Nauvoo she remarried. Her husband later left her and married a lady half his age who had a child. She ended up taking in this child and cared for him as her own as well as took in his mother as help around the house. I believe this shows just how caring and loving she was as a person.
In summary, I hope that I can be that kind of person. I hope that I can have lots of faith, love, be kind, and be obedient. Emma Smith has truly inspired me to want to be a better person.

Yes on Prop 8

Okay, I have a blog and according to the brethren I need to use this to spread the word that I am voting YES on Prop 8. Marriage should be defined between a man and a woman. I am doing this for many reasons:

1) I don't want the curriculum's of schools to change, values and what marriage is should be taught in the home. I don't want what I am teaching my children be taught differently in the school system.

2) People like me who have adopted children through our church will no longer be able to do so if Prop 8 doesn't pass because agencies will have to close down because of the new rules that they will have to abide by.

3) I believe that it will be the downfall of the family unit. Children have the right to be raised by a father and a mother.

4) Our right will slowly be stripped from us because there will be no tolerance for the beliefs that I have as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I have nothing against homosexuals, and what they do with their lives is their business. They are children of our Heavenly Father just like we are and have their agency to choose what they may, but may they also be compassionate on the way that we would like to raise our families and how we want to teach our children.

You can click on the title of this post and it will take you to a site that talks about Prop 8 and what you can do to help or to just be educated in what it is. You can also click on the Protect Marriage Logo to go to their website.

Remember if you want to Protect Marriage and have it defined as being between a man and a woman vote YES on Prop 8.

Which Super Hero Am I?

You are Green Lantern
Green Lantern
70%
Superman
60%
Iron Man
50%
Robin
47%
Spider-Man
45%
Catwoman
40%
Wonder Woman
28%
The Flash
25%
Supergirl
23%
Batman
20%
Hulk
20%
Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Although I don't think that I am very hot headed. I am pretty cool, calm and collect for the most part. There is an occasional outburst hear and there.

Surprise!

Justin, my sweet hubby, surprised me by buying us tickets to "Wicked" down at the Pantages Theater in L.A. So we headed down there Friday afternoon after Justin got back from hunting with a friend up in the Kennedy Meadows area. I thought he would be beat, but he said he felt great. Anyway thanks to friends taking our kids for the night we had a great trip down to L.A. We actually got down there in good time and had no trouble with traffic, amazing eh! I had never walked the around and seen all the stars on the sidewalk in Hollywood so we did that until it was time to enter the theater. It was fun, but also kind of embarrassing because I didn't recognize a lot of the names. We also ran into an older couple who grew up in the area and were also going to the play so the told us all fo the great places to go. Justin will probably remember the names of the places but as for me it was in one ear and out the other.

The play was absolutely fantastic! So much fun. The performers all did a great job. It was totally worth going and seeing. I really love the story because it really brings out a great point. You can't judge a person by what they look like or what others say about them. Also true friendship can break all barriers. It was a feel good show, and you can't say that about very many shows anymore.

As for the rest of our week everything was pretty same oh, same oh. I did start a Healthy Lifestyle group that our Enrichment is doing. It is really nice and makes me more cautious about taking care of myself. Saturday we helped out with Relay for Life and walked for a couple of hours for our dear friend Bishop Lukens. It was a thought provoking experience to walk around the track and look at how many people cancer has affected. Other than that we listened to most of conference. I just love conference, it always makes me feel better and encourages me to even work harder on things that I fall short on. What an uplift.

It finally happened!!!

MJ finally lost his first tooth!

He was so excited...it took forever since most of his friends teeth were falling out clear back in kindergarten and he is in the 2nd grade.

Here is that pearly white. Tiny isn't it!

How it happened: TJ and MJ were wrestling on the floor and TJ knocked it out of MJ mouth. The tooth fell out on to the carpet and MJ yelled "Tyler just knocked my tooth out of my mouth". We thought he was just kidding, but nope there it was right on the floor.

Not so Strange Realism

Shar (that's me) is an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. She wakes up each morning and squints through blurry eyes every morning at the alarm clock that sits on the bed side table. It usually reads 4:55 a.m. She lays backs and contemplates sleeping for just a few more minutes and then grudgingly swings her feet to the side of the bed, puts her glasses on, and shuffles to the restroom for a few minutes and then continues her shuffle up to the kitchen to take her thyroid meds (which she wishes would make her magically skinny). By then she is totally awake and starts her day with some spiritual stimulation (yes early morning scripture study). She pulls out her notebook, study book, and scriptures and absorbs herself into them deeply (well most of the time). After a 1/2 an hour she is wide awake and ready to exercise, which she does for 20 -30 minutes with a selected variety of exercises. Some mornings it is lifting weights, others doing the elliptical. By 6 a.m. it is off to the shower and to make herself look and smell better for the day. After a new coat of face paint, fresh clothes, and a great positive outlook for the day she goes and wakes her angels. Some mornings these precious boys get right up and ready themselves for the school day, but other mornings are a little more challenging and Shar has to ask them to get ready 4 or 5 times, and patience wears a little thin by the 3rd time. By 7 a.m. we eat a hearty breakfast. Usually something different every day. Our favorite being toast and yogurt or cottage cheese and pears. While kids eat Shar packs a lunch for both of her boys, ushers them to the bathroom for teeth brushing, face washing, and a little hair brushing. Sometimes we forget the hair brushing and face washing and it really shows. After scooting the kids to the car and rushing them off to school she returns home to clean, wash, or do something that seems to always keep her busy. Every week is different and there is always something going on.
When school is over the kids return home they grudgingly do homework and chores and then can play on a good day. Oh, we can't forget the piano practicing. It is then time to make dinner and prepare for the hubby to come home and do our nightly routine.
It may seem like an ordinary dull life, but it is my life and I LOVE it. Each day is a new adventure, each day has its own surprises (some good, some bad), each day is fulfilling.

(Sorry I just watched "Stranger than Fiction" -- my life may never make it in a book, but all and all it is a fun and interesting life to me)

9/11 Memories and more

I as well as others have reflected on what happened 7 years ago this past week.

I remember getting ready to go walking with my neighbor across the street when my husband called and said, "A couple of planes just crashed into the twin towers". Me being the knowledgeable person that I am had no idea what he was talking about but turned on the TV to watch the after math of what had happened in New York City, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. We didn't end up going on a walk and just sat stunned by what had happened. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone what to do this to anyone?" and "What has this world come to?". Anyway, I am just grateful that we were all safe, as well as my family and friends. My heart did go out to those who were affected by what had happened. I wish that people still held that great feeling of patriotism that they did 7 years ago. Our country really came together then. My boys told me of the assembly that they had at school and both commented on how September 11 was a sad day and why did those planes crash into that building? So we talked about it a little.

This week went by quick and we had fun with friends and family. M and T were both able to go to Birthday parties for friends. J and I went on a date shopping, but didn't find anything we wanted to get. J also helped up in Lone Pine for canvasing for Prop 8 (Vote yes on 8). He had a good time and said the lunch that they made for them was excellent. I slaved at home cleaning our yard and home for our get together with friends on Sunday Evening. It was fun to have people in our home again. It had been awhile since we had that many people in our home. It was all totally worth it to have friends come and say goodbye to our dear friends who are moving to Utah. We will miss them very much. We are so blessed with the great people who have blessed our lives while we have lived here in California. We know that these associations were meant to be and we will treasure the friends we have forever.

Happy Spray

This morning I woke up to happy cooperative kids. It was heaven!
First thing this morning MJ informed me that I was a queen, dad was a king, and he and TJ were both princes. He also made me a special bracelet out of Legos (of course). This special bracelet, when you pushed two buttons sprayed a magical potion that made people happy. We used it a lot this morning, and it worked all of us were happy.
Wouldn't it be great if there was such a spray that was non drug related and all natural and had the ability to make people happy. Maybe I will have to invent it and make millions!
I will have to add a picture of my bracelet later, I just didn't want to forget this moment while it was fresh in my mind.

Patriotism

Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty.

We are coming on the Anniversary of September 11 so to start off thinking of Freedom Day we decided to go to the 1000 flag parade Saturday morning. After waiting an hour and grabbing a Slurpee at a corner mini mart we finally saw what we came to see. It was pretty good considering and very cool seeing so many flags. They ended the parade at the City Center and place all of the flags on the lawn there. We didn't stay for that but it would have been neat to see.

Sorry about the shakiness and poor quality, but count how many times you hear flag.

On a side note Mackay has his first loose tooth -- he is soooooo excited about it!

Smarty Pants

Tyler's Kindergarten teacher calls the kids smarty pants every time they get something right or do something really smart. Tyler absolutely loves it. He came home the other day saying, "My teacher called me smarty pants."
I said, "Is that a good thing".
He replied, "I really like it mom, can you call me smarty pants".
"Sure, smarty pants", I answered.
Tyler - "Can you say it again."

Kids are so much fun, it is really fun to see Tyler blossom this year. He loves school and is doing so well. I am glad that he is excited about being called Smarty Pants!

Camping at Tehachappi

When are we going Camping?

We made it through the week, Hooray! The only thing is, we told our kids that we were going to go camping at the end of the week so we had to hear, "When are we going Camping?", all week. So every day we counted down how many sleeps until we got to go camping. When Friday finally came we packed up the car and took off for Tehachappi, California, which is a little over an hour south west of us. It was so nice and beautiful there. We were happy that we had gone. We relaxed, talked with friends, went for a hike, and let the kids get as dirty as they wanted. It was great!
When asking my kids what their favorite part about camping was T said, "building a fire", go figure, the kids a pyro thanks to his grandpa. MJ pointed out that the big hollow in the middle tree was his favorite part of camping. I think it was my favorite too, it kept the kids entertained for hours. J loved the hike that he took us all on. I actually really enjoyed being lazy and sitting around talking with friends.
We keep telling ourselves we need to go camping more, so we are going to have to try and do just that, because it really wasn't much trouble to put together and for one night it is great entertainment.

Sunday's Thoughts

I have been thinking about the post that a friend put in her blog about Inner Beauty. I didn't have time to comment on this earlier so would like to start a new thing for myself and those who care to read, about writing about thoughts that I have during the week every Sunday.

Anyway when I was thinking about Inner Beauty I remembered a fireside that I went to when I attended Utah State University. This lady, who lived a ruff life and ran a bar, joined the church or was reactivated and was talking about visiting teaching experience that she had. She was assigned to go and visit a sister who lived in a care facility in Logan. When she first met the sister she was taken back by her appearance. This lady was old, didn't have much hair, had a large mole on her face, and very wrinkled. As she got to know her she said that she was able to see her spirit and that this sister had the most beautiful spirit. Her Inner Beauty was able to shine even though her outward appearance didn't show it.

I think it is important to look at people in that light and not judge by the outer appearance, which is easy to do, and look and see these precious spirit that are inside. After all we are all sons and daughters of God and he loves us very much. I watched "The Little Princess" last week with my sons and in there it mentions that all girls are princesses. So I told my boys that they need to remember that and treat all girls with respect because they are all princesses.

I will just leave on that note...

T's Birthday

August 20th was T's Birthday and we started the morning by opening presents of course, what better way to start a birthday.
It is crazy to think that he is already 5 years old! It doesn't seem like too long ago when we got the much waited for call from LDS Family services telling us that we could have an addition to our family if we so desired. Of course the answer was an enthusiastic yes! To our surprise though we only had two weeks until he was to be born, which was exciting but also made us busy fast. Mackay and Tyler have the same birth mother, she really struggled to know whether she should place Tyler for adoption or not. She decided that he needed to be with his older brother. We are sure glad she did, because they really are best friends and I don't know what they would do without each other (except fight less). Anyway, on with the story, We were able to visit with our birth mother the next week and then the following week we got the call that Tyler was born. We took off to pick-up or brand new baby boy. We visited him the day after he was born in the hospital and then were able to take him home the next day. It was so hard leaving the first day because deep in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Maybe she will change her mind". We are blessed though and have had the opportunity to raise these kids.
For T's birthday he wanted a knight theme. He received a knight costume for his Birthday and then a few days later we had a few friends over to our castle for a knight's bash.
This is the castle cake that I made for his birthday.









Tyler only wanted boys at his party, for some reason, so we dressed them all up as knights. We went for a dragon hunt, pinned the sword on the knight, Fought each other and the dragon with our inflatable swords and shields (made out of cardboard). The kids loved being knights for a day. They sure were cute!







We then fought the green fiery dragon to get some treats. Unfortunately I didn't tie the rope to the dragon on very well so it was instantly lost its head and tail at the first swing of the sword. Poor dragon! So we let the kids punch the dragon instead to get the candy out. (Kind of violent, sorry!)

First Day of School

The first day of school already, August 18. Where has the summer gone?

MJ's Teacher

TJ's teacher

We had a really great first day of school, the kids love their teachers. When I asked how MJ's first day was he just told me all about recess. I guess we can see what he really likes about school.

TJ on the other hand just had an hour orientation, so his first day was today and he absolutely loved it. I was feeling sad myself, my baby off to kindergarten, whaaa! I did okay though, but felt a little lonely while getting a few things done around the home. He loved school and everything he did, he especially loved treasure chest, the reward system his teacher uses. He even liked doing homework, I sure wish it was the same for his brother.

Anyway, we all survived the first day -- all is good here!

Blonde's Have More Fun

You have heard them more than once yes those blonde jokes (my favorite being how does a blonde spell farm -- e i e i o) and the silly comments people say. Well this week I feel like I have been a true blonde. I feel as if I could be the star of Clueless. I do have a brain and I know that it works most of the time but this week I have felt like I was in a total fog.
Anyway, I will share with you my top "Clueless" moments.
1. Driving around in my van with the back hatch open.
2. Getting out the dusting stuff and forgetting where I put it then finding it two days later out by the laundry. (So much for dusting)
3. Cooking something in the microwave for dinner, then totally spacing it and finding it the next morning (gross).
4. Making banana muffins and forgetting to put sugar in them!
5. Talking to friends and having a total feeling of I have no idea what they are talking about, but then having the light bulb eventually come on and feeling stupider than ever.
6. Walking straight face on into an open door (luckily that didn't leave a mark).
7. Putting the milk in the cupboard instead of the fridge.
8. Dialing a number twice on the telephone to finally figure out I was calling my own number and kept getting a busy signal! (I was inwardly embarrassed about that)
Oh, there are more - but I will just leave it at that!
Luckily my husband always makes the comment, "I am so glad that I married a blonde, because blondes have more fun!
The thing is I am so unobservant that I don't even take offense to that comment, I think he just likes teasing me!!!

To be a Pioneer

This is a bit late, but while we were in Utah we were able to visit the Heritage Village, which is by the "This is the Place" Monument. They have quite a bit of things to look at and do. It was so interesting to see how life was back in the time that Utah was settled in. It really made me think of my ancestor's and also made me grateful for all of our modern conveniences. I would highly recommend going there for a family outing.


















MJ and TJ showing off their muscles from pulling this handcart.

JT seeking education at the school



Mackay having his first shave in the barber shop.

Death of the Waterslide

On July 18 we took off for another adventure and family vacation to Wyoming and Utah. We started off in the afternoon and ran into some friends on the freeway on the way. We tried our best to get in front of them but traffic was kind of crazy, with much determination we were able to follow and eventually pass them, but due to a much needed bathroom break they were able to win us in the end.
Anyway we spent a few days in Lyman, Wyoming and took our slide to enjoy with the fam. We didn't know that it would be its last . The poor slide met its end. I guess that is what happens when you have two 200+ pound boys playing on it. Needless to say the hole that was produced was pretty darn big and we are not sure if it is repairable or not. Justin's brother is hopeful.

The boys loved jumping on their trampoline. They spent most of their time on it. The water in Wyoming was really cold so the slide didn't really appeal to them. They spent most of their time on the trampoline.






Behind Justin's brothers house is a stream. Everyone took advantage of it and took a little ride down the stream. Tyler tried it once and was done and Mackay had to warm up to the idea but eventually went down and then we couldn't get him away from it. It was a lot of fun.





After church on Sunday we decided to take a drive to the high Uinta's. While we were there we even saw a moose, but the picture we got was pretty far away. It was really beautiful up there. We took a little hike and enjoyed the cool air, but we didn't enjoy the mosquitoes very much -- they were huge!




We thank Justin's brother's family for the great time that we had up there!!!