Pumpkin Carving

All of these pumpkins came from our garden. The kids and Daniel always have so much fun carving pumpkins. My little kids are so cute and funny!

Emily's pumpkin



Daniel's pumpkin

Maddy's pumpkin


Benjamin's pumpkin

Time goes by to quickly!

Hello to all my family and friends. I have been horrible at keeping in touch this past year. Most of you know that I am in school to become a Massage Therapist. I am almost finished. I will be done on November 5th. Last term was difficult. I had 18 credits and the kids were out of school. We survived and I am so glad that term in over. This term will be more pleasant I hope. I will actually walk in my graduation this month on the 26th. I am not to thrilled that it is so far away from the time I will actually be done but oh well.

The kids are loving school. Maddy is a big 6th grader and has a lot of homework. She is growing so much and will soon be taller than me I'm sure. She is already wearing my shoes. Emily is in 4th grade and loves her teacher. She is really enjoys learning about history. Everyday she comes home and tells me new facts and stories she learned that day. Ben is in 1st grade. He totally loves it. He loves eating lunch and school and above all having 3 recesses. I always ask my kids what their favorite thing was about their day and Ben knows that he can't say recess anymore. I let him for the first week. He loves playing with his friends.

We have a new dog in the family. My mom called and said that a stray had shown up at her house and she was REALLY cute so she thought we should take her home. I'm a sucker for cute dogs. Her name is pumpkin and she is really cute but also a stinker. She gets out of the yard all of the time and does not mind for anything. My mom keeps telling me to give it time. We will because she is so cute.

Dan is working here and there. We are starting to feel the sting of the economy. Things will pick up they always do.

We love all of you and think of you often.

A whole bunch of stuff!

Ben lost his first tooth about a month ago and the girls helped pull it out. Emily loosened it and then Maddy pulled it out. Ben was so excited to have finally lost a tooth. We were celebrating and about 20 minutes later Emily came back in the family room and announced that she had just lost another tooth. I thought Ben would be upset because it was his big day but instead he was just as excited for her. The tooth fairy was able to make one stop instead of two.

This is a picture of Ben at my Mom's house. Emily buried him in the sand and then Dan told him to pretend like he was dead. They had a blast and were very dirty when they were done.

One morning I asked Ben what he wanted for breakfast and he said green eggs and ham so that is what we made. I am not sure he knew what he was asking for because when we got it on the plate it took some encouragement to get him to try it. He found out it tasted the same. I have to admit that it was a little hard for me to eat the green eggs myself. Fun Fun.

We are doing well and loving spring. The garden is planted and so far so good. The front yard is blooming and is very pretty. We really really really want to get some grass in the back yard, but we are not sure if that is going to happen or not.

Dan is staying busy with little jobs which is wonderful. We are so grateful to friends and family members who keep referring us.

School has been more enjoyable the second term. By that I mean less drama from all of my class mates. I am almost done with anatomy 2 and hope to get an A.

I am way to busy and I keep telling myself that things will calm back down in November when I graduate. My house has completely gone to pot and I haven't made a real meal in quite some time. I feel a little like we are in survival mode. The funny thing is that I feel great and I am very happy even though I am exhausted.

St. George was a bust

The plans for St. George were:
Builder Conference on Friday
Friday night movie and a great dinner
Saturday morning parade of homes
Saturday afternoon a session at the Temple
Saturday evening a couples massage at a 5 star spa then another fabulous meal and late
movie

What actually happened:
Friday Dan made it to half of the builder conference and took me to insta care to see why I
had such a high fever and found out I had strep
Saturday we came home.

Today is our anniversary and we are here at home with snow. YUK YUK YUK

This is not a rosy happy fun loving blog story, but instead it is a dose of reality that we all get sometimes. I guess I am grateful that we traveled safely.

My kids had a blast at Grandma's. My Mom had fresh cupcakes with cream cheese inside ready for us when we dropped the kids off. They made some delicious treat with pretzels and rolos. They taught Maddy and Emily how to drive the 4 wheeler. Ben found a rabbit graveyard and dug up all the bones and they watched a bunch of Ma and Pa Kettle movies. They had a blast and were disappointed when we showed up early to take them home.

I am feeling a little better today and at least my fever is gone. That was miserable. Strange thing is I didn't have a soar throat. I guess it happens.

I truly hope everyone else's weekend was better than ours.

Picture Tag

RULES:

1. Go to my documents/pictures

2. Go to the 6th folder

3. Go to the 6th picture

4. Blog about it

5. Tag 6 people to do the same



This is my brother Jeremy and his girlfriend Chena. Maddy is watching her throw sand at Jeremy. We were at Lohontan Dam in Nevada. This picture was taken in July 2007. We played for a long time in the water and had a blast. Ben slept on the beach almost the whole time.



Tag:

Angela tagged everyone in the freeman family so I won't tag you again but I will check on your pictures.

Shayna

Kelli

Mooch

Hello

November 13th- Ben turned 6 yeah!!

Thanksgiving-Awesome, hosted 18, great food, good memories

December 17th Maddy turned 11. WOW

December 20 or so my Mom and Dad moved into their house. We went to the BYU bowl game in Vegas over the weekend and came home on Tuesday took a load down to their house and spent the night. We had so much fun that we came back on Christmas Eve got a few more things like beds and had a very impromptu christmas. We decorated the tree on Christmas eve. I have never done that before. It was so much fun.

January 26th- I started Massage school at Provo College. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Anyone who lives close call for an apointment I need all the practice I can get.

Maddy and Emily played basektball in January and February. They did awesome!

Ben is still in Karate and will soon be an orange belt.

Dan is picking up enough little jobs to get us by. Dan has also been the best husband and father since I started school. He always was before, what I mean is that he has totally stepped up. I am gone at nights this term and he makes dinner and I come home to a clean kitchen. I sure am a lucky girl.

Our anniversary is at the end of March. We are going to St. George. I can't wait!

P.S. This update was for Kimmy and Angela

Great Weekend

The kids were out of school for fall break this week. We went to IKEA for the first time on Thursday. It was so much fun. We bought some bookshelves for our office. I love them!! We fed our entire family for $8.00. That is totally awesome, if you like hot dogs. We had a fun day putting the shelves together and hanging out.

Friday we went to Spring City were my mom and dad are going to live. They needed some help getting wood for the wood burning stove. We went up the canyon behind their house. It is super close and was so beautiful. The weather was perfect. As you can tell I don't have any pictures because we forgot the camera. The kids were troopers. I used to go get wood when I was a kid and I remember how hard and horrible it was. Funny thing is it is still hard but I enjoy it so very much.

We cooked dutch oven and tried to make chicken and dumplings. It was an experiment and it tasted really good. I am anxious to try it again and improve it.

We spent the night at their property in a trailer. Dan and I started out sleeping in one spot together and in about 5 minutes Dan was fast asleep and kicking me out of our tiny bed. I moved and the rest of the night was much better.

Saturday we went to get another load of wood. I love the mountains. The air is so clean and it is so peaceful. Dan and I wanted to get another load but everyone else was pooped out. I was pretty sore when I got home so it is a good thing we didn't get another load. That is the kind of exercise I love. It is accomplishing two things at once.

When we got home on Saturday the kids helped me clean the car. They did a fabulous job. I got in the car this morning and the windows were so clean I thought they were rolled down.

Dan finished the shelves and they are so beautiful. I had fun decorating them. I love long weekends. This one was perfect.

Disneyland

I have to admit I was not super excited to go to Disneyland. I am not big on theme parks. BUT I had a great time. We were very lucky to not have to stand in line hardly at all. It was great to see the kids having so much fun. My Mom fell and sprained her ankle 4 days before we went. We put her in a wheelchair and rolled her around. We were able to go the front of the lines on some rides because of the wheelchair.

Maddy's favorite ride was Alice in Wonderland. Emily's was The Tower of Terror. Ben's favorite was splash mountain. I don't know if I can pick. I liked almost all the ones I went on. I can't ride anything that spins fast. There was a lot of rides that I was able to go on. I only got sick once and that was on the screamin rollercoaster. I got sick because Ben was screaming so loud I kept looking at him to make sure he was ok and I think it threw off my balance.

We did almost everything in both Disneyland and California Adventure in the 3 days we were there. On the first day in the afternoon Dan and my Dad took the kids to Fantasyland while my Mom and I went shopping. I love shopping with my Mom. We are actually really bad for each other because we encourage each other to spend more money. It is so much fun I love it. I could of spent thousands of dollars on souveniers. They are so so so cute.

We had a wonderful trip.

What's going on!

Since school started I have been very busy. I love summer because it is busy in a different way. You get to do fun things and go places. Now we are busy with homework, field trips, helping in class, and ofcourse working in general for the company.

Emily and I went on a field trip to the Timpanogos Story Telling Festival. I went 2 years ago with Maddy and it was great. This year was also wonderful. This is one field trip that I love to go on. We had 29 kids between the teacher and I. It was a little crazy but we still had a ton of fun. Emily's teacher is really cute. She is around my age and not married yet. She is dating a guy pretty seriously and it is so fun to talk to her about it. She is so excited and thinks that their may be a perposal in the near future. I want her to get married but I hope she can stay and finish the school year. She is really a great teacher.

I took Ben to kindergarten and he sat down in his chair and forgot to even say goodbye. I went over to him and said goodbye and made him kiss me. He did not like that very much. Now he kisses me before he leaves the house and walks to school with his big sisters.

It is very quiet when they leave. Luckly I have been very busy and have not fully realized how quiet it is. I am sure next year will even be worse. I do like the time to get things done but the hard part is knowing that I am entering a new phase in my life. Will all of you with little ones hug them extra tight for me? Please.

My friend Rebecca and I went to the temple last week. It was so nice. We had to wait for 50 minutes before we were able to get into our session. I really enjoyed sitting quietly with nothing to do but ponder things. After our session, I stopped to put names on the prayer roll and I always put all the members of mine and Dan's family. I got out to the car and checked my phone. Dan had called and left a message saying Jim had cut his finger really badly. I was really glad I had just put his name on the prayer role.

My mom's house is almost all framed in. We went down there today and they were swinging trusses. It is so fun to see a house come together. She is having fun picking colors and deciding what she wants where.

Next week we are going to Disneyland. I am so excited to take the kids. They have never been. I have not been since I was 5 and Dan was 6 the last time he went. I am nervous to take them out of school for an entire week. Especially Ben, he is learning so much right now. I figure that this time spent with our family making memories will be much better spent and we can make up work missed when we get home.

Ben comes home from school almost every day and I ask him what he learned, I get the normal answer "nothing". A coupld hours later he will remember something and come and tell me. I have enjoyed this so much. He is learning songs and new words every day. He will only sing them to me when he knows no one else is around. He is so much fun.

I have to share two other stories about Ben. He came home last Friday and I asked him how his day was. He said, "Not so good." I ofcourse asked him why and he told me that they were playing baseball and another kid stole his base. I asked him more about it and tried to explain to him that steeling bases is part of the game. He just was not going to accept that. I will try again when he is older. I laughed about it later when he was not around. It was cute.

He also told me that he was sad because it was his last day of school. I thought why is he upset about the weekend. After talking to him for a couple more minutes I realized he thought that kindergarten was over. It was again SO SO CUTE! I explained to him that he just had Saturday and Sunday off and then he would return to kindergarten. He was really happy to hear that. I can't complain about my kids not wanting to go to school. They all love it.

Maddy told us she learned the funnest game ever and was really excited to teach us. She said "OK it is called kick the can." She was a little dissapointed when we told her we used to play it.

Emily is loving cursive. She comes home every day telling me what letter she learned and if it is easy or hard.

I guess I have gushed enough about my kids. I will be sure to blog when we get back from Disneyland.

First Day of School

Where does time go? Maddy is in 5th grade this year. Emily is in 3rd grade and Benjamin is starting kindergarten. The girls and I had a great time this year shopping for school clothes. The last few years we have done our shopping online. This year we went to the mall. When Emily was trying things on she would say "Mom this is so cute go get Maddy so I can show her." They are little women in the making. I am not prepared for them to be getting so big. Especially Maddy. We are crossing major mile stones with her on a weekly basis. They are all growing up and are great kids.


I don't know if you guys have a hard time getting your kids to look natural in a picture. Ben is so funny. He can't smile naturally so we try to make him laugh but as you can see it does not always work. I love this picture!

We have a yard.

Last Thursday we ordered sod. We asked them to deliver it in the afternoon but it came at 9 am. Dan was at work pouring concrete. I decided I better get started because I didn't want it sitting in the hot sun all day long. I called a young man in our ward and asked him if I could hire him to help me. He agreed and I asked him if he would like to bring a friend. He rounded up a friend and came over. My Dad, Maddy and Emily helped too. We finished everything except the strip between the road and the sidewalk. Dan had not prepped that yet. It took us about 4 hours. I went to pay my young men that had saved my life and they would not except payment. I was so very grateful for their help and their generosity. I could not of done it without them.

When Dan drove up around 3 pm he was shocked. It was a good thing that I did it because that particular concrete pour was very difficult and my sweet husband was wiped out. He tries to be superman and most of the time he pulls it off very well. It felt so wonderful to be able to help him in a way that I normally can't. It doesn't matter how hard I try I can't keep up with him when it comes to physical labor. I don't know many people who can. He is amazing! I could gush all day about how much I love Dan and how able he is.

I am so thrilled to have a yard. I will work on the flower beds in the spring and hopefully we can start prepping the back yard then too.

Emily's Baptism

What a special day. We had all of our family with us and a few friends. It is totally overwhelming when you experience certain events in your life. I am so proud of Emily for making this choice. I hope that I can help guide her as she strengthens her testimony. What a huge responsibility. Children really do bring us so much joy.

To do list

Tues: Pick up Mom and Dad from airport. They went to Ecuador with Charity Anywhere to do dental, eyecare, vaccinations, and construction. They have been there for 2 weeks. It will be great to have them home safe.

Wedding reception for Matt and Nicole Moser. (Dan's Cousins)

Wed: Get Ben's stitches out. Yes Ben has 6 stitches. He decided to play in the "OFF LIMITS" part of the basement. He crawled across my Mom's hutch, that was laying flat, and he broke through the glass. He is very lucky. It could have been much worse.

Go visiting teaching.

Thurs: Register the kids for school

Clean house for baptism

Fri: Angela and Ben are taking our their endowments.

Shop for baptism food

Sat: Emily's Baptism!!

It is a pretty full schedule for me this week. However, it is filled with wonderful things to do. Except the stitches. I will have pictures next week of the baptism.

Sometime in between all of these other things Dan has ordered sod for the front yard. We still have to move 2 loads of dirt and get the curbing done before the sod comes. I don't know if we are going to make it by Saturday. Also we are finishing Dave and Shelly's house this week . It is just a little crazy. Maybe I will have pictures of the front yard and Dave and Shelly's house by Monday. I am so excited to get our yard done!!

Pool Party

We rented out a pool for Dan's birthday party. His birthday isn't until July 24th but we celebrated a few days early. He is going to be 30. We had a great time. I ordered sub sandwiches and they were delicious. After the pool we all came back to our house and had moon pie. YUMMY! It was a very nice way to forget about all of our worries and enjoy some family time. This may become a family tradition. We were missing some of our family members and so hopefully next year we can all make it. Summer is great. I LOVE IT!

What we have been up to this summer

We camped at Yuba the middle of May. There was hardly anyone there. The weather was wonderful. We had a great time. Dan put a huge tumble weed on the fire and we almost burnt the entire place up. No, but it was a little crazy for a minute. I don't think he will do that again. Ben told me to make sure that we bring more than one bag of marshmallows the next time we come. It was fun.

Ben graduated from preschool. Yeah for Ben! I can't tell if he is excited or not for kindergarten. I think that he just does not know what to expect yet. I know he needs something to keep him busy because he gets to bored at home and then he gets into trouble.

My Grandma passed away the end of May and so we went to Fallon for the funeral. My Mom and her siblings planned a great tribute to my Grandma. It was nice to reminisce and see family. We will miss Grandma.

While we were in Fallon the kids got to ride princess. Casey, my cousin, was so nice to take my kids for rides.
The girls were in a show choir for 2 weeks. They learned a dance routine and some songs. They really enjoyed this. Ben took an art class and made some great art work. Our community offers this art program every summer. I love it. It gives the kids an opportunity to try new things and keeps them busy for a little while.

We went to Yuba again with Dan's family. I forgot the camera so we don't have any pictures of that trip. It was fun to get together with everyone for a day at the lake.

My friends and I went to Yuba again. If you can't tell we really like to go to Yuba. Last year I asked a bunch of people to go with me for the day. We had so much fun that we decided we better do it again. I think we might have created a tradition. We had a great turn out this year. We had 7 women and 28 kids between all of us. It was a wonderful day. The weather was a little windy but we had fun anyway.

Happy Birthday Emily! Emily turned 8 this year. She is going to be baptized in August.

The last week of June and first part of July we had swimming lessons. The kids have taken from Debbie for 3 years now. They love her and so do I . Maddy has learned so many strokes and she is very good at the breast stroke. Emily is a speedy freestyle swimmer. Ben is very good at wiggling on his back. I feel like they are good, safe swimmers.

Well I think that catches you up to date. We have a crazy couple of weeks coming up. It will be nice when we hit mid August. Things should hopefully go back to normal speed by then. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Flowers

I have had so much fun with my flower bed this summer. I love perenials. I could spend a fortune on flowers. Our neighbors own a nursery just down the road from our house and I have to stay away from there. It is dangerous.

We are currently putting in the rest of the front yard. There will be more flower beds that I get to develop. I am so excited. We are planning on sod in about a week. I can't wait. I hope it will help keep the dust down and keep my house a little cleaner. The back yard is still far from being completed but that will have to wait until next summer. Happy gardening!

I'm Back

I know you must be wondering why I deleted my old blog. I guess I just got a little worried. I had many people tell me how putting all that personal info on the internet could be really dangerous. This time I will be more careful and I think I will feel better about it. Besides I can't stay away any longer. So I am glad to be blogging again.