That's just the way it is...

I am not a quiter...

2011-01-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

This challenge has gone on way to long (I knew it would) so this might get a bit long but I'm going to try to finish it in one post...

Day 9 Put your ipod on shuffle, first ten songs.

EASY... I don't have an ipod!

We have a few hanging around our house and I guess I could count my phone, but really I don't use it for that very often and for the sake of getting this done I'm just going to leave it there!

Day 10 Something I'm afraid of.

SPEED... this never used to be a big deal but the older I get the worse its become.

Here are a few examples of things that I really like to do but am secretly (ok not really secretly, my whole family knows I'm a total wimp!) afraid of!

I don't like to be out of control and I guess excess speed makes me feel that way.

Day 11 My favorite TV show...

EASY again! I really don't watch t.v

Seriously I'm not just trying to speed this up, I don't watch enough to say I have a favorite.

Day 12 What I believe.

I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ. I believe that by living his commandments and having faith in Him we can find true happiness in this life and joy in the eternities with our families.

I believe that being kind and showing unconditional love is the key to solving most of lives difficult situations.

I believe in the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. I believe that he saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that they gave him the keys to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth again. I believe that Joseph Smith was given ancient plates and translated the Book of Mormon which is another testament of Jesus Christ. I believe that reading the Book of Mormon daily with real intent brings access to revelation as we ponder and pray. I love the scriptures and I know they are true.

I believe in a living prophet on the earth today and that these great men are here to instruct, guide and help keep us safe. I believe that the words the prophets speak are Gods message to us today and that as we read and follow their council will will always be on the right track. I love President Monson and his unwavering example of caring for and showing love to those around us.

I believe in families and that they are the "fundamental unit of society" as stated in this inspired and God given document. I believe that families are what matter the most and that the time we spend nurturing and strengthening them is critically connected to our happiness. My family means everything to me and I am blessed beyond measure to be a part of their lives!

Day 13 - Goals

I have a few goals but will just share one: Be healthy and free of back pain!

I have had to be creative in my attempts to accomplish this goal because simply put, I can't exercise the way I used to. I love to run and be active but right now it's just not an option. SO, I made the decision to EAT CLEAN! This can mean a lot of different things, but for me it's just this--eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk which includes man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white flour, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: "if man made it, don't eat it."...

So far it is going well and I feel like the changes I have made are making a difference in my energy levels and as an added bonus I feel like my clothes are fitting better too!

Day 14 - Some pictures I love-

in no particular order... just some of the good ones!

Dallin checkin out the crawdad

Baby Sam all decked out in Nike!

Harles

Glacier climbing

Maryn and Grandpa D

Classic Jules

A few years ago but still my favorite!

Snow dog

Best buds!

So pretty

Very cool!

Handsome missionary

So lush and green

Duet

In looking quickly through iphoto, I realized that i really need to make a concerted effort to take more pictures of MAX!!

Day 15! Pictures of my dream house

I know I'm not very original... this is exactly what Maryn put up as her "dream house" it's here for two reasons- 1. I am soo tired of this challenge and I really want to be done with it and 2. I really do love my house! It is everything I need and so much of what I want. Of course their are things I would change and maybe in time I will but for now it is perfect and I really do love it. One of my favorite things to do is make our "HOUSE a HOME"- it always feels better when my house is clean and a nice candle is burning and of course when it is full of happy kids!!

"The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home."

— Harold B. Lee

A place I have travelled

2010-12-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

THE REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK

The Redwoods August 2008

I'm not a world wide traveller. I've been to a few places near and far but this one is at the top of my list of recommended places to visit and if you live anywhere close to me you can even do this as a road trip! (My kids and I did it a few summers ago)

The Redwood National Park is found along the beautiful rugged coast of California. The park headquarters are located in Cresent City, Calif.

It is home to the world's tallest trees and is in the running for a place in the 7 natural wonders of North America. In fact if you really want you can visit this site and vote for what you think are the top 7 yourself!

Speaking of Natural Wonders- being able to see first hand something so amazing that I know was made by God's hand has an awe inspiring effect. I've seen the Aurora Borealis and it really is nature at its finest. I'd love to see all of these wonders someday!

Here is a fun list of "US Wonders"

How many have you seen?

17 Mile Drive

49 Mile Scenic Drive

Albany City Hall

Alcatraz Island

American Museum of Natural History

Angel Island State Park

Aquarium of the Bay

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

AT&T Baseball Park

Balboa Park Miniature Train

Bayou’s of Louisiana

Beach Blanket Babylon

Botanic Garden at Tilden Regional Parks

Brooklyn Historical Society

Bryce Canyon

Cable Cars of San Francisco

Cabrillo National Monument and Point Loma

California Auto Museum

California Palace of the Legion of Honor

California State Capitol Building

California State Capitol Museum

California State Indian Museum

California State Railroad Museum

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Casa del Herrero

Coit Tower

Crocker Art Museum

Devils Tower

Discovery Park

Disney California Adventure Park

Disneyland Park

DL Bliss State Park

Echo Park

El Presidio de Santa Bárbara

Fairytale Town Sacramento

Getty Villa

Golden Vine Winery

Governors Mansion State Park

Grace Cathedral

Grand Canyon in Arizona

Grand Tetons

Griffith Observatory

Guggenheim Museum

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Iolani Palace

K Street Mall

Kailua Kona Makalawena – Pu’u Ali’i Bay

Kawai Nui Marsh

Kennedy Space Center

La Brea Tar Pits

Six of my very "little" children surrounded by giant sequoias!

My Favorite Movie-

2010-12-03T05:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to go as far as to say this is my favorite, because to have a favorite I would need a comprehensive list of movies from which to choose from and for me that just isn't the case. Like I've said before I have an incredibly hard time staying awake for movies and have spent more than a few dollars on uncomfortable "naps" at the movie theatre. It's not that I don't like movies, in fact I'm very easily entertained and the movie that I am listing today as my "favorite" proves that!

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE!

I don't really know why, but for me this movie just doesn't get old. I laugh even thinking about parts of this movie and honestly if you want to judge/evaluate my personality based on this choice, I'm ok with that because I already know that my sense of humor is a little warped. I do have seven kids remember!!!

Songs that make me cry...

2010-12-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

I first heard this song at Woman's conference in Utah, probably about 10-12 years ago. Although I can be a very emotional person, sharing my feeling about being adopted has never really been an overly emotional subject. So, I was totally taken back by the very strong feelings that this song brought out in me. Michael McLean wrote this song and although he doesn't have the best singing voice in the world he sure knows how to write very touching and meaningful lyrics.

I have never met my birth mother and most likely won't in this life by choice, but I am, and will always be, very grateful to her for the sacrifice that she made by giving me up and sending me to my family. Someday when life's complications are over and our Savior and loving Father in heaven have sorted everything out, I hope to have a chance to thank her and tell her that I love her for being such a strong woman and providing me with an incredible opportunity to be part of an eternal family.

I don't listen to this song very often but when I do it gets me every time!

So, here it is...

"From Gods arms to My arms to Yours"

Pictures of things that make me happy! - day 5

2010-12-01T11:36:00.001-08:00

Ok- so here are some pictures that make me happy...

These handsome young men.

These lovely ladies

Sam and Harley... just makes me smile!

G and G Davidson- Every time we leave their house they come out and wave goodbye until we're down at the end of the road. I love these two, they are the best!

Double rainbow!!!

Babies make me happy!

Logan's pass- a very "Happy" place

Christmas time!!

Skiing with my family!

Running makes me happy especially with Mark!

Something I am looking forward to!

2010-11-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

STOP, can you guess what I'm really looking forward to?

In 10 more days someone will be HOME to stay for a whole month!!!

You guessed it, MARYN is coming home. I can't wait!!!

LOVE YOU MARYN!

My Family- parents and siblings

2010-11-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else out there I have the greatest parents in the world!

By them I was taught to work hard, to serve and care for others and above all to stay faithful even in times of hardship and trial.

My Dad was a high school math teacher and a mason. At 73 years old he is still laying brick and is in high demand for his artistic and beautiful work. I have fond memories and battle wounds to show for my days working along side my Dad on construction sites. He also spent a lot of his teaching years coaching basketball in the small town where I grew up. After many years coaching the boys he made the switch to coaching the girls when my sister and I were in high school. I loved having him for a coach and have great memories of those times.

I have never heard my Dad be critical of another person and he is always the first one to lend a helping hand to someone in need.

Nine years ago this month my Dad under went a live donor liver transplant at the U of A hospital. My brother Ron was the donor. After a lot of pain and many struggles he made a full recovery. I love my Dad and I'm so grateful that on his birthday, 42 years ago, he and my Mom chose me and brought me into their lives!

My Mom is Gold!! I love her and appreciate her for so many reasons. I'll name a few...

She taught me to love and appreciate beautiful music.

She is so smart and is always learning new things.

She loves the scriptures and reads them everyday.

She taught me how to work.

She is so resourceful.

She is full of FAITH.

I have always said that had I been a pioneer, I would have wanted my Mom in my company because their is nothing that she can't make, do, or figure out. She never complains and will work until the job is done no matter how long it takes or how hard it is.

My Mom has sacrificed so much to give me a life that I know I otherwise never would have had. I'm so grateful that she lives her life close to the Spirit and that she taught me how to do the same.

Just a little bit about each of my siblings.

Brent lives in New Mexico and works in airport security. He has four kids- Kennedy, Madison, Nelson and Bailey. They live in Magrath with their mom Sheila. Brent baptized me and taught me how to drive!

Mark lives in Augusta, Georgia and is married to Geri. They have 5 kids- Krista,(who is married to Evan) Matt, Scott, Graham and Hannah and 2 adorable grandsons-Thatcher and Levi. Mark is a chemical engineer and I think he works for Nutrisweet? If that's not right it's one of those artificial sweeteners! Though Mark and I aren't that close in age- our kids are. Our older kids have great memories of their older kids as they lived in Fort Saskatchewan before they moved away to Georgia.

Ron is married to Teresa and they live in Colorado Springs. They have two kids- Tanner and Tara. Ron is in the US Air Force and he holds the highest rank that a civilian officer can hold- don't ask me what his Title is- I just know he's pretty important!! One of my favorite memories of Ron was the time he let me curl his hair on a band trip... it was the early eighties and his longish blonde curly hair was the envy of everyone on that trip!! (ok maybe not the guys, but the girls for sure!!)

Ken lives at home in Magrath. He works at Nutters in Lethbridge and is the sweetest, most dependable guy you'll ever meet. Ken has a HUGE movie collection which makes him a pretty popular guy with all the grandkids.

Suzanne lives in Salt Lake City, she just recently got a new job working for Volunteers of America AND she goes to school full time AND she is MOM to five fantastic kids -Yuki, Isabel, Micah, Camille and Maggie. Suzanne and I are two years and 1 day apart in age. She is the sister who I will always regret not getting along with better as a young child, but who I gratefully connected with as a teenager. I will always wish that we could live closer to each other because she is my only sister and I miss her AND neither of us is very good about staying in touch.

What a cute bunch! This is a picture of my family just before I was adopted. My oldest brother Brent is standing right in front of my Dad. Mark is on the far right. The twins Ken and Ron are in front of my Mom and my one and only sister is in my Mom's arms. The girl beside my Mom is Donna Thompson who was a neighbor and one of our favorite babysitters. As you can see my parents had their hands full!

This picture is my family- minus my two older brothers who died as infants- and my three younger brothers who of course weren't born yet.

After I came along my Mom and Dad had three more boys... Brian, Trevor, and Keith

Below is my younger brother Brian and his lovely wife Linda. They are expecting their first babies- twin girls!! Linda's water broke last week and she is only 29 weeks, so she is in the hospital and is taking medication to help the babies lungs and brains develop quickly. Our prayers are with Brian, Linda and their babies.

Brian and Linda live in Denver.

This is my brother Trevor. He lives in Ogden with his fabulous wife Jeannie and their four kiddos - Parker, Morgan, Jonah and Kate. Trevor is a chiropractor and if he lived closer I would let him work his magic on my back but only because he's my brother!!!

Keith is the baby of our family and of course he holds a very special place in my heart!! I was ten years old when Keith was born and I was soooo sure that he was going to be a girl that I bawled my eyes out when my Dad came to my class room at school to tell me that the baby had been born and it was another boy!! It didn't take very long to decide that I could love him even though I didn't get the little sister that I was hoping for. Keith was born with fragile X syndrome which is a form of mental retardation. He is a lot like a Downs syndrome child but with different physical traits. Basically he is adorable! I can't even begin to tell you all the life lessons I've been taught because Keith is my brother. He is such a blessing to our family and is a constant reminder that Heavenly Father knows what our family needed and we needed Keith!

The very little picture below (I can't figure out how to make the scanner do it's thing) is of Keith and I at his graduation in 1996. He asked me to be his "date" for Grad and I gladly accepted!

Something that stresses me out

2010-11-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Finding time to get everything that needs to be done accomplished.

It's funny because just yesterday in Sacrament Meeting the High Councilman gave a talk on this exact subject and it was also discussed in Sunday School and Relief Society. It seems to be an ongoing issue for so many of us.

If I don't have enough hours in a day to do all that I need to do why am I spending time on this blog of all things? Because we all need balance... that was the take home message from Sundays meetings and I know that when I try to live a balanced life my stress level is decreased and though I still may not get everything done everyday, I am a happier person, a better wife, a kinder mother and a real friend.

Balance is important, but a lesson that I seem to have to keep learning through trial and error is that dedicated, consistent personal worship of our Savior is paramount to being a happy, productive, stress free individual. I KNOW that is true. Studying the scriptures everyday and praying for guidance in all that I do is what helps me stay grounded. When I neglect these basic simple truths in my everyday life I get STRESSED.

A few weeks ago I went to Texas to visit Maryn and then spent a week with my Sister In Laws at the Houston Quilt Show. It was a great time and I was glad for the break from my real life, which at times can be a bit out of control. Here is what happened though. Because I have been given the awesome opportunity to teach seminary each day, a large portion of my time is spent reading, studying and pondering the scriptures. I pray before I begin my preperations, sometimes as I prepare and always after I am done to acknowledge the Lords hand in helping me accomplish the task. When I was gone I took my scriptures with the intent to read each day, it didn't happen. I tried for the first few days, but soon forgot as the fun and excitement of the holiday took over. On my flight home with several free hours spent on the plane and in airports I read a lot and tried to make up for my lack of time spent doing concentrated daily reading. Well it doesn't work. The days missed were done and I found myself feeling stressed and uptight and farther from the Spirit than I had felt in months. Don't get me wrong, holidays are for fun and we all need time off from our regular lives, but when we neglect what is MOST important in our lives, things get off track fast.

So, before this gets way too long for even me to read, let me just say this:

Something that STRESSES ME OUT is not taking time everyday to read the scriptures and pray. It's that simple! Go do it for yourself, it will change your whole day... I promise!

What could possibly be the longest 15 day challenge ever...!

2010-11-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

In all my spare moments (and yes I do have a few moments) I have been enjoying the commentary on a friends blog as she is doing the "15 day challenge" and because she has encouraged all to "jump on the wagon" I have decided to do just that... like the title to this post states, this could possible be the longest 15 day challenge EVER, but I'm still going to give it a try!

Here are the details:

Day 1 - Self portrait picture and 15 interesting facts

Day 2- Something that stresses you out

Day 3-Your siblings and parents

Day 4- Something you're looking forward to

Day 5- pictures of things that make you happy
Day 6- A song that makes you cry and why

Day 7-Favorite movies

Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Day 9- Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Day 11-Favorite tv shows

Day 12-What you believe

Day 13-Goals

Day 14-Some pictures you love

Day 15- pictures of your Dream house

So here goes the 15 interesting facts about me:

1. I haven't needed or used an alarm to wake myself up in the morning for well over 20 years. My internal clock was always set for about 6 to 6:15 am and never failed me. These days it's more like 5 am... read on to find out why. (and no, I'm not pregnant!)

2. After 21 years of having little children by my side, on my back, on my lap, and in my face. I have finally graduated to being a Stay at Home Mom sans Kids! ( just while they are all off to school!)

3. I love being the first person to walk in freshly fallen snow and even though I complain bitterly about living in what was, for one day last winter, "the coldest place on earth" I do enjoy the peace and beauty of crisp white snow at insanely early hours of the morning!

4. In August I was called to be a Seminary teacher and besides the complete chaos that has found it's way into my home life, I am loving it and learning so much! (this should help explain #1)

5. Fresh flowers are my fav and i am not afraid to buy them for myself!

6. I can't remember the last time I didn't fall asleep at the movie theater.

7. I could never live in a house with plain white walls... I'm pretty sure it has something to do with living in a place where it is winter for 8 months of the year.

8. I really really want to learn to scuba dive.

9. Apparently my jaw pops when I chew... everyone can hear it but me!

10. Mice freak me out!

11. I hardly ever make my bed... but it does get made everyday. Thanks Mark!

12. My first two children are born on April 1st exactly two years apart. The next one was born two years later on May 1st and after that I honestly have to refer to a list in my wallet to get all the dates right!

13. I like to ski but secretly would rather be a snowboarder.

14. When I was 14 I hiked to the top of Old Chief and back down in white canvas Keds They went in the garbage when I was finished.

15. Fifteen is a lot of facts and I'm really not very interesting!

Yikes, that took way too long.

Yes really these are some highlights of summer 2010!

2010-08-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

By the end of the summer ALL seven of my kids were at home! It was great to all be together again. Maryn went back to Texas at the end of August, but we loved having her home for a whole month. This first pictures is out of order, but it definitely was the real "Highlight" of the summer!

Russell got home from his mission in Utah!!

(I don't have very many pictures and none from the actual day that he arrived, it's a long story, and didn't happen at all as we had planned... it was really late at night... cut me some slack!!)

What's summer without a trip to the Zoo?

Their was a " new to us" dinosaur park... Dallin LOVED it!

Logans' Pass in all it's beauty!

Sam had fun swimming in the lake this year.

Young Mens camp... yup that's snow in July

Max and Jordan trying to stay warm and dry.

We grew some veggies.

Max had jaw surgery

It was a really big deal but with it all behind him he is happy with the results!

Some classic slip and sliding in the back yard!

Harley!

We did a mini tri at the Fairbanks cabin. Sooo much fun!

Julie made a quilt for a Young Womans project.

Sam and Dallin - I love this picture!

Mark took the kids camping in Jasper for a few days... first time for Shaina, Dallin and Sam. They can't wait to do it again next year!

Their you have it, my summer 2010 update in October!!

The making of a Canada flag

2010-07-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try a little trip down memory lane and show you what Canada Day 1998 looked like...

We decided to have the kids help us make a big Canada flag on our drive way. It was fun but I remember that once we got the red painted on everyone was moving on to other things and Mark and I were left to finish the job. The picture isn't great and I couldn't get it to scan to just the picture size (technologically challenged!) so you might not even be able to tell, but in our rush to get the project finished we quickly chalked in the white and called it good! It lasted a long time on the driveway, well at least the red part did, and it was a fun family memory that the older kids talk about and have said on more than one Canada Day afternoon that we should repeat...

Fast forward to Canada Day 2010... 12 years later. We got around to doing it again!

Julie and I went on a bike ride/ yoga adventure with Georganne and Jessilyn that morning and before leaving I mentioned to Mark that I would be happy to pick up the supplies if he wanted to get the kids involved in painting a flag. Mark is by far the more artistically inclined parent in our family and I knew that leaving him with the job of getting it all laid out and ready to go would be the right decision. I was really proud of him for taking these pictures of the process even if secretly I would have liked to have had more of him taping it all out and being the total type A kinda guy that he is when it comes to these sorts of things...!

Shaina, Dallin, Sam and the neighbor kids painting the red part.

Julie and I got home just as they were starting the white and once again we helped Mark finish it up as the little kids had moved on to "other things"!

Julie taking advantage of the photo opportunity!

After everything is all cleaned up and put away.

A good job done and Mark takes a nap.

It's now July the 20 and the flag is still there, a bit faded but with all the rain we've had I'm a bit surprised that it's held out as well as it has.

Just incase you wanted to make your own flag someday here's what you'll need:

A nice sunny Canada day (or any day that you're feeling a little patriotic!)

Red and white tempra paint with a little dish soap mixed in for easier clean up.

The biggest foam craft brushes I could find.

Ice cream buckets

painters tape

5 to 7 willing children

One very creative/type A husband

Have a great day!

Father's Day and Maryn, just in case you weren't home sick enough, here are the flowers!!!

2010-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day is just about the only day that I begrudge Mark being the Bishop...

We don't get to do the proverbial make breakfast in bed for Dad because he is gone to meetings long before any normal human being is awake on a Sunday morning! While everyone else goes home with their Dads' after church on Sunday to relax and enjoy time together we go home alone. This Father's Day was no exception. After meetings I started to prepare a meal that took a little extra effort and I knew Mark would be thrilled to eat! I got most of it ready thinking that he would be home at a decent time given that it was Father's Day and really who could need/want his attention more than his family? I couldn't do much more without just going ahead and eating without him, and the kids were all starting to get hungry so I decided to put the shish kebabs on the grill and if he wasn't home we would just go ahead and eat...

These were really good!

The table was set I called the kids to come eat and just as I asked Dallin to say the blessing guess who walked in the door?

...THE DAD!

Just a bit later than usual but just to make me feel like a real complainer, he apologized and said that he had taken some extra time to go visit with an elderly widowed sister in the ward!

The moral of the story is, yes, their usually is someone who needs the bishop more than we do and until you learn not to be bitter about that it makes being the Bishops family challenging... we are learning!!

The kids gave Mark some hugs and other great things and I gave him a few fun things too.
One of which was the traditional Father's Day tie! (which he loves by the way!)

I insisted on a Father's Day photo and got almost everyone looking happily at the camera!

It was a good day and next year, after having done this for three times now, I will lower my expectations considerably and have a long long Sunday afternoon NAP!

Hey Maryn!

These pictures are just for you... Here are the flowers.

They look really pretty right now, lots of purple, just the way flowers should be!!

We are counting down the days till you get home.

Have a great day!

The Month of May!

2010-05-31T07:52:00.001-07:00

May started out with a visit from Maryn. She actually flew in on April 29th and then on the 30th we drove down to Lethbridge to visit Grandma and Grandpa Davidson. We figure that we need to sneak in as many visits with them as we possibly can because at this point you really don't know when it might be the last visit. It was a fun ride Maryn filled us in on lots of entertaining stories from her time in Harlingen and we watched a couple of movies. Traveling with our whole family is still a pretty big ordeal, but it is getting easier and just a little bit more enjoyable!

This is a great shot of Maryn out on Grandma and Grandpa's farm. Maryn was only home for a week but it was great to have her. I miss her and can't wait till August... She will be home for the whole month!

The next day was May 1st and of course that was Maxwell's 17th Birthday! Grandma made him a banana cream pie. It was delicious!

Here are the gifts that we got for Max. Some board games, a new shirt, shoes, and a ds game.

The next day was Sunday and we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa. This is such a cute picture of Dallin and Sam dressed is their Sunday best waiting to go.

Grandpa and Grandma's place is just such a fun place to be, the kids always find lots to do and their is just so much room to run and explore. We love it there and will be sad when the day comes that it won't be ours to go to anymore. We always see deer running in the fields and amongst the trees.

Dallin and Sam sneaking up on the deer!

Pretty Shaina in the old Milking house.

Max practicing his unicycling skills!

We all took turns shooting Marks old pellet gun. Here is Dallin eyeing up the target.

Sam loved this and just had to do it all by himself with no help! I don't think he hit much but he had a great time!

I even got in on the fun.

Maryn and I aren't big fans of guns but we both had to admit it's kinda fun as long as it isn't hurting anything.

Grandma really wanted Mark to help her do some purging out in one of the old sheds. Their is some really cool old stuff out there mixed in with a lot of junk. It was so hard for Grandpa to let go of some of it. It represents a life time of work and memories. We didn't get a whole lot accomplished, but I think Grandma felt like we at least got things started.

This is one of the old bikes that was out in the shed. I don't know who's it was, but it's a classic!

We weren't much help!

Grandpa and Grandma Davidson. What can I say... I really love these two, they have been so faithful and steady their whole lives. They are the best examples of the gospel in action. They live their lives always thinking of others and have shown us all how to stay close to our Heavenly Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ. We love them so much!

You never leave Grandma and Grandpa's place without them standing out on the driveway waiving goodbye as you drive away. I guess it's kind of a Davidson tradition. I love this picture of them they are such beautiful people inside and out!

So moving on this little incident happened sometime the next week. Dallin and Sam were outside playing with the wiffle ball bat and Dallin got a bit too close to Sam as he was swinging the bat...

A nice shiner! It doesn't look too bad here, but over time it turned really purple and when people would ask Dallin what happened his reply was always "Sam hit me in the eye with a bat!" Which of course made it sound as bad as it looked!

Sam learned to ride a two wheel bike this month and has made the long trek to Richard Secord and back a few times already! (that is on the few days that it has been warm enough!)

Julie and I did some flower and veggie planting.

The big container is an old wash basin from Grandpa and Grandma Davidson's. Grandma remembers having baths in it! Crazy!!!

Mother's day was fun the kids had all made me some fun gifts and Mark made us all a wonderful meal. I have great kids and feel incredibly blessed to be a Mom. It's not always easy and sometimes I don't do the whole job as well as I should, but I do know that being a Mom is the most important thing I'll ever do. I know that of all the things we as Mothers have to do, the most important one is to teach our children the gospel and show them how to live it. My own Mother is a wonderful example of this and I love her for it!

Elder Biggs(Jordan) returned home from his mission on the 22nd of May! He spoke in church the very next day. What a wonderful missionary he has been, his talk was one of the best i have ever heard. It was fun to visit with him that evening and having him home makes me realize just how soon our own missionary will be home! Russell will be home on August 19th. The time is just flying by!

No I'm not jumping the gun and celebrating Father's Day in May... I was asked to do a class for a Relief Society meeting on these adorable Cake Pops! I have made them and posted them before too but they are just so much fun and If you haven't had a chance you really should check out this site for all kinds if Cake Pop inspiration and other delectable yummy goodness!

This past weekend and a few other days in between have been fraught with miserable, all be it typical Alberta spring weather! It snowed here this past weekend!

Thankfully it didn't amount to much and is gone today, but I would really love to have some steamy hot days over the next few weeks. I haven't even been able to plant all my flowers and I have been offered a small raised bed in a friends yard to grow a small vegetable garden... so really it needs to warm up already please!!!

Beaver Rescue

2010-04-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Dallin had an after school field trip today that ended at 4:30 so I was pulling up to Richard Secord School at about 4:20 when I saw an ETS bus pulled over on the side of the street. Now, that wouldn't have been any thing out of the ordinary, except that the bus driver was out on the side walk looking down at the ground and walking rather slowly. As I got closer I could see that their was a small, fury, brown, something waddling along beside him. My first thought was "it's a ferret" ick, I don't like ferrets, but as I took a closer look I saw the undeniably distinct tail of yes, you guessed it, our National Animal... A BEAVER!!

No, The bus driver hadn't lost his dear pet, "Bucky" had wandered off on his own for an afternoon stroll along the river bank and obviously took a few wrong turns! When I came across him he was looking pretty rough and in need of a serious bath.(maybe even and animal emergency room) The bus driver informed me that someone had called our local Fish and WildLife division and they had said that that our dear little friend "Bucky" would need to be taken to Elerslie Animal Rescue something or other and that he of course couldn't do that. He asked me if I had anything in my truck that we could put him into so I opened up the back of the Yukon to see if I might have a Costco box or something useful kicking around. Their to my utter delight was Harley's kennel!

This is when the real fun began and I so wish that my phone had been charged so I could have captured the real rescue! Myself, and at one given moment at least 7 other people were trying desperately to get this poor little creature into the 'cage"! He wasn't very impressed and kept us busy for over 20 minutes. We were now in a school field surrounded by chain link fence and so I had the brainy idea that if we kept walking with him until we got over to the fence we could corner him and force him into the kennel.

It worked, we got him in and by this time it was just me and two other people everyone else was standing back in the parking lot watching us chase a baby beaver around the field! Our audience had grown over the 30 minutes that had past and everyone was excitedly taking pictures and calling for their kids to come take a look. In the meantime another bystander came up to me and said she was the one that had called Fish and Wild life and handed me the number and said "Good Luck" I called and they said to take it home and they would come by and pick it up. I was really glad I got to go home with it so I could take these pictures before the officer showed up.

So about 45 minutes later a Fish and Wildlife officer pulls up to the driveway, we tried to get Bucky into his cage but the poor little guy had had enough and backed right up and wasn't going to get out. The officer asked if he could just take my kennel and return it later (it's still not here at 8:30) of course I said "No problem" he asked where I had found the beaver and wanted me to point it out on his map because he said they would check him over and see if he was all good and then try to find his den? ( I can't remember what he called it, but his home) and more importantly his family and return him to them! Ahhhh! isn't that I sweet ending to my little adventure!

We all thought he was very cute!

He was very tired and kept trying to close his little eyes.

We were all a bit grossed out by his very yellow teeth!

another tooth shot

The kids and Bucky!

Maryn and Aunt Julie would be so proud of me for taking care of "Nature"! The officer thanked me for being a good citizen and I smiled and waved goodbye. All is well that ends well (as long as he returns my dog kennel!!!!)

Testing

2010-03-23T10:05:00.001-07:00

I am trying to figure out how to enlarge my photos on blogger...

I found a blog that gives very easy instructions, but was wondering if their is a more permanent solution rather than going in and editing the Html with every picture I download? Also I am not thrilled about the result of this enlargement as it seems to just distort the image and makes it look totally unnatural. IS THERE ANYONE OUT THEIR THAT CAN HELP ME???!

p.s A short update on Russell, he is serving in Ceder City and is very busy teaching and baptizing. He is loving his mission and is under the false impression that Utah is Zion!!

Julie's 15!

2010-03-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

Julie had a Birthday on March 19th!!

Here are a few fun facts about Julie at 15!

As soon as she gets home from school she changes into her pajama pants, even if she has places to go... she usually just wears them anyway!
She is really into taking and editing pictures, in fact the first image in this post is a "self portrait" by Julie. Below is another picture that Julie took. She's pretty good!

She loves her family and has a soft spot for Sam!

She is a girl after my own heart and loves to pore over the great clothes from this place

Julie is a fantastic artist, she especially enjoys painting. Here are a few samples of her talent...

She is getting her braces off in May!

Julie read the Book of Mormon to complete her Virtue project for Young Womens (and to see if she could beat Elder Fager, she lost by a few days!!)

Julie is a Vernon Barford Honors student!!! ( I always wanted one of those bumper stickers, why don't they make them anymore!!)

Julie is now taller than Maryn. She is a whopping 5. 1 1/2"!! Sadly she isn't quite as tall as me at a towering 5. 2"! (in the photo below, as though you couldn't plainly see, Maryn is wearing the "highest" shoes!!!)

She is a great cook and if she would just learn to clean up, i'd hire her for sure!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE, WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

WOW...Here is some crazy core strength!

2010-03-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I went to a "total body" type work out at the Y. It killed me and I have been hobbling around the with a serious case of lactic acid build up in every muscle in my body for the past two days. However, the real killer was the abdominal portion of the work out. At one point I just laid flat on my back and laughed (until Alysa the work out queen walked by and said something like "come on ladies you won't get a 6 pack from lying on your backs" ) Did I say anything about wanting a 6 pack?? Honestly though I have no abs... they are totally shot and I really need to do something about it. Here is the problem. Two years + ago I injured my lower back while shoveling the driveway. As a result I experience moderate to severe lower back pain most of the time depending on how much and what type of stress I put on my back. I simply can't do most of the common exercises to strengthen my abdominal muscles without putting my back in a compromised situation. Of course a lack of core strength is most likely the real reason for the back injury in the first place. It's a vicious cycle and one that I would love to remedy. Why am I going on about this? Two reasons!

1. I would love to hear any tips/solutions to help with my so very untoned mid section AND...

2. while WATCHING THIS I couldn't help but think about how strong these crazy acrobats are and wondered what kind of work out they were doing to get those rock solid abdominal muscles!!!! (It's a bit long and I'm still not sure what Solid Potato Salad has to do with it but hey, when I can do crazy stuff like this I'll sing about ridiculous vegetable concoctions too?!!!!)

The MOM song!

2010-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

I realize that I am generally at least 2 years behind the times of "what's new" on YouTube, but i heard this for the first time today while driving to pick up my kiddos from school. Listening, I had a huge grin on my face and when I came home the first thing I did was check YouTube and to my delight there it was. It's been there a while but if it's new to you, you really should take the time to listen. I have said the vast majority of these "isms" at least once or twice in my 21 year career as a MOM. It's very funny and Oh SO TRUE!! If you've heard it a thousand times and don't want to hear it again... have a nice day!!

Laundry...

2010-02-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

If I really thought that their were no bigger issues in life to be worried/complaining about I would go on for a few days about my laundry situation... Instead I'll go on for a few minutes in hopes that I can figure this one out before I have real problems to deal with!!

I'm a Tide girl, and other than that it's just what I have always used, I have no real reason for spending the extra money on tide. If any one has any strong attachment to another brand and thinks that it beats my Tide... I'd love to hear about it.

This is my mound of laundry yesterday (monday) morning. I didn't do any laundry over the weekend and the last time I did more than a single load out of desperation was last thursday. I gathered the clothes from all four corners of my household and this pile and the picture below are a pretty accurate representation of four days worth of clothes at the Davidson household.

If it is beginning to sound like I am complaining I am.... NOT!

I only do laundry for 7 as apposed to 9 people now. I no longer have to wash endless loads of spit up upon baby blankets and thank goodness my days of hauling a bucket full of cloth diapers up two flights of stairs (with a baby and a toddler in tow) to wash them in shared apartment/coin washers are a

very distant albeit horrific memory.

What you see here (including the sink full of white socks above) is the equivelent of 11 loads of laundry! I started this task a bit late yesterday as I had places to be and things to do outside my home until about 2:00pm. I knew when I started that it would be a long night...

When Mark got up this morning he said " Hi, how are you? Did you just feel like staying up all night to do laundry?"

Of course not, I hate doing laundry, but the thing is if I don't have atleast 8+ hours of uninterupted time to DO the laundry, it never seems to get done!

I had to go to kindergarten with Sam this morning so here it is 2:oopm the next day and I just heard the timer on the dryer letting me know that my last batch (white socks) of laundry is finished... I guess it's time to go gather it up and start again!!!

My Mom was always very efficient at doing laundry on set days and not letting it pile up and get out of control... What's my problem? Anyone have any suggestions???

8 is GREAT!!!

2010-01-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

Dallin had a birthday yesterday and he turned 8!

We celebrated by going skiing as a family and then to Red Robins for supper. Dallin got some fun presents which he kept thanking me for and saying " Mom, this has been the best day of my life"!! What more could a mom want to hear on her childs birthday.

I had fun looking back for a picture on each of his birthdays and here they are... all 9 of them (including the day he was born)

January 9th 2002 Dallin enters the world!

It was a fast delivery and I was so excited and couldn't stop saying "I'm done... I'll never have to do this again"!! Well, we all know how that turned and aren't we glad it did!

January 9th 2003 Dallin's first birthday. All the older kids remember this cake as a favorite.

January 9th 2004 Dallin turns two. Not sure about the "special effects"?

He's pretty cute though!

January 9th 2005 Birthday #3

January 9th 2006 Dallins 4th birthday

January 9th 2007 Happy 5th birthday!

January 9th 2008 Dallin turns 6 and has a Pirate party with friends

January 9th 2009 7 years old.

January 9th 2010!! 8 is GREAT!!!

Turning eight is a pretty big deal and I am so excited for Dallin as he has chosen to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a few short weeks. In true boy form he is even more excited to go to Cubs this next Wednesday and be a part of all the fun that happens there!

Here are just a few random things about Dallin at 8

- He is learning to play the Violin

- He loves to read and is on book 7 of the Harry Potter series.

- He is a great friend to his little brother Sam

- He always remembers to read his scriptures at night.

- He likes to play his new Nintendo DSi but...

- He would rather read Calvin and Hobbs and play Lego!

-He is full of energy and and enthusiasm and we love him very much!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALLIN!

Best of '09

2010-01-02T11:47:00.001-08:00

Todays post was inspired by a little creative exercise on Stacy Julians BLOG. I am not a scrap booker... but I read her blog because I really like her positive outlook, amazing creativity and her love for all things colorful. I didn't manage to pick these photos in the alloted 12 minute time frame, but i did manage to stick to just 12, which was way harder than I thought.

So here is the Davidson's 2009 Year in Review!

12 of my favorite photos from 2009

January 09- Sunday evening jam session

January 09- Dallin having a little fun in the snow!

February 09- Russell and his favorite investigator!

March/April 09- Spring Break in Utah " The greatest SNOW on earth"!!

May 09- Maryn's Graduation!

June 09- FHE scavenger hunt!

July 09- Shaina enjoying the lazy days of summer!

June 09- Fathers Day

August 09- Sisters!

September 09- First day of school, for EVERYONE!!!!

October 09- "Obi-wan, Spiderman and Betty Rubble"

November 09- Snow Dog

December 09- Front Door Greeting

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! 2010 Here we come!!!

Santa was here!

2009-12-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

It seems that good old St. Nick made it down our chimney...

He made a little more clatter this year (or maybe I've just officially become an old person who gets up atleast three times a night) anywho, my long winters nap was cut short and I pulled myself out of the tiniest Davidson Whos' bed (where I fell asleep at about 10 p.m) to see if I could catch a glimps of that right Jolly Old Elf!

He's fast man and I missed him. He'd been in and out in more than a flash. He got 'er done and I didn't even get to see the whole rise up the chimney thing. DANG! I did manage to take a few pictures of his quick stocking stuffing present unpacking skills!

He had to take the stockings off the mantel...He stuffed them full to the top and really, they were just a bit too...

HEAVY!!

He left some presents under our tree too!

(lots of kids make for lots of presents!!)

My kids don't have any problems sleeping through the night and in the end we had to wake up the youngest Davidson Who pictured below (at around 8:15) to rally them all to the stairs before we marched in to see what Santa had left behind.

Sammy got a Leapster

Dallin + Lego = Christmas JOY

Shaina got the cutest stuffed mouse ever!

Julie checking out some shiny goodness in her stocking! I know, the onesie is adorable!

Max scored an iPod touch.

Maryn was happy that Santa found her and didn't leave her presents in Texas!

Mark holding up the quilt that Maryn and I made in just a little over a week! (thanks to Julie who held up the fort while we were busy sewing!)

It's made out of mens suit samples and the buttons are from Grandma D's button collection.

Mark loves it and we had a good time making it!

Here are all the Davidson Whos' (minus Russ) in their new p.j's We did get to talk to Russell on the phone, he is happy, doing great things and made us all laugh in the way that only he can. We miss him, but are already looking forward to next year when he will home with us.

I love Christmas and all the warm happy feeling that it brings out in all of us. I love that I still have little ones that get all caught up in Santa. BUT, what brings me true joy and happiness is that long ago a babe was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He was then and is now our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he came that we all might live again. I love him, I want to serve him and more than anything I want to return to him with my family to live together forever and ever! That is what makes believing in Santa all right!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone (except the massive mounds of candy and sugar coated teeth that I am left to deal with!) and I am just about ready to start putting away all the Fall/Halloween decorations so I can start thinking about Christmas!

The pumpkin above is Julie's, it was my favorite and looked sweet next to my little witch.

More pumpkins in this picture with Shaina. The witch on the broomstick was done by Shaina, the skull was Sam's idea and Mom's handiwork and the scary face was carved by Dallin who did the whole project start to finish all by himself!! Shaina dressed up as "Betty" from the Flinestones. She went out trick or treating with some friends and brought home about as much candy as she could carry!

Here is Sam posing as your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!

Dallin aka Obi-wan Kenobi. The prize for the kid with the most candy goes to... Dallin!

After Sam had had enough trick or treating Dallin asked if he could go for a bit longer, I agreed and we headed off to the other side of our neighborhood. It was about 7:30 and their was only a handful of kids still out( our neighborhood doesn't have a lot of young children) so people were just dumping the "Loot" (as Dallin would say) into his bag. Seriously, I have never had a kid bring home that much JUNK!

Here is Sam in his final costume choice. It's so nice to have options!

I made this little Batman costume for Russell when he was Sam's age and each one of the boys have had a turn wearing it. It would be fun to do a photo collage of the four of them in the Batman costume and add it to my Halloween decor. Maybe next year!

I made these cute Spider Cookies to take to the kids class parties at school. They are homemade Oreos with shoestring licorice added for legs. These cookies are simple and delicious and would make a really nice Christmas exchange cookie by rolling the iced edge in peppermint! You can find the recipe HERE.

Hope your Halloween was great! Have fun keeping your kids (and your own) teeth clean...

I always tell Mark that he should have been a dentist!!

Birthdays!

2009-09-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

September like quite a few other months in the year is a Birthday month at our house!

For the past couple years Mark and I have done the Melissa's Run in Banff. Last year it fell on the day of my birthday and this year it was the day after. We only ran the 10K this year and I'm pretty sure we won't ever do it again. The run was very crowded and it just felt like a bit of a let down after having run the 22K there before. It was a really fun little get away though and a great thing to do to celebrate being one year older!!

This little guy had a birthday this month too!!

Sam had a birthday on the 18th and believe it or not my baby boy is FIVE!!

I love this little boy and couldn't imagine my life without him in it. Each year when the air gets cool and the leaves begin to change I FALL even more in love with Sam and thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing that only He knew I needed!

I love you Sam... Happy Birthday!!

Peach Pies!!

2009-09-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

My mom can do a lot of things. She really is one talented lady and I have always been grateful for the few skills she managed to pass along to me.

If you live in or around Magrath you might know that my mom can BAKE. Growing up we never knew what store bought bread tasted like. With 11 mouths to feed she made bread a lot! My Mom's "parker house rolls" are world famous (seriously, I have had perfect strangers in far away places tell me they have had my moms amazing rolls) and of course kids in Magrath for generations know her for her Halloween cookies! My kids and all their cousins will tell you that Grandma's homemade doughnuts are scrumptious and can put Tim Horton's to shame!! My brothers and sister and I were never hungry, the cookie jar at my house was well stalked for us and all the neighborhood kids to enjoy!! I, however, have a personal favorite and last weekend some of my kids and I drove down to Grandma's to have her help us make them...

PEACH PIES!!

Mom and Shaina putting the tops on the pies.

Some finished and some waiting for filling. Julie, who didn't manage to make it into any pictures, blanched and sliced peaches. I mixed the sliced peaches in the sauce and poured them in to the waiting pie shells. Grandma made the pastry and cut the tops.

Shaina was the "gofor" girl and helped with a bit of everything.

Doesn't that make your mouth water?? Delicious!!

Grandma put Julie and Shaina and I to work and we made 20 pies! We made them all Saturday down at the Stake Campground. We froze the pies and Monday we loaded them in to a cooler and brought them home. I now have 20 fresh peach pies in my freezer and can't wait till tomorrow night when we will bake and slice into the first one! What will be even better, is eating peach pie in the middle of February! If you're really nice to me and the stars are all aligned just right I might invite you over and let you have a taste!!!

Goodbye August

2009-09-01T12:14:00.001-07:00

August was a busy fun filled month. We were able to spend time with family, eat good food, stay up late and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. For me that's what summer is all about! I am not ready to say goodbye to summer and all the fun that goes with it! Here are just a few (o.k more that a few) pictures of some of our summer time fun!

Sisterly LOVE!!

Another fun family wedding- this is Annie and Aaron, they got married in Seattle at the very end of July. I was able to go to their wedding and spend a few days visiting Jim and Marie and their family.

Jim and Marie and their children

We babysat Lacy for a few weeks. It was fun to have two beagles around the house. I got more exercise those two weeks than I did all summer. Lots of dog walks in the ravine in the early morning hours and then the dog park at night.

Mark having a nice afternoon nap at the cabin

Max wakeboarding

Playing the favorite game of the summer "Werewolves"!

Mark getting some air!

Sammy discovered the lake this year-One day he actually swam around between the docks with out holding on to anyone. Next year he'll love it!!

The usual "Dock Wars"

We have a picture just like this one every year (except last year when we didn't go) for the last 15 years! We love going to the cabin and are so grateful to Uncle Brent and Aunt Julie for sharing their little piece of "Heaven on Earth" with us every summer!!

Julie made Pie!

Max did too!

We had a little pie tasting event... Max's won!!!

Speaking of Max- He has been a major source of entertainment for the little kids all summer! At the beginning of the summer I was thinking that he really needed to go find some kind of a job, it wasn't too long after that I was very happy that he was around during the day. Shaina, Dallin and Sam won't ever forget this game... "Tree Man" Good Times!!!!

I LOVE these two crazy boys!

Dallin at the St. Albert skate park.

I went down to Texas with Maryn to get her all set up in her new apartment. She is sharing a very tiny bedroom with her new friend/roomate Kaitlyn. We spent two days straight going back and forth between her place to Walmart and Target. It was very hard to say goodbye, but unlike a mission we can talk, text, and skype anytime and she will be home to visit at Christmas! Speaking of missions, Russell is over the half way mark Yeah! I would post a picture of him if he's send home his memory card!! Maryn started her Dental Hygiene program yesterday and is feeling quite excited, a little homesick and very HOT!

The 28th was SHAINA'S Birthday! Mark took the afternoon off and we all went out to the splash park in St. Albert.

Here is the "10 Year old" with her stack of birthday presents! She got a new chair for her desk, an ipod shuffle, a new board game, a wii game (from Max) and a Webkinz racoon (from Maryn)

This last picture is courtesy of Julie. They went out the back gate and did a little photo shoot in the ravine. When I asked Julie how it went she said "I don't know Shaina doesn't like having her picture taken" You would never know it... she's so dang cute!!

School starts tomorrow... I am excited but very sad to say goodbye to summer and to my kids... they DO come home at the end of the day, I'll be allright!!

Sarah and Fraser's Wedding

2009-08-30T14:11:00.001-07:00

My beautiful niece Sarah was married in the Cardston Temple to Fraser Perry on July 31st

It was a picture perfect day and the happy smiles on the bride and grooms faces pretty much tell the story. Sarah is a very special person and we are so happy that she has someone to share her life with forever.

This is a very photo heavy post... good thing they are both so photogenic!

My Julie took this picture and did the photo editing, a budding photographer perhaps... what do you think?

The wedding party- sure made for a nice picture!

Sarah and her bridesmaids- my girls, her two sisters and a good friend.

Sarah showing off her shoes- they were a gorgeous cobalt blue (too bad I cut them off)!

Sarah and Fraser with Julie and Brent (her Mom and Dad)

Aunt Julie and all the bridesmaids- this was the first time Julie had seen all the girls in their dresses, she couldn't get over how great they all looked. Aunt Julie looked amazing too!!

Maryn and Julie

Max outside the temple

Dallin and Sam trying to stay out of trouble!

Sarah and Fraser at the reception in Montana- they are standing in front of the quilt that Maryn made. I just missed taking a picture of Sarah wiping the tears away from her eyes as she looked at the quilt. It will be a real treasure for Sarah and we were so glad that she liked it!

More cute bridesmaids pics- they were all so done with having their pictures taken by the end of the day.

Me and Shaina

This is at the end of the reception in Calgary- it was starting to get cold (nice cardigans girls!)

Julie and Shaina enjoying the fabulous buffet!

Shaina got to be the present girl- here she is putting away a card.

Grandma Davidson tying the bow on the back of Shaina's dress- no one can tie bows like Grandma!

One of the many beautiful food tables.

Julie and Brent did an amazing job getting their yard in tip top shape for the reception. It looked so good. Julie might have to stay home for a few weeks so she can enjoy it.

The whole wedding was just beautiful we were really glad to have been a part of it. Family is such a wonderful blessing in our lives. Weddings are great but the most important thing is the Temple and how we honor the covenants we make there through out our lives. I am so grateful for this blessing in my own life!

One year of posting!

2009-07-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have been blogging now for one year and when I look back at what we have done over the past year I am so glad that I took up this little hobby! Other than this blog, I don't have another full year of our life "on record" so I am obviously going to try and keep going with this and try even harder to make it a place where we can all look back at the events in our lives with JOY!!

So here is just a bit of what we have been up to this summer...

THis is Dad and Sam making a VOLCANO!

Sam had "Do a science experiment with Dad" on his bingo sheet a couple weeks ago. They made this cool volcano complete with foaming green lava!

This is Dallin's dirt cake. He made it for a F.H.E treat. He has also been having a great time reading the "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" series. The summer bingo program has been a huge success so far and Dallin has used his blackouts to buy books which was a bit of a shock to me! Dallin continues to love skateboarding and playing with Shaina and Sam.

Shaina has been busy making videos with Julie. (I wish I could figure out how to post videos without it taking all day, if anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it) She also went to a U of A B-ball camp for a week. I can't get Shaina to go to bed before 10:30 on any given night, so going back to school might be a bit rough at first!

Julie went to Young Womens camp at the beginning of the summer. She did all kinds of great activities and had a fabulous time despite the never ending rain! Julie played Mom for a few days while I went to Seattle for a nieces wedding, I was totally comfortable knowing Julie was in charge. She has been a great help to me all summer. Thanks Julie!!

Max just got back from Scout camp. It was nothing short of a truly epic adventure! I can't even begin to let you know what happened! They had a great time and Max came home injury free for the first time in his scout camp history!

This is a homemade slip and slide that Max and Julie created one afternoon. It occupied everyone for the better part of the day. The kids have all been having a great time playing together this summer, I am so glad they are friends and that they really do like to be together!

Maryn has been working at Lauph and Learn and keeping on top of her summer school courses for her dental hygiene program. She has been a great help around here with the kids too. When I was gone she took everyone to see a movie and helped keep everyone happy. I can't even tell you how much I will miss her. I am going to fly down to TX with Maryn at the end of the month and help her get set up in her apartment. Seems like yesterday that it was me moving away from home to come here for school.

This isn't the greatest picture of Russell, but I don't have that many in iphoto. Russ is having a great experience on his mission. He always sounds positive and is working really hard and having lots of success. His weekly letters continue to amuse us and help us see that he is still the same Russell that left here a year ago. He has almost been out for a year, and they say the second half of a mission goes way faster than the first. (not so sure I believe it!)

I really needed to do Caylee's photo challenge cause I couldn't find a picture of me to post. I have been busy having fun with the kids and tending dogs! I have tried with limited success to stay active running and biking. I have read a few books and done knitting and now I'm learning to crochet! This is the first year in a few that I haven't been to camp and I have to say I have missed it, I hope we will have time to go camping before summer ends.

Mark, on the other hand has been at both YM and YW's camp. It really does take a significant amount of his holiday time, but he really enjoys going and I know it's good for the youth to have him there. Like I said before, the scout camp was beyond the typical adventure and I can't even begin to tell the story, maybe I will try to convince Mark to tell the tale here!

I hope you are all having a great summer spending time with family and enjoying the great outdoors! We are off for a week in Montana. I Love SUMMER!!!

Maryn's Culinary Comeback

2009-07-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you remember THIS (click here)

but it seems that poor Maryn has developed a bit of a reputation and I have to say that really, until last week, she totally deserved all the mud that got thrown her way!

Summer and it's abundance of fresh friut must have been calling her name cause look what Maryn created...

And she did it ALL BY HERSELF!!

This is "Welcome to the Neighborhood" shot #2!!

We are all really encouraged by her latest culinary experience. It's so good that she'll have access to lots of fresh fruit in Texas. Now if she can master Kraft Dinner over the next five weeks their just might be hope for her after all!!!!

Summer BINGO!

2009-07-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

I am going to preface this post by saying that I LOVE summer, I LOVE having my kids around for two straight months and I LOVE the laid back schedule that goes along with it, BUT I am not a fan of...

endless t.v
mind numbing video games
children fighting
the "Mom, I am bored, their's nothing to do" line

So, I came across this idea that will hopefully help us have avoid the afore mentioned "problems" and help us have a really fun summer together!

We are doing Summer Bingo. Let the games begin!

This is really just for my three youngest( but tonight we sat around and came up with a summer plan for the big kids too) Shaina, Dallin and Sam each have their own Bingo card with age appropriate activities. The card above is Sam's. I will change the cards up at the end of the week

Tonight after supper I sat everyone down and unveiled "the plan" Let's just say I think some of my children might be up a bit earlier than usual to get started on their Bingo.

The idea is really simple, they each have a bingo card with 25 activities to do for the week. For each bingo they fill they receive tickets which can be redeemed for prizes, if everyone fills up their whole bingo card by the end of the week, together they can choose one thing from the list below.

I am really excited to see how this works out. The link above has a lot more details if any one is interested in trying this out too.

On a completely different note... Apparently the city issued the cage to the "Kernal" to catch Magpies and Crows! Yup, that's right, it's o.k for him to have it and it's my job to make sure my dog stays out of his yard! What do you think he's doing with the birds he catches? You might want to think twice next time you have KFC!!!

CSI off leash park

2009-06-28T18:00:00.001-07:00

I have been walking Harley with some ladies from the neighborhood who also have dogs. We meet at around 9 a.m and just walk up and down the greenbelt with the dogs off leash (yes, that's what I said, Harley walks off leash!) Over on the Westbrooke side there are a couple of yards that don't have fences, they have trees or hedges, but the dogs can get in to their yards if we don't watch them. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were walking and this old man came out and started yelling at us because apparently we didn't "pick up" after one of the dogs, and all we do is yap and we ignore the dogs as they run mindlessly around the greenbelt unsupervised. He really tore into us, and we were very apologetic and told him that we try our best to be good about picking up after the dogs etc. One of my friends who's name will remain undisclosed to protect the innocent,has quite a colorful way with words and expresses her opinion of this grouchy old man in a way that I am not able to share with you my readers, you just need to know that this man spends the better part of the morning creeping the greenbelt and has made our morning walks feel a bit more like walking on egg shells than a peaceful walk in an off leash park!Let's just say we're not big fans of the grouch man! This particular man lives in one of the houses on the Westbrook side with no fence. So just last week we were walking along and I looked back and Harley was right behind me about 10 paces away. I walked forward for about 30 more seconds and then looked back and NO HARLEY. In looking to the side I quickly realized we were right in line with the grouchy mans back yard. It didn't take my brain long to connect the dots and I moved swiftly to retrieve my dog knowing that we would both be in big trouble if she was discovered loose in his back yard. I spotted Harley sniffing over by a big pine tree and started yelling at her to get out and noticed at the same time that she was pawing at an object quite vigorously. As I got a little closer my heart began to race as the object had the appearance of a small cage and I could just imagine what would happen when my dog got a hold of what could possibly be the grouchy mans pet bunnies or something of the like. When I was right up to the "cage" and looked in I was both stunned and infuriated at what was discovered. In a wire mesh cage about 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 feet was six or seven pieces of what appeared to be fried chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken to be more precise!! I didn't have time or the guts to look up at the house to see if I was being watched, I just grabbed Harley's collar and bolted it out of there faster than i had made it in. Back on the greenbelt safe in the company of my dog loving comrades, I gave an account of my near dog life threatening experience in the grouchy man's yard. We all came to the obvious conclusion that the grouchy man was indeed attempting to lure my, and any other so unfortunate canine friend in to his back yard so that he could A.) Attempt to put an end to my poor innocent dogs sweet life or B.) and far more probable, he was trying to lure any four legged friend into his back yard to have evidence of the "irresponsible dog owners" who frequent the off leash park and try to shut it down! We were all completely incensed to say the least and decided that we would make a combined effort to put a stop to this kind of in-canine type of prejudice treatment, we would all put in a call to city By-law enforcement and attempt to beat the grouchy man (who is now very unaffectionately referred to as the Kernel) at his own game!! By-law said they would investigate and that if I felt it necessary, could call them with my reference number in hand on Monday to find out the result of their investigations. I will be waiting on hold for the better part of tomorrow morning to find out if the Kernel will be brought to justice!!! I know I need to get a life, and I promise when all this is behind me I will!

A bit of this and that!

2009-06-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad to finally be having some summer like weather.

Here's Sam helping me keep things fed and watered.

I don't have many pictures of our house, the landscaping that Russell and I worked so hard on the last two summers is looking good if I do say so myself!!

I brought one of the purple chairs from the back yard to the front to sit and watch Dallin skateboard. I haven't taken it back and I think it looks kinda cute!

I LOVE PURPLE FLOWERS!!

The front doorway... more purple!

I didn't get a good picture of the apple blossoms on the trees in the front yard. They were exceptionally beautiful this year. I just wish the blossoms lasted longer.

Maryn, Julie, Shaina and Sam went for a walk down by Snow Valley on Sunday afternoon. It was a whopping 30*! They were hot and tired when they got home, but they took some fun pictures along the way!

Sam will really miss Maryn when she leaves for school, he already gets emotional when we talk about her going to Texas!

So cute!

Here is Max in the middle of a back flip!

Dallin, staying cool in the kiddie pool.

Harley was hot and had to get in on the fun!!

Sam trying to get some color in that skin!

Oh and here is the finished quilt project! It turned out so cute! Maryn did a great job, and a big "Thank you" to Jean-Anne who did the binding for us, I really have such great friends!

Tonight was the kids Piano recital, they all did a great job. I was especially impressed with Max and thought that he played his piece tonight as well as I had ever heard it. I thought the piece he choose for the recital was perhaps a bit beyond his skills, but he proved me wrong. Max has that "stick to it"kind of attitude that will really help him be successful at whatever he puts his mind to. Like I said, all the kids did a great job tonight. It's fun to see the major improvement that they make over the year. I forgot my camera (again) so sorry, no pictures!

Menu plan June 15th-21st

Monday

Breakfast- Scambled eggs

Supper- BBQ steak/baked potatoes/ veggies

Tuesday

Breakfast- bananas muffins/smoothie

Supper-teriyaki beef fajitas

Wednesday

Breakfast- pancakes/O.J

Supper- grilled halibut and veggies in foil packets

Thursday

Breakfast- poached eggs and toast/O.J

Supper- Chicken roll ups/rice/broccoli

Friday

Breakfast- Yogurt/ fruit parfaits

Supper- sloppy joes/fresh veggies

Saturday

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- BBQ Chicken and cheese quesadillas

Sunday

FATHERS DAY! Still dreaming up something wonderful!!

Have a great week!

Harry Ainlay Class of 2009!

2009-05-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Maryn had her commencement and graduation banquet this past weekend.

She graduated with Honorable Mention from Harry Ainlay High School

Maryn's graduating class was over 750 kids, the commencement exercises lasted 3 1/2 hours!

This is Maryn with her closer high school friends

The graduation banquet was Saturday night, Maryn spent the day getting primped and polished, she looked beautiful in her dress. Here she is in our front yard before she left.

Maryn got her dress from a friend of mine who lives in Magrath, she designs modest graduation and wedding gowns. The dress she chose only came in white, Michelle (the designer) was able to dye the dress this beautiful steal blue color. It turned out even better than we hoped!

One of the first of many photos taken that day!!

This is the group of girls that rode together in a Limo, it left from her friend Ashleigh's house and took them to the Legislature grounds were they took photos before the banquet.

Jill, Maryn, Ashleigh and Natalie

Jill Maryn and Ashleigh

Maryn and Ashleigh- Ashleigh has been one of Maryn's better friends at school. She is a really nice girl and one of the girls Maryn will miss when she goes away in the Fall.

Maryn and her best friend Jenni. Jenni doesn't go to Ainlay, she goes to McNally, but was invited to Ainlay's grad as a date. Maryn was very happy to have Jenny there and get a few pics together. They were by far the most modestly dressed girls there that night, I think they looked beautiful!

Maryn and her friend Austin Fairbanks. We sat with the Fairbanks at the banquet. Maryn, Austin and Jenny have all been in greenfield ward together since they started elementary school. They will all graduate from seminary together in a few weeks!

Me and Maryn

Maryn and Mark

The three of us together. Maryn had a fun graduation weekend. It was a bit anti-climactic, it's a different experience here were she has so few member friends. All her friends went to the after grad parties where they pretty much just drink the whole night away. Maryn came home at about 12:30 and just said very matter of factly "theirs really no point" I'm just grateful that I have kids who recognize that they really have no place in that environment but can still have a positive attitude and don't let it bother them.

So... two down and five to go! This really is just the beginning for Maryn and we feel so very blessed to have such an amazing daughter!!

Menu for this week May 25th-31st

Monday

Breakfast- Cereal

Supper- BLT's

Tuesday

Breakfast- Bagels and smoothies

Supper- Teriyaki chicken stir fry

Wednesday

Breakfast- Dipping eggs and toast/O.J

Supper- BBQ ribs/ baked potatoes/veggies

Thursday

Breakfast- Pancakes/syrup/O.J

Supper- Shrimp veggie cheese Linguini

Friday

Breakfast- Oatmeal/blueberries/O.J

Supper- Homemade pizza

Saturday

Breakfast- Cold Cereal

Supper- Quiche/rice/veggies

Sunday

Breakfast- Cold Cereal

Supper- BBQ Salmon/roasted potatoes/salad

The quilt top is finished!!

2009-05-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

It has taken way too long, but the quilt top is finally all pieced together. Maryn and I have collaborated on this little project, and while she has done the lion's share of the work, it has been up to me to make final decisions, run back and forth to the quilting store, and basically keep the project rolling. We had a completely different idea about the border fabric than what we ended up using, but we like the way it is looking and hope that Sarah will be happy with this patchy little peace of her family history!

Next step... Sandwich the top, batting and backing and take it to Georganne's to quilt it on her long arm quilt machine. We hope to have this accomplished this weekend and then all that will be left is the binding... I don't like binding... Here's to hoping it gets finished by the wedding!

Menu May 18th -24th

MONDAY

Breakfast-Holiday Julie made breakfast cake

Supper- Hot dogs/fruit/chips/punch

TUESDAY

Breakfast-cold cereal

Supper-Beef stroganoff/rice/ salad

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast-Apple cinnamon oatmeal

Supper- bbq chicken/roasted sweet potatoes/salad

THURSDAY

Breakfast- yogurt/fruit parfaits

Supper- crock pot chili

FRIDAY

Breakfast-yogurt/fruit/cereal

Supper- tortellini with cheese sauce/veggies

SATURDAY

Breakfast- cereal

Supper- Julie's choice?

SUNDAY

Breakfast- Cereal

Supper- Quiche/wild rice/salad

Skater Dude!!

2009-05-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our next door neighbor asked Dallin if he would like to try out the skate board that she keeps in her garage for her grandkids when they visit. She even had a helmet and said he was welcome to use that too. To say he was thrilled would be a huge understatement! He has been practicing hard and is on the fast track to becoming the next Tony Hawk (actually his real skate board hero is Austin as you can see from the pictures below!)

Austin is so great, he willingly came over to give Dallin some lessons.

None of my other kids have had a big interest in skate boarding, it just seems like such a Dallin thing to do!!

Making sure everything is in running order!

Making his way down the "steep slope" of the driveway!

Apparently this board is "way too big" and a trip to the skate board shop is in order to find a "mini" board! I am pretty sure he will use it though as he has practically slept with this one for the past few days!

I have Dallin signed up for Violin lessons in the Fall. Who am I kidding?!!!!!

MENU for May 11th-17th

Monday

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- left over Mother's Day Meal (Mark did polynesian haystacks--Yummy)

Tuesday

Breakfast- scrambled eggs and toast

Supper- chicken and corn chowder

Wednesday

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- bbq burgers and spinach salad

Thursday

Breakfast- blueberry oatmeal

Supper- tuna pinwheels with rice and carrots

Friday

Breakfast- pancakes

Supper- loaded nachos and smoothies

Saturday

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- bbq kabobs

Sunday

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- pork roast/ roasted sweet potatoes/ salad

Happy Earth Day!!

2009-04-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently it's Earth Day today and I ALMOST missed it. After supper Dallin said "Mom, I think we should all go out and pick up some garbage around our neighborhood" My reply was something like "Really? why do you want to do that?" "MOM! it's Earth Day, come on!!"

We told Sam we were going on a "garbage hunt" and tried to make it seem like a fun thing to do. He bought it until his hands and ears were freezing cold and then he cried the 5 minute walk back to home. His comment upon walking into the house in between sobs was " I don't ever want to hunt for garbage again"!!

Sam before the melt down.

Shaina and Dallin doing their part to make the Earth a little cleaner!

As we walked Shaina filled me in on some of the things we can do to be more "environmentally friendly" Here are a few of her ideas...

Put a frizbee upside down on the lawn when you start watering it, when it is full that is all the water the grass needs for the week.

Use a "Shower Minder" it's a timer you can buy to monitor the amount of time you spend in the shower.

Use Eco friendly light bulbs.

Plant a tree.

Ride your bike to and from school.

And last, she suggested that we go on a weekly "garbage hunt" until our whole neighborhood is litter free. (I am not sure Sam is up for the challenge!)

All done! We filled a whole garbage bag in about 15 minutes. Good Job guys, You really can make a difference. Happy Earth Day everyone!

Oh and by the way, my "green" little helpers are up stairs in the bath scrubbing all the nasty germs off their freezing cold hands. I will offer them some latex gloves next time we go "garbage hunting"!!!

menu April 20th-26th/ Norwex cleaning cloths

2009-04-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Monday

Breakfast-Yogurt/granola/fruit parfaits

Supper- Chicken fajitas (Julie cooked!)

Tuesday

Breakfast- Banana muffins/o.j

Supper- Italian cream cheese chicken on linguini

Wednesday

Breakfast-waffles

Supper-Mini quiche/rice and salad

Thursday

Breakfast- Dipping eggs and toast

Supper- New Orleans shrimp and rice with corn bread click here for recipe

Friday

Breakfast- toasted bagels and smoothie

Supper- Loaded Nachos

Saturday

Breakfast- Cereal

Supper- Grilled chicken cesar salad

Sunday

Breakfast- Cereal

Supper- BBQ pork roast/roasted sweet potatoes/salad

So last week I went to a Norwex party... I am NOT selling this product, but can I just say I spent most of the morning cleaning and I am in LOVE with these cloths. Unbelievable! I didn't use an ounce of cleaning product, just water and the cloths. I have never had cleaner windows and mirrors and my granite counter tops are gleaming!! If you have never heard of Norwex, I am sure you could goggle it and check it out online. If you have but don't own any, go find someone who sells them and host a party. I bet you'd get a pretty decent discount! I might even come to your party and buy MORE! Spring Cleaning just got bumped up on my list of things TO DO! Now if someone would just come up with self-cleaning clothes!! Here are a few pictures of my shiny clean kitchen, the kids will be home from school soon so have a good look now cuz it won't last long!!

Sarah's Quilt Update

2009-04-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Maryn has been working hard at getting this quilt done for her cousin Sarah's wedding in July. I think she is really enjoying the sewing part, she got all the piecing done in just a few hours.

This quilt is also Maryn's last project to complete her Young Woman's Personal Progress.

Here is the quilt top. It is 8 squares across and 10 down. It is cuter that we thought it would be, very "patchy" and "pioneer" looking. Most all of the fabric was selected by Sarah from her Grandmothers, Aunts and her Moms fabric stash. It will be a bit of a memory quilt for Sarah.

Here are all the individual squares sewn together in rows, next step, sew all the rows together.

I need to go look for fabric for a border, backing and binding. I am not exactly sure where we are going as far as color goes. I think pretty much anything will look good as their are so many colors in the quilt itself. I am open to any suggestions...!

Slack line skills and Menu April 13-19

2009-04-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is a quick shot and video above of Max's (and Mark's) latest entertainment.

It's a slack line and they are having fun learning to do various tricks on it at a safe height of about 2 feet. Apparently rock climbers do mind numbing walks between mountain peeks hundreds of feet in the air without harnesses on. I am pretty sure that isn't where they are going with this as Mark isn't a real big fan of high places.

I didn't post my menu last week and nutritionally speaking we didn't have great week. It was a bit more hit and miss and left the supper hour a little chaotic. Once again, I post this for my benefit but would be happy to share recipes at your request.

MONDAY

Breakfast- cold cereal ( holiday)

Supper- shrimp, cheese and veggie Linguini

TUESDAY

Breakfast- berry muffins/O.J

Supper- Sweet chili chicken/rice/edemame

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast- poached eggs/toast/O.J

Supper-beef stoganoff/noodles/ broccoli

THURSDAY

Breakfast- toasted bagels/smoothies

Supper- grilled sole and veggies in foil packets

FRIDAY

Breakfast- pancakes/O.J

Supper- homemade pizza

SATURDAY

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- thai chicken noodle salad

SUNDAY

Breakfast- cold cereal

Supper- BBQ steak/roasted potatoes/salad

Have a great week!

Spring Break '09

2009-04-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well it's true... Utah really does have the "Greatest Snow On Earth"

Who cares you say? What, your sick of snow and really don't care.

Humor me then while I go on a bit about stuff your not really interested in. We had an amazing time skiing/snowboarding in Utah for Spring Break, they had record breaking snow fall in the Wasatch Mountains this year and we were lucky enough to be there while over 2 feet of the fluffy white stuff fell from the sky! [Actually it was 12 feet in just over 10 days!!! Karen has never been very good with numbers. The PostMaster.]

The whole family at the top of Powder Mountain (minus Max, you'll notice he is absent from all the skiing pictures. He and Austin and Jordan went off on their own each day. We hear they had a great time, we just don't have any pictures to show it!)

The Fairbanks came down with us, we had a really fun time with them. It is nice for our older kids to have friends to hang out with. And Brian and Georganne were a huge help with keeping us in the right place at the right time.

Shaina resting her weary legs!

Dallin was such a great sport, he skied like a pro and he just barely mastered the bunny hill at Rabbit a few weeks before we left. He skied some blue runs and had no problem at all. Problem is he thinks he wants to move on to a snow board next year, then we'll be back at square one. Oh well!

Sam was a real trooper too. He kept up and really caught on to turning. We were at the resorts each day by about 8:30, and didn't leave till 3:30- 4:00 p.m. He kept up and had a great time. It was so fun to be out there with everyone doing their thing independent of me!!

Maryn, Jessilyn and Julie

Shaina, Mark and Dallin

We did three resorts while we were there, Brighton, Powder Mountain and Snowbird. I can't decide which one I liked best, each had it's strong points. All I know is

we will definitely go back to Utah to ski again. We have never been in powder like that before and can't wait to do it again!

Maryn turned 18 on April 1st! I can't believe I have two adult children. We ate a late supper at the Cheesecake Factory. For her birthday we went on a little shopping trip to Anthropology! (Oh woops, that's Anthropologie!!! My Bad! Thanks Jacqui, it's a good thing I have smart friends!!) That is pretty much her favorite place on earth, so I think her birthday was a good one!

One of the highlights of our trip was our close encounter with our missionary!

We planned our trip to Utah before Russell was transfered to Springville, it just so happened that we had planned to stay with Mark's Uncle and Aunt who live in Springville. It was Russell's birthday on April 1st too, so on tuesday we were having a free day (the canyon road up to Snow bird was closed!) and decided to go deliver a birthday package to Russ. The plan initially was to do a ring and run sort of deal, but when we got there we all kinda chickened out thinking that it was a bit too risky as we really didn't want to see him. So, we all got out of the Yukon and stood right in front of his apartment ( it's the one with the picture of the Savior in the window) we snapped a quick photo and jumped back in the car. We drove to a Wallmart and developed the picture, put it in the package and went back to his apartment to deliver the package. The video below shows the drop off. We were all a little concerned that Russ was home. We were all in the yukon watching from a distance and laughing at gangster Mark doing the "Deal"!!

We were lucky enough to have short visits with two of my siblings while we were there. This is Trevor and Jeannie and their family, they live in Ogden. We stopped in at their place after skiing Powder Mountain.

These are Suzanne's girls, one of the twins is hiding behind the other. They are such fun little girls. My kids think it is too funny how they all look just like Aunt Suzanne! Yuki isn't in the picture, but we did get to hang out with him too.

On Sunday after we accidentally attended a young single adult ward Sacrament Meeting, we drove into Salt Lake and went to Temple Square. It's such and amazing place, we all enjoyed the afternoon. This is everyone inside the Tabernacle.

The beautiful Salt Lake temple.

Maryn, Julie and I went to the Young Woman's Broadcast on Saturday with Georganne and Jessilyn. It was a great meeting. At the end of the week Mark, Max Julie and Shaina were able to go to the Saturday Morning session of General Conference. Then we all piled in to the Yukon for the long ride home.

Such a fun Spring Break. I can't wait to do it again!!! For now though I am quite happy that the sun is shining and that the snow is leaving. I love this time of year with all the new life that comes with it. I am heading outside to see if their is anything green trying to make it's way through the ground!! Thanks for reading!

Menu March 23-27

2009-03-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Posting my Menu for the week here is really helping with basic household organization, so here is what we are eating this week!

MONDAY

Breakfast- Pancakes/ O.J

Supper- Chicken corn chowder/ Buns

TUESDAY

Breakfast- Apple Strudel Muffins/Smoothie

Supper- Shepherds Pie/Salad

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast- Poached eggs/Toast/O.J

Supper- Taco Salad

THURSDAY

Breakfast- Waffles/O.J

Supper- Black Bean & Cheese Chicken Fingers recipe here

FRIDAY

Breakfast- Cold Cereal

Supper- GONE FOR SPRING BREAK!!!

Show and Tell (demanded)

2009-03-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Maryn and Max went on a rant this afternoon about how Julie is the Golden Child and has two "spotlights" and they have ZERO!

So here is a little show and tell to "Spotlight" everyone.

Russell and Elder Martinson just before he was transfered to Springville.

Maryn's Graduation proofs, so beautiful! It's hard to believe she will be graduating in June. Even bigger news, Maryn was accepted to TSTC ( a dental hygiene school in Texas). I will be so sad to have her gone, but I am excited for her to experience life away from home. We all know their is no way she will survive on her Banana Bread!!!

Max has had a lot of fun down in the ravine building things. He has had a couple close calls with random logs, and poorly built tree forts. I am just glad that he entertains himself and his younger siblings out in - 20 without killing anyone!!!!

please refer to previous "Spotlights"!!!! She really is cute isn't she?!!

Shaina has been learning to snowboard this winter. She is starting to get her turns down and we all hope that she will be able to have some fun on our spring break ski/snowboard trip to Utah next week.

Dallin love love loves being outside. It doesn't matter how cold it is, the minute we get home from school he is begging to go out to play.

Sam loves his candy. Enough said.

Happy 14th birthday Jules!

2009-03-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Julie turned 14 today!!!

I think she had a fun day! We had a little Birthday Celebration after supper tonight. With all the stuff to do in the evenings it was kinda rushed and pretty low key, but we had the essentials...

PRESENTS!!!!

We bought Julie a camera. She likes to take pictures and is missing from many of our photos cause she is usually the one taking them! She also got new jeans and a cute scarf.

One of my very favorite things to do is wrap packages!

Sam bought Julie some awesome butterfly gummies. Very cute!!!

Max, who didn't even know it was Julies birthday ran downstairs just as we were about to open her presents and came back with the "Learners Manual" he slapped it down on the table with a big grin on his face. "Julie is 14" he said... thanks for thinking about her Max!!!!

And... cupcakes of course!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE

We love you!

More Food and Fun!

2009-03-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

In an effort to stay organized and "on top" of meal time... I've decided that I'm going to post my "Weekly Menu" every week. It will be a great way to look back and see what worked and what didn't, and how often in a given time period I make the same thing more that once.

So to begin here is a picture of our Broccoli Soup we had last Saturday. It is a staple around here in the cold months. I decided to try making bread bowls to go with it rather that the usual buns. They were really good but... we concluded that Bread Bowls are an "adult party food" and are too much work to serve to kids who most often can't eat both the soup and then all the bread. I made them really small, but still, after a couple helpings of yummy soup, it was all I could do to eat the bowl and not have it go to waste.

I should also mention that assigning a child to help with each meal was a great idea, but it only worked out once!!! Shaina helped with enchiladas, but after that their was always a roadblock and it just didn't happen. I figure maybe it is more realistic to have one night each week when the kids rotate helping to make the meal. We are a busy family just like all of you, but some how I would really like to teach my children a few more meal preparation skills!

Weekly Menu

Monday
Breakfast- Bagels and Fruit Smoothies
Supper- Leftovers... my favorite!!

Tuesday
Breakfast- Bacon and Cheese Muffins. O.J
Supper- Spagetti and meatballs with green salad. Shamrock cookies (recipe here)

Wednesday
Breakfast- Pancakes
Supper- Teriyaki Chicken/Veggie Stir-fry with coconut rice

Thursday
Breakfast- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Supper- Lettuce Wraps

Friday
Breakfast- Scrambled Eggs and Toast
Supper- Sloppy Joes. Veggies and Dip

Saturday
Breakfast- Cold Cereal
Supper- Tortellini Soup/ buns

Sunday
Breakfast- Cold Cereal
Supper- Salmon, Rice and Grilled Asparagus

I have a few pictures of the quilt that Maryn and I are working on. We are making progress and have everything cut. I am suppose to be cleaning up a space downstairs in the kitchen so we can get started with the sewing. It is very much a Srappy Patch Work Quilt, not matchy at all. I hope Sarah will like it!

Shaina's Chicken Enchilladas! and PLAY DOUGH!!

2009-03-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

It was Shaina's night to help with supper tonight. We made a new recipe. (Click here)

I really liked it, it turned out to be an even split down the middle For and Against!

Maryn, Julie, Shaina and I loved it. Max, Dallin, and Mark weren't"wowed" and Sam doesn't eat anything unless it is coated in sugar!

It definitely looked good!

Sous Chef Shaina did all the chopping and grating and stirring. She was a great help and It was fun to work together!

Here are a couple shots of Sam's fun with his play dough this afternoon!

Honestly, I would never not have play dough at my house! It is hours of independent play time!

Sam doesn't do play dough the typical "roll balls and build snowmen" sort of way. It is usually just a prop in his never ending imaginary Star Wars/Marvel Hero escapades! I really need to video him sometime, he gets right into it and some of the stuff that he comes up with is just hilarious! I Love play dough!!

Here is my recipe for any one brave enough to try it!!

PLAY DOUGH

5 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 Tbsp. cream of tarter ( nice but not necessary)
4 pkgs. Koolaid! (gives it a nice smell and color of course)
Mix all together in a large bowl
4 cups of boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Pour oil into boiling water and then pour all on top of the flour mixture. Mix it together until it is incorporated then let it cool. When it is cool enough to handle, knead it until it is smooth. I do all of this last part right in the bowl. (you'll need a big bowl)

Weekly Menu

2009-03-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Most people think I am super organised, I'm not, I just have a really short memory, If I don't write stuff down it usually doesn't get done. Of late I have been trying to write out my weekly menu and stick to it as best as I can. I find this excersise helpful for two reasons:

It saves me from the what's for dinner question at 5:30 each evening. I don't mind cooking, but to be honest, if I could pass off a few chores making meals would definitely be up there with my never ending pile of laundry! So when I have a plan and it is written down I just find it a lot easier to follow through.
Having a menu forces me to make a grocery list which really saves on time and money! Since January we decided that we would try to be more conscious of how much we were spending on groceries each month. When I make a menu and only buy what is necessary to prepare the planned meals, I have been able to knock off a considerable amount from my grocery bill. (the money I save has then been used to build up our 3 month and long term food storage)

For my Creative Exercise today, I asked each one of my kids to give me a supper idea for this weeks menu and that child will then get to help prepare that meal with me! Here is what we came up with.

MONDAY Sam's day
Breakfast- Yogurt Parfiats and Banana Muffins Supper- Brenda's Beef Stew and buns
TUESDAY Shaina's day
Breakfast- Bagels and fruit smoothies Supper- Chicken enchaladas/rice/salad
WEDNESDAY Julie's day
Breakfast- Poached eggs and toast Supper- Shrimp and veggie linguini
THURSDAY Dallin's day
Breakfast- Pancakes Supper- Meatloaf/baked potatoes/salad
FRIDAY Maryn's day
Breakfast- Apple cinnamon oatmeal Supper- Homemade pizza
SATURDAY
Breakfast- cold Cereal Supper- Brocolli/cheese soup and buns
SUNDAY
Breakfast- cold cereal Supper- Chicken crunch casserole/veggie

I generally don't write down the lunch menu for the week. We pretty much just do the same stuff each day... Sandwiches/fruit and a snack. Mark can't handle sandwhiches so he takes leftovers. Sam and I eat a lot of PB and J, he is going to have a really hard time when he goes to school and isn't allowed to take anything with peanuts!

We are Canadian!!!

2009-03-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were totally tricked into thinking that the "Great Melt Down" had begun and that spring was just around the corner ( it was+7 and the sun was intense!)... NOT SO!!

Today it's -15 with wind chill of -26. This is Edmonton however, and we are used to it! SO... Sam and I bundled up to go walk the dog and "Play". I am always amazed at the imagination and creativity that exudes from my children! Here are a few pictures of Sam having a great time in, what is in my opinion, a wasteland of ice and snow!

Hey, we are Canadians!!!

All ready to go!

A teeter-totter in the forest!

Harley loves the snow and cold.

Cutting ice bricks. Grandpa L would be proud!

Hiding spot under the spruce trees! " Come in Mom, It's warm in here" Yah right!!!

We played for about 45 minutes (remember how cold it is? CRAZY)

This is definitley my creative exercise for the day!

Mombo # FIVE and creativity!

2009-03-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

My niece Sarah, is getting married this summer. We are all really excited as our girls all get to be bridesmaids and it is the first wedding for the Fairbanks family. Aunt Julie, (Sarah's Mom)

wanted to make a quilt for Sarah but with all the other wedding details to take care of she asked if we (meaning me and Maryn) would like to take on this project. Maryn only has one more "project" to do to complete her Personal Progress, so we decided that together we would make this little quilt and it could be Maryn's project.

When Maryn drove through Calgary last weekend on her way to Lethbridge she stopped in at Julie and Brents and picked up a bunch of fabric that Sarah had picked out to make this quilt. The fabric comes from a few sources- A little bit of Vivian (Sarah's Grandma Fairbanks, A little bit of Agnes (her Grandma Davidson) A little bit of Julie ( her Mom) a little bit of Georganne ( her Aunt on the Fairbanks side) and A little bit of Karen (Me, her Aunt on the Davidson side) Thus the title of the blog... Mombo # Five!

This quilt is going to be fun to do as the pattern instructs you to cut 5 inch squares out of 180 different fabrics, cut those five inch sqaures into 4 different sizes then sew them back together. It is suppose to be very random and the more varience in the patterns and colors of the fabrics the better!! I think Sarah will really love this quilt as it has "A little bit of " some of the people that she loves. Wish me luck, I will post pictures of our progress!

Sam and I also made this little Whale together yesterday, we were suppose to do a lesson about Jonah and the Whale for F.H.E. but... we went skiing instead!! Now that's being creative!!!

March 1st... Let's create!

2009-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

If you've noticed I have a cool new blinkie on my blog called "creativity project" I stumbled upon this blog and was fascinated by the concept of doing something creative every day. I've decided to take this challenge on for the month of March and share it with you. This adorable woman is a scapbooker, I am not and you don't have to be. Being creative isn't just about making stuff, (although I do like to do that too) it can be about creative thoughts, actions, words, music... I consider myself a creative person, I come with my own unique set of skills, talents and interests. My hope is that as I try everyday to be creative to one degree or another, that I will broaden my interest, improve my talents and share some new found creativity with my family and those around me. I love the idea of stiving to be a better person, wife, mom and friend and I think this just might help me along on that path!

So to start off my project... today we were invited to the home of a good friend to help celebrate his 50th birhtday! Realizing that we didn't have a "gift" to take we decided that we would sing to our friend instead! Mark and all the kids and I sat around the table and came up with a ridiculous, but very funny (to us) medley of birthday songs. We rehearsed two or three times and set off to our friends house! We didn't mention to our kids that their would be a "crowd" and when we got a bit closer and saw all the cars everyone got a little nervous! We got to the door and one of the kids said " Do we have to do this?" In we stepped and began our little performance! It was really silly, but we did it together and had so much fun coming up with it! We put a big smile on our friends face and helped him to know how much we love him! Together we put a bit of creativity into action, we made someone's day and some great memories!

Me and Jules... home ALONE!!!

2009-02-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

Mark and all the kids (excluding Julie) went down to Lethbgidge today to G and G "D's".

Max and Maryn went to have Grandpa give them their Patriarichal blessings. Julie had a prior commitment this Saturday and had to stay home, I got to stay with her!!

I think the last time I spent more than two days alone with just Julie was when she was BORN! I thought because Julie and I get to spend some one on one time together that I would post a little tribute to her!

Julie is an amazing artist, she takes a weekly art class and has produced some pretty impressive paintings, drawings and even sculptures! Her artistic flair spills over into how she dresses and even her love of make-up! She has her own unique style and it is really fun to watch her evolve!!

Julie loves her siblings and is especially great with the little ones. Julie spends a lot of time being the babysitter at our house and she does a great job! The other day Julie cleaned Sam and Dallin's very messy room without even being asked! What 14 year old girl do you know that cleans their own room let alone their brothers room too!!!

Julie is a real get it done kind of kid. She works hard at school, she is the first one to offer help at home (where food is involved!) Despite her lack of love for all things "outdoor/animal" related, she was the first one to teach our dog tricks and she has done more back packing trips in bear country than her nature/animal loving mother!!!

I love being Julie's Mom, she is a real blessing in my life. Tomorrow I think Julie wants me to give her a haircut, then I think we will do some shopping and maybe take in a movie! How fun to have a whole weekend alone with such a wonderful daughter!!!!

I LOVE YOU JULIE!!!!!

25... or should I say 20 random thoughts

2009-02-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

I don't have Face Book and just for the record I never will. Having this blog has already moved me to a new level of time "wasted" on the computer, so... I know you are all probably done with the whole "25 random thoughts" thing, but hey I'm behind and besides that this is just for you Jacqui!!!

1. I always wanted to live on a farm/acreage and raise a little flock of sheep. I wanted to shear them myself, cart their wool and then spin it on an old fashioned spinning wheel. I am completely over it!!

2. I have had my kids at the same elementary school for 15 years and I still have 7 years to go.

When I am done at Richard Secord School I am thinking that a name change might be in order... Karen Davidson School. Ya, that has a nice "ring" to it!!!

3. I will secretly be very sad when Sam stops coming in to our bed at night. That will mean that he is really going to get big and grow up and move away and... I need help!

4. I would really like to learn to scuba dive.

5. Before I am too old I would love to go to a third world country and do humanitarian work with orphaned children.

6. I love swimming in the rain.

7. I love fresh flowers. Mark buys them for me on my birthday, our anniversary, Mother's Day and Valentines Day. I fill in the rest of the time. A bunch of tulips only adds a few bucks on to my grocery bill each week!!

8. I don't like to be home alone. I am going to need therapy next year when Sam goes to school.

9. When we were little kids my Mom used to pay us to pick the dandilions out of the yard. I think we started out with a penny for every dandilion. My Mom was brilliant, we were suckers!

10. I love candles and am still partial to Yankee brand. Any thing with a strong cinnamon scent will do.

11. The one thing I would change about myself is my feet! They are ridiculously wide and I can't fit them in to all the cute shoes that are out there.

12. Am I really only on # 12??! I don't have time for this!

13. I run because I LOVE food.

14. Two years really IS a long time, but I wouldn't have Russell any where else!

15. I enjoy creating things and making my house feel like HOME.

16. I am not obsessively neat and tidy but I do like things clean. The thing is with 7 children things aren't always just the way I would like them, but at the end of the day I can say that relatively speaking I live in a clean house.

17. I have had stitches 7 times. Five of those times they were on my face. The joys of an "unsupervised" childhood!

18. One of my favorite things to do is go to bed early.

19. It is 8:30 and my kids are yelling at me to come read them stories. We read every night without fail. I can't remember being read to when I was little. How SAD.

20. I am going to have to call it "20 random thoughts" this is hard for me as I am not typically good at breaking rules, but like I said the kids are calling...

My DOG... It's a hate/love relationship!

2009-02-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

This event occurred weeks ago. I think I am finally at the point that I can discuss it in a rational/humane sort of way!

Did I ever mention that I should have never agreed to get a DOG.

Maryn came home to this lovely mess one day, it is pretty obvious that I wasn't home because their would have been no photographic evidence as I would have been losing my mind, not taking pictures. Did I ever mention that I can't believe I said "Yes" to a DOG!! I did?! oh right I did.

The following are really good reasons to never get a DOG!

1.Dogs don't use toilets and they don't wipe

2.Dogs chew on a girls most valued possessions, Yah that's right SHOES!

3.Dogs have to be led around on a leash twice a day(for at least 30 minutes) or they get fat, why is that a problem you ask... See comment number 8

4.Dogs eat your garbage, the neighbors garbage and then go looking for more garbage

5.Dogs shed, 'nuf said

6.Dogs bark at everything that walk by your house any time of the day but never at night

7.Dogs cost more to be "babysat" than your children

8.Dogs yearly check- ups and health issues are not covered by Alberta Health

9.Dogs slobber

10.Dogs have the worst breath on earth

11.Dogs live to escape and they're not smart enough to find their way home

12.Dogs sniff other dogs butts then give "kisses" to oblivious humans (not me, ever)

13.Dogs muddy paws on clean floors = mom losing her mind

14.Dogs leave "nose prints" ( I can handle fingers but noses...ick)

15.Dogs turn your back yard into a Barn Yard

I could keep going but... I do have a life.

O.K here is where you question my sanity as I tell you why I do have a dog!

My dog is good company, she doesn't need much, just a sunny spot to lay and food of course. I don't like being alone, so having her around helps me not to feel lonely!

I love watching my family give her "loves". Dogs really do give unconditional love, they don't care if you are rude or if you lost your mind on them 5 minutes before. Whenever you need someone soft and warm to hug, they are right there, no questions asked!!

Admit it... You think she's pretty dang cute too!!!

Kids and dogs are usually a great combination. I can always tell when my kids feel down or anxious about something. They go to the dog first, she doesn't judge or lecture or ask questions.

I don't have any pics about my next comment so you just get "cute" again!

My dog is a fabulous running partner! She can keep up on days when I am feeling really good and she pushes me along on days when I am not. She never ditches... she is always ready to go when I am. If I would rather listen to my ipod than talk, she is good with that!

HARLEY is part of our family. We all LOVE her and though she drives us all crazy sometimes we couldn't imagine life without her!!!

How do you like my new look?

2009-02-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

You don't even know how technologically challenged I am! It honestly took me 3 whole days to figure out how to get this new back ground to work. The problem with all that is... or should I say problems are...

1. I really don't have 3 days to spend doing anything on the computer.

2. I still haven't figured out how to get my blog name on my header.

3. In the end I am not really sure that I like the "New Look"!!!

Anyway! We did some skiing/snowboarding this weekend. We are making some progress getting everyone skiing/boarding independently! Sam, Dallin and Shaina all took a lesson. Shaina decided to start boarding this year, so she is back to the bunny hill, but being the little "athlete" that she is I really don't think it will take her long to get the hang of it. They all did really well and I am starting to see that spring break at Panorama might even be a real "break" this year!!!!

I am so glad that we have taken up skiing/boarding with our kids. It is a great way to spend time together and being that we live where it is winter 5-6 months of the year, it really is a good way to pass the time and have fun too!

Here are a few pictures of our day on the slopes!!

Dallin turns 7!!! and... Maryns future children are going to starve to death!!!

2009-01-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Dallin!

January 9th we celebrated Dallin's 7th birthday, he kept saying "I can't believe I am 7 Mom"!!! Neither can I Dall!

This is Dallin in his school class room on his birthday.

Getting a good night hug from his best friend Sam

This pictures doesn't even begin to capture just how useless Maryn is in the kitchen! I take that back, she can clean a kitchen like no body's business, ask her to cook, and you just never know what you're going to get! This is her attempt at banana bread. Actually it wasn't even her attempt! All she was really asked to do was watch it and take it out when it was done! Oh My!

Funny thing is if you talked to anyone who grew up in the same household as I did, they wouldn't be a bit surprised by any of this.

By the way, Maryn is planning to marry someone with a "cooking hobby" and if that doesn't work out, she will live next door to Julie, who has the "cooking thing" down!!!

I figured it out, I guess she will too!

2008 The Year in Review

2009-01-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

I saw this little questionnaire on another blog and thought I would use to give an overview of the year 2008. It's been a great year... Here's to an even better 2009!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you have never done before?

I sent a missionary out into the "Field" to serve the Lord!! See Question 6

I colored my hair blonde!

I made my very own BLOG!!!

2. Did you keep your New Years resolutions and will you make more for this coming year?

I didn't really make any official write them down kind of resolutions! Yes I will make a few for the coming year... Right here on my blog so that those of you that read this can help hold me accountable!!

1. Be a consistant exerciser! I do REALLY GOOD in spurts. Not so good everyday!

2.Do at least one load of laundry everyday monday-friday. Not because I like it, but so that I can stay on top of it and not have it heaping in massive piles in my laundry all the time!!!

3. Run another Marathon and do the Magrath triathlon in less than 3 hours! Lofty goals!!

4. Read the Book of Mormon everyday, in the a.m before I exercise.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Lots of friends in our ward. No one particularly "close"

4. Did anyone close to you die?

I wouldn't say I was " close to him" but President Gordon B. Hinkley died on January 27th. We were having a fireside here at our house and Brenda called to tell me. I was really saddened, but happy for him at the same time.

5. What places have you visited in 2008?

I went to Provo in May for womens conference with my good friend Joanne... Great as usual.

We, Mark and I, went to SLC and Provo again in August to take Russell to the M.T.C... Happy but sad!

I drove my kids, by myself, to the Redwood National Forest in California....Soooo Coool

Mark and I went to Kauai in October...Ahhh paradise!

6. What dates in 2008 will remain etched in your memory and why?

August 13th, the day we took Russell into the M.T.C. It is just one of those kind of days that as a parent you look forward to all your life, but when it actually happened... Such mixed emotions!

7. What was your biggest achievement this year?

I participated in two triathlons. I did a the sprint distance in the Magrath triathlon in July, then the olympic distance in Fort Mcleod in August. The Magrath tri had an open water swim... one of the hardest things I have ever done!

8. Did you suffer any injury or illness?

Nope

9. What was the best thing you bought?

I bought a pair of earrings that I love and a road bike.

10. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage, food and gas!

11. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

12. What do you wish you would have done more of in 2008?

I wish I would have spent more time playing with my kids, more time reading the scriptures and more time attending the temple.

13. What do you wish you had done less of in 2008?

Eating unhealthy foods and being angry at my family.

14. What was your favorite T.V show?

I don't watch much but I did enjoy So You Think You Can Dance.

15. What was your favorite movie?

I am going to say Madagascar 2, only because it was the last one I saw, and that is about as far back as my memory allows me to go!!! It really was funny too!

16. What did you do on your birthday and how old are you?

I ran the Mellisa 's 22K Road Race in Banff. I turned 40!!

17. What political issue stirred you the most?

I would have to say the prop 8 decision. The US election would be right up there too. ( I was actually really glad to see the whole thing end. The media attention that the US election receives borders on ridiculous! I am quite happy not to have to hear about it every time I ride in a certain little blue Honda Civic with serius sattelite radio!!!)

18. Who was the best new person you met?

I would have to say Jacqui! She is the girl that Russell dated before his mission. I have to admit that I didn't really want to get to know her at first. I was selfishly only concerned with how her relationship with my son would effect his future. It wasn't until right before Russell left that I realized how much more their is to this girl than just being "Russell's girlfriend". She is genuine and kind, she is a real " go getter" with loads of ambition! She is truly devoted to things that "really matter" and her love for her family is amazing. I can only hope that all my boys will end up with as wonderful a girl as Jacqui!

It's been 5 days 9 hours and 14 minutes since Christmas!

2008-12-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

I Love Christmas and everything about it! We have had a really fun holiday so far and I am so glad to have this whole week off to sleep in, play games, visit with friends and hopefully do some skiing.

Here is a little update on some of our Christmas celebrations!

My Mom and Dad, uncle Ken and Uncle Keith came up on the 23rd and spent Christmas with us. It was the first time they have spent Christmas at our house. We loved having them and felt that it really added to the TRUE meaning of Christmas... The love that we have for one another and The SAVIOR who binds us all together. This is Grandma reading us a story from the "Christmas binder"
Our Christmas eve supper! Mark and I both followed traditions set in our childhood homes and we make Oyster soup! I know, yuck right?! WRONG it's delicious! We love it. I won't hold out for any recipe requests!
Sam got to open his gift from Grandma and Grandpa D on Christmas eve... Grandma has made each one of her Grandkids one of these fabulous sleeping bags! Sam is their last grandchild and the only one who didn't have one yet! He has been sleeping in Maryn's bag for most of the last year and asked often why he didn't have "my own sleeping bag" Needless to say he was thrilled when he open his present and there was his very OWN sleeping bag! Thanks Grandma!! You are amazing!
Everyone else got to open new P.J's!
Christmas morning! Sam with his new Ben Ten Omni tricks and watch!
Dallin with a massive Lego project, which took one very talented brother to get it put together. Thanks Max!!
Dallin with his new "laptop"
Julie gets her own blow dryer and hair straightener! Mom is sooo happy! No more sharing!
Max got a PSP. He didn't play with it for atleast two days due to the above mentioned LEGO project! Look close though and you'll see his favorite present...A YOYO! he has hardly let go of it all week.
Maryn got an Ipod touch. LUCKY!!
Shaina's present was by far the funnest to see opened... She has been begging for about a year for some kind of "pet" she started by asking for rabbits (thanks to Aunt Julie and Sarah) I just couldn't say yes to that having a beagle in our house! Next was the request for hamsters. I pretty much told her that we had all the animals that this Mom was prepared for and that she was just going to have to let it go! Well... Shaina didn't ask for much of anything for Christmas this year and when all the gift buying was done and presents were wrapped we realized that we hadn't gotten Shaina much of anything. Mark and I were laying in bed one night (a few days before Christmas!) and Mark just said one word... "HAMSTER"! I said "brilliant" and we both slept like babies! The next morning I went out and with Maryn's help picked out two adorable dwarf HAMSTERS for Shaina!!! As you can see from the pictures she was thrilled!
They are sooo tiny and cute... I'll just have to endure the smell! It's all good, I know from experience, it won't last long! (what a mean thing to say, sorry Shaina!)
Christmas Day the Missionaries from our ward came to make their phone calls to Home from our house. This is Elder Stewart
This is Elder Baxter. They each talked for an hour. We also got to talk to OUR Missionary! Russell is doing great, it was so nice to hear his voice. Everyone got a chance to talk to him, which really made the time fly by too fast. It was hard not to have him here with us for Christmas, but we are continually grateful for his faithful service and example.

The whole family sitting down for Christmas Dinner! It was a delicious meal, and so nice to have Grandma there to help! I actually enjoyed the food this year! ( I am usually so tired of cooking that I don't even care!)
Boxing Day took everyone outdoors! Maryn down to White Ave. to shop, and everyone else to the ravine to go sledding! Here is Shaina playing in the fluffy white stuff!

Miss Julie climbing trees???!

Dad working off all the Christmas baking...pulling the boys up the hill. What a nice Dad!
Jules and Shai!
... and then down they go!!!
I think Mark has more fun than anyone!
And... truth be told, I stayed home with the dogs! We didn't get another Beagle, this is Lacy. She belongs to our friends the Fairbanks. We babysat her while they went down to Raymond to watch their son play in the Sugar Bowl. Which by the way Ainlay took first place in the final against Raymond. Yeah!!!!!

It has been a wonderful Christmas! It is such a peaceful time of year! (even at our house!) My good friend Brenda suggested that we go to the temple together on Saturday. (the 27th) It was such a blessing to be there with Mark and Brenda, and to really reflect on the Savior and all that he means in my life. I want to make going to the temple part of our Christmas celebration every year. It is my ultimate desire to have my whole family there with me one day! That will be the Best Christmas Ever!!!!

I'm back on the blogging band wagon!!

2008-12-22T06:51:00.001-08:00

Well... It has been so long since my last post that I figured the best thing to do would be to begin where I left off! Here it goes, it might be long!

Mark and I went to Kauai in October ( I was really bad about taking pictures, I have a few,but they are on the lap top. We had a great time and wish we were there now being that it is -35 with the wind chill!) We got back t 2:00 halloween day! This is Sam and I trick or treating if you look close you'll see that I am unusually tan for this time of the year!

Shaina, Dallin and Sam in their costumes! We have sure gotten a lot of milage out of the M and M costumes! I am pretty sure that everyone except Russell and Sam have worn them. We just took the kids around Blue Quill Estates, they got too much candy and were very HAPPY!!!

As soon as Halloween was over Brenda and I went full steam ahead to get ready for "The Writing on the Wall" Christmas open house. The above pictures are a few of the designs we came up with for this year. We had a very successful season and are already looking forward to next year! I always say that one of the perks of doing this business is that I have my house all decorated long before Christmas is here. Their was a day when I would shake my head at people who put up Christmas decorations before December. Now I have it up before Remembrance Day and I love it!!!

I am on the Activities Committee in our ward and we had our Ward Christmas party on December 3rd. We did "A night in Bethlehem" It was a lot of work but well worth the effort. I know a good time was had by all!! Here we have Mark and Sam dressed in their "Biblical" attire. Don't they look cute?!

On December 13th I hosted a Bridal Shower for Tyler Fairbanks new bride Kristine. It was a bitter cold night but I was just amazed at how many people came to show their support to Georgeanne. Kristine is a great girl and will fit so nicely into the Fairbanks family. Sorry I don't have any pictures to share, I guess I was too busy trying to be a good hostess!

We also went to their wedding which was just this past Saturday night. It was a nice evening and we got to visit with our Fairbanks cousins who came up from Calgary for the wedding.

Mark and I celebrated Mark's birthday on the 16th and our anniversary on the 19th! Sorry no pics again! I just don't think about these things! I'll try to do better over the holidays.

That is the update! I will be back soon!!