Domestic Divas

Our enrichment leader likes to take things above and beyond her call of duty. She is absolutely awesome. :) We just had an enrichment night this month and she is already starting on something that is NOT part of any enrichment thing. She just wants people to get together and learn new things. So, for our first DOMESTIC DIVAS night we are making aprons because every Diva needs an apron. :)

I was supposed to make some example aprons. This was the FIRST time I have ever sewn...anything. And I think it went well.

This is the first one.

My second one.

And mine.

I actually found that I really like sewing. Now I just need my own sewing machine so I can become AMAZING with it. :)

Movie Weekend

Took the kids to see this yesterday:


And Jace and I went to see this today:


Reviews:

UP
Very good Disney Movie. Very family friendly. The kids loved it and sat through the whole thing amazingly enough. I really liked it.


TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
AWESOME!!! I really liked the first one, so this just added to it. A lot of action and still hilarious. Go and see it!

Now I just want to see The Proposal. If anyone has seen that one let me know how it is. :)

Quick Trip

When my parents came down to baby sit the kids while Jace and I went to Youth Conference my Mom told me that my Great-Grandma wasn't doing very well and if I wanted to see her I should probably get up north ASAP.

So, that's just what I did.

Monday I packed the kids up and we left. They were awesome in the car. Both slept for a majority of the time...awesome for me. :) We met my mom and sister for lunch and then we headed over to where my Great-Grandma is staying. Right now she's in a nursing home...I think that's what it is. It's called Aspen Ridge West. And let me just say that when I get to be old I would have no problem staying here. The place was like a 5 star hotel.

She was awake when we got there which was great. My other sisters visited her on Saturday and said she just slept the whole time and she didn't look very good. But today she was awake and smiling. I think she was really excited to see the Great-Great-Grandkids. :)


Here we all are. Let me tell you, it was quite the time getting this picture. The kids were far more interested in playing with the balloons that Grandma had than taking a picture.


My Grams was there too...their G.G. (Great-Gram).

After talking and singing and Aliyah reaking up her bathroom it was time to go.

We had fun at Nicholls Park. We took grandpa and Amy and the kids had a blast. I wasn't smart enough to take a picture...I thought about it though. There is a gigantic castle with lots of swings (parks up north know what's up), and slides and stairs to get worn out on. :) Grandpa and Xander had fun on the slide. Xander would get at the top and say "Grumpa" and my dad would be at the bottom saying "Xander" and then Xander would giggle the whole way down. It was a covered slide, so it was more fun.

Then the kids got to watch Fantasia 2000 with aunt Maymie. They loved it and couldn't keep their eyes off the TV.

Anyway...we left Tuesday morning after the kids got their teeth cleaned. No cavities. Yay. :)

The kids were rotten the whole car ride. It's my fault though...honestly, two 4 1/2 hour car rides in 2 days. They were as good as they could be. They were just so antsy and it's hard when there is only 1 other person in the car. Aliyah finally fell asleep in Leeds. :( But she looked so uncomfortable.

Here's when we finally got home.

It was good to go up and see my Great-Gram. I hope she does better soon, but I just feel so bad for her. We love you Grammy!

Youth Conference 2009

WARNING! WARNING! Super long post ahead. :)

So, I never went to a Youth Conference when I was in Young Womens. I don't know if I had ever even heard of them. But, Jace and I were asked if we would be a "Ma" and "Pa" for this years Buena Vista Stake Youth Conference. Actually, we were "Captains" of our army. This years theme was:
Book of Mormon B.O.O.T Camp
(Build Our Own Testimonies)

DAY 1

So, Captain Mormon (that was Jace) and his wife (that would be me) headed up our troop of 12 and rode into Pine Valley for the day. (That was Friday.)

Here we are ready to ROLL OUT! (dun dun-ah...you know that song right? :) Our troop was kinda gangsta, so it kinda rubbed off on me...sorry.) We were the Orange Troop. We are all making "oranges" with our hands. ...It was pretty much our group sign. Makes sense...right?

Michelle, Hailey, Ashley, Jenny, Jace, Me, Jake, Max, Tanner
Alex, Jackson, Kylie, Tahlia, Lexi

We started with a big service activity. Our troop got to paint a whole house, along with 2 other troops. The other 3 troops went farther up the road and got to do all sorts of raking and sweeping and weeding, so I think we got the better deal. :) So, for 3 hours the kids painted an old house, and shutters, and window paynes. It was hard because there weren't enough rollers or brushes for everyone for a long time. Someone eventually brought us more. FINALLY, it was lunch time.

After lunch it was individual army time. So, we took the kids under some trees and we started to plan our skit. After about 20 minutes we were a little bored with the preparation, so we decided to play some games. "Some games" turned out to be only 1 game...MAFIA. The kids LOVED it. We played for the entire 2 hours we had.



After MAFIA Madness we got a snack and then it was time for the competitions to begin. I wasn't smart enough to take pictures of all our events. But here is one of the games.

Water passing...with sacrament cups. We had to see how much of a 2 liter bottle we could fill up in 15 minutes. It's harder than it sounds. Jace and I sat out this one because we already had the biggest army and 2 more times of passing water would just be that much more water that you would lose. We took 2nd. :(

There were 6 games in all. We took 1st in 3 and 2nd in all the rest. ORANGE DOMINATED! Everyone else was jealous. It was awesome. We have no mercy. :) I just have to say, probably the funnest...or maybe I should say funniest, was the cracker game. 1 person would run down the field, eat 2 saltine crackers, then whistle. You had to stay there until the "judge" said it was good enough. Then that person would run back and tag the next person. It is a LOT harder than it sounds. The salt totally dries up your mouth and when you try and whistle cracker flies everywhere. And then when you run back you have to try not to inhale the cracker that is still in your mouth. Hard. So, you see how many people you could get in 15 minutes. It was fun.

After games we had individual army time again. AKA Mafia Madness. Our troops couldn't get enough. :)

Then a delicious Dutch Oven Dinner. Mmmm.

Then a devotional.

Then home.

Since it was Youth Conference the kids weren't going home. They got to stay at "Host Families" houses. They were people with massive houses that put the kids up for the night. So our girls went to one house, the boys to another.

I was so completely worn out after all that that I couldn't wait to fall asleep.


DAY 2

We met our troops at the Stake Center at 9 and headed right in for our classes...Dating Etiquette, Line Dancing, and Book of Mormon Trivia.

All fun.

Then individual army time to finish...or in our case...start on your skit. Our skit was on Alma 55 when Moroni takes back the city of Gid. It's a great story, and we made it pretty funny actually.

Then a spectacular lunch.

And then 2 hours of free time. All the kids went back to their host families and we got to go home and play with the kids. My parents were nice enough to come down for these 2 days and take care of Aliyah and Xander for us. THANK YOU btw. :)

We came back the church at 5 for a nice dinner and a special ceremony. Since this was an army themed camp, all our speakers were men who were or had been in the Army, Marines, Coast Guard, etc. So, we were fortunate enough to hear from Petty Officer White who now lives in Cedar City, but who, before he was injured, was in the Coast Guard...official White House Representative for Pres. Bush. Wow. He talked about the great tradition of the Passing of the Coin. The Stake had special coins made for each of the youth that talks about putting on the whole Armor of God. So, we got to pass the coins in the special way that all the service men and women do. It was pretty awesome and I think it left an impression with the kids.

Then we had another devotional and testimonies.

Side note:
Jace and I were talking a while ago about how this world is just going to crap and how Satan has really got a hold of everything and everyone out there. But this experience has made me very optimistic about the future. These kids have such sweet, strong spirits. I couldn't hold it together...I'll admit I cried like I was at girls camp. But I was and will be forever touched by each one of them.

We then had an ice cream social and dance.

The band was called "Mad Outlet". Max, who was in our army is the drummer and does some vocals, his little brother is the lead guitar and singer, Tanner, who was also in our group, plays the bass guitar, and their friend, Skyler, is the other guitar. I don't know all the technical terms, but they were really good and I think all the youth had a great time. I know I did, and my testimony even got stronger. It was a great time.

I am super glad I got to go and would go in a heart beat if asked again. :)

* 5 *

5 is a great number. It can be big or small, depending on how you look at it.

Today 5 is a big number...but in the big scheme of things it's not so big.

5 years have passed so quick I don't even know where it's gone.

In 5 years Jace and I have lived here:

(actually, not right here...that's a library after all. But we lived right down the street from there)

and here:

We've been here:
here:
here:
here:
and been on this twice:

to name a few.


We've grown by 2:


We've done some of this:


and a lot of this:

5 has been a great number for us.

So, I just want to say that these last 5 years have been amazing and I wouldn't want to spend them with anyone else. Here's to the next 5!

Happy Anniversary!

LOVE YOU JACE!!!

golfin'

We were waiting for some people to come look at our house when the kids decided to play some golf.

Here's Aliyah teeing up.

getting ready to hit

This was some swing

They were trying to swing together. They both missed. They swing like they're playing baseball. That's no way to hit a golf ball.

And on a completely different note...this morning when I was getting in my car I was completely NOT paying attention while I opened the door. I was making sure I had my temple recommend and the next thing I know I have a door in my face. Oops.

You can't see it so well in this picture, but my cheek is swollen and it's already bruised. I think this is going to be black and blue by tomorrow. :(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACE!!!

Here's a big shout out happy birthday to my man! He's turned 29 today...wow.


Here's a shot of Jace's presents. We went really low key this year. I bought some canvas at the store and the kids both painted Jace a picture. Xander's is on the left...Aliyah's is on the right. Then I bought him the sheet music for Joseph: A Nashville Tribute.


Jace left work early...well, he actually probably got a full days work in. He went to work at 3:30 this morning to get a trade in...crazy man. Anyway, we went swimming up at Coral Canyon. Aliyah had a lot of fun with Daddy.


Here's a good one. :)


Then I had to get a shot of the kids and Daddy with their pictures.




Happy Birthday Lovey! We're so grateful for all you do for us!

Move Aside Zoolander

"Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?"

Luckily Xander will never have to find out. :)

Here it is folks...MAGNUM at it's finest.

He's even got the pose right too. :)

Xander just started making this face and it cracks me up. He's totally Zoolander. :)