May 26, 2009

Memorial Day

A tradition of my parents on Memorial Day is to go to the graveside of their parents and clean the headstones and put flowers out. I haven't ever had the opportunity to do this since we are usually with Scott's family during Memorial Day.

Today was such a special day. Scott and I were able to discuss the importance of Memorial Day, death, and respect for the dead with our children. We explained what a cemetery is, we talked about death and why people die. What happens after people die. As we were walking around Paige noticed a statue of Christ and asked why Jesus was at the graves. This was a perfect opportunity for us to discuss the importance of the savior and what he has done for us. I explained that when we die our spirit leaves the body and goes to the spirit world; and our body, lifeless without the spirit, is usually buried in the earth. We talked about because we are mortal, we do not have the power to reunite our bodies and spirits by ourselves. Jesus the only one who could save us. He was sinless; he was Heavenly Father’s Only Begotten Son in the flesh and had power over death.

It was very spiritual for me to go and visit where my grandparents were buried, my great aunt, and other relatives. I felt very close to my Heavenly Father as I talked with our children and explained how wonderful the plan of salvation is. We truly are a family and will be together forever. I could feel the bonds beyond the grave.

Paige and Trent were standing at a graveside admiring the headstone. They both were looking down and looking like they were paying their respects. I felt compelled to capture them.

May 25, 2009

Memorial Weekend 2009

Memorial weekend is usually the time when we make our 10 hour drive to Bridgeport, California for Scott's family camping tradition. This year we weren't able to make it with the family (it actually has been two years since we've attended the family tradition). We are hoping to get there next year with the whole family.










This year, we spent Memorial weekend with my parents, my brother Shawn and his son Jacob. We arrived at my parents house on Friday. I kept telling the kids that we were going camping. They were so excited to sleep out in the 5th wheel trailer with just Grandma - no parents.

Today we went fishing at the hatchery. Grandpa is the only one who caught any fish (3).











After fishing, we had a picnic and swam at Thousand Springs hot springs.















We had a great time swimming. Emmett loves being in the water. He didn't want anyone holding him, he just wanted to be on his own. Obviously he couldn't because he doesn't know how to swim. Emmett loved to float on his back. At the pool there was a high dive, a low dive and a tube slide. Finally after a monetary convincing, Garhett jumped off the high dive. He was so brave jumping in 12 feet deep and then swimming to the side. Great job Garhett! Now mom has to pay up! (it's worth it, I love to see my children overcome their fears and try something new).

When swimming came to an end, we met up with my brother Shawn and his son Jake and went to Hagerman, to see the fossil beds. This weekend happened to be Fossil Days in Hagerman. So after visiting the center, we walked down to the festivities and enjoyed an elephant ear!












What a great day! We went back to the house for some fried chicken!

Today we played some lawn games. We started out with lawn darts, bocce ball, and then some crochet. Our kids learned today that they come from a very competitive family (starting with their grandparents, parents, and uncle). We had a lot of victory dancing, trash talking, and awhole lot of fun going on!














Today we decided to take a drive to see Shoshone and Twin Falls and hoped the water was pouring over like a couple of weeks ago. No such luck.








Paige had enough today and I couldn't resist taking her "melt down" picture.









We ended our fun filled day with roasting marshmellows and making smores over the fire.


May 19, 2009

Mother's Day

The kids each made something for me and were so excited to give it to me this morning. Garhett made a book, it started out with my name, the beginning letters were cut out of a magazine and then the meaning was next to it:

C aring
I ntelligent
N ice
D aring
I ncredible

The next part of his book Garhett answered questions about his mom; here are some of the questions.
List 3 adjectives to describe your mother: kind, caring, helpful.
Who feels: happy when I don't fight.
Who Needs: a break.
Who gives: me love.

Thanks Garhett, I love you.
________________________________________________
Trent answered questions about what he thought I liked the best and then he drew pictures of the answers. Trent is in kindergarten and just learning to spell out words, so he writes them as they sound. So precious!!

My Mom's favorite food is: Salmon
but she doesn't like: Ha
She spends most of her time doing: shopping, cleaning
Mom helps our family by: She duz wash mi cloz
The thing my Mom likes to do for fun is: go to movies, swimen
When my Mom daydreams she things about: camping
If Mom could have one wish come true, she would wish for: tralr, capen, shoden str

Thanks Trent, I love you.
___________________________________________
Paige's preschool class, made handprints with paint and attached them to this poem.

My Handprint
Sometimes you get discouraged because I'm so small
And always leave my fingerprints on furniture and walls.
But everyday I'm growing big and soon I'll be very tall.
Then all my little handprints will be hard to recall.
So here's a special handprint just so that you can say
This is how my fingers looked when I placed them here today.

Paige then wrote her name the best she could. Thanks Paige, I love you.
____________________________________________
Now for Emmett, what can I say, but today he showed me how big he was by taking steps all by himself, yes he walked. I was so excited that I started to cry, oh the progress he has made.

__________________________________________
I was very happy to be able to go to church with my family and listen to several talks on motherhood. I have missed church for the past couple of months due to sick kids, vacation, conference, sick kids and sick kids. Today has been a time of deep reflection of what it means to be a mom. Here are some thoughts that a friend and I share about being a mom.

Maker--The woman really is a maker of everything. She is a maker of the home, a maker of the food, a maker of the mood in the home. It’s amazing that when I'm happy, peaceful, and calm, so is everyone else. The days when I am not, it is incredible how everyone else is magically following my mood. Why is that? Why does the mother set the mood for the home? How come when dad comes home in a bad mood, the mood of the home isn't affected as much? Therefore, mothers have the responsibility of being happy from within, and work at making it so. As she does this, the rest of the family follows. I have found this to be a blessing, not a curse, as the Lord places much responsibility on us to be a Maker in every sense of the word.

True -- We have a responsibility to be true to ourselves and others, and to teach that truth to our children. What a daunting task that is. The responsibility, along with our husband, of teaching our kids how to be true, while also trying to be true to ourselves. It is so overwhelming, it is no wonder we get extra help from Heaven when we ask for it. And, sometimes when we do not.

Helpmeet --Eve is so valuable to the Plan of Salvation. She truly was created as a helpmeet and companion to Adam. Together, they would lead each other through life and all the problems they were expected to encounter. Adam, as the Priesthood holder, held the power to activate God's power, and Eve was created to help him use that power in the right way. His true equal. As are we. We are meant to be our husband's equal, and to teach our children in a similar manner. The Lord would have it no other way. It is our responsibility to not squander each other's power, but to share it equally. The world, in the past, told us that men wielded that power over women's heads. Now, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction, where women do not need men, and we hold all the power. That is simply not the plan of God. He created us to be equal in every sense.

Expectation -- We have huge expectations placed upon us. We are expected to teach our children how to survive and serve others in this ever increasing evil world, to be happy when our husbands come home, to be sexy to our husbands, to exercise, be healthy, serve our neighbors, get along with our family members and friends, learn a new skill, study the scriptures, be available to all of our children's demands, and of course, find time somewhere in there to actually get 5 minutes to ourselves to recharge our batteries. And yet, we miraculously find time to do it all. We prioritize and organize in every possible way. We place these burdens on the Lord, and He helps us get all of it done, many times doing about 5 things at once. A true miracle.

Recognizes -- As mothers, we recognize where we are needed, and recognize the Lord's influence on us. We recognize the Spirit's whisperings when a friend is in need, our husbands are being neglected, or when one of our children are out of sorts and sick. Finally, we recognize where our extra strength and increase of love is coming from, and we thank Him a thousand times a day because of it. We recognize the good influences and get rid of the bad influences in our lives, so that the Spirit can dwell in us.

What a wonderful time to be a mother. I am so grateful for my mother in helping me be a better mom to my children. Thank you mom -- I love you! Happy Mother's Day.

May 10, 2009

Fabulessly Frugal meets Shandy Vogt Photography

Here is a plug for two fabulous blog sites!!!

The first is Fabulessly Frugal - a blogsite that provides such valuable information on saving money with coupons and providing information on free items and other sales that you may not know about. Check it out - even if you don't do coupons (you never know you may change your mind).

The second is a very talented woman who just started in photography, introducing Shandy Vogt Photography!!! Check out her blog - she has captured such great shots. I am entering a contest to have Shandy capture my family in the outdoors. Wish me luck!!!

Two great sites so please check it out. Just click on their names and it will take you right to their blog!! Enjoy! Shandy Vogt Photography and Fabulessly Frugal.

May 9, 2009

Race for the Cure

Today was Boise's Race for the Cure. I walked the 5k with Deidra and her girls. It was a lot of fun to get out and exercise for a great cause. We were able to complete the walk in 51 minutes. Before the walk started we walked around to the different vendors for free stuff or in Scott's words "we tailgated"!



















To warm us up before the race began, they had some ladies up on stage doing jazzercise. That was fun to try and do jazzercise in a group of thousand(s) of people!














This was a funny - crazy sign: Hiking For Healthy Hooters!

May 8, 2009

Tagged - Top 8

My 8 favorite TV Shows
1- The Amazing Race
2- Chuck
3- Jon & Kate plus 8
4- What Not to Wear
5- CSI
6- Greys Anatomy
7- So You Think You Can Dance
8- The Unit

8 Things I did Yesterday
1- Cleaned
2- Laundry
3- Started reading "Happy for No Reason"
4- Paige's Dance class
5- Lunch out with Emmett, Paige, and Trent
6- Exercised
7- Dinner out with the Family
8- Alone time w/hubby

My 8 Favorite Restaurants
1- Super Taqueria (only in CA)
2- Chili's
3- Texas Roadhouse
4- Chupala's
5- On the Border
6- In & Out Burger (CA)
7- Ocean City Chinese
8- McGrath's

8 Things I am Looking Forward to
1- Warm Weather
2- Family Vacation
3- House selling
4- Friends visiting this summer
5- Warm Weather
6- Vacation
7- House selling
8- Vacation

8 Things on my Wish List
1- A harmonious Family
2- House to sell in May!!!
3- A tropical vacation
4- Our kids to stay active in the church
5- Our kids to serve missions
6- House cleaner back
7- The weight I've lost to stay off
8- Emmett to sleep through the night

Now I tag 8 people-I look forward to reading all of yours
1- Deidra
2- Laura Lee
3- Karen
4- Eileen
5- Jen McRae
6- Amber
7- Katie
8- Juliana

May 6, 2009

Preschool Fieldtrip

Well it's that time of year again - school field trips. We started with Paige's preschool trip to the zoo. The weather ended up cooperating and it was a decent day (semi sunshine). We arrived at the zoo at 12:45pm and you would have thought the zoo just opened. Our preschool and 2 other families were the only ones in the zoo. It was awesome!!!!

Here is Paige's preschool class:













Emmett enjoyed touching the wood railings and looking at the monkeys.











We enjoyed looking at the different exhibits.