Things to Remember week of 7-20-14

SET APART

I got to go to Elder's Quorum on Sunday. I was just supposed to come for Nate to be set apart, but I had already left YW and what I'd heard from the hallway sounded like they were ready to set them apart, but when I walked in I realized they were still getting to the announcement of who it was going to be. Probably ruined the surprise really. Oh well. But can I just say that it just made my day to witness the Elder's Quorum and how it runs. It's been a while. I LOVE the spirit in the room and the peace that I feel when I think about how they are holders of the Priesthood. It hit me for a second that THAT was one of the reasons those crazy women want to be ordained. It really is a special thing. This doesn't mean that I want it, I'm content with the access that I have :), but I really do enjoy being able to witness it every once in a while. They announced the new Presidency and I saw several men's heads nodding (assume in approval) which made my heart jump a little. Then they had the old Presidency bear their testimonies. What a sweet thing to witness that as well. I really admire those men who have been serving in that calling and have a lot of respect for them. They did a great job and the Spirit that filled the room as they bore testimony of the love they have gained for the Quorum, the blessings they've experienced in the process of serving them, the humility they felt, and even a little sadness at being released, was so incredible. I just ate it up :). I'm cheesy like that. The Priesthood is such an amazing power. I cannot get over it. After that they decided they better set apart the new guys (I think they messed up and meant to do it before testimonies, but whatever). I loved hearing Nate's blessing. I feel like this is a good time for him to have this calling and I am excited to support him. I am looking forward to blessings that will come. And they will :). I know they will. It was nice to hear Travis' testimony and the humility that radiated from him.... if humility can do that... it did then. Nate's was my favorite though :). I love hearing his testimony. He really is so incredible. Makes me so proud to have chosen him (and convinced him to marry me for that matter :) ), he is so much more than I deserve. I love that I have him in my life. He is my hero. I look up to him so much. The whole meeting was just perfect. They say very little words to close the meeting, and that was that! Just perfect. 7-20-14

BIKES!

Erika learned how to ride a bike, not too long ago- I hope I posted about it, but I did get pictures, so someday, if I ever get them off my camera, I will get those up here, but anyway- she needed a new bike. Luke's bike has been on it's last lap ever since we brought it home from the DI three years ago, so when the tubes in his tires finally wore through, we decided it was time to get a new bike for him as well. And Kelly's brakes have never really worked. She's been wearing out the bottoms of her shoes stopping herself. Yes, that is very sad. We're horrible parents. So she needed a new bike too. SO, Monday night (after talking with Emily and realizing that this was the best option) I looked on KSL for some used bikes. I found some pretty incredible deals. I was so excited that most of them were going to be available the next morning!!

Nate had a friend from work bring over a whole bunch of stuff to our house that she said were for us, and then whatever we didn't want we could sell in our fundraiser yard sale. I hadn't even looked at any of it, but found out that one of the items was a bike (yellow even!) that fit Kelly!! So Tuesday morning, before we took the time to drive down to Bountiful, we cleaned it up, pumped up the tires, had Kelly try it out, and sure enough- it was perfect! So that was a cool little bonus :). Thank you lady at work :). Then we set out for Roy to pick up Luke and Erika's bikes. We were so lucky to find those bikes. I felt so blessed :).

We got them all home, cleaned them up and pumped up the tires and then set out for our first bike ride as a family in a very long time! I can't believe we've gone half the summer without a family bike ride! I feel very jipped. It was a fun bike ride though! It was special because it was Erika's first time!! She was still not a pro at braking, but a few crashes into the walls, pavement, concrete, and grass later, and she's much better :). She seriously fell like 10 times on our short little ride to 7-11 and back :). It was so sad. She wowed us with her speed though :). I LOVE going on bike rides as a family. It makes me feel good to see everyone all in a row, having a great time, just being out and about together. No fighting, no nagging, just out. It's heavenly. We need to do it more often. 7-22-14

PEDICURES

Heidi, Sarah and I all went and got pedicures together on Tuesday night. (Well, Sarah just did her nails, but same thing :) ) We just sat there and talked the whole time! I LOVED it. And I got cute feet out of it. (well, as cute as my feet can be... they really looked pretty good though :) best pedicure ever) After that we went to Costa Vida and talked for a good two hours. It was such a relaxing time. I'm glad we had the chance to do that. I was feeling in need of some girl time after missing my girl's night last week, so this was a nice little replacement. We will have to do it again soon. It's nice that the girls could tend for me too. Life is good. 7-22-14

YW

We did Water Balloon Volleyball for mutual this week. Lots of fun! It was different with some of the old leaders missing... that will take some getting used to, but overall- fun activity! 7-23-14

PIONEER DAY!!

We didn't get to have Nate with us for most of the day, but it still ended up being pretty fun. The kids and I went down to Bountiful for the Handcart Days carnival-y thing. That was a lot of fun. The kids bought their own tickets with their own money and were able to do quite a bit. They took advantage of the concessions as well :). Which I think things were a little bit cheaper this year... maybe I'm just remembering wrong, but it seemed more affordable. They really got into the pioneer stuff this year, which they haven't in years past. They did some fun things. Made dolls, “pioneer diamond” rings, they got to saw off a small chunk of wood and then had it branded with “HD” and then drilled to make a necklace, they got to make butter and taste it on yummy bread. It was a lot of fun for them! And free. We ran into a bunch of the kids' old friends, that was fun. Just a really good time. I only wish it had been like 10 degrees cooler- we were COOKING the WHOLE time. Poor little Jack went through so many moods there. All the way from gigantic smile on the swings to screaming before I dump water on him to cooling him off, to snoring with his head flopped over. I think he would say he had fun though :). The older kids did too. I'll have to have them write about it.

After the carnival we did some grocery shopping at Costco, ran home to unload the groceries, then headed back down to Nate's work to pick him up and go to the Family BBQ up in Day Break. It was a mad dash and we were late, but we made it.

The party was a lot of fun. They did some water games and then we had a planned water fight which is never as fun as the surprise ones, but everyone still had fun and got drenched. Me and my jeans were soaked for the entire evening which caused some serious chaffing.

We had a yummy BBQ, got to meet Ashlyn's latest guy, talked to Austin a little about their trip and his plans for his mission, watched the kids run around like crazy, and sat and talked with Becky and Meg. It was a good time.

We came home quickly to get down to the Stolpps for the Fireworks!!! They did an amazing job this year! I wish my Dad had been able to make it. He's not doing real great right now apparently, so he had to decline our invitation, but we still managed to have some fun. Jack wasn't loving the fireworks so he decided to go to sleep. It was nice to have Nate there for the whole show this time. 7-24-14

CHARITY'S PARTY

Ever since our last day of school water party, Charity has been dying to have a redo with JUST her friends.  She's apparently too cool for the little kids now.  jk.  She invited everyone she knew and they all came and played around the yard- ate treats and snacks that they all brought, and then we put on a movie outside for them to watch.  It was a very mellow group of 12 year olds!  I was glad :).  They seemed to be having fun though.  7-26-14

Things to Remember Week of 7-13-14

ROLLING OVER

Sunday night Steve got a call from my Dad saying that he had wrecked the 4-wheeler and that he would be pushing the 4-wheeler down the mountain, but when Steve went up to look for him, he couldn't find him and nobody who had been up there had seen him.  He panicked a little and decided to go back for the car.  This was when he called me.  We were on our way home from the family meeting and were almost to their exit.  I decided to call the Sheriff to find out if we could get some help when things got bad.  They dispatched someone right away.  We got up to Steve as he and Jauslin were pulling out of the driveway.  We all drove up to the B and waited (for a very long time I might add) for the cop to show up.  Once he got there we all decided that Steve and I would go up with the officer.  I thought it would be best for the kids to go home so I asked Nate to take them home.  The second cop showed up and asked, "I know this might sound crazy, but has anyone checked his home?"  Yes, that did sound a little crazy since we'd just been there and then sat at the crossroads for the past hour.  He would have had to pass us to get home.  But just in case, I asked Nate to stop at my Dad's on their way back down the hill. So off we went.  Steve and I chatted with the officer as we looked around.  I wasn't sure what we were looking for and the cop drove so slowly that I just didn't feel like this was going to be the most productive route.  I figured the search and rescue team would be on it soon enough and that was a relief, but I hated the thought of not being there when he was found.  Even though part of me thought we would find him with a few scratches and have to listen to him make fun of me for getting all worked up over nothing.  I HOPED it was nothing serious.  After about 20 minutes of driving up the mountain, we got a call from Jauslin saying that my Dad had just pulled up his driveway!  Steve and I were shocked!  How could he have gotten home without passing us!!!  I was dying to hear the whole story.  A couple minutes later I got a call from Jauslin saying that we needed to get an ambulance there asap.  He had removed his hoodie and revealed his blood covered head and then as Nate had helped him off his 4-wheeler, he collapsed in his arms.  Completely passed out. They knew something was wrong.  This worried me a little, but I still thought things were going to be okay.  After a very long and slow drive down the mountain, we lead the officer to my Dad's house.  We parked in the neighbor's driveway as there were several law enforcement vehicles and an ambulance (with it's lights on of course- how embarrassing).  We ran right up into the garage and found my Dad laying on the garage floor with no shirt, insisting that it was just a bruise and that he would be fine.  The Paramedics were so annoyed with him and kept telling him that he needed to go to the hospital.  He kept saying he would go inside and just go to the doctor tomorrow.  I told him I would help him out, and the minute we tried to stand him up, he blacked out.  He was unable to stand on his own at all.  He came to and we informed him of what had just happened.  He was still sure it was just a bruise and he was going to be fine.  It wasn't til I saw him passed out and completely listless that I started campaigning for the paramedics.  I offered to take him to the hospital myself to avoid the hefty bill that would follow a ride in an ambulance.  The paramedics weren't thrilled about it, but they consented and one of them actually picked up my Dad in his arms and stuck him in my car.  He of course passed out when he got in the car too.  This was getting scary for me.  He just looked so old when he was passed out.  Not the way my young dad has ever looked to me.  We got Jack out of the back seat and Steve and I drove down to the ER.  We had funny conversations about my Dad not knowing who the President was.  I know he joked about it later, but he so didn't know right then.  That was a sure sign of a concussion to me.  He kept asking if it was really 12:00 :).  Makes me laugh still.  Once we got to the ER things seemed relaxed a little.  The guy who helped my Dad most of the night, Erik, was a really nice guy.  Talked Air Force with my Dad a lot and it felt like my Dad was a lot more coherent.  They took him down for x-rays and a CT scan.  We watched them clean out his head wound which was SO incredibly intense!!  That cut was SO deep.  I don't think I've ever seen a cut that deep.  They had to clean out all the chunks of road and stuck a whole bunch of gauze in there to dry it up... I was in awe.  I seriously haven't seen anything like that in person.  I wish I'd looked closer...  Anyway, the (kind of rude) doctor stitched up his head- seven stitches- while lecturing him on wearing helmets and not getting out of your car when you get pulled over.  He was annoying.  Then he informed us that my Dad had broken his collar bone and his pelvic bone in two places.  Both breaks that don't require casting.  My Dad of course had to joke about how he really didn't need to come to the hospital afterall.  They got him some crutches and quickly discharged him.  Then it was a long hour and half to get him standing up (passed out, then laying back down, then sitting up slowly and THEN standing up again) and into the wheelchair, then out to his car.  It was such a lengthy process that I started to panic a little about how we were going to get him out of his car and into his house.  We were just not equipped!  We started to head toward Walgreens to get his pain meds, because I thought having them in his system while we transferred him would make it easier.  Well that idea failed because we had sent his wallet up to the house in his dirty clothes with Steve earlier.  I regret not keeping in the car to go get the drugs because the course of events that played after that was just insanity.  We got up to his house and he insisted that he go inside.  Not an easy task.  He passed out about 3 times, once pinning me to his car, before we finally resorted to carrying him into his house.  It would have worked better if Steve and I were smaller.  What a job that was.  I was praying so hard!  I couldn't believe how difficult it all was.  Especially to see my Dad passed out half the time.  Once we got him in bed he went into complete shock.  He was shaking like crazy and needed lots of blankets.  I liked my idea to put the blanket in the dryer for a few minutes :).  He was so not good though.  It was so scary.  I sent Steve and Jauslin to get his drugs and some other things.  We got him some water and crackers and his pills and he was off to sleep.  It was around 5:00 am by this time.  I wasn't sure what to do.  I didn't want to leave him alone.  I contemplated sleeping on his floor, but he insisted that I sleep in the extra room.  I couldn't, so I compromised and slept on the couch.  This way I could still hear him when he got up in the night.  Which he had to do a few times.  It was hard to help him.  I don't really know how much help I was, but I was glad to be there for him.  The next two days involved getting him from computer chair to computer chair, to roll him around his house so that he could work from home.  Those annoying steps made it impossible to just make a clean push through to the living room... kind of annoying.  But it worked.  I enjoyed spending time with Steve, Jauslin and my Dad for those two days.  I only came home a couple times to shower, but it felt necessary.  It just happened to be during Nate's time off.  We finally got him to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon.  He reassured us that the pelvic bone was not a clean break and that he should heal just fine.  Then he did another x-ray of his collar bone and said that while it is a place that usually requires help, he didn't think my Dad would need it, but to come back in six weeks for a follow-up.  That was a relief.  We stopped to get snow cones on our way home :).  That was when my Dad got to try out the wheel chair for the first time too :).  He was having a ball.  Riding around the parking lot like a crazy person.  It was a lot of fun.  The wheelchair helped a lot to keep things simple at home, but those dumb steps were still in the way.  Course on Wednesday afternoon, when we went up there to check on him (the kids and I), he told us about how he had fallen over backwards in the wheelchair while trying to go down the step by himself.  Took him 45 minutes to get up.  Poor guy.  Then Kambree didn't help when she leaned on him as he was getting out of the car at the snow cone place (yes, two days in a row :)  ).  Luckily, on Wednesday night Brent was back from Bear Lake and was able to put in some ramps for him.  That was probably priceless.  I haven't even been up there since then.  He's totally independent from what I hear.  It was a long few days there, but I think he's getting better.  He gets dizzy a lot still, symptom of the concussion, but he does look better.  He even went to work on Thursday and Friday.  It was pretty scary, but I'm glad that things are as good as they are.  It really could have been worse.  7-13-14

NATE'S NEW CALLING!
We met with a member of the Stake Presidency this week- Pres. Mulstein (sp), and he extended a call to Nate to serve as the first counselor in the Elder's Quorum.  What a surprise that was!  Especially with all the talk about YM recently.  Nate was surprised, but of course accepted it with a smile.  He was curious who the President would be and when he found out it was Travis Maughan, he felt a huge sense of relief.  I'm always happy for a calling in the Elder's Quorum Presidency because of all the many times we've been blessed because of it, but I was a little sad for him at the same time.  He's loved being with the Priests so much and I know how much the Priests love him.  It was a little bittersweet.  But that's how it goes!  It all works out and it's all part of Heavenly Father's plan.  Nate will do great!  Pres. Mulstein asked that we not talk about the new call to anyone, so hanging out with Emily that evening was torture!  I am horrible at keeping secrets, but I did it!  I still can't believe they were able to keep it a secret through our campout last weekend!!  Amazing.  7-16-14

SWIMMING
I took the kids to Farmington Pool on Friday.  Kambree came with us.  It was a lot of fun!  Not quite as much fun as the ward party since I had to stay on the side with Jack (he's still so afraid of the water, it's so sad!), but Becky and her kids were there too, so they managed to have some fun without me :).  Jack actually ended up falling asleep on my shoulder and so we went and sat on the lawn chair for a little while.  And nobody would know it from just looking at me, but I think my legs actually got some sun in the process!  Wahoo!  I hated the fact that I started my period while we were there and luckily I was prepared and didn't have to haul everyone out of their early for something so ridiculous.  Still not pregnant.  Kind of a bummer.  But with the OPK tests that I've been taking, it looks like I AM ovulating, so that's encouraging.  I think it helps me to remember that it just isn't time yet.  Hopefully it will be someday.  7-18-14

CHARLIE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Charlie's birthday was on Friday as well.  We went up to their house and since Dad is still somewhat immobile they decided to have things up on the lawn.  It was a pretty nice time.  Charlie was cute and shy about his birthday.  He seemed to have a good time though.  7-18-14

LATE NIGHT IN THE CHURCH
The Young Women were wanting to have a sleepover at the church to say goodbye to it since we're changing buildings.  The sleepover wasn't approved, but they were able to get a late night!  It was on Friday during the party and then while Nate was working the Mid, so I didn't get to go, but Charity went.  She had a great time.  They played all kinds of fun games (cell phone tag- new to me), danced, indexed, did some Personal Progress... sounded like I really missed out really :).  I'm still waiting to see the video of Liz dancing on her bumb :).  I love Young Womens.  7-18-14

Things to Remember Week of 7-6-14

ORDINANCES AND COVENANTS
This month's topic for YW is Ordinances and Covenants.  I've been reading a lot about it and studying and I've decided this is an area I need to step it up.  It's not hard, and I've been able to make a list of a few things in particular.  Makes me happy to know what I can do to be closer to Heavenly Father and have a stronger influence from the Spirit.  I hope I can reach my goal.
It made me happy to see my kids get up and bear their testimonies.  They are starting to say a few things differently than they usually do. It's cool to hear what they say.  Kelly mentioned her testimony of serving others.  She has been doing service around the neighborhood, so she has learned that first hand, and all of her own accord.  It's cool to witness the growth of testimony in a sweet little girl.  She's really been at it the last little while, hurrying to finish her Faith in God award.  The Bishop told her he's never had anyone finish a year early.  She doesn't get to be recognized for it until she turns 12, so I told her that rather than kicking back and putting her feet up (as the Bishop demonstrated :) ), she should do it all a second time. She seemed interested :).  I'm really proud of my kids.  They are all growing up so fast but so well.  Makes me happy.
7-6-14

FHE
We learned how to apologize this week.  Jack's lesson (aka: Nate and I).  We've had some problems with sincerity and with doing the same things over and over again and I had just heard about this new idea from my cousin Becky, so we introduced it to the kids.  I think they get it.  Hopefully it will help a little.  We played Four Corners for the activity and then went to Bowmans for donuts- Charity's treat.  We ran into Natalie Mottishaw while we were there and her eyes got big when she realized we had the whole family with us.  I never quite know what to say to that.  It is strange to have 7 kids migrating around the cart as we slowly usher it through the store, I get that, but it's never really been that big a deal to me.  I'm sure to someone who purposely waited til her 3 girls were in bed, this is quite a sight.  I need to just realize that not everyone knows what it's like.  And everyone is different.  We have adapted to our crazy lifestyle and are perfectly content to have everyone together, so it's hard to imagine that it's a problem to everyone else.  I love my huge family :).  7-7-14

POOL PARTY
Our ward had a Pool Party Tuesday night. We all got together for dinner- the Pulled Pork that Nate slaved over for 3 days (it's actually one of the more low maintenance smoked meats, but I was just amazed that he was about to make dinner for 300 people all by himself :) )- then spent the rest of the evening in the Farmington pool.  The ward had rented it out so it was just us!  I LOVED this activity!  I totally thought I was going to hate it, but it turned out to be so fun.  I loved visiting with everyone.  I was so glad that I got to swim around with my kids so much too- thanks to Nate hanging out with his shadow, Jack- I had been putting off getting my swim suit on (for obvious reasons- and because I have a serious farmer tan)- but I did it anyway and was so glad I did!  I usually have to sit in the shallow end with the littles when we go swimming together, just the kids and me, so to have Nate there, and to be able to play- it was just SO MUCH FUN!!  Took me back to the old days when that's all I did all summer :).  I did a lot with Erika in the beginning, tried to teach Charity to dive, as she requested, then I let Luke stand on my back ("surfing" is what Brent and I used to call it when we were kids), carried Noah and Erika around on the "airplaine", and watched them jump in a ton.  Watched all of Kelly's tricks, tried to catch a glimpse of Bradley and Charity playing basketball, and then cuddled with Jack at the end.  It was so much fun.  I love being with our ward.  They are all just so awesome.  Lots of great divers too!  Hidden talents that you don't usually find out about people come out in those kinds of settings, I just love it.  It was fun to just be around everyone.  7-8-14

PANCAKES
Nate's parents invited us up to a restaurant by their house to get free pancakes for kids under 10.  We hurried up to Day Break and then sat and waited for about an hour and a half- this was a very long hour and a half because we didn't feed our kids anything, assuming we would eat breakfast at breakfast time :). We did walk over to the park near their house and that killed a little time, but I learned that all of our kids have inherited my suseptibility (I don't think that's really a word) to HANGRYNESS! (that isn't either)  We were all pretty grouchy!  Luckily we were sitting in our seats having ordered by 11:30.  That was a bit of a relief.  But with a party of 24, it did take a while.  The restaurant is called Egg and I, and I must say they did an excellent job of accommodating our large group!  I know this was a publicity gimmick but they could have turned us away, coming up with some sort of loop hole (can't have more than 17 free pancakes for one group for example).  Instead they were totally flexible, even insisted that our 11 and 12 year olds all get one too!  It was pretty cute, they came out with a plate full of toppings for them to decorate their pancakes with and a cute kid cup, even spoiled them all with goodie bags as we were bottle-necking at their exit.  It was pretty fun.  It's always fun to get together with cousins.  Grandma and Grandpa sat with 12 kids!  The rest of us sat in booths next to them.  It was just a lot of fun.  I'm glad we went.
On our way home, we stopped at the Cole's to pick up the picnic table that Annie gave me :).  Austin made it and after she asked me if I would be interested in buying one and then not telling me the price, told me it was mine and I could pick it up anytime.  She had apparently paid for it and thinks that we're now even because of the cakes I've made for her.  As if the cakes could add up to that much- she's so silly!!  Thoughtful, but now I owe HER!  It's a super cute table though- I've ALWAYS wanted one, just couldn't justify the price usually.  Austin insisted that it wasn't worth anything because he just "used scraps and pieced it together in 10 minutes" but it's SO CUTE!  I can't wait to stain it.  The kids will love it!  And it will remind me of the Coles.  I love them.  Not that I need reminders.  As we stood and talked with Gentry for a half hour (making Nate almost late for work- oops) I realized that there is rarely a day that goes by that I don't think about the Coles.  I just love them.  I wish we could have run into everyone else too, but I guess they must have lives or jobs or something.  All the more reason to plan AND CARRY OUT our BBQ idea.  This summer for sure!  7-9-14

Things to Remember Week of 6-29-14

PLANTING SEEDS
Nate did a really awesome lesson on planting "seeds" this week.  We talked about how different seeds will bring forth different things and that you can't plant a watermelon seed and get a pumpkin.  So he asked the kids what kinds of things they wanted to reap (ie happiness, friendship, good relationships with siblings) and then discussed what kinds of seeds they would need to plant to reap those rewards.  I thought it was so clever and the kids really picked up on it.  We keep reminding them what kinds of seeds they are planting.  Kinda cool.  6-30-14

MAYNES FAMILY PARTY
Dan was in charge of the 4th of July party this year.  He decided to have the party on Saturday, the 5th, at our house.  We never get a very big turn out when things are here, but it was still fun.  Lynn and Ali finally made it here and had so many nice things to say.  They brought Kyson and River.  Becky, Darren and Adam came early to fish in the ponds so I got to sit and talk while I finished getting ready.  Dan brought his boys and his new girlfriend and Meg and her family came too.  It was a lot of fun.  We roasted hot dogs, talked, talked and talked, and then watched a movie on the projector.  It was nice that it was simple and laid back.  7-5-14

Things to Remember Week of 6-22-14

SABBATH
Sunday was awesome this week!  I had really been looking forward to YW because the previous Sunday, after talking a little about consecrated oil with the Mia Maids, I got the idea to give the girls their own consecrated oil viols.  I wasn't sure about the idea, but we had exactly 9 leftover from when Nate did it with his Elder's Quorum in Alaska, so it seemed meant to be :).  I called the Bishop and got permission and asked him to come do the consecrating, talked it over with Amy, it was perfect!  I was really excited about it.  So this Sunday, following Amy's half lesson we turned the time over to the Bishop and we all got to witness the consecrating of the oil.  It was short and I worried about what the girls would be thinking, but when we took the last part of the time to fill up their viols and talk a little more about it and the care of it, I found out that they were really excited about it!  They were so cute and thanking me and just so sweet and excited about having their own.  Made me happy.  I loved what the Bishop said about how lots of times the men don't always have oil handy, but even when they do, now the girls can request that they use their own!  I thought that was meaningful.  I was glad he was supportive of the idea and didn't just think I was trying to go all Mo-fem on him :).  Nate picked up a viol for me at Deseret Book this week, so now I have my own as well :).  Makes me happy.  Felt like a little fulfillment of my Patriarchal blessing too.

So later on in Sacrament Meeting there was a returned Sister Missionary.  Sister Billings.  What a cute cute girl!  I loved her talk, loved the Spirit that was there- I'll never tire of the Spirit Missionaries carry with them- even the freshly returned ones... it's priceless- I loved looking down at my girls and seeing them just glued to her.  They LOVED her talk as well.  Even brought up all the things they'd learned from it during dinner.  Wow.  That RARELY happens.  Not since Emily's talk about Family Home Evenings.  I wish I'd written things down sooner because I've already forgotten most of what she said.  I do remember a lot about the Atonement and her helpful hint to pray for the investigators that the missionaries are teaching, by name.  That's a great idea!  Pretty soon Austin will be out and we will hopefully be able to hear about the people he's teaching and pray for them.  Good stuff.  6-22-14

We also got the big announcement, in letter form, from the Area Authority, that our ward is being moved to a different building.  The one that is not right in the center of our ward.  Kinda weird.  Personally I'm okay with the change, but I feel bad for everyone who is sentimentally attached to our little building and those who live so close to it!  It's not as close and easy to walk to, which I will miss, since we've finally got ourselves ready early enough to walk these last couple months.  It will be an interesting change for Mutual activities and scouts too.  But whatever- change is good.  6-22-14

FHE
Nate surprised the kids with tickets to see How To Train Your Dragon II for FHE this week.  We're still trying to work out the kinks with adding a new "activity" spot to our Family Night roster, we didn't quite do it this week, but we went to the movie and called it Family Night :).  It was a lot of fun.  The kids loved it.  Even Jack did pretty well.  The movie was way cute.  I was feeling pretty crappy that day so my lesson was more like a list of things I wish they would stop doing with their dirty clothes, but Nate polished it up with something spiritual.  That was good.  I wish I could just feel good.  Someday.  6-23-14

SLOPPY JOE
We had Sloppy Joes the other day and Jack LOVED IT!!!  Kept eating and eating, 2nds, 3rds... it was great!  He hates sandwiches and anything surrounded with bread, so this was a major break through :).  I love to watch him eat.  I've said that before I'm sure.  6-24-14

SPINACH
I'm not sure what I've said about our garden this year.  First garden we've ever had and we've had so much fun with it!!  It's been so cool to go out and pick fresh produce out of our yard and eat it :).  Sounds silly probably, but I was so fascinated with the fact that I was able to just go out and pick some baby spinach out of the garden, bring it in and make a salad for dinner.  So cool.  I even blended a bunch in with the spaghetti sauce :).  We definitely need to plant more stuff next year- it's just so fun!  Can't wait for the tomatoes and peppers.  The cilantro has been amazing to have too.  I LOVE CILANTRO!  6-25-14

CAMP KEYSL
Bradley and Luke got to go to day camp together this year!!  That was a much anticipated event!  They seemed pretty awesome when they got home and told us a tiny little bit about it.  Luke's favorite part was the BB guns.  Bradley had a new slingshot and they both had lots of candy and a cute bead lizard craft.  I'm always surprised at how much candy they can get with their hard-earned $10.  Funny boys.  We still can't find Bradley's scout shirt.  I'm so worried that he left it at the park.  That would be a total bummer.  Those things are NOT cheap and I just got done sewing everything on it!!  Everyone pray that we can find it!  6-25-14

CLOTHES
I was so proud of myself, I thought I'd blog about it :)- I went through ALL of the clothes (minus the baby stuff that's long since been put away)- and organized them all into Fall or Summer of each of the future years.  It's a good system that I started a while ago and had running smoothly until we moved.  I got lazy.  It's up and running again now though and hopefully will make my life easier and less messy.  The craft room is almost usable again!!  Wahoo.  It only took me about 3 hours to do the clothes and then another hour to clean up the rest of the house from the tornado that hit it while I was camped out in the basement :).  Good times.  6-25-14

YW BAPTISMS
Got to go do baptisms with the Young Women.  That was a neat experience.  I enjoy them so much.  The Spirit was beautiful.  I loved talking with Keri and I loved my yummy sundae at Pace's (in Layton- WAAAAAAY better than the Bountiful one- no offense Andrea).  Good times.  I love being in the Young Women's.  6-25-14

MALEFICENT
Kelly's friend Kara invited her to go see Divergent with her and her brother.  It is rated PG-13 so after a little discussion we decided she could not go.  Kelly was totally bummed and since I've been wanting to start back up on our date nights, I decided to offer to take her to a movie myself.  She accepted my offer with a smile and so she and I went to the movie Maleficent.  Nate and I had seen it a couple weeks before because I hadn't realized that it was kind of a kid show (not LITTLE kids mind you), and the whole time I kept thinking about how much Kelly would love it.  (I also thought about how much the other kids- mainly Charity- would probably hate it and have nightmares from it :) )  It ended up being the perfect movie for Kelly.  She didn't think it was creepy at all, it was actually "really cool!"  So that was a lot of fun.  I love sitting there with her and keeping each other updated on what we think is going to happen next :).  6-26-14

MOTHER DAUGHTER NIGHT
Kelly's Activity Day girls have been planning this Mother/daughter activity for a very long time.  She and I were both so happy it was finally here.  It turned out to be a really fun activity!  I think this was the first time it's been just Kelly and I at something like this.  We ate yummy taco salad, played a game where the girls held up a sign that said, "That's my Mom" to facts about the moms, the hand guessing game- which wasn't my favorite because Jeri insisted that the hand I was holding was her daughter's, booted me out and told me Kelly's was on the end.  Well, I knew that the one on the end wasn't Kelly's... so that bummed me out.  Kelly knew I'd had hers to begin with though, so that was good :).  Then we played "Poke the Pig" where we are blindfolded and have to guess which piggy (girl) is ours based on their voices.  I stunk at that one. And then we made cute fabric bracelets.  Kelly loved the craft and wants this to be our new time killer :).  They gave us cute little mason jars full of sweet little notes and yummy treats. I loved having this time with Kelly!  She's such a good friend.  I'm so grateful for her love and for her sweet personality.  I'm glad she still loves me :).  6-27-14

AIR SHOW
We made it to the Air Show this year!  Pretty happy about that :).  Grandma Ruthie and Grandpa Russ decided to join us.  It was such a hot day!  Probably could have been hotter, but we were all dying out there.  It was totally worth it though.  I cannot get enough of those jets!  It's just so amazing.  We ran out of sunblock before I could use it so I got pretty sunburned on my neck, but thankfully none of the kids had any signs of sunburn.  There's a first time for everything :).  That's where we all usually get our first fry of the season.  I always remember the year we took Kelly when she was just a year old or something and she just got fried!  It was so sad.  We messed up and forgot to bring cash though, so that was a bummer.  We weren't about to stand in line for 2 hours to use the ATM.  The kids didn't love that.  We made it fun though and the Thunderbirds just made it all worth it.  So awesome.  I don't think I can say that enough times.  I loved watching Jack watch the planes.  He was totally into it.  Erika and Noah sat in the stroller a lot of the time and really didn't seem to interested.  Luke loved it all, let me tell him all the details and we talked about the speed of sound and stuff... that was fun for me.  Bradley loved it as well, but he had a hard time coming out of the funk he got in while waiting in line to climb inside the tank.  He is getting better at changing his mood though, I was proud of him.  Kelly loved it all, she gets all into it and didn't seem to have too many complaints all afternoon.  Charity doesn't love the volume, whined about needing earplugs most of the day, but overall was pretty fun to be with.  I love my family.  I love doing things together.  It was fun to share it with Grandma and Grandpa too.  Not something they've ever done before.  Another difference between Nate's and my childhoods :).  We went to The Habit on the way home.  That place gets 5 stars from me- I loved it.  6-28-14