Happy Anniversary

Anybody want to know the story of how Scott and I came to be? I worked with Scott's awesome aunt Holly and she wanted to set us up, so she gave him my number. He didn't plan on calling me because he didn't necessarily trust her judgement (she had already been married several times...) and because she told him I was an RM and he didn't have positive feelings for sister missionaries...

But, finally he called me. My first impression was that he was short. I don't know why, maybe cause he was standing a step down from me when he picked me up for our first date. We went to Applebees and then to Desert Star Playhouse. I thought he was very easy to talk with and a nice, genuine guy. He kept asking me out, and although I thought he was nice, I was dating a few other guys, too. But, then I started to like him more than the other guys. But one night he said he thought we should only date each other (meaning I stop dating anyone else at all). But I said, if that is the case we would be engaged, and I wasn't ready for that. You see, for me to give up on possibilities with other guys meant that I had found the ONE guy I wanted to be with FOREVER. That night I went to a movie with a guy friend (I say not a date, Scott says it was a date), but the whole time I thought, "I would rather be with Scott." Well, the lightbulb went on and I realized (and said out loud to the guy...) "I think I am getting married." I don't think I've talked to that guy since, but the next day I bought a Bride's magazine. Scott and I hadn't even come close to talking about marriage! But I was praying about it and knew he was the one. I wrote in my journal that I knew he was the one, and at the same time, he wrote in his journal that he knew I was the one for him! Pretty cool, no?

Quickly our relationship grew stronger and it easily became an engagement. It has been a blast the whole time and I know no one better than Scott. He is my everything. (Mushy and corny...)

Eight years! Love you darling. Thanks for asking me to marry you.

Blueberry Muffins

I love blueberries. It is all my mom's fault. And I am grateful. I love to put them in my cereal (granola flax stuff from Costco) with yogurt. I love them in "special drinks"--oddly, they make a delicious chocolate and blueberry drink. But one of my favorites is blueberry muffins. I have found a recipe I LOVE.

See it here.

But, then I tweaked it a bit to make it yummier. I add a tbsp of flax seed (ground), an extra egg, I substitute applesauce for the oil, and add 1/3 to a 1/2 cup sunflower seeds. The orange juice is what makes it especially good (so I usually put a bit more of the concentrate in).

Let me know if you make them and like them.

Camping with kids

We borrowed Scott's parents camping trailer and headed out for a little family campout. Three days, two nights, just enough time. We went up to Midway (Wasatch Mountain State Park) to a campground we like. It has water and electricity hookups with a bathroom and showers there. Nearby is a little pond the kids can fish in and some little hikes (just long enough for the boys; we only have to carry them the last little while...). We played lots of card games, watched a movie or two, and played with bugs, rocks, pinecones, and anything else the kids could find on the ground. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, ate pancakes and bacon, and lots of treats, too. We went into Midway and Heber and played at some parks, had a picnic and ate out at a fun restaurant.
Have you ever seen anyone more intent on catching a fish?
The boys fishing. What a great site.

He kept this stick the entire trip!

Darling photo of Elise with her daddy as they hike.

Having fun camping!

(Notice there weren't any photos of me... there is a reason!)

It was a great trip, but there are some things I want to remember for next year:

Bring more bandaids (we used about 3 per kid-- per day)

Don't take the kids to a restaurant where they won't eat the food. It is a waste of money.

Take more "cold" clothes--it gets chilly at night.

Take a pancake flipper. Forks just don't do the job.

Check this website before hand for some fun recipes.

I also want to make sure that I talk more with the kids about Pioneer Day and why we celebrate. We watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day celebration thing tonight and it was so good. Great songs of the restoration amond other great songs.

Happy Pioneer Day ya'll.

Awesome!

We made a time machine for our Primary. Totally awesome, right???? Because I am lazy, I am going to let Miki's blog tell you all about it. But later, I'll come in and write more. I mostly wanted to get this up quickly so Erin (the gal who actually gave me the idea) could see what we did.

Family Photos 2010

Brennan speaks

And speaks and speaks. He loves to talk now that he knows how, but some of what he says is so funny! He has made up his own words for things:

po po - pillow

jama - pajamas

wrapper - toilet paper

cany cane - any candy

jew - juice

sotter ball - soccer ball

fwip fwop -- flip flops

garb-je -- garbage

i cone -- ice cream

bean bean -- binkie

And some of the things he points out are great. Every time we see a church he yells out "temple", or "jesu lives at temple". He loves his sister and is always telling me she is HIS. He is always talking baby talk to her and hugging and kissing her (a bit much). He loves to play with his brothers. He especially loves Star Wars and is ALWAYS singing the theme song... dun dun dun... And the noises he makes when he plays cars is so fun.

The boys were playing Simon Says the other day and when it was his turn, he would repeat, "simon say sit down... simon say stam up... simon say sit down... simon say stam up" over and over. The boys got a kick out of that!

Fourth of July Fun!

We took the opportunity to go up to Idaho for the holiday weekend. It was fun to get up to the "farm" to visit Omi and Opa and the Barker clan. Friday we had dinner with the Hansens (friends from here that moved there) and on Saturday we went to Porter Park for the festivities. It was so enjoyable to just wander around, get free otter pops and cotton candy. We ran into old friends and just sat around having fun in the not-too-hot sun. Then that evening we had a BBQ with some of the Barkers friends and had our own fireworks show. The kids made their own floats (we missed the parade in the morning) and they did a little parade and we threw candy at them! Here are the boys floats--I love Weston's "scout" float--how ingenious! And Aidan carried his around with him all day.

Sunday we went to church--it is so interesting to go back to Sugar and see old friends. I have a wave of happy feelings, but also of disgust with myself and how dumb I was when I was young. There are some wonderful people there who have always believed in me, though. My neighbor, Brother Grover, gave me a momento --a 1881 dollar coin. He is so sweet. I am so glad he was our home teacher for a million years and was and is so nice to the family and me. He is a good man. I also saw Brother Mortensen, who remembered me after all these years. It sure made me feel good to have him reach out and say hi. Sugar City is such a wonderful place!

We had a delicious dinner and then had dessert with more neighbors and they told lots of fun stories. I love to sit around and tell and hear stories. I learn so much about people... Monday we packed up and came home. It was a good trip. Thanks to the Browns and Barkers for their hospitality.Elise was all decked out in festive dress and Brennan is showing off his MESSY face--too much cotton candy!

Done with School and summers begun

Weston is done with first grade. He finished well--I think level M for reading and level P for Rocket Math. Which is above grade level, so I am really proud of him. He does really well in all areas except handwriting. Unfortunately, that may be a genetic problem...

Here is a sample of his artwork. We took a picture of these drawing (a calendar for each month) because we just can't keep all his work!

Here he is with Mrs. Eastman, she was a great teacher:

And with his best bud Brock.

Weston is really amazing us with his gospel knowledge as well. He knows every scripture story--and even all the details. He loves to learn about the gospel and it just makes me happy!

He really loves Lego Star Wars on the Wii, which has been fun for him. I don't get the game at all. He asks me to play, but I quickly die. What is it with boys and games like that? Fortunately, he also likes to play Wii fit with me. Now that is fun!

I put Weston in swimming lessons when he was off track, and I have had Aidan in swimming lessons these past few weeks. He is doing great.

I am just amazed at how he is ENTIRELY under the water! Way to go guy!

Still working...

I want to invite you all to revisit my posts about Accountable Kids. I am still using it and it is working well for my family. If you have a minute, please check it out!

Part One

Part Two